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What We Know with Max Foster

Elon Musk Loses Lawsuit Against OpenAI And Its Leaders; Global Effort To Contain Outbreak In D.R. Congo & Uganda; Iranians Urged To Prepare For War As Trump Issues New Threats; Cuban President Warns Of "Bloodbath" If U.S. Attacks; Trump: U.S. To "Hold Off" On Planned Attack Against Iran; Reports Of Active Shooter At Islamic Center Of San Diego. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 18, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:25]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: The world's richest man suffers a big defeat in court.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

Elon Musk losing his lawsuit against ChatGPT creator OpenAI. Musk, who helped co-found OpenAI, sued the company, alleging it had strayed from its

nonprofit mission and turned into a for profit company. But a jury in California shut down the suit, saying Musk brought the case against OpenAI

and its CEO, Sam Altman too late.

Joining me now, CNN's artificial intelligence correspondent Hadas Gold.

Hadas, thanks for joining us.

Actually, it wasn't really tested, was it? From what I can read, this was just a case that ran out of time effectively.

HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. They didn't really actually decide on the merits of the e case, but the jury and the judge found in

this case that Musk just waited too long, that the statute of limitations had passed. There were three weeks of testimony. We heard from some of the

biggest names in tech. There were hundreds of pieces of evidence brought in from text messages, internal emails, call notes from some of the -- some of

these big names in tech, and then ended up taking the jury just under two hours to decide that Elon Musk waited too long, that the statute of

limitations in this case had passed.

And so therefore, they wouldn't even decide on his other claims of breach of charitable trust or unjust enrichment in this case, because, remember,

he brought this case against OpenAI and its leadership, named Microsoft as a codefendant, saying that they unjustly enriched themselves when they

transitioned to OpenAI from being originally a nonprofit to its current for profit structure, still run by a nonprofit foundation.

And the judge agreed with the jury's decision. She said that there's a substantial amount of evidence to support the jury's findings, which is why

I was prepared to dismiss on the spot. So, you might say, why did they go through all of that testimony in order to just decide, within less of two

hours, the statute of limitations had passed? Well, the judge said she believes that trials are an important part of our democracy for everybody

to get to make their case.

OpenAI, of course, is celebrating this ruling. This means that their plans can continue on without being challenged, without being changed. There is

an expectation they will try to go for a huge IPO, likely sometime later this year. They are already one of the most valuable tech companies in the

world, and had they lost this case, that could have scrambled those plans because Elon Musk was seeking -- one of his remedies was that OpenAI would

revert back to being a nonprofit. Can't really have an IPO as a nonprofit necessarily.

Now those claims can continue. OpenAI attorney saying after court that the finding of the jury confirms that this lawsuit was a hypocritical attempt

to sabotage a competitor. We have not heard yet from Elon Musk himself or from his representatives, other than his lawyer saying that they do plan to

appeal this decision -- Max.

FOSTER: Yeah, I'm sure it's not the end of it. Thank you so much.

Now the race is on to contain the latest outbreak. Outbreak of Ebola declared as a public health emergency of international concern by the World

Health Organization. The Africa Centers for Disease Control report more than 100 suspected deaths have now been linked to the virus in the

Democratic Republic of Congo. Cases have also been confirmed in Uganda.

The U.S. CDC has invoked a public health law called Title 42, which restricts entry into the country due to outbreaks of diseases. The order

applies to non-U.S. passport holders if they have been in D.R. Congo, Uganda or South Sudan during the last 21 days.

The U.S. will also enhance public health screening and monitor travelers arriving from areas affected by the outbreak.

Let's get more from our medical correspondent Meg Tirrell who's in New York for us.

So, Ebola outbreaks do happen. What's different and what's so concerning about this one, Meg?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are a few things. One thing that's different is it's a different strain. It's called the

Bundibugyo strain. This has only been seen in two prior large outbreaks, both in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Uganda, where this outbreak

is.

But the other thing that's very concerning about this outbreak is just its size. It was only really reported to the world's attention a few days ago.

Already, the World Health Organization has declared it a public health emergency of international concern. That's a designation it reserves

extraordinary events where there is an international implication and it requires international coordination.

