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Sheriff Plans News Conference On Texas Mass Shooting; First Republic Bank Still Standing Amid Looming FDIC Takeover; Crisis In Sudan; As Primary Season Approaches, GOP Candidates Have Uphill Climb; Officials Give Update On Manhunt After Mass Shooting; The Winners, The Disappointments And The Surprises In Kansas City. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired April 29, 2023 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:44]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.
We are awaiting a news conference at this hour from the town of Cleveland, Texas where the FBI has joined the manhunt for a man suspected of killing five of his neighbors. Police say this 38-year- old opened fire on a family next door when they asked him to stop firing a rifle in his front yard because their baby was trying to sleep.
Now, five people are dead including an eight-year-old child. This latest gruesome attack unfolded about 40 miles northeast of Houston.
CNN's Ryan Young is following all of the latest developments for us. He joins us live now.
Ryan, what do we know about this news conference coming up?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, all of this just baffling, Jim. You think about it. We've been told the news conference will start at 6:30. The FBI will be joining the Sheriff's Department. We know that about two hours ago, they joined a search for the man that they were looking for.
And as you said, this all started with the family going next door to ask a man to stop shooting his gun in the front yard. And apparently at some point through a Ring camera, they have also been able to verify the man walked in with a gun and opened fire using his gun in an execution-style method to shoot people from above the neck and up.
And we are also told that there were two women who were found dead who were covering the body of children, and this is quite gruesome.
In fact, the sheriff indicated, this is the worst shooting that he has seen in the 41 years that he's been a sheriff in that area. Take a listen to him as he was talking about this horrific crime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF GREG CAPERS, SAN JACINTO COUNTY, TEXAS: My understanding is that the victims, they came over to the fence said hey, could you mind not shooting out in the yard. We have a young baby that is trying to go to sleep, and he had been drinking, and he said I'll do what I want to in my backyard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Yes, Jim.
When we started this day, we did not have the picture of Francisco Oropeza, so we want to put that up again, because this obviously could help police as they are still looking for this man.
At one point the sheriff believed he was about 12 miles away in a wooded area. They had talked to the man's wife, they found other weapons. Of course, they have to treat this man like he is armed and dangerous.
Now that the FBI has joined this search, we're wondering whether or not there's more information they'll be able to give us at 6:30. Of course, we are monitoring this and see if anything has changed.
As of right now, the search still continues for that man who opened fire on his family where 10 people were inside, and now five people are dead, including that eight-year-old child.
ACOSTA: It's just so, so awful, and it just keeps happening in this country.
Ryan Young, thanks for staying on top of it for us. We appreciate it.
Lots of other news to report to you this evening.
Financial regulators are said to be working around-the-clock this weekend to resolve an ever more urgent crisis with First Republic Bank.
The San Francisco based lender has seen its stock price fall 97 percent since March 1st and hit $3.00 yesterday. This despite a $30 billion lifeline from some of the nation's largest banks after the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank last month.
Bloomberg and "The Wall Street Journal" say JPMorgan Chase and PNC Financial are in the process of submitting bids to purchase First Republic, but nothing has been resolved at this point.
We're told, and the FDIC could still step in and take over before Monday.
Joining us now to talk about this is Justin Wolfers, professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan.
Professor, great to see you. We appreciate it.
I assume this is going to go a long way to calming some jitters on Wall Street if this all goes through, but what happened with that $30 billion lifeline? Was it simply not enough? What's going on? JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: So there is a real problem that arises for a very small number of banks, Silicon Valley Bank was among them, and of course, First Republic was as well.
These are banks where they are mostly catering to very wealthy depositors. Deposit insurance only covers the first $250,000.00 of your deposit. So these are banks that aren't covered by our usual deposit insurance, and that means if people get a little bit nervous, they start to pull money out and that means that they can be caught without enough cash in the vault, and that is really their problem.
It's not that this is a completely unprofitable bank, it is not that it doesn't have assets, it is that it doesn't have enough cash in the vault and one of the best ways of resolving that, the worst way would be a bank run; the best way would be if another bank just came and took it over and said, hey, we've got an even bigger vault. Plus, we like owning profitable businesses.
[18:05:15]
ACOSTA: And how does this differ from the bank failures that we saw last month with SVB and Signature Bank? Or is this an extension of that fallout? I mean, it sounds as though we're in this period of instability right now in the banking industry, where I mean, they seem to be working frantically to prevent sort of a cascading effect in this very important industry.
