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14 Killed, 17 Wounded in California Massacre; Police: Shooters Armed with Assault Rifles, Handguns; President Obama Renews Call for Stricter Gun Control. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired December 03, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[07:00:06] CUOMO: To viewers in the U.S. and around the world, you are watching NEW DAY. Alisyn and Mick are in New York. We're in San Bernardino, California, because not since Sandy Hook, Connecticut, have we had a mass shooting like the one that just happened here: 14 murdered, 17 others injured. There are two different trauma centers. We don't know the extent of their injuries.

We do know this: just down the street from where we are, there's a regional health center for people with developmental issues. In the middle of it is a conference center. That is where this happened.

And since the moment of the shooting, police have been flying all over San Bernardino. There's been so many assets involved, investigators still very much on edge. They say this is what they know.

There were two shooters, and they believe they have them both, and have them dead. One of them a man, 28 years old. One of them a woman, who they say both of them opened fire on county health department employees at that convention down there. It was another curveball for investigators. Why this group? Why there?

Well, we do know again, the shooters are dead. They were killed in a dramatic shoot-out with police. It is believed they were married. That would also make this unique.

The male involved was at this company party. It's called a holiday party, a Christmas party there. He was at it because he was an employee for the health department. He left. When he came back, he was with the accomplice and heavily armed.

There was a lot of preparation here. How do they know? They were wearing tactical gear. They had multiple weapons, semi-automatic handguns. Long guns, as well. There was an explosive device involved. So that leads to the question of motive. Was this about something at the workplace? Was it terror? Could it be both?

CNN has complete coverage, beginning with Victor Blackwell. Now, he is in Redlands, California. That's where the shooters were tracked down. That's where the shoot-out began -- Victor.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Chris, we have seen the FBI on scene here this morning. We know that bomb technicians late into the evening scoured the home where at least one of the shooters lived, looking for any explosive there. We know they also searched a car outside, thoroughly looking through that. The all-clear was given late into the evening.

But we know that this investigation is just beginning. This neighborhood effectively shut down as investigators try to answer the question, primarily, why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Breaking overnight, two shooters in San Bernardino's mass shooting identified. Police say the shooters, 28- year-old Syed Rizwan Farook and 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik, were shot dead in this black SUV at the end of a massive manhunt. Overnight a SWAT team sweeping this Redlands home for explosives.

JARROD BURGUAN, SAN BERNARDINO POLICE CHIEF: Well, until we have the motive or we really have a clear, something clear evidentiary based on that motive, I just don't want to weigh in on that right now. We have not ruled out terrorism.

BLACKWELL: The massacre began around 11 a.m. at the Inland Regional Center. Authorities say the county's health department was having a holiday party at the time. Police say Farook was an inspector for the department. He abruptly left the holiday party after a dispute and came back, they think, alongside Malik, opening fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard rapid shooting. Just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

BLACKWELL: Armed with AR-15-style rifles and two semiautomatic handguns, investigators say the shooters came equipped, dressed in tactical gear. Family members receiving gut-wrenching messages from loved ones that an active shooting was taking place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Shooting at my work. People shot. In the office, waiting for cops."

BLACKWELL: This was the frightening scene inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready? If you're not cool, I'm not walking it (ph).

BLACKWELL: Dozens of employees being led to safety by police officers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Try to relax. Try to relax. I'll take a bullet before you do, that's for damn sure.

BLACKWELL: The shooters killing 14, wounding 17 more. The pair fleeing in a black SUV, prompting police, FBI and SWAT teams to launch a massive manhunt. Hours later, a tip leading authorities to the Redlands home, where they spotted a suspicious SUV, resulting in a wild police chase.

About two miles from the Inland Regional Center police engage in a bloody shoot-out with this black SUV. Both shooters now dead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your exact location?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're at San Bernardino and Shedden. San Bernardino and Shedden. We see one guy down. There's one guy in the back of a car. Going to need that BearCat.

