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13 Hours Of Bloodshed, Mass Shootings Leave 29 People Dead; Police Reports Nine Dead, 27 Injured In Dayton Mass Shooting; 20 Dead, 26 Injured in El Paso Mass Shooting. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired August 04, 2019 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[18:00:00]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Hi. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington with breaking news on this Sunday evening. Two American cities in mourning tonight after back-to-back shootings, one in El Paso, Texas, the other in Dayton, Ohio. Each of them, a lone gunman, white, male, under 25, and police believe both expressed extreme and violent views that they put in writing.
29 people were killed in the two shootings combined, more than 50 others are wounded. In Dayton, Ohio, people in a popular nightclub district hit the ground or started running when gunfire suddenly erupted at about 1:00 in the morning. Police responded almost immediately, shooting the gunman dead but not before he killed nine people, including his own sister.
Listen to how it unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Shots fired.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A3, where are you at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dispatch, we got shots fired, we got multiple people down. We're going to need multiple medics. Somebody take each side of Fifth Street, East Fifth and by the old (ph) auditorium. Fifth down by Wayne. We're going to need to shut the whole street down.
We think there's one shooter. He is down. We have multiple down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, I've got them coming there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're clear to come in. We have -- it looks like we have nine or ten shot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, I've got them coming in. They're coming in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: About 13 hours before that, some 1,600 miles away in El Paso, Texas, another mass shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Run, Mika (ph). Run.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: People at a crowded Walmart store nearby a shopping mall, they scrambled for safety when a man with a rifle started shooting at everyone he saw, starting in the parking lot. Police say this is the killer, the man who gunned down 20 people at that Walmart store and wounded more than two dozen others. They believe he posted a so- called manifesto online filled with hate speak, racist language and anti-immigrant views.
Police took him into custody alive. He is 21 years old. Federal officials are treating him as a domestic terrorist and state authorities have filed capital murder charges.
We also just learned a significant detail about the Walmart where Saturday's El Paso shooting took place. No, repeat, no security officers were present at that Walmart when Saturday's shooting rampage happened. A Walmart spokesman telling CNN the El Paso store has a video and audio surveillance system installed in the the parking lot that's supposed to act as a deterrent to any violent activity taking place on Walmart premises.
Authorities are in the process now of reviewing Walmart surveillance footage. CNN's Jim Sciutto is in El Paso for us. Jim, update us, first of all, on the latest on the investigation and how the El Paso community is handling this devastating loss.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I'll tell you one of the more disturbing details today is that the victims of this shooting, those 20 dead, are still inside the Walmart and the outside where this shooting took place. It is still an active crime scene. Police collecting evidence, forensics, because, of course, they have the shooter in custody. There's going to be a prosecution after that.
But that has led to another disturbing detail and that is that many families here still don't know if their loved ones are alive or dead. They've been gathering at an elementary school down the street and they don't have word yet because those victims have not been definitively identified. That is part of the pain that this community is going through right now is just simply not knowing, not knowing who lost their lives in that shooting.
Of course, the other part of the pain here was the nature of this attack. It was a case of domestic terrorism. The shooter was a white supremacist who posted, as you mentioned, a manifesto in which he described his intention specifically to target Mexicans, and that appears to be what he did in the store here.
I spoke earlier today with a state Senator, Jose Rodriguez, who is from this area and he described being a member of this community. His reaction to the hate that led to the violence, have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: This was a white supremacist. He made postings, targeting Hispanics. Those were his targets here. In fact, he's not from here. He came here specifically on a town that's right on the border with Mexico. That is Mexico you can see just beyond about a couple of miles away. Tell us about that hate and your reaction to that hate.
SEN. JOSE RODRIGUEZ (D-TX): Well, unfortunately, that hate has been growing in this country for quite some time driven, as we all know, by President Trump himself.
SCIUTTO: You're saying the President adds to that hatred?
