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CNN International: Details of the El Paso Mass Shooting; Hate- filled Manifest Published Online by Shooter. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 04, 2019 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, I'm Natalie Allen at CNN Center in Atlanta. We continue to follow the breaking news from El Paso, Texas, the FBI is opening a domestic terrorism investigation into Saturday's mass shooting at a shopping center there.
At least 20 people died. Another 26 have been injured, some, we are told, with life-threatening injuries. The 21-year-old suspected gunman surrendered at the scene and is in police custody.
Shoppers inside a Walmart dove for cover as the shooter unloaded a volley of rapid gunfire.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Bystanders quickly tried to assist the multiple victims.
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ALLEN: We want to warn you, this next video is very disturbing.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): One injured; we have an injured person here, guys. There's a man laying down at the stand that a school set up, a man injured.
Oh, no!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, we need CPR. We need CPR. Help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need CPR, we need CPR!
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ALLEN: Terrified witnesses were still shaking, as you can imagine, as they described what they saw.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were in the freezer section and he heard the shots. At first we didn't think anything of it, kind of sounded like fireworks. And then they started coming closer together. Like the shots were going doo, doo, doo-doo-doo. And then he was like that sounded like shots.
I said yes; people were running inside, saying there was a shooter. We took off toward the back of the store, where the stockroom was. We were pushing people out of the way and telling them to go.
And when we did, we ran out toward the back and the employees were telling us to go into the freight containers in the back, where they get the stock out. And we sat there for maybe 20 minutes. And then they told us to come out. And we did because there was elderly and children, they were getting hot.
ARMY SPC. GLEN OAKLEY, WITNESS: A whole bunch of kids was up in there. I'm shaking. There was a whole bunch of kids (INAUDIBLE). And I told them (INAUDIBLE) kids. They were without their parents and stuff. I tried to pick them up but, man, I couldn't bring them out with me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard a lot of yelling. There was cops with guns and they were saying, get on your knees. That's when we just went back to the room, just scared to death.
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ALLEN: Texas is no stranger to mass killings. Of the 10 deadliest shootings in the U.S., four have taken place in that state. Governor Greg Abbott spoke earlier about this latest tragedy.
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ABBOTT: As large as the tragedy was, 20 precious lives lost, six more injured. This was not going to be forgotten.
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ALLEN: Police say the suspected gunman is from Allen, Texas. That is more than 600 miles away from El Paso. The El Paso police chief says a document posted online shortly before the shooting appears to be a manifesto with what was described as a nexus to a potential hate crime.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is in El Paso for us. He spoke earlier about the investigation and how other witnesses described the attack.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Law enforcement investigators are still on the scene. The entire parking lot and the scene around this shopping center is closed off as investigators do their work inside that store, piecing together all of the evidence and combing through that horrific scene. That is the work that continues.
We also know that there is a great deal of anxiety and stress among many community members here as they try to gather information about loved ones.
We met the family earlier today of 86-year-old Angie Englisbee, who was a woman inside of the Walmart, according to two of her children that we have spoken with. These children tell us that they --
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LAVANDERA: -- had spoken to their mother; one of their relatives had spoken to their mother just minutes before a gunshot erupted inside that store and that the family has not heard from her since.
So this is now many hours after the shooting and they are still desperately trying to find her somewhere here in El Paso but they are fearing the worst at this point. So that kind of captures the anxiety and the excruciating pain that so many people are feeling tonight here in the city.
And also many people, Natalie, coming to terms with what they witnessed. We spoke to one woman, her name was Davia Romero, who was standing outside the doors of the Walmart this morning, waiting for her nephew to come out of the store when she started hearing the gunshots. She got a glimpse of the gunman as he was leaving the scene. And then what she saw next is something that she will never forget.
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DAVIA ROMERO, EYEWITNESS: I was waiting for him to come out but it was taking too long. And then I heard the first one.
So I thought, what's going on?
But it was so loud, very loud. And then I just saw everybody dropping. So that's when I just ran in there, like trying to. But then I saw him run this way, so I chased him. And I thought he had got shot.
