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New Day Sunday

13 Hours of Bloodshed: Mass Shootings in Texas and Ohio Leave 29 Dead; Police: 9 Dead, 26 Injured in Dayton, Ohio Mass Shooting. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired August 04, 2019 - 07:00   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: -- for a community grieving, ravaged by gun violence.

[07:00:05] As far as the shooting in El Paso, the president put out this statement last night on Twitter. He writes, quote: Today's shooting in El Paso, Texas, was not only tragic, it was an act of cowardice. I know that I know I stand with everyone in this country to condemn today's hateful act. There are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing innocent people. Melania and I send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the great people of Texas.

The president there alluding to the shooters' hateful motive in a shooting in El Paso. Unclear if the president will address white nationalism and nationalist violence further -- Christi.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Boris Sanchez, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Victor Blackwell in El Paso, Texas. Christi Paul with us in Atlanta.

And this has been in a matter of just 13 hours, tragic time for not just these two individual communities, El Paso, Texas, and now, Dayton, Ohio, but for the country.

First, there is an active crime scene here in El Paso as investigators try to get information about the suspect who is in custody and the 20 people who were killed here, 26 injured. But overnight, there was also a shooting in an entertainment district in Dayton, Ohio. Nine people killed there, the shooter killed as well, 16 people injured.

Let's start this hour with Shimon Prokupecz with the latest in Washington -- Shimon.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: All right, Victor. So that shooting, nine dead as you said, happening just about around 1:00 a.m., police say, when the gunman walked into this bar, to this club, and opened fire, killing those nine people, 16 were injured. And what we're told by police is that this individual was wearing a body armor. He had what they have described as a long gun.

Obviously, a lot of panic inside this bar, a lot of people again running for their lives, hiding, trying to find a way to survive. And here is what some people, some of the witnesses, people who were inside who were out just for a fun night, here is what they had to say about what they saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: You guys were here for girls' night. Tiffany, and Katie (ph), you have an interesting story. You saw a young woman that you spoke to in one of the clubs that you were in and describe the next time you saw her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was laying on the concrete dead outside of the club that we was at.

REPORTER: What did you guys say to each other?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We told each other that we liked each other's outfits and we thought each other was cute.

REPORTER: And, Tiffany, you ran into your goddaughters out here and it was a good time, usually a good night out here. And then what happened when the chaos broke out?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People just started running. They started pushing us out the back door into the alley out the back because they didn't want us coming out the front because they didn't know where the shooter was or how many there was.

REPORTER: Did you hear shots at all or just people running and telling you everyone to get out of the way?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We didn't hear shots when we were upstairs because of the music, but the people downstairs did hear the shots.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We seen them all running like looking down, you can see everything that is down there and you just seen people running every way that they could.

REPORTER: Describe this area. How many bars are here, what kind of crowd do you usually see here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is like eight, nine bars down here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe, something like that. I mean, there is all age groups down here. There might be a fight every now and then, nothing ever like this. I mean --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even if it is a fight, it is just the typical two people being drunk, one person bumps into another person, someone wants to say sorry, the other person feels like the other person needs to say sorry. It's never anything as serious as this.

REPORTER: How did you know tonight was different?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The screams, the cruisers, the chaos. I've never been pushed out of Newcomb's, never been told to get out of Newcomb's. But the security guards themselves were running around telling people to get out.

And -- just how everybody was acting. You knew that something was wrong. And then when you -- and you came outside as soon as you hit the front street, you seen the bodies. And you knew this was different. You know it's something that you never thought of experiencing, never experienced, wouldn't want anyone to experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: So difficult night, difficult morning for many people there in Dayton, Ohio. We're expecting the mayor to hold a press conference and hopefully we can learn some more details. Big question obviously, the suspect. Police have not released any information concerning him.

So, therefore, we're still waiting on that. And really, right now, you just have a community as you see that is reeling, another community certainly suffering here.

You know, it's just been a very difficult 24 hours certainly in this country as we are now waking up and dealing with another mass shooting.

