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Sheriff: Multiple Gunshots Victims At Perry, IA High School; ISIS Claims Responsibility For Blasts Near Iranian General's Tomb; Trump Asks Judge In Jan. 6 Case To Sanction Special Counsel. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 04, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the breaking news out of Perry, Iowa. We heard from law enforcement just a few minutes ago, they confirmed there was a shooting at the Perry High School. It happened before 8:00 a.m. local time.

7:37 a.m. is when they got the call that there was something going on. Police arrived seven minutes later. They found multiple shooting victims at the school.

We do not know the condition of those victims. And we do not know how many. However, police did say that because it happened so early, there were not that many people at the school as it happened.

We also know that -- they know the identity of the shooter. They say there was no current threat. The situation is over.

Back with us, Juliette Kayyem and Andrew McCabe. Again, law enforcement, Andrew, said that later today, they're going to tell us more. More, I imagine, would be the identity of the shooter.

If there were fatalities, we're very much hoping that we're not, but we just don't have word on that yet. What other information do you expect next time we do hear from law enforcement?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, you know, it's of course, first and foremost, we want to hear about the victims, both them -- those who were -- who were killed at the scene, and those who were injured and how and where that took place inside the school. We -- as you mentioned, we want to know about the offender. So, the shooter has been identified. Presumably, his identity will be released to us at some point, you know, then we'll start to understand whether this was a fellow student or --

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Andy. Andy, I'm going to interrupt you just real quick because we just have word from our Evan Perez, who has law enforcement official telling him that the shooter has been confirmed dead. So, we now have that information from a law enforcement official through our reporter who gets it right every single time, Evan Perez. That's where we're at, at this moment. And we -- they know the identity of the -- of the shooter. We know we -- heard that from the sheriff. But this is the breaking news just coming in at the -- that according to an official -- law enforcement official, the shooter has been pronounced dead.

MCCABE: Yes, and that's obviously helpful to know. But there's obviously still a lot of questions about that person. Were they a student, were they a faculty member, or a staffer at the school? All those answers will help us understand better about what they might have been trying to accomplish.

Was this a, like we've seen in places like Michigan and Memphis and other school shootings, a student who is trying to cause you know, as much carnage as they could? Or was this a staff member who was in the middle of a domestic dispute, and you know, lashing out against someone they were connected to in that way? So, it's -- there's a lot of possibilities left on the table.

So, it'll be very helpful to hear the sheriff get up and give us really more granularity about what happened, and who was injured by it, and who committed it.

[11:35:00]

BERMAN: And, Juliette, one thing they have not said explicitly, is how the shooter had died. But I will note that in their press conference, they did not say there was any kind of confrontation between law enforcement and the shooter. So, one might infer that the shooter took his or her own life in the process, correct?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. That's a -- that would be, I think, a fair interpretation of what was said. They did not talk about any engagement. They talked about seven minutes between the time of the first alert, the zero alert to the time of someone in law enforcement being able to get to the -- to the school.

And so, what they are -- you know, obviously, you know, the question about the victims, of course, but the issues around family unification at least are at play in this school shooting because the school really wasn't totally in session. And then you are going to look to the -- to the perpetrator. And then potential motive.

This is the first day back after a long while away. I mean, our kids have been out of school for 10 or 12 days. And so, the question is going to be what happened before, or did anything happen over the holidays that might explain why the day one of return would be the day that the -- that the shooter decided to enter this facility? And then, of course, who or what was his target?

Understanding that given the timing of it, this is someone who, if they knew the school, would know that it was not at max capacity. But if they were an employee or were focused on a club or something like that, that would be something that you would look into in terms of an investigation. SIDNER: Yes, whether or not there was a target, and this is a targeted shooting. Although, we now know that there are multiple people who have been shot according to the sheriff.

KAYYEM: Yes.

SIDNER: Andrew McCabe, Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much. Stay with us. We will be coming back to you as we get more details. But you have been wonderful this morning for us.

We also have some more breaking news that was just in. This is significant. We have just learned that ISIS has claimed responsibility for those twin blasts in Iran that killed more than a hundred people. We will have more details ahead for you on that.

That is the scene after it happened. You see the ambulance coming in there and the huge crowds that are standing around after that twin blast happened there, killing again, more than a hundred people. ISIS now saying this was their work. We'll be right back.

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[11:41:27]

SIDNER: OK, we have two big breaking news stories for you. One, what is happening in Perry High School in Perry, Iowa, where there are multiple people that have been shot at a high school there. The shooter -- we have now confirmed through a law enforcement source through our Evan Perez that the shooter has been killed.

