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Jennifer Crumbley Trial Resumes In Oxford H.S. Mass Shooting; Pentagon Holds Briefing After 3 U.S. Troops Killed In Jordan. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired January 29, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:34:04]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A witness in Jennifer Crumbley's manslaughter trial tells the jury that Crumbley had very few positive things to say about her son.

Crumbly is on trial for involuntary manslaughter after her son killed four of his classmates in 2021. Prosecutors are trying to prove that the shooter's parents bear blame for the Oxford school shooting, for neglecting their son, and giving him access to a gun.

CNN's Jean Casarez has been watching the testimony.

Jean, walk us through what you have heard.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I want to tell you what is happening right now. The counselor, Shawn Hopkins, who was the counselor at Oxford High school, he is on the stand.

It comes to that critical day, November 30th, two hours before the mass shooting happened. He got the map drawing -- I think we have a picture of that. It is the drawing on his math worksheet that Ethan Crumbley had a stick figure, a gun, bullets, blood and "My life is worthless."

So he called the parents into the school. He just testified that he felt Jennifer Crumbley thought it was an inconvenience that she had to be brought to the school at that point.

[14:35:10]

He talked with them and wanted Ethan sent home and they said they had to go back to work. That is when Ethan went back to class and, two hours later, it all happened.

Earlier today, Kira Panik took the stand. Jennifer and James were very big horse people. They had two horses. And this is who owned the horse farms where the horses were kept.

She testified that she never saw Ethan Crumbley. He never came out where the horses were. But his parents did.

At one point, Jennifer talked about Ethan and it was not positive. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED PROSECUTOR: She spoke negatively about him, or was it just positive?

KIRA PANIK, HORSE BARN OWNER: There was nothing truly positive when she was talking about him. There were quite a few times that she voiced that he was a "whoops" baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: That would have been fall of 2021, so shortly before the mass shooting.

Several months before, there were issues at the high school with Ethan. I think we have a still here from the evidence. It is from a teacher who was reaching out to that counselor. And she said, could you please touch base with Ethan Crumbley.

In his autobiography, "Poland (ph)," he said he feels terrible and that his family is a mistake. Unusual responses for sure. That counselor said he got more context and he did not talk to Ethan at all.

Later on, the teacher, a short time later, said Ethan is having a rough time right now, can you please speak with him. The counselor said he met him in the hallway and said, if you need someone to talk to, talk to me.

The teachers were, Boris, just begging for someone to pay attention to Ethan Crumbley and the signs they were seeing, and it did not culminate until November 30th.

SANCHEZ: Jean Casarez, thank you so much for that update.

We want to take it to the Pentagon now because officials are giving a briefing on the three U.S. troops killed in Jordan.

Here's Sabrina Singh.

SABRINA SINGH, DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: -- specialist, Kennedy Senators, and specialist, Breanna Moffat, all of whom were signed to the 718th Engineering Company, a U.S. Army Reserve unit based out of Fort Moore, Georgia.

These three fallen heroes were deployed to Jordan in support of Operation Inherent Resolve and the international coalition working to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS.

These brave Americans and their families are in our prayers and the entire Department of Defense mourns the loss. We also pray for the speedy recovery of those who were injured.

Eight personnel who received injuries required medical evacuations from Jordan to the Baghdad diplomatic support center. Three of those patients are scheduled for imminent transport to a regional center for follow-on care.

The other five have been assessed for mild TBI and are expected to return to duty.

We are still assessing what happened and how a one-way attack drone was able to attack the facility. U.S. Central Command continues to investigate the attack.

And for operation security and force protection reasons, we will not discuss further specifics or measures we're taking to prevent such actions or future attacks.

We do know that Iran-back militants are responsible for continued attacks on U.S. forces in the region. As the president and the secretary have stated, we will not tolerate continued attacks on American forces.

And we will take all necessary actions to defend U.S. military men and women who are deployed. And we will do so at a time and place of our choosing.

Over the weekend, the secretary received regular updates on the attack against U.S. forces and participated in a briefing with the president and his national security team.

Today, Secretary Austin returned to work at the Pentagon. This morning, he met with the NATO secretary-general for a bilateral meeting where they discussed the war in Ukraine, the next NATO summit, and ways to strengthen trans-Atlantic security.

He also met with President Biden at the White House and he will host the NATO secretary-general alongside Secretary Blinken and the national security advisor.

Additionally, the secretary is tentatively scheduled to visit Walter Reed Military Medical Center this evening for a follow-up appointment.

As his doctors said in their statement on Friday, Secretary Austin continues to recover well and is expected to make a full recovery following his treatment for prostate cancer.

