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Mass Shooting In Texas And Ohio Leave 29 Dead; Nine Dead, 16 Injured In Dayton, Ohio Mass Shooting; Twenty People Die In El Paso Store Shooting, 26 Injured; Bloodshed In A Span Of 13 Hours. Aired 6- 7a ET

Aired August 04, 2019 - 06:00   ET

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


[06:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Victor Blackwell here in El Paso, Texas. Christi Paul in Atlanta as we this morning are covering 13 hours of bloodshed across America. Twenty-nine people killed, more than 40 injured. Welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and joining us from around the world.

The first shooting here on Saturday in El Paso, Texas. Twenty people killed, 26 injured. Let's go now Polo Sandoval who's covering the shooting that happened overnight in Dayton, Ohio. What is the latest there that you have for us, Polo?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, hearing from authorities on the ground saying that a gunman essentially opened fire at a business there in Dayton, Ohio in a very popular part of the downtown area, an upscale area that has been described by officials there on the ground.

What we understand according to investigators and mainly the spokesperson there in the region is that an individual wearing body armor, armed with an assault rifle, opened fire there in the region in Dayton's Oregon district, again, a very popular night life area there as you are about to hear from your conversations, Victor, with Decker, the public information officer from Montgomery County. You can kind of establish a bit of a short time line of what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEB DECKER, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, MONTGOMERY COUNTY (on the phone): As you know the shooting began at a place in the Oregon district which is a very popular district here in Dayton, down town Dayton. The shooting began around Blind Bob's and the shooter, one person wearing body armor, carrying an assault rifle, began shooting and making their way toward a place called Ned Peppers.

And a guy from Ned Peppers ended up grabbing the barrel of the gun and the -- so the shooter picked up a handgun and was going to continue shooting, however the police arrived and shot the man dead there. So far including the shooter there are 10 dead. We're looking at about at least 16 wounded. That is the extent of what I know.

BLACKWELL: So the last number we -- the last number we got was nine. You're now saying there are 10 dead in this shooting in Ohio?

DECKER: Yes, there are 10 dead and that includes the shooter.

BLACKWELL: Oh, including the shooter. OK.

This investigation, tell us what -- what is happening there at this moment? I imagine that it is shut down, there is a large scene there. Give us an idea of what is happening right now.

DECKER: Well, as you said, it is shut down. The investigation is still going on. Police have marked off the areas in the Oregon district that they are keeping people out of as they are -- do their investigation.

We've got the convention center set up for people that have questions or are trying to find someone or need more information about possible loved ones that were in the area at the time. And we are here responding at Montgomery County and waiting for the investigators to do what they need to do in order to bring peace to these families.

BLACKWELL: The 16 injured, do you know if those are all gunshot victims as well, if those 16 were all shot?

DECKER: I do not know that at this point.

BLACKWELL: OK. Is there any idea -- and I know this is very early on -- of a motive potentially, did this man say anything, are you hearing from people there?

DECKER: I've heard nothing about a motive, no.

BLACKWELL: OK. All right. I understand that you're asking people to come forward with information, any pictures, video. Talk to us about that.

DECKER: Honestly I don't know that they are doing any of that. I think that they are still trying to assess the scene and get people the treatment they need.

BLACKWELL: Can you give us a clearer idea of the Oregon district and what that is?

DECKER: It is just a part of the -- it's more of an upscale part of the downtown area. It's a nice. It has got good restaurants and shopping and things like that.

It is not far -- it is off 5th street in downtown Dayton -- I'm sure a lot of people go.

BLACKWELL: Are those victims at the -- I'm sorry, there is a bit of a delay. So if you hear me jump in, it is because there's a delay, I'm not cutting you off. But do you know if what happened there in Dayton that the victims, have they been removed from the scene?

DECKER: As far as I know, yes. Everybody is getting treatment.

[06:05:01]

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Montgomery County officials there laying out exactly what we know for sure and what is still in its preliminary stages here. And that includes that version that you mentioned a little while ago. They're still looking into exactly what happened.