[18:00:00]
RODRIGUEZ: There's no question about it. I think his comments over a period of time have indicated his animosity towards people of color. I mean, he starts his campaign by calling Mexicans, you know, rapists and criminals. And he's continued ever since with against Muslims, against, you know, different people of color. So it starts at the top, Jim.
And we have some of that kind of rhetoric right here in the State of Texas as well. I mean, we've heard that from some of our state leadership, unfortunately. And that's not something that we should tolerate. That's something that we as a society, not just here in Texas but across the country, need to come to terms with. Or we need to do something more than just offering prayers and consolation to the families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: I spoke a short time ago to another state Representative, Cesar Blanco, who had listened to the President's comments. And he noticed that the President did not mention the words, white supremacy, did not mention the words, domestic terrorism, did not even mention the word, guns.
And as he looks at this from his community, someone born and raised here, those are the issues he wants discussed now as a way forward to prevent attacks like this in the future.
One final word, Wolf. We've been here for a number of hours today. Let me just say that for a community that has been struck by such tragedy, the warmth and welcome that we have felt here, for the second time, someone walked up and offered us dinner and dropped it here on the table here just as a sign that they want to show this is a welcoming community, it's a community they thought of as safe. Of course, that sense of safety shattered today after this horrible tragedy. Wolf?
BLITZER: They are wonderful people there in El Paso as you have discovered over these past several hours. Jim Sciutto, we're going to get back to you. Thank you very much. I want to go to Dayton, Ohio, right now and I want our viewers to take a closer look at this. A pile of shoes left behind as people simply left for their lives, new testament to the absolute panic that broke out when the gunfire began there in that nightclub district of Dayton. A weekend night out turned into a life and death drama.
For Ohio's Democratic Senator, Sherrod Brown, last night's shooting is the last straw. He is now demanding action from the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-OH): I hope that Senator McConnell would bring the Senate back tomorrow and pass the background check bill and send it to the President. The President must sign it, period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: CNN's National Correspondent Ryan Young is on the scene for us in Dayton right now. Ryan, what's the latest information you're getting?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we've been talking to police officers here. They really showed a details, a quick talk (ph) of what happened here. I can tell you the emotions really -- there's one young man out here who's talking about how his family is impacted. In fact, he lost two cousins.
Listen to this emotional sound that we just heard in the last 20 minutes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAMON DAVENPORT, COUSIN OF THOMAS MCNICHOLS: I'm at a loss for words right now. My family is at a loss for words, but I've got to remain strong.
You know, you have people in high places, you know, and I'm going to get on every news station and I'm going to shout this out. You know, we have gun laws, people can just go and buy guns and, you know, not even be registered or not even qualify. You know, they can just walk into a gun store and buy high-powered equipment and walk right now and kill people in broad daylight and broad nighttime. Do you know what I'm saying? Like this has got to stop. This has got to stop. And today is going to be the day that it does stop.
I'm shouting out to the President of the United States. I want this to go viral and make sure that this is on every news station, because my cousins did not deserve to lose their life. They had children, hard working people. All they were just doing was enjoying a night on the town and they're dead, never to come home again, never to see their family again. They're gone.
And I want the President to hear this. Donald Trump, I want you to hear this. You need to be here right now. You need to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Wolf, that young man was shaking here in the street as he was talking to us about his family members that he lost. Firefighters were actually using a hose to cleanse the street of all the blood that was out here. I can tell you, this is really hitting this community hard and the police chief says they're trying to get all the information they can about this investigation, especially what led up to the shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YOUNG: Late Saturday night in Dayton, Ohio, a night out turned into a night of terror.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Shots fired.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A3, where are you at?
YOUNG: Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said the suspected shooter, 24-year- old Connor Betts, began shooting around 1:07 A.M.
MAYOR NAN WHALEY (D-OH): A suspect opened fire along Oregon District. He was wearing body armor and used a .223 caliber high-capacity magazine. He had additional magazines.
[18:10:01]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dispatch, we've got shots fired. We've got multiple people down. We're going to need multiple medics.
