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Police Identify Person Of Interest In Nashville Explosion; Interview With Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX); Box Truck Under Investigation After R.V. Explosion In Nashville. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired December 27, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:34]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I am Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with breaking news out of Nashville, Tennessee police now saying they have identified a person of interest in connection with that explosion on Christmas morning in the city's downtown core.

Shimon Prokupecz is at the scene there. Shimon, what are you learning from investigators?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes, yes, they have, for the first time publicly identified the suspected bomber here as 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner. This is the police chief here for the first time publicly confirming to our colleague, Natasha Chen that that is the person that they believe is behind the bombing.

I want to step out of the camera for a second, Fred and show you what's going on behind me. I don't know if you can see. There are several F.B.I. agents and A.T.F. agents walking through that area, looking for pieces of evidence. We've seen this in other parts of the downtown area, but this is the first time that we're seeing the investigators here getting closer to this area in their search.

And we've seen this over the course of the last two days where the F.B.I. scours the entire perimeter of the blast site, looking for pieces of debris. Now, I just want to get back to the breaking news here. So for the first time, the police here publicly identifying the suspected bomber.

What we're told also is that the human remains that were found this from sources, those human remains, they believe belong to Anthony Quinn Warner, and authorities are not saying how it is that they know that these are his remains, they are waiting on DNA information. But there is evidence and information that they have that makes them believe that those are his human remains.

Of course, yesterday authorities were at the home of this individual searching his home, and one of the things that they were taking was DNA. They need DNA from him because he is dead, obviously, they can't get anything from him. So now they're looking for family members and DNA from inside his home that they can compare to the human tissue and some of the body parts perhaps that they have found here at the scene.

As to motive, that is still very much on clear. Authorities working through that trying to figure out. There isn't anything at this point that stands out to them, clearly stands out to them to indicate a motive.

They are looking at whether the target was the AT&T Building that is something that they are looking at. We are now being told there's going to be a press conference here at about four o'clock -- five o'clock local time here. So that is going to happen and hopefully we will learn more there, but the police are expected to update us around that time here today.

WHITFIELD: So Shimon, okay, so authority saying Anthony Quinn Warner, person of interest, 63 years old, but remember, there was also a female voice on that recording and one would think they're trying to figure out who that person is, too. All of this, while we heard from some of the police officers today who were the first responders who helped save lives. What can you add to all of that?

PROKUPECZ: Yes, so for the first time, there were six officers that the Police Department and the F.B.I. and the A.T.F., all have in crediting with heroic work in evacuating this area after they got on scene.

And for the first time, we're getting details about what they saw about the R.V. which are extremely fascinating because what they say is when they get here and they are listening to this recording, and as you said, it is a female voice, but it may have been a recorded digitized voice which was going over the loudspeaker on this R.V. telling people to evacuate.

But what one of the officers describes is that there was shades covering every window of this R.V. The officer also says there was a surveillance camera. They could see a camera above the rearview mirror, making them feel like whoever was inside could see what they were doing.

But they also described what it was like trying to evacuate people, get people to safety moments before the explosion and here's what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER JAMES WELLS, NASHVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: As I turn around, for me, it felt like I only took three steps, and then the music stopped and as I'm walking back towards our team now, I just see orange, and then I hear loud boom, and as I'm stumbling -- because it rocked me down hard, I start stumbling, I just told myself stay on your feet, stay alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:05:21]

PROKUPECZ: And of course, those efforts being all heralded here by the mayor and city officials as a heroic work by these officers, which undoubtedly saved many lives when you look at the amount of destruction, the damage that this explosion caused here.

WHITFIELD: All right, Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much, in Nashville. We'll check back with you.

All right, meantime, millions of Americans are set to lose crucial benefits as we enter the New Year. President Trump's delay in signing a $900 billion relief package passed by U.S. Congress last Monday, leaving many working families on the brink of financial crisis, and while millions of Americans sit on the verge of homelessness, President Trump back on his Florida golf club this morning.

