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Four People Were Shot In Poway, California Synagogue Shooting, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Interviewed Regarding Synagogue Shooting In Poway, California; 1 Dead, 3 Injured In California Synagogue Attack; Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Is Interviewed About The Latest Synagogue Attack In California. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired April 27, 2019 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Police in Poway near San Diego said a gunman went into the building and opened fire with an assault style weapon. Four people were shot, including an adult female who died of her injuries. A young female and two adult males we are told were also injured, but are in stable condition at the Palomar Medical Center, and Mayor Steve Vaus says the synagogue's Rabbi is one of the wounded. The suspect was not caught at the scene. He called police after he fled. They say he turned himself in.

Police say he is 19 years old and investigators are digging into his social media presence for more clues about this attack. Here's more from Mayor Steve Vaus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE VAUS (R-CA), MAYOR: I want you to know, this is not Poway. The Poway I know, comes together as we did just a few weeks ago at an interfaith event. We always walk with our arms around each other and we will walk through this tragedy with our arms around each other.

We have deep appreciation for those who showed courage at the Chabad, deep appreciation for the law enforcement agencies that responded so quickly. We will get through this. Our thoughts and prayers will be with the families and those who are investigating. Poway will stay strong, and we will always be a community that cares for one another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And now we know there will be another news conference in about 90 minutes. We will take you there when this happens. Following the story for us, CNN's Ryan Young, who has more now on what we're learning about the suspect and what happened, Ryan?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is so very tough to listen to. If you think about it, a 19-year-old male has been arrested, a white male from what we were told. And of course, that shooting happened inside that synagogue.

Now what we also know is there was a service going on, and more than 100 people were there because right now, we know investigators needs to talk to at least a hundred people who still remain at that synagogue who investigators and homicide detectives have to talk to.

But at some point there was a struggle in the inside that may have helped stop the shooter from opening fire or more people then, there was a brave Border Patrol agent that also opened fire on the shooter as he left. Listen to the sheriff as he was talking just a few minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM GORE, SHERIFF, SAN DIEGO COUNTY: I want to start off our brief press conference here by expressing our condolences to all the people that were injured in the senseless act of tragedy that visited Poway this afternoon.

At about, 11:23 this morning, a white male adult enter the Chabad Temple at 16934 Chabad Way, in Poway, California. This individual was with an AR-type assault weapon, an opened fire on the people inside the synagogue.

During the shooting, four individuals were wounded and transported to Palomar Hospital. Sadly, one of the individuals succumbed to their wounds. The other three are in stable condition at Palomar.

As the suspect was fleeing the temple, an off duty Border Patrol agent opened fire on the suspect, but apparently did not hit him but struck the cars parked at the area.

The people at Palomar -- one is a female, juvenile in stable condition and two adult males are in stable condition. Sadly, an older female died and succumb to her wounds she obtained in the shooting.

The suspect was shortly taken into custody and I'll turn it over to Chief Dave Nisleit of the San Diego Police Department to give you the details of that arrest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Again, difficult details. We know this the final day of Passover. They were having a large service. Once again, more than a hundred people on the inside when obviously the shooting broke out, you have the individuals who were shot. We know three of them are going to be okay, but did suffer some gunshot wound. And then of course, the one lady who did pass away at this point.

You've got to think and push your heart out to those victims of this right now. We've also heard from witnesses in the scene who said they heard several gunshots going off in that area, maybe 67th. We know that maybe -- 67th. We know there was an assault rifle probably used in this.

They're looking at this as a hate crime. But you think about the coordination between law enforcement right now as they zero-in on the scene, so tough to deal with, especially with all the people who probably witnessed this crime.

CABRERA: Okay, Ryan Young. Thank you. Also with us now is CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI agents Josh Campbell and James Gagliano and former Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, Juliette Kayyem.

James, we know the suspect is now being interviewed by homicide investigators from both the FBI, as well as local law enforcement. What are they asking him?