YOUNG: Two women say they were out with girlfriends.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People just started running. They started pushing us out the backdoor.
YOUNG: Her friend says she remembers chatting with a woman about their outfits. But the next time she saw her --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was laying on the concrete dead outside of the club that we was at.
YOUNG: Whaley says the gunman was quickly shot and killed by police who were routinely patrolling the area.
WHALEY: In less than one minute, Dayton first responders neutralized the shooter.
YOUNG: Despite the quick response, at least nine people were killed and more than a dozen injured. One of those killed was Betts' own 22- year-old sister.
GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): The officers who were involved in ending this tragedy, their professionalism, their quickness, their amazing courage and their response undoubtedly saved many, many, many lives. We will never know how many lives were saved. The assailant was obviously very, very close to being able to kill dozens and dozens more people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Wolf, when you watch this video, you can see how quickly police responded. In fact a young man had that gun with a hundred rounds in it and he was firing when officers were able to converge on him and take him down. If you think about it, even the police chief talked about this. If he would have made it inside that club, this tragedy could have been so much worse.
But when you hear the pain in that young man's voice, you understand so much has been lost in this community. There will be a candlelight vigil in the next two hours or so. So many people are reeling from this trying to figure out exactly what happened.
BLITZER: Ryan Young on the scene for us in Dayton, Ryan, thank you very much.
Coming up, the parents of a young man lost in the Parkland shooting were actually in El Paso when tragedy struck again. I'll speak to them. That's next.
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BLITZER: The parents of a Parkland, Florida high school shooting victim just happened to be visiting El Paso this weekend to honor their late son with a memorial mural. Joaquin Oliver would have celebrated his 19th birthday today. He was just 3 years old when he and his family immigrated to the United States from Venezuela. He became a U.S. citizen just months before he was gunned down inside the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
His parents, Manuel and Patricia Oliver, are joining me on the phone right now. Manuel and Patricia, our hearts go out to you. I know this must be so painful to relive this kind of experience right now.
You were both in El Paso to unveil this mural honoring your late son. First of all, tell us, Patricia, let me start with you, how did you react when you first heard about the deadly shooting at the Walmart in El Paso?
PATRICIA OLIVER, PARENT OF PARKLAND SHOOTING VICTIM JOAQUIN OLIVER: Well, sadly, the truth, I wasn't impressed because this is something that is keeping happening and really makes me feel frustrated because we need everybody to go out and spread their voice and we act really fast.
BLITZER: Manuel, there are a lot of families grieving right now, not only in El Paso but in Dayton, Ohio, as well. What's your message to them?
MANUEL OLIVER, PARENT OF PARKLAND SHOOTING VICTIM JOAQUIN OLIVER: Well, it takes a little time to understand what happened. Even when you get it, you don't believe it and you need to go ahead and fight it back. The way that our kids or husbands or wives were taken away from us is just not fair and we cannot accept it as a new norm.
So these hours are critical. Families are devastated. But they will get back to their lives at some point and they should start fighting for their loved ones. Now, they need to carry their voices. It's the only way to still be a father, a wife, a husband, a son or a daughter.
BLITZER: Yes, that's so important. Patricia, what goes through your mind when you hear about the apparent very hateful motivations of this attacker in El Paso?
P. OLIVER: Well, you imagine that is like deja vu. You know, once again, a young kid made this happen. Really, it makes me very sad going because I know what is going through all this process and feeling all the pain that these families are feeling right now. And considering that we've been in this situation for more than a year and it still is going on, this situation really is frustrating me the most.
BLITZER: And Manuel, tell us about the memorial mural for your son, Joaquin. What does it represent to you?
M. OLIVER: Let me add something to what Patricia said. We have leaders that are sending the wrong message to the nation. And that ends up in these kind of situations. What happened yesterday is a perfect example of someone that was just following kind of instructions from one of our leaders. That hate should never happen, not in what we like to call the most powerful and the best nation in the whole world. So that needs to be solved and that's easy to solve. Our leaders need to watch their words because their words will have an effect on the civilians.