Let's get straight to CNN's Jeremy Diamond who was in West Palm Beach traveling with the President. So Jeremy, has the President given any indication of where he is on this relief package.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He has given no indication at all other than indicating that he is still sticking to his objections with this $900 billion Coronavirus Relief Bill as it relates to those stimulus checks and then objecting to some of the funding that's in the Omnibus Bill that's attached to this.

We've been asking the White House every single day since the President made this threat, whether he intends to sign it or veto it, and all we've gotten is no comments or we'll get back to when we have something.

You know, five days ago, Fredricka, millions -- tens of millions of Americans were under the impression that help was on the way in the form of unemployment checks, in the form of these $600.00 stimulus checks, or in the form of the Small Business Relief that millions of businesses across the country are counting on.

And yet now, the President has sunk all of that into limbo, offering no sign as to whether or not he will sign or veto this legislation, or simply allow it to linger. And already we know that an estimated more than 12 million Americans, they lost their unemployment benefits, those supplemental unemployment benefits this weekend because the President failed to sign this legislation just yesterday.

We heard this morning from the Republican Senator Pat Toomey of the State of Pennsylvania, he was saying that while the President may be saying that he wants additional stimulus money, what he is risking here instead is leaving his time in office on a note of chaos. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA): As he leaves office, he will -- I understand he wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks, but the danger is he'll be -- he'll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allows this to expire.

So I think the best thing to do, as I say, sign this and then make the case for subsequent legislation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And we saw those unemployment benefits lapse this weekend. But there are more dates still ahead. If the President doesn't sign this legislation by Tuesday, we will face another government shutdown, this time in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crisis that is really hurting so many millions of American families during this Holiday Season -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much, in West Palm Beach.

All right, joining me right now to discuss is Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas. She's also a member of the House Judiciary Committee. Good to see you.

You are outside your church, I understand there, in your district, you have said that the current $900 billion relief deal will keep many Americans from dying. What did you mean by that?

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TX): Well, Fred, first of all, let me say thank you to the law enforcement officers, the brave law enforcement officers in Nashville that America owes such a debt of gratitude of ensuring that there was minimal loss of life, with no loss of life except what has been determined to have rescued or saved or gotten those people out in the area in Nashville, so we thank them and I thank you for allowing me to do that as a member of the Homeland Security Committee, we will probably be investigating this at some point.

But I did say that and I really believe it because I'm standing at a food distribution site right now, in a local church, the Greenhouse International. We're also discussing the surge of violence that is going across America that has come about because of a lot of COVID-19 distress.

But the $900 billion is a stop gap measure to really bridge across the New Year and to save lives. And what does that mean? It means that it is providing a more even handed distribution of vaccination. It is providing testing to determine who is engaged in community spread, as well as food insecurity.

More food is coming to our food banks to help people -- stopping people who can't stand the difficulties of the horrible cold weather coming up from being literally evicted.

[15:10:05]

JACKSON LEE: I mean, we saw people evicted in the summer, literally put outside of their homes or their apartments into the streets. That could happen in the darkness of the winter, because there's no more money to be able to help them stay in their home.

So yes, people could die; children, who are the most vulnerable could be in situations where their families have no place to live. I can't believe what is happening. And I said that and I say to the President, if he can't get his Republicans to join him on the $2,000.00 then he needs to sign the bill now.

WHITFIELD: And is it your feeling if the President is maintaining he wants to $2,000.00. You have the $600.00 that, you know, Congress and the Senate have approved. Isn't your feeling that the President should be convinced to go along with this package. And then later, at another date, perhaps next week, work on another measure to perhaps supplement or bring that total number to $2,000.00, but at least get it going here?

JACKSON LEE: You know, Fred, I want to give the President the benefit of the doubt. I've actually worked with the President on some Bills. I've had laws that I legislated and had passed and he signed those particular Bills.

But here's my concern, I'm wondering whether or not the President is so angry with the United States Congress, angry with his Republican allies who did not help him say that the 2020 election was fraudulent, angry with Democrats, because of the impeachment that he is willing to take a truck, drive it off of the earth, deal with the United States Congress and struggling Americans, and bring down the Congress and bring down America at the same time. That's my concern.