BLACKWELL: Law enforcement sources tell CNN Farook is a U.S. citizen, and a relative says he and Malik had had a 6-month-old baby girl. His father-in-law was at a loss for words.

FARHAN KHAN, SYED FAROOK'S BROTHER IN LAW: Why would he do something like this? I have absolutely no idea. I'm in shock myself. I'm very sad that people lost their lives. Victims. And I wish a speedy recovery to them. And again, I am in shock.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: And again, investigators have said this home is clear of any explosives. But we know that evidence crews will be back here to collect any information, any handwritten notes, electronics, to try to answer the questions of why these two went on this shooting spree, this massacre, and who, if anyone else, worked with them to help them pull it off, Chris.

CUOMO: Certainly the key question, Victor. And if you're just waking up right now, a lot of people are going to be met with the lament of it happened again.

There were two mass shootings in the United States just yesterday, obviously this one of much bigger scale. There have been 355 mass shootings in this country this year already. No question, that's a cause of concern.

But energy is best served right now understanding what took place here because it was unusual on many, many levels. The most was how it ended. A dramatic shoot-out all caught on television and cell phone video of an SUV flying through the streets being followed by some two dozen officers and vehicles. Ended again in just a hail of gunfire.

We have gotten video of this gun fight between the shooters and police. So you can see what it was like for the people in this community to live through this, for the officers to deal with it. Here's cell phone taken by a resident of what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED). The po-po.

(SIRENS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED), guys. Shots rang out. Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my gosh.

Guys, they're just at my house right now. There's cops all over the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) yard. Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Guys, I'll just try to show -- (EXPLETIVE DELETED) no way.

(SIRENS)

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My house is getting shot at right now. Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back.

(SIRENS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: You can't forget this part of this experience for this community, to be living on these streets in a hail of gunfire. That's not what San Bernardino is used to by any stretch of the imagination. It's no stranger to crime, but nothing like this.

And, of course, then you do have the questions that are fueling investigators right now. They are confused at how the scene wound up that way. If this was terrorism, why did the two leave the scene instead of saying and -- staying and trying to fire it out or kill themselves as often happens? Why would they stay so local? Why would they drive deeper into the city when pursued? There are a lot of questions here.

We're fortunate to have CNN's national correspondent for security Jim Sciutto on the case.

Jim, lots of questions. What are you tracking?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, we're getting a very early picture. An early picture but a detailed picture of the suspect so far. Here's what we know so far.

Main suspect, Syed Rizwan Farook. He's 28 years old. He actually worked at the Inland Regional Center where the shooting took place. In fact, it's believed he was at the party earlier in the day, this holiday part that was the target. He left and then came back armed and ready to carry out this rampage. He was an environmental specialist there.

This is extremely unusual for shootings like this. The second shooter, a woman, Tashfeen Malik, 27 years old. we're told by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, quoting his family, that she was his wife.

Another person detained, no connection yet confirmed to the shooting there. There's a profile that Farook actually had posted on a dating website.

This is what he said at least about himself that he was religious but modern. Family of four. That he identifies as a Muslim but with eastern and western family values.

And this is interesting, as you'll often see on these profiles. Some personal details. He said he enjoys target practice in his backyard. We don't know the significance of that. But as with many things here, small details like that could have significance going forward.

Let's talk about the weapons that were found at the scene. They were armed to carry out violence. Two .23 caliber assault rifles, Smith & Wesson. This is an AR-15-style rifle. Familiar to people at home, because a lot of cops have it. A lot of soldiers have this weapon. Semi-automatic. They also had semi-automatic pistols, two of them, also Smith & Wesson. Interesting details here: those two handguns purchased legally by Farook, but the long rifles purchased legally by another party, who at least at this point, police do not believe were involved in this shooting. Those two rifles traced back to that third person.

Let's talk about explosives. Final detail here. Because when they found a bag on the site of the shooting, inside, they found explosives rigged -- can you believe it -- to a toy, in effect. A remote- controlled car. Now, fortunately, it was not used. Whether the signal didn't work or they didn't attempt to use it. But clearly, they had the intention of causing more mayhem. Thankfully, it didn't happen.