Now, it doesn't necessarily mean this is going to spread globally, but already, of course, it has crossed borders. There are concerns that it will

spread more in the region. We also do know, just from a CDC call last hour, that an American has tested positive for Ebola due to work that they were

doing in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

[15:05:00]

And that American is being moved to Germany for care and treatment, along with six other high-risk contacts.

Now, the CDC didn't give any information about this person other than saying that they were working in the country. However, an international aid

group called Serge said that a missionary physician was confirmed positive with Ebola. They said that earlier today.

And so, it appears that this is a physician who is working there, now being moved to Germany for treatment. But this is already very, very large

outbreak. There are concerns we don't have a handle on its scope, that it could be much wider spread than even we've seen so far. And with this

strain, we don't have a vaccine or treatments to address it, whereas we do have a vaccine for the more common form of Ebola called the Zaire strain.

And so, there are a lot of parts here. It's moving very fast. That's causing a lot of concern among the international health community -- Max.

FOSTER: Meg, thank you so much.

Let's get more on the efforts then to contain the outbreak. Larry, following developments for us from Nairobi.

You've covered these cases before, Larry. How did this spread so quickly without people noticing on the ground there?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's going to be one of the questions here. It appears to have been spreading within the community for a few

weeks before it was detected and confirmed. The first patient zero was reported about a month ago. And this region where this epicenter is in

Ituri, northeastern DRC, is at war. So a lot of the people that live there travel to neighboring countries frequently, South Sudan, Uganda, and

Rwanda. That is why this entire region right now on high alert. Rwanda is saying it is adding extra vigilance at its borders, more checks to make

sure that no symptomatic patients are getting across.

Uganda has been at pains to say that this is not a Ugandan outbreak, that the two confirmed cases in Uganda are both Congolese. One person died and

was sent back across the border to Congo. The other is under treatment in Uganda. There is no local infection in that country.

But that does not stop the U.S. from declaring a travel ban. Anybody who's been in any of those three countries, DRC, Uganda or South Sudan, not

allowed in the U.S. over the last -- over the next 21 days.

But this is the 17th outbreak of Ebola in the DRC. So why does it always happen in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

Here's one public health expert.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMED OGWELL, CEO, VILLAGEREACH: Some of the populations actually eat bats. And therefore, the exposure to the Ebola virus is much, much higher

in the belt across central part of Africa, and particularly in the DRC, where Ebola virus was first characterized in 1976. And that communication

between the human population and the fruit bat in the forest continues. And any time that a fruit bat has the Ebola virus, then the human being is

exposed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have become reasonably good at containing these viruses, but there is still some stigma

around treatment. The health minister and the DRC is on the ground appealing to people who are showing symptoms to come out and get treated.

They've set up three treatment centers.

The World Health Organization saying it's sent 12 tons of medical equipment and supplies. Over the past 24 hours alone, it's sent extra first

responders as well from the WHO and from the Ministry of Health in the DRC. The U.S. CDC also sending in extra support, extra equipment.

So this is an all-out effort to contain the spread of this in the region, because viruses don't have visas, viruses don't respect borders, if the DRC

cannot contain this, it will get all around the world whether or not there are travel bans. That is the reason why this has got to be a whole

international effort, Max, to make sure that the virus does not spread. And if there's people within the community when it was spreading who are

showing symptoms, authorities are asking them to show up for treatment as quickly as possible.

FOSTER: Yeah, of course. Larry, thank you so much for that.

Now, a source tells CNN Iran's latest proposal to end the war didn't offer significant concessions on some of the big sticking points, including

nuclear enrichment. U.S. President Donald Trump expected to meet his national security team this week for the second time in just a few days. On

Sunday, he warned Iran that they, quote, better get moving fast or there won't be anything left of them. Iran has maintained that it will be ready

if the U.S. decides to resume military operations.

Now, some Iranians are preparing for that possibility.

CNN operates in Iran only with government permission, but retains full editorial control of what it reports from there.

Here's our chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across Iran, the tension and the rhetoric is getting stronger. Thousands

have been gathering every night for state-sponsored rallies, mobilizing supporters against the United States.

[15:10:03]

CHANCE: How concerned are you that the war may start again soon?

TIANA, RALLY ATTENDEE: Concern --

CHANCE: Worried?

TIANA: I'm not worried. Why should I be worried? Because I'm so ready to sacrifice my life for my country and for my people. So, no, I'm not worried

at all, at all.