Now, back to your question, the memorial was going to be about Joaquin and his support to the immigrants. And now, it's the same concept. In addition, we're going to add the support because of gun violence to the City of El Paso.
BLITZER: Well, our hearts go out to you. Thank you so much for what you're doing and we wish both of you only all of our love as you go forward. I know how difficult and painful -- I can only imagine how difficult and painful it must be. Manuel an Patricia Oliver, thank you so much for joining us.
M. OLIVER: Thank you very much.
P. OLIVER: Thank you so much.
BLITZER: We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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BLITZER: Two American cities in anguish right now after suffering mass shootings that happened just hours apart. 20 people killed in El Paso, Texas, another nine people killed in Dayton, Ohio. I want to bring in Phil Mudd. He's a former CIA Counterterrorism Official as well as former Senior Intelligence Advisor over at the FBI, also Crime and Justice Reporter Shimon Prokupecz.
Shimon, let's talk about motive right now. Based on the writings, what do we know about this shooter in El Paso?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: So that's what we really know, there are writings. In terms of the El Paso shooter, there are -- there is the manifest, of course. And because of that, they believe, that's why officials there have said, you know, we have enough evidence to say that at least at this point, we're investigating this as a hate crime. And so as a result of that, they have gone through these writings. They believe that they are linked to him. And, obviously, these writings, when you see them, when you read through this, there's just no other way to explain it but that it's just hate. It's full of hate.
BLITZER: That's the shooter in El Paso.
PROKUPECZ: In El Paso.
BLITZER: What about the shooter in Dayton?
PROKUPECZ: Well, so Dayton is interesting. They also have writings in there. When authorities went to do the search warrant at his home, they did find writings. What they're saying to us and who they're explaining to us is that these writings are -- he talks about violence, wanting to kill people. But there are no indications of any kind of political leanings or any kind of racial bias.
[18:25:06]
It does not speak to any kind of motive.
BLITZER: At least not yet.
PROKUPECZ: At least not yet. they have not found anything.
BLITZER: If he writes that he wants to kill people, that's pretty shocking.
PROKUPECZ: It is definitely shocking and it's definitely concerning. And I think that's why it's not very clear to authorities what his motive was here.
We know he also killed his sister, so that also complicates in terms of the motive. So there's a lot of complicating factors that they are not ready to say this is definitively why this happened.
BLITZER: He was 24 years old, the sister, 22 years old. She was shot by him, she's dead. Obviously, police shot him. She was with a companion who was shot but wounded. He's alive. What are the -- the authorities, clearly, they have a lot of questions for him.
PHILLIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM: Sure. I mean, there's the quick question which I think is pretty much resolved at this point about whether somebody else might be motivated by this attack, for example, somebody in his circle of friends. Once you get beyond that, some of the questions you're going to have revolved around not only was somebody aware of it, somebody who should have spoken, but obviously the question of motivation.
A fundamental difference between Texas and Dayton. Texas, you immediately can look at that as a potential domestic terror case because, as Shimon was saying, we understand at least at the surface motive, doing this for a political purpose, I don't like immigrants.
Dayton, motive is not clear. You can't determine that that's domestic terrorism because it simply could have been a hate crime. He's got a problem with his sister. That's not politically. That's not terror. That's hate. So right now, they're talking to people to try to determine motive. Family members ought to be able to say, this is his mindset over the past few months and they can figure it out.
BLITZER: I'm sure they'll figure it out fairly soon, Phil.
Police were able to take him down within 30 seconds. But during those 30 seconds while he was firing his weapon, he shot 30 people and nine of them are dead.
MUDD: And I think this raises a question, and I must be the thousandth person to say this today. There's a difference. I have a farm. People come out in my farm and hunt turkey and deer all the time. Those are long arms, single-shot long arms. If you -- this issue of semi-automatic weapons and clips in this country, that period of time is so short. If you have a long arm without that kind of capacity, you're going to limit the number of people dead.
