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Hurricane Joaquin; Oregon School Shooting. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 01, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:13] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, you're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me here.

Breaking news. We've been watching Hurricane Joaquin. We are just discovering this has now strengthened to a Category 4 storm. That has just happened. What many people up and down the East Coast need to know right now is the answer to this question, will Joaquin make landfall along the United States and how strong could Juaquin be?

Right now, Joaquin is churning over the central Bahamas there. You see the radar. It's pounding the islands with a maximum sustained wind of 130 miles per hour. But where it will go next, that's the question. You know, you look at these different forecast models. They're all over the place right now.

I can tell you this, storm preparations all along the Carolina and Virginia shores, they're already underway. The flooding danger, that is very real for these folks. They are also getting ready in the northeast, where three years ago this month Superstorm Sandy slammed the tristate area. We have heard from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie telling people just this morning in his state, stay calm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: You need to understand that we're prepared and we need you to prepare and not panic. Now, I understand that this is a state that's been traumatized by the second worst natural disaster in American history just - just quite - not quite three years ago. And I understand that there will be people who, when they start to hear this news, will feel an enormous amount of stress over the possibility that something severe could happen to the state again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: FEMA and the U.S. Navy, they're on standby, ready to respond if and when necessary. We're told President Obama is also monitoring these different forecast models. He's monitoring conditions.

So let's go straight to Jennifer Gray, who's tracking Joaquin there.

And so churning right around the Bahamas right now, Jennifer, really still is it too early to tell how much of a - how strong this will be? JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we do know that it is going to

weaken as it travels to the north. That's the good news. The million dollar question is, where is it going to make landfall. Right now this is devastating for the Bahamas. Category 4 storm right over the central Bahamas, most of the resort islands are to the west of this, but still devastating for the islands there. Winds of 130 miles per hour, that's sustained winds with wind gusts up to 155 miles per hour.

Now this is the current forecast track. We're not going to get an update on this for another three hours. But right now the National Hurricane Center has it as a Category 4 through Friday and then by Saturday morning going back down to a Category 3, possibly a Category 1 by the time we get to Monday morning and then Tuesday a tropical storm.

What you have to remember though is, don't follow the center line on this cone. Storms only make landfall within the cone two-thirds of the time when you're five days out, and so there's a lot of uncertainty with this cone. It stretches anywhere from North Carolina all the way up through Maine, and so anywhere from the Carolinas all the way up the northeast coast needs to be aware.

But you also need to be aware of what we're dealing with here. As you said, computer models all over the place. Some of them have him - have it making landfall in the Carolinas, others the mid-Atlantic all the way up to the Northeast. There are still plenty of forecast models that have this moving out to sea. So it's going to be very interesting to see where the National Hurricane Center pegs this over the next couple of days.

Here are two of the most popular models we watch. The GFS and the Euro. You may hear us talk about this quite a bit. The European model has been the one that's been most consistent, taking it out to sea the past couple of days. The GFS model has had it more inland. Now they're starting to agree a little bit more, so that's just one more token that we can take away with.

One other thing I want to mention quickly, Brooke, is that we have a cut off low in the southeast. Basically what that means is, regardless if this storm makes landfall in the mid-Atlantic or not, we are looking at massive amounts of rain in South Carolina possibly over the weekend. That's completely separate from Joaquin.

BALDWIN: All right, Jennifer, thank you. We'll talk next hour. It is significant, upgraded now to a Cat 4.

Switching to our other breaks news story here, Russia now engaged in this all-out war that was being led by the U.S., except they're doing it without U.S. involvement and without a clear enemy.

I want to give you just a heads up that we're watching and waiting for a Pentagon briefing to happen any moment now, so we should get some news as far as what's happening in the region.

But Russia insists that they are going after ISIS. But when you look at the map, this is - this is key. It will tell you that their strikes, at least thus far, are nowhere near ISIS strongholds.

(VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: This video apparently showing a Russian air strike today in Idlib. Russia says its target there was ISIS. The United States says, not so fast. They believe they were actually targeting the Free Syrian Army, a moderate rebel group trained by the U.S. So right now the fear is that another super power standoff could be brewing, except during the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union never openly dropped bombs on the same country at the same time. But right now, both U.S. and Russian planes are both flying missions over Syria. Missions apparently with different targets, different goals and perhaps dangerous complications.