We do not know the status of any of those who have actually been shot. Who they are, whether they are students or faculty teachers, we do not know that information yet. The sheriff is holding that for right now as he tries to contact the family members.

We know what happened around 7:37 that the police got there about seven minutes later. So, we are still waiting for information on those who have been injured. But another mass school shooting, the fourth so far this year. So, one each and every day if you look at the statistical calculation there, which is just a complete tragedy.

Now, to the Middle East. ISIS is now claiming responsibility for that deadly twin blast in Iran that happened on Wednesday. The explosions were at a memorial for Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed. At least 84 people and injured 284 others in those blasts.

You can see the pictures there from Wednesday. That is from one of the Iranian news agencies. It is the deadliest attack in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

BERMAN: All right, let's get right to CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson who's watching this. ISIS has claimed responsibility which is something that we discussed was a possibility on our aggressor the day just after the blast happened, Nic. Explain the dynamics here. Why ISIS would want to target Iran? NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: They would want to target Iran because they consider it a sheer theocracy, and they consider them as they describe them poly-atheists. And in their language today in their press release claiming responsibility for the attack, they say they killed 300 poly-atheists sheers because ISIS is a predominantly Sunni organization.

And they are in their own minds at war with the shears and none more so than Iran. And none more so than Qasem Soleimani because he was a leader in Iran that crackdown not only on Western interests. He was sort of the international operations arm of the IRGC, the head of the Quds Force, but he also led the charge against ISIS as well. And that's why they would want to target him.

Now, having said that, are they offering evidence in their claim so far that would support their case? I have to say from what we've seen so far, there is no concrete evidence. There is even some discrepancies in what they describe.

The number of dead, for example, is actually 84, according to Iranians, not 300 as ISIS says. But ISIS often overstates. ISIS also said that the attack was carried out by two suicide bombers. Well, the information we have from the Iranian authorities yesterday is that at least one of those bombs was in a suitcase and was remotely detonated.

The Iranians also blamed Israel. The president of Iran today saying that Israel was responsible and would pay a price for this. So, there are still some parts of this that don't add up.

[11:45:08]

But what does add up very clearly, the signature of the attack yesterday was not at all the signature of an Israeli precision strike against command figures. It was much more the signature of an ISIS attack, flashing out and hitting out innocent civilians and bystanders, which is what seems to have happened during the Soleimani mourning yesterday.

SIDNER: Yes. I -- can I -- just -- I've been curious why ISIS is jumping into the fray now. Whether they're responsible or not, they are claiming responsibility, even with the details being off what they're saying. Why would they jump into this now knowing that there is already the potential of a regional war? Is it to try to blow that up, or are they just trying to get attention from the world that they're still around?

ROBERTSON: This was -- would have been a target of interest and a target potentially of opportunity where there would have been a large gathering and also where they knew their enemies in the Iranian leadership might be looking in the other direction and might be looking for Mossad operatives, rather than looking for ISIS operatives. So, they may have seen that as a -- as an opening of opportunity.

You know -- and I think when we look at the threshold of the level of attacks that have been hit Iranian interests, the Hamas leader killed under the noses of Hezbollah, a senior Iranian commander killed in Damascus, and what appears to have been, although Israel has had not one of our airstrikes, and then the killing today of a senior Iranian commander claimed by -- a senior Iranian-backed Iraqi militia commander by the United States in Iraq. These all fall below the threshold, if you will, for an escalation from Iran, that this attack by ISIS may have just been trying to jump on and destabilize the situation further.

SIDNER: Yes.

BERMAN: All right. Nic Robertson for us covering this story. Again, ISIS claiming responsibility for those twin bombings in Iran just yesterday.

There's also breaking news involving Donald Trump this morning. House Democrats say they now have documents that show Trump's own properties received millions of dollars from foreign governments when he was president.

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[11:51:33]

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news this morning out of Perry, Iowa. Police there say that multiple people were shot at Perry High School early this morning. They did not release the number of victims or the condition of the victims.

They did say that they know the identity of the shooter, and CNN has since learned that the shooter is now dead. The site has been secure. They say no further danger to the public.

Again, we did hear from the sheriff just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF ADAM INFANTE, DALLAS COUNTY, IOWA: At approximately 7:37 a.m., we had a serious radio activation at the high school, which indicated an active shooter situation. Officer first arrived within seven minutes of that activation and located multiple gunshot victims. We're still unclear exactly how many are injured or what the extent of those are but we're working on that right now. There is no further danger to the public. The community is safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: No further danger to the public. No word on the number of those shots or their condition now. We are waiting to get that information. Law enforcement did say they will hold a news conference later this afternoon on that. Stay with CNN of course for live coverage.