LAVANDERA: Who was in --
ROMERO: The baby -- my nephew. There's a baby that some man carried that got shot. The guy just gave it to the ambulance. I don't know. (INAUDIBLE). It confused me. It was awful.
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LAVANDERA: And, Natalie, Ms. Romero there was shaking as she recounted that story of seeing this man walk out of the Walmart, holding a baby covered in blood and handing this child off to a paramedic, who was there at the scene and racing away.
Those are the images and they're ingrained in many of these witnesses' and victims' minds as they grapple with the pain and the horror of what they experienced today.
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ALLEN: Ed Lavandera there. None of the victims so far have been identified.
U.S. President Trump is condemning the attack on Twitter, saying, the shooting "was not only tragic, it was an act of cowardice. I know that I stand with everyone in this Country to condemn today's hateful act. There are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing innocent people...."
Those feelings were also shared by Democrats hoping to replace Mr. Trump in 2020.
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SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Children should not be in fear of going to a community festival or going to school or going with their parents shopping on a Saturday afternoon.
JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Enough is enough is enough. It's been enough for the past five years. This is a sickness. This is well beyond anything that we should be tolerating.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think all over the world people are looking at the United States and wondering what is going on?
Time after time after time we're seeing indescribable horrors.
PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), MAYOR OF SOUTH BEND, IND., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are we or are we not prepared to stand up to the corporate gun lobby and are we or are we not prepared to stand up to the evil of white nationalism in this country?
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ALLEN: Mayor Pete Buttigieg there. And he expanded on his comments on Twitter, saying "The U.S. Is being attacked by white nationalist terrorism," which he believes is, "inspiring murder and is abetted by weak gun laws in America."
His rival in the Democratic race, Beto O'Rourke, echoed though sentiments but the El Paso native also went a step further. He suggested President Trump's rhetoric on minorities may have played a role in this attack.
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BETO O'ROURKE (D-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes. We've had a rise in hate crimes, every single one of the last three years, during an administration where you have a president who's called Mexicans rapists and criminals, though Mexican immigrants commit crimes at a far lower rate than those born here in the country. He has tried to make us afraid of them, to some real effect and
consequence, attempting to ban all Muslims from this country. The day he signed that executive order, the mosque in Victoria, Texas was burned to the ground.
Those chants we heard in Greenville, North Carolina, "send her back," talking about fellow American citizens duly elected to represent their constituents in the Congress who happen to be women of color. He is a racist and he stokes racism in this country.
And it does not just offend our sensibilities, it fundamentally changes the character of this country and it leads to violence. And again, there are still details that we are waiting on.
But I'm just following the lead that I've heard from the El Paso police department, where they say there are strong indications that this shooter wrote that manifesto and that this was inspired by his hatred of people here in this community.
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ALLEN: Now with our CNN national --
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ALLEN: -- security analyst, joining us from Boston, Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Juliette, let's talk about what we're learning from this shooter and this supposed manifesto -- I actually loathe that word -- that this person posted, talking about his motives. What can you glean from what you're hearing about it?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: From what we're hearing about it and at least what's being stated by our reporters, so I'll stick to what we're reporting, this was a document that was loaded onto 4chan, a very, very -- essentially just a violent cesspool of racial animosity -- right before the killings began.
And it was focused -- and I think it's important we say it -- it was focused on anti-Hispanic -- it was anti-Hispanic. In other words, the hostility was at a particular group of people, Hispanics, Mexicans.
And that makes sense when you think about here's a murderer who traveled eight to nine hours by car to go to a border city, to a Walmart, that is known to be a Walmart that caters to the border community, caters to Mexicans. There's actually some Mexican nationals who are victims.
So we don't have to try too hard, two plus two sometimes equals four, which this is a violent white supremacist who got radicalized -- and we'll figure out how -- to focus on Mexicans and Hispanics and took that out today. So unfortunately it's now all too familiar. In terms of counterterrorism we heard Chris Wray, the director of FBI,
mention that the rise of white supremacy is actually the greatest terrorism threat in the United States today. It's amplified; that hatred is amplified on social media networks.