[17:10:17] And one final detail, Chris. We could say there were no writings found in the bag or the vehicle. Oftentimes in these shootings, you might find a manifesto, some clue as to the motivation. That is still lacking. And that's one reason why police here very reluctant at this point to say was this a disgruntled worker? Was there a possible connection to terrorism? Fact is, they just don't know right now.

CUOMO: Was it both? I mean, Jim, there are tons of different leads. I know you're trying to track them down for us. Appreciate it.

Let's bring in now retired Chief Jim Bueermann. He's the former police chief of Redlands, California. He's also the president of the National Officers Association down in D.C.

CHIEF JIM BUEERMANN (RET.), PRESIDENT, POLICE FOUNDATION: Police Foundation in Washington.

CUOMO: Police Foundation in D.C. I appreciate you being here.

BUEERMANN: Sure.

CUOMO: As I said to you earlier, this is not how I wanted to get your perspective on an event.

BUEERMANN: Absolutely.

CUOMO: But thank you for...

BUEERMANN: Tragic situation.

CUOMO: Thank you for giving it to us. Did you know anybody involved with this? Is everybody safe in the Bueermann home?

BUEERMANN: Yes, we're safe. I know some of the officers that were involved, obviously, and these are people that I hired and worked with for many, many years.

CUOMO: We know that one took -- took a hit. Took some -- took an injury. Not seen to be...

BUEERMANN: A San Bernardino officer was wounded. Right.

CUOMO: Not seen as being life-threatening.

BUEERMANN: Correct.

CUOMO: Should make it through. That's the good news.

BUEERMANN: Right.

CUOMO: The way this ended, we're used to seeing it on TV and in movies. But from a policing perspective, it is not a situation you want to get into, and it's about as frightening a situation for an officer as you can have. Take us through that moment from when you have your officer responding to the home in Redlands, supposedly owned by at the mother of the male suspect.

BUEERMANN: Right.

CUOMO: He's expecting a door knock. Heightened alert, but then this SUV goes by with Utah plates. Everything changes.

BUEERMANN: Everything changes. The officers are all ready at a high level of awareness and alert. They're looking for this guy. But all of a sudden, when the officers see that's the suspect vehicle, then their adrenaline is going to go through the roof. They get very focused. They almost -- sometimes, you can get tunnel vision.

And then the pursuit is on. And you are not going to let that guy get away, especially knowing what you know. All vehicular pursuits are dangerous, and you get that kind of tunnel vision.

But in this case, they knew that these folks had killed a whole bunch of people. As soon as they start taking fire from that vehicle, they know that this is not going to end well for somebody.

CUOMO: And that's a critical confrontation. Not only do they know that these are murderers who are using long serious guns...

BUEERMANN: Right.

CUOMO: ... 223 AR-15=type weapons, but they start to receive fire from the weapons. That changes the calculus also? BUEERMANN: It does. And that doesn't happen very often. In this

region, back in 1980, we had an incident after a bank robbery, where the bank robbers were doing a very similar thing to the deputies that were chasing them. In fact, a deputy got killed up here in the mountains, where they were throwing homemade hand grenades and shooting at them with long rifles. Very similar to this.

So this kind of stuff is in the background, or in the back of an officer's mind. Because you're trying to keep your car on the road. You're trying to stay up with the person you're pursuing. You're trying not to get yourself shot in the whole process.

CUOMO: So you're trying to get as close as you can while not making yourself and easy target.

BUEERMANN: Yes. And they're probably taking rounds in those cars. You know, we didn't really get a good look at some of the police cars, but it wouldn't surprise me at all that many of those are bullet- ridden themselves.

CUOMO: And the hail of gunfire that was coming from the officers also speaks to that pack mentality they get into, where they want to stop this as soon as they possibly can?

