Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

Chaos in Canada; One Gunman Dead in Canadian Parliament Shooting; Obama Comments on Canadian Parliament Shootings

Aired October 22, 2014 - 16:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Just an hour drive from the U.S. border, the Canadian capital today terrorized by multiple shootings, and it may not be over yet.

I'm Jake Tapper, and this is THE LEAD.

That was the scene inside Canada's Parliament today, those heart- stopping pops, more than 30 of them echoing throughout the sandstone hall, sending government employees and bystanders sprinting for their lives.

The crazy barrage of gunfire shut down downtown Ottawa and left a Canadian soldier dead. The soldier was standing guard at one of Canada's most hallowed sites, a war memorial next to Parliament, when a gunman apparently opened fire on him. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital according to Canadian police.

Officials did not say how many people had been shot, but an Ottawa hospital says they have released at least two other victims and at this hour people remain on lockdown inside Parliament and throughout Ottawa's downtown core, as Royal Canadian Mounted Police scour the area for possible additional gunmen, shutting down bridges and clearing the capital corridor, office by office.

A senior U.S. official also tells CNN that Canadian authorities have passed along a name of the suspect in the attacks to the FBI. While it's unclear if it's a genuine name or an alias, both U.S. and Canadian intelligence agencies are combing through databases and signals intelligence, hoping to discover something, anything that hints at a motive for today's insanity.

Here at home, the gears of the U.S. national security apparatus turning at full speed. NORAD, the aerial alliance charged with marshaling North American airspace, is now on high alert in the wake of the shooting.

The investigation into today's horrors promises to be long and complex, but already there are unanswered questions about whether perhaps Canadian authorities missed any signals that it was only a matter of time before someone struck.

Just days ago, Canada raised its internal threat level citing general chatter from radical Islamist groups, including ISIS. Then on Monday of this week, a 25-year-old man who was being monitored for potential terrorist activity and had had his passport revoked for wanting to go to Syria, Martin Rouleau, he weaponized his car, smashing into and killing a Canadian soldier.

CNN justice correspondent Pamela Brown has been carefully monitoring these events for us.

Pamela, you told us about that other incident that killed a Canadian soldier earlier this week. This has been a terrifying day for the people of Ottawa. It all started shortly before 10:00 a.m. Walk us through what you know.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It did.

Jake, on that point you just made, investigators are still looking into whether there is a connection of those two events in Canada. But it is still a very active and very fluid scene there. And we know that at least one victim has died, the soldier that was guarding the war memorial.

And right now as we speak, heavily armed police are going door to door in downtown Ottawa searching for any other possible gunmen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): 9:52 a.m. at Ottawa's National War Memorial, witnesses say a gunman walked up to a soldier standing guard and shot him before fleeing the scene. Moments later, gunfire erupts inside Canada's main Parliament building. Police officers fan out as lawmakers inside a caucus room try to protect themselves, piling up chairs in front of the door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have been told to keep all doors locked, lower blinds, stay away from windows, that there may still be a gunman on the streets outside.

BROWN: Inside Parliament as it all unfolds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears that the gunfire broke out at in the foyer just at the entrance of that door and moved down the hallway to the north, towards the library of Parliament for a second round of gunfire just in front of the library of Parliament, and at that point I saw a body slump down. Obviously, I couldn't confirm, but it looked -- certainly looked lifeless.

BROWN: The sergeant at arms shoots and kills the gunman. Parliament Hill goes on lockdown. Two victims are rushed to the hospital. Panic ripples across the city of Ottawa, as reports spread that other gunmen might still be on the loose.

Heavily armed police escort people out of downtown buildings. Hours later, police confirm while there were shootings at the war memorial on Parliament Hill, was there no shooting downtown, but authorities are still asking people to stay away as they continue to investigate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We set up a perimeter that prohibits individuals from going on to Parliament Hill, and there is an ongoing operation with RCMP and our Ottawa police service to clear Parliament Hill to make sure it is safe for everybody. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Again, at this point, we only know of one gunman. The fact that there might have been more could end up being pure speculation. We just don't know at this point. Also, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are asking for the public's help. They have set up a Web site so people can upload any pictures or videos they shot at the scene -- Jake.

