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15-Year-Old Female Shooter Kills Teacher, Student at Wisconsin School; House Intel Committee to Receive Classified Briefing on Drone Activity; Paris Flight Stowaway Caught Trying to Sneak into Canada. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired December 17, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A teacher and student killed, six others injured in a shooting at a Wisconsin Christian school. Police say a 15-year-old girl was the shooter and it was a second grader who called 911.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Some, some new answers on the drone mystery. Thousands can be explained by privately-owned drones and airplanes, but maybe a hundred at this point still unexplained. Federal authorities trying to track the information down.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Back in custody. She's done it again. A woman who stowed away on a flight from New York to Paris caught again, this time trying to cross into Canada after allegedly cutting off her ankle monitor.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: A nation facing tragedy again. A community once again shattered. This morning, we are learning new details on the investigation into what would drive a 15-year-old girl to open fire, attack and kill at her own school yesterday morning. The Madison, Wisconsin police chief will be joining us, will be a guest in just a moment.

And before that, we are also standing by to learn more about the victims here. Two victims killed at this K-12 school. So far, we know one was a teacher and one was a student. At least six other people were injured, two of them students who were in critical condition with life threatening injuries, as of the last update. We're standing by for more of that this morning.

Also this morning, police say that the shooter's parents are cooperating and that they are, of course, still searching for a motive, a possible but unverified manifesto out there and surfacing. And we are hearing heartbreaking and heart wrenching stories from the children who survived this tragedy, some seen fleeing the scene just in Christmas pajamas. Police say it was a second grader who first called 911.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard them and then some people started crying. And then we just waited until the police came. And then they exported us out.

I was scared. Why did they do that? Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was getting ready for lunch so it was basically lunch time. And then I just heard shooting (ph) and there was a teacher and she was screaming like, ah, my leg, help. Help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Can you imagine recounting that as she's just standing there innocently holding a little Spongebob ice cream? That's what she's dealing with today.

Yesterday's attack was the 83rd school shooting this year, the most in a single year since CNN began tracking in 2008.

CNN's Whitney Wild is in Madison for us, and she was there since the beginning. I heard you at that press conference, many of the press conferences. It's easy for people to become numb as it happens so often, but it is something we must refuse to do. It is horrific hearing the stories coming out of what these children lived through and those who have passed.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Kate, it is an awful day yesterday will continue to be awful days for the families affected by this, this community at the Abundant Life Christian School. But moving forward, Kate, the big questions that they're trying to answer, at least law enforcement is trying to answer, is why this happened. That is a question they have not yet been able to answer.

We do have more details about who did this? This is 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, according to law enforcement, she went by Samantha by the afternoon and early evening. We learned that police were able to execute a search warrant at her home and establish contact with her parents. Here's what Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said about her parents' cooperation.

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CHIEF SHON BARNES, MADISON, WISCONSIN POLICE: We are certainly speaking and talking with the parents who are cooperating to determine if they were gun owners and if they had guns. But at this time, again, we're still talking with them, spent a long conversation.

[07:05:01]

We appreciate them cooperating with the investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Kate, this all started at 10:57 A.M. yesterday. Police say that this happened in a study hall with a group of students from mixed grades.

Kate, I'll leave you with this. This was a gut wrenching detail we learned that the person who called 911 from inside that building was just in second grade. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Whitney, thank you so much for the update. John?

BERMAN: All right. With us now is Madison, Wisconsin Police Chief Shon Barnes. You saw him right there, Chief, thank you so much for being with us. I know it's been a long and excruciating 24-hour period for you.

We heard from you late last night. Any updates on the investigation this morning?

BARNES: No updates on the investigation this morning. We do have a briefing this morning around noon, our time, Central Standard Time. Our officers, detectives and crime scene investigators have really been working late into the night. We gave them a break early this morning and so we'll come back early today. We'll start to process things and try to put together a timeline of Samantha's last hours before she went to school.

BERMAN: There were cameras inside the school. Have you had a chance to look at the footage yet?

BARNES: I have not had an opportunity to look at the footage. I spent most of my day working with the media, making sure that our community understood what happened, trying to be transparent with our community, talking to the media.

My briefings were basically virtual with some of our command staff, but a lot of questions still need to be answered, and we're committed to getting the answers to those questions for our community so we can move forward and heal.

BERMAN: The handgun that was used in the shooting, what have you learned about who owned it and how it was obtained by the shooter?

BARNES: We have asked our partners with the ATF to expedite what's called an ATF trace form to try to determine the origin of that weapon, who purchased it and how it got from a manufacturer all the way into the hands of a 15-year-old girl. These are questions that's going to take some time to answer. And we fully intend, we're fully committed to getting the answer to that.

I do not believe that 15-year-olds should have access to weapons that they can bring to school and potentially hurt someone. We really have to do a better job, not only in our communities, but in our country with making sure that our young folks do not have access to weapons and firearms and certainly making sure that we're paying attention to the mental health of our children.