SIDNER: All right. Some more news that had come out this morning. $5.5 million, and then some. That is how much House Democrats say China spent at Donald Trump's properties during Donald Trump's time as president. And they say they have the financial documents to prove that.

CNN's Zachary Cohen is following the breaking details. Zachary, first of all, give us some sense of exactly what they did find in this report, and also, the malfeasance of it all and what it means.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Absolutely. So, this report is based on documents from Trump's former accounting firm. And they do show that millions of dollars in payments came from about 20 foreign countries. And the vast majority of that sum that was totaled up by House Democrats came from China.

And so, these documents do show that the Chinese government and state- owned Chinese entities did pay -- make payments that totaled around $5.5 million to Trump properties while he was in office. That includes properties in D.C., and New York and, in Las Vegas. And look, the concern here is that these payments were made in an effort to influence Trump's foreign policy.

You know, there's actually a part of the Constitution that addresses this concern. And so, it's been something that we've been aware of for a long time. But Democrats say -- and they draw a parallel between some of Trump's foreign policy decisions and the countries that were making these payments.

You know, the Trump Organization insists that Trump didn't do anything wrong. That he actually donated all of the profits that he received from any sort of foreign payments. But at the end of the day, it's impossible to tell what, if any link, that exists between foreign policy decisions that the Trump administration made, and those -- that outreach and those payments that were coming from these countries.

SIDNER: Yes. All right. Zachary Cohen, those are interesting details. I'm sure they're going to be more spilling out. So, we will keep you -- keep you posted -- you keep us posted. Thank you.

BERMAN: Everyone's keeping everyone posted. This morning, Donald Trump's legal team is asking the federal judge in the January 6 case to sanction Special Counsel Jack Smith. What's going on here? Let's get right to Paul Reid for the details on this. Paula.

[11:55:02]

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: What is going on, John? Here, the Trump lawyers are insisting that the special counsel, Jack Smith, and some of his prosecutors be "severely sanctioned because they keep making filings in the federal election subversion case." Now, of course, making filings, well, that's just what lawyers do. But the federal case is currently on hold. The judge overseeing that case has put a halt on "all substantive proceedings -- substantive proceedings."

Now, the special counsel understands this. He notes this in the briefs that he continues to file. He says, look, I know this is on hold. But I want to continue to make my filings, to make my arguments so that when this case resumes, once all the appeals are resolved, he believes there'll be resolved in his favor, they can get going.

He wants to bring this case to trial before November 2024. He's made that clear publicly. He's made that clear in his filings.

But the Trump team, they see it differently. They argue that this is political. They accuse the special counsel of "trying to score cheap political points by continuing to make these filings," many of which are very critical of former President Trump. They're even arguing that the prosecutors are making the docket. So, where all these filings end up? A political arm of the Biden campaign.

Now, it's unclear how the judge will rule here, John. We know that Judge Tanya Chutkan is also eager to move this case along as quickly as possible. But again, she can't do anything until these larger questions -- Constitutional questions about any immunity Trump may have until those are resolved.

And at this point, it's unclear how long it'll take to resolve those. And if this trial will go before the 2024 election.

BERMAN: We've got about 20 seconds or less here, Paula. Judge Chutkan is the one who will rule on this latest filing from the Trump team trying to sanction Jack Smith, is that correct?

REID: She's the one -- she's the one who has put this case on hold. So, this is her pause. And the Trump lawyers are arguing that they are not honoring her halt on this case.

Now, it's unclear if she'll say, look, stop making the filings. A halt is a halt. Or she'll say, look, I'm not going to punish anyone but going forward, let's stop. It's just unclear how she'll rule.

BERMAN: Got it. OK. Paula Reid, thank you very much for that. Obviously, keep us posted when you hear the next step.

SIDNER: She did that in 15 seconds or less, by the way.

BERMAN: She really did.

SIDNER: Kudos to you, Paula. All right. We have had so much breaking news for you today. Much of it will likely come up though in tonight's back-to-back "CNN Town Halls" with Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. The two of them are the only ones that qualified. They'll be taking questions directly from Iowa voters. Qualified for the --

BERMAN: Debate next week.

SIDNER: Debate next week. Kaitlan Collins is moderating the conversation with DeSantis starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. And then, Erin Burnett will follow immediately after, at 10:00 p.m. with Nikki Haley.

BERMAN: Thank you all for joining us on this busy morning. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next next.

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