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Mass Shooting with High-Powered Rifle Kills Six People in Highland Park, Illinois, During Fourth of July Parade; Person of Interest in Shooting in Highland Park, Illinois; Sen. Dick Durbin (D- IL) is Interviewed on the Mass Shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. Captured by Police. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 05, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

GOV. PHIL MURPHY, (D) NEW JERSEY: And make sure we remind folks around the country, if you value values, come to states like New Jersey. And I suspect that's exactly what Governor Newsom has in mind in terms of California's values.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Governor, it's great to see you this morning. Governor Phil Murphy, thank you for being with us.

MURPHY: Thanks for having me, Brianna.

KEILAR: NEW DAY continues right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Berman in Highland Park, Illinois. Brianna Keilar in New York this morning. And this is the parade route, the July 4th parade route where I'm standing, where yesterday at 10:15 a.m. a gunman opened fire from a rooftop, killing six people, wounding 25 others. You can hear the sounds ringing out there. We talked to one person, eyewitness, who was a servicemember, some 30 years ago, and said he recognized exactly what it was because of his time in the military. That's what it sounded like.

The street behind me frozen in time, you can still see the chairs strewn about, the beach chairs where people were lined up for this moment of celebration for July 4th, left where they were as people fled the scene in terror.

The rifle, a rifle was discovered soon after the shooting on the rooftop. We have some new information about that rifle, which we'll bring to you in just a moment. The shooter himself, who the police are calling a person of interest, to be clear, that's what I should call him, they obtained or apprehended a person of interest eight hours after the shooting after a short chase. One policeman saw the suspect and then called for backup. He was apprehended, taken into custody on the street. One of our reporters was there, you'll hear from him in just a moment as well.

Again, the scene as it unfolded here was a pure moment of terror. Earlier this morning, I had a chance to speak to a couple, Deborah (ph) and Dr. David Baum, who were here. They witnessed the shooting, they watched their two-year-old march by in the parade not long before the shooting took place, and then Dr. Baum rushed back in after fleeing initially to help some of the wounded. This is what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DAVID BAUM, TREATED SHOOTING VICTIMS ON-SITE AFTER SHOOTING: The people who were gone were blown up by that gunfire.

BERMAN: Blown up?

BAUM: Blown up. Blown up. The horrific scene of some of the bodies is unspeakable for the average person. Having been a physician, I've seen things in ERs, and you do see lots of blood. But the bodies were literally -- some of the bodies were -- there was an evisceration injury from the power of this gun and the bullets. There was another person who had an unspeakable head injury, unspeakable. Those are what are seen in victims of war, not victims at a parade.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Again, that was Dr. David Baum, who after initially trying to leave the scene, went back in to treat some of the victims.

We are getting some new information this morning about the weapon. For that I'm joined by CNN's Adrienne Broaddus. Adrienne, what are we hearing from the mayor of this town?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The mayor is asking what went wrong, what happened. She spoke with NBC News this morning and shared on that network that she knew this young man when he was a cub scout, almost taking ownership as she questions where were the gaps along the way.

During that conversation, and I'm paraphrasing here, she said she didn't want to call this a mental illness, but she referred to this as a mental breakdown. Again, this nearly a day later after that tragedy happened right here along this parade route, people are beginning to grasp the reality of what happened, the reality is beginning to settle. But it's settling on top of other layers of grief.

This as we're learning the names of some of the victims. We know six people died along this parade route. Among the deceased was a former preschool teacher. We heard from someone who was a member of her congregation. The coroner has not identified this person, but her church congregation did.

[08:05:00]

And this woman who knew her said she remembers her smiling on the day she got married. She remembers her fixing her veil and opening the door for her to walk down the aisle to her beloved.

BERMAN: So awful. And Adrienne, we did also hear from the mayor. She said it's her understanding that the weapon was purchased legally. The weapon was purchased legally. Of course, much more information on that still needed as part of this investigation. Adrienne Broaddus, thank you so much.

As to the weapon, as to guns, obviously after an incident like this, after a mass shooting, and needless to say, we have seen more and more mass shootings in this country over the last several months, we hear from lawmakers discussing guns and what should be done. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Six people have passed, and others are wounded. But we've got a lot more work to do. We've got to get this under control. We've got to get this under control.

