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Sports Teams, Athletes Speak Out on Gun Violence Epidemic; Outrage As Police Admit they Waited Too Long to Breach Classroom; Biden Meets with Grieving Families, Survivors in Uvalde; Biden to Deliver Memorial Day Address at Arlington National Cemetery; Travelers Face High Gas Prices, Flight Cancellations Across U.S. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 30, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone, I'm Poppy Harlow, I'm glad you're with us for this special holiday edition of CNN Newsroom. The pressing question this Monday morning, how could this happen?

Devastated families are demanding answers as we are learning that up to 19 officers stood in the hallway of Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas for more than 45 excruciating minutes while children inside the classroom with the gunman kept calling 911 over and over again begging for help.

Well, this morning the Justice Department is stepping in at the request of the mayor to investigate the police response of this mass shooting. And specifically why it took so long to take down that gunman. Today we will see the first of several funeral services remembering the lives lost in this tragedy.

Over the weekend President Biden and the first lady met with the families of victims and with first responders in Uvalde. The president vowed once again as we've heard so often in America to do something about gun violence.

It was the second time in less than two weeks that the president mourned alongside families whose loved ones died in the mass shooting. We are covering this story, of course, from every angle. Our reporters and correspondents are standing by to bring you the latest.

So let's begin this hour with our Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid. Paula, it's good t have you here. You're the one who broke this reporting late yesterday that the Justice Department is going to step in here.

They will review all aspects of the law enforcement response to the shooting at Robb Elementary. Do you have a sense of what they think they can determine here? And what change it might lead to?

PAULA REID, SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, Poppy, this is such a significant development in this ongoing investigation because as we have seen officials in Texas have been under enormous scrutiny for how law enforcement responded to this shooting.

And these conflicting accounts, conflicting timelines that they have been giving the public in the wake of this attack. Now, interestingly this review is actually requested by the city's mayor. But Poppy, at this point the Justice Department is about the only entity that can come in and credibly and objectively assess exactly what happened here.

Now in a statement, the Justice Department said that the goal of this review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events.

Because unfortunately, we know, there will likely be other active shooter events. But this is not a criminal investigation. This a review being conducted by the Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing.

They have actually conducted similar reviews into law enforcement response to the terrorist attack in San Bernardino as well as the Pulse Nightclub shooting. Now, I read those two review and it appears that the way this is going to work is that investigators, they're going to go to the scene, they're going to take in any audio or visual evidence, they're going to talk to witnesses, they're going to try to talk to first responders.

They're, of course, going to talk to victims. And they're going to review what exactly happened here, what went right, and moreover in this case, especially what exactly went wrong. Now, as I said, this is not a criminal investigation.

This is also not a civil rights investigation like what the Justice Department did in Ferguson, Chicago, and other cities where they examined police departments. But depending on what they find in this review if they find any evidence of criminality that is certainly something that they could pass on to prosecutors for additional action.

But we know charging law enforcement officials for anything they do in the course of their official duty --

HARLOW: Right.

REID: -- is a very high bar.

HARLOW: Yes, and the real question is how do you change things so that this never happens again. Paula Reid, thank you very much for being with us for that reporting that you broke, we appreciate it very much. And today we'll see the first of several services for the 19 children and two teachers murdered in Uvalde including Amerie Jo Garza, her father shared his outrage over the police response with CNN, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ALFRED GARZA, FATHER OF UVALDE SHOOTING VICTIM AMERIE JO GARZA: They needed to act immediately, you know. There's kids involved, you know, there's a gun involved, there's an active shooter wanting to do harm, you know, those are recipes for disaster.

And as soon as you get there somebody should have gotten off the car, jumped the fence, slammed open the door as fast as he got in there, and tried to change the outcome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Let's go to our Correspondent Adrienne Broaddus, she joins us at a memorial site right near Robb Elementary School.

[09:05:00]

So they begin today, right, the funerals begin today one after the next after the next. And there will be visitations for both Amerie Jo Garza and Maite Rodriguez, both 10-years-old. Those will happen this afternoon, what else can you tell us?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: We've learned so much about these 19 students. And I want to focus on the two who are having their visitations and rosary today. Amerie Jo Garza died trying to call 911 with a cell phone her father says she received two weeks ago for the 10th birthday.