JAMES GAGLIANO, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, the first thing is they're going to use the public safety exception and they're going to ask him questions focused on what he did? Was anybody else involved?

[18:05:10] GAGLIANO: And they can waive Miranda Rights right then because there's a need to determine whether or not there's any more imminent danger. Are there any more threats? Anybody else involved? And I've got to say, Ana, as important as the actual crime scene is inside the synagogue, and obviously the vehicle and outside of the synagogue, more importantly, it's going to be to get search warrants for whatever location where this individual live, that's going to be very key and critical.

Also, to get into his cell phone, take a look at who he called, who is in contact with? Did he text or call anybody immediately before or immediately after? And then to try to get a good layout on his digital exhaust? What type of websites was he on? Has he written anything up? Is there anything in the social media realm? Any chat rooms that he was a participant in? Those types of things?

Investigators are going to take their time now that they've got him in custody, as long as they don't believe there's any imminent danger, now they can slow down and do this thing painstakingly and make sure they put all -- dot all the I's cross all the T's to make sure this man goes away for a long period of time.

CABRERA: Juliette, as we were just discussing, social media becomes a big pathway for finding clues here. What do you think they're looking for? I know you do a lot of work for cyber security and cyber world.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (via Skype): Obviously, there's going to be two pathways they're looking for, of course, one is going to be the direct contact aspects.

So did the suspect have direct contact with others who may lead us to potential future crimes or that assisted him in this crime? Now, we don't know what he intended. As I said in the last hour, the phone calling to law enforcement is a bit of a wrinkle. We don't know what he intended. Did he did he want to kill more people and was, you know, calling police to say he was going to do more? We just don't know.

So the first is going to be the direct contact investigation. The other is going to be what we call you know, the radicalization aspect of this. How does a 19-year-old -- what is in his background? Who is he communicating with? Who is he listening to? What is he absorbing? What sort of websites -- ideological, anti-Semitic, anti-religious, anti-minority? We don't know yet. But obviously that will then lead to motivation which will then go to

hate crime or something else. The third thing is we should never -- you know, he was in possession of a serious semi-automatic rifle. California has complicated laws regarding this. There's a major lawsuit that's being brought by the NRA to challenge a vote by Californians to get rid of some of the semi-automatic weapons, and so we also want to know through this data gathering, how did he get possession of the weapon and the weaponry for this kind of attack?

CABRERA: And this is yet another shooting at a place of worship, Josh, does law enforcement need to consider that they might need to establish new protocol for keeping worshippers safe?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, that's obviously an issue anytime that there's an incident like this or a couple of aspects here, the first of which being copycat attacks.

We heard from law enforcement officers from New York to the West Coast. So they're monitoring the situation, again, to determine whether they need to plus up resources at houses of worship in their areas of responsibility. And that's in the immediate aftermath of an incident. But in general, and I'll have to say this, we've talked about a number of these different attacks, but for specifically for the Jewish faith in the United States, they are singularly targeted in the sense that these are -- this is a community that goes to worship always with front of mind knowing that there is a robust security posture in these houses of worship.

Not so when I go to church, I know that there in my church, there are all law enforcement officers that are there, that are in plain clothes, but as I walk around Los Angeles and drive around, when you go by a mosque, these are now facilities where you have armed presence that are outside.

And again, it just shows you the reality of being Jewish in the United States. I was at a Seder last weekend, and this was actually a topic of discussion that we're talking about how unique it is in this country right now, especially at this time, where you have a number of these incidents, just to -- we can't lose sight of the fact that we have a community that is constantly under attack and under threat. And this is appears as though this might be manifesting that today.

That is an issue for law enforcement, something that they have to work on. But obviously, it's a larger issue for our national discussion as well, especially if you have a number of these incidents that continue to occur in the hate crime space. It's not enough for us just to go from incident to incident and say, "We're going to respond," there has to be something that's more that's done, and I don't know when that's going to happen.