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): The last time I heard a weapon with that capacity firing that rapidly on the Fourth of July was Iraq. It was not the United States of America. We can, and we should, and we will do better.

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): If you're angry today, I'm here to tell you be angry. I'm furious. I'm furious that yet more innocent lives were taken by gun violence. While we celebrate the Fourth of July just once a year, mass shootings have become our weekly, yes, weekly, American tradition.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): There are people around this country who are poised to do terrible things if we do not intervene and try to change their lives. The gun bill that we passed in the Senate, the bipartisan gun bill, addresses many of the aspects of these mass shooters, and some of that involves mental health counseling, trauma counseling. We have got to reach out at an early age to turn the lives around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Let's get much more on the investigation now. I'm joined by CNN's Josh Campbell and CNN's senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin. Josh, first to you. You were on the scene where this person of interest was taken into custody just minutes after it took place. What did you see? What happened?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Right, this was an hours long manhunt. Obviously, we didn't know who this person was. Authorities eventually came out and gave us a description, they gave us a photograph, a description of that vehicle. And this went down very quickly. I was actually here over on the other side of this crime scene, watching law enforcement, covering the law enforcement beat. I watched their posture. And I saw them rushing to their vehicle and then this tactical bearcat, one of these SWAT vehicles, just barrel out of here.

So I got in my car, I followed them down the road. That's where the suspect was taken into custody. We're told that it was done without incident. It was an officer who saw a vehicle matching the description, attempted to execute a traffic stop. They went on a short police chase, the suspect eventually came to a stop and was taken into custody.

When I arrived there with all of these tactical elements, a lot of the officers that were flooding to the scene didn't really even know what was going on. We eventually learned that, no, this was the suspect, this was his vehicle. They actually told us that, look, we need to back up now, because we don't know if there are potentially incendiary devices inside this car. They wanted to bring in some of the people who could sweep that car as well as canines.

But this coming to an abrupt end. And obviously, I don't think you can overstate the amount of fear that this community was in with this dangerous suspect that was out there. My husband's family lives not far from here. I've talked to a number of residents in the area. They said that they were on edge. You have a shooter who is out and about in the public. Obviously, no two cases are the same, we didn't know how long this manhunt was going to go on for, but thankfully through some good police work and an alert police officer, that suspect was brought in.

BERMAN: There was an eight-hour manhunt for a mass shooter in this community. You can understand why people were terrified. They found the weapon not long after the shooting. They found a weapon that they're calling a high-profile rifle. The mayor not moments ago saying it is her understanding this weapon was purchased legally. Drew, what else are you finding out about this person of interest and his background?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we're seeing on social media, his social media, is the warning signs, not necessarily that I'm going to come and shoot up this parade, but the warning signs we have seen in so many of these cases that Josh and I have reported on, where family and friends should have sent up some kind of signal to somebody that we have got a mental health problem here, especially combined with the fact that this person may have had access to guns.

He fancied himself as a rapper. He put out social media kind of videos, which show stick figures shooting it out with police, stick figures of people that look like himself, shooting long rifles at victims with the words underneath it, "I just need to do this." Not explicit warnings, but given the whole context of the shootings we have been having in this country, a warning sign to families they need to reach out, to reach out to help, that there is some kind of mental crisis going on.

[08:10:06]

BERMAN: Yes, there were violent themes in these videos that he posted.

GRIFFIN: Right, exactly. Exactly the kind of scenario that in hindsight you can see happening right here. There is a picture of this stick figure, which again, it's a stick figure, but it resembles him and the hair, and he's laying prone on the ground in blood getting shot at by police. Another stick figure where he's aiming at just innocent victims, and he's dressed, a stick figure, in tactical gear. We know that he may have had tactical gear here. I'm saying that combined with the fact, if the family knew he had

access to guns, he was a bit of a loner, very quiet kid, not a good student in school, there needs to be some outrage.

BERMAN: So Josh, the news that we got from the mayor not long ago, that the weapon was purchased legally -- OK, what does that mean exactly, and what questions does that still leave open?

CAMPBELL: I think that may have been a key part of actually identifying this person. Initially there was this period of time where law enforcement didn't know who this person was. They found that rifle on one of these rooftops where he was in this sniper position. We know the ATF did a quick trace, and so we imagine that that's how they made that identification.