[07:05:09] So, we will wait for the mayor. We will to hear more about the suspect and exactly perhaps what the motive behind all this was, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Shimon Prokupecz, thank you.

And the world we know is watching. We just heard from Pope Francis as well talking about what has happened here not only in El Paso and then in Dayton, but also what happened in California at the start of the week, the shooting at the festival there as well. The pope saying that he is asking people to join in prayer for the people in California, and Texas and Ohio, and he is extending his spiritual closeness to these individual communities that are dealing with gun violence saying also from the pope that these episodes of violence have to end. The sentiment shared I'm sure by people not only in these individual communities, but across this country.

Let's turn now to Josh Campbell who is with us, our law enforcement analyst.

Josh, there was an element there in the interview with the witness there in Ohio, and she said that she was on the second floor and the people upstairs didn't hear the gunshots. I mean, that is certainly a concern that we heard in other night club/restaurant/bar shootings where you hear sounds but maybe you think it is part of the music and, you know, you don't know really what is going on.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, that type of environment where you have loud music, a venue that exists for entertainment where you have people enjoying themselves. It can often be difficult to hear the first signs that there was an active shooter that's underway. That's very different than where we are right now here in El Paso which the shooting took place in a store which you wouldn't expect to have loud noises that could overshadow the sound of gunfire.

So, obviously, an issue we've seen around the world, terrorism incidents where there are terrorism incidents, or there's some type of bomb or gunfire that goes off that is masked, people think that maybe it's pyrotechnics or maybe the sound of music that's incorporated obviously an issue there. And I think that's what's different about the incident in Dayton and we're going to continue to learn more, is just because of the characteristics of that venue, it is very difficult for people to understand what is going on and act before the shooter actually has a chance to take loss of life.

There is a phrase that we say that action beats reaction. And it is up to the shooter, he has the upper hand and it is up to those who are actually responding to try to save themselves and to get out. We tell them run, hide, fight. But again, when you're in this loud environment, it's hard to escape.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and, you know, the environment, the sounds, it could be dark there. Maybe people had a few drinks, could actually make it more difficult for them to recount or to accurately describe what they saw, what they heard, as police continue this investigation.

CAMPBELL: Yes, absolutely. And all the shootings, witnesses are a key source of information. Again law enforcement wants to do two things, they want to track the movement of the shooter, determine what happened, build that picture out, work backwards. But then also, just as important, they want to ensure that the shooter didn't anyone there with them as an accomplice and that comes a lot of times from witness accounts, saying I saw this. This is what I heard.

But again, if you are in that state where you're, possibly inebriated, you're out having some good time in a bar enjoying yourself, that can make it very difficult, and again, just the shear panic. And, you know, it is in the middle of the night, and a lot of factors that make it different from other situations that we've seen.

I have to tell you, and one other over arching factor that will be a burden in Dayton is the fact that the shooter is now deceased. Obviously, he was engaged by law enforcement and they had to stop the threat.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CAMBPELL: Couple that with what we saw here in El Paso where the suspect presumably talking with law enforcement. Authorities in Dayton are trying to determine why this person did what he did and trying to identify him without having him as a source of information to provide those details. A tough job ahead of them.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Josh Campbell with us, helping us understand what is happening not only here in El Paso, but also there in Dayton.

Again, we are expecting to hear from the mayor of Dayton, Nan Whaley. We know that she has tweeted out, but we're expecting to get the latest in the investigation still just a few hours since the shooting there. And still lots of he questions that need to be answered. We'll get to that after the break. As soon as it happens, we'll bring

to you. We'll continue our live special coverage in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:12:44] BLACKWELL: OK. Let's go live now to Nan Whaley, the mayor of Dayton, Ohio.

MAYOR NAN WHALEY, DAYTON, OHIO: OK. I'm Nan Whaley, mayor of the city of Dayton.

With me is the Assistant Chief Lykins of Dayton Fire Department, Deputy Chief Matt Carper (ph) from the Dayton Police Department, Dayton City Commissioner Jeff Mims, City Manager Shelly Dickstein and also Dayton City Commissioner Darryl Fairchild.