CABRERA: I mean, Josh, you were just talking about in recent days, regarding this man who was a Coast Guard official, perhaps getting, you know, the ability for him to be released because he hadn't actually committed some kind of terrorist act and we were discussing. In this case, I mean, if it's a hate crime versus terrorism and you say there's no domestic terrorism, law necessarily for being able to arrest somebody who hasn't taken action, am I interpreting that right?

[18:10:14] CAMPBELL: So it depends on what his motivation actually comes down to. If he is politically motivated in the sense that someone is a part of some group, whether that's on the far-right, on the far-left and they're attempting to cause some kind of violence. There is no Federal domestic terrorism statute.

Now, what will happen here, likely and based on what we heard from the mayor, it's quite different on the hate crime space, because if you go after a particular community, with malice with hatred, that's a violation of Federal law.

And again, as I mentioned earlier, there will have to be discussion here, whether or not this is prosecuted Federally, or whether California state law takes primacy here, and at the end of the day, it's investigator sitting there having the conversation, basically trying to determine.

I mean, for all intents and purposes, what is going to send this guy behind bars for the longest amount of time possible, and so that's a discussion that's going to have to take place. That's what's happening on the prosecutor side. But again, that discussion that I think we need to have nationally is what do we do left of boom so to speak before an attack? How do we have that national conversation to identify these people and to help stop this type of hatred?

CABRERA: We have much more to discuss. Everybody, please stand by. We are continuing to follow this breaking news out of Southern California -- a shooting at a synagogue, leaving one person dead three, people injured and one man in custody. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:02] CABRERA: More now on are breaking news. One person is dead, three are injured in a shooting at a synagogue in Poway, California. That's near San Diego in what officials are calling a suspected hate crime. This comes on a holy day for the Jewish community. The day that marks the end of Passover, and just six months after the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

I want to bring in Rabbi Josh Stanton and Rabbi, first of all, this is a tough day for everybody, but particularly for the Jewish community. What's your reaction to yet another shooting at a synagogue?

JOSH STANTON, RABBI, EAST END TEMPLE IN MANHATTAN: Today is a day that Passover not only as a Jewish holiday, but an American holiday. It's the holiday in which we think of all the people in the world who are not free. And in the pit of my stomach, I feel a pain that comes from the idea that maybe Jewish people are not entirely free right now. And it makes me also think of all of the other people who are not free at this moment. And it makes me grieve especially for the person whose life was taken today and for all who are healing, all who are grieving at this moment.

I think that tonight is a moment when all people can go to their local supermarkets, get a piece of matzah, the unleavened bread, and sit at their tables, discussing who is not free in our midst. Because the key lesson of Passover is that if one person or one group of people is not free, then none of us truly are.

So tonight, we think of all who are not free. And we also hold in our hearts in a different way, fellow Jews and people who are truly in grief tonight.

CABRERA: No doubt about it. I'm curious what measures are synagogues like yours taking now to increase security.

STANTON: So synagogues across the country have been in touch with law enforcement and are connecting about reasonable precautions we can take. We have a real challenge though, we seek to be welcoming, we seek to be loving places, and at the same time, we have to make sure that people feel safe gathering.

It's clear that those who are engaged in anti-Semitic attacks want to make us feel unsafe. And so we are doing all that we possibly can to ensure that our community and all communities can gather in peace, can pray and can conduct worship. What is so stunning to me as a Rabbi, a person who is trained to be a counselor, a teacher, and just a presence in my community is that now I also have to gain skills and what it means to be physically safe? What it means to collaborate with law enforcement?

And I think that it is a sad state of affairs, when our country, when our society has gotten to the place that Rabbis have to become experts in security.

CABRERA: Again, we know this happened during a Passover holiday celebration, part of Shabbat services. We are hearing from witnesses or a member of the congregation. They're saying this was during what was expected to be Yizkor prayers. Can you talk a little bit more about what would have been taking place at this kind of a service?