If that is not what his intentions are, then I'm perfectly willing to say to him, and he being a reasonable businessman, he has often said that he knows the art of the deal. This had to be a deal. It had to be a deal to stop the bleeding, if you will, of people losing homes, losing businesses, losing lives.

We've got now some 20 million infected Americans. We have 300 and almost 30,000 deaths, and we now have one and every 1,000 Americans dying of COVID-19. You've got to have a heart.

So yes, I'd like to convince him that this was the art of the deal. We negotiated. We compromised, however, with principles, because it does provide a wide breadth, I need to also let him understand that the COVID-19 package technically is connected to the funding packet only procedurally, the funding package is to keep the government from shutting down, and there's nothing worse than a shut-down government that includes so many vital services, and so many people being hurt, so many elderly being hurt, and there are so many children being hurt.

And he's got to understand, does he want to get in a truck, drive it off the earth, take the Congress down with him because he's angry, but then take the American people down with him. We've got to stop that.

So obviously, we're going back to Washington, to put on the floor, the $2,000.00. We need the Republicans to support us and we need Lindsey Graham and others to help us override the veto if he does veto it.

Lindsey Graham should not be saying he is not going to override the President's veto. That means that he doesn't care about South Carolinians and he doesn't care about Americans. I'm struck, and really overwhelmed by that.

Every one of us should go back unselfishly to override the veto if it occurs on behalf of the American people. WHITFIELD: I mean, it sounds like, of your theories there as to explain the President's actions and refusal to sign. It sounds like you are leaning more towards this is the President exhibiting anger and taking out his frustrations about Republicans who have not been backing him, and it means the demise of the American people.

JACKSON LEE: Well, I started out by saying, I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'd like to think of him as not only a President, but a father, and a grandfather. That means that children are involved. And there are millions of American children, one who have lost parents because of COVID-19, millions more, who are not in school because of COVID-19 and millions more, who are hungry.

If he can just focus on what he can do to take away that pain and anguish in our communities, if he can see what is happening in cities across America where violence is surging, because people are unemployed. Domestic violence is surging because people are unemployed, and they are very stressed.

If he can see himself as a rescuer, then he will join us and sign that bill. And further, he will be able to help convince his fellow Republicans, maybe next week that we can vote on the $2,000.00.

By the way, I offered -- I've joined in legislation on $2,000.00. I wanted $2,500.00 some months ago when we offered the $2.4 trillion Heroes Bill. The President never engaged. He never came to the Congress. He never talked to Mitch McConnell, because our leadership, Nancy Pelosi, and of course, Leader Schumer asked over and over again, Fred, what is your high number? What's the highest number you'll go into cash disbursement? And there was deafening silence. It was only $600.00.

We never heard a word from the President. The President could have gone to the gun in the Oval Office. He could have addressed the nation, he could have said, I am the President, whose legacy is going to be I'm not going to lead the American people in a lurch, and he never did that.

[15:15:51]

JACKSON LEE: So I want to view him as being sincere, but all I can see him is in a truck taking us over the cliff and when you take the Congress over the cliff, and the COVID bill over the cliff and the government spending bill over the cliff, you're taking the American people over the cliff. Let's stop that. Let's get harmonious.

Let's get the people of faith. Let's get the broader community. Let's get all of us in unity, asking the President to sign it in the most humblest way and let the President listen. If he would just listen to the voices of the children.

WHITFIELD: Well, I guess we will soon find out if the President is listening to your message and that of many others. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, I thank you so much for being with us and all the best in your continued efforts there at the food distribution at the church there in your community. I really appreciate it, there in Houston.

JACKSON LEE: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, from struggling Americans to struggling businesses, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the food and drug industry lost -- food and drink, rather, industry lost 2.1 million jobs since the start of the pandemic and one renowned chef says Congress isn't doing enough.

Plus, the United States reaches a heartbreaking milestone more than 19 million cases of coronavirus, why health experts say hospitalizations will only get worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:11]

WHITFIELD: The Independent Restaurant Coalition says that even if President Trump signs the current COVID Relief Bill, it doesn't do nearly enough to help the food and drink industry. They say data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a net loss of 2.1 million jobs in that industry since the start of the pandemic.