At 1:07 this morning, an event occurred in our historic Oregon District. A suspect opened fire along the Oregon District who was wearing body armor and used a .223 caliber high capacity magazine. He had additional magazines.

Twenty-six have been injured and are at area hospitals, 10 fatalities in our community including the shooter. In less than one minute, in less than one minutes, Dayton first responders neutralized the shooter. While this is a terribly sad day for our city, I am amazed by the quick response of Dayton police that saved literally hundreds of lives.

If you are a family or friend of a victim, we invite you to come to the convention center or call 333-8430. That is 937-333-8430. And if you have any information on the incident, if you were in the Oregon district today and have information, call 937-225-6217. Again that number is 937-225-6217.

Red Cross, Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association, Atamus (ph) and support for police and first responders are on scene and on site to help the situation. We of course are incredibly grateful for our partners in this very sad incident.

[07:15:08] Dayton has been through a lot already this year. And I continue to be amazed by the grit and resiliency of our community. Certainly this is a day that will be filled with prayer for our citizens, prayer for the family and some friends, and prayer for our community.

We ask everyone to be thinking of these people as they are going through this very, very difficult time. But I know as a community we will continue to move through it. With that, I'll open it up for questions.

REPORTER: Mayor, do you believe this was premeditated the fact that he wore body armor? Earlier we thought maybe there was an argument and he was denied entry and that is when he became frustrated. But wearing body armor might indicate premeditation.

WHALEY: Well, certainly, I'm not in the shooter's head because he was wearing body armor and had extra magazines.

REPORTER: Mayor, is there one shooter that you know of? We're hearing that (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can address that. Initially, from our initial investigation, it appears as though that there is only one shooter. We are interviewing dozens of people. Obviously, it is very early in the investigative stage. So, we are at the early stages so we can't confirm that this is the only person involved. But for right now, that is our belief.

REPORTER: What do we know about the suspect? I mean -- or about the shooter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we can provide more information on identity and additional information at a later time, but it's too early to get to some of those details.

REPORTER: How the shooter died, was it from a police officer or his own?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can tell you within seconds, less than a minute, that the officers who were already patrolling that area fired on the shooter to stop his aggressive behavior and stop the shooting.

REPORTER: Were there officers on the detail inside that club or helping with the security of that club?

WHALEY: This isn't a club issue. It was in the Oregon District neighborhood. Certainly we had police officers there, it was a Saturday night.

REPORTER: How many officers are normally there on a Saturday night?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't give you exact numbers on every single Saturday night. I can tell you that we had people on patrol in the Oregon District over this past evening and they were there in the immediate vicinity when this occurred.

REPORTER: When you hear of the mass shootings and now in Dayton, what goes through your mind?

WHALEY: Well, look, as a mayor, this is a day that we all dread happening, and certainly what's very sad is I've gotten messages from cities across the country, is that so many of us have gone through it. Today is the 250th mass shooting in America. It's sad that it's in the city of Dayton.

REPORTER: Mayor, have you spoken with any officials from the state or federal level yet?

WHALEY: Yes, I've been in touch with Governor DeWine this morning.

REPORTER: Was the shooter going for a bar? I'm told that he was outside, or they were outside -- WHALEY: We'll have more details on the shooting as this moves

forward. And we will continue to stay in touch with you during the day as we get more information. This was in the Oregon District area.

REPORTER: Outside?

WHALEY: It was in the Oregon district area in the outside area.

REPORTER: Is there any traces or do you think that this is a hate crime?

WHALEY: Again, we don't know the thoughts of the shooter at this time. We know that he was wearing body armor and had high capacity magazines and extra magazines.

REPORTER: What did Governor DeWine say?

WHALEY: He just offered his condolences to the city of Dayton, was incredibly impressed with the work of the Dayton Police Department to have this situation under control in less than a minute, and then offered any support that he could give.

REPORTER: Mayor Whaley, describe the past six months for the city. It's been tough and now this.