In the photo that's paired with her obituary, she's wearing this beautiful violet dress and she's smiling yet her family says their sweet, loving, sassy little diva hated dresses but he still wore them. She loved meals from Chick-fil-A and her favorite drink a vanilla bean frappuccino from Starbucks, you know, those drinks are sweet and tasty on hot summer days here in Texas.

It's almost like a milkshake and there's no coffee in those drinks. Her classmate Maite Rodriguez was ambitious, her mom said her daughter loved the color green and jalapenos. As an A and B honor roll student, she was already thinking about college. As a fourth-grader, she dreamt of becoming a marine biologist because she loved studying animals and wildlife.

And we are at this memorial, Poppy, as you mentioned in the heart of town. People have shown up here before sunrise and when they show up they walk along the sidewalk and it's easy to notice the sea of flowers but they also see glowing candles.

Many of those candles scented and the smell is almost soothing for this community in such deep sorrow. I spoke with a woman who's lived here nearly all her life, she said the shock of the shooting is starting to go away but the pain gets heavier every day. I also spoke with the border patrol agent whose wife is a counselor at this school, she's been counseling families since this happened.

And we've been telling folks how close this community is and how connected it is. We're starting to see and hear more of those stories, Poppy. HARLOW: Adrienne, we're so thankful that you're there to bring them us. Thank you very much for that. And now let's focus on huge question this morning and for months ahead. How could this happen? What went wrong? And what can we learn? Joining me now to discuss is Edward Dabkowski, a retired ATF special agent in charge.

And he researches now gun violence as Case Western Reserve University. Thank you, Edward, very much for joining us.

EDWARD DABKOWSKI, RETIRED ATF ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Good morning.

HARLOW: How useful do you think the Department of Justice getting involved here will be?

DABKOWSKI: I think that's incredibly critical at this stage. As your reporters noted, the source of this review has to be somebody credible, objective, transparent, and accurate.

HARLOW: Right.

DABKOWSKI: And I can't think of a better spot than the COPS Office at DOJ to do that.

HARLOW: Can they do anything outside of, as Paula said, they can make some referrals if there is going to be criminal prosecution, we'll see. But can they do anything forward-looking? Because the reality is the lessons were known here since Columbine. We knew go toward the shots, the sound of the gunfire, and go right away, and go fast.

DABKOWSKI: And that's going to be one of the critical questions that needs to be answered. And that's why they're a great resource for that. They've got vast experience with state and local law enforcement, they can call on the experience of anybody else within DOJ whether that's FBI, ATF, any U.S. attorneys, or any other legal --

HARLOW: Yes.

DABKOWSKI: -- legal sources. And ultimately you're right, it -- it's going to be what happened in those minutes that had this misjudgment occur that they believed it was a barricade and not still an active shooter scenario. It -- it's --

HARLOW: Yes.

DABKOWSKI: -- extremely troubling.

HARLOW: When you look at the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement training manual on how to handle active shooter situations it clearly states a quote, "Officers first priority is to move in and confront the attacker."

And then it goes on to say, "A first responder unwilling to place the lives of the innocent above their own safety should consider another career." All law enforcement in Texas are trained under these exact guidelines. It could not be more clear. How can you square that with what we saw happen or you can't?

DABKOWSKI: I can't. And also in those guidelines it talks about, they give an example that if they -- if an officer forces an attack or into a room or area where they are isolated, cannot escape, and can do no more harm with staff or --

HARLOW: Right.

DABKOWSKI: -- the officers not obligated.

[09:10:00]

I don't see that any of those criteria are met. And one of the challenges with any critical incident or dynamic tactical situation is you have to make the right call based on the information you have --

HARLOW: Yes.

DABKOWSKI: -- and the resources you have and not the information and resources you want. And the training and the expertise and experience are what's supposed to inform that correct pathway to the right decision.

HARLOW: Yes. You have spent 30 years, right, three decades plus focused on firearm-related violent crimes. And a lot of your work is toward focusing on opportunities for more research including focusing on gun violence as a public health issue, really a -- an epidemic in this country.

And you've emphasized the need to study it and address it that way as a systemic issue. Now there's debate over that but most of the medical professionals agree with you on that front. Why do you think that that would change things?