And we certainly know that the public discourse, the sort of failure from the top to condemn white supremacy at this stage contributes to a sense that these men are somewhat emboldened right now. I think that's why we're seeing these -- obviously, Natalie, we were together last weekend. We're seeing these every weekend.
So that sort of -- that's sort of the big picture but we'll learn more about that specific radicalization process.
ALLEN: Right. And this shooter was just 21. And we're seeing younger white men carry out these mass shootings in the United States. And he indicated he didn't even plan this out for more than a month; yet he carried through with it. He also talked about perhaps being shot by police but, apparently, from what we understand, gave up.
KAYYEM: Right and said something about the heroism of it or maybe he wanted to be captured so that he could tell his story. You know, he did post something online. He does want this to be a public event.
But I think the youth factor is really, really important, that this is a generation that has been raised on social media platforms; they've been very slow to get a lot of this stuff, a lot of this hatred, a lot of this radicalization material offline. They're actually quite good when it comes to ISIS materials.
But Facebook and Twitter and others have been quite slow when it comes to white supremacy and white radicalization. And we see them trying to do something, in the last couple of hours, to get some of this stuff down.
In terms of his age, this is a generation of white men, who are the first generation of white men being raised when the United States birth rate -- and this is important -- is now majority non-white babies, U.S. citizens, are born in the United States now.
This is the last generation of white men who were born as a majority. I say that because that's amplified in their literature, which I, unfortunately, have to read. But that's a key part of their animating thing, the sense of displacement.
Then they'll find each other online and then it's not condemned by the White House, by President Trump. All of those pieces fit together. No one specifically to blame except for the murderer himself.
But it creates a cesspool of hatred that we're just seeing in the numbers that the FBI is documenting. This is the terrorism problem of our age right now.
ALLEN: Right. And they so easily find a place on the Internet to fuel that hate, these dark areas of the Internet that they propose people do this, they cheer when people do this. Talk with us about how hard it is for intelligence to stay ahead of this.
KAYYEM: It's really difficult. For one, a lot of it is anonymous. Someone just puts something up like, I hate Hispanics, on 4chan, there's not really much you can do. And also if you don't put anything that is going to be sort of specifically violent against a group of people or if you only put it in 20 minutes before, that is going to be very hard to take down.
And you're exactly right, Natalie --
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KAYYEM: -- in terms of, what are these social media platforms doing?
They're giving these men a sense of community and therefore a sense that their hatred is sort of a majority opinion. Right?
That this is something that almost everyone must absolutely believe. They live in this world of sort of limited media engagement, limited ideological engagement. And they're just feeding off of each other, which amplifies it.
Look, 4chan is -- you can -- people can defend it if they want. It is a cesspool of violence. But it is a platform that exists for that kind of language. I'll probably, when I get off air, get hit by a lot of them on Twitter or something. But this is what they do.
And it's -- and this is something you that can't just bring down. It's a platform where the sharing of ideas is occurring. So that's the challenge right now, is the extent to which these men no longer feel alone. They actually feel like they have a community that wants them to act this way.
ALLEN: A very sick community indeed. Juliette, we always appreciate your insights but this is happening too often, isn't it?
KAYYEM: Yes.
ALLEN: Thank you.
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ALLEN: Our breaking news will continue right after this.
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ADRIA GONZALEZ, EYEWITNESS: He didn't say anything. He just walked in and started shooting at everybody.
[01:20:00] GONZALEZ: We were hiding there for maybe like 10 minutes until everything was calm and we -- I started pushing people out of Walmart and just telling them to get out, get out.
The only thing I -- the first thing I heard was the gunshots. And then when I turned around and to see what was going on, that's when I saw him and that's when I ran back with my mom and I told her, let's go, let's go, let's go.
And I started to help the senior citizens, help her get out and just getting people out of there, just letting them know we need to exit out.
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ALLEN: And that is just one eyewitness account of how this horror unfolded in El Paso, Texas, Saturday. A gunman opening fire at a packed Walmart, killing at least 20 people. More than 2 dozen others were injured; most are being treated at area hospitals.