CHANCE (voice-over): This man's sign reads nuclear technology missiles are as important as borders. Key sticking points installed peace talks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need nuclear. Nuclear not for the bomb -- peaceful - -

CHANCE (voice-over): Still amid escalating threats from the White House, ordinary Iranians are now being urged to prepare for war.

CHANCE: Well, these rallies or gatherings have been taking place every single night for the past several weeks, and so they're not new, but what

is new is the introduction of weapons, and these kiosks have been set up in each of these sort of squares, where members of the military, there, you

can see them with masks on.

They're showing people, in this case a woman, basic skills of how to use what I think is an AK 47 or a Kalashnikov, and things like that. Look over

here, they're showing children how to use them as well, it's all part of a sort of state-sponsored call to arms in case the war begins again.

CHANCE (voice-over): It's all guns on state television too, and several Iranian channels broadcasting their hosts brandishing assault rifles. They

gave me a weapon, so I could learn how to use it, like you, this anchor tells her viewers.

After his on-air training, this presenter fires off a round into the ceiling -- but not all Iranians are gunning for a fight. Just around the

corner from the rally hints at the diversity of views about their country's plight.

CHANCE: Well, it's a very different atmosphere in this part of town. People are sitting with their partners, having coffees. Strolling around

the bookstores or just hanging out with their friends. And if you talk to people, you get very different views as well. You know, people didn't want

to talk on camera, but off camera. One woman said to me, she just wanted peace and freedom. Another one said she wanted to live in a normal country

where there was a potential future for her children.

CHANCE (voice-over): But Iran's future to many Iranians looks increasingly clear, especially amid regular threats from President Trump.

CHANCE: Waiting for the war.

FATIMA, RALLY ATTENDEE: We're waiting. We are here because we know this war isn't over. We know he's not negotiating. He's not going to negotiate

anything. He's just going to be like, either you do what I tell you or I'm going to kill you again.

And it may be that bleak sense of inevitability drowning out in voices compromise.

Matthew Chance, CNN, in Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Just in CNN, U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. will hold off on a planned military attack against Iran now. Mr. Trump says the U.S.

had scheduled an attack against Iran for tomorrow. But that's now off the table after Gulf leaders suggested Iran was close to accepting a deal to

end the conflict.

Now to a bleak milestone in Lebanon, 3,000 people there have been killed in Israeli attacks since March the 2nd, according to the Lebanese Health

Ministry. Officials say more than 200 of the dead are children. The death toll has gone up, despite a ceasefire that went into effect about a month

ago. Israeli forces continue to strike what they say are Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. More than 9,000 people have been injured in the same timeframe.

Now, Cuba's president has warned of a possible bloodbath if the United States launches military action against his country. Miguel Diaz Canal says

that Cuba poses no threat to the United States, but it has the right to defend itself. He says there could be, quote, incalculable consequences if

Cuba was attacked.

Patrick Oppmann is in Havana.

I mean, is this based on some new intel, Patrick?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So tensions are rising by the day here. And of course, over the weekend, there was an "Axios" report saying

that Cuba possesses about 300 attack drones and mentioned some intelligence, which is, you know, It's certainly being disputed here in

Cuba that the island was looking at doing some kind of attack against U.S. forces, whether at the Guantanamo Navy Base or actually in the U.S.

mainland.

[15:15:04]

That is something that, you know, Cuban officials throughout the years have said would never happen. They know that's suicide. They want to stay in

power, of course, Max. And so attacking a larger, technologically sophisticated country like the U.S. that has a modern military, something

Cuban really does not, would be game over for them. And that's something that officials here certainly, certainly realize.

But, you know, you, you do feel more and more there's pretext for war being created and certainly in Miami the capital for Cuban exiles There's a sense

like never before that the regime is on its final legs and a lot of excitement about that as well. There's reports now confirmed by CNN that US

federal prosecutors are seeking indictment against former Cuban leader Raul Castro

And we have to point out that you know, he's much more than a former president. He's not only a Castro He's one of the few surviving members of

the generation that fought the Cuban revolution, and he is the ultimate power broker still on this island at age 94. All important decisions, we

are told, continue to go through him.