But we do know for sure as Decker laid out here is 10 people dead and that includes the gunman himself and 16 people wounded. And Deb Decker in that conversation with you, Victor, essentially describing that area where the shooting happened, a very vibrant -- vibrant, very popular part of downtown Ohio. So as you can imagine, it would have been packed with people on a Saturday night. That certainly would have been a contributing factor when you look at these numbers, 16 injured, 9 dead and as well as the shooter, that would be a total of 10 people killed in downtown Dayton.

Now the main question is exactly what is the motive? There is absolutely no indication to connect this to what we witnessed in west Texas. However, it is a very similar obviously procedure that investigators are following here after securing the scene, after going from an active shooter scene, it is now an active homicide investigation.

And of course we're also seeing something very similar to what we witnessed in El Paso, which is an effort to reunite some of these survivors, some of the victims with their family members as they work to notify now the families of at least nine victims here. Back to you.

BLACKWELL: Polo Sandoval reporting on what is happening there in Dayton. And we just got a new image in that I want to show you. Dozens of shoes there from the scene in Dayton, Ohio. I don't know why there would be these shoes. Maybe our law enforcement analyst Josh Campbell who's with us can tell us.

Maybe it is a night club and people are kicking them off to get off -- get away as quickly as possible. But -- so people are kicking those shoes off to run, right? So that's just a poignant picture of the emergency that happens when you start hearing those shots fired off.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes. Absolutely. That is quite an image there that we're seeing. Again you have to put yourself in the mindset and that space and time as a patron at a bar where you are having a good time, you are out, as you mentioned, maybe dancing, enjoying the company of others. And all of a sudden gunshots ring out.

We tell people that you run, hide, fight. If you ask run and get out of there, that is your primary task and so possibly that was the case here, people trying to flee this location. We don't know how many were actually in this location at the time, but all those people (INAUDIBLE) now potential witnesses. Law enforcement will want to talk with them and try to understand exactly what transpired. And, again, we've been talking all morning long about the fact that we're at the scene of one mass shooting reporting on yet another mass shooting. And as Polo mentioned for investigators, their key right now is to try to get to that motivation, to determine are there any people out there that any have known the shooter, or there are others maybe that are still -- that they want to talk to.

The differences between the two scenes is that obviously in Dayton now that shooter is deceased. So law enforcement officers can't interview him and so it's going to be quite a task for them to try to determine what happened there and who this person was.

BLACKWELL: Deb Decker just gave us an important detail here. Unlike what's happening here in El Paso that shooter in the Oregon district there in Ohio was wearing body armor, right? When you hear that shooter comes in wearing body armor, your first thought is what?

CAMPBELL: There is no question that this person is coming to just cause mass loss of life. Someone who comes prepared to continue the attack. And that is what it is all about.

I mean, someone who goes in and -- at least in this day and age, in an active shooter type situation, if you are a shooter, you know that it is a possibility you're going to be taken down by law enforcement or perhaps someone there that may have a firearm. So the fact that you would prepare yourself, equip yourself to prolong that attack, to continue to cause mass loss of life again just tells us about the depravity of that mindset that this person came there trying to kills as many people as he could.

BLACKWELL: This is something obviously in the last 24 we've discussed and several times in covering mass shootings, but walk us through now in the case now that you have a deceased shooter to figure out a motive. Unlike here, we know that the shooter in El Paso is speaking with investigators. There you don't have a suspect, the shooter, to talk with.

How do they go about finding out the why, the answer to that question?

CAMPBELL: Yes. So they're digging into this person now. The first step is to identify him. We've seen incidents in the past where sometimes shooters won't even have identification with them. And so authorities will have to look at fingerprints and possibly DNA.

If this person did have a wallet or some I.D. then they can quickly determine who this is. And then they work out from that, trying to talk to his associates, trying to -- we can imagine right now if they have identified him that they are gathering search warrants to conduct searches on any addresses that may be associated with him.

That's the physical side. There is also the digital space. Which -- we've talked long about in these shootings a lot of time if have an online presence, social media platform, oftentimes we've seen again in instances just in California last week where there was yet another mass shooting where the subject was on Instagram talking about essentially the target of his attack. [06:10:08]

And so that will be a task for law enforcement, that digital team to dig into this person again to try to figure out who this person is and really work outwards to talk to his associates and really get a picture of what they are dealing with.

