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Standoff with Gunman Inside School Lasted Up to an Hour; Gunman Entered School Despite Being Confronted by Officers; Remembering the Victims of Texas School Shooting; Biden to Visit Uvalde Victims' Families. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired May 26, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Thursday, May 26. I'm John Berman live in Uvalde, Texas. Brianna Keilar is in Washington.

[06:00:03]

And behind me is the Robb Elementary School, where 19 children and two teachers were killed. And I want to show you what happened here overnight. Behind me is this new memorial. You can see flowers. You can see balloons. And now, just over the last few hours, you can see crosses, one for each of the victims killed here, each life taken. Nineteen of them, of course. Just children in the fourth grade, two of them teachers who were in there trying to save their lives.

There was a vigil last night where the community here came together. It's a small town, just over 15,000 people. And so many people we talked to have connections to the victims.

Tess Marie Mata, 10 years old, was saving every dollar, hoping to go to Disney World. Nevaeh Bravo, also 10, remembered as a young girl who put a smile on everyone's face.

These are the stories that you will hear this morning. A fourth-grade teacher who sacrificed herself protecting the children; a grieving father who found out his daughter died trying to save her classmates.

Today, the bodies of the victims who have not yet been released will be to the families, to funeral homes, for arrangements.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And we do have some new details about how this mass shooting unfolded. The 18-year-old shooter was on school grounds for up to an hour before law enforcement shot and killed him.

And moments before his deadly attack, he apparently sent a series of chilling text messages to a girl in Germany that he had met online.

An officer also confronted the shooter, but he still managed to get inside the building, dropping a bag full of ammunition before entering. We will have more on that investigation ahead.

And President Biden, he is expected to travel to Uvalde here in the coming days to meet with victims' families. BERMAN: Joining me now is Adrienne Broaddus. Adrienne, you have some

new details about these victims.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're hearing more about the victims who survived and the deceased victims, of course. Among the deceased, a 10-year-old. She turned 10 earlier this month, and her father says she wanted a cellphone. She was gifted a cellphone for her birthday, and earlier this week she used that cellphone to call 911, trying to save her classmates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For those who've lost little children, pray for them.

BROADDUS (voice-over): A community grieving after 19 children and two adults were gunned down in Robb Elementary School Tuesday.

(MUSIC)

BROADDUS (voice-over): This is the scene at a vigil held last night for the victims, as the community grapples with this senseless tragedy.

The children who witnessed it trying to come to terms with what they saw. One third-grader describes the terror.

CHANCE AGUIRRE, THIRD GRADER AT ROBB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Everybody was scared. We were all panicking, because we didn't know what was really happening. And we were all hiding behind a stage in the cafeteria when it happened.

BROADDUS (voice-over): This as 21 families grieving the loss of loved ones. Ten-year-old Lexi Rubio had just celebrated making the honor roll earlier Tuesday. Her parents, Felix and Kimberly, were so proud and attended the ceremony to celebrate their daughter. They say Lexi was kind, sweet and appreciated life.

Felix Rubio is a Uvalde County sheriff's deputy. He hopes change will come.

FELIX RUBIO, FATHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM LEXI RUBIO: All I can hope is that she's just not a number. Hopefully, something gets resolved. That's all we ask. Hopefully, something gets resolved.

I'm a cop. I'm a deputy here in Uvalde County. This is enough. This is enough. No one else needs to go through this. We never needed to go through this, but we are.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Jose Flores Jr., also 10 years old, was in the fourth grade and loved baseball and video games. His father tells CNN he was an amazing big brother who, quote, "was always full of energy."

Fourth-grader Uziyah Garcia was 10 years old. His uncle described him as a great kid, full of life, loved anything with wheels and video games. Ten-year-old Xavier Lopez has been identified as one of the victims.

His grandmother spoke to ABC News.

AMELIA SANDOVAL, XAVIER LOPEZ'S GRANDMOTHER (via phone): It's just so hard. You send your kids to school thinking that they will make it back home, and then they're not.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Ten-year-old Tess Marie Mata also lost their life. Her older sister, Faith, wrote on Twitter, "My precious angel, you are loved so deeply. May your wings soar higher than you could ever dream."

Nevaeh Bravo was also identified by her family as one of the victims. Her cousin tells "The Washington Post" that Nevaeh put a smile on everyone's face.

[06:05:07]

Amerie Jo Garza was 10 years old. Her father, Angel Garza, tells CNN she was trying to call 911 to protect her classmates.

Garza is a med aid who arrived on the scene to later learn his daughter was one of the deceased.

ANGEL GARZA, FATHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM AMERIE JO GARZA: Two of the students in her classroom said she was just trying to call authorities, and I guess he just shot her. How do you look at this girl and shoot her? Oh, my baby, I miss you. My baby.