Amanda Cohen is a James Beard Award nominated chef and owner of Dirt Candy in New York. She's also the co-founder of the Independent Restaurant Coalition and she is joining us now.

Amanda, so glad you could be with us. So sorry, it's under such circumstance. I've always wanted to get to your restaurant, Dirt Candy, by the way, but let's talk about what is happening right now.

AMANDA COHEN, CO-FOUNDER, INDEPENDENT RESTAURANT COALITION: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We've been talking about this, hold up on this bill, but this week, you said it wouldn't do enough for restaurants either way. What is the help that you want to see going to restaurants?

COHEN: So what I want to see and what the Independent Restaurant Coalition wants to see is we want to see the Restaurant Act get passed, it's $120 billion grant that gives restaurants the lifeline that it needs to survive this pandemic.

WHITFIELD: And, you know, so many -- for so many restaurants, it really just comes, you know, too little too late. I mean, we've seen so many just countless restaurants, you know, across the country that have closed up that just couldn't make it, you know, past six months without business.

I mean, what do you see in the future, you know, of small, independent restaurants, food establishments, you know, places of gathering, what do you see in the near term?

COHEN: In the near term, I see a pretty bleak future to be honest. I think we're going to see lots of more restaurants close, you know, hopefully the new Act will pass and the PPP will be sort of a Band-Aid for restaurants, but it's not enough. And I don't think a lot of smaller independent restaurants are going to take the second round of PPE, especially because the first one hasn't even been forgiven yet. And I think restaurants are just going to give up because they either have no choice or it's just not worth it anymore. We're all hemorrhaging money.

WHITFIELD: Oh, it's so sad. You testified before Congress, you know, on the crisis facing your industry way back in July. It doesn't seem like an eternity ago, but it really, it was just around the corner in July.

So how do you explain what we would call a lack of progress since then?

COHEN: Well, you know, interestingly, we've had a lot of progress. The Restaurant Act has passed in the House. I mean, we have 53 bipartisan supporters in the Senate, we just haven't gotten it over the last hump. The support is there. We just have to pass it.

WHITFIELD: What's it going to take? If it's not what is unfolding, you know, restaurants, threatening to shutter people who are unable to pay their rent because they are unable to go to work, which may be in the food industry? I mean, what's going to make it happen? Get it over the top?

COHEN: At this point, I'm not sure. I mean, we've all been as honest as possible, you know, we will not survive without the Restaurant Act. We will close. The jobs that we are holding in place for at the end of this pandemic, they're not going to be there.

We've already put over two million people out of work. That's going to continue to grow and grow and grow. I don't know when our politicians are going to see this hemorrhaging and be like, oh, that's too much.

To me, two million people, that's already too much. One in five restaurants is already closed. That's too many restaurants closing already. We're losing a huge chunk of the American economy, and it's not going to come back.

If I close my restaurant, somebody isn't going to go in there in six months and open a new restaurant, and they're not going to hire the 35 employees that I've already put on unemployment. That's just gone forever.

WHITFIELD: And oh, my gosh, and the talent, you know, that goes with that languishes, does it not? I mean, this is just heartbreaking.

COHEN: We're losing a generation of talent, to be honest. You know, if I close there, I go. The people who are right underneath me, they're not going to open restaurants in this economy. They're certainly going to see what I went through and they're not going to want to go through it.

You know, we're going to also lose our huge gastro tourism industry. I know we're saving the airline industry, and I think that's terrific. But why are people getting on those planes to come to America when there's not going to be any restaurants left?

WHITFIELD: Amanda Cohen, thank you so much for your frankness. Appreciate what you're doing. And boy, aren't we all just hoping for one another that things will get better and there'll be some way in which to resuscitate and revive these beautiful restaurants, family and independent businesses.

COHEN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, next, breaking news in Nashville. Sheriff's Deputies are investigating another truck playing audio similar to what that R.V. played before exploding Christmas Day. A live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:36]

WHITFIELD: The vaccine continues its rollout across the U.S. as well. Right now, the U.S. is nearing two million doses of vaccines delivered to the arms of Americans. Among them, these two doctors at the University of Virginia, Dr. Cameron Webb along with his wife, Dr. Leigh-Ann Webb, both are frontline medical providers.