The response here is incredible, incredible. The only reason you have that number of dead is we don't have gun laws unlike Europe or Asia. We don't have gun laws that people, you can't carry clips that can kill that many people. I don't understand it, but it's a question for somebody else.
BLITZER: Yes. Well, people are going to be debating that. They have been debating it for a long time. Let's see what happens.
The ideology of the shooter in El Paso, I know you're getting some more details, only 21 years old. And if you read that four-page lengthy manifesto, as police are calling it, you get a sense of the hatred.
PROKUPECZ: The hatred. And this is not something that just maybe -- he seems to say that this is not something that he just developed, that he's had this thinking for quite some time. And it is shocking for someone so young to be filled with so much hate. You know, time and time again, when we see these shooters in these situations, a lot of times, they are very young and yet they're filled with so much hate.
And the problem is that, you know, you would have to assume that someone like this is consuming this information, is on these websites where you can read a lot about this. You find purpose, perhaps. These are individuals who are looking for some purpose for a reason. And then after consuming a lot of this information, reading a lot of this, being around a lot of this, they act. And the age is definitely something that is very, very concerning for everyone.
BLITZER: You know, it's interesting because it wasn't that long ago that the President, President Trump, was asked if he sees white nationalism as a rising threat. And he said I don't really. I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, I guess. That's what the President answered.
Christopher Wray, the FBI Director, a totally different answer the other day when he was testifying. He sees this white supremacy as a major threat to the United States.
MUDD: Let me cut -- let me be an analyst for a second and not analyze the politics of the President. Let me cut to the chase. In the past, let's say, eight, nine, ten years, there is a movement happening around the globe. And this isn't perhaps a lesson learned for the American people. I guarantee there's a lesson learned here for the intel guys in this manifesto.
In this global movement that's connected by the internet, they talk to each other, they read each other's manifestos. People around the world are going to look at the tactics that were used today, extremists, and determine whether they are tactics they can use. My bottom line as an intel guy would be, is there language used in this manifesto that appeared on websites, for example, that we should be monitoring. Is there a way that people like this are communicating that the Fed should be looking at overtime?
This web of people will be internationally is going to subject to law enforcement scrutiny. I suspect overtime there are going to be webs that are going to become more and more the subject of scrutiny because people are going to be motivating each other, not just operating independently.
BLITZER: That's an important point.
PROKUPECZ: It is. And the other thing I want to add is that it's not just the FBI and the Department of Justice and the federal folks that have to worry about this, it's now on the local level.
[18:30:01]
And, you know, a lot of intelligence and counterterrorism have -- there's been a lot of effort for, you know, violence from people linked to overseas counterterrorism groups. Now, there is this issue of domestic terrorism and how are the local police departments going to respond, what are they going to be doing differently. It is going to be an issue for them that they're going to need to face.
PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: That's right, yes.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Shimon and Phil, stand by because we have a lot more we need to report on. We're standing by, once again, for a live police news conference from
El Paso, Texas. We'll have coverage of that. This as El Paso is reeling in the wake of the mass shooting that claimed 20 lives.
Two Texas state lawmakers who represent El Paso, they're standing by to join me live.
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BLITZER: The community of El Paso, Texas awoke this morning to the aftermath of an unspeakable tragedy -- 20 members of their community killed, gunned down by a shooter who injured another 26 people.
Police believe the shooter posted a manifesto as they're calling it online less than 20 minutes before the shooting began. The document with -- was filled with racist hatred toward immigrants and Hispanics. Among the 20 people killed were six Mexican nationals.
I want to bring in Texas State Representatives Cesar Blanco and Joe Moody to join us. Let's talk about this horrendous situation happening in your community.