With that, I would be happy to take your questions.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thanks, Sabrina. A couple of things. Number one, since Secretary Austin has now returned to the building, can you tell us whether or not we will be able to see him in the briefing room?

SINGH: I don't actually -- go ahead.

(CROSSTALK)

[14:40:01]

SINGH: Sure. I do not have an update just yet, but something we are working towards and we will keep you updated. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Secondly, can you give us an update on the

number of wounded and the breakdown between Air Force and Army on that?

Also, any update on the perpetrators of the attack? There has been a lot of chatter about K.H. Can you tell us if that is the leading suspicion?

SINGH: Sure. On the number of injuries, right now we assess there are more than 40 who have been injured. We do expect that number to continue to fluctuate as servicemembers, you know, with TBI symptoms are reported later, so that could continue to grow.

In terms of attribution for the attack, we know this is an IRGC-backed militia. It has the footprints of Qatar Hezbollah. But not making a final assessment on that.

Our teams are doing an analysis. But we know that Iran is behind it. And certainly, as we have said before in this briefing room, Iran continues to arm and equip these groups to launch these attacks and we will hold them responsible.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Just for clarification, you said you know Iran is behind it. You know Iran, or Iran leaders were actually behind this attack, as in planned, correlated or directed it?

SINGH: We know Iran plays a role with these groups or they are armed and equipped and they fund these groups. I do not have more on terms of intelligence assessment if leaders from Iran were directing the attack.

I can tell you we know they are supported by Iran and therefore they have their fingerprints on this. I cannot tell you more in terms of who directed the attack.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did this drone take off from a IRGC base in Syria?

SINGH: I do not have more on the point of origin on where this attack originated.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was it human error that failed to recognize this was an Iranian drone?

SINGH: It's something Central Command is looking into that to find out what happened.

As I mentioned at the top, they are doing the assessment, they are working through what they need to do to make sure our servicemembers weather being in Jordan, Iraq, Syria are further protected but I do not have anything more to share.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What kind of drone struck the base? Is this the same kind being used by Russia in Ukraine?

SINGH: That's something we're looking at right now. We are assessing the drone but I do not have anything to share yet.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You think Iran was behind the attack. What does that mean? You see evidence of financing or directing, anything specific, not just general but specific?

SINGH: Maybe I need to clarify further. We know Iran funds these groups. We know these IRGC-backed militias are responsible for attacks on our troops in Iraq and Syria. Beyond that, we are doing an intelligence assessment. I cannot give you today that --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)

SINGH: We know Iran funds these groups and I do not have more to share, as a general matter, yes?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You talked about how the conflict is contained in Gaza. Now that U.S. troops have been attacked in another country, are you willing to say the conflict is spreading?

SINGH: I would not say the conflict is spreading in that we have seen over 100 attacks on U.S. forces, unfortunately, over 100 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria and now in Jordan.

We do not want to see a widening of this conflict. We don't see the conflict widening as it still remains contained to Gaza.

But this attack was escalatory in that it killed three servicemembers, three of our U.S. servicemembers. As the president said, we do not want to seek conflict or want to see the widening of a regional war, but we will respond at a time and place of our choosing.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Not bringing in troops from another country?

SINGH: Again, they have been launching attacks since October 17th. We cannot discount the fact that these attacks are dangerous, put our servicemembers at risk, but they have not, up until yesterday, inflicted lethal harm.

They have been predominantly minor injuries and minor damage to infrastructure.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you address the broader trajectory for American forces in Iraq and Syria? Will these attacks affect the ongoing discussions between the United States and the government of Iraq about the future of American presence there?

[14:45:00]

Or there have been reports that the United States is reviewing plans for the future of Syria. Can you talk about how this will or will not impact those deliberations?

SINGH: I think you are referring to the Higher Military Commission last week. We are focused on working with our Iraqi partners on how to respond to the attack that claimed three U.S. servicemembers. We remain committed to the HMC process and we will continue to focus

on it at the appropriate time.

I do not have anything to preview on troop levels or changes in Iraq and Syria. But we are committed to the agency process and that is ongoing.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Would I be right to say that this lethal attack on American forces, and the potential for a response, which President Biden has foreshadowed explicitly, would you say it will not have an impact on U.S. plans for the troop presence in Iraq and Syria or is it too soon to say that?

SINGH: I think it's too soon to say that. Also, you have to remember that the HMP (ph) was already happening and was something that was announced back in August of 2023.

The attack on October 7th did delay some of those conversations from happening and the discussions from starting.

But we are still committed to the process. We are still committed to working with the Iraqi government. And we are going to continue to do so.

