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Gunman Dead after Killing 3 at Michigan State University; Pentagon: Object Shot Down in Canada was 'Small, Metallic Balloon'; U.S. Senators to Receive Briefing on 3 Unidentified Objects; Labor Department to Issue Consumer Price Index Report. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 14, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:05]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: OK. We'll take it, I guess. Thanks for warning us. Nice to see you, Chad Myers, this morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Nice to see you.

ROMANS: All right. Thank you for joining me. I'm Christine Romans. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's terrifying, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really. We don't know what to do at all. We were just listening to the police scanners, hoping for the best.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never think it's going to happen until it actually happens, you know? You think you're safe. And then -- We all thought we were safe on the second floor in the cafeteria, but obviously, we weren't. We were told to evacuate. We all ran out. It was terrifying. It's pretty scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It is terrifying and pretty scary. And it's got to stop. We have to do something about this.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. These students were just on campus at place where, you know, all these students meet up. It's called the Union over on Michigan State's campus.

LEMON: Yes. You know what today is? Five-year anniversary of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas -- happening.

Good morning, everyone. You can see Kaitlan here. Poppy is on assignment.

This happened overnight, a terrifying scene on a college campus in America after a gunman killed three, critically injured five students at Michigan State University. Now another community is left to pick up the pieces. As we are learning new details about the gunman and the brand-new

dispatch audio from inside the classroom. We'll tell you more.

COLLINS: Also this morning, a small metallic balloon. That is the object that the Pentagon says it shot down over Canada. We're going to have more on that discovery as senators are now set to get a classified briefing on the matter today.

Also this morning, rescuers in Turkey said they are still hearing voices calling out from underneath the rubble, even days after that earthquake. We're going to take you live to the ground where our Sara Sidner is at the site as they rescued an 18-year-old boy. It's an incredible moment, and we'll show you it, ahead.

LEMON: But this is where we begin this morning. Michigan, where the community has joined a growing list of cities affected by mass shootings. This time it happened at Michigan State University.

Police say the gunman killed at least three people, critically wounding five others at two different school buildings before escaping and killing himself off campus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police! Police!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Akers Dining Hall? (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED), dude! Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So this is video of the students running for their lives, screaming for help as heavily-armed police officers swarm in. Investigators say the gunman opened fire at Berkey Hall. It's home to the school's College of Arts and Sciences.

He then moved on and attacked the student Union nearby.

A witness who spoke to ABC News described the gunman storming his classroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOMINIK MOLOTKY, STUDENT: The shooter came in our room and shot three to four times, and I'm pretty sure he -- he hit two -- two students in our classroom. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Police say the 43-year-old shooter, seen here on security camera with gun in hand, did not have any connections to the school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ROZMAN, INTERIM DEPUTY CHIEF, MSU DEPARTMENT OF POLICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY: He's not a student, faculty, staff. And we have no idea why he came to campus to do this tonight. That is part of our ongoing investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So here's where we are right now. Americans waking up to this massacre on an already somber day today.

Today marks five years since the mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, a shooting in Parkland, Florida. It is a grim reminder that we have been here all too often. And we'll probably be here, no doubt again.

Adrienne Broaddus, live for us at the scene in East Lansing this morning. Good morning to you, Adrienne. Get us up to speed at this hour. What have you learned about a motive? Anything?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, no. Investigators are trying to piece together what happened. They, too, want to know why that 43-year-old walked inside of Berkey Hall behind me and started shooting. They also don't know why he entered the Union, which is next door.

What is clear at this hour: five people are fighting for their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROZMAN: This truly has been a nightmare that we are living tonight.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Chaos and carnage at Michigan State University.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Room 114, there's maybe a victim in room 114. We do have the door barricaded. There's someone in room 135 shot, as well. Room 114 and room 135, we have lots of medics on route.

BROADDUS (voice-over): After police say a 43-year-old shooter opened fire at two separate locations on campus. Investigators say there was a confrontation, and then the 43-year-old ended his own life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were there locked in the rooms. And the guys were telling us to run out the back door as quick as we can and run for our lives. And I sprinted out there as fast as I can into the woods.

[06:05:05]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all thought we were safe on the second floor in the cafeteria, but obviously, we weren't. We were told to evacuate. We all ran out. It was terrifying. It was pretty scary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God!

BROADDUS (voice-over): Students captured on this cell phone video running for their lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want to get something in front of the door?

BROADDUS (voice-over): Some students say they sheltered in place in the cafeteria, listening to police reports. Once they realized the shots were getting closer, they started barricading themselves in the room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The SWAT and the cops came in. And they all told us to get out of the cafeteria, so we all stormed down the stairs.

BROADDUS (voice-over): About a mile and a half from the university, East Lansing High School's district board meeting was interrupted and the building also on lockdown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been advised by ELPD to remain here and go into lockdown right now.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Police were on scene within minutes.

ROZMAN: We had officers in the building, following their active- shooter protocol and going towards the threat. While officers were in Berkey Hall, the suspect moved over to the Union. And when the incident took place there, officers quickly redeployed to the Union.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Students and faculty were left sheltering for hours. Many students were evacuated but say they left confused and shaken.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was looking for my friends. It's like everyone was running down the stairs. Like, everyone got lost all over the place. And it's just like, people were crying and scared. It's just a really bad experience. You don't take it seriously until it's happening to you.

BROADDUS (voice-over): This shooting is the 67th mass shooting in the U.S. so far this year.

TERESA K. WOODRUFF, PRESIDENT, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: Our campus grieves. We will all grieve. And we will change over time. We cannot allow this to continue to happen again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROADDUS (on camera): Eight victims in all. Five again, as we mentioned, are fighting for their lives, listed in critical condition. At least three are deceased. It's unclear whether or not the victims, Don, in this shooting were staff, students or if they had any affiliation to MSU -- Don.

LEMON: Adrienne Broaddus, thank you very much. Appreciate that. COLLINS: You know, Adrienne went to MSU, so she knows the campus

really well.

LEMON: Yes.

COLLINS: We want to talk more about this, as we are learning that President Biden has been briefed on the shooting, ahead of his call with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer that he had last night. That's according to a White House official.

So joining us now to talk about what we just heard from Adrienne is CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller.

What are investigators looking for right now, since there's no motive known and not clear that this person had any connection to MSU?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, they're digging backwards. Since they have the I.D. now, this individual born in '79, that gets them to the House. That gets them to the search warrant.

The search warrant gets them into the hunt for motive. if it's not apparent, which will be going through his phone. What notes did he leave? Going through his computer. What was he studying? And there may be motive there.

Although, you'll both know from our habits of reporting these things, that 67 for the year and X-hundred for who knows how long, that when we finally hear the motive, it's always very disappointing, because you're like, that was it?

The profile of the kind of person who does this is usually someone who is collecting small things. The term that profilers use is the injustice collector. They're categorizing every slight. It builds up, and usually, there are a set of stressors that occur right before the action. Fired from work. Divorced. Loss of the home. Things like that.

So, they'll be looking for who is this individual? We've done a little background on him. Nothing is jumping out. And what was the preparation for this? It gives you an idea of how long they were thinking about it and planning it.

LEMON: So the fact that he wasn't connected -- they don't believe at this point he had any affiliation with the campus -- I'm wondering if that's unusual.

And if you look at -- I mean, you said it's an injustice collector. Usually, it's -- usually, isn't it sort of a 21-year-old person? That's the profile, usually. Not always, right? But 21-year-old person, kind of a drifter maybe, collecting injustices.

But if we look at what's happened over the last couple shootings, it has been older men, John. Is there something -- am I reading too much into this?

MILLER You know, we had an individual who ran over, you know, half a dozen people in New York City, 62 years old yesterday.

You had the -- the two shootings in California, one in Northern California and the other at the dance hall, 62 and, I think, 67.

But when you see those in the past, generally, it's been workplace violence. It's been something that fit within that age group, because going back to your school shootings, whether it's Columbine or Parkland or Virginia Tech, the list goes on, about half of these are in schools; and 12 percent of them are in places of higher education, as we saw last night. That age usually skews lower.

[06:1015]

So, it will be a matter of interest to figure out what was this individual's interest. If he had no connection to the school -- former employee, former student, we haven't found that yet -- what was his emotional connection there, or why was that a target?

COLLINS: And questions about the school buildings themselves, you know. A lot of parents -- my little brother is a freshman in a college. So John, thank you for breaking that down. As you learn more, please let us know.

Also this morning, in the 8 a.m. hour, we're going to speak to the mayor of East Lansing, Ron Bacon. How his community is coping with the latest tragedy. His call for action. We'll tell you what's ahead.

LEMON: We're doing this all too much. We've got to stop.

But new this morning, we are learning the mysterious flying object shot down over Canada on Saturday was a small metallic balloon, and it floated near some sensitive sites belonging to the United States. That is according to a Pentagon memo obtained by CNN.

The balloon was one of four flying objects that U.S. fighter jets brought down in recent days.

The U.S. military has released new images of the suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina. These are photos of the Navy moving the wreckage after pulling it out of the ocean. Take a look at that.

So let's bring in now national security reporter Natasha Bertrand.

Natasha, good morning to you. The White House is now on the record that these were definitely not aliens. OK. So what's the latest?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don. The White House clearly trying to tamp down on conspiracy theories here, as the nature of these objects remain unclear.

But U.S. officials still unable to say what these objects are and where they came from.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERTRAND (voice-over): U.S. officials struggling to explain what exactly the U.S. military has been shooting out of the sky.

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We're going to confirm what they are once we have collected the debris.

BERTRAND (voice-over): appearing to know more about what the so-called objects are not.

JOHN KIRBY, COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC : We assessed whether they posed any kinetic threat to people on the ground. They did not. We assessed whether they were sending any communication signals. We detected none. We looked to see whether they were maneuvering or had any propulsion capabilities. We saw no signs of that.

BERTRAND (voice-over): The Pentagon confirming for the first time in a memo to lawmakers on Monday that the object shot down over Northern Canada was a small metallic balloon with a tethered payload below it. But its purpose and origin and that of the two other objects shot down over Alaska and Michigan, still unexplained.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Obviously, there is some sort of pattern in there. The fact that we are seeing this in a significant degree over the past week is a cause for interest and -- and close attention.

BERTRAND (voice-over): The mystery deepening so much by the day that the White House felt compelled to announce that the objects are not extra-terrestrial.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I just want to make sure we address this from the White House. I know there have been questions and concerns about this, but there is no -- again, no -- indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns.

BERTRAND (voice-over): That explanation, not satisfying lawmakers, who are demanding more information on where these objects came from and more communication from the commander-in-chief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we need to figure out and what they're going to answer for us is whether these are nefarious objects in the sky from adversaries or whether they might even be drones that are flown by research institutions or private companies for non-nefarious purposes. Or something else.

BERTRAND (voice-over): For now, the White House reassuring the public that President Biden, while tight-lipped, is on the case.

KIRBY: We have been, I think, as transparent as we can be.

We are laser-focused on confirming their nature and purpose, including through intensive efforts to collect debris in the remote locations where they have fallen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERTRAND (on camera): So the White House obviously now trying to get as much information as possible from the debris that fell after those objects were shot down.

But the White House has also set up a task force moving forward to allow U.S. officials to better understand what these objects actually are, Don.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, Natasha Bertrand.

COLLINS: Also in Washington, just a few hours from now, senators are going to get a classified briefing on those three unidentified objects that were shot down over Alaska, Canada and Michigan's Lake Huron in recent days.

CNN's Lauren Fox is live on Capitol Hill, where that briefing is going to take place shortly.

Lauren, what are we expecting? You know, what are the main questions that senators have told you that they have today?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is just palpable frustration growing up here on Capitol Hill from both Republicans and Democrats, Kaitlan, about how transparent or how not transparent the Biden administration has really been when it has come to getting information about these objects that were shot down over the weekend.

One thing that we expect to come out of this briefing today is, whether or not lawmakers start to get more information about what the administration knows and what they do not know about these objects right now.

[06:15:12]

And that is going to be key, because one of the questions for lawmakers is, is the Biden administration holding back information, or do they just not have the information to give?

And Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, really leaned into this idea yesterday in his floor speech, saying all lawmakers want to know right now is what information is available and what information is not available.

One of the frustrations when lawmakers come out of these briefings, sometimes is the fact that they come out saying, We didn't learn anything that wasn't publicly reported on CNN or in the "Washington Post" or in "The New York Times."

So it's going to be really interesting to see whether or not they glean any further information out of this briefing today. But obviously, we're going to be watching very closely.

COLLINS: Yes. And also questions about what information they make public, because everyday people have questions about it, too.

Lauren, also there's another development on Capitol Hill this morning where President Biden has fired the Trump-appointed architect of the Capitol -- this is the person who oversees the grounds that House Congress, essentially -- over what the White House had said were abuses of his office.

What do we know about these allegations?

FOX: Yes. I mean, this was really a long time coming. But the former architect of the Capitol, was found in this I.G. report last fall as basically having some ethical lapses. That's what was alleged in the report.

And it all really came to a head last week because the House Administration's Committee held this hearing, where Republicans and Democrats really grilled him about a couple of issues: both the ethical lapses alleged in the I.G. report but also the fact that he was not at the Capitol on January 6th.

This led to a lot of lawmakers calling for his ouster, including the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, Kaitlan. Then yesterday, Joe Biden made the decision to terminate him.

COLLINS: Yes. Bipartisan agreement there, which is rare. Lauren Fox, thank you for that update.

LEMON: All right. This morning -- oh. Well, straight ahead, sorry. That was supposed to be Kaitlan.

The White House's John Kirby will be live on CNN THIS MORNING. What new details we're going to learn about this -- these mysterious objects in the sky. Stay with us for that.

In the meantime this morning, all eyes on the release of the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index report. It is a key inflation data that will determine the Federal Reserve's path forward.

So joining me now, CNN's chief business correspondent and anchor of "EARLY START," Christine Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR/CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

LEMON: Good morning to you. What are you expecting to see from this report?

ROMANS: You know, it matters to the Fed, but it matters to all of us, right? I mean, this is grocery bills and gas station bills, and this is the stuff you feel every day. What we're expecting is that prices are rising but not rising as quickly.

Six point two percent is what the overall CPI number is forecast to be. And that would be the lowest since October 2021. You can see that line there. I always say the trend is your friend. And you've seen this slow curving of inflation.

So the worst appears to be behind us.

When I dig in these numbers, too, I'm going to be really interested. Egg prices, wholesale egg prices, have collapsed over the past month.

LEMON: Egg price again.

ROMANS: So remember we were talking how egg prices were so high?

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: Now they're coming down. Butter prices were really high. Used car prices have been coming down. So we'll look inside these numbers to see what it means for your family budget, but essentially, those are the December numbers. Sticker shock for a lot of different things. We'll be looking closely to see if those numbers are a little improved for January. This is the first reading at the beginning of the year.

COLLINS: Last year the word we were all talking about with inflation was "transitory."

ROMANS: That's right.

COLLINS: That's what every White House reporter was asking Biden almost every single day. Is it transitory? Because you kept hearing that from them.

This year you say it's a different word that people should be paying attention to.

ROMANS: "Super core" is the new cool inflation word. "Super core." Well, "transitory" was wrong. Everyone got that wrong.

So now you have economists who are really digging into these numbers. They're stripping out housing, and they're looking at services, ex (ph), food, fuel and housing for kind of a core, even a super core reading of inflation. And they're hoping that's starting to go down a little bit more and can give us a clue that the worst of inflation is behind us.

But Larry Summers, the former treasury secretary, and others have said we can't get too sanguine on the inflation story. We have to be very careful here, because if it rears its ugly head again, it can be very hard to get inflation out of the economy, and it can be damaging.

So these numbers are critically important for what the Fed does and also, of course, for our own family budgets.

LEMON: Super core.

ROMANS: Two hours we'll have those numbers. Write it down.

LEMON: Thank you, Christine.

ROMANS: I think egg prices are going to go down.

LEMON: Good.

COLLINS: That's great. That's good news.

ROMANS: My guess (ph).

COLLINS: My family will be very happy to hear that. They've been whining about it.

All right. Also this morning, we're tracking on the international stage, over a week after that earthquake that happened in Turkey, elite search-and-rescue teams from around the world are still making rescues somehow.

CNN is on the ground with a group of Americans who answered that call for help. Sara Sidner is in Turkey, live. That's next.

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