Cesar, as I mentioned, the police believe the alleged shooter posted this so-called manifesto that was filled with this racist hatred toward immigrants, Hispanics, and at least six Mexican citizens, nationals, were killed. As a Hispanic man in El Paso, do you feel less safe today?
[18:35:12] STATE REP. CESAR BLANCO (D-EL PASO): You know, El Paso is one of the safest cities in the country, according to the FBI. I do feel safe. I do feel safe, and I do believe that our community needs to move forward and not be afraid of this type of things. However, I think we can do more as a community and as a country to ensure that this type of incidents don't happen again.
BLITZER: Joe, what have you heard from community members there? How are they coping with this intense tragedy?
STATE REP. JOE MOODY (D-EL PASO): Yes, I think most people are operating from a position of disbelief. You know, to Representative Blanco's point, this is a safe place. This is a -- you know, this is a community that prides itself on taking care of our neighbor, making sure that the stranger and the other are always welcome.
And I think that's what makes this so hard for us to even fathom that this could happen. And I certainly think that it is because of our loving spirit and our welcoming attitude that perhaps someone who had their heart full of hate targeted a community like ours.
BLITZER: A beautiful community in El Paso, indeed. Cesar, Mexico says they're now looking to possibly seek legal action as they consider this a terrorist act against the Mexican community in the United States. They're also looking into the possibility of extraditing the suspect to Mexico. So, what's your reaction when you hear this? BLANCO: Well, you know, clearly, this individual came here to wreak
havoc in our community. It was based on race. We have seen his manifesto. So, I think he's eligible -- you know, eligible for prosecution from various perspectives.
I'm not an attorney, so I can't speak to the process, but regardless, this individual needs to be punished, and I think in a way that sends a message to other White nationalists across this country that this kind of violence will not be tolerated here.
You know, this community, while it's majority Latino, it also has a proud history of military service. Fort Bliss is located here. There are 70,000 veterans, myself included, that love this country, and we're Latinos. So, I think the law needs to be heavy-handed in this case to send a message to all White nationalists around this country that we will not tolerate your hatred in our country.
BLITZER: An important point, a very good point. Let me play, Joe, something that your Lieutenant Governor, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, said this morning. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GOV. DAN PATRICK (R), TEXAS: And I say, how long are we going to let, for example, and ignore, at the federal level, particularly, where they can do something, about the video game industry? You know, in this manifesto that we believe is from the shooter, this manifesto, he talks about living out his super soldier fantasy on Call of Duty.
We know that the video game industry is bigger than the movie industry and the music industry combined. And there have been studies that say it impacts people and studies that say it does not, but I look at the common denominators as a 60-something-year-old father and grandfather myself.
What's changed in this country? We've always had guns, we've always had evil, but what's changed where we see this rash of shooting? And I see a video game industry that teaches young people to kill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: So, what are your thoughts, Joe, when you hear the Lieutenant Governor make those points?
MOODY: I think we need to get away from that nonsense. You know, there's -- that's a debate that happened 20 or 30 years ago in this country. And as far as I know, video games are played across the world. I don't know any country that has the problem with gun violence that we do.
Let's, you know, go and to talk about the manifesto. Let's talk about some of the words that are used in there, like invasion. Those are words that have been used by leaders in this state and across this country, demonizing Hispanics, Mexican nationals, calling them rapists and thugs and murderers. You know, when you're -- when you're talking about those things in a
theoretical and you don't know about acts of violence like this that can happen, you know, I guess you -- you're merely complicit. But if you see the acts of violence that you take place -- that take place -- took place here in El Paso and you continue to use that rhetoric, then as far as I'm concerned, you're an accomplice to crimes like this.
BLITZER: Cesar --
BLANCO: If I may add, you know, video games did not --
BLITZER: Yes, please, Cesar, go ahead.
BLANCO: If I may add, video games did not kill 20 people and wound 26 people here today. It was a White supremacist with a high-powered assault weapon that killed people here in our community. Video games did not do that.