And Dr. Cameron Webb joining us right now. He is the Director of Health Policy and Equity at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Good to see you.

DR. CAMERON WEBB, DIRECTOR OF HEALTH POLICY AND EQUITY, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Good to see you, Fredricka. Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, so after your first injection, you and your wife, how are you doing? How are you feeling?

WEBB: Well, we're doing well. We're coming up on about 10 days, 240 hours since getting our first shot of that Pfizer vaccine on the 17th. We are both doing well. We initially had some pain at that injection site in my left shoulder and you know that is typical of a vaccine.

The next day, we did have some more muscle pain some joint pains over the course of the next day and my wife actually had a fever the following night to about 101.8 and was feeling pretty fatigued, but woke up the next morning, so again less than 36 hours later feeling a hundred percent back to normal and better.

So it's a pretty typical course for, you know after getting a vaccine like this and so we're feeling good and haven't had any other challenges since then.

WHITFIELD: Well, that is good news. That's for sure, times too.

So you know, I wonder if getting that first dose, you know with this two-dose pack, if it changes kind of your perspective on things? I mean, you know, are you feeling more hopeful? Are you feeling better armed and equipped, so to speak with the task ahead? How has it changed your view and your outlook at all? [15:30:24]

WEBB: Well, since the beginning of the pandemic, we've talked about the need for protection for frontline providers. The first is those PPE and our gowns, and like those like N95 masks, and I feel like this is that next layer of protection, the immunologic protection that we really needed.

And so I do feel hopeful, I do feel better. There's a part of me that knows that, you know, just south the 90 percent of folks had somewhat of a immunologic response to the first dose of Pfizer so I'm feeling a little bit protected, even now, knowing that I still need to get that second shot in a couple of weeks.

But it's exciting. It's exciting knowing that we may have that next line of protection that keeps us from getting sick, and not just for me, but also for my wife. This is something that, you know, since this was declared a pandemic back in March, we've been dealing with, knowing every time we go to work, we're putting ourselves at some risk.

So it's -- there is some sense of hope, some sense of peace that comes with getting these vaccines in the arms of two million Americans.

WHITFIELD: The numbers have grown, you know, exponentially. December has been horrible and horrific in cases and deaths. What have you seen in the hospitals in your area?

WEBB: Well, we have definitely seen an increase in cases. And so, you know, here locally, if you go back to early in the fall, we have about three times the number of patients in the hospital with COVID, that we had that, and you know, remembering that we've had two spikes before that.

Now, we're seeing that post-Thanksgiving surge, which is significant, and we know that there are about 50 million Americans who traveled for Thanksgiving. We've got over 80 million who traveled for Christmas. So we just know, this is just the beginning of this surge.

You know, we're definitely increasing the number of staff that we have working on our COVID unit, making sure that folks from different backgrounds and medical practice are prepared to take care COVID patients because we know that just because of the behaviors of Americans and the fact that we can't necessarily get everyone vaccinated now, it's going to -- we're going to continue to see a lot more cases.

So it's definitely ramping up, definitely causing some angst, but I think our providers, you know, we've been in this for a while and we're going to keep doing our job. We're hoping that Americans keep doing their in staying safe and using those public health practices.

WHITFIELD: What are your concerns over the next 10 to say 15 days?

WEBB: Yes, my concerns are that we're going to see the cases that come from all these millions of Americans who traveled over this Christmas Holiday; you know, these Holidays at the end of the year.

And as those come in, you know, yes, we're going to see younger people, but we're also going to see an increase in hospitalizations. We're already seeing, you know, over 100,000 hospitalizations here in the U.S. already that's going to strain our system and it's already beginning to do so and so it's concerning.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Are you also concerned about this variant of COVID that has cropped up in many European nations? There's also another variant that has popped up in South Africa.

WEBB: Right. I'm aware of it. I wouldn't say that I'm worried about it, because we haven't seen that this variant causes more deaths, or causes more severe COVID. We are seeing that it seems to spread a little more rapidly as we're seeing in the U.K.