[14:05:32] So, joining me now, Jim Sciutto, CNN chief national security correspondent, and Peter Beinart, CNN political commentator and contributing editor for "Atlantic Media."

And, gentlemen, welcome to you.

And, Jim, I know as we anticipate this Pentagon briefing, you know, listening to the White House they're saying this - you know, what's happening with Russia, this isn't going to change goals for this U.S.- led coalition. You know, they're not going to let this ground the United States led coalition, but Russia clearly has its own agenda, which makes you wonder, at what point could this come to a head?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Its own agenda, Brooke, that seems diametrically opposed to that of the U.S. You know, we talk a lot about de-conflict. You probably heard that term. That typically means you've got two air forces in that area and they de-conflict so they don't shoot at each other by accident.

But here you have a de-conflict of end goals because, as you say, Russia says they're going after ISIS, but the fact is the map shows they weren't striking ISIS positions. And U.S. officials have confirmed that actually some of the groups those bombs were targeted at include groups that the U.S. has backed there, affiliated with the Free Syrian Army or somehow backed by the U.S.-led coalition. So those are goals in direct conflict to each other and that's a real problem.

This is not just about Russia unannounced or not invited getting involved in the war against ISIS, this is about Russia getting involved with an opposite goal of the U.S. One, propping up Assad, but, two, going against forces, including those backed by the U.S. that are fighting Assad as opposed to ISIS. That's a real problem going forward.

BALDWIN: Peter, you say let Syria - let Russia meddle in Syria. Why?

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think this is going to turn out very well for them. What the - the irony is that they're saying that they're doing this in order to fight Islamic terrorism that could threaten Russia. And they do have a real problem, a special (ph) from Chechnya. And one of the things to watch is that a lot of Chechnians (ph) have gone to Syria and I think one of the reasons the Russians are targeting this area is they think that's where the Chechnians are. But I think what's likely to happen is there's going to be blowback against Russia, precisely because of these bombings, that's going to increase the terrorist threat to Russia. Putin is trying to exercise Russian great power, but I ultimately think he's going to cause his country more problems.

BALDWIN: What's the best case scenario here, Peter?

BEINART: The best case scenario - and it may be a thin read (ph) - would be that this is all maneuvering in preparation for a negotiation. Now, the U.S. and Iran are now talking. If there's ever going to be a diplomatic solution here, it will have to have the U.S., our Sunni gulf allies, the Russians and the Iranians at the table to manage a transition away from Assad or maybe even the partition of Syria altogether. Everyone will want to be on the strongest position on the ground in preparation for that. It's possible that part of this is jockeying for that.

BALDWIN: You mentioned Iran. Jim Sciutto, here's my question to you. In watching Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu address, you know, the United Nations, the UNGA, just a little bit ago, he paused for 44 seconds. Why?

SCIUTTO: You know, he has a talent for the dramatic on the floor at the U.N. General Assembly. You'll remember a couple years ago he brought that famous placard showing progress on an Iranian nuclear bomb.

BALDWIN: Of course.

SCIUTTO: Almost looked cartoonish. But, you know, it simplified the argument there. This one, much more dramatic. That silence. He - he was basically comparing the silence in the region and around the world opposing the Iran nuclear deal to silence to Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. It's worth listening to. Here's a piece of those comments before the UNGA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: You see, this deal doesn't make peace more likely. By fueling Iran's aggressions with billions of dollars in sanctions relief, it makes war more likely. Just look at what Iran has done in the last six months alone. Since the framework agreement was announced in Luzan (ph), Iran boosted its supply of devastating weapons to Syria, Iran sent more soldiers of its Revolutionary Guard into Syria, Iran sent thousands of Afghani and Pakistani, Shiite fighters to Syria. Iran did all this to prop up Assad's brutal regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: And you know what, Brooke, words are powerful. But I'll tell you, that silence can be even more so. When you watch that tape, as I'm sure you have, of 44 seconds with the world's nations convened there, was a powerful message. Whether you agree with it or not, it was - it was - it was Benjamin Netanyahu showing exactly how he feels about this nuclear deal.

[14:10:12] BALDWIN: Forty-four seconds with that kind of audience is - it's definitely powerful.

Jim Sciutto, thank you so much.

Peter Beinart, appreciate you dropping by CNN.