WHALEY: Yes, it's been -- it's been a tough six months for our community. But you work through that. And right now, our focus is on the families and friends frankly that went to downtown to a Saturday night and thought that they would go home safe and it didn't happen. So --

REPORTER: Have you talked to any of those family members?

WHALEY: No, we haven't had -- they are in the process right now, so I have not spoken to any of them.

REPORTER: How many have come to the convention center, have you been receiving calls on the hotline about the shooting and people wanting assistance?

[07:20:01] WHALEY: We don't have numbers for that. You know, this is the first press conference that we'll have throughout the day. We'll have are information like that as the day goes forward. We're asking you all to share those two numbers. That is really important. And to get the message out for people who have lost loved ones and people that may have information.

REPORTER: Again can you list the gun that the shooter had?

WHALEY: The gun that the shooter had was a .223 caliber high capacity magazine. He had additional magazines and he was wearing body armor.

REPORTER: Can you repeat that 200 --

WHALEY: Two twenty-three caliber high capacity magazine. He had additional -- REPORTER: Was that rifle or --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WHALEY: Very large gun, in technical terms.

REPORTER: Have you been to -- I know it is early -- where he got the weapon?

WHALEY: Not yet.

REPORTER: Legally obtained?

WHALEY: We don't have any of that information yet.

REPORTER: What are you trying to provide to the family and friends? What are you trying to provide (INAUDIBLE)

WHALEY: Look, I think, you know, if you imagine yourself in their position, their family member was out on a Saturday night or somebody regularly enjoying their friends on a Saturday night. We want to make sure that they get the best information possible. You all are key in that conversation.

But sometimes the information that comes out is not correct. So we want to make sure that they have that. And then we want to make sure that they get the services that they need. I mean, this is going to be a very difficult time for at least 10 families in our community. And their lives have completely changed. But in addition to the 26 that are injured, it could be many more that lives are changed.

REPORTER: What is the extent of the injuries? Are some life- threatening?

WHALEY: Yes. But I don't have numbers.

REPORTER: Was the body armor a Kevlar vest, was there head gear? What does it mean when you say body armor?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can get more details on that at a later time.

REPORTER: So what is next?

WHALEY: Well, we'll continue. We're asking you to continue to push information out around the tip line and also information to get to family and friends. We'll be continuing to do that work. We'll be working in concert with the coroner and other folks that are doing this effort.

And then we want to take care of our first responders. Our first responders this year have been through a lot. And so, we'll be doing that work. And then we will work to make sure that you have the most up-to-date information and correct information throughout the day. So you can count on us to come back and continue to keep you in information. My ask for you all is to don't go on a story that is not true that cannot be confirmed. Return for that open access over the day.

REPORTER: What hospitals are the victims at?

WHALEY: They are in multiple hospitals across the city.

REPORTER: As you saw the mass shooting in El Paso play out yesterday, did you ever imagine or prepare for the first responders acting so quickly? How do you prepare for this?

WHALEY: Are you talking about the El Paso first responders -- our responders? Time and again I as mayor have been amazed by Dayton first responders. I think that they are a special amazing group of first responders.

If Dayton police had not gotten to the shooter in under a minute, and think of that, 26 injured, nine dead. Hundreds of people in the Oregon district could be dead today. And that work and that bravery by our first responders is something that moves me to get up every morning to continue to do this work.

REPORTER: Mayor, I can see the emotion on your face. When you are speaking to other leaders around the city, the state, the country, how do you help the situation here, how do you lead, what do you say the message to these families?

WHALEY: I don't think anything I can say can help the people that have lost loved ones. But I think for us, we have to just be there. And I think that is what we'll do. We'll continue to stand in the gap in that. And try to give them the space and grace that they need during this time.

REPORTER: Do you see any changes in the near future, have you thought about that in terms of safety protocol or how you --

WHALEY: Look, I think that the police and first responders have done an amazing job. Clearly, the question has to be raised why does Dayton have to be the 250th mass shooting in America, 250. I mean, that is really the question.

REPORTER: When you say that number, are you talking about this year?