So an indictment of Raul Castro for a shoot-down of some planes that came from the United States in 1996, 30 years ago, more than 30 years ago, a

case that has been dormant until now that it apparently has gotten new life. That would really be game over, it seems like, for negotiations

between Cuba and the U.S., they have not progressed very much, but we have seen talks still gone, the latest last week with the CIA director coming

here, with Cuban intelligence officials.

So this idea that if Raul Castro were to be indicted, the U.S. is actively seeking an indictment for him. And certainly later this week, we expect

some word on that, if that is to happen. It would really be impossible to imagine how negotiations progress after something like that, because it

would be seen to be laying the ground, like we saw in Venezuela, for the U.S. to try to take further actions, potentially try to capture and try

Raul Castro, as unbelievable as that would be.

But Cuban officials have said that while they would never attack the United States, any attack on this island would have immediate consequences and

lead to a large loss of life.

FOSTER: Okay, Patrick, thank you.

So, race case time in the Maldives. After the break, we'll update you on the hazardous mission to recover four scuba divers. We'll have the details

after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:29]

FOSTER: Expert divers have now located the bodies of four missing people who were killed in last week's scuba tragedy in the Maldives. Five Italian

divers died whilst exploring maze-like underwater caves. It's unclear what went wrong, but strong currents and complete darkness make diving there

extremely difficult. A local military diver was killed on Saturday during a recovery mission into those caves.

Barbie Nadeau reports on the latest operation and what comes next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Well, it really is in many ways kind of a worst-case scenario, because this cave is very deep, some 70 meters or

230 feet at its deepest part, and that is exactly where they found the bodies. Now, it had been very much a question going in whether or not it's

worth it to risk the lives of more of the rescue divers to retrieve bodies of people who are already dead, and that was a question that was being

played out when these elite Finnish divers, part of this European group of cave divers who specialize in this sort of recovery and rescue sorts of

situations.

They were contemplating that this morning. They just arrived in the Maldives this morning. They weren't able to do to dive past the

decompression line because they had just flown and they were planning to go do a sort of a safety assessment later today or early tomorrow and then

tomorrow potentially go deep. Now they've got to rethink everything because it's about retrieving the bodies, whether or not they're really going to be

able to take the risk to go down there if they have the sort of apparatuses, mechanics, robots, things like that that can retrieve the

bodies.

Of course the families of these four people including a mother and daughter, so you've got the father and husband there, are just you know

really at their wits and they want those bodies back but of course they also don't want anyone else to die in this really horrific and terrible in

paradise situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Barbie there.

So what we want to know is why did this diving expedition go so tragically wrong?

Joining me now is Laura Marroni, CEO of Divers Alert Network in Europe, a diving safety organization.

Laura, thank you so much for joining us.

I mean, the depths --

LAURA MARRONI, CEO, DIVERS ALERT NETWORK EUROPE: Thank you for having me.

FOSTER: -- appears to have been the key issue, right? So leisure divers shouldn't be going to that depth effectively.

MARRONI: Well, in reality, we as a safety organization sustain that divers should go to the depths to which they're trained to go. You know, that

there are multiple kind of courses that you can do to learn diving and you can learn to dive deep, but it requires extensive experience and training.

So, of course, it means exposing yourself to higher risks and that's why it has to be done consciously.

FOSTER: The organizers of this mission, they may not have been aware, presumably, that the divers were going that deep when they were down there?

MARRONI: We don't know precisely the dynamics of what happened, and we don't have details about the certifications of these divers. We know that

usually the Maldives are not known for deep diving or cave diving, and usually people don't dive deeper than 30 meters. Also, because there's a

law in the Maldives that prohibits people from diving deeper, unless they have special permits like for scientific research, which is one of the

hypotheses in place at the moment, because one of the victims was a professor of the University of Genoa in Italy, and she was studying marine

biology.

So, apparently, the dive was also part of a scientific expedition, but there are still not a lot of details about it.

FOSTER: The weather conditions, no doubt, played into this as well.

Well, it's rain season in the Maldives at the moment, so yes, weather can change very quickly. You can start with a very nice day and end up with

strong winds and currents and rain. Dive conditions at the beginning of this dive were reported to be good and then eventually changed towards like

later.

However, this is probably -- this was probably not amongst the causes of the accident in this case.

[15:25:08]

FOSTER: Okay, we need more information, don't we? But a tragedy nevertheless.