Coming up, want to stay on what's happening in Syria and we'll bring in our senior international correspondent Arwa Damon, who was there in Homs. She spent a lot of time there. She knew a lot of people in that city. This is right around where these bombs have been dropping. What has happened to those people now? We'll talk to Arwa.

And a Syrian-American with family still in that war-torn nation went to the Jeb Bush town hall last night in New Hampshire and tearfully asked a question. We'll play that for you and speak with her and juxtapose that with Donald Trump's message, if he were elected to be president of the United States, what he would do with those refugees.

Also, as we mentioned, keeping an eye on Hurricane Joaquin, now upgraded, Category 4 hurricane. Where it could make landfall. Stay with me. You're watching CNN.

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[14:15:16] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BALDWIN: We are just getting word here of a school shooting. This is what we're getting from the Douglas County, Oregon, Sheriff's Department. They are, quote, "responding to reports of an active shooter" at the campus of Umpqua Community College. This is in Roseburg, Oregon. And we can now confirm for you, according to preliminary reports, there are 10 who are dead. Ten who are dead. Again, preliminary reports, this is just now happening. We're just getting information here. Again, this is Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, Oregon.

Let me just quote the sheriff's spokesperson saying this, "there is a situation going on out there but we don't have any more information at this time." And so looking at pictures with you for the first time as we're working on getting some voices to join me here, this it apparently happened in -- guys, talk in the control room, just get in my ear if we have any kind of timeline as far as how this has happened. But obviously since it's active, and, unfortunately, we have gone through this before, what happens is, obviously, law enforcement rushes to the scene, first responders. They cordon off the area around the community college, around where this could have happened. It could have happened outside of the college. It could have happened inside.

Looking with you, this is, it looks like, from the fire department, "active shooter at UCC. Please stay away from the area." So that is extraordinarily important. Let me underscore that for you. If you are in this area of Oregon, again - again, this is Roseburg, Oregon. If you are anywhere near the area, stay away. And presumably, people with the community college will be reaching out - OK, thank you. I'm talking to my producer.

Art Roderick joining me now here from a law enforcement perspective.

Art, I mean we're hearing active shooting situation. Twenty wounded, according to preliminary reports. More than 20 wounded, 10 killed at this community college in Oregon. What is happening right now on the ground?

ART RODERICK, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE: I'll tell you, Brooke, this is probably the worst case scenario when it comes to an active shooter situation with these many so far, obviously, reported killed and injured. I mean we know how these reports come in and they're, you know, turn out to be incorrect hopefully. Hopefully there aren't 10 that have been killed. But, you know, the - it's sad to say but law enforcement in these - in these universities and colleges are very familiar with the active shooter protocols and I'm sure those are in place right now. And, you know, everybody in the law enforcement community is responding, and also, you know, fire and rescue and everybody is probably at that scene right now trying to sort out what's going on and is this shooter still in the area and still armed and dangerous.

BALDWIN: I'm getting information and hopefully this is, again, according to report reports. We just have to put this on reports because we're working on confirming this ourselves. But, Art, according to reports, that the shooter has been detained. And in these scenarios, you know, they really have to go through, as you well know when law enforcement arrives on a scene, you can't assume that it's just one shooter, right, so you have to make sure that people who are in the area don't get anywhere near this school, folks who are in the school stay put because they have to look everywhere, correct?

RODERICK: Yes, that is absolutely correct. You can never assume it's just one shooter. And also, you know, is there a possibility of explosives in a vehicle are, as we've seen in the past, or did he leave possible booby traps around somewhere? So, I mean, law enforcement is checking into all of these things and they basically have a checklist that they're going to go down to take a look at what else this individual could have left behind or is there - you know, is there a conspiracy involved here with other individuals involved in this active shooter situation.

BALDWIN: Sadly, we have covered, in my opinion, you know, we have to cover too many of these. Too many of these are happening. But at least knowing that a lot of these schools, colleges have protocols in place, correct, for when and if, heaven forbid, this happens.

RODERICK: Yes. Correct. I mean it's not only the schools and universities and colleges and elementary schools and high schools, it's also malls, shopping malls and all the places where there's a large gathering of people. A lot of training is being done and training is being advanced every time. Unfortunately, as you said, we've had many of these and we learn from each one of these. And the training is adapting for these particular situations. So I know the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have very active training for active shooter programs or mass casualty programs, as they're actually called, and -

[14:20:09] BALDWIN: I'm just going to speak live to the control room. Someone's in my ear, so I can't hear air. If you guys could get out of my ear please.