DABKOWSKI: It's -- you've got to apply cross-disciplinary and reach out to other expertises to look at this through different lenses. And the public health approach to this, look, I spent a lot of years going into neighborhoods, repeatedly conducting investigations, and making arrests.

And you know, you see the same victims, you see the same suspects, you see communities that are constantly impacted by this. And you know, I can tell you from my experience in Cleveland, you know, we had, you know, emergency department doctors working with us to try and intervene with, you know, younger and younger kids as they were seeing them come into their emergency departments.

You have to -- it's an all sources, all resource issue. You just can't say this one thing is going to fix it.

HARLOW: And as you've noted, the victims and perpetrators younger, and younger, and younger. Edward Dabkowski, thank you very much.

DABKOWSKI: Thank you.

HARLOW: Well, at moment now President Biden will return to the White House after speaking and spending time trying to comfort families along with the first lady in Uvalde over the weekend. And in just a few hours he's also, of course, set to observe Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery. We'll have that ahead.

Also, you'll hear from a 9-year-old boy who saw the gunman with his own eyes, and then saw his teacher get shot in the leg. Three child psychologists are going to join me to talk about how our children can cope with this trauma.

And later inflation, high gas prices, thousands of flights canceled all plaguing the first big travel weekend of the summer. What to expect in the months ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

Welcome back. Next hour President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will host a breakfast at the White House in honor of Memorial Day. They, of course, will then go to Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day ceremony where the president will speak after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Let's get straight to Jeremy Diamond, he's at the White House. Jeremy, good morning to you. Really significant weekend for the president and the first lady. We'll get to that in a moment. But today also significant for them very personally, they will visit the grave of their late son Beau Biden in Delaware on this the 7th anniversary of his death.

What more can you tell us about what they'll do today?

JEREMY DIAMOND, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, that's right, Poppy, President Biden has just touched down back here at the White House but before he did that he did visit the grave of his late son Beau Biden who died seven years ago today. Just happens to fall this year on Memorial Day.

President Biden for Memorial Day he is set to go to Arlington National Cemetery to participate in that somber ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as presidents typically do on this day. And he'll also deliver remarks there at Arlington.

And I think it is notable while we don't have a preview yet of President Biden's remarks for today this is the first Memorial Day that he will be honoring the lives of fallen service members since that withdrawal of U.S. forces from the war in Afghanistan.

Two thousand four hundred and sixty-one Americans died in that war, and that was something that President Biden said as he pulled out those troops that he did not want to risk the lives of more service members by prolonging that war.

Very notable, later this afternoon the president will also participate in a tree-planting ceremony on the south lawn of the White House. He and the first lady alongside the family members of fallen service members will plant a magnolia tree on the south lawn.

HARLOW: And Jeremy, before you go, just speak about what we saw this weekend yesterday in Uvalde, Texas. I mean, the president, once again, for the second time in two weeks going to comfort survivors and victims families in another horrific mass shooting. He also, once again, promised action.

DIAMOND: That's right, and listen, President Biden arrived in Uvalde with plans to provide some measure of comfort is what he said to those grieving family members. He left though with a promise to take action, to quote, "Do something," as you face these chance (ph) from Uvalde residents to take action on gun reform.

One of those residents, Ben Gonzales, he was one of those people who was chanting at the president, here's what he said to our colleague Arlette Saenz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN GONZALES, UVALDE RESIDENT: At a certain point of time it's going to be on us because we vote these people in to represent us. And they're not representing us. And it's heartbreaking because things like this happen. Because something needs to be done, something, we need change, we need help.

And my biggest fear is that nothing is going to change. And six months from now Uvalde's just going to be Uvalde and it's just going to be history. And nothings going to have been changed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND: And look, President Biden spent over three hours with some of those grieving families behind the scenes. He placed flowers in front of that memorial at Robb Elementary School.

[09:20:00]

But now the question from some of these Uvalde residents, and people across the country is what is actually going to happen? The White House has said that they believe they have limited if any additional options as it relates to executive action. They believe that it's now up to Congress to do something.

The question is will Congress act? We know that Senator Chris Murphy is one of the Democratic Senators who's working with at least five Republican lawmakers to potentially try and find a path to compromise.