[18:40:07] We have an opportunity as a state to do meaningful legislation that prohibits weapons from getting into the hands of people that should not have them. And we should do everything that we can in our capacity -- not just as elected officials but as human beings who care for children, for the elderly, and for citizens -- to do everything we can to protect them.
BLITZER: Yes. And as has been pointed out -- and I've covered over the years -- video games are very popular, as you guys know, all over the world. In Japan, for example, extremely popular. They don't have mass shootings. They don't have the gun violence that, unfortunately, we have here in the United States all too often.
Cesar Blanco, Joe Moody, thanks to both of you for joining us.
BLANCO: Thank you.
MOODY: Thank you.
BLITZER: We're awaiting an update from El Paso police on the mass shooting. We're going to have live coverage of that once it happens. In the meantime, we'll take a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:44:59] BLITZER: One killer drove nearly 10 hours to wreak havoc on shoppers at an El Paso, Texas Walmart. The other is believed to have murdered his own sister during his deadly attack on the streets of Dayton, Ohio. Between them, they killed 29 people within the space of 13 hours and left dozens more fighting for their lives in these two cities. They aren't the first; they won't be the last.
But what can we learn about them? What can we learn about the psychology of a killer? Mary Ellen O'Toole is joining us right now. She's a former senior FBI profiler, a former FBI special agent.
Mary Ellen, thanks for joining us.
MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER SENIOR PROFILER, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: You're welcome.
BLITZER: Among the nine people the killer in Dayton, Ohio killed was his own sister. What does that tell you?
O'TOOLE: Well, that's a pretty stunning development in that case. It could suggest that there was also a domestic violence aspect to it. And as more information comes out, we'll learn that. But if you just set that aside, this is someone that came heavily armed with lots of ammunition -- the vest, the mask -- so the intent was maximum lethality, which means to kill as many people as possible.
And it was also well planned because it happened in an area where there were a lot of people and at a time of night where people may have not been on their -- have been on their guard because they'd been drinking and having a good time. So, he really chose the time when people were very vulnerable.
So, coming to an area like that, that shows that kind of planning, suggests that this individual has thought about this for a long time, and he wanted to kill as many people as he could.
BLITZER: Yes, and he could have killed more except, fortunately, the police got there within --
O'TOOLE: Yes.
BLITZER: -- what, 30 seconds and killed him. In both of these shootings, Mary Ellen, as with many other recent mass shootings in the United States, the suspect is a young White male. Why are we seeing this happen over and over and over again?
O'TOOLE: The young White male phenomenon is critical. It's in that time frame, that period of time, late teens, 20s, late 20s, where the male brain -- just like the female brain, but it's the male, they are developing. Their personalities aren't even formed. But for males, they develop -- these males develop a fascination with violence and guns, and it becomes intertwined.
And it's a period of time where most traditional males, just normal males, become really interested in things outside the family. So, other than their family, they're influenced by group behavior and wanting to be part of a group.
But for the White males, these are people that are going through -- they're blaming other people for their lot in life. They're also developing not anger. They're developing into a state of hatred, which is very dangerous. When you hate somebody, that means you want to destroy them, especially if you feel that group is getting in the way of you getting what you want.
So, I think it's a very dangerous period of time for this small group of people that are fascinated with weapons and are blaming other people for why life is treating them the way that it is.
BLITZER: As you know, in El Paso, the shooter posted what local authorities, the police, are calling a manifesto. He posted it about 20 minutes before the actual shooting, and it goes into detail, the hatred he had for Hispanics, for immigrants, and others.
O'TOOLE: The hatred is so important, and here's why I mean that. Hatred puts that individual in a state of mind where they're able to dehumanize other people and see other people as objects. And when you can do that, you're able to go in and casually shoot and kill other people while they're crying and screaming for their life.
So, that period of dehumanization, that takes -- that could take months, if not years, to develop. That's really a radicalization process. So, understanding the fact that there's that kind of animosity in an individual really makes them very dangerous.