But it just shows you we see this high-powered assault rifle, this style used in many different shootings across the country. Obviously, they're very easy to obtain. And one thing that -- I don't want to get too graphic, but we cover so many of these, we just did a report showing the impact of these types of weapons on the human body. These injuries are described as catastrophic by medical professionals who have to treat these wounds. So yet again, the same type of weaponry that we continue to see mass shooting after mass shooting believed used here in this carnage as well.

BERMAN: So Drew, investigators, where are they digging now, what questions do they have left?

GRIFFIN: I think the questions are with the gun and with the use of the gun. He's a sniper on the roof, that would indicate some level of competency. Where did he practice? What kind of other people were practicing with him? I would look for all of that, especially if the gun was legally purchased. He was probably legally practicing somewhere.

They're also going to talk to his family. They've already raided the father's home. He lived in the back of the father's home with an uncle. One of the uncles, by the way, told us there were no signs that I saw that would make him do this, but at the same time explained how quiet the kid was, barely talked, had no relationship with this uncle other than a hi and good-bye.

So I think they're going to look at the social aspect of it, were there any warning signs, did people know his access to guns and his proficiency with guns, and should there have been some triggers along the way that could have prevented this?

BERMAN: Drew Griffin, Josh Campbell, thanks to both of you for all of your reporting on this.

Obviously, again, we are learning much more about this investigation as the morning continues. We expect at some point to hear from law enforcement this morning. Obviously, we'll bring that to you when it happens. Much more from Highland Park as our special coverage continues. Brianna? KEILAR: No place in America is immune to the crisis of gun violence.

Since 2018, a clear increase in the number of mass shootings in the nation defined as any shooting that kills or injures at least four people. There were more than twice the number last year, as there were four years ago. So far this year, 311 mass shootings in 35 states, according to the Gun Violence Archive. In the past 24 hours alone, cities include Highland Park, another in nearby Chicago, one in Richmond, Virginia, Kenosha, Kansas City, Sacramento, California, and one in Boston.

And they happen anywhere, everyday places that we all visit -- bars, parties, parades, churches, schools, streets, hospitals, grocery stores, hotels, subways, car shows. And for context, the parade shooting where people simply celebrating freedom were met with bullets from a high-powered rifle comes just a week after President Biden signed a new bipartisan gun safety bill into law. It provides, among other things, incentives for states to put red flag laws in place and expands background checks for gun purchasers aged 18 to 21. The suspected gunman in Highland Park is 22.

It could have been any one of us. We're going to speak to a mother whose family escaped that gunfire from above. Plus, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is going to be joining us.

And ahead, the latest on another Fourth of July scare, one that left officers injured and crowds scrambling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR NANCY ROTERING (D), HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS: I know him as somebody who was a Cub Scout, when I was the Cub Scout leader. And it is one of those things where you step back and you say what happened? How did somebody become this angry, this hateful, to then take it out on innocent people who literally were just having a family day out?

HODA KOTB, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: What did you know -- I didn't know you were his Cub Scout leader. What did you know about him at that young age?

ROTERING: He was just a little boy. I would have to say that we want the police to answer questions specific to the investigation. I -- we know that several postings really reflected a plan and a desire to commit carnage for a long time in advance. But I'm hesitant, frankly, Hoda, to talk about that. I don't want other people to think that this is (AUDIO GAP) glorified. This is something that needs to be diminished.

This is something we need to talk about as a hateful impact on our nation. Somebody clearly had a mental breakdown, and -- but I don't want to ascribe it to mental health. I want us to talk about the fact that there are weapons of war on our streets that people can legally obtain these, and then take out dozens of people. Our community is never going to recover from this wound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering who did say it is her understanding that the weapon used in this mass shooting behind me was purchased legally.

Joining me now is Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who like so many Americans over this Fourth of July weekend was with his family vacationing.

[08:20:07]

And, Senator, I know you drove over seven hours on the scene.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): I had to be here. I heard about the details. (AUDIO GAP) is a personal friend, our families. And I thought about these parades, I've been in so many of them, hundreds of them. It's a great American tradition.

And when I learned about that happened here, I made a point of getting in my car with my wife and driving directly.

BERMAN: And as you walked into this location right here, you looked at what we've been looking at all morning. These chairs still strewn about the street, this moment frozen in time.

DURBIN: They reflect the chaos of the moment, to hear those repeated shots, to wonder if they are fireworks or something else and then to realize you can be killed. They picked up and ran. I can't imagine the bedlam that took place, but it's a reflection of what these mass shootings result in.