But my hope is that, you know, the vaccine that we have, it should still protect against it because it's a polyclonal vaccine. So I mean, all those different parts of the spike protein are creating an immunologic response.

So our hope is that we're still going to have that protection from it. But I think it lends more credence to that idea that everybody needs to take those public health measures, you know, top of mind because it's a critical season coming up.

WHITFIELD: Yes, we can't hear it enough. All right, Dr. Cameron Webb, thanks to you and to your wife, Dr. Leigh-Ann Webb. Best to the family and have a Happy New Year. Thank you.

WEBB: You, too.

WHITFIELD: And this just in, a box truck under investigation in Tennessee just days now after an R.V. exploded and investigators say the truck -- this new truck was playing the same audio as the R.V. played before that Christmas Day blast.

We're looking at images from our affiliate WSMV there in Tennessee. And what you can see there in the lower corner just above this banner is that white box truck and you see just to the right of it is an apparatus that law enforcement uses, a robotic apparatus to detect, get close to items, suspicious vehicles et cetera that may have a bomb in it.

So this is live pictures right now from our affiliate WSMV. This is a live active crime scene right now as they zero in closely on this truck that according to authorities was playing a similar audio there in Lebanon, Tennessee, a similar audio that had been heard in that R.V. in downtown Nashville just before it exploded on Christmas Day.

[15:35:09]

WHITFIELD: Shimon Prokupecz is in Nashville, and you're hearing from sources. You have been alerted of this now -- investigation of this suspicious vehicle. What more can you tell us? PROKUPECZ: Yes, we don't know if it relates to anything here, obviously, so we should offer some caution, of course. And we don't know that necessarily that authorities have found a bomb inside this truck.

But nonetheless, the authorities, the F.B.I., the A.T.F. and the local authorities are there as a precaution. They don't know exactly what they're dealing with. And that is why, as you're seeing in those pictures, they're using the robot and this is something that bomb technicians use all across the country when they go into a scene that potentially could contain a bomb, so that obviously, it doesn't put any human life at risk.

So right now, that is what they're doing there. What we're told is that authorities were alerted to this truck through a call and they were told that this truck was playing similar messages to what we know the R.V. here in downtown Nashville was playing.

We don't know specifically what that is. We don't know if it's the evacuation notice from this digitized voice that was playing over a loudspeaker on this R.V., or if it's that song that we heard from police here, the downtown by Petula Clark, which talks about someone being lonely.

We don't know if it's that song that this box truck was playing or if it was for people to evacuate. Nonetheless, something very similar was being played on this R.V., and so authorities move in.

As a precaution, we are also told that the community, the neighborhood has been evacuated and right now, authorities are trying to figure out exactly what they're dealing with. But right now, we don't have word that there's any kind of a threat there and this is all as a precaution.

We're waiting to hear more from authorities there and certainly the F.B.I. to see if it's in any way related to what happened here. But as we would expect, authorities all across the country here certainly have been on alert to see if anything similar could possibly happen in any part -- any other part of the country, and that is what we're seeing today, people alerting the police to something suspicious and then moving in to investigate, and that is what they're doing at the moment.

WHITFIELD: So Shimon, do we have any idea about a timeline as to when? Was it someone passing through in the area, a resident of the area who made this report to authorities that they thought they heard this ominous audio coming from this vehicle? About how long ago do we think that was?

PROKUPECZ: So our information is this has been going on for about four hours or so. The police were alerted local time around 10:30 a.m. So we're now about 2:30. So it's been a couple of hours that they have been on the scene there and investigating.

It is interesting that we are only now seeing the robot move in so many hours later after police had initially responded. So I don't have enough clarity on why that's happening and exactly what's happening. We just don't know enough yet.

All we know right now is that, obviously there is some concern, and that authorities are investigating, and that is why we're seeing them on scene there, that's why we're seeing them use this robot. Very similar messages to what was heard here from this R.V., and of course that has everyone concerned and that's why we're seeing the F.B.I., the A.T.F. and the local authorities there on scene.

WHITFIELD: So Lebanon here about 25 miles outside of Nashville, Tennessee, and now a couple days out from that Christmas Day explosion. Have you learned anything about this particular road, Shimon, whether this is you know, primarily a road of, you know, connecting town and cities? Or if this is right in the middle of a neighborhood, a community? Do we know anything about that?