Laura, thank you for joining us.

We're going to get back to our breaking news now, because U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. will hold off on a planned military attack

against Iran. Mr. Trump says the U.S. had scheduled an attack against Iran for tomorrow.

Kristen Holmes joins us from the White House.

Were you aware of this move tomorrow, Kristen?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, but it is clear that President Trump has grown increasingly more frustrated. I mean, U.S.

officials have been telling us that it's not just the frustration with the fact that the negotiations are going so slowly, but also overall with the

closure of the Strait of Hormuz, that he has been increasingly frustrated at the impact this is having on the global oil market and what this means

moving forward for Americans and the price of oil here.

And one of the things we'd also been told from U.S. officials was that this latest response from Iran, that the U.S. did not believe that it made

enough concessions, that they, specifically a sticking point, which of course, Max has been the sticking point now for several weeks, if not

months, has been over this enrichment of uranium and what exactly that looks like and whether or not it will be halted, and if they are halting it

for how long. The U.S. had originally said 20 years. Iran said that was a red line.

Now, this post, he says that he heard this from his allies, that negotiations were in a better place, saying that he spoke to the leaders or

was asked by the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE not to complete the scheduled strike that he says because these serious

negotiations were going through and a deal might be reached.

And, Max, I mean, the big question is one. Well, two big questions. One is this idea that we just heard from U.S. officials saying that the latest

proposal doesn't go strong enough. Now, moments later, you're hearing from President Trump saying we're canceling this because deals are going so

well. I mean, what happened in between in this very small amount of time.

And two, what makes us different than every other time we have seen something like this happen, in which President Trump has said, okay, we're

not going to do X, Y, Z with Iran because a deal is right on the precipice. And then we end up in the exact same place.

So we'll see. We're going to see President Trump in just a few moments. He's going to be potentially even taking questions, so hopefully we'll get

a chance to ask him himself. But it's just unclear what changed in this small amount of time and why President Trump would believe that this time

was different, when we just haven't seen much of a change at all.

In fact, the U.S., these officials were saying that this latest proposal made almost no concessions at all in what they wanted Iran to be making

concessions on.

FOSTER: But the Middle Eastern leaders, or the Gulf leaders at least, seems to think there is some progress. So a bit of a disconnect there.

HOLMES: Exactly. And we don't -- I mean, we do know that originally it had just been the Pakistanis that were negotiating. We do know that these

Middle Eastern leaders have been involved in some of the negotiations. It does seem as though Pakistan has still been elite negotiator, but instead

now you involve these other countries that have kind of been part of this. Turkey is also one of those countries that has been participating in some

of these negotiations.

But, again, one of the other things President Trump says here is that he told his military leaders not to go through with the attack, but have

further instructed them to be prepared to go with a full large-scale assault on Iran at a moment's notice in the event that an acceptable deal

is not reached.

Of course, another thing we'll be asking, what is the timeline for that? When do they decide whether or not an acceptable deal has been reached?

FOSTER: OK, Kristen, thanks a lot.

Now, still to come, containing the Ebola outbreak, how might things be different today if the U.S. had not dismantled its international aid

operation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:14]

FOSTER: Returning to our top story, the global effort to slow the spread of Ebola, the U.S. imposed new travel restrictions today. That means extra

screening for people who have visited Ebola-impacted countries. It comes amid rising questions about how the U.S. is handling this outbreak.

Now, Elon Musk's DOGE cutbacks early in President Trump's second term cut all funding towards Ebola prevention. Then Musk said he wanted to restore

that. The USAID official sent a memo more than a year ago warning the U.S. cutbacks would lead to surges in disease like Ebola, malaria and avian flu.

And a recent medical study projected that U.S. cuts to humanitarian aid would likely lead to almost 10 million deaths over the next half decade.

What we don't know is how prepared is the global aid community for this Ebola outbreak.

Joining me now is Jeremy Konyndyk. He is at the USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and is now the president of the Refugees Council.

Thank you for joining us.

We do seem to have a different strain and a different pace to this outbreak, so that's why it's a bigger concern, am I right?

JEREMY KONYNDYK, PRESIDENT, REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL: Yeah, this outbreak is much larger at point of first confirmation than the 2018 outbreak in the

same region of Congo, which ultimately killed 2,300 people, or even the enormous 2014 outbreak in West Africa that killed almost 12,000.

