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First Trump Election Interference Hearing After Immunity Ruling; Fourteen-Year-Old Student Accused of Killing 2 Classmates, 2 Teachers; Teacher at Apalachee High School Describes New School Security System that Led to Arrest of Student Gunman. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 05, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Interestingly that the U.S. government is not generally given a heads up or notified by the Venezuelan government when U.S. citizens are detained. So it's also unclear here just how the U.S. government found out about this service member's detention.

Bu at a moment of extreme tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela, this is obviously not a welcome development given that Venezuela has detained Americans in the past. The Biden administration has been able to get roughly 19 Americans out of Venezuelan detention over the last several years. But this being a U.S. service member, he's obviously going to be a higher value target for the Venezuelan government at this time, particularly after the U.S. government took that very dramatic step of seizing Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro's plane earlier this week, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, concern and unanswered questions at this tense time. Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much for that.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: A community shattered and grieving after a deadly school shooting, two students and two teachers killed in a Georgia school. The new details we're learning thing about the 14- year-old suspect. And we will talk with both a teacher and a student from Apalachee High School about those terrifying moments. That student was sitting right next the alleged gunman before the shooting started.

I'm Sara Sider with John Berman. Kate Bolduan is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: All right, any moment now, the 14-year-old suspect in a Georgia school shooting could make his first court appearance where he is expected to face murder charges as an adult. This morning, questions about how he got an AR-15. A little more than a year ago, law enforcement visited the house, his house, concerned about postings on social media connected to the suspect. The parents said he did not have access to guns. The victims are being remembered today, two students, two teachers

beloved by the community. With us now former FBI agent Josh Campbell. But first, CNN's Nick Valencia, live on the scene. Nick, what's the latest from there?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chilling new details this morning about the alleged gunman, a 14-year-old identified as a student here at Apalachee High School, somebody who was known to law enforcement. We'll have more on that in just a moment. But we're also learning about the caliber weapon that was used, an AR-15 style weapon used in yesterday's shooting, as we're learning more about these victims.

Four victims in all, two of them teachers, two of them students here, those two students just 14-years-old, one of them identified as 14- year-old Mason Schermerhorn along with his classmate, Christian Angulo, who is also 14. Those two teachers identified as Christina Irimie, who is 53 years old, a math teacher here at Apalachee High School, and another teacher here, coach Richard Aspinwal, 39-years- old, a beloved football coach here, defensive coordinator for the Wildcat football team. They had actually a game scheduled on Friday. We don't know the status of that.

But in addition to those that were killed, there was also nine that were injured, eight students and one adult. And it was yesterday afternoon that we were reporting about that one adult who was shot in the stomach and in surgery. We're still waiting on getting an update on that condition, but the atmosphere here around Barrow County here in Winder is very heavy. That tragedy that struck here in that school behind me, as we're learning more from students who were eyewitnesses to yesterday's shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE FOLJAR, STUDENT AT APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