STANTON: Yes, Yizkor is the service of remembrance and so, in a tragically ironic sense, it is a service for remembering other people who have passed, that all of a sudden was transformed into a service in which people were to remember the person whose life was taken, and all who were put in danger at that moment.

It's a time when we remember ancestors. It's a time when we remember loved ones. And it's a time when we should feel safe, so that our hearts can be most open.

CABRERA: We are learning this is being called a hate crime. One of the victims was a Rabbi, what do you tell your congregation at a time like this?

STANTON: I try to start by listening. This is a moment when there are no words. There is nothing right to be said. Because it is a moment so filled with grief and anger. So entirely overwhelming. And so I start by listening and trying to be present. And then I try to articulate the response and the common emotional strands that other people are sharing with me. So far, I've heard fear. I've heard anger. I've heard sadness. And

I've heard a sense of longing for a better way, for a way in which we can actually live at peace and feel secure for a way in which we can live without fear of assault weapons, not just in our streets, which is terrible enough, but in our sacred spaces, in our houses of worship, and our spiritual homes.

And so I hear a lot of longing, in addition to all of the other painful emotions that have emerged so far.

CABRERA: You talk about now the need to, you know, think about your own physical security. And I'm wondering, you know, you have to have people in your congregation who are thinking, you know, why? Why is this happening? We know hate crimes have been on the rise. You know, unfortunately, there been too many days where I've sat here and have talked about the latest shooting at a house of worship from what happened in New Zealand at mosques to what we saw in Sri Lanka last weekend, churches to of course six months ago -- now, six months since the synagogue massacre that happened in Pittsburgh.

[18:20:03] CABRERA: I just wondered, do you believe that there's a solution to combating the hate that is perhaps leading to these violent acts?

STANTON: I think one of the solutions is showing that there is a better way. I am always so moved at the number of Imams, pastors, priests, Swamis, and humanist chaplains who reach out to me to say we are with you. And the reality is when it comes to white supremacist hate, the people who hate Jews are the same people who hate Muslims, are the same people who hate immigrants, are the same people who hate LGBTQ people, are the same people who hate people of color.

And so it's our opportunity to come together and stand in unity with one another. And I'd like to hope and ask that all of our friends from different communities today stand in unity, solidarity and support of a Jewish community that feels struck down, that feels so in pain. And that has real fear with it tonight, when we should be celebrating a holiday that gives us strength and undergirds our tradition.

CABRERA: I am wishing you strength, Rabbi Josh Stanton, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you for your message this evening.

STANTON: Thank you.

CABRERA: Stay with us. Police are investigating a suspected hate crime at a synagogue that left one woman dead, three other people injured on the last day of Passover. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:23] CABRERA: Breaking News. Police say the suspect in a California synagogue shooting actually called police to turn himself in after leaving the scene. An officer on the way to the synagogue heard the information on the police scanner and responded immediately. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID NISLEIT, CHIEF, SAN DIEGO POLICE: As our officer was exiting the freeway, he clearly saw the suspect in his vehicle. The suspect pulled over jumped out of his car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody by the San Diego Police Department.

As the officer was placing this 19-year-old male into custody, he clearly saw a rifle sitting on the front passenger seat of the suspect's vehicle, and the suspect, as I said was taken into custody without any further incident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: We know now about the suspect that he is 19 years old, a white man and that he used an assault style weapon to shoot at least four people. One woman was killed. The three others who were shot are said to be in stable condition. We are awaiting another police news conference shortly and as we await that, I want to bring back Juliette Kayyem, and Juliette, I know you are following some counterterrorism chatter online. What are you picking up?

KAYYEM: So a couple things. So first of all, obviously, the fact he is a young white male is relevant given the time that we live in. And so what we're starting to see and I'd been on the phone the last hour since I was on is that this was a white nationalist radicalized male, who may have been triggered actually, by the New Zealand shooting and this is not -- and we're trying to confirm it here at CNN, but this is not unique in the sense that a lot of these guys -- he is so -- I mean, he is 19 years old, get radicalized by an incident that happens -- that appears to look fascinating or attractive to them. And it's hate and it's violence.