BLACKWELL: We've seen the cellphone video, the pictures. And that is not just to show the viewer what happened here, that really is a tool for law enforcement as well. And we know in this case and I'm sure in what's happening there law enforcement is asking people to come forward with whatever video that they can find. Talk about how important that is to build a case.

CAMPBELL: Yes. So here at the scene in El Paso, the FBI set up a special Web site, FBI.gov/elpasoshooting, and they are calling upon any member of the public who was here at the crime scene that may have images or video to upload that. That's a potential gold mine for investigators because they want to do two things.

They want to track the movements of the shooter and they want to look to ensure that there weren't other people that were there associates or accomplices and the like. Think about a bar scene fast forward now to Dayton where if you are out with friends it's not unlikely that you would be taking pictures and videos. You're having a good time.

The moment that turns into a crime scene, that now becomes evidence. And law enforcement officers want to again look through that for the very same purpose, they want to determine the movements, they want to determine if there are others there.

And again, they are calling on the public to provide that information. They will have CCTV footage likely and things like that, but it is a gold mine potentially of evidence to be able to get that from witnesses to put eyes on and again figure out -- paint this picture of what happened.

BLACKWELL: Josh Campbell with us all morning. Thank you for that from the law enforcement perspective.

Now from national security, let's go to Juliette Kayyem who is joining us from Cambridge, Massachusetts. First, Juliette, listen at one point to say that we were covering two of these in a week was a tragic threshold. Now you were on just a couple hours ago talking about --

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- El Paso. Now it is Dayton. What is your reaction to what we're seeing in just a span of 13 hours?

KAYYEM: Well, obviously this is a tragedy and so just looking at the -- I'm most interested in if there are commonalties at this stage. We don't know much about Dayton, so we'll be careful, but we are getting enough reliable reports about the shooter being in some sort of body armor as Josh just described. That is someone who is ready essentially for the mass killing, someone who has maybe thought it through.

We believe this is also true of El Paso and the shooting there because this is an individual who posted, who drove 10 hours to get to El Paso from where he was. So looking at Dayton, I'm looking at both, you know, was he triggered by something that happened in El Paso, what is his digital footprint, is he part of a larger sort of ideological group, or is this just unfortunately a random shooting that has no motivation but for anger or maybe he knew people at the bar or whatever.

The body armor though is a trigger in my mind that this is something that at least might have an ideological motivation simply because that is something that you don't just sort of wake up and decide to do a shooting. That seems to be planned out. So that sort of in my mind thinking about the commonalties in the kind of terrorism we're in, that is what I'm looking at over the course of 12 hours.

I went to bed at 1:00. Getting off of air I get all these alerts. I thought they were about El Paso and then they were about Ohio.

BLACKWELL: Speaking of commonality, I mean, again the concern over soft targets as we've learned that term --

KAYYEM: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- has become part of our normal jargon. This, a department store, that an entertainment district, and a bar and restaurant. This renews the conversation on if there can be some way to harden these targets. So, what's your thought there?

KAYYEM: It is -- it always happens after these mass killings, the challenge of course is that you also have to promote the flow as we say of people shopping at a Walmart or going out on a Saturday night. So you try to use technology and other apparatus to try to minimize the risk but you're never going to get it down to zero.

So Walmart -- there's a couple -- we were told yesterday there is a couple thousand people in that store, it is also an open carry state so that there is sort of an acceptance of guns and having guns on your person. In Dayton, this is a lively area where people are -- do not have an expectation of high security, be very hard to fortify even a street in an active sort of social area. So, that is the challenge.

And so one of the reasons why people like me who worry about fortifying places and thinking about how do you keep people safe in these areas where lots of people are congregating also look to or talk about the kind of weapons that are being used, that are killing this many people this quickly.

[06:15:01]

I mean, just listening to the eyewitness reports in Dayton let alone what we know happened in El Paso, that is a lot of people dead or wounded in a short period of time. So while I'm a proponent of physical security, you also have to look at the capacity to kill and the weaponry that allows people to kill that quickly as well as what we're wondering now, is there a common ideology between these two -- you know, these two tragedies.

BLACKWELL: Now from a national security perspective --

KAYYEM: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- in reaching out to these individual communities for -- to figuring out a motive if there is some connection, what does that process look like?