There's a lot of work that we need to do so that we cannot be having these conversations again and again and again on CNN and other news outlets. BERMAN: Was the weapon owned or possessed by the parents?

BARNES: I'm not certain at this time.

BERMAN: Still not certain at this time. At this time, as of last night, you were still questioning the parents. At this time, any reason to expect that they could be charged with any sort of crime here?

BARNES: Well, we will certainly look at all facts and aspects of this case, as they were voluntarily giving information that certainly helps to determine, you know, if they were involved or if they were -- if this was preplanned, we don't have any evidence that it was. But we also want to look at if the parents may have been negligent. And that's a question that we'll have to answer with our district attorney's office. But at this time, it does not appear to be the case.

We will get a briefing again today, but we want to make sure that people know that's a question that people have been asking me. But quite frankly, I don't want to speculate on that right now.

BERMAN: I understand. You say no evidence that it was preplanned. We had reporting last night that after looking at social media posts and writings and whatnot, there was some thinking that this shooter had some kind of notion this was going to happen beforehand. What's the latest you can tell us about that?

BARNES: Yes. We have been made aware of a manifesto, if you want to call that, or some type of letter that's been posted by someone who alleged to be her friend. We haven't been able to locate that person yet, but that's something we want to work on today. We'll also be looking through her effects, if she had a computer, cell phone, to see if there are any transmissions between her and someone else. And that will give us an idea of what type of planning.

When I spoke earlier, I was talking about preplanning where her parents may have been involved, speaking to that question. But whether or not -- okay.

BERMAN: Yes, okay, good. I understand. Thank you so much. Absolutely, thank you so much for that clarification, Chief.

[07:10:02]

You have been, and we were talking to other law enforcement officials last night, one of the things they kept on saying was how extraordinary your release of information was over the last 24-hour period, how helpful it's been to the public, the families, everyone involved here. You've been very forthcoming with information. Any new information about those who were wounded or hurt in this attack?

BARNES: We know that two that were -- that had nonlife threatening injuries were released from the hospital last night. That's a good thing. We know that two are still in very critical condition. And so we're praying that they will pull through. And so we'll be keeping an eye on that. And if something changes, we'll let, you know.

But, you know, we do try to be as transparent as we can. We have an amazing public information officer and she works very hard to make sure that we get information out early and often. I think we had four press conferences yesterday within the span of about ten hours. And we think that's the way law enforcement should go.

We should get information out because it's a tremendous process, and hopefully today we can start the process of determining why this happened so we can heal and move forward.

BERMAN: W were there individuals specifically targeted in this attack? Any information that the two deceased were singled out?

BARNES: We don't know. We know that one of the deceased was a substitute teacher. So, we don't know if there would be a reason to target a teacher in this case, who doesn't have significant ties to the school. So, that's a question that will hopefully we can answer by looking at some of the public space cameras, if it is available. And we'll be doing that today as well.

BERMAN: Chief Shon Barnes, again, we appreciate you being so forthcoming. We appreciate you being on this morning. We will hear from you again in just a few hours. We're all thinking of you. I appreciate it.

BARNES: Thank you so much and pray for our city.

BERMAN: We are. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John.

At least three states are preparing to launch drone detection systems as the House Intelligence Committee is set to be briefed today on some of those mysterious drone sightings. What the White House is saying about the investigation this morning.

Plus, a bomb hidden in an electric scooter has killed a Russian general accused of using chemical weapons. Sources telling CNN they believe Ukraine was behind this attack.

And a federal judge shuts down Donald Trump's attempt to have his 34 felony convictions tossed out. Those stories ahead.

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SIDNER: Happening today, the House Intelligence Committee will receive a classified briefing on the drone sightings that have bewildered people in New Jersey for weeks now. The FBI has been combing through more than 5,000 tips about the suspected drones. White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby talked to our John Berman last night and said that officials are following up on about 100 of those sightings, but they have combed through most of the 5,000.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER: After days and days now of forensics work, analysis, detection work and looking at the tips that came in, and our assessment is that these drones represent lawful, legal, commercial, hobbyist drones, even law enforcement drones.

I can't rule out the fact that we might find some sort of illegal or criminal activity, some nefarious activity. All I can do is tell you that right now we see none of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Joining us now is the mayor of Montevale, New Jersey, Mayor Mike Ghassali. Thank you so much for being here.

You heard what John Kirby said there. What did you think of that? And does it allay any of your fears at all?

MAYOR MIKE GHASSALI, MONTVALE, NEW JERSEY: Good morning. Unfortunately not. We had a briefing yesterday with the White House, FBI, DHS, FAA, and they said the same thing. I don't want to speculate, but someone is making a really bad decision by not coming clean and say that these are our drones, were doing some sort of an operation, nothing to see here, they are safe. They're saying they're safe, but we see them on top of our reservoir, the schools, the grid. And these are large drones. These are not small drones. These are probably car-sized, small, dining room table-size flying at night with lights on.

