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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Interview With Seth Meyers; Oregon School Shooting; Five U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan; Interview with Congressman Peter King of New York; GM Still Profitable Despite Recalls

Aired June 10, 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 ANCHOR: I mean, how many more times am I going to be standing up here telling you that yet another deadly school shooting has happened in this country?

I'm Jake Tapper. This is THE LEAD.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they were telling me, get out, get out, there's a shooter, there's a shooter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The national lead: terror inside an Oregon high school this time, as a shooter enters and begins firing.

And now one student is dead.

The money lead. Her company has recalled more cars this year than it has sold in the last five, and now the CEO of General Motors has to face her shareholders.

And the pop culture lead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SETH MEYERS, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": "SNL" is a young man's game. Like, staying up -- I'm 40 now. This is the perfect job to take over when you're 40.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I went on his show last night. Now he's coming on mine. Seth Meyers visits THE LEAD as part of our host exchange program. We will talk about putting his stamp on late night.

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the LEAD.

We will begin with tragic breaking news in our national lead. Do you remember a time when the only thing high school kids had to worry about at this point in the school year was final exams and whether they could get a date for the prom?

I don't know if I can remember that time anymore. With just one day left before summer vacation, one student is dead, fatally shot by a gunman who entered Reynolds High School just outside Portland, Oregon, this morning, the suspect also dead, according to the police. But it's not clear how the gunman was killed. Police gave an update just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT ANDERSON, TROUTDALE, OREGON, POLICE CHIEF: We have tentatively identified the shooter, but we're not confident enough at this point to reveal the details. I can tell you that the weapon that was used is a rifle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Police also say that one teacher suffered non-life- threatening injuries, and they had a second person was found with a gun during the evacuation and taken into custody, but as of now, they do not believe that the second gun is connected to the shooting incident.

News cameras were there now to capture the now sickeningly familiar sight of students walking out single file with their hands raised. Just two days before seniors are supposed to graduate at Reynolds, many of these kids found themselves instead running for their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was two shots after we were all meeting in the gym. He had no mask on, and just see the side of his face. And...

QUESTION: Did you see him carrying a gun? How do you know it was one of them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. He was -- he was carrying a gun running after one of our teachers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just saw people running everywhere, like people screaming. We didn't know what was going on, and we just all went to the back of the classroom and we were all scared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Students were bussed to a parking lot at a nearby grocery store where anxious parents were able to reunite with them. You can just imagine how terrified they all were when they heard the news.

On the phone right now, we have Lisa Anderson. She is an education reporter who covers this school district for the "Gresham Outlook" newspaper. She spent the morning at the nearby grocery store parking lot where parents waited anxiously to be reunited with their children after the shooting.

Lisa, thanks for joining us.

These parents, they didn't know if there was an active shooter or if there were victims. That must have been agonizing.

LISA ANDERSON, "GRESHAM OUTLOOK": That's right, Jake. A lot of these parents heard the news and they just left directly from work, some of them from across town, from across the river.

They came with tears streaming down their eyes, just not quite knowing what was going on.

TAPPER: You know many of the students and teachers at Reynolds High School from covering them. What are you hearing?

ANDERSON: What am I hearing?

Just absolute heartbreak. They call this -- this is a huge high school, but they call this a very tight-knit community. And they never thought it could happen here, and it's just a very heartbreaking day for this community.

TAPPER: There was a lockdown last year during a homecoming dance. Right?

ANDERSON: There was a lockdown last year. That's correct.

TAPPER: Tell us about that. What was that about?

ANDERSON: That was in October.

That was -- it happened around 10:00. And doors were locked for safety as police looked for a possible armed man near the high school. They don't believe that was a student. But a call had come in about a suspicious person with a weapon into 911, and so they had a lockdown for a homecoming dance.

TAPPER: All right, Lisa Anderson of "The Gresham Outlook," thank you so much for joining us.

Parents endured an agonizing wait for news about their children, as police worked to secure the school, but cameras were rolling when one father and stepmom got the call that they had been waiting for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG TUHOLSKI, PARENT: Hello? Good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh.

TUHOLSKI: That's what we were waiting for. That's OK. I'm -- yes. Yes, I know. That's what they were saying. So I am glad to hear from you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Craig Tuholski and his son, Chris Tuholski, join me on the phone now.

Chris, what was it like for you inside the school? What happened? CHRIS TUHOLSKI, STUDENT: Well, at first, I was waiting to go into my

seventh period class. And one of the teachers came in, and telling us that we're on a lockdown.

And we thought he wasn't being dead serious at first, and then he decided to raise his voice, and we were like, oh, no, something is really going on.