KAYYEM: So it's going to be different as Josh was describing, you know, you have one killer who is still alive, another one who is dead. So you're -- the way you do it is going to be different.

But what you are looking for is a couple things. Who did they -- who were they with, did anyone help them? What was their online presence? Were they reading or writing in ways that would have disclosed what their motivation was?

So, in some ways it is no different than the way someone like me who sort of was a counterterrorism person on the ISIS and Al Qaeda, it's no different. It is the same kind of ideology, the same kind of investigations. And that's why I push back a lot on this concept of, well, these are lone wolf incidents, right?

A horrible person did something in El Paso. A horrible person did something in Ohio. That's actually the wrong way to think about it from a counterterrorism perspective since the FBI has told us that white supremacy terrorism is the major threat for the U.S. right now. It is not ISIS, it's not Islam, it's not immigrants. It is white supremacists.

What is that common ideology -- right -- and how are these people feeding off of each other in terms of the kind of terrorism that we're seeing. I don't know -- I don't know the demographics of the bar in Dayton, Ohio but I do know just simply what we're reporting that this was a -- what happened in El Paso was that it was a targeted killing based on national origin, based on either Hispanics or Mexicans. He said so. He wrote it, that was his purpose of going to a border city.

I want to learn more about what is happening in Columbus, what is that demographics of that area, do we know why he would have chosen that area or that specific bar.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And in the case in El Paso there of course is that four page manifesto that was posted --

KAYYEM: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- according to sources just a few minutes before the shooting. And investigators in Ohio will have to work a little harder to find a motive there because their suspect in that case is dead.

KAYYEM: Yes.

BLACKWELL: So, we'll continue to follow both stories. Juliette Kayyem, we will lean on your expertise all morning. Thank you so much for being with us.

We'll take a quick break here. When we come back, continuing our coverage here in El Paso where 20 people were killed, 26 injured, the first of two mass shootings in just a matter of a few hours. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:21:46]

PAUL: Here we've been talking about what has happened in Dayton, Ohio overnight. If you are just joining us we want to let you know that nine people are dead in a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio. Forty-two people total are injured between Dayton and El Paso. And this is some of the newest video we're getting in from Dayton, this happened within 13 hours of the mass shooting in El Paso.

This is brand new video. You can see the incredible presence of police. We know the FBI is assisting in this.

And here is what we know about Dayton, Ohio. What you're looking at here in terms of what happened. There was a suspect who started shooting outside a pub. He was wearing body armor. And he was shooting with a long gun multiple rounds according to the Assistant Police Chief Lieutenant Colonel Matt Carper.

You can see the emergency vehicles there. We've had video that sounds as though there are a few gunshots. And then all of a sudden there is a barrage of gunshots one after another after another, very quick succession that coming -- because according to authorities the suspect was shooting as I said with a long gun, multiple rounds. And then someone, we don't know who, but somebody grabbed the barrel of that gun and that is when the suspect picked up a handgun to continue shooting.

You're looking at the aftermath here. At that point, that suspect was shot and killed by police. But not before he had killed nine people and injured 16 others.

And what you are looking at there is video that is just into us from Dayton. Of course there are -- there is a coroner that needs to go to that scene, there are people that were transferred to hospitals. We know eight people are in fair condition, one person was shot in the abdomen.

There is video of authorities working on someone, trying to save somebody's life. Two treated -- two people we know were treated and released and at least two people are in surgery this morning.

But this is what is so striking. This is Dayton, Ohio, 1,600 miles from El Paso. And you've got 71 families not including witnesses to what had happened, to how it had happened over the last 13 hours. But you've got 71 families, many of them 1,600 miles apart, as they are waking up to a new reality, their families are broken. Because their families are feeling the absence of somebody in their life. We have Nan Whaley, the mayor here of Dayton, tweeting this, "I'm heartbroken. Thank you to our first responders for all that you have done. We will share updates as we have more information."

The Dayton Police Department also sharing updates on their Twitter page as well.

[06:25:03]

But of course those lights, that police presence, the emergency presence of people who are trying to help victims, still all there in Dayton, Ohio. Want to take you from Dayton again 1,600 miles away to El Paso where Victor Blackwell is. And even with that kind of a distance, Victor, the pain is the same.