And so we're going to figure out through both letters that he may have left. And also he is in interviews right now. One, in fact, was a triggering aspect to this and whether he didn't do -- we're talking about future attacks -- whether he didn't do previous attacks. You know, did he enter other mosques or other synagogues or potentially mosques? Because, you know, this hate doesn't grow in a day.

But I think just to the extent that we have been focusing on his race, the fact that the mayor said it was a hate crime, he apparently said things in the synagogue. We're putting this in the white nationalist terrorism camp, and I think we ought to at this stage. We will learn more. But you know, sometimes when things look obvious, they are obvious for a reason.

And now we just have to determine, sort of, what was the radicalizing aspects of his background that got him to the stage.

CABRERA: And I also wonder why he chose this particular synagogue given as we learned from police, he is not from Poway, California. He is from San Diego.

KAYYEM: Sometimes what you learn in these cases is that sometimes it's convenience and sometimes it may be that they're actually staking out a number of synagogues. So comparative analogy in some ways is the Pulse incident in Orlando several years back that actually ended up being for that terrorist that actually ended up being the third site that he picked for a variety of reasons.

Some of it may have to do with things that have nothing to do with the synagogue, maybe easy entry and exit will determine. It does not appear from our reporting so far yet any ties to either this community or obviously, the synagogue, but clearly knew that there was more people than not, because it's the last day of Passover in the synagogue and went in.

I can't say enough given what we're hearing about the rifle size, and the fact that clearly people were unarmed in the synagogue. You know, the sort of good news -- I don't mean it that way -- But you know, I mean, the sort of that this was not an event where there was massive amounts of casualties, that probably has to do with the response of the people in the synagogue that he is forced outside of the synagogue.

And so we're just learning more, but unfortunately, given where we are in the United States today, hate crime is up 20 percent attacks on mosques, synagogues, and others, the rise of white supremacy in the United States. Unfortunately, here you and I are again on another Saturday, having this conversation.

CABRERA: I'm grateful to have you with me as we try to walk our viewers through what we're learning and make some sense of what happened. Thank you, Juliette. Please stay with us.

Police are expected to brief the media here again in just a short time from now. We're going to continue to learn new information and pass it along right here on CNN. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:33:25] CABRERA: As we continue to follow this breaking news out of Southern California shooting at a synagogue that has left one person dead and three others injured, I want to discuss with our Congressman Eric Swalwell, who is from California. He is also a 2020. Presidential Candidate. Congressman, let me just ask first your reaction to this latest attack on a house of worship.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via phone): Ana, you know, our hearts as a country are beating for the victim and those who are recovering and it's just -- it's still hard to imagine people who went there to pray and left running for their lives. But if you really start to think about it, it's not hard to imagine at all.

We're in a country where we have unrestricted weaponry, and we have growing hate groups, where we see a failure of leadership to denounce them and that is a deadly combination. You know, we have an opportunity now to take the most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the most dangerous people. We just recently did that in the Congress, but it needs a lot more action. And I think frankly, a lot of people are fed up of just hearing thoughts and prayers as an alibi for doing nothing. CABRERA: You're running for President as the gun control candidate.

So you tweeted that we will honor the victims today with action. What is your plan of action if you were to win the White House?

SWALWELL: Well, it's to start negotiating up and not down. You know, after Sandy Hook, Ana, we sought background checks and Republicans wouldn't go for that. Then we thought maybe if you're on the terrorist watch list, you shouldn't be able to buy a firearm. They wouldn't go for that.

[18:35:07] SWALWELL: And after Vegas when a semi-automatic rifle was turned into an automatic rifle, we said maybe the tool that does that should be banned. And they wouldn't go for that. And the American people showed us this last election when they went to the polls and beat 17 NRA endorsed candidates that they wanted us to negotiate up.