Video from the scene shows the chaos, including people running out of the store and one man hiding under a table as gunshots rang out.
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ALLEN: Police arrived at the scene in about six minutes and took the suspect into custody. CNN has also learned the FBI has opened a domestic terrorism investigation.
Let's talk about that; from San Francisco now, CNN law enforcement contributor Steve Moore joining us, a retired supervisory special agent at the FBI.
So let's talk about this investigation that's opening up and what are you hearing that indicates that this is domestic terrorism, Steve?
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Natalie, any time they've got some kind of manifesto, if this -- if this follows through and it is actually his manifesto, all you need is a political or a sociological reason to call it terrorism. And this is classic domestic terrorism.
So what happens now is you have, you know, multiple jurisdictions, El Paso and Texas want to prosecute the murder. The FBI has jurisdiction as domestic terrorism. What they will usually do is find who has the stronger case and who has the best chance of a quick prosecution and the institution of a penalty.
ALLEN: And I know you've said that, for many years, people that are motivated by hate have channels to come together. But we are seeing more and more of these dark areas of the Web that give these young, isolated and mostly white men a community. And not only is it a community, it's actually a community that is encouraging these acts.
Talk to that and how difficult that is to try to figure out what's going to happen and when before someone like this carries something like this out.
MOORE: Well, it's really immensely difficult, Natalie, because you're having to search through areas that don't even have, you know, Google doesn't even get to them. They're in the dark web.
And in the same way that pornography just exploded with the Web, you're going to have the same thing for violence. You're going to have every single vice that mankind has, seems to have been amplified with the Internet. And I think that's part of our problem as a society that we didn't have.
I mean, look, 50 years ago, you know, not trying to get into the gun debate but 50 years ago, everybody had access to guns; not that many people are going out and doing mass shootings. Mass shootings seems to be something that is fomenting possibly through Internet but it certainly has become the thing with people who are this mentally ill.
ALLEN: What else, though, can be done?
Because if you look at the map of countries around the world, the United States is the country that seems to have this mental illness and such easy access to guns, Steve, and it's almost like we were doing this just one week ago, the same thing.
How do you take it back once this becomes an epidemic in the United States?
MOORE: Well, it can't be a single-pronged attack. If -- I mean, you have to go after the easy access by these ill people to get weapons.
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MOORE: That's just -- that in itself is a definition of insanity, letting insane people have high-powered military weapons. So you have to hit it from that point.
You also have to hit it from the mental health point and we also have to look at places where they are meeting on the Internet and deciding as a society where we draw the line.
And it's a very important, dangerous thing that we have to do, to determine where free speech stops and starts and whether we have to move that line. But certainly we have to hit this from about 10 different directions. And right now I don't think we're hitting it from any except, let's all stop this.
ALLEN: And this shooter apparently began his manifesto by saying, "This is the day I'm likely going to die," but ended up giving himself up. So we will probably be hearing more about who this person is and what was the motivation.
All right, Steve, we'll have to leave it there. We always appreciate your contribution. Thank you.
And we'll be right back.
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ALLEN: Shock and heartache in El Paso, Texas. Vigils and prayer services are being held for the victims of Saturday's mass shooting at a shopping center. At least 20 people --
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ALLEN: -- are confirmed dead. More than 2 dozen others were injured.
The suspected gunman, a 21-year-old white male, surrendered and is in custody. Police say it may have been a hate crime and the FBI has opened a domestic terrorism investigation. One witness says the shooter appeared to be on a mission.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going for blood. He's going for death. That's his favorite thing right now. He wants that blood lust. He wants that fulfilled. So after he sees people start running, you can hear the different firing. He starts pop, pop, pop, he's going fast, his trigger finger. He's going, going, going. Yes, that's what he we heard. I heard people yelling, run, shooter. Heard the gunshots.
After we got close to the back, we didn't really hear much of it because (INAUDIBLE) I'm going, I'm going, I'm going.