You lose somebody in your family, the pain is the same. It doesn't matter how many miles there are between you. But it is unheard of I think -- we heard that from the Assistant Police Chief Lieutenant Colonel Matt Carper, again, saying this is unheard of what has happened in Dayton. I think that the people of El Paso feel the same. There is a numbness and a sense of unbelief, of disbelief, at this moment, Victor.

BLACKWELL: It is Sunday morning here in El Paso as it is in Dayton, Ohio, a time when people -- many people pray and they reflect and there is a lot to pray for and pray about today, and a lot to think about. I mean, these two cities now have joined this morbid fraternity of cities that have faced this type of gun violence and we all know the names.

The small cities, we know Aurora, Squirrel Hill in Pennsylvania, the synagogue shooting there, the larger cities what happened in San Bernardino, in Orlando; Parkland, Florida. And it seems this continues to happen.

First it was every month or so. And then it was two this week and now two back to back in a few hours of one another. Both communities in pain and trying to get answers to why and what this means for their communities.

I have with me now David Stout, El Paso county commissioner. Thank you so much for first being with us. And it has been, you know, 12 to 18 hours since the shooting happened. What are you feeling and what are you thinking this morning?

DAVID STOUT, EL PASO COUNTY COMMISSIONER: Still not understanding why this is happening here in this community. Not understanding why this is happening in Dayton. Why this even needs to occur.

You know, desperation, anger, just so many different emotions have been, I think, overwhelming all of us here over the last number of hours. And it has just been a very, very difficult number of hours. And, you know, a lot of us are going to be going to church this morning and praying even harder I think.

BLACKWELL: We were talking a bit during the break, you said that you were at the hospital earlier. Tell me about that.

STOUT: Yes, so I was actually having breakfast in (INAUDIBLE) across the border when I started getting reports about what was going on. I immediately reached out to the CEO of the hospital, Jacob Cintron, and asked him, you know, what -- what was going on.

And he said that they had already received a couple victims. And so I got over to the hospital and I wanted to make sure that I was available to them if there was anything that they needed on behalf of the county. And just try to show -- try to show some solidarity with the victims and their families.

BLACKWELL: El Paso is not a tiny town, but it is described as being pretty tight knit, a community --

STOUT: Very tight knit.

BLACKWELL: -- as much of a community as a city of this size could be. Tell me about that.

STOUT: Very tight knit. I think that you have seen in many cases how this community has come together, whether it is folks that are from here or folks that are not from here, for example the refugees that have come through here over the last number of months. The outpouring of compassion has just been amazing.

And I think we saw that again yesterday when this started coming about, when people started hearing about this they were showing up at the hospital, they were showing up at the blood banks. So much so they had to start turning people away at the blood banks because they didn't have the capacity to attend to everybody and they asked them to come back tomorrow or today.

You know, people just bringing food, people bringing water, people just showing up for example to the reunification site and offering hugs. It is a beautiful community. And I'm very proud to live here.

BLACKWELL: There is this manifesto that suggests at least and there is a lot of reporting and investigation that has to be done that this community might have been targeted because the shooter thought that this is what -- or the suspect thinks this is what is wrong with America, that El Paso is an example of what should not happen in this country.

[06:30:02]

To that ideology, you say, what?

STOUT: That's sickening. That's sickening. You know, this community is one of the safest communities in the United States. And the reason is because of the people that live here.

And, you know, I've seen the manifesto and it's just -- it's very sick. And, you know, I don't know, you know -- we can't blame this on mental illness yet. We don't know if that is what may have provoked this young man to do what he did. But it's very hateful. It's racist and it's hateful. And that's something that's going on in this country and it's a problem in this country.

BLACKWELL: Last question.

STOUT: Sure.

BLACKWELL: Does this change El Paso?

STOUT: I think it does change us, But I think we will come out of this stronger, more unified and loving each other much more.

BLACKWELL: Commissioner David Stout, our condolences to you and this entire community.

STOUT: Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: As we are mourning with you here in El Paso and the country is mourning with the people of Dayton, Ohio as these two communities now are facing mass shootings in just a matter of a few hours.