TAPPER: Pamela Brown, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Let's go now to Ottawa to some of the folks who have found themselves in the middle of this chaos in the capital.

Joining me now on the phone, Chris Goldrick. He's a producer with CBC Canada Television in and he was at the scene of the war memorial shooting moments after the attack.

Chris, thanks so much for joining us. Describe what you saw.

CHRIS GOLDRICK, CBC TELEVISION: As you mentioned, obviously, our newsroom went into overdrive just when the story surfaced just before 10:00 and we are only about a block away from the war memorial.

I arrived along with several other reporters to a scene of obviously high anxiety and drama. There was a soldier on the ground and several officers as well as what appeared to be a civilian were performing CPR on the soldier. And there was obviously a fair bit of confusion at that point.

You know, as the minutes passed, several heavily armored, heavily armed police arrived on the scene and began securing the area, several witnesses' reports that the gunman then fled that scene.

And I can fill in a blank, a little bit of a blank from the previous report. The gunman ran from the war memorial and that -- his route toward Parliament Hill which would have taken him by the Langevin Block, which is where the prime minister's office is.

And he hurdled a fence and it appears he then commandeered a car which was in the secure zone inside the Parliament Hill area, took that car to the front of the Center Block, as it's called, the main Parliament Hill building, entered and as we heard in the previous report the shoot-out ensued, with the sergeant at arms apparently shooting the suspect and killing him.

TAPPER: We were watching the press conference. Police did not say definitively whether or not there was another gunman. What are you hearing?

GOLDRICK: Well, as you can imagine, this is a quickly unfolding event and at this point the details are murky.

The police are neither confirming nor denying that there are one, maybe more gunmen on the loose. The bridges which connect Ottawa to the other province of Quebec are closed. Actually, they are open, but cars are being searched and, as you can imagine, police are combing the downtown area as we speak in case there are additional gunmen at large.

I can also give you an update on the injuries. Three people are in hospital being treated. One member of the security team from Parliament Hill was wounded. Two other individuals are being treated, but we're not quite sure how they received their injuries.

TAPPER: And clear something up for me and my viewers if you would, Chris.

GOLDRICK: Sure.

TAPPER: There was a report earlier today of a shooting at a nearby mall. Has that now been discounted? Did that not happen?

GOLDRICK: Well, it's difficult to say at this point.

That mall known -- it is called the Rideau Shopping Centre. It's the largest mall in the downtown area. And there was a scene of high anxiety there as a rumor or at this point we're just not quite sure, but people got word that there may be another gunman in the mall.

And police now are saying that no one was arrested there, so that's still a situation that needs to be clarified.

TAPPER: Obviously, in situations like this with a lot of adrenaline and a lot of witnesses, as you say, it's murky. We don't know exactly what happened, but as of now it sounds to me like what we definitively know is that there was a shooter at the National War Memorial who shot and killed that Canadian soldier, and then according to witnesses you have spoken with, that individual is the same person who went to the Canadian Parliament building and was shot and killed there.

That's what we feel like we know at this point, yes?

GOLDRICK: That's absolutely right.

We can confirmation that, that it was the same individual that ran from the scene. It's probably -- he would have been up on Parliament Hill leaving the war memorial in a matter of two minutes. Witnesses report him running and, as I mentioned, he would have hurdled a wall, carjacked a car. There is a big circular driveway in front of Parliament Hill.

It sounds like he took the car up to Center Block and then entered Center Block, and by all accounts some rather heroic action by law enforcement on the Hill, the sergeant at arms taking this guy out.

TAPPER: Chris Goldrick, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

GOLDRICK: You're welcome.

TAPPER: With us now on the phone right now is a member of the Canadian Parliament, in the Parliament building during the shooting, the Honorable John McKay.

Mr. McKay, thank you so much for joining us.

Walk us through what happened this morning.

JOHN MCKAY, CANADIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Well, Wednesday mornings is caucus day for all of our -- and so I was walking into my caucus room and literally taking off my coat and I heard this pop, pop, pop.

Didn't really think much of it. Thought it was, frankly, construction because there is a lot of construction on Parliament Hill. And then the security people came racing down the hall and ushered us out of the building ASAP. And we kind of stood around in the back of the building wondering what the heck was going on and then the events unfolded as your previous guest described it.