WOLFERS: There is that one narrative that there's a lot of financial stress, but I'd rather emphasize the other narrative, actually, which is, the United States have thousands of banks. Thousands of banks don't have the structure and the vulnerabilities that first Republic and Silicon Valley Bank had.
And so this is something that I think we've known for a couple of months, there may be a few banks finding themselves in trouble along the way. They are mainly those that are have depositors with itchy fingers, and those are usually the high-net worth individuals.
So for most of the rest of us who have our money in fairly boring banks, and most of the money in the US is in boring banks. The good thing about boring banks is they were born yesterday, they'll be born again tomorrow, and most people's money will be safe most of the time.
ACOSTA: Right. Yes, we want our banks to be boring. No question about it.
And Professor, there are reports of potential buyers already in talks with the FDIC. How soon might that happen? What would that mean, for First Republic, its customers? Might they wake up Monday morning and their money's just going to be with a different bank. Is that it, basically?
WOLFERS: That's the script I'm hoping for and it is the script that I'm expecting. That's what makes this case very different than Silicon Valley Bank. It was a bad business, it was badly run, but no one wanted to take it over. First Republic is a good business. It's just the vaults are empty at the moment.
And so for many depositors, it is going to be -- at First Republic, it's going to be a nervous weekend, but chances are, they will wake up on Monday, and just be told they've got the same account number, but under a different bank, and they might need to get themselves a new ATM card at some point soon.
ACOSTA: And what are some of the regulations that you think need to be put in place from lawmakers up on Capitol Hill? I mean, that is something that we've seen Senator Elizabeth Warren bring up in recent days that -- and she has been going after the chairman of the Fed as well, that there has been some deregulatory moves made in recent years that potentially led to some of what we're seeing right now in this industry.
WOLFERS: Yes, in fact, we saw the Fed come out with a new report under Vice Chair Michael Barr, I think on Friday, and what we're seeing is, look, banking is a business that has an enormous amount of social responsibility involved. You have other people's money, and it is not just that, if one bank fails, others could fail, so you owe a responsibility to the financial system and the broader economy.
The tension, of course, is banks hate doing paperwork, and so they've successfully lobbied over time to get less and less aggressive supervision, which means that a small number, First Republic among them, Silicon Valley Bank among them as well, well, no one is really looking. They take the money out of the vault and go place big bets. If those bets work, all the executives get a pay rise. If those bets don't work, we end up in a sort of mess we're in today where potentially the government has to come and help them.
ACOSTA: All right, Professor Justin Wolfers. Hey, great to talk to you. Thanks so much. I hope the banks stay boring.
WOLFERS: Appreciate it.
ACOSTA: All right. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
All right now to the escalating conflict in Sudan. The first US-led convoy to evacuate American citizens from Khartoum has reached Port Sudan.
The US initially resisted spearheading a civilian evacuation despite last weekend's successful airlift of American embassy personnel and CNN's Oren Liebermann has more on all of this.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Jim, this comes after growing pressure on the administration and on the State Department from US private citizens in Sudan to do more.
The sense we have gotten speaking with some of them, is there is frustration, even anger at what they see as a lack of action from the US to evacuate American citizens from Sudan, especially as we've seen so many other countries get their own citizens out and help the US by getting American citizens out. So this convoy traveled hundreds of miles over many hours from Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, where there is renewed fighting despite the ceasefire all the way to Port Sudan where there are US Navy ships and other assets to help them get to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where there are American personnel to help them essentially continue on their journey, to get them where they're trying to go.
Now, this played out over the last several days. On Thursday, US citizens who were interested in leaving Sudan and were already in touch with the State Department got a notification that the US government is planning to assist US nationals and family members with a valid US travel document to depart Khartoum in the coming days.
[18:10:10]
Then one day later, on Friday, they got a notification that they should bring food, water, and travel essentials limited to one bag only, meet at a golf course and that is when the convoy left.
The State Department hasn't said how many people were on the convoy, but they do say that hundreds of American citizens have evacuated between this convoy, other convoys run by other countries, and some of the military flights we've seen coming out.
CNN has also spoken to American citizens who have come out of Sudan on other convoys and they described it essentially as a harrowing journey going through checkpoints between the two warring factions, so you get a sense of how difficult that journey can be.
Meanwhile, the State Department now saying if you're an American citizen who remains in Sudan and is interested in leaving, they have some contact info suggesting there may be more efforts to get American citizens out. This, as the situation in Sudan deteriorates -- Jim.