We're going to take a quick break. Stay with us. Because when we come back on the other side, we're going to get the latest on what happened overnight, nine killed, 16 injured in Ohio in a mass shooting. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:10:00]

BLACKWELL: Welcome back. The latest pictures in from Dayton, Ohio, the scene of the latest mass shooting that happened just overnight around 1:00 A.M. Local Time. You see here police cars everywhere. This is the immediate aftermath of the shooting, people running.

You can feel and see the chaos there, as people are really confused by what is happening there, trying to get to some safety. People there on the ground injured as well. We know that nine people were killed in that shooting. The shooter as well is dead.

And we're just finding out and just getting this from our producers that the Mayor of Dayton, Ohio will speak soon to give us the latest about that investigation. Nine dead there, 16 injured.

And let's talk now with CNN Law Enforcement Analyst, James Gagliano, retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent with us. James, thanks for staying with us.

I want to talk first about a detail that we got from Deb Decker who is there with the Emergency Management Montgomery County in Ohio, that the shooter in that case was wearing body armor. That indicates to you what?

JAMES GAGLIANO, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, let's understand that the wearing of body armor or the owning of body armor or ballistic garment is not in and of itself a crime. However, if you are a convicted felon, Victor, or you are in the commission of a crime, which obviously this was, that makes that illegal.

Now, that doesn't help bring anybody back. It doesn't make any more clear what happened last night. Obviously -- and, look, I look at this from a number of perspectives. And we have to look at the mental health issue. We have to look at HIPAA and FERPA Laws and Privacy Act, and things like that, not being able to find out when people have these issues. I look at the dark web and, obviously, the gun issue, all these things kind of play in together.

But there is a proliferation of disenfranchised, disaffected young white males that are attracted to these websites. They also often are tied up in these violent video games, these first person video games. Some of these games you can put a bulletproof vest on your first person shooter.

Now, I'm not suggesting yet in the Ohio case. We don't have any of the details yet, but it does seem eerily similar to some of these different ones that we've seen lately proliferating.

And last thing, Victor, last night as we talked about the El Paso shooting, you're down there on the ground right now, this was the eighth deadliest mass shooting since we started really tracking these things on August 1st of 1966 with the University of Texas Clock Tower Shooter. 20 people killed, the eighth deadliest in U.S. history. And we follow that up by waking up this morning to learn of another one in Dayton, Ohio.

BLACKWELL: Yes, a tragic weekend for two communities, for the country, really. And we'll have that broader conversation.

I want to talk more about the investigations though. I mean, of course, investigators in Ohio will try to get an answer to the question why. We know that in the El Paso case, that the FBI has opened this domestic terror investigation. How important will this four-page document being called this manifesto be to making that case, to determining the motive and all of the underlying elements of answering the question of why?

GAGLIANO: Supremely critical for the investigation, obviously, the subsequent prosecution here. We know in El Paso this is one of the most rarest of rare items, the person that committed the mass shooting. And let's be technical in the term, which means four or more people killed or injured by gunfire. The person that drafted this manifesto is now going to be prosecuted.

The FBI will take this from two different angles. On the domestic terror front, they will have their JTTF assigned to work this. And then, Victor, since this has been labeled pretty much out now in the press, and I heard Chief Allen yesterday in El Paso say this, as a hate crime, the FBI Civil Rights Division will also be working this concurrently at the same time.

Look, we just want this person to go away for life or if possible, and I think obviously now that it's happened in Texas, the death penalty will be on the table. But that manifesto will be critical for the prosecution to show state of mind and what the motivation or causality was behind his heinous action.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Texas Governor Greg Abbott also calling this a hate crime here in El Paso. James Gagliano, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst, stay with us. We, of course, have plenty of questions about what happened here in El Paso and in Dayton.

[06:40:04]

So stay with us.

Our special live coverage of this tragic weekend, 29 people killed, 42 injured across this country in two mass shootings. We'll continue in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Welcome back. I'm Victor Blackwell here live in El Paso. It is Sunday morning. And there will be a lot of people filling pews at churches across this community, across this country praying for the victims of the shootings that happened overnight and yesterday. But most people did not wait to pray.

I want to show you a video now of a vigil that happened, this is at Saint Pius X. And I want to just take a moment here in listen, listen with me to what happened.