This, according to those who keep a tally, is a 309th mass shooting this year, this year, in America. So we have a great tradition, Fourth of July parades, and another sad, awful, horrible tradition of mass shootings coming together with Island Park.

BERMAN: So the Senate just passed, and it is now law (AUDIO GAP) gun safety bill, a new piece of legislation. What more needs to be done, though?

DURBIN: So much more needs to be done.

Let me give credit to those like Chris Smith and others -- Chris Murphy, who worked with John Cornyn and others for a bipartisan bill.

But let me tell you, we all know, at least in our -- some of us do, it's not enough, you know? To still think that a shooter can buy a weapon that is really designed for the military, to kill people in volume, and has no sport or hunting purpose and turn that weapon loose on an innocent crowd in Highland Park tells us there's much more to be done.

BERMAN: A new piece of legislation -- the train goes by -- the new piece of legislation does create new background checks for 18 to 21- year-olds, who want to buy AR-15 style weapons.

We don't know exactly what this weapon was. We haven't told. It's a powerful rifle.

Unclear when this person of interest or shooter did get this weapon, but it's possible that the new law might have some overlap with when this person tried to buy it.

DURBIN: It's all incremental. It's helpful. Perhaps, it will avoid someone buying one of these guns in the future. But keep in mind, we have a law in America, you can't buy a handgun until you're 21.

But we have a law that allows people to buy long guns. These AR-15s and similar weapons before you're 21. We added in some provisions in the gun safety bill for background checks for younger people. That's a good thing.

But it really raises a basic question in my mind what in the hell does America need with this type of weapon that was designed for our military? You don't need it to go hunting or sport shooting. It has no earthly purpose. And there are millions of them, millions of them in America.

BERMAN: I know you spent time with law enforcement overnight, and as you walk here in what really is still a crime scene, what questions do you have in this investigation?

DURBIN: A lot of questions, I know some information being careful, I don't want to say a word that could jeopardize the investigation or prosecution of the party responsible, I think we all know who that is.

But the bottom line is there are elements in this that should remind us, too many things come out of a pattern of these mass shootings. Instance of availability of these weapons, obviously. Beyond that, the question of domestic violence and the family, obviously.

Questions of whether this person has a history of abusing animals, one of the basics that psychologists bring up. There are certain tells we need to be sensitive to across America, that may foreshadow these type of events.

BERMAN: Senator Dick Durbin, thank you for being here. Thank you for being with this community and this time. Appreciate it.

DURBIN: Sorry to be here.

BERMAN: Be well.

Brianna?

KEILAR,: So, Berman, next, we're going to be joined by a mother whose daughter was part of the parade, she was in it, and she's going to share how they both escaped the gunfire.

And WNBA star Brittney Griner's coach asks why she is still stuck in a Russian prison. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANESSA NYGAARD, PHOENIX MERCURY HEAD COACH: It is a statement about the value of women. It's a statement about the value of Black persons. It's a statement about the value of the gay persons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:28:43]

BERMAN: Welcome back. I'm John Berman in Highland Park, Illinois.

This was the parade route where yesterday for the July 4th celebration, hundreds of people marched past here, right down this street, and then a shooter opened fire, killing six, wounding 25 more.

Joining me and Wendy and (AUDIO GAP).Wendy was watching the parade, just (AUDIO GAP) shadow of where the shooter opened fire.

And, Lindsey, I know you were marching in the parade.

Wendy, let me start with you, first of all, this is your first time back since it all took place. You said it was hard.

WENDY EMANUEL APPLE, EYEWITNESS TO HIGHLAND PARK, IL PARADE SHOOTING: Really hard to be back. Very hard to see all the overturned chairs and to remember how wonderful it was at the beginning of the parade, and what a great day it was going to be for families and neighbors to see each other and get together and how quickly it really turned.

BERMAN: It happened right on top of you.

EMANUEL APPLE: Right on top of us, yeah. I was with my parents, my cousins, my siblings, nephews, catching up, having fun, watching the early, you know, fire trucks and things go by that everybody is excited about, it just happened in an instant.

BERMAN: Lindsey was marching. And we'll get to you. I want to hear from you in a minute. First, what strikes me is not knowing where your daughter is, you hear gunshots. What was that moment like?