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ALLEN: So many people luckily ran out the back of the store. There was, of course, an immediate need for blood for the victims. And donors quickly lined up to help. One of them spoke earlier with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
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FRANCES YEPEZ, BLOOD DONOR: It's somber. You hear some sniffling earlier as the updates were coming across the TV we have here in the waiting room. The line just continues and continues to grow.
At this time, the blood center is no longer taking donations for today. They are at maximum capacity. However, everyone in line, there's easily 75 to 100 people in line and they are all aware that all they're doing is standing in line to make appointments for tomorrow and Monday and they are willing to wait until they get up to the front to make an appointment.
And I believe El Paso, we're 100 and something today or we're supposed to be in the 100s.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Well, you're doing a really, really life- saving work.
What motivated you, Frances?
YEPEZ: You know, I'm -- B positive is my blood type and I try to be positive throughout my life and if there's ever something I can help with, it's easy to make a dollar but it's harder to make a difference. So I try to get out there and do whatever I can to help.
BLITZER: When you speak to others waiting in line, what are they saying to you?
YEPEZ: How could it happen here?
You know, it's crazy. It's Walmart. You know, even though El Paso is big, it's still a small city. Everybody knows everybody.
And, you know, immediately when everything happened this morning, my son called me. He was at work. And then from there it just -- the group text just started, with everybody checking in, everybody from my work family to my extended family in Louisiana, extended family in California and, of course, the local family. Everybody just checking in and making sure everybody was safe.
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ALLEN: Victims' names have not been released to the public. Many people, of course, still unaccounted for after the mass shooting. Earlier, our Alex Marquardt spoke with the mayor of El Paso.
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DEE MARGO (R), MAYOR OF EL PASO: The governor and I just visited with the families waiting on information over at one of the schools here in El Paso. It's tough. It's really, really tough.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: It's extremely tough and extremely heartbreaking.
What about the investigation?
What are federal authorities telling you?
We understand the suspect is a 21-year-old man who drove from Allen, Texas.
What more do we know about the investigation into him and his motive?
MARGO: Well, there isn't much update since we had the press conference. We talked about a gentleman -- I shouldn't say gentleman, this murderer who came from outside El Paso.
And as I said before, nobody in El Paso would have done something like this. This is not what we are about as a community. The investigations going through and identifying the bodies and going through their normal forensic work and families will be notified.
But nothing new is happening yet. Nothing new is happening yet. We're here at the scene as it stands now. MARQUARDT: Was the shooter, do you know? Was he known at all to authorities?
MARGO: I don't know that. I do not know that. He came out of Allen, Texas is I think where he came from. But my point is just a real tragedy.
MARQUARDT: Can you describe the scene before the shooting? What would have been happening a the a Walmart in El Paso, Texas on a Saturday morning in early August?
MARGO: A lot of shoppers, everybody getting ready for back to school. Normal routines. Just a normal Saturday for people and yet this tragedy struck.
MARQUARDT: And you and others have talked about how tight-knit this community is. What has been the reaction since this horrific massacre happened --
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MARQUARDT: -- now just over nine hours ago?
MARGO: Well, it's been reported we have had significant blood donors. This is a very generous community. It is a community that goes back 350 years and people just don't understand.
We have -- we are a close-knit -- we are the largest community of our type on the U.S.-Mexico border. There is nothing in North America that can equate to what we have here with El Paso products. So this is just totally unexpected and, as I say, probably never would have occurred with an El Pasoan.
MARQUARDT: You must be heartened to see those long lines of donors, of blood donors to come out to donate blood. There have been calls for people to sign up online. What can people do to help the community right now?
MARGO: Well, we have set up -- The Paso del Norte Health Foundation has set up a web site for donations for victims and their families. And the other -- what we are telling other people is just continue to donate blood. That's what we need right now.
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ALLEN: I want to bring in John Matthews, a former Dallas police officer and author of "Mass Shootings: Six Steps to Survival."
Mr. Matthews, thank you for being with us.
JOHN MATTHEWS, FORMER POLICE OFFICER: Glad go be here.