[07:25:03] WHALEY: This year. We are number -- El Paso was 249, Dayton was 250 this year.

REPORTER: What type of surveillance video or cameras do the businesses in the Oregon district have that may be valuable?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many businesses do have security cameras and video. Obviously we're checking to see what is available and to use that as part of our investigation. So some of that has already been done, some is to be done.

REPORTER: Do you have any idea how many people may have been in district?

WHALEY: It will be thousands. It is a Saturday night in the district in the summer. I mean, there's one -- I mean, there's thousands.

REPORTER: There are initial reports about the shooter being denied access to the club. Is there any truth to that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not aware of that information but like I said, it is still early in the investigation. But I have not heard that.

REPORTER: Was the shooter local?

WHALEY: We can't comment on that yet.

REPORTER: Did he reload?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not going to get into those specifics just yet. We'll release -- I know everyone here who is local knows that we provide very detailed information on critical incidents. And we'll do the same here. Obviously it will take us time to get some of that detail to you.

REPORTER: Mayor, do you know what time you were first contacted about the shooting?

WHALEY: I think I got a text around 2:40. I think around that time.

REPORTER: I wanted to clarify something on the time line. Is that less than a minute from when the first -- police first got a call about it or less than a minute after the shooting first began?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Less than a minute right after the shooting began.

REPORTER: So, they were right there --

WHALEY: They were there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were in the immediate vicinity and acted immediately.

WHALEY: Correct, they were there.

REPORTER: And these were uniformed officers? Do you have --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were uniformed officers work being in the Oregon District.

WHALEY: So I mean, I really want to -- think about that minute. If the officers were not in the Oregon district, the officers were there less than a minute from the beginning of the shooting. The shooter was able to kill nine people and injure 26 in less than a minute.

And if we did not have police in the Oregon District and the thousands of people in the Oregon District enjoying their Saturday evening, what we could have had in this city. So it is a terrible day for Dayton, but I am so grateful for Dayton police's fast action.

OK. We'll be back. Remember our deal. No bad information, in return I'll come see you every few hours. All right? I think we're going to come back at 10:00 a.m. OK? Thank

you.

BLACKWELL: Dayton mayor there, Nan Whaley, giving the latest in the investigation. And saying there of course that she wants no bad information. Of course no one does.

But let me bring in James Gagliano who was listening to this news conference there out of Dayton after nine people were killed. And she updated the number of those injured to 26.

And the mayor rightfully putting punctuation on the fact that this shooter they say in less than a minute, a matter of seconds, killed nine people, injured 26. We don't know if all 26 of those were gunshot wounds. But in just a matter of seconds, so much carnage.

JAMES GAGLIANO, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: We learned a lot here. And in was very well done by the mayor and the authorities here. Here is why.

First of all, let the public know where we stand right now. There is no imminent threat. Police are working through it.

We'll give you basic information. We're not going to speculate. We'll report back to you when we have more information. This was done superbly.

Here is what else my takeaways were. I jotted down some notes. Thousands estimated to be in the area of this bar. As you pointed out, Victor, 26 casualties, nine dead.

Police have not established a motive yet. They are being very cautious. I respect that because it leads to rampant speculation and you know what that does.

Police have to be hyper focused on determining whether or not there were any co-conspirators to this tragedy.

Also, was there any connection to the El Paso shooting? I don't mean a connection as in people that were working together. I'm not surmising that. But was this a copycat crime, did somebody see what happened yesterday and then elect to go out and do the same thing?

Next, the police, especially the mayor, did not identify the weapon.

[07:30:00]

She said it was chambered in .223. Now, I've carried weapons that were chambered in .223 and military and law enforcement. That means it could be M-16, or an M4, a Colt AR-15, but they did not specifically state what type.

She also said the shooter was armed with high capacity magazines. It was obviously chambered in .223. So that could be 20 round magazine, maybe 30 round magazines. I didn't see in a she said anything about having a drum. Next, the shooter was this possession of a bulletproof vest. Means

nothing, won't bring anybody back, but they will be looking at what the purpose of that was.