BROADDUS (voice-over): And two teachers were also killed: fourth-grade teachers Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia. Garcia was a wife and mother of four. A GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for her funeral expenses and the needs of the family writes, "She sacrificed herself protecting the kids in her classroom. She was a hero. She was loved by many and will truly be missed."

And Eva's daughter paid tribute to her mother on social media, writing, "Mom, you are a hero. I keep telling myself that this isn't real. I just want to hear your voice. I want to thank you, Mom, for being such an inspiration to me. I will forever be so proud to be your daughter."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROADDUS (on camera): A proud daughter and students who were also honored to have her as their teacher. Think about it: teachers have such a profound impact on a child's life.

And, John, I'm just reminded of this quote that says, "To teach is to touch a life forever." And one of those teachers, 17 years as an educator. So think about all of the fourth graders and all of the students who came through her classroom and are remembering her and how she shaped their lives.

We've also recently just received the names of some of the other victims. We know this community is also mourning the loss of ten other children. Nine-year-old Eliana, who they called Ellie Garcia, had four sisters, and she loved cheerleading.

And 10-year-old Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez was in the third grade, and her cousin was in the same classroom and was also killed.

And then there's 10-year-old Eliahana "Elijah" Cruz Torres. Her aunt told CNN, "Our baby girl gained her wings."

BERMAN: These names, these faces, these stories, these lives. So much loss here in this community, Adrienne. And it just strikes me that, in such a small town, there is a connection. Everyone does have a connection to what happened here.

I thank you so much for that report. Thank you for remembering those lives.

So this morning here in Uvalde, we are learning more about how the massacre unfolded. Joining me now with more details on this is CNN's Shimon Prokupecz.

Shimon, you're rushing in here. I think you are all hooked up here. You know, we do know a lot more. A lot more of the holes have been filled in as to what happened here. Still, there are some remaining questions.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. And we're still this -- learned yesterday from the authorities here in their press conference that the gunman was inside the school up to an hour, anywhere from 40 to 60 minutes.

And we still don't have enough clarity on what was going on here inside the school during that time, and also the beginning, how all of this unfolded.

We learned yesterday that the gunman, after he crashes his car there, is in some what they call an engagement. They're engaged. There's an officer on scene, the school resource officer, who's engaged with the gunman. What happens in those moments?

Yesterday, authorities said there were no gunshots. There was no exchange of gunfire. So, OK, so what happens? What does that entail, the fact that they were engaged?

And then he gets into the room, into the school through the back door and then, obviously, the shooting unfolds.

The big question is, why did it take so long for police to assemble this team to go inside and kill the gunman? And those are still questions that we don't have answers to.

They needed the tactical team from the Customs and Border Patrol. That's who ultimately, the team that -- that's the team that ultimately went in. Why weren't other officers who were already on scene, why weren't they forming a team to go in? There are all of those kinds of questions that we still really don't have any answers to, John.

BERMAN: What about the messages or what about things written by this killer in the hours, if not days, prior to the massacre?

[06:10:05]

PROKUPECZ: Right. We're also getting these private messages that the gunman exchanged with a girl, a girl in Germany, where he tells her what he's going to do. And this all transpires on the day of the shooting, the morning of the shooting.

Thirty minutes before the shooting, he begins these series of text messages. And then he tells her that he shot his grandmother. And then he follows up with a message just 15 minutes before he's here and unleashes this horrific attack. He says to her, "I am going to go and shoot an elementary school right now."

These are the text messages that the police are reviewing, along with the FBI. She is talking to investigators. These are just some of the social media text messages that authorities are reviewing.

BERMAN: The distinction there, though, is important. These were private messages.

PROKUPECZ: Correct.

BERMAN: It's not like it was a public statement.

PROKUPECZ: Correct.

BERMAN: That was out there on one of these platforms --

PROKUPECZ: Right.

BERMAN: -- that the world could have seen.

PROKUPECZ: Or that anyone could have been alerted to. Because there was some confusion yesterday. The governor said it was on Facebook. Facebook said, no, that this wasn't something that was publicly -- someone can view publicly. These are private messages.

So there's not a -- This is not something that someone out who was on social media would have been able to see.

BERMAN: Private messaging, which would have required the person receiving it to understand what was happening.

PROKUPECZ: Right.

BERMAN: And say something in time.

PROKUPECZ: Right. And this was a completely kind of random kind of -- he's had these random communications with women, with girls that authorities have found. There have been other ones. It's not really clear what was going on here.