ALLEN: I want to first get your reaction to this shooting that happened in El Paso and what we are learning about the shooter and the location at a Walmart in El Paso, apparently he started in the parking lot. What's your reaction?
MATTHEWS: Well, again, horrified at what happened. Our hearts go out to the folks in El Paso, here in Dallas. You know, we experienced a mass shooting and I can tell you, every time one occurs, we relive that event.
And this is something that is going to stick with that community for a long time. One of the things that I'm encouraged about today, listening to witnesses, visiting with people out there on the scene, is how proactive so many different people were.
The mall outside of where the shooting occurred, just outside of Walmart, had done an active shooter drill. Walmart employees and employees at the mall had practiced what to do in such a situation.
And it was so encouraging, as someone that goes around and works with folks all over the country on this on how to stay alive, that these folks took it upon themselves. They were proactive. They brought people inside, strangers they didn't even know.
They locked their doors, they sheltered in place. They loaned them their cell phone in order for them to call loved ones. And so I was very, very encouraged. And I can tell you having researched this for several decades, that saved lives right there. Anytime we can get potential victims out of harm's way, we're saving lives.
ALLEN: And, of course, the political discussion about what's going on in this country, that's for another day. But the sad thing about it is that you travel the country, helping people prepare for the event that they are in just what happened in El Paso, that suddenly they realize there's a shooter amongst them.
I did hear a young woman who was saying that she pushed 40 people out of an exit but she couldn't help an elderly woman and she felt horrible about that.
But I also heard another account of a child who came into a store in the mall and said there's an active shooter and people responded passively.
In some respects, isn't it just impossible for some people to grasp what is going on at the moment?
MATTHEWS: Well, that's what we've got to do through education, through training, thru outreach to the average citizen, the average person in public out there, to let them know you're seeing this on television. You're following it in the news. You know, mass shootings and active shooter events are a part of society. You have to understand that.
You don't have to like it but you have to understand it and be aware of it. And so some people did take it seriously. They heard the first shots. I know that we spoke with one woman, who said, I heard the shots; I recognized it wasn't normal. I had my 1-year-old baby in the car and I sped away. Whereas others still weren't sure what was going on or all of us,
honestly, want to say we live in a safe community. We live in a safe environment. It'll never happen here. We need to raise our level of awareness just so people understand, it can happen here and, if it does, you've got to be able to respond and not just dismiss it.
ALLEN: It used to be a mass shooting a day in the United States but it's gone beyond that now.
What is the main thing that you tell people if, say, they were caught in a situation like this and what they need to do as far as getting away?
Or we saw some video of people hiding. They couldn't get out.
So what are they to do?
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MATTHEWS: That's right. You can't always get out of this situation so what we did is we went back and looked at every single mass shooting since 1980 until today and developed a research-based model on what were the effective actions that people took and tactics that they made that allowed them to survive.
We called the model ESCAPE and the first thing you try to do is exit. Any possibility of getting away from the shooter or getting away from the scene, exit as fast and far as you can and stay away. Don't go back. I know you have an urge, especially if you have friends and relatives to go back and save them, but get away as fast as you can.
If you can't get away, and some people just weren't in a position to get away, then we want to you seek cover. Cover is anything that's going to protect you from bullets. Today people hid in cars. They hid behind cars. They hid behind cement pillars, all great things to do because bullets aren't going to be able to penetrate it and get to you.
If you can't find cover, find concealment. Something to hide you. And several of the folks today said, yes, we hid in a storeroom. We hid in a shop. You know, we hid behind a clothes rack. If even if it's not going to stop bullets, if that shooter can't see you, you probably won't become a victim.
We ask you to assess the situation. If you have to move, present him with a small target. Get low to the ground, run in quick bursts.
And the last step, engage only as the last possible resort because, most of the time engaging the shooter, someone that is bent on killing by an average, unarmed citizen won't turn out well for the citizen.
So, you know, exit as soon as you can, seek cover, find concealment. Those are the best things to do.
ALLEN: Thank you so much, John Matthews. Thanks for talking with us.
MATTHEWS: Thank you very much.