TAPPER: Craig, did any of you know the teacher that was injured?

CRAIG TUHOLSKI: I'm sorry. Say that again?

TAPPER: Did you know the teacher who was injured?

CRAIG TUHOLSKI: My fiancee knows him.

And he's a -- longtime family friends, and also was her teacher when she went there as a high school student.

But, yes, from what I understand, he's a phenomenal person and, you know, for him to be targeted or hurt in any way is very shocking.

TAPPER: Is there any indication that this teacher was targeted?

CRAIG TUHOLSKI: Well, when you go through this, you hear a hundred different rumors.

TAPPER: Right.

CRAIG TUHOLSKI: So, it sounded like he may have been, but, hopefully, you know, that wasn't the case.

But we heard at first that he was targeted. But, like I said, until I think we get a further report later from the police -- I'm sure the news will hear about it before we do.

TAPPER: Chris, what can you tell us about -- you don't have to identify by name, and please don't, but what can you tell us about the student who apparently was killed?

CHRIS TUHOLSKI: I have no clue about it. I was nowhere close to where the shooting happened.

TAPPER: OK.

And is there any indication -- and, again, if you have heard a name, I don't want you to say it -- but is there any indication about who the shooter was?

CHRIS TUHOLSKI: No, I have no idea who it was.

TAPPER: There apparently was a dry run lockdown a few months ago. Do you think the school and students were prepared for a situation like this?

CHRIS TUHOLSKI: Sort of, kind of. We have been practicing like lockdowns or earthquake drills, like that.

TAPPER: Craig, it must have been agonizing, but tell us about when you first got word that there had been a shooting and what you did.

CRAIG TUHOLSKI: Oh, my fiancee, Tawnjia, and I, we just -- we both panicked and immediately jumped in the car and ran up to try to get to the school, because we saw on the broadcast that students were leaving the school.

We were hoping to get -- to get Chris right away, but, at that point, I had tried calling him and texting him several times and didn't get an answer. So kind of that point, you get the worst feeling possible in your head, even though after we heard where the shooting was, we knew he wasn't near it.

Until we actually heard from him, we were, you know, concerned that something could have happened to him. So, once we got the final word, it was complete relief. But, yes, for about an hour, hour-and-a-half, it was -- there was some anxiety and panic there, for sure.

TAPPER: Chris, how are your fellow students responding? How are people doing?

CHRIS TUHOLSKI: Can you say that again, please?

TAPPER: How are people doing? How are your fellow students responding?

CHRIS TUHOLSKI: I think they are OK.

They are just relieved that a lot of people didn't get hurt, and, lucky enough, we have good enough staff at our school to get everybody home and safe.

TAPPER: Well, Craig and Chris Tuholski, we -- we're so glad that you guys are OK. Thank you so much for talking to us.

CHRIS TUHOLSKI: Thank you.

CRAIG TUHOLSKI: All right, thank you very much.

TAPPER: Thoughts and prayers with your community.

Turning to our world lead now, U.S. troops have had enough to worry about in Afghanistan without fearing their own side. But, apparently, in the fog of war, five U.S. service members, along with an Afghan soldier, were killed in an airstrike.

And there's strong suspicion that their own comrades unleashed the deadly forced that claimed their lives. If that's true, it's hardly the only so-called friendly fire incident in the long Afghan war.

Let's bring in our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

Barbara, what specifically do we know about this incident for sure?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Very few details, Jake, but it looks like, in one of the toughest areas in Afghanistan, something went terribly wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): The five special forces troops were killed on a security operation in advance of Saturday's presidential runoff election.

Working in Southern Afghanistan's often violent Zabul province, the Americans, along with Afghan forces, ran into militants. A firefight ensued, and they called for air support. It's now suspected that an Air Force B-1 bomber that responded may have dropped its weapons accidentally on the U.S. troops. The incident is being investigated.

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We do have reason to suspect that friendly-fire was the cause here. Specifically, friendly-fire from the air. But the issue is under investigation.

STARR: There have been at least five major so-called friendly-fire incidents since the war began in 2001, among the most well-known, the 2004 death of Pat Tillman. Tillman gave up a lucrative contract with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals to join the Army's Ranger force.

He was awarded the Silver Star, the military's third highest combat decoration, after the Army said he was killed leading a counterattack against enemy forces. Only later did the Army admit he had been shot accidentally by his comrades in the firefight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Now, this latest incident comes of course as President Obama has announced U.S. troops are leaving Afghanistan, but for five American military families today, the deepest mourning -- Jake.

TAPPER: Barbara Starr, thank you so much.

When we come back, five high-value prisoners for the life of one America, so now that they're out, how closely are those Taliban detainees being watched by the United States.