And in addition to that, of course, the response architecture that the world used to have, USAID, the CDC global teams are -- well, USAID is gone,

CDC is badly weakened, and the World Health Organization has also been badly weakened by budget cuts. So we're starting in the hole on those

fronts, and we don't have a vaccine for this, which we did for the Ebola Zaire strain.

FOSTER: And it's already moving, isn't it, moving into other countries in the region, and obviously, Foreigners there are hoping to come back,

presumably. So how is this going to be managed globally, do you think?

KONYNDYK: Well, there's the what to do and then there's the how to do it. In terms of what to do, we know that. This is not the first time we've seen

Ebola. This is not the first time we've seen Ebola in Eastern Congo. And while we don't have vaccines in the toolkit for this strain, that's not

that different from West Africa in 2014, and we figured out ways to scale the response despite that.

The challenge here is that all of the tools that we used in the international architecture are either gone or badly weakened due to funding

cuts and most particularly the U.S. funding cuts and the U.S. decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization.

[15:35:03]

If President Trump decided this was a big concern and he wanted to pile money back in, how much difference would that make? Because presumably the

people aren't there to actually use the resource if they get it.

KONYNDYK: It would -- it would certainly help WHO. WHO will badly need resources right now. Their budget is very tapped out. Their emergency

reserve fund is almost empty. And so they need resources, and they could put them to very, very good and efficient use.

I think the challenge on the U.S. side is that all of the U.S. programs that USAID once funded in Eastern Congo through its humanitarian portfolio

and its global health programs, almost all of that has been shut down. And so, that would be very hard to reactivate on the fly at a time like this.

FOSTER: Do you think that's part of the problem here in the way it was spotted so late?

KONYNDYK: I think so. We will come with a better understanding of that as more information comes out about how this outbreak first emerged. But if

you go back a few years, the U.S. had a very robust active portfolio --

FOSTER: Jeremy, I do apologize, because we're going to switch to my colleagues who are covering an active shooting in the U.S.

KONYNDYK: Okay.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: -- at least reports of an active shooter. Authorities now appear to be going through that building, bringing

people out.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right, Josh, if you can stand by for us. Let's bring in former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. Ed, as you're

seeing these pictures and we've seen law enforcement going in there single file with their long guns.

Tell us what you saw in that response there.

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, it's a clear tactical response to what appears to be a shooting situation. They have armored

personnel carriers there and a massive, massive police response. So it appears from the look of it that something is going on there.

Those units are using clearing techniques to go from room to room to make sure that that they're safe, that these rooms are safe. Hard to say how

many people they've evacuated from the scene, but it certainly looks like you have an actual incident.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And, Ed, I wonder, do you gauge what officials are doing here as a response to a situation that is under control or one

that is still active? Because it seemed at one point that they were raising their weapons and screening a certain area. So this appears to still be

unfolding as we're covering it, right?

DAVIS: It does appear that way. There are small tactical units of officers going door to door with their weapons, which is an indication that there's

still danger. So sometimes it takes a while to clear a situation like this.

If there was a shooting and there's a shooter holed up in an area that they can't get into, they're going to have to clear everything around it and

evacuate as many people as possible while at the same time they're dealing with whatever the threat was. So hard to say from outside. But this looks

very much like a like a very active scene.

KEILAR: A very active scene. So what are we looking for going forward here? Because, I mean, let's just be clear, Ed, we have very limited

information as we are getting these reports of an active shooter at the Islamic Center of San Diego.

We know that the governor has been looped in. The mayor has been looped in. But what are we looking for going forward, Ed?

DAVIS: Well, you know, in a large sense, if the threat has been abated, they'll start to peel off some of those patrol cars on the outer perimeter.

That's the thing I look for. Is anybody exiting?

It doesn't appear to be the case right now. And the other thing to look for are these tactical movements that you're seeing on the camera right now.

When you've got small units of police officers doing room clearing, then there's clearly still a threat going on.

The things you hope for is that the officers drop their weapons, holster their weapons, start to back off a little bit. That's an indication the

scene is stable. It doesn't appear as though that's the case there.