TAPPER: So, sir, you have been briefed by law enforcement. What have you been told happened?

MCKAY: Well, actually, we haven't been briefed.

TAPPER: Oh, you have not? OK.

MCKAY: No. Our state of information is the same state of information that you have.

TAPPER: What do you know about how the shooter was stopped?

MCKAY: Sorry?

TAPPER: What do you know about how the shooter was stopped in the Parliament building specifically? Was it the sergeant of arms -- sergeant at arms?

MCKAY: Yes.

Again, we learned that from the news reports, but the specific location is in front of the library of Parliament. And the library of Parliament is at the end of the Hall of Honor. And you go down the Hall of Honor, the two caucus rooms for the government and the official opposition are on either side. It's a pretty serious place to have a gunfight.

TAPPER: On Friday, the terror alert in Canada was raised because of concerns about Islamic extremist chatter from groups, including ISIS. Are you at all concerned that raising the threat level didn't result in an increase in security at the Parliament building, as there maybe should have been?

MCKAY: That's a question that is a legitimate question to which I really don't have an answer.

I think you get invited into realms of speculation, which I don't really think is appropriate until we actually get the facts. I kind of prefer the facts before the conclusions.

TAPPER: Fair enough, sir.

Member of Parliament McKay, thank you so much. We're glad you're all right.

MCKAY: Thanks very much. Appreciate the call. Bye-Bye.

Chuck Benoit of the Ottawa Police Department is on the phone with now.

Thank you so much for joining us. What can you tell us about this investigation?

CHUCK BENOIT, OTTAWA POLICE DEPARTMENT: I -- it's still ongoing and there's still a lot of activity that it is being investigated by tactical and patrol members on both sides of the RCMP and Ottawa.

But right now, the only thing I'm able to confirm is the actions that were taken care of during the day, starting from 9:52 this morning at the war memorial site, where shots were fired. And there was a victim that suffered injuries from these shots being fired.

He has been transported from the scene and has succumbed to injuries in the hospital. The suspects that we have acknowledged through witnesses as well as through information from the scene, one has also deceased at the Parliament. And we are still working closely with the information gathered by witnesses as well as the scene management, both the outstanding suspects. It's still an ongoing situation right now.

TAPPER: Do you have reason to believe there is definitively another shooter on the loose or are you or -- is this just being cautious?

BENOIT: Well, we have to apprehend and arrest the people that are involved in this morning's incident. And at this time, we don't have these people. So we don't have information regarding to them still being here and there's no other casualties that we're able to confirm.

So the sightings or information that we're working on is ongoing on the street.

TAPPER: It sounds like you're saying there definitely is more than one person involved in this. Am I hearing you correctly?

BENOIT: Yes, that is correct.

TAPPER: OK. So, there is definitely more than one person involved.

Can you tell us about the nearby mall? We had heard that there was possibly a shooting at the nearby mall. Is that accurate?

BENOIT: Well, if you're looking at the whole scene itself, the mall is actually very close to where the shooting actually occurred.

So, we have to disseminate the information from witnesses that are either at the mall or close to the mall. So from that point, people have to confirm, is that what they're talking about? And we have no confirmation from any shootings inside the mall. But you have to understand that information comes from all venues of witnesses. And it's a very tragic and violent scene. And it creates a lot of information that we have to go through and confirm. So, right now, we have no confirmation, but it is confirmed about the location, which is very close to the Rideau Centre.

TAPPER: All right. If I'm hearing you, the center, the Rideau Centre, which is the mall I was referring to, there were witnesses there that maybe were ear witnesses, people who heard a shooting, but there is no confirmation of an actual shooting, at least not as of right now, at the Rideau Centre, right?

BENOIT: No, that's right.

TAPPER: OK. Is there -- one of the shooters, one of the individuals involved in this is dead. Is there anything you can tell us about who he was, what was possibly motivating him?

BENOIT: Not at this time. We're -- we work very closely with the information of the suspect that we're identifying and from that, we have our agencies that we work with very closely which are all federal in regards to this type of information.