And with that, Art Roderick, do me a favor, standby.

RODERICK: We'll do, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Standby, please. We're going to go to Pamela Brown, who is our justice correspondent, who's got some news as far as what is happening there in Oregon.

Pamela, what do you know?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, what we know right now is that there are 10 deceased, 20 wounded at Umpqua Community College. This is about three hours south of Portland, Oregon. We know law enforcement is there on the scene. The question is whether federal law enforcement have arrived. I know the AFT, FBI have offices in Portland, so they very well could be on their way there. That is the typical - the protocol when something like this happens.

And we're told by the Oregon State Police spokesperson that the shooter has been detained. But, Brooke, at this point we don't know whether there are other people who could be involved with this, as Art Roderick just said on our air, whether there are other shooters, whether this is part of a larger conspiracy, those are still the questions being asked right now.

But the news is, as we're learning from Oregon State Police, 10 deceased, 20 wounded. And from here, Brooke, this will be a very active investigation to figure out how and why this happened.

BALDWIN: All right, Pamela, standby for me. Art Roderick is also with us, again, from a law enforcement perspective.

And if you are just joining us, this is what we know right now. In this area of Oregon, this is Roseburg, Oregon. And you're looking at pictures of what would be the campus of Umpqua Community College. According to preliminary reports - forgive me. OK. We have Colonel Rick Francona, who happens to be in the area. He's one of our military experts, but he is apparently on the phone.

Colonel, can you hear me? It's Brooke.

COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY EXPERT (via telephone): Yes, Brooke, I hear you.

I'm pretty familiar with this area. I live on the coast, but we get over there quite often. I'm familiar with the college. I've been up there dozens of times. It - you know, it's used not only as a community college, but as a community resource. You can, you know, use the facility there, you can rent them out, so different organizations do that. So it's quite a public thoroughfare there.

BALDWIN: How big is that area, colonel?

FRANCONA: Well, you know, Roseburg probably, you know, in the neighbor of 25,000 to 30,000 people. It's a small town, but it serves a, you know, a larger area. Rural. And it's -- right on Interstate 5. There's a huge V.A. facility there. So it does get a lot of traffic people coming to and from.

But I - but I have to tell you, this is a close knit community and I'm sure that this is, you know, totally out of character for anything you would have thought would happen in Roseburg, Oregon.

BALDWIN: Awful. Awful. Again, according to preliminary reports, 10 people have been killed, more than 20 wounded at this community college. Trying to get some information. Listen, just being entirely transparent to all of you watching, this is happening, this has been an active shooter situation. I'm still waiting on confirmation whether or not - who is reporting, guys, that the shooter has been detained, but as always, they have to assume when law enforcement appears on the scene there could be multiple people involved there.

Colonel Francona, as far as the community college goes and you're saying this is a very rural area of Oregon and certainly something no one in their worst nightmare would imagine would happen, are we talking several hundred people at this community college, several thousand?

FRANCONA: I'd say a simple - well, you know, maybe around 1,000 or more.

BALDWIN: OK.

FRANCONA: It's - it's a - you know, it serves a wide area, you know, of vocational things. Very, very well thought of in the community. So - and this is so out of character for this whole area.

BALDWIN: Colonel Francona, stay with me.

I just got handed this piece of paper here. This is from one of the hospitals in the area. This is from a spokesperson at Mercy Medical Center. This is the main hospital in this area, in Roseburg, Oregon, saying they are expecting an unknown number of patients from this community college shooting.

So, again, these are the numbers we have. According to reports, preliminary information - I should be precise - preliminary information indicates 10 deaths and more than 20 wounded.

I have Colonel Rick Francona, who happens to be, you know, very familiar with this area of Oregon, in Oregon. Art Roderick is on the phone with us as well speaking with us as far as how this is being responded to from a first responder, law enforcement community perspective, and also Deborah Feyerick just got seated. She is with me now just to bring in another voice.

Can you add anything to what we know? DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. We're looking to

find out specifically what the circumstances are involving this shooting. We do know there are 10 dead, 20 wounded. When you have an active shooter situation like this, the fact that they believe that they may have detained the personal who's responsible, that is big. That's actually very, very big.

[14:25:01] BALDWIN: So they do believe that?

FEYERICK: They believe that their - they've detained somebody who might be the shooter.