Plus, she reportedly was $12 million in debt. And Hillary Clinton says that makes it easier for her to understand the struggles of the middle class. How is that clarification going over?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

In world news, among the many points of controversy to emerge following the swap of five Taliban prisoners for American Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is the question of whether these five mid to high level Taliban fighters will return to the battlefield and it is really no secret that according to the Obama administration, they very well may. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Is there the possibility of some of them trying to return to activities? Absolutely. That's been true of all prisoners released from Guantanamo. There's a sort of recidivism rate that takes place. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The threat of returning to battlefield is not new. Nine years ago this month, Vice President Dick Cheney acknowledged that threat was very real.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: If you were to release those 520 that were currently held at Guantanamo, that had been deemed to be enemy combatants, we're putting a lot of bad guys back on the street to do exactly what they started to do in the first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: In fact, by the time President Obama took office, according to the office of the director of national intelligence in a report, the Bush/Cheney administration had released 171 detainees, either later confirmed or suspected of having returned to the battlefield. These include, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency, Ibrahim Sen who was later arrested in Turkey and charged as the leader of an active al Qaeda cell, and Abdullah Mahsud, whom Pakistan government officials accused of directing a suicide attack in April 2007, that killed 31 people.

Under the Obama administration, which claims to have a more thorough vetting process for releasing detainees, as of last September, they had released seven who had been confirmed or suspected of returning to the battlefield. Though, now, of course, we have the five currently in Qatar, which include two wanted by the United Nations for possible war crimes, including the murder of thousands of Shiites.

Joining me now is Republican Congressman Pete King of New York, who serves on the Homeland Security and Intelligence Committees.

Congressman, I keep hearing from Republicans about these five Taliban members released and the threat that they'll pose. I have to be candid, I do not recall hearing many Republicans talking about the 171 detainees released by Bush-Cheney who have returned to the battlefield. Is my memory faulty?

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: I'm going to speak for myself, Jake. I have felt all along that Guantanamo should be kept open and we should be very reluctant to let any of them out. Quite frankly, the Bush/Cheney administration was under pressure and I think almost 30 percent of those who were released have gone back to the battlefield and we have to assume that these five are worst than those because it was the ones with the lesser security issues that were released first.

So, now, these five were among the worst of the worst. So, I think we could assume that all of them will end up back on the battlefield.

TAPPER: Congressman, you had this briefing last night. You were just briefed again as a member of the Intelligence Committee. What have you heard new that you didn't hear last night that gives you any more context on the swap?

KING: Well, I can't go into details, but I can tell you, I haven't heard anything that reassures me as far as the security measures on the five that will be in Qatar or any of the rationale for the release itself. I mean, basically, even though we did get some details and, you know, some facts we hadn't gotten before, nothing to me that changes the overall picture.

So, those of us who had concerns before, I believe we still have concerns and I'm struck by how casual the president is about almost assuming that some of these people are going to go back to the battlefield and, again, considering how dangerous they are, this isn't just an ordinary Taliban going back to the battlefield. We're talking, again, the real hierarchy of the Taliban leadership.

TAPPER: What do you make of reports that some members of Obama's inner circle, including the CIA Director John Brennan, used to be his homeland security adviser, don't think that these five Taliban leaders pose a threat to the U.S., that they might be dangerous to Afghans but they don't pose any threat to the American people?

KING: Well, first of all, at the very least, they are threats to the American interests in Afghanistan and that part of the world. Secondly, there were no Americans in Afghanistan on September 11th, 2001, and they certainly presented a threat to the U.S.

So, the whole idea of them going back to Afghanistan and being able to re-establish Afghanistan and al Qaeda rule represents a threat to the United States.

And also, remember, we're leaving many people behind. There are going to be civilian workers there, troops there for the next few years and many allies on the ground. People in Afghanistan that we have asked to step forward and work for us or stand by us and try to fight off the Taliban, so we're now putting them at much more risk and their lives are worth something, especially since they have been willing to make a decision to stand with us.

TAPPER: Democratic Senator Dick Durbin told reporters today that the U.S. government knew ahead of time a day the transfer was going to take place and only knew an hour ahead of time where it was going to take place. He's arguing that there wasn't as much lead time on this deal as you and other Republicans might be arguing.

What if it was a now or never moment in the administration, simply didn't have the time to fill in the Congress?

KING: There was no evidence there was a now or never. But, secondly, I'm not standing on ceremony. Yes. There's no reason why they couldn't have contacted the chairman and the ranking members on the intelligence committees in the House and the Senate and the House leadership and Senate leadership.