I do not have anything more to preview what that means for our force levels.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can the Pentagon confirm any reports that the reason the drone was not shot down because troops thought it was returning American drone?

SINGH: I saw those reports. Again, that's something that Central Command is assessing now but I do not have any more to share on that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A follow-up on that. You said it is, but it is not a spread even though it happened in a different country.

Is there any indication that this attack, the equipment or the way it happened, any of that, was it a different kind of attack than what we have been seeing in Iraq and Syria, or was it an escalation and people died because they were not able to shoot it down and didn't detect it?

SINGH: To my knowledge, there was nothing different or new about this attack that we had seen in other facilities that house our servicemembers.

This attack was successful. We cannot discount the fact that other attacks, whether it be Iraq or Syria, were not intended to kill our servicemembers. It is a true tragedy that three of our servicemembers have died.

Of course, Central Command is looking into what can be done when it comes to air defenses and looking into this incident to determine how best we can further strengthen our air defense systems.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was this the base less well protected than other bases in Iraq and Syria?

SINGH: Not to my knowledge.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you talk more about what the unit was doing in Jordan? You also said Iran has backed these troops that launched of these attacks. Is this attack that killed three servicemembers an active of war by Iran?

SINGH: Look, I think I said this earlier. We do not seek war with Iran. We do not seek to widen the conflict.

We have said, and we will continue to call out the fact that Iran does find fund and equip these groups and provide them with the capabilities that they used to attack our servicemembers, whether it is Iraq, Syria, or Jordan. We will not hesitate in calling that out.

We do not seek war. We do not see Iran wanting to seek war with United States.

We are there with Iraq and Syria. And I think your original question was, what were the servicemembers doing there? They are there in support of the Defeat ISIS mission. They are part of a named operation that this department has and is committed to in Iraq and Syria. (INAUDIBLE)

SINGH: A follow-up. How is this not a regional war between the United States and proxies in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and now Jordan?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We are not discounting that tensions are high in the region. Since October 17th, we have seen repeated attacks on U.S. forces.

We are not discounting the fact that tensions are high and these Iran in backed groups are targeting military members with the intention of trying to kill them.

But we do not seek war. We do not want to see this widen to a broader war.

Again, attacks on our servicemembers in Iraq and Syria, to bring it back, and to look at what is happening in the Red Sea, we do not seek a wider war there either.

But we will respond when it comes to commercial ships, our ships, our partners vessels being targeted and jeopardizing international trade and putting at risk innocent mariners.

[14:50:00]

So again, we do not seek war, but we will take action and we will respond to attacks on our forces.

SINGH: I have two questions -- (INAUDIBLE) -- Russia -- (INAUDIBLE) -- launching a cruise missile into the east coast yesterday.

Do you suggest North Korea continues the negative actions related to the Biden military action.

SINGH: We have been very clear on the threat posed by the DPRK. And our commitment to the Republic of Korea and Japan continues to be ironclad.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The defense ministry spokesman criticized the United States dragging - out Korea into the Ukraine conflict. Then he wondered that if it was South Korea's fault if Ukraine would do stop relations with South Korea.

SINGH: Yes, I think quite to the contrary you see countries around the world supporting Ukraine's cause and their fight. We are coming up on the two-year anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine.

Russia is seeking support from partners like Iran and North Korea for its war against Ukraine. You are seeing like-minded nations to get in and stand in alliance in support of a democracy and a sovereign country who was invaded by its neighbor, unjustly invaded by its neighbor.

And we are very proud of the coalition that we have built in in support in Ukraine.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What is the total number of attacks now, since October and the total number of injuries?

SINGH: Yes, just one second. So from October 17th to -- to January 29th, we're tracking approximately 165 attacks, 66 in Iraq, 98 in Syria, and of course, the one yesterday in Jordan.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Oh, and I'm sorry.

(CROSSTALK)

SINGH: And on injuries, I'm tracking approximately 80 U.S. personnel have received non-serious injury since the attacks began.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have there been any attacks today, and where?

SINGH: I believe there was an attack earlier today. I don't have the exact location. We can get you that. I don't want to speculate but we can get you that information after.

Yes, right over here.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You said, just about 168 attacks. It's just this month, there has been over 150. They have been around 114 and 115 from October 17t h since the end of last year.

So you guys have responded, the department, the U.S. has responded to a few these attacks.

These attacks have continued. The deterrence have not seemed to work yet. Is the department considering altering or viewing its policy to deter of these militias from injuring or killing these troops? SINGH: Yes, that's ultimately the decision that the president is going

to make. And as I read out earlier, he has convened his national security team. You know, frequently within these past few days.