BUEERMANN: Well, they know that the people in that vehicle or outside that vehicle are -- have already killed people. They know they're trying to kill them. And so they're going to do everything they can to try to neutralize that threat. You know, they're not necessarily trying to kill them, but they're trying to stop them.

CUOMO: But the hunt is certainly on. It wound up ending in spectacular fashion. They had something that will be new to the audience, Lenco BearCats. Lenco is the company, make these up-armored vehicles. Very helpful. Well, controversial when they first came out. It seemed like militarization of police. But this is exactly why you have it, because you're dealing with military-style weapons. They wound up pinching the SUV. What was going on there?

BUEERMANN: Well, I think they were trying to make sure, No. 1, that the person inside the car couldn't get that -- even though it had been shot up, you can still drive a car that's not on rims. What they were trying to do is -- you see the officers that were in the turrets of those vehicles. They were trying to get an elevated view, so they're looking down inside the car, or inside the vehicle, to try to see whether or not that person's moving.

They could see that that person was armed. I was listening to the scanner, and they could see that that person had an assault rifle across their chest. So they know that this thing is highly volatile. They have no idea what's going to happen. And they've got to know in the back of their mind there's a possibility that there's explosives in there. Because they had thrown what turned out to be a dummy explosive, but they didn't know at the time.

CUOMO: The big question for investigators right now is who knew? Who else knew? And there's a big plus-minus analysis going on. On the plus side of they believe someone else had to know was, well, look at what they had. The tactical gear. They had at least two long weapons that came from someone else.

You know, we keep saying quickly, "Well, they were bought legally also." But that's a bit of a specious analysis. Sure they were bought legally, but by whom, and how did these other people get them?

On the minus side, they point to how they left that scene, that they didn't stay? They didn't have suicide vests on. They didn't want a shoot-out with the cops, whether it was cowardice or poor planning. But then they went back to that house. So if they wanted to flee, why did they stay local?

[07:15:10] BUEERMANN: Well, I don't know. We can speculate about that. and there may be evidence inside the house that tells the officers why they did that.

But this is not uncommon. If they thought they had gotten away and they had something at that house they were going to take with them. Who knows what they were going to do? I think that...

CUOMO: But uncommon for a typical suicide mass shooting scenario that we've seen before.

BUEERMANN: Absolutely. I mean, they were up to something. Right. And I don't know if they're going to be able to figure out exactly what they were doing.

I think the -- in the coming days and weeks, the investigation is going to uncover a lot of these answers that we all seek. Not the least of which is what do the neighbors know. I would be very surprised if the neighbors, in hindsight, didn't look back and say, "You know what? There was a lot of suspicious activity going on there, and for whatever reason, we just didn't want to bother the police or we didn't call." But this is why this notion of see something, say something is so important.

CUOMO: Absolutely. And there's just conflicting situations here. Well, he left the party angry, but he comes back with something that seemed so premeditated. If nothing else, the explosives. The bogus story to the grandmother about having a doctor's appointment. The 6- month-old baby. For so many of us when you have life come into your life, it changes everything about you. Not here.

So there are a lot of questions for investigators. But to be clear, one thing we know right now: this was amazingly fast and brave police work in a place that's under hard times, you know, San Bernardino. Went through bankruptcy. So these were officers that really stepped up.

BUEERMANN: Right. And we should be thankful that there are people in this society that are willing to do that job, that risk their lives. This could have turned out tragically for the officers, just like it did for the people.

CUOMO: They were chasing the vehicle that anybody else would have been running away from.

BUEERMANN: But that's exactly what cops do. They run to danger while everybody else is running out.

CUOMO: And this was a really wholesome example of that. Chief, thank you very much for joining us.

BUEERMANN: My pleasure.

CUOMO: Appreciate it.

All right. We're going to give you much more from San Bernardino, because the investigation very, very fresh. And it's going in a lot of different directions.