We're talking about a half hour of phone calls. And when the administration wants to get a message out, they can get it. So, listen, I believe under Article 2, the president did not have to notify congressmen. What I'm saying, as far as relations, as far as expected cooperation, the president definitely should have contacted and all he's doing is buying himself and the administration real trouble over the next few years of his presidency.

TAPPER: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel set to testify in front of the House Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning. What's the biggest question you want him to answer?

KING: I would ask him, what he believes the threat is and also who in the Defense Department objected to this. Why did Leon Panetta for instance oppose this originally and what changed between when Leon Panetta was defense secretary and now that Chuck Hagel is defense secretary.

TAPPER: Congressman Peter King, thank you so much.

KING: Jake, thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up, General Motors facing angry parents as it meets with shareholders today. What the car company is now saying about those deadly crashes and why it's still not classifying anyone in the back seat as a victim.

Plus, he's a rookie on the late-night talk show stage but Seth Meyers knows a thing or two about cracking a joke behind the desk. Ahead, he talks to me about his new show and why it's better and more fun than "SNL."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD.

Now, it's time for money lead.

Good news for General Motors, being tied to at least 13 deaths does not apparently hurt the bottom line. CEO Mary Barra announced today to shareholders that despite an ignition switch problem, one that contributed to the deaths of at least 13 people, maybe even more, despite recalling a mind-numbing 14 million vehicles in the U.S. just this year, G.M. somehow sold more cars in May than in any other month since 2008.

While the families of those 13 victims probably wanted to hear what Barra had to say, they were not invited. G.M. says, have they asked, families would have been welcomed, but instead some protested outside the company's Detroit headquarters.

CNN's Poppy Harlow was there and caught up with a few of them who are still demanding answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A small but impassioned group of protesters at G.M. headquarters.

LAURA CHRISTIAN, MOTHER OF VICTIM: I hate being here outside this building. But it just reminds me that she's never coming back.

HARLOW: Laura Christian acknowledges her 16-year-old daughter was drinking and not wearing a seat belt when the car she was in crashed.

CHRISTIAN: I was supposed to have the rest of my life with her and I'm not going to have that.

HARLOW: Ken Rimer drove 11 hours to stand here, as G.M. shareholders met inside. He believes the crash his stepdaughter died in was caused by a faulty ignition switch.

KEN RIMER: This is their home court. This is where we need to be. These two young girls died because of what they didn't do. So, we want to make sure that they remember what happened.

HARLOW: The shareholder meeting took place just days after G.M.'s internal investigation report was released, uncovering a pattern of incompetence and neglect, and showing people that G.M. knew about the deadly defect and did nothing about it.

Conducted by former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas, the report said, quote, "The switch was so plagued with problems that the engineer who designed it labeled it then the 'switch from hell'."

At G.M.'s annual meeting, no shareholder asked about the recall or deaths but CEO Mary Barra apologized again.

MARY BARRA, G.M. CEO: I know there are no words that can capture and explain the grief and pain that each of you feel.

HARLOW: G.M. says 13 people died as a result of the defective switch. They're only counting frontal impact crashes where air bags did not deploy. Therefore, only counting victims that died in the front seats.

Why are those that died in the back seat of a car, they crashed because of the ignition switch defect, not counted on the list?

BARRA: Our goal is to make sure that everyone who was impacted by the ignition switch issue is appropriately compensated, as it relates to those who lost loved ones or those who had serious physical injury. That's what we're focused on.

HARLOW: Ken Rimer's stepdaughter Natasha Weigel was sitting in the back seat when she died.

RIMER: The loss of life is something that you just can't -- you can't describe. The loss of a child. It was a simple fix that could have fixed this problem before it even happened. These two young girls did not need to die in vain.

CHRISTIAN: I want to see G.M. held criminally liable, at least the people who knew and did nothing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: And, Jake, end of last week, G.M. dismissed 15 people due to the results of that internal investigation saying they just simply did something wrong or they didn't do anything at all to fix this deadly problem. We still don't know, we didn't hear today how much the victims' families are going to get and G.M. hasn't decided on that. Ultimately, that's going to be in the hand of a guy named Ken Feinberg. He's a victim compensation expert and an attorney.

So, ultimately, he's going to have the final say on that list of how many people ultimately died as a result of this. The question, is it going to go higher than 13? Are they going to count people sitting in the back seat?

TAPPER: Heartbreaking and infuriating.

Poppy Harlow in Detroit, thank you so much.

When we come back, Hillary Clinton doing a little damage control today after Republicans called her out of touch for saying she was dead broke after leaving the White House. What she's saying now to clarify those comments as she beings what many see as the victim of a potential (ph) presidential campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)