And if you read that manifesto, there's a sense of arrogance and grandiosity about that manifesto as well because he writes about being the one that has to take charge and has to change things. And I think that contributed to his not suiciding because he really wanted to tell law enforcement and the FBI why he did what he did. There's a lot -- a lot of grandiosity there in the El Paso shooter.
BLITZER: In that manifesto, he says he expects to die that day.
O'TOOLE: He did say that.
BLITZER: And he gave up right away.
O'TOOLE: He gave up. And oftentimes, we know it's a split-second decision -- suicide, suicide by cop, or to surrender. But I think, in this case, there may have been a last-minute decision for him to say, you know what, I want to tell everybody about why I did this. And you see that type of arrogance as you read through the manifesto, about how important he is that he has to take on this fight.
BLITZER: And he is telling everything apparently. Local authorities say he's answering all of their questions in these interviews they're conducting with him.
Mary Ellen O'Toole, thanks very much for your insight.
O'TOOLE: Thank you.
BLITZER: Mary Ellen O'Toole is a former senior FBI profiler.
We're waiting for an update from El Paso police any moment now. They're about to have a news conference. We're told they have some new information. We'll bring it to you live. That's coming up.
[18:50:02] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Law enforcement officials in El Paso, Texas are investigating what they describe as a manifesto-type document posted online just minutes before yesterday's massacre. The document, which is believed to have been written by the accused shooter, is filled with hateful rhetoric against immigrants and Hispanics.
One of the opening lines reads, and I'm quoting now, this attack is in response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas. The writer goes on to cite what's called the great replacement, a theory we heard echoed in this White supremacist chant in Charlottesville.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: You will not replace us! You will not replace us! You will not replace us!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You will not replace us. And they chanted, Jews will not replace us.
I want to bring in our chief media correspondent, "RELIABLE SOURCES" anchor Brian Stelter. Brian, what does this say about the gunman's motivations?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, it may give investigators some clues about what Web sites, what talk shows, what other kinds of media this suspect was listening to and consuming.
We knew that he had a Twitter profile years ago where he was posting about politics. He wasn't posting a lot online very visibly in the past two years, but he eventually ended up on a message board called 8chan known for its extremist content. That signals to me that he knew what dark corners of the Internet to visit.
And this idea of the great replacement theory, you know, this is a -- this is a conspiracy theory-type thing, suggesting that Hispanics, other people of color, are replacing Whites in America. This does have White nationalist rhetoric all over it.
But the idea here is that America -- the truth, I think, is that America -- the story of America is a table. People coming to the table, people being joined -- joining the table. But this great replacement theory is that they are losing -- the White people are losing their place at the table.
[18:55:06] So, what most people perceive as progress, a multicultural country where more and more people are joining, these extremists view as a loss. They view it as a threat to their way of life. And that's the kind of rhetoric that we sometimes hear in the fringe corners of the Internet. Sadly, we sometimes hear it from right-wing radio and T.V., and it seems that's what this gunman was parroting.
BLITZER: So, so significant. So important. They've got to watch all this kind of stuff. Brian Stelter, thank you very much.
We're also learning new details this hour about the man police are calling a champion of the shooter who opened fire in Dayton, Ohio. We have details.
And we're also standing by for a news conference at the top of the hour from El Paso. There you see a live picture coming in. Police are getting ready to brief us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington with breaking news on this
weekend of horrific violence here in the United States. Twenty-nine people killed, dozens more injured, in two mass shootings separated by only 13 hours and 1,600 miles. The most recent one in Dayton, Ohio early this morning.
And now, we have new and frightening surveillance video that shows the moment shots rang out in a popular nightclub district. People running, ducking for cover, and in some cases, falling to the ground.
[18:59:59] And we're going to get to all of that, but there's a news conference in El Paso right now. I want to go to the local authorities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SGT. ROBERT GOMEZ, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, EL PASO POLICE DEPARTMENT: The next brief will be sometime tomorrow afternoon. We will announce it.