He says that he believes he is seeing more likelihood for action now, working with more Republicans now than at any time since that Sandy Hook shooting --

HARLOW: Yes.

DIAMOND: -- nearly 10 years ago. So we'll have to wait and see whether it actually produces any results. Poppy. HARLOW: Right. Or even just on the state level. I mean, look at Florida after Parkland, right, major changes can happen on the state level if state legislators act. Jeremy Diamond at the White House, thanks very much. We have seen deadly gun violence across the country this holiday weekend.

So far at least two dozen people were shot in multiple shootings across the country just over the weekend in Oklahoma. One person was killed, seven others injured. Including a 9-year-old child at a Memorial Day event over the weekend. Also, there were shootings in Tennessee, Nevada, Georgia where most of those wounded were teenagers.

This weekend's gun violence follows recent deadly mass shootings, of course, at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, at the supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and a church in southern California. Our Nadia Romero has more on all of this, Nadia, good morning to you. What more can you tell us about what just happened this weekend?

NADIA ROMERO, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, good morning, Poppy. And the first thing you'll notice is just how widespread these shootings are happening. Gone are the days where we only talk about shootings in large metropolitan areas. So let's first start with Taft, Oklahoma, it's about 45 miles outside of Tulsa.

There one person was killed, seven others shot. And what was supposed to be a fun Memorial Day festival with 1,500 people, families in attendance but instead a shooting happened. Police there say that a suspect has turned himself in. Now let's move to Chattanooga, Tennessee, just about a mile or so from the Tennessee Aquarium.

Six people were shot, two of them with life-threatening injuries. And the police there tell us that most of the people involved were young people, they were teenagers or in their early 20s. Listen to the mayor of Chattanooga talk about his frustrations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM KELLY, MAYOR, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE: Kids have always gotten into scuffles with each other, it's a tale as old as time. What is new is that they now have access to handguns and firearms that leave behind bodies instead of bruises, and bruised egos. I can't say this clearly enough, easy access to illegal guns is killing kids, and our community has a responsibility to put a stop to it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMERO: And that is what a lot of people are talking about, what can we do? And especially when you're seeing shootings happening in grocery stores and churches or on the interstate. That's what happened in Henderson, Nevada on the interstate multiple people were shot, seven people were injured in that shooting.

And police are still investigating that and looking for a suspect. Poppy, I want to share this number with you, we checked in with the Gun Violence Archive and they keep track of mass shootings, so that's when four or more people are shot in a particular incident. And so far this year there have already been more than 225 mass shootings in this country and we're not even halfway through the year.

HARLOW: More mass shootings than days so far this year. Nadia, thank you very much for the reporting. As millions of people hit the road this holiday weekend you, obviously, are feeling the pain at the gas pump. We'll talk about those new high gas prices, relief may not come any time soon, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00]

HARLOW: Well getting away this Memorial Day weekend has not been easy for many of you. Millions of drivers who are paying nearly 10-year high prices for gas and air travelers facing thousands of cancellations.

Our Pete Muntean live for us this morning at Reagan National Airport. Pete, good morning to you. A lot of headaches but 40 million people expected to travel this Memorial Day, is that right?

PETE MUNTEAN, AVIATION CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, it's a huge test for the airlines, Poppy. You know, not only is this the first major travel rush since the end of the transportation mask mandate. But airlines are facing these major staffing shortages and so many people are coming back to traveling.

Two million people on average being screened a day for the last few days and airports across the country according to the TSA that number about 90 percent of where we were back in 2019 before the pandemic.

And the TSA has foreshadowed that we may see numbers at or above pre- pandemic levels as this holiday travel period drags on as the summer begins. You know, AAA forecasted that about 39 million people would travel 50 miles or more over the five-day Memorial Day travel period.

That number really not all that far off from where we were back in 2019. The vast majority of people are traveling by car even though these gas prices are so sky-high. The national average for a gallon of regular $4.62 now. And AAA says, I want you to listen now, that drivers simply remain undaunted even in spite of these high gas prices.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN: Do you think that the numbers will be all that far off from the projection?

ANDREW GROSS, SPOKESMAN, AAA: You know we've never -- our projections have always been pretty accurate. But we've never been trying to project in an environment like this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN: Overall travel on the airlines has been relatively smooth. [09:30:00]