PROKUPECZ: Yes, we don't have enough information on that. What we know is that the call, the tip that came to police originated in a different county.

What we know is that the highway there is shut down as police investigate this, but we don't know how everything intersects.

We know that that this was -- there's a convenience store and that is where this box truck was seen. And so people -- a lot of people across the country, as we know have been paying attention to what's happened here in downtown Nashville and we know that because of the number of tips certainly that police and the F.B.I. have gotten about this R.V. and about information concerning what happened here.

So the country, people are watching people are paying attention, and so someone heard something and as a result of that, they called authorities and the authorities have moved in, and that's what we're seeing now, as we await.

[15:40:17]

PROKUPECZ: I've put phone calls out, obviously to authorities here to see if they know anything about it there, obviously, I'm waiting to hear back from them. We have not heard back if there's any connection.

Right now, there's no indication that there is a connection to what happened here. But of course, the fact that this person is playing what sounded like similar messages coming from an audio system on this truck is certainly very concerning for authorities.

WHITFIELD: And as we look at these live pictures, again from our affiliate to WSMV, and we see this, you know, robotic apparatus that is further inspecting this box truck. Now, that apparatus is out of view, it appeared while you were talking as though it was making its way to the rear of that vehicle, unclear what if any kind of information is being extrapolated from it.

Of course, we're going to learn that later from authorities. But Shimon Prokupecz, let's keep our eyes on that and let you do a bit more reporting as well as we continue to look at these live pictures of a suspicious vehicle that is now being further investigated just a couple days out of a Christmas Day bombing involving an R.V. vehicle in downtown Nashville. This location just about 25 miles outside of Nashville.

We'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: We're following this breaking news out of Lebanon, Tennessee just about 25 miles outside of Nashville, Tennessee. A box truck is under investigation just days after an R.V. exploded in downtown Nashville, and now a highway in Tennessee is shut down because of this suspicious vehicle, a box truck that you see in the center of the screen in kind of isolation on that highway and in the near proximity of that truck is a robotic -- a robot that detects bombs, and it is inspecting this vehicle right now.

And according to authorities, eyewitnesses say that there was an audio that came from this box truck that they say was similar to the audio played on the R.V. just before it exploded in downtown Nashville on Christmas Day.

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WHITFIELD: Joining me by phone right now, Jonathan Wackrow. He is a CNN law enforcement analyst and a former Secret Service agent.

Jonathan, glad you could be with us. So as you look at these images, live pictures, just as I am here from our affiliate WSMV and you see this box truck and soon in our view, maybe again, that robot which helps detect bomb material, what is it looking for? How does it go about trying to sniff out any kind of bomb making material or bomb material on a vehicle?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST (via phone): Well, right now, Fred, the primary focus for law enforcement is seeing safety, making sure that the public is safe, that responding law enforcement is safe as you can see from the images, law enforcement is taking a position that is significantly -- has a significant distance away from the vehicle, again, that's for officer safety.

What they're going through right now is referred to as the render safe protocols. So bomb technicians are deploying a variety of tools to then go through different techniques to render that vehicle safe.

What we're seeing with the robotics is a way that they can remotely go and assess the vehicle to understand does this vehicle have explosives on board? There are different tools that that robot has from video surveillance, you can potentially open up doors.

Again, they are able to do this in this environment, because they believe that there is -- based upon information -- a belief that there's a potential danger there. The technology allows them to render this vehicle safe without having to put your human lives, officers' lives at risk at this point in time.

Now, if you're unable to adjudicate this fully and ensure that there are no explosives on board, it may be necessary for a bomb technician, along with a dog potentially to go down towards that target vehicle to make the final adjudication as to whether or not there's explosives. This is a --

WHITFIELD: And you know, Jonathan, I don't know if you see the live picture, but now we're seeing a vehicle, a truck like vehicle that is -- or actually a van there that has moved in closer to the suspicious vehicle, you know, closing in this kind of perimeter of the truck, someone has stepped out.