Next and last, Victor, let's salute these cops. Understand that they got to this guy in one minute. Yes, there were uniformed officers down on scene. That's understandable.

But police officers armed with pistols that are going into take down or interdict or apprehend a committed shooter with a long weapon, their bulletproof vests are useless. Those cops are heroes. They should be saluted.

Tragic, tragic consequences here: 26 casualties, nine dead. It could have been -- as mindboggling as it is to think, much worse.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: John Gagliano with us this morning. And, yes, you point out a good point here. Of course all of the elements there that we learned from that news conference, but the mayor being very specific about what is released. And sharing what is known and often what is as important what is not known as this investigation continues.

James, stay with us, we'll lean on your expertise throughout the morning.

There's also this we just received from the governor of Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine. And let's put up his tweet. He sent this out just a few moments ago. Fran and I are absolutely heartbroken over the horrible attack that occurred this morning in Dayton. We join those in Ohio and this country in offering our prayers to the victims and their families.

Of course, there will be plenty of questions as we now have 29 people killed in two mass shootings. And up to 52 injured with the latest numbers from Dayton. If prayers to the family and communities will be enough for those suffering this morning with the loss of someone or with their injuries in hospitals.

Let me bring in John Matthews. He's former law enforcement and the author of "Mass Shooting: Six Steps to Survival."

John, thank you for being with us this morning. And as we're seeing these two shootings s happening within 13 hours of one another, the similarities are here, clear soft targets, a department store, an entertainment district. The question I've asked this morning and frankly after many of these shootings, does it make sense to try to harden some of these targets to prevent these from happening in the future?

JOHN MATTHEWS, FORMER DALLAS POLICE OFFICER: Well, I think we have to look at multiple things. We can harden the targets to some degree. We can make it more difficult for the shooters to get access to large groups of people.

I think that we also have to provide training and education to the citizens. People need to know what to do in these shootings. It was fortunate in Dayton that the officers were there so quickly and were able to neutralize him. At the Walmart in El Paso, it took officers only six minutes to get there.

And yet you see the carnage between both of the shootings. You have to remember these shooters come into these attacks with a mentality, a preparation, planning. They have weapons, they have body armor. In El Paso, we drove almost 10 hours to get there.

So, they are there for for one single purpose and that is to kill, that is to injure people. And we've got to know what we can do in our public spaces to protect our citizens that are out shopping for back to school supplies or out for a night of entertainment, out on a Saturday evening.

So I think it is both sides. We have to work better at target hard hardening, and we have to educate so citizens can take the actions and precautions that they need to do to be as safe as they can when they are out with their family.

BLACKWELL: And we showed a picture a little earlier this morning of a pile of shoes. Dozens of shoes there at the scene in the Oregon District, this entertainment district in Dayton. There it is. There is the photograph again.

You literally wrote the book on surviving a mass shooting. We see people kicked their shoes off and ran. What of the six steps is the most important, the most crucial to survive something like what we've seen here in Dayton and El Paso?

[07:35:04] MATTHEWS: Well, the most crucial thing is to exit, get away from the shooter, gets a far away as fast as you can, women throwing off their high heels, or shoes that slow them down. Anything that you can carrying, drop it and run. You want to put distance between you and that shooter.

The number of rounds fired is absolutely incredible in a short period of time. And you don't want to be in that crowd of people as that shooter is firing into the mass group of people.

If you can possibly do it, find cover. Duck behind a cement pill later, a motor vehicle, a fire hydrant. I've seen people lay along a curb in the side of the street to have in a concrete in between them and the shooter. So cover is anything that will protect you from bullets.

If you can't find cover, find concealment. Get out of that shooter's line of sight. If he can't see you, he probably can't shoot you. So you want to exit, find cover, and you want to find concealment and you want to constantly assess the situation.

If he moves away from you, run in the opposite direction and stay away. Don't try to video it and don't get on your phone. We've seen that get people hurt who are trying to capture video of the shooting at the time.

BLACKWELL: Yes, you have to certainly prioritize your life beyond trying to get video of what is happening at a scene.