BERMAN: All right. Shimon Prokupecz, again, thank you for this update. Do appreciate everything you're learning. We will talk to you again very soon. All right. Again, this was the site of the shooting just two days ago,

21 people killed, 19 of them children, two of them teachers. And this was very much an active crime scene for some time.

Joining me now is someone who was here in the early moments. I want to I didn't think in Uvalde County justice of the peace, Judge Lalo Diaz.

Thank you so much for being with us. And I just want to give people a sense of this community. You went to this school.

JUDGE LALO DIAZ, UVALDE COUNTY JUSTICE OF THE PEACE: That's correct.

BERMAN: Your kids went to this school.

DIAZ: That's correct.

BERMAN: This school is part of you, part of life here.

DIAZ: That's correct. It's been here a long time, and I attended fifth grade here. And my children both attended school here. And it's a pillar of the community. It's been here for -- it's been here since before I was born.

BERMAN: Which makes it all the more tragic what you had to do here on Tuesday. Explain what your role here was.

DIAZ: OK. So mine all started -- I was at my office when the shooting started. And there was a report that an active shooter on Facebook was taking place, and so my job -- I'm not a first responder. I'm normally called after something -- after something has been assessed.

So I stayed in my office hearing the sirens going back and forth. We could see sirens and emergency vehicles headed to the hospital and back and forth. I mean, you heard that for about two hours.

And then eventually, about 2:30, I was called out to the scene by the district attorney. And I got to the scene with the impression that it was only two to three people. That was -- those were kind of the rumors that were going around town, two or three people might have been injured. We don't know -- I don't know what kind of injury yet, because I'm not hearing -- I don't have access to the radio or anything, listening to what's going on.

And when I got here, the district attorney and the rangers informed me that there was 16 to 17 people inside, children. And like I said, at that moment, my heart dropped, knowing that I was going to go in and be -- and have to assess a scene so horrific.

BERMAN: And your job, your official duty here is to process the deceased.

DIAZ: That's correct. So in the state of Texas, they have -- we're called coroners, county coroner. Our county is less than 50,000 people, so we don't have a medical examiner. So the justice of the peace in the state of Texas assumes that responsibility.

So we -- we -- once there is a deceased person anywhere in town that is not being attended by a hospital or not part of hospice or not part of a nursing home, then they belong to the justice of the peace.

BERMAN: When you walked into that room --

DIAZ: Well, right before I walked in, the thing is that because -- because of the situation, we spoke to the Rangers. And I met with them real quickly, and that's whenever we suggested that we go ahead and call chief medical examiner Dr. Molina out of Bexar County to assist. So I got on the phone with her immediately. I sent her an email, giving her permission and allowing her to come to Uvalde to assist us.

It took about two hours. So by the time we -- I went into the location, it was probably around -- well, to the location to assess the bodies was probably around 5:30, 6 p.m. by the time I went in.

[06:15:10]

We went in initially to set the time of death, but we didn't go in to assess everything. So once she got here, I allowed her to go into the facility with myself and the Rangers. And at that point we went in to try to see what the situation -- the deceased were in and what we needed to do to make sure that we identified and that we processed and had a plan in order to move them to the medical examiner's office.

BERMAN: And I know, you know, you're a professional and you have a job to do, but what was it like to see that?

DIAZ: It was like something I'd never want to see again. You know, when you walk into a room and, you know -- the rooms had been moved by first responders. The initial rooms where the casualties had taken place. Whenever, I think, everything stopped, first responders went in there, and they had to move some of the bodies around a little bit in order to get to the -- to the injured people that could still go to the hospital, that needed medical attention.

So when we went in, we assessed children in different rooms, and it was just -- you know, it was just like something I didn't want to see again. It was just unbelievable.

I have children. I have an eighth grader and a senior in high school, and I know how precious life is, right? And these are our children in our community.

And of course, you know, because of the situation, you know, you quickly can't recognize everybody, but when you walk into the main room, and I see Irma Garcia, she was a classmate of mine. I was a year above her in high school. She was a year below me, but I knew her all through high school, all through junior high. I know her husband Joe. He worked with me at HGB in previous -- back in the 2000s. And we still see each other regularly in town.

And it's just -- When you see something like that happening, it hits reality that this has just become a tragic loss. BERMAN: Irma Garcia, one of the teachers who was killed, you saw in

there? You saw the body of Irma Garcia?

DIAZ: I saw all the bodies, sir. That was myself and the Rangers and Dr. Molina were the ones that had to go in and assess everybody. And it's --

BERMAN: And did you know at the time it was Irma Garcia?

DIAZ: We -- Not immediately, but soon after I did, because we kind of -- I kind of looked around the room, see what was there. I saw some pictures, and we put two and two together, and I figured where we were at.