So it's not just background checks, which I would sign into law. It's banning and buying back the 15 million assault rifles that are in our communities. And it looks like that was the weapon that was used today.

CABRERA: What's your response then to critics, maybe the other side of the debate who say you're politicizing a tragedy right now, and it's not time yet to talk gun rights or gun control.

SWALWELL: I think you know, the people who were shot today would have appreciated someone who did something before a dangerous weapon like this got in the hands of the shooter. You know, we're told that this is a divisive issue by the people who want us to do nothing. I've come to see that that is actually a tactic. It's not where most Americans are. It's supposed to be a hot stove so that we just have thoughts and prayers and then we do nothing and if we're just going to respond mass shooting, and mass shooting. We will never make progress to end gun violence.

And so, you know, Ana, keep your pistols, keep your shotguns, keep your rifles. I just happen to believe that some weapons are too dangerous and belong only on battle.

CABRERA: You can of course address the weapons use, but what do you think needs to happen to address the hate that could be a potential motivator for attacks like this?

SWALWELL: It starts with leadership. You know, you denounce white nationalist groups, even when they praise you as a President, that you have the Department of Justice treat this as domestic terrorism, that you make sure in our schools that our children are learning tolerance and diversity as soon as possible.

But mostly it's having a President when he or she sees suffering that their instinct would be to heal us when he or she sees division that their instinct would be to unite us. And I think that's missing right now in America.

CABRERA: You sit on the House Intelligence Committee, are you aware of any chatter on attacks at places of worship? SWALWELL: Well, I -- what I can tell you is the Committee has a

continuing interest as does the Judiciary Committee where I'm also on, on the rise of white nationalism in America. And I don't think it's an accident that this occurred, you know, on the final day of Passover.

And so, you know, this was not given any attention in the last Congress even after Charlottesville, but it is going to get more attention on now.

CABRERA: Congressman Eric Swalwell, we really appreciate you joining us. Thank you very much.

SWALWELL: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: We're going to take another quick break. Again, we're monitoring an upcoming police media advisory here shortly. We will bring that to you. And again, we're continuing to learn new information from the local officials and we also are working our sources. So stay with CNN for the latest as we continue to cover the latest shooting at a synagogue in Southern California.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:42:03] CABRERA: Welcome back as we continue our breaking news coverage, we're now hearing from witnesses after that deadly shooting at a synagogue in Poway, California. And CNN's Ryan Young is following that part of the story -- Ryan.

YOUNG: Ana, this has been very tough. In fact, we've heard from the Mayor, Steve Vaus talking about how tight knit this community is and how this doesn't define their community. But when you hear about the people in the inside, there was a service going on, more than a hundred people there. You understand the sheer terror that they probably were going through.

In fact, listen to this woman talking about not giving up and not being deterred.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MINOO ANVARI, CONGREGATION CHABAD MEMBER: My husband called and he said that there has been a shooting in in synagogue. And unfortunately one of my friends is down and my Rabbi has been injured, two other people are injured and the one guy came to shoot everybody and cursing. Of course they took them to hospital and we are praying for then, but one message from all of us, from my congregation that we are standing together. We are getting stronger. Never again, you can't break us. We are strong. You can't break us. We all are together.

YOUNG: Was there a service going on? An event going on?

ANVARI: It's Chabad's last day of Passover and Yizkor which is a very important ceremony for us.

YOUNG: And the description of it, you said it, you said it was a guy.

ANVARI: This was a guy, yes.

YOUNG: And he was screaming and he was cursing. Do you have a description of what it looks like?

ANVARI: I mean, I think that he has been arrested.

YOUNG: And who is your friend that was inside or would he be --

ANVARI: I can't say her name. But it's one of my friends.

YOUNG: Where was your husband?

ANVARI: My husband is shocked? Shocked like everybody else. This community -- it's unbelievable. You're talking about Poway, a very peaceful place. Everybody knows everybody. It's like a small place.