ACOSTA: Thank you, Oren for that.
Some Sudanese-Americans didn't know if government help was ever going to come, so they made their own way to Port Sudan.
This afternoon, I spoke to one Sudanese-American woman whose parents fled to Saudi Arabia without any help from the US government. She was not happy about that.
Take a listen to this interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUNA DAOUD, PARENTS JUST LEFT SUDAN: They hopped on a bus to Port Sudan after two weeks of -- almost two weeks of barely no communication whatsoever from the American government.
We've e-mailed, we've called, we've written to the White House. We begged and pleaded for them to assist my parents who are both 66 and 69 years old, who are on a visit to Sudan.
It was a very difficult, emotional, traumatizing journey, and the US government did not help at all.
Once they reached Port Sudan, they still had to go through a lot of trouble in order to get on the ships. No time during this entire harrowing process and journey during these two weeks were my parents ever comforted or contacted by anybody from the US government, or assisted in any way, shape or form.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: All right, coming up, in yet another escalation between Washington and Moscow, US officials say Russian pilots tried to dogfight with their American counterparts over Syria.
Plus, former NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth will be here to discuss all the surprises we've seen so far at this year's NFL draft. And here's a live look once again at the red carpet ahead of the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Make sure you stay right here on CNN for a CNN special coverage of one of the biggest nights here in the nation's capital. President Biden and host, Roy Wood, Jr. headline tonight's dinner.
It is live right here on CNN later tonight at eight o'clock Eastern.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:16:53]
ACOSTA: We are waiting on a live press conference out of Texas where officials will give an update on the mass shooting that started after a family asked a neighbor to stop firing a rifle in his front yard. Police say the suspect then shot and killed five people including an eight-year-old child. We will bring you that press conference as it happens live in just a little bit. So stay with us for that.
In the meantime, the US Army has grounded aviators not involved in critical missions after two recent helicopter crashes killed 12 soldiers. The Army's chief-of-staff said the pilots are on stand down until they complete required safety training.
The order comes after Thursday's mid-air collision in Alaska and a deadly collision near Kentucky about a month ago.
The US Central Command is reporting more aggressive behavior by Russian pilots after an apparent dogfight with US planes in the skies over eastern Syria. Video released by CENTCOM from April 2nd shows a Russian fighter jet conducting what it calls an unsafe and unprofessional intercept of a US fighter jet, an F-16 in this incident. A US official told CNN the Russians may be trying to provoke the US to create an international incident.
Also tonight, new details into CNN about the accused Intel leaker, Jack Teixeira reveal he has a history of violent threats and had an arsenal of weapons according to court filings released Wednesday. Teixeira spoke of wanting to kill a ton of people and making a minivan into an assassination van. Despite this, he was allowed top secret security clearances.
Teixeira appeared in court this week asking to be let out on bond, a decision on that remains in the hands of a judge, but in the meantime, CNN national security analyst and former deputy director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner joins us now.
Beth, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it. How could these red flags have flown under the radar in a place like the Pentagon? I mean, maybe that sounds a little naive, but it just seems like there were a lot of red flags here.
BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It does. I mean, you know, hindsight is always 20/20, and the real question here is in this 45- day review that the Pentagon now has underway, are they going to figure out that this is an anomaly? Is this something that was a mistake where mistakes were made? Or is this a pattern?
And you know, one of the things I think about is that this was -- his security clearance took place during COVID where things just weren't going very well. There's a shortage of personnel doing this sort of thing.
And also, I kind of been thinking about the fact that the recruitment in the military is way down, and they have a huge shortage of IT professionals. Now, I have no evidence to say that Teixeira was let in because of that, but it is something that I'm sure that they will be looking at.
So we've got to figure out, is this a systemic problem or is this a kind of one-off mistake?
ACOSTA: And Beth, in a press conference on Thursday, Pentagon spokesman, Patrick Ryder spoke on how he views those with security clearances. This is what he had to say.
[18:20:02]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. PATRICK S. RYDER, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PRESS SECRETARY: The vast, vast majority of people who are awarded security clearances come to work every day and do the right thing and this investigation will tell us what happened and where this individual did the wrong thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: So what do you think? Is the Pentagon hoping that people with this kind of security clearance just do the right thing? Or is there something else that can be enforced to make sure that, you know, this sort of thing doesn't happen again, what do you think?