John Matthews, author of "Mass Shooting: Six Steps to Survival" -- thanks so much for being with us and offering that information.

We're going to take a quick break here. When we come back, the latest on the shooting here in El Paso. Very active scene behind me. Investigators have been on scene since the first officers arrived.

We'll get you the latest on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:29] BLACKWELL: Welcome back. I'm Victor Blackwell, live in El Paso, Texas, just outside the Walmart where 20 people were killed here Saturday morning. Twenty-six we know were injured in this mass shooting as well.

Now, this investigation is active and broad. We know that there have investigators and crime scene analysts here at the Walmart. Also evidence collected from the suspect's car as well. We're told that he drove from Allen, Texas, his home, more than 600 miles away.

Let's go there. Brian Todd is outside the home there in Allen, Texas.

And we understand, Brian, that there has been increased activity. What are you seeing?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Victor, a lot of police and FBI activity behind me here. Police squad car here cordoning us off from getting further down the street. The shooter's home is about 150 yards behind me around this bend to my right, to your left.

A team of FBI forensics people has been coming in and out of the home all morning with a forensic truck. The way these investigations unfold, Victor, we can assume that they are going through any electronic material that the shooter might have left, computers, cellphones, anything like that that might have spoken to motive and maybe given an indication of how he planned this attack.

Also, of course, they are looking for any other possible weapons that he might have left behind. And any indications of whether anyone else might have been in on the planning with him or maybe have given him some direction. Now, right now, there are no indications that anyone else did, but, of course, some of those clues might be found in that home behind me where we're told he lived with relatives.

He is identified as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius living in this upscale subdivision of Allen, Texas, just north of Dallas.

Now, as to that motive, police have said that they are investigating a four-page manifesto that the shooter that they believe the shooter wrote and left on this messaging board called 8Chan. 8Chan is typically a messaging board that contains racist writings. And this manifesto according to police did contain similar writings. These were writings that believe that the shooter wrote it against Hispanics and immigrants complaining that they were taking jobs away in the United States, complaining about the blending of cultures in the United States.

Also on that manifesto, according to police and according to sources that CNN has spoken to, were the phrases, quote, I'm probably going to die today. And another quote saying, nervous as hell but I can't wait any longer.

Those were posted in that message that he posted on 8chan. And that was posted only 20 minutes before police got that first call of a shooter at that Walmart in El Paso -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Brian Todd, outside of the home of the suspect in the El Paso shooting there.

Our special live coverage of the shooting in El Paso, and in Dayton, Ohio, when we come back.

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[07:46:55] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: For those of you just joining us, you are waking up to two mass shootings this morning. One of course still in El Paso as they are waking up this morning after 20 people died and 26 were injured. And then this morning, overnight, while you were sleeping at 1:00 this morning, nine people died in Dayton, Ohio, in an entertainment area there.

And the mayor of Dayton saying hundreds could have died had it not been for the heroic efforts of police officers who were already in that area on a regular patrol. They got to the shooter within less than a minute. But think about it. In a minute's time, that shooter was able to kill nine people and injure 26 other people in less than a minute. Armed with body armor, wearing body armor, and .223 caliber high capacity magazine with additional magazines, which tells you a lot about his intent.

I do want to go to Brian Stelter now, chief media correspondent, and Juliette Kayyem, CNN national security analyst and former assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. I thank you both so much for being with us.

Brian, let's talk about the manifesto in the El Paso case. The suspect 21 years old posted this manifesto on this website 20 minutes before the shooting. So, in 20 minutes time, I think what struck here, as you can realize, it went online, started to just go and like wildfire, people were looking at it and they couldn't stop it.

What's going on?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Right, it shows premeditation and some apparent ideology to this mass killer. This man traveled all the way across the state of Texas to El Paso targeting a border community and targeting that Walmart. He wrote about his anti-immigration feelings in a racist screed, a four-page long essay. I think maybe even calling it a manifesto gives it a glory that it doesn't deserve.