Talk to me about the kind of precautions that are made when it's unclear whether indeed, there could be explosives on the suspicious vehicle even while you have the robotic apparatus there.

WACKROW: Well, law enforcement personnel, bomb tech or explosive technicians are only going to shorten that distance to the target if they feel that it is it is safe to do so. So there's something that must be indicating to them when there's information from the robots, simply allowing them to close that distance again.

The explosion that we saw on Christmas morning was a tremendous explosion because of the significant amount of damage. They know what the potential risk is in doing this type of maneuver, and they must feel a little bit of confidence that you're shortening that distance to try to render this vehicle safe.

WHITFIELD: And all on heightened alert, it is just two days after that Christmas Day explosion involving that R.V. in downtown Nashville. This is only 25 miles away. And authorities were alerted that someone thought they heard an audio that was similar to the audio played in the R.V. and that's what brought them to this truck.

So talk to me about all the resources; already, so many resources dedicated to the ongoing investigation of the explosion on Christmas Day and now, you've got more dedicated resources to this extension of an investigation.

WACKROW: Yes, so for right now with -- there's actually two tracks going on simultaneously. Obviously, you have the officers and agents that are on site right now trying to render this vehicle safe. You could also have investigators who have now tried to correlate this vehicle, whatever they can, whether it's from a license plate, or any other type of information that they have on it back to either the primary vehicle that from Christmas morning, the explosion, any correlation to anybody or any other investigative leads that have come up.

[15:50:10]

WACKROW: Again, that's going to paint the broader picture where just a few hours ago, we thought that we were dealing with an isolated event. Is there a connection to this vehicle? Is this more of a coordinated action within the region?

Again, law enforcement is elevating the potential of this investigation, because of this new vehicle. WHITFIELD: Jonathan Wackrow, thanks so much. We appreciate your expertise.

Again, live pictures of a suspicious vehicle being inspected there on a Tennessee highway just about 25 miles outside of Nashville, Tennessee, this taking place in Lebanon, Tennessee. We will have much more right after this.

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[15:53:42]

WHITFIELD: All right, in California, not only is the state now reporting the highest number of new daily coronavirus cases per capita in the country, hospitals are so full, medical services are spilling out into parking lots.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is at one of California's hardest hit hospitals. Paul, what do you see?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can't see it right behind me, Fred, but I can assure you there are surge tents in parking lots in parts of this hospital in Pasadena because of this capacity as we see the number of cases explode.

Fifty thousand at last count in California, that number was ballooned, because the Los Angeles County numbers were condensed into two days because of a lag in the count. In any event here in Pasadena, 189 people are in the hospital because of COVID, 30 of them are in intensive care units.

And what they're concerned about here and throughout California is if people do not isolate and do go out and have all of these get- togethers for New Years, there's going to be the surge on top of a surge on top of a surge, and then these already taxed doctors and nurses here might have to make choices, tough choices.

The hospital might have to decide who is going to be treated and when, and they call this, it is a gruesome term, they call this a scarce resource policy.

[15:55:10]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. KIMBERLY SHRINER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, HUNTINGTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: Indeed, that's what we may have to do. That's really the ultimate triage. We have a limited number of ventilators. We have a limited number of ICU beds. We have a limited number of plastic tubing for oxygen tanks.

And so a lot of those decisions, if we get to that point, we're not there yet, but if we did, we're going to have to make some of those decisions. And again, that's a decision that, you know, no physician or nurse or anyone wants to ever have to make about something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And when she talks about capacity here, they have expanded the intensive care unit throughout this hospital. It's in patchworks and in different places.

And so you're seeing patients treated in an ICU in a place that they normally would not, and they are again very fearful that they are going to have to go through this scarce resource policy if people do not stay at home during the New Year's weekend -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. Yes, very dire. Very dire.

All right, Paul Vercammen Thank you so much.

All right, plus, we continue to follow breaking news in Tennessee. A truck is under investigation just days after an R.V. exploded in downtown Nashville and investigators say the truck, this one now, the suspicious truck was playing a similar audio as what the R.V. played before the Christmas Day blast. A live report from the scene, next.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with this at this hour, rather with a flurry of new details out of the Nashville, Tennessee area.

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