SANNER: I think this is an opportunity for us to get the system in a better place. I think that there are really some problems with how we train people and how we indoctrinate people. I mean, that in just terms of educating people about what the risks are of leaking intelligence.
So you know, Teixeira signed a nondisclosure agreement, that's a page and a half of legalese, and then we expect that people based on trust, just uphold that.
And I think that's reasonable for almost everybody, 99.5 percent or more of the population. But you know, when people are working in these jobs that are IT, they're not really in the middle of understanding why intelligence is important, we really need to spend more time with them, explaining what's at risk.
You know, what would happen if this leaked out? You know, the US might not be able to get the kind of information that will save the lives of Americans and of our allies, for example, and I don't think we're really conveying that.
So I hope that through this, we're actually going to do better, we need to do better.
ACOSTA: And the head of Teixeira's unit apparently has been temporarily relieved of his command. If you were conducting this kind of investigation, I mean, I guess that's a good place to start, you know, who was supervising Teixeira, but what else would you be looking for?
SANNER: Well, you know, each unit, and this is one of the things about the military is that each unit and each branch of the military has their own kind of rules, regulations and processes for handling intelligence.
It's quite different than the intelligence community where I come from, where we kind of live and breathe this. And so you know, in the case of this National Guard command, you know, you want to know, did they get any kind of indication, did they have in their systems flags for when people were printing things they should not have been printing?
You know, where I worked, you would get that kind of information, people would be identified for behaving outside of the norm. And so you wonder about that, and you also wonder, what kind of ethos is that command setting with their troops? Are they talking about the right things? Are they really helping people understand what is at stake? And frankly, are they just doing back checks for goodness sake? That happens almost everywhere.
ACOSTA: Right. And in your view, I mean, what do you think, should Teixeira remain in detention pretrial? I mean, what do you think about that?
SANNER: Well, I read the 48-page prosecutor's document that was requesting that he be held and coming away from that, I would say, you know, as a US citizen, not as an official, but as a US citizen, I would say yes, exactly what you led this segment with, Jim, is the reason I would keep him in jail.
I mean, in the past two months, he has made threats of mass murder online to his friends. To me, that would be enough. These other things: Is he a flight risk? Maybe. Could he figure out how to get away? Perhaps. Would the Russians love to have him? Of course.
But you know, to me, I would worry more about this guy grabbing some weapons and hurting people.
ACOSTA: All right, well, Beth Sanner, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.
SANNER: Thanks, Jim.
ACOSTA: All right, now, we are still waiting for the press conference out of Texas where officials are expected to give an update on the mass shooting that started after a family asked a neighbor to stop firing a rifle in his front yard.
Police say the suspect then shot and killed five people including an eight-year-old child. We will bring you that news conference or at least portions of it, to you live when that happens.
So stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:28:29]
ACOSTA: We are waiting on a live press conference out of Texas where officials will give an update on the mass shooting that started after a family asked a neighbor to stop firing a rifle in his front yard. Police say the suspect then shot and killed five people, including an eight-year-old child. We will bring that news conference to you when that happens in just a few moments, so stay with us.
As Joe Biden officially announces he will run for re-election in 2024, the Republican Party wonders if anyone can beat Donald Trump for the nomination.
Polling of Republican primary voters shows the former president is maintaining a double digit lead. Larry Sabato is director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Larry, great to see as always.
You know, Ron DeSantis has not officially announced. He is reportedly planning to launch his campaign in June. Does he gain anything at this point by delaying? I suppose it might not be a bad idea after this dust up with Disney. Maybe it might be a good idea to push things off a little bit. What do you think?
LARRY SABATO IS DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Yes, at this point, delay is probably good for him.
He is an example of a candidate who would have been better off hiding in Tallahassee and doing his job. His campaign so far has been a disaster in part because people have gotten to know him.
Before this, he was simply a concept for Republicans. A guy who won a Florida election in a landslide and turned a formerly competitive state into an uncompetitive one. That was what they wanted to see, that was what they were hoping that he would do nationally, but they've learned a lot about him that they don't like.
ACOSTA: And Larry you know he is acting like a candidate, he just came back from a trip abroad to boost his global credentials, but what did you think of his reaction in Tokyo when he was asked about lagging behind Trump in the polls? Let's just play this very short clip and get your reaction on the other side.
[18:30:20]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, polls show you falling behind Trump. Any thoughts on that?
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R) FLORIDA: I'm not a candidate, so we'll see you if and when that changes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: What did you think of that response, Larry?
SABATO: Well, I'd like to think it was jetlag. It was not very good and not very professional. And again, it just demonstrates that when you get out front, and your name is not Donald Trump, you may not look particularly good. The reports also out of the U.K. when DeSantis went there prior to coming home, were very critical of him. He was unprepared, didn't give a good speech, didn't look people in the eye. The same things you hear domestically about him.
ACOSTA: And let's talk about former President Donald Trump. This week, he was seen hugging a woman who was sentenced to jail for rioting at the Capitol on January 6. There's a shot of it right there calling for Mike Pence to be executed.
What do you have to say about this? What do you think of this photo op, Larry? What does this say about the former president here? He's talked about pardoning January 6 rioters and insurrectionists and then he does something like this.
SABATO: It's absolutely disgraceful. And I would think anyone in law enforcement would say the same thing. After all these protesters, these insurrectionists, many of them attacked members of law enforcement and some died as a consequence.
So it's disgraceful, but it's right in keeping with Donald Trump, we all know. And you mentioned he's interested or has suggested that he would pardon the people who've been convicted. Many of them had been convicted of serious crimes, taking pipes to police officers and worse than that. What message does that send not just to law enforcement, but to the general population, anything goes if you're for Donald Trump?
ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, it sure seems that way. I mean, he's always been that way and I - that's part of his strategy, I think, because he knows it generates headlines and keeps them in the news cycle. But let's talk about the Democrats, Larry.
We saw President Joe Biden announced that he's running for reelection, 70 percent of respondents in an NBC poll say that the President should not be running for re-election. For those who don't want him to run again, 48 percent, say his age is a major reason why.
What do you think? Is this going to be a bigger impediment than perhaps they fully understand inside the White House or is it because he stacks up well against Trump that Democrats are - they're going to overlook this in the long run?
SABATO: Oh, I think Democrats will overlook it in the long run. But it isn't a good launch. It isn't a good look for a president when this proportion of his own party really doesn't want him to run again. And look, a lot of it is age, but there are other things involved, too. I think the public is in a funk about a lot of different things, mainly the economy. But a lot can change in the months to come.
And in the end, as Biden has said a million times over many, many years, don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative. Once he gets a Republican alternative, people may reevaluate what they think about Joe Biden. In fact, they'll have to.
ACOSTA: Right. And he has benefited from making that comment about the alternative versus the almighty. All right. Larry Sabato, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it
SABATO: Thank you, Jim.
ACOSTA: All right. Good to see you.
In the meantime, we are still waiting for this news conference going out in Texas, where officials are expected to give an update on the mass shooting there where a suspect shot and killed five people in just a - absolutely grisly attack that left an eight-year-old child dead after a confrontation over this suspected gunman who was asked to stop shooting his rifle in his front yard, that is apparently according to authorities what started all of this. We will bring that news conference to you live when it happens, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:38:35]
ACOSTA: All right. Welcome back, we want to get down to Texas and the sheriff in San Jacinto County, Texas, where that mass shooting took place last night leaving five people dead including an eight-year-old child. As you can see, the sheriff they're standing next to an official from the FBI. Let's go to the press conference and listen in.
SHERIFF GREG CAPERS, SAN JACINTO COUNTY, TX: Okay. Our number one priority is like it's always been since the early morning hours of this morning late, late last night has been to locate this suspect and put him behind bars where he belongs.
Here's a list of the agencies in which were here with us on this manhunt: the FBI, U.S. Marshals Office, DPS, TDC, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Montgomery County Constables' Office, Precinct 4, ATF and the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
Updates from here on out will be provided by the FBI. And at this time I'd like to introduce you all to special agent in charge of the Houston area, Mr. James Smith.
JAMES SMITH, FBI HOUSTON SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Good afternoon. So I'm here to talk a little bit about this horrific event that took place this afternoon. The FBI has brought in investigative resources, tactical and victim services resources to assist in this investigation. We will be here until we are no longer needed to include when the subject is arrested.
[18:40:04]
CAPERS: I also have a list of the victims' names. We have talked with the family members of these victims and at this time I'm going to give it out. If I happen to mispronounce someone's name, I'm doing it in error: Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25 years old; Diana Velazquez Alvarado 21 years old; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31 years old; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18 years old; and Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman, eight years old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got a couple of questions, an update on the search where you guys are at right now, I know that you had that perimeter setup. Is that still where you believe that he hid?
CAPERS: Well, he could be anywhere now. We located - the device that we were looking for found it abandoned. There was some articles of clothing laying around. The tracking dogs from Texas Department of Corrections Picked up the scent and then they lost that scent in the water or whatever.
So at this time, the area has went from five or six square miles. It could be as much as 10 or 20 depending on whether or not he crossed the Highline Water (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the device you were looking for, is that the AR-15 weapon?
CAPERS: No, ma'am. This was an electronic device.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe that he still has that weapon or could still have that weapon?
CAPERS: No. We believe we have that weapon, but we don't know if he is or is not carrying a smaller weapon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you say electric device, is that a cell phone like an iPad or something? Could you elaborate on what it is? CAPERS: Yes, ma'am. It's a cell phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has he been in communication with anyone in the last 10 hours?
CAPERS: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When was the last time he was in communication with someone?
CAPERS: I'm not exactly clear on that. That would be up to the investigators with the FBI and the - they have all the big technological equipment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now that he could be ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) were there other people who were injured?
CAPERS: No, sir. The - there were - there was 10 people in the house, five are deceased and five are alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they weren't hurt at all or no injuries (inaudible) ...
CAPERS: No, no physical injuries.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, is the suspect a homeowner? Was he the homeowner of that house?
CAPERS: To my knowledge, yes, ma'am, he is. I - that has not been verified.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long has he lived in that residence?
CAPERS: I could not answer that question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now this perimeter went from small to 10 to 20 miles, what are you guys doing now? What are the next steps?
CAPERS: Well, all of that's being handled by the FBI.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you answer that, sir?
SMITH: So right now again, we're still out there trying to find this individual. We consider him armed and dangerous and we're not going to stop until he - we actually arrest him and put - bring him into custody. But he is out there and he's a threat to the community, so I don't want anyone to think that that's something different than that. He is a threat to the community and we need the community's help to hopefully locate him soon and take him off the streets tonight.
But however, I will say this, we do not ask the community to take the matters into their own hands. Please call 911 if you happen to see this individual out there. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) think he's traveling (inaudible) on foot, on a bicycle? Do you think he may have - got his (inaudible) to a vehicle now or were still thinking that he's ...
CAPERS: Right now we just don't know. We believe he's on foot, but we do not know. We're still trying. I mean, we have a perimeter up out there right now with Texas DPS and the Sheriff's Department. So we're still actively out there trying to locate him and bring him into custody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Earlier we had information that the suspect was cornered, so it's - that's not accurate any longer.
CAPERS: That is not accurate, no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, earlier you said he was ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All official information is going to come from the FBI Houston field office. At this point, we're assisting the San Jacinto County Sheriff's Office, so any other information we will not consider it official unless it's coming from either one of these two sources. One more question and (inaudible) ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) on his immigration status?
CAPERS: No, ma'am, I can't. That - you would need to ask the Department of Homeland Security for that information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, the neighbors that we talked to - talk about like it was common for people to fire their guns there on weekend at night. Is it illegal to do that or not? And if so, were you all ever called out there for this particular suspect for that?
CAPERS: Yes, sir. We have made that residence in the past.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) ...
CAPERS: I cannot sit here and tell you how many times, but yes there have been a couple of calls there for that type of behavior.
[18:45:04]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that firing weapons.
CAPERS: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And is that illegal then under Texas law (inaudible) ...
CAPERS: That - yes and no. If I had a place as big as this and my house is there, then it would not be. But if it's in a smaller subdivision something like what they're living in, yes, it could very easily be construed to be illegal. It just kind of depends on where the where the weapons pointed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) ... CAPERS: Thank you all very much. Appreciate it.
SMITH: Thank you.
ACOSTA: And joining me now to talk about this, you just saw that press conference wrap up there in Texas with the sheriff in San Jacinto County, also the special agent in charge of the FBI office in Houston. They're now looking for Francisco Oropeza. He is the suspect in that Cleveland, Texas shooting where five people were killed including an eight-year-old child.
And just a few moments ago, we heard the sheriff say that they just don't know where this individual is. They thought that they had him contained to a wooded area near the scene of the shooting. Now, the sheriff was saying just a few moments ago this suspect really could be anywhere. And according to the FBI, you just heard the special agent in charge there a few moments ago say that this suspect, Oropeza, should be considered armed and dangerous.
Let's go to CNN's Ryan Young and CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst, Juliette Kayyem.
Guys, thanks so much for being with us, we appreciate it.
Juliette, you heard the sheriff just a few moments ago say that the suspect really could be anywhere at this point. It sounds like they had an opportunity there for several hours to find him and he's just given them the slip. And so now that part of Texas is dealing with a very dangerous situation right now.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. I think that was the purpose of the press conference. It was a little bit odd, they did not explain why the FBI would have jurisdiction unless there's something related to his immigration status. We know he's a Mexican national and despite what people think actually nationals can lawfully purchase guns in this country and so this may be a lawful purchase, but then it involves another country, maybe that's the nexus with the FBI or it has something to do with capacity, whether this county can do it.
But they had him. He dumps his - what we can tell, he dumps the phone. He seems to have changed clothing. We don't know if he has a car. It appears that he doesn't, so he might be on foot.
And the AR-15 that he used for the executions earlier is in possession of the police, but they don't know if he has other arms simply because it sounds like he was a person who law enforcement encountered a lot based on his fetish with guns shooting them into the air. They were often called to his house.
So my guess is that given the time what they are saying is it's going to be dark soon and they're hoping they get him in the next two to two and a half hours I think that was the purpose of that press conference.
ACOSTA: No, I think you're absolutely right. And Ryan Young, Juliette just mentioned this a few moments ago and this stood out to me at the very end of that news conference where the sheriff said, yes, they had been called to the home before. The neighbors had been complaining about this man shooting off his guns somewhere in the yard, that sort of thing and that it was disturbing to the neighbors and it sounds as though that was what was going on last night that led to this terrible tragedy.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. But I think Juliette also makes another point. This might be about capacity as well when you have a small sheriff's department like the one where the sheriff's actually taking some of these 911 calls and being dispatched himself, they may not have the technology to really dig down and triangulate the area in which the cell phone was pinging from that they were searching for.
That's why in the initial hours when they weren't putting out that picture, I believe they probably thought they knew exactly where this man was and then after that cell phone was found and they realized whatever they thought they were tracking, he may have moved on from. That might be the reason why they put this picture out at this point, because as we know people can be a force multiplier and the more eyes people have to see this man, that helps law enforcement be able to track him down.
You think about this, this was a call where neighbors went next door and basically asked the man to stop shooting on his porch. And at some point from there he then walked back across, according to the sheriff's department, and started using that gun on the victims inside that home.
They actually have ring video from - the ring doorbell camera that shows someone entering and leaving. So they believe they actually have the footage of the suspect coming and going. And you look at the ages of the people who were involved in there.
There were 10 people inside that home. I believe most of them were from Honduras. You have a 25-year-old, a 21-year-old, a 31-year-old, an 18-year-old and, of course, that really significant part, the eight-year-old who was killed in this and it was all done by execution style. So something that was very gruesome that they had to deal with.
ACOSTA: Just absolutely horrific. All right, Juliette Kayyem, Ryan Young, thanks for helping us wrap up that press conference there.
[18:50:00]
But again, just to catch up our viewers here if they're tuning in right now, especially in this area of Cleveland, Texas. If you see this man, Francisco Oropeza, be very careful. He is considered armed and dangerous by the FBI. He is wanted in this manhunt at this hour for the killing of five people at a home in Cleveland, Texas including an eight-year-old child. A mass shooting has once again happened in this country this time because neighbors wanted this man, according to authorities, to please stop shooting his gun in his yard and instead, authorities say, he went over to the house where these people died and killed them execution-style. We'll be right back.
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[18:53:04]
ACOSTA: The NFL draft is coming to a close in Kansas City as players realize their professional football dreams. As usual, there were some obvious choices, some disappointments and some surprises. And the draft is becoming a major sporting event in itself.
And former NFL wide receiver, Donte Stallworth, joins us now.
Donte, great to see you, my friend. You played with a bunch of teams as we know, the Saints, the Patriots, the Ravens, my Washington football team. Who had the best draft this year and what do you think any game-changers?
DONTE STALLWORTH, NFL WIDE RECEIVER: Yes. I would have to say that the Lions had the best draft so far. I think everyone was kind of scratching their heads after their first two picks, obviously, Jahmyr Gibbs from Alabama is a great talent, great running back. But it was a little early people feel like to pick any type - any running backs, but they ended up taking him. They got to steal everyone believes and Brian Branch, the safety from Alabama and obviously they took Tennessee's quarterback, Hendon Hooker, who a lot of people felt like was a first-round talent, but he was injured and he's a little older, but he's got a year now to sit behind their quarterback there in Detroit.
And Detroit, they're out there up and coming. They did really well this year in the draft and they finished their last seven of eight games, they won, so people are looking for the Lions to make the playoffs this year and probably make some noise.
ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, Hendon Hooker, I mean the questions for him are essentially can his leg get better after that ACL. And if he can get back in there for the Lions, I mean my goodness that that would be something else coming up in the next season or two.
Any big surprises that you saw?
STALLWORTH: Yes. I think everyone was pretty shocked at how far Will Levis dropped the quarterback from Kentucky. A lot of people had him projected to go at the least in the top 10. But in the NFL draft, it's really weird, they picked their first four quarterbacks, first three quarterbacks and after that there were teams that really didn't need a quarterback in the first round.
[18:55:05]
And so the teams that were left just decided to pass on him, but he went to probably a better situation than he would have if he would have went earlier, so - especially for young quarterbacks. I think the thing that's most important is not necessarily when you go, but where you go, which organization do you have that's going to be there to support you, what talent do you have around you, can they protect the quarterback, can they give him time to learn and grow in that position and that's not true for every quarterback. But I think it was true for Will Levis, so it was a big surprise, but it worked out for him better in the end, I believe.
ACOSTA: Well, I was going to say let's talk about the pressure that you might be dealing with on a draft night. I mean, we're just showing these pictures of Levis just a few moments ago and he's there staring at his phone probably wondering if he's ever going to get drafted. He, like you said, he expected to get drafted in that first round. That's a lot of pressure on a young quarterback.
I suppose he can get over this kind of disappointment and somebody needs to remind him, Tom Brady was not a first round draft pick if I'm not mistaken there.
STALLWORTH: Yes, yes, yes, yes, that's true. And obviously, you're looking at a position now in the NFL that that's always been the premium but especially today I think it's more important that when - back when I was playing 10, 20 years ago, there was no - if a quarterback was drafted in the first round, there was no time for him to wait. He will be thrown out there immediately to play in the first round or I'm sorry to be picked in the first round to play if not opening week play early on in his career.
And so far these last five, 10 years, that's not been the case. You had someone like - by the name of Aaron Rodgers who sat behind Brett Favre for a few years before he took the reign. You had Dak Prescott who was young and sat behind Tony Romo. You had Patrick Mahomes, these names continue and continue.
So it - I think it definitely works out better and he's going to use it for motivation anyway than he should. You're going to need all the extra motivation you can get. It's a tough league but we're all hoping that these guys are successful. It's life-changing for them and their families and you wish them the best.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. And I mean some amazing talent in this year's draft, so great to watch it over the last several days.
Donte Stallworth, so good to talk to you. We'll get you on again in the future as the season gets closer, really appreciate your time. Thanks so much.
STALLWORTH: Thanks, Jim. I appreciate it.
ACOSTA All right. Good to see you, Donte.
This weekend, Eva Longoria explores Veracruz, the birthplace of Mexico's key ingredients. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA: Como estas? How are you?
EVA LONGORIA, CNN, SEARCHING FOR MEXICO HOST: Muy bien. I'm been to tierra.
ANNA: I know. I'm so excited that you're here.
LONGORIA: I can't believe it. This is a crazy busy place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONGORIA (voice over): La Parroquia said to be Mexico's oldest cafe is one of Anna's (ph) favorite hunts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LONGORIA: So Veracruz is super special to you. Obviously, you're from here.
ANNA: Yes, I was born here and my family is still here.
LONGORIA: What is the rest of Mexico think of Veracruz?
ANNA: We're known as malhablados, because I guess we're prankers and we're always ...
LONGORIA: Yeah.
ANNA: ... like (inaudible) como estas (inaudible), so okay, so the - we are known because of our sense of humor.
LONGORIA: Sense of humor.
ANNA: We're very good also at dancing. The dansones (ph) from here, salsa ...
LONGORIA: Everything started here.
ANNA: Exactly. Exactly. A lot of first things happen here, the conquis, the Spanish came through Veracruz, the coffee that's why coffee the first place - hi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign language).
LONGORIA: Oh, my god.
ANNA: (Foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here you tap on the glass three times so they bring you the milk.
LONGORIA: Okay.
ANNA: Perfecto. Exactly.
LONGORIA: Yay.
ANNA: So ...
LONGORIA: I'm a Veracruzana (ph). (END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico airs tomorrow at 9 pm Eastern right here on CNN and we'll be right back.
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