It looks like there is very much a threat and they're dealing with that threat right now, despite the fact that it's been a while. It takes a while

to have that many police cars respond to the scene. So, as I said, massive response of police, tactical vehicles, room clearing techniques.

These are all the earmarks of an active scene.

SANCHEZ: Ed and Josh, please stay with us. We're going to take a quick break as we gather more information.

DAVIS: Room clearing techniques. These are all the earmarks of an active scene.

SANCHEZ: Ed and Josh, please stay with us. We're going to take a quick break as we gather more information about these reports of an active

shooter at the Islamic Center of San Diego.

[15:40:06]

An enormous law enforcement presence, as you can see in these images taken moments ago.

We'll stay on top of this story and bring you the latest after a quick break. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: All right, we're following our breaking news. You can see it there, the huge police response in San Diego. There are reports of an

active shooter at the Islamic Center of San Diego.

Let's bring in Michael Alcazar, retired NYPD detective. Michael, we're now being told -- or hearing from authorities that this is an active but

contained situation.

[15:45:04]

What does that mean?

MICHAEL ALCAZAR, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: So, they're telling me that they breached the location. Law enforcement has breached the premises and they

potentially may have identified where the shooter is. So, we might be dealing with a barricade shooter.

So, the goal here is to extract all victims. Hopefully, they can move them safely and quickly while they contain the shooter. SANCHEZ: We're still

working to get details on who those victims may be and what status they might be in. We have not heard many details from law enforcement at this

point. In fact, we should go to Josh Campbell because, Josh, I understand you might be learning some new information.

CAMPBELL: Well, as you were just mentioning there as far as the containment, what that appears to tell us is that there's no longer a

threat beyond the area of the police cordon that we see around that area. What's happening right now on the screen is very important for us to watch.

We always glean a lot of information by watching the posture of law enforcement, seeing what they're doing.

You're seeing there in the parking lot there are officers that are staged. But what you're seeing here on the screen, and I want to point out for our

viewers that we put this on a delay, that's for officer safety here, is they're going around that area doing what are called room clearings.

They're essentially going.

They'll attempt to open a door. You have the first officer there that either opens or breaches the door, and then the rest of the team files in.

And this is something that we can likely expect them to do around this large complex.

This is something that is often the case whenever you have an active shooter situation. We don't always see it for ourselves, but one of the

things that law enforcement has to do before they rule out any ongoing threat is to clear that entire facility, and that's what we're seeing right

now. The major question we don't yet know is if there is indeed a suspect. If this was indeed an active shooter.

Authorities to this point have been calling it a reported active shooter. What is the status of a potential shooter? Is the person in custody? Was

there an exchange of gunfire? That's all the detail right now that we are still waiting to hear.

We do know that over the course of about the last 20 minutes they've been bringing numerous people out of that house of worship. This is a place

where Muslims come to worship according to the mosque. Five times a day they'll come. They have special sermons as well.

So it's a very active place where you have people from the Muslim faith in and around the area coming there on any given day, and we saw them coming

out, including children. But now, again, we're waiting for details on the particular status of a suspect if that's indeed the case. And, of course,

are there any victims? That is something that we're still waiting to hear as well.

The final point I'll note is that often in these very active situations people obviously want information. We want to know. But just look at the

law enforcement posture there. Their focus right now, as we can see, is on trying to determine what happened and trying to clear that area. So the

information may follow second to that, but obviously we're continuing to ask authorities about the latest.

We're waiting for additional information. All the local state government officials are saying they've been briefed on the situation right now.

Everyone is monitoring and waiting for the specific details about the nature of what actually occurred.

KEILAR: Yes, and we are being told that we're seeing, actually, in some of these pictures, really nervous parents who are lining the streets. They've

obviously gotten word of what has happened at this center that also is home to the Islamic School of San Diego. So you have children of all ages,

presumably, in that center.

It's a school that is housed on the campus of this center. So a lot of parents incredibly concerned. And there's a reunification center the San

Diego Police Department is reporting.

In the off chance that any parents are listening to this, on the Twitter account for the San Diego PD, you can find that information for where that

is, that reunification center.

Ed, that tells you something. If they're establishing the reunification center. Ed Davis, if you can join us. They're establishing this

reunification center. What does that tell you at this point in time?