ALLEN: Texas governor Greg Abbott spoke earlier about this tragedy. Here he is.
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GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS GOVERNOR: Twenty innocent people from El Paso have lost their lives and more than 2 dozen more are injured. We, as a state, unite in support of these victims and their family members. We want to do all we can to help them, to assist them.
We pray that God can be with those who've been harmed in any way and bind up their wounds. We want to express incredible gratitude for all the law enforcement and the swift response that they took to minimize the loss of life by directly confronting the shooter, getting him to disarm himself and be able to arrest him.
I want the city of El Paso to know and the El Paso Police Department and everybody in this entire community know that the state of Texas provides its full support for this community and their efforts to rebuild. For the country that I know has been paying a lot of attention to this, asking what they can do, I ask that you keep El Pasoans in your prayers. We know the power of prayer and the power that you can have by using that prayer.
For every mom and dad, for every son and daughter, we ask you put your arms around your family members tonight and give them a hug and let them know how much you love them.
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ALLEN: Stay with CNN as we continue to bring you more information on yet another mass shooting in the United States.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's tragic and I think we have to stay strong for our city and I think, in a situation like this, you just ask yourselves, how can I help?
What can I do to help?
And so the first thing we thought of was let's go to the school and see what we can do there. It's like it's a time where we all need to come together instead of being separate.
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[01:45:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING) ALLEN: In the El Paso shooting, as in similar attacks, caring for the
injured takes a toll on blood supplies. That's why El Paso police put out an urgent appeal for blood donors. And the response was overwhelming. Long lines stretched down the block outside one facility.
Volunteers showed up, as can you see, to pass out pizza and drinks. The governor said the community can take heart from this kind of reaction.
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ABBOTT: As I was talking with members of the Texas House of Representatives behind me right now, earlier today, moments ago, they pointed out to me, as they showed to me what, a video taking place in this community, about how people in this community are standing in lines around buildings to give blood, to provide water, to provide support.
And as they pointed out, El Paso is defined not by the catastrophe that struck this town. The way El Paso is really defined is the way this community comes together and supports each other to bridge the divide of this catastrophe. This happened today toward the pathway of where El Paso will be tomorrow.
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ALLEN: Local officials are now asking people to sign up and schedule their donations in the days ahead.
In the middle of the chaos at the shooting scene, we heard from one woman desperately trying to find her mother.
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EDIE HALLBERG, MOTHER OF WALMART CUSTOMER: I got tired of waiting and waiting and waiting and I just want to know where my mom is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me what you've done to find her so far.
HALLBERG: So far we stayed at MacArthur School -- and we went to school there --
[01:50:00]
HALLBERG: -- and then my niece took me to Pebble Hills. She wasn't there. The bus was empty. All the people were gone.
We said -- I asked the cops, I want to know where my mom is.
Where are the people that have been in the Walmart?
Where did you put them all?
Where have they all gone? I saw the buses. And my mom -- no buses came. And I didn't find her. I just want to find my mom. Somebody at least tell me where she is. I want to know if she's dead or alive or if she's still in Walmart. I need to find her. This is the only way we're going to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The agony and the heartache. So many feeling that. And this is the woman she's looking for, her mother, Angie Englisbee. Just before the shooting started, she spoke with her family while she was standing in line at Walmart. That was the last anyone heard from her. Police have not released a list of victims.
And we'll be back.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Tears and prayers to help heal the city of El Paso; 20 lives --
[01:55:00]
ALLEN (voice-over): -- were lost there Saturday. More than 2 dozen others are injured. People gathered at a church to honor those affected by the shooting and to help their loved ones heal. The vigil concluded with a song for this wounded community.
And this is Austin, Texas, Saturday night, also there a candlelight vigil for the victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. I'll be back with another hour of news. And my colleague, George Howell will be joining me right after the break.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: And we continue, following the breaking news this hour. The mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. I'm George Howell.
ALLEN: And I'm Natalie Allen. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. Here's what we know: at least 20 people were killed, another 26 were hurt, some with life-threatening injuries.
[02:00:00]