I am not going to get ahead of any decisions that president and the secretary make. But certainly, as are statements said yesterday, we are committed to responding and we will do so at a time and place of our choosing.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Just a second. To go to Israel and Gaza, reports in recent days suggested that the Biden administration, officials in the Pentagon have become more and more frustrated with the civilian death toll and their considerations of reviewing what types of weapons -- weapons sales to Israel.

I know this is a separate part of the State Department. But does the Pentagon share this assessment? Does the Pentagon sure that frustration of too many civilian casualties in Gaza?

SINGH: I think we have been pretty clear that we don't want to see any innocent lives lost in this war.

We have been very clear, both publicly and privately with our Israeli counterparts that innocent lives need to be protected. Humanitarian corridors need to be open. Humanitarian aid needs to continue to flow through.

Of course, we are concerned by the death toll in Gaza. We don't want to see continued Palestinians get caught in the crossfire. And we have continued to urge Israel to protect those innocent Palestinian civilians and will continue to do so.

[14:55:09]

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Clarification on the number of injured. The 80 includes those from the most recent attack?

SINGH: It does not. I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: OK. And has Tower 22, has that been targeted previously, either during the Israel-Hamas war, or in previous years?

SINGH: I cannot speak to before October 7th, but since October 17th, when these attacks have happened, no. Tower 22, to my knowledge, has not been the target.

But as you know, there is, the garrison is right on that border. So attacks have come pretty close to Tower 22, but nothing that has landed on the Jordanian side.

Impact have always been on the Syrian side, except for the attack that happened yesterday.

Natasha?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you, Sabrina. So previous attacks that have struck or landed near the military facilities in Iraq and Syria, they have not caused nearly as much casualties.

Is there an assessment as to why this particular drone caused so much -- I mean, over 40 people injured, three killed.

What was different about this drone? Or what was different about the facility that it didn't have the kind of protection that other bases do?

SINGH: What was different was where it landed. It did impact where living quarters are. And I believe it was pretty early morning so people were actually in their beds when the drone impacted.

But in terms of -- I mean, we've seen these types of attacks before. We are certainly, I mean, that is something that Central Command is looking into on how they can better refine not only the defenses but prevent future attacks like this from happening again.

Yes. Can I just -- I'm going to go over here and then come back. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A couple of questions. The interim, their tactics techniques and are there anything being changed to prevent this from happening?

SINGH: I would not forecast that from the podium. I would not want to get ahead of anything.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How about backdoor channel discussions with Iran? Anything at this point?

SINGH: I don't have anything to preview here.

Yes. Felicia?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You also have a number for the attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden?

SINGH: Let me see here. I don't know if I have. I don't know if I have -- let me -- we can take that question and get back to it. I just don't have the running total here.

As you know, there were, as recently as Friday, there was another attack on a commercial vessel that was transiting. Happy to get you those numbers.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: One more. Just the secretary meeting, did they talk about contingencies or Ukrainian doesn't go through or can you talk about the strategy?

SINGH: I believe we will have a larger readout. But of course, something that is top of mind for the secretary and for many folks across the administration is securing that supplemental funding from Congress.

We have not been able to supply Ukraine with a PDA since December, since late December. Ukraine is quite literally in the fight for its life as it continues

to hold territory and continues to fight for its soft territory and pushed the Russians back in the east and the south.

We are going to continue to urge Congress to pass the supplemental budget and give us the funding we need to start those PDA packages. But of course, it's top of mind for everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you think you can do without it?

SINGH: No, not right now.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you. You mentioned that Hezbollah and you know that they have mobilized a part of the popular mobilization group and is part of the Iraq he defenses.

So how do you get engaged with the Iraq government, specifically on that attack?

SINGH: On the attack that happened on our servicemembers? I don't have anything to read out.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes, you are not looking in a war with Iran. Does that mean that Iran is not in a table when you are thinking and assessing to responding to that attack?

SINGH: I'm sorry. I don't understand the question.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you thinking, Iranians, they are just an option to respond when it comes to responding to these types of things?

SINGH: We are going to respond, as the president and the secretary said, at a time, when we feel that we need to respond.

(CROSSTALK)

SINGH: I'm not going to get ahead of the president or any decisions.

We don't seek a wider conflict with Iran. We don't want a war with Iran. Again, these are Iran proxy groups launching these attacks. But we certainly don't seek a wider conflict.

But we are also on the clock here and we will respond at a time and place of our choosing.

(CROSSTALK)

SINGH: Sorry, go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you. If the Iranian proxy, do you hold them accountable? What like a response would be, retaliation against this attack? SINGH: So as you can appreciate, I'm not going to forecast what our

response would look like. But of course, we hold Iran responsible as they are supporting these groups.