Because right off the bat, you don't realize -- you don't go in thinking this is so-and-so's room. And I haven't been in the school in four years, since my son has been here, five years, so I didn't know what room she was in. I knew she taught here, but I didn't know what room she was in or where it's at. So --

BERMAN: What an awful feeling.

DIAZ: Terrible.

BERMAN: At this point, what's the status of the bodies? Some have been released to the families?

DIAZ: Well, last night I know that nine bodies -- nine of the deceased victims were released to the funeral homes here in Uvalde. Now, if they've been -- if the families -- I don't know if the families have seen them yet. They're going to make arrangements with each respective funeral home. We have two funeral homes in town. They have a choice to go with whichever one they like. And as of right now, one of the funeral homes has coordinated the transport to Uvalde to keep everything smooth.

So nine of them were released yesterday evening. The remaining will be released this morning. The remaining of the children. I think by noon, we should have everybody here, all the deceased victims.

BERMAN: Again, you know --

DIAZ: And, of course, at that time a different process starts, because now they will be here with their loved ones. And that's -- you know, that was what I felt was more important for me is to -- I understand that as a parent, you just lost a child or as a husband, you just lost a spouse and you can't spend time, immediate time with them. Grieving starts immediately.

And for them to have to wait, I know it's been very hard for me to understand that they have to wait. But -- but there's a process that has to take place, and my job is to try to get them back home as quickly as possible.

BERMAN: You feel like every little thing you can do that might make someone's life easier in this awful moment, I know you absolutely want to do it.

DIAZ: That's right.

BERMAN: Again, given that you went here, given that your kids went here, given that you've lived here for so long and know this community, could you have ever imagined that you would have been in that situation?

DIAZ: Never. Never. Not with this community. I would have never imagined. We don't really have -- we're a community of hunters. We see guns regularly. We see people loading up to go dove hunting or deer hunting, but never like this. You know, it's just never -- never to this caliber that you say we're going to have a multiple homicide or whatever.

Normally it happens in a case-by-case basis, and it's rare, sparingly. Never -- never would I have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would have had to have gone and assess a site in that condition.

BERMAN: I think we can agree no one should ever have to assess a site in that condition.

DIAZ: Correct.

[06:20:02]

BERMAN: No one should have to see anything like this.

I appreciate you being with us. I know the community is so grateful --

DIAZ: Thank you.

BERMAN: -- for the work that you've done and are doing, trying -- trying to do anything you can do to help. Judge, thank you very much for being with us.

So just nine days ago, President Biden was in Buffalo after a mass shooting at a supermarket. Now, the White House is making plans for him to travel here to Uvalde, Texas, to console the survivors of another mass shooting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Soon, President Biden will be visiting Uvalde, Texas, to meet with the families of the 19 children and the two teachers who were killed in this horrific attack.

As many Americans demand action to curb the uniquely relentless gun violence here in the U.S., Biden says it's time for a change.

Let's bring in CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond.

[06:25:03]

Jeremy, is he calling for a specific policy change?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, Brianna. We know that President Biden has talked in the past about a series of steps that he would like to see: universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons, for example.

But yesterday, as he addressed this shooting briefly, the only specific step that he called for was confirming his ATF director. He called it a modest step. And certainly, it is a modest step and yet one that the Senate has already struggled to address.

Part of that seems to come from the fact that President Biden is so scarred from the past experiences that he has had in terms of trying to address gun violence.

This shooting, in which we saw 19 children die, comes less than a decade after President Biden was put in charge of that gun reform effort under President Obama after 20 children were killed in that Sandy Hook shooting.

And we know that that has had an emotional impact on President Biden, but it's also had an impact in terms of what he thinks can actually be done, with Republicans having 50 seats in the Senate. We know that Republicans blocked those efforts previously that President Biden led to try and get significant gun safety reform done.

And so all of that seems to be informing the thinking here at the White House. They certainly want to push forward to try and get some of these steps done. We know that President Biden has already taken some steps via executive action. And they would like to see legislation done.

But they are also tempering that desire with the reality that they know of the math that exists currently in Congress.

And that is why we have heard President Biden, more than anything else in the last several days, talk about his desire to comfort these victims as he is set to visit Texas in the coming days and also talk about the shear frustration that he has had with the lack of action, with the inaction in Congress, talking about what will it take to stand up to the gun lobby?

And certainly, that is informing the way that he is approaching this issue, how he thinks about it. And he is going to push for more action, but he is also mindful of those numbers in Congress, Brianna.

KEILAR: Jeremy Diamond, live from the White House, thank you.

The NRA says their convention in Texas this weekend will go on, as we learn that talks are under way in Congress on gun reform.

And we'll be speaking with the doctor who is caring for those children who did survive the shooting.

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[06:30:00]