DAVIS: The reunification center is a vital component of one of these incidents. While the police officers conduct their searches and secure the

areas, there are always concerned parents and relatives of the potential victims that are descending on the scene. So the police officers on the

perimeter need to stop the advance on the building by concerned people and have a safe place for them to go to congregate so that, first of all,

they're out of the line of fire.

But second of all, they're getting updated, immediate information from the scene so that they can be relieved that their relatives are going to be OK.

It's a way to put some control in a very chaotic situation, but it also gives you the ability to provide people with reassurance or sometimes

tragic information.

[15:50:06]

So there will be resources sent there on both sides of that equation so that people will be ready to deal with whatever eventuality occurs.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I just want to let our viewers know that we're sort of looping some of the images we captured moments ago. These are not live

images in part because there is concern that in an active shooting situation, somebody who's involved in this can flip on CNN and potentially

see the scene outside. So these are images taken moments ago, but we understand that this is still an ongoing and active, but as you see on your

screen, contained situation at the Islamic Center of San Diego.

I want to go back to Michael Alcazar because you were discussing a moment ago what it means that this is now an active but contained site. Take us

through the actual process of clearing rooms in this building and identifying where an active shooter might be.

ALCAZAR: So law enforcement is trained to push towards where the shooter is, right? And it sounds like by the reporting, they might have identified

a shooter. As Josh mentioned before, they don't stop there.

They contain one shooter. They're going to continue searching the building. They're going to go room by room, hallway by hallway to identify any

possible potential bad actors, and I'm assuming that's what they're doing now.

And that's it. And the idea is to contain the shooters, if not take them out, and then protect the safety of the victims on scene.

KEILAR: And, Michael, when you say contained, there are certainly a range of possibilities for what that could mean. In terms of the threat level,

does it tell us anything?

ALCAZAR: I mean, if the shooter's contained, that doesn't mean he's not armed. He could just have barricaded himself. That's a situation that

usually happens.

So if he's contained, the law enforcement, the squad, the emergency services responded are just keeping him at bay until he surrenders or they

take him out. So contained doesn't necessarily mean it's a safe situation. It's still volatile and fast-moving.

So police are doing their due diligence to maintain safety for everybody while at the same time keeping the shooter contained and at the location.

If he's barricaded in a room, perhaps, so they're going to keep him there until they evacuate everybody.

SANCHEZ: Ed, one of the things that strikes me about these images is the number of police vehicles outside. You can see that for a long stretch,

they dot the road that leads into and seemingly surrounds the Islamic Center. I wonder if you can glean something from the size of the response -

- if it gives you an indication of exactly what may have happened inside the center.

DAVIS: Yes, I've worked with the San Diego police over a long period of time, and it's an enormous police department. And the jurisdiction runs

almost down to the Mexico line all the way up to La Jolla. So this is right in the core of that geographic area or on the northern end of it.

But there are hundreds and hundreds of police cars available to them. And when something like this happens, everybody goes. It's just sort of raising

the alarm.

Every available resource in the city will head towards here, and I think that's what you're seeing. The question is, how far along in the process

are we? Some of the offices and the tactical vehicles appear to be standing down a little bit.

As Michael said, that might be a case of the shooter being isolated in a room where he has no easy gunshot capability, and they're just trying to

wait him out. Or he may have been killed. He may be in custody.

It's hard to say. This is still active. Ambulance is coming in.

It's hard to be clear on exactly what's going on inside that building.

KEILAR: Yes, a range of possibilities. But what we do know is this is a mosque in San Diego, the Islamic Center of San Diego, a very large mosque

that is also home to a school, the Islamic School of San Diego. And we have learned from police that there was an active shooter situation.

We're now being told, Boris, it's active but contained. But what we're watching here is just a huge police response, and we're getting word about

parents lining the street, incredibly concerned because there are a number of kids, obviously, who would be going to school here.

SANCHEZ: Yes, as we noted a moment ago, the campus includes the Islamic School of San Diego. From our experts, based on the movements that we've

seen from this helicopter video, it appears that law enforcement is in the process of attempting to clear rooms.

[15:55:05]

And as you heard a moment ago, active but contained. It could potentially mean that they've zeroed in on where the shooter is, though they're not

ruling out the possibility that there is perhaps more than one perpetrator.

A lot of news to get to. Of course, we're going to keep you updated with the latest as "THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT" begins after a quick break.

END

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