YOUNG: Rabbi Goldstein does things for everybody.

ANVARI: And Rabbi Goldstein is such a nice man. Everybody knows him. He is so friendly. He goes everywhere and why? The question is why. People are praying. If you have guts, go and fight with people that you have to fight, don't kill innocent people.

YOUNG: And your husband was inside, you said during that? Until you found out?

ANVARI: Yes, yes.

YOUNG: Oh my gosh, and he's okay? But he's just shocked.

ANVARI: He is shocked.

YOUNG: And what else did you hear from him? What else did he have to say?

ANVARI: He just -- he is shocked. He can talk. I have my blood pressure, unfortunately. So I'm hoping that they letting it come. They release him earlier.

YOUNG: And your parishioners of the Church. What's the name of the synagogue? Exactly?

ANVARI: It's Chabad. Chabad of Poway.

YOUNG: Chabad of Poway, and what would you call yourselves? Parishioners or are you called members? Is that --

ANVARI: I'm a member. One of the members of the Church, yes.

YOUNG: Got you, member.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:45:02] YOUNG: "You can't break us. You can't break us." Those were the words she was saying in the middle there. Let's not forget there's at least a hundred people who still need to be interviewed by homicide and investigators who are on the inside there.

Imagine the shock they are going through at this hour knowing that four people they probably cared about deeply, have been injured in a shooting. Of course, one woman being killed. We know a juvenile was shot, two adults were shot. This should make anyone who is an American or a human for that matter, upset that a 19-year-old walk into a place of worship and open fire with an AR assault rifle.

CABRERA: You can't break us, she says. Those words mean a lot tonight. Ryan Young, thank you very much. Quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: I want to read you some of the reaction now to the Poway synagogue shooting coming across social media this evening. Here's what California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted a short time ago, "Charleston, Pittsburgh, Quebec, now New Zealand and now our own Poway, California. No one should ever fear going to their place of worship. Hate continues to fuel horrific and cowardice acts of violence across our state, country and world. It must be called out. California stands with Poway. California stands with Poway."

California senator and presidential candidate, Kamala Harris tweeting this, "Yet again, a place of worship is the target of senseless gun violence and hate. Anti-Semitism is real in this country and we must not be silent. Enough is enough. My heart aches for the Chabad of Poway synagogue and the Jewish Community."

[18:50:08] CABRERA: House Speaker and California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi writing, "Coming just six months after the horrific mass shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, we are confronted with what appears to be another anti-Semitic attack. We all stand with the Jewish community against this act of hate."

We have this from Vice President Mike Pence, "We condemn in the strongest terms the evil and cowardly shooting at Chabad of Poway. Today as Jewish family celebrated Passover, no one should be in fear and a house of worship. Anti-Semitism isn't just wrong, it's evil."

And First Lady Melania Trump says, "On this last day of Passover, I was heartbroken to hear of another senseless shooting in a place of worship. My heart and prayers go out to all affected in the community."

We're also hearing from the President. He spoke just before he left the White House for a rally in Wisconsin. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do. My deepest sympathies go to the people that were affected, the families, their loved ones, by the obviously looks right now, based on my last conversations, it looks like a hate crime. Hard to believe. Hard to believe.

With respect to the synagogue in California near San Diego, and we're doing some very heavy research. We'll see what happens and what comes up. At this moment, it looks like a hate crime. But my deepest sympathies to all of those affected and we'll get to the bottom of it. It looks like the person was apprehended. No more danger and law enforcement has done a fantastic job. Fantastic job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Okay, again, that was the President. I want to go right to our Josh Campbell, who's joining us. Josh, do you have new information?

CAMPBELL: So we're still waiting to get some details, Ana, as far as whether this will become a Federal case or whether this will be a local case. We hope to get that information from officials at the latest press conference.