And our residents, my residents, are saying, you know, why are they over the reservoir where it's all fenced in? We can't even go there. That's where we drink from. That's where our fear is.

SIDNER: So, I hear the concerns and the fears of the residents. Have you yourself witnessed some of these very large drones, because there are a lot of things flying in the sky? And you heard from Kirby that of the 5,000 tips that they have gotten, they have combed through all of them and determined that the vast majority of them are legal, are either law enforcement or are hobbyists who just happen to have drones up in the air.

GHASSALI: So, Montville is on the path to Teterboro Airport, and we see small planes every single day. And I'd say 90, 95 percent of what is reported are, you know, small planes going to Teterboro. The ones I've seen, the last time was about three days ago, there were two and then became three and they were flying in sync in the pattern as if they were being operated by a computer, not by a person.

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Yesterday, we had rain, we didn't see nothing. The day before, they said they were seen with lights and then the lights were off. Well, they go behind the cloud and they disappear behind the cloud. So, they think that they just disappeared. But I did see three, three days ago was the last time I saw in our town. SIDNER: You initially called for military intervention. Has any of what you have learned changed your stance on your call to bring in the military to try and determine what is going on above the skies of New Jersey?

GHASSALI: I think listening to them yesterday speak, someone knows something. These are not foreign drones. They're not coming from the sea. These are operated by -- again, I don't want to speculate, but these are operated by us. I don't think we need to shoot them down. You know, my fear is that they have a payload. We don't know what's in the payload, if they do have a payload. But, no, I think someone has to come clean and say, you know, folks, nothing to see here. These are our drones, and they're safe. Let's move on.

SIDNER: When you say, our drones, are you saying that these, you think, are government drones, or something else?

GHASSALI: You know, yes, deep inside, I think these are our own drones. There's some sort of an operation being -- secret operation that we don't know and we don't want to know. But just let us know that these are us, you're safe.

Everywhere I go, the restaurants, at work, at home at the library, everyone is talking about the drones. We need to move on, a lot to do here. We've had enough.

SIDNER: The government certainly not saying that it is their own drones, but are looking into about 100 reports.

Mayor Mike Ghassali, thank you so much for sharing your concerns with us and the concerns of your residents. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, a Russian general accused of using chemical weapons against Ukraine nearly 5,000 times, he is now dead, killed by a bomb hidden in a scooter. We have new reporting on this.

And the stowaway is back. Prepare yourself for deja vu, but this time she did not sneak onto a plane, and this time she was not trying to get a free ride to Paris. How and where she was found and the new trouble that she's facing this time.

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BOLDUAN: So, this morning, the woman who kicked off a weeks-long saga after she snuck past airport security and then stowed away on a Delta flight from New York to Paris, you remember all of this, this all happened last month, she is now back, in custody, after trying to essentially stowaway again, this time trying to jump a bus to Canada.

And that is where CNN's Mark Morales picks up for us. What has happened, Mark?

MARK MORALES, CNN REPORTER: Well, now she has to get back to New York, right? So, she's in Buffalo, she's going to be appearing before a judge, and now they have to bring her back. U.S. Marshals will take her back and she'll be appearing back in New York. And this is going to be a very clear escalation of what happened, because if you remember when she appeared in court in Brooklyn, they let her go, it was -- she was released without bail. But now she's going to be charged with bail jumping, and she's looking at a maximum of five years in prison.

BOLDUAN: Because she had -- there was a -- with that no bail, there was a long list of conditions. I think everyone can understand one of the conditions would be don't cut off your ankle monitor.

MORALES: Right, basically violated almost all of those conditions. She cut off the ankle monitor. They realized this once her roommate, who she was staying with in Philadelphia, found the ankle monitor on the floor without her, called authorities, and then they were looking for her. And that's when they realized she was on the bus before she got into the Canadian border.

BOLDUAN: And on the bus with no ticket?

MORALES: Well, I think she had a ticket.

BOLDUAN: A ticket for this bus?

MORALES: Right, but she had none of that documentation. She was also not allowed to leave the designated area where she was. And it's potentially a sad story because there's also some questions about mental health, because she was designated for some sort of treatment. So, now it's what happens to her, what happens to this case now?

BOLDUAN: And a lot of questions of why and what happens next is exactly right. Thankfully, you are on it. It's great to see you, buddy. Thanks so much for coming in.

MORALES: You got it.

BOLDUAN: John?

BERMAN: All right. Just into CNN, we have brand new footage of the moment a senior Russian general was killed by an explosive device planted in a scooter.

And some of the most delicious dysfunction you will ever see on T.V., not CNN News Central. I'm talking about in the most beautiful location as well. Moments ago, we got a first look from HBO at the return of White Lotus.

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