You know, this is a crazy nonsensical racist screed. But it does show that this attack has the markings of white nationalist terrorist -- of a white nationalist terrorist attack in this country. We have seen a pattern of these white nationalist terrorist events in the United States. And unfortunately because these killers sometimes write down their intents ahead of time, it does give us some insight into what the heck they were thinking.

PAUL: So, Juliette, I think a lot of people might be listening to his and realizing, listen, we know we have the First Amendment, we know we have freedom of speech. But when you talk about what these people are writing about on 8Chan, some people might be saying, how is this legal? You say what?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it's legal because it is simply the sharing of ideas however abhorrent on a platform. But what we are seeing with 8Chan and others, it actually has become sort of the announcement of my terror attack, as we saw it with El Paso, as well as a place that not just promotes this ideology but sort of eggs it on.

[07:50:11] If you go on 8Chan, that is essentially what it is doing -- do it, do it. It's like this peer pressure where these white supremacist ideologues are creating a I safe haven. Who knows who is going to go out and do a shooting? But it's statistically more likely that one of them is going to do it then the general population.

And that's the challenge here. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms more, and I put that in quotes, more responsible trying to get this ideology off their platforms. Obviously, 8chan exists for this ideology, to get rid of it means that platform doesn't exist. You don't go on that platform but for this white supremacy.

STELTER: I think, Juliette, that is an important point. That the Facebooks of the world are trying to take some action. These big tech companies say they are working with law enforcement. They are able to trays a suspect and find out if he posted other accounts in other places. But it's these darker corners of the interpret where the most hateful ideas are spread.

And when we have political leadership in this country that uses words like in invasion, that doesn't help the situation. It hurts the situation, even if these manifestos are full of crazy ideas, these are the same kind of terms that are being used by political leaders and that's the frightening thing in America.

PAUL: Juliette, how hard is it for, say, homeland security and the departments supposed to be keeping us safe to monitor these sites and try to determine and distinguish what is a real threat and what is not?

KAYYEM: It is almost impossible because of the -- both because of the numbers, right? You can't follow that many people, and then also because of the protected free speech aspects of it. But certainly if there is not just the platform, 8chan, someone putting stuff on that but also statements by the neighbors saying he seems to have eight guns, an ex-girlfriend who said he beat me up. There might be other behavior that can contribute to being able to start a preliminary examination.

This is where Chris Wray, the FBI director, testified to two weeks ago, the challenge of going from this is just a bunch of ideas to who is the person that is actually going to do this mass murder.

If I could just pick up on one thing Brian said, it is so important -- look, it is too simplistic to say Donald Trump's language is the cause or he's to blame for what we're seeing. And I'm just quoting Christopher Wray, the director of FBI, in terms of white supremacy, the director of the FBI. But what is not simplistic is the extent to which Donald Trump's language does not shame this white supremacy, whether it's the wink and the nod, whether it's the both sides-ism.

And just a responsible leader would be somewhat concerned, right, if they were promoting a radical ideology. That is what we don't see from the White House, that concern.

PAUL: Brian and Juliette, I'm sorry, we're run out of time. Thank you both so much. Great conversation. We appreciate it.

KAYYEM: Thanks.

STELTER: Thanks.

PAUL: We'll have more for you on what two communities, 1,600 miles apart are dealing with this morning, and at least 71 families, actually more than that now, who are dealing with the aftermath of mass shootings. Stay close.

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[07:55:31] BLACKWELL: Welcome back. I'm Victor Blackwell live in El Paso, Texas.

And the light is starting to peek through the clouds here, a new day, Sunday morning now. And I spoke with a county commissioner, Christi, who said this shooting that happened here changes this community. The question will be how? And if there will be some broader change after what we have seen this weekend in Texas and in Ohio.

PAUL: And in Ohio, specifically, Dayton, Ohio, that community has been changed as well. We heard the assistant police chief say this is unheard of, these nine people that were killed and what happened at 1:00 this morning.

Do stay close. We're going to have more on two mass shootings in 13 hours on this country as you wake up Sunday morning and the aftermath of all of it in just a moment.

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