Now, there could be two separate things here, depending on which direction this goes. If it's federal, obviously, you will see a larger presence by the FBI, by the Department of Justice, in order to try to determine what would be the maximum number of years for example, that this person could be behind bars.

That will be compared with what state officials are able to calculate based on local law here. And so we're told that they're not yet at that phase. They are very much in the investigative stage where they're trying to get to the motive. They're trying to really build out this case, but that's something that we will be looking for is whether this goes Federal, whether it stays state.

We do know from law enforcement that regardless of what prosecutors do, the police, the Federal agents are working in tandem right now to dig into this person's past in order to get to that motive.

CABRERA: Again, given they have somebody in custody; now, they have to build a case, right? Against somebody who is suspected of committing this horrific shooting.

I'm wondering, Josh, how does law enforcement weigh what they can share with the community about what they've learned?

CAMPBELL: Yes, it's a very good question. And initially, whenever you were in the emergent phase where authorities have an incident, you had the person that fled the scene, had that continued on for a significant period of time, we would have expected to see a lot of information shared from law enforcement on what they know, based on the witness accounts there, based on perhaps CCTV.

The fact that the person is in custody now means that we can expect that the public posture for law enforcement is now going to shrink significantly because now, they are constant trying to weigh what is in the public interest and what may negatively impact the investigation. And what I mean by that is, you have one person in custody, that

doesn't mean that there aren't others out there who may also be associated this person perhaps in contact at this point in time as you and I sit here, it's not -- it doesn't behoove law enforcement to share that information, because that really could impact the integrity of their investigation.

If they develop new leads, we're not going to expect them to share that right now. That will be part of this larger case that they build on the subject. But again, the main thing for the community right now is that the threat, at least as it relates to this one individual no longer continues.

But again, it will be incumbent upon law enforcement to at some point, lay out the facts of their case until you know as a country, what is at stake here, whether this actually mirrors other attacks that we've seen the past.

CABRERA: Right, and we heard from the sheriff a short time ago that they have at least a hundred people, a hundred witnesses, potentially, who are still inside the synagogue, who they needed to interview, what type of information and questions would they be? What type of information would they be trying to get in terms of the questions they would be asking?

CAMPBELL: So since the person has been taken into custody, law enforcement will now move to prosecute him. And in order to do that, you have to build a solid case. And a lot of that will come down to what witnesses saw, every one of those people will be interviewed, just as a matter of course, because one person might see something that perhaps another person didn't see and, you know, we don't yet know if this has involved more than one person. Authorities tell us that there's no longer a threat.

[18:55:06] CAMPBELL: But for example, if someone at the entryway saw something that perhaps someone that was closer inside the building didn't see that it was of value to law enforcement, they want to know that, so they are going to talk to every single person in order to gather the facts.

And then again, to build that case, in a facility like this, which is a modern building, we can expect that there's a CCTV footage, other type of coverage that law enforcement can use to corroborate what they're hearing from the witnesses. But nevertheless, that's detective work 101, you're going to talk to people that were there, find out what they saw.

CABRERA: How do they determine that this is a hate crime?

CAMPBELL: Yes, so it's going to come down to what the subject -- what was in his mind? What he intended? Did he go there with the intention of killing Jews? Killing people because of their religion?

Now, we know based on the location that obviously that's a red flag. This is a house of worship. But for law enforcement officers, it's not enough for them to just look at the circumstances. They want to dig in more. They want to corroborate that perhaps with what the subject says himself, perhaps what they hear from his associates.

CABRERA: Okay, Josh Campbell. Thank you very much for all that good information. And that's going to do it for me. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thank you for being with us. My colleagues, Don Lemon and Alisyn Camerota are going to pick up our breaking news coverage after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. And this is our breaking news coverage. Thank you for joining us. I'm Don Lemon.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Alisyn Camerota. We do begin with breaking news for you out of California. Today, is the last day of Passover. And shortly before noon, local time, just north of San Diego, police say a 19-year-old man entered the congregation of Chabad Synagogue and began ...

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