BALDWIN: OK.

FEYERICK: And so that means that they may be able to control the campus right now. You have to lock it down as quickly as possible because you don't want somebody who's at large.

BALDWIN: That's right.

FEYERICK: You don't want somebody who's wandering around. But, again, they've got to rule this out specifically. They've got to make sure that this is the person. And they never know that. They also will look to see whether, in fact, there is somebody else who's involved in this particular shooting because there could be somebody who's working in cahoots with him. So all of that right now is under investigation. Everybody is racing to the scene. You've got a lot of resources that are going to be thrown at this. Clearly, this happening what is really midday. It's just before lunchtime out there in Oregon. And so all of that is right now - everything's in play.

BALDWIN: Art Roderick, to Deborah's point here, the fact that, and you made this point perfectly before, that they really - this entire area is on lockdown. So if you're in this part of Oregon, in Roseburg, Oregon, you have to stay away. It's locked down because they wouldn't want anyone else who could possibly be associated with this shooting to get out. Again, if they're reporting potentially the shooter has been detained, there could be others. So, Art, here's my question for you. What is happening right now within the walls and the classrooms and hallways of this community college?

RODERICK: Well, more than likely, a lot of the protocols will involve shelter in place until law enforcement can get in there and start clearing those areas room by room. Obviously, a big part of this is going to be, what exactly is the motivation behind this shooting? I know this is a little early to bring this up, but this is really going to play into, is there more than one shooter? What is the motivation behind this? Is it - is it a domestic scenario? Is it somebody that's upset with the school? Could it actually be some type of terrorist situation? I mean those questions have got to be answered.

And, obviously, that will give you the indication, are we talking more than one person? Are we talking a conspiracy? Obviously, law enforcement is going to get into the social websites once they've identified this individual, talk to family and friends, school, if he went - if he attended that particular school. So this is all going to go towards the fact that it's great that they have somebody in custody right now, but, obviously, not only is this place locked down, but probably the V.A. center that's in the area and anything around there would be in a lockdown situation.

BALDWIN: The fact that this is more, according to Colonel Rick Francona, who's very familiar with the area, he just said on air, this is a pretty rural area, as he pointed out, as you pointed out, there is a V.A. center nearby. But really, for the most part, quite rural. Does that work to law enforcement's advantage or disadvantage?

RODERICK: It can work to their advantage because, obviously, if it's that rural, you've got - you know, where this community college is not actually in the middle of a city. That is a huge benefit. And if it's - if it's its own campus and not spread out through the town, obviously that's an advantage too that you are able to lock down the whole campus and then search building by building. That is always a huge benefit to law enforcement in the early stages of this active shooter investigation.

BALDWIN: Again, if you are just now joining us, breaking news here out of Roseburg, Oregon, as preliminary reports indicate 10 people have been killed and potentially more than 20 wounded in the wake of this shooting scenario. This school shooting at this community college, the Umpqua Community College in Oregon.

As it's been described, this is a very rural area of Oregon. According to someone who's on the ground nearby, who's familiar with the area, you have this community college maybe about 1,000 students, let's get confirmation on that, but about 1,000 students at the community college, a V.A. center nearby. The area is on lockdown. Police in the area saying if you are anywhere near this community college, stay away.

Also hearing from this local hospital who's really the primary hospital in the region who will be taking in a lot of these patients, a lot of these shooting victims, Mercy Medical, they are saying they are expecting an unknown number of patients from this shooting.

Art, as far as first responders go, can you just also walk us through how they have to very quickly go through and find those who are most seriously wounded and get them out.

RODERICK: Yes, the active shooter protocols have changed over the years. There was a - there was a particular time when law enforcement wouldn't go in until they could figure out exactly what was going on inside the building or inside the campus. Now they immediately respond and go into these buildings to do an immediate search, try to clear the area. There's even tactical paramedics that are armed now that could be either law enforcement or could be with the emergency response side of the house (ph).

So things have changed over the years. One of the most popular courses you go through training now would be the tactical paramedics training for law enforcement officers that are part of SWAT teams or tactical units. So they are doing a search by search building. I'm sure they've got canine units there. They're checking every single room. Again, the huge benefit is that they have that individual in custody and, obviously, they're interrogating him now to figure out exactly what his motivation is and if there was anybody else helping him.

[14:30:14] BALDWIN: All right,