Is it connected to anything? I don't have that to give you. This would be one a response from their criteria as a federal agency. So, right now, we are working closely with the scene itself, with the other agencies, RSMP, military and other police forces that are surrounding the Ottawa area. But right now, what we're able to confirm is what we're dealing with on scene right now.

TAPPER: Constable, just one last question. Just in terms of the suspect or suspects that are still wanted, do you have any information that the public might be able to help you with in terms of where he or she was last seen? How many we're talking about, what they were wearing? Anything along those lines?

BENOIT: I don't have those details. It's unfortunate. We're still filtering a lot of information through the witnesses. Officers are on the scene and they are searching -- they are actively searching right now areas that have possibilities of having these suspects.

TAPPER: And how long is that area going to be locked down? How long will police be searching cars crossing the bridge? How long will poem be in their offices?

BENOIT: That's one that I won't answer until more is resolved.

TAPPER: All right. Constable Chuck Benoit with the Ottawa Police -- we thank you for your time. Appreciate it.

BENOIT: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up, the threat level raised just days ago in Canada. Did officials knew something was in the works? And could today's shootings be at all related to a different incident in Canada earlier this week? More on this breaking story, coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD.

We're continuing with our coverage of the shootings in Ottawa. Here is some coverage of President Obama talking with the new Ebola czar. Let's listen in.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obviously, the situation there is tragic. Just two days ago, a Canadian soldier had been killed in an attack. We now know that another young man was killed today and I expressed on behalf of the American people our condolences to the family and to the Canadian people as a whole.

We don't yet have all of the information about what motivated the shooting. We don't yet have all of the information about whether this was part of a broader network or plan or whether this was an individual or series of individuals who decided to take these actions. But it emphasizes the degree to which we have to remain vigilant when it comes to dealing with these kinds of acts of senseless violence or terrorists, and I pledge, as always to make sure that the national security teams are coordinating very closely given as not only Canada, one of our closest allies in the world, but they're our neighbors and our friends. And obviously, there is a lot of interaction between Canadians and the United States where we have such a long border.

And it's very important, I think, for us to recognize that when it comes to dealing with terrorist activity, that Canada and the United States has to be entirely in sync. We have in the past. I'm confident we will continue to do so in the future and Prime Minister Harper was very appreciative of the expressions of concerned by the American people.

I had a chance to travel to the parliament in Ottawa. I'm very familiar with that area and am reminded of how warmly I was received and how wonderful the people there were.

So, obviously, we're all shaken by it. But we're going to do everything we can to make sure that we're standing side by side with Canada during this difficult time.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)

OBAMA: Well, we don't have enough information yet. So, as -- as we understand better exactly what happened this obviously is something that we'll make sure to factor in, in the ongoing efforts that we have to counter terrorist attacks in our country.

You know, every single day, we have a whole lot of really smart, really dedicated, really hardworking people including a couple in this room who are monitoring risks and making sure that we're doing everything we need to do to protect the American people and they don't get a lot of fanfare. They don't get a lot of attention. There are a lot of possible threats that are foiled or disrupted that don't always get reported on. And the work of our military, our intelligence teams, you know, the

Central Intelligence Agency, and the intelligence community, more broadly, our local law enforcement and state law enforcement officials who coordinate closely with us, you know, we owe them all the great deal of thanks.

All right? Thank you, guys. Appreciate it.

TAPPER: Jim Acosta is live for us at the White House now.

Jim, these lone wolf attacks are a big concern for both the U.S. and Canada.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They are, Jake, and that was something that White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was asked about today at the briefing. Earlier today, he said that U.S. and Canadian officials have been having discussions about this issue of countering violent extremism, of foreign fighters, lone wolves who have could be turned against the West by ISIS, in particular, and Earnest was careful not to draw any conclusions as the president did there with the situation in Ottawa, as U.S. officials have yet to say whether there is a terrorist connection.

But, Jake, I did talk to a well-placed U.S. official within last hour, who said, yes, while it is too early to say whether there is a connection, they're not ruling it out at this point.

TAPPER: All right. Jim Acosta, thank you so much.

Coming up, authorities in the U.S. are not taking any chances that a coordinated attack like this one could happen here. What they're doing to secure locations around Washington, D.C., as our continuing coverage continues, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)