A community coming together. And while that is happening, there is this very active investigation that's happening as well.

Let's go to James Gagliano, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst. And I'd like to talk more, James, about this manifesto that was found.

[06:45:00]

Law enforcement is aware of it, trying to determine if that is connected indeed to this suspect who is in custody.

And in the post, at least we know that the phrase, I'll probably die today, if this is, and, again, the Investigation continues, connected to this shooter, what do you make of that assertion, I'll probably die today, but then being taken into custody without incident and then I guess cooperating with investigators.

GAGLIANO: Well, Victor, a lot of times, people have a certain idea when they are considering perpetrating such a horrific tragedy like this, and they think they're going to go out in a blaze of glory. And then as the get to the end of that incident as police arrive on the scene, they reconsider their options.

What usually happens, and we know that in El Paso, police were on the scene in a staggering six minutes. These things usually go down between five to seven minutes. And, look, prior to the police arriving, the shooter typically either commit suicide, leaves the scene or is apprehended or taken into custody by somebody there not police.

After police arrive, a lot of times we see a phenomenon called suicide by cop where the person wants to go out in a blaze of glory. That could have been the situation here and then the person obviously reconsidered.

The manifesto, to your point, is going to be supremely critical to understanding the mindset of this perverse ideology. Police are also at the suspect's home right now going through that. And why is that? They want to determine if there are any co-conspirators. Did Anybody inspire this person to do it or did anybody direct this person do it because those people are subject to prosecution too, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So let's turn to that part of the investigation. James Gagliano, stay with us throughout the morning.

Brian Todd is in Dallas outside the suspect's home. Brian, give us an idea of what's happening there.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Victor. It's been a very busy crime scene here this morning. We've been here for a couple hours now. And the entire time we've been here, an FBI team has been behind me. The shooter's home, we believe, is right behind me.

They are not letting us beyond this point. It's behind me 200 yards and to the left down this street in Allen, Texas. We are led to believe that the shooter lived at this home with a relative here in Allen, Texas. And FBI agents or forensics team, they've been going in and out of the home all morning and, in fact, overnight.

There is a forensics truck parked in front of the home right behind me. We have some video of that that we shot a short time ago. And you see agents coming in and out, processing some evidence here.

You know, a key part of the investigation, I heard you and James Gagliano just talking, is possible motive here. The FBI agents behind me and other FBI officials opening up a domestic terrorism investigation into this shooting, and, of course, the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, calling it a hate crime and that's because of what you were just talking about.

Law enforcement officials investigating a four-page manifesto that they believe the shooter posted on this messaging board called 8chan. 8chan is typically full of racist hatred and white nationalist sentiments. There is a four-page manifesto, law enforcement officials say, again, filled with racist hatred toward immigrants and Hispanics. They believe the shooter wrote that manifesto.

In that, he said, quote, I'm probably going to die today. Later -- a couple of minutes later, he posted a quote on it saying, nervous but -- nervous as hell but I can't wait any longer. Then that was posted about 20 minutes before police got the first calls of a shooting at that Walmart in El Paso. So they believe that the shooter wrote that, again, trying to figure out more about motive and about planning here, Victor. This is about 660 miles away from the scene of the shooting. What led him to select that particular target, that Walmart in El Paso, it is about a nine-hour drive from here, and what else might he have been planning. Those are key components of the investigation that we hope to learn in the coming hours and days, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, a lot of questions to answer and correction. Brian Todd there in Allen, Texas, the home of the suspect. Brian Todd, thank you so much.

It's starting to drizzle here in El Paso. We know that that investigation continues both inside and outside of this Walmart Supercenter. Hopefully, this rain won't last long or complicate the investigation or collection of evidence any more than is necessary because of the massive scene that has to be processed.

We'll take a quick break and continue with our breaking news coverage in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

PAUL: If you're just joining us, it is Sunday morning and we are essentially recovering at the moment from 13 hours of violence in this country. Of course, we had El Paso, where 20 people were killed in a mass shooting. And overnight, just a few hours ago, starting at 1:00 A.M., another shooting, nine people have died, 16 are injured in Dayton, Ohio.

And, in fact, there was a man, Izack Johnson, who was there at 1:00 A.M. Here is what he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IZACK JOHNSON, EYEWITNESS: Oh, (BLEEP).

Dude what the (BLEEP)? What the (BLEEP)?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now, part of what is so jolting about that, I'm sure you recognized, is it starts out with the pop, pop, pop of bullets at a regular pace.

[06:55:03]

I don't know what a regular pace is, but at a smaller, shorter pace, and then all of a sudden a barrage of gunshots. That's because the suspect was shot dead by police officers. And you essentially heard that happen. And I want to be very sensitive to this. Because as we heard those gunshots going off, let's be honest, we were hearing people die.

We talked to Izack Johnson about what he saw and what he was doing in that moment. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNSON: I'll be honest. I didn't really know at first because I take my girlfriend to work and pick her up on the weekend usually there. And there are always motorcycles and cars at (INAUDIBLE). And I was kind of sitting there waiting for her. And I heard a pop. And I kind of thought maybe there were fireworks or something. There's like there's just one or two right before I started the video.

And then it was like three or four and I kind of like fireworks are timed to be like specifically like five seconds or three seconds apart or right back to back and those were just spaced out even. So I was like -- excuse my profanity in that, but, yes, I was like, what's going on. And then I saw people start running. And cars just started coming out of the intersection like recklessly. I was just confused, really.

I didn't even get out of the car because I was just sitting and I was watching everything happened.

PAUL: I saw the window going up and down. Did you get the sense that -- were you trying to protect yourself in that moment?

JOHNSON: I don't really know. I think that I was going to get like -- I was thinking since it was a gunshot, I should go inside. But then at the same time, I was looking at my phone and I was like I need to record this. So I don't know. I just like was sitting there deciding if I needed to roll my window down to see what was happening or if I needed to get out and go inside.

PAUL: Izack, is your girlfriend okay?

JOHNSON: Yes, they she is, thankfully.

PAUL: Was she in front of or in the building near where this happened?

JOHNSON: No. She's actually at work at the Dublin Pub. And I know there was a couple that came in, and the woman who (INAUDIBLE) extremely in shock. She -- they were in Ned's (ph). And I guess she said that they heard a couple shots and people rushed the door and they just all dropped and another one of her co-workers was at a nearby restaurant or are bar or something. She heard a few shots and then everyone noticed like (INAUDIBLE).

I mean, honestly, I think nothing. Like I was just -- I was like in the car pretty much and nobody was paying attention to me. I was just there trying to -- and it's just crazy.

PAUL: So, Izack, we see through your video that you got out of the car. What happened after that?

JOHNSON: I actually walked up to the door and I was about to go inside. And then I started looking back because I was just kind of confused. I was like, I don't know, I didn't know if like -- because it stopped. So I didn't know. Like I should have -- it sounded to me like there were a few guns, like one doesn't fire that fast, obviously. I don't know if there were cops already out on the street or what.

PAUL: Could you see -- we saw the people running in your video. Did you talk to anybody before you got back in your car?

JOHNSON: No, I didn't. I talked -- I just -- and found this (INAUDIBLE) there were people across the room and I wasn't really trying to like use that, but I think it's kind of (INAUDIBLE). She was like putting her hand there (INAUDIBLE). I heard her when she came in and spoke that she saw someone get shot. I already knew that. But I was kind of behind these shots. These were (INAUDIBLE). So I didn't want to ask like her did you see --

PAUL: Sure.

JOHNSON: I didn't want to ask questions, you know what I mean? But, yes, that's a little excessive if you ask me. That's quite crazy. That's just insane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: So I wanted to bring in CNN White House Correspondent, Boris Sanchez in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey near where the President is staying this weekend.

Boris, it's 13 hours since El Paso. This just happened and then the Dayton shooting happened. This happened several hours ago, about 1:00 in the morning. Do we know if the President has been briefed?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Christi. No indication yet from the White House that President Trump has been briefed on the shooting in Dayton. If he hasn't been briefed already, it's safe to assume he likely will be soon. And we expect the President to respond to this, as he often has had to with condolences for a community grieving, ravaged by gun violence.

As far as the shooting in El Paso, the President put out this statement last night on Twitter.