However, this being the second mass shooting in the same day, 355th of this year, this has got the politicians talking about why this happened, and more importantly, what we can do to make it stop. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: We do know that 14 people lost their lives here in San Bernardino, murdered while at a Christmas party. We also know that 17 people were rushed to two different trauma centers. We don't know the full range of injuries, but we do know that they so far have survived what sounded like just the worse kind of chaos you could ever live through. We have CNN correspondent Dan Simon live at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. He is in Colton, California, one of those two medical centers.

Dan, what do you know from there?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, obviously, some of these people have very serious injuries. We can tell you that six people were taken to this medical center. We know that one person has been released. We haven't gotten the full range of the injuries, but I can tell you that one person, a 27-year-old woman, was shot in the lower back. She was shot as she was lying on the ground and trying to protect herself. She was able to communicate what happened to her sisters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE BALDWIN, SISTER OF SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTING VICTIM: And she just said, "Steph, I was shot." And she was, like, crying, and so, I knew she was serious.

And I was just like, "What happened?"

And she just said she was at a work thing. And the shooters came in. And she was shot. And she was scared. And she said, "I just wanted to tell you that I love you."

(END VIDEO CLIP) SIMON: Well, the victim is 27-year-old Denise Peraza. Her husband

just posted a Facebook message which said that she's going to be in the hospital for several more days. And they're trying to assess whether or not she needs surgery. Right now there is a bullet that is lodged in her abdomen.

In terms of the other hospitals -- that's the Loma Linda Medical Center -- I can tell you that five patients there are. Two of them in critical but stable condition. Two in fair condition. And at last check, one patient was still being assessed.

And, Chris, of course, because of the confusion and the chaos that surrounded the events yesterday, security was put on a heightened alert at both hospitals. And even at this hour, security remains high -- Chris.

CUOMO: And, Dan, the sensitivity is appreciated. Just because somebody has survived doesn't mean that they're out of the woods. We do not know the extent of injuries, as Dan Simon was just pointing out. At least one of the patients is dealing with a bullet being lodged there. There are going to be a lot of surgeries. There's going to be a lot of changes. So keep that in mind as we're keeping those who suffered through this in our thoughts and prayers this morning.

Now, when you hear that this was the second mass shooting in one day, that it was most murdered since Newtown, Connecticut, that is involved two killers in a way that we haven't seen since Columbine, it winds up raising the specter of why does this keep happening, and what are we going to do with it? That means, for some people, guns; for other people, terror; for other people, both.

Let's go to CNN senior Washington correspondent, live with more on what the president had to say about this. And, you know, Joe, the president was reacting in real time. He was doing an interview with CBS and learning about this, and he had things to say.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Chris. The president preparing for a prescheduled interview with CBS News. Had to push that back just a bit, while we got more information. We do know he was briefed on the situation in California by his homeland security advisor, Lisa Monaco. And when he did sit for that interview, he pushed the discussion pretty quickly over to the issue of gun control. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are steps we can take to make Americans safer. And that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare, as opposed to normal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: The second time in a week that the White House has responded to a mass shooting. The other one was after the shooting in Colorado just a few days ago.

Now, some of the president's comments have been directed at members of Congress. He may get a chance today to talk to them directly to express his concerns. He's supposed to meet with members of Congress to talk about the issue of criminal justice reform.

Chris, back to you.

[07:25:11] CUOMO: All right, Joe. And obviously, the issue of guns is one that is often mentioned during these times. Not enough after they're over.

But just as much comes down to something that's similar in all of these cases. Somebody with an inhumane and deranged desire to kill. Columbine, Virginia Tech, Newtown, now San Bernardino. I've covered all of these live. And often they have very common circumstances. The question is, what can you do that would stop what happened here and elsewhere? We get into it ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CUOMO: We are in San Bernardino, California. There's a lot of information flying around, so let me take you through what we do and do not know. Right now we can say this. Fourteen people have been murdered here, 17 more are in the hospital with varied degrees of injuries. That makes this the second deadliest mass shooting since what happened in Newtown, Connecticut.

The fact that there were two perpetrators here makes it the first time we've seen that since Columbine. What else do we know? There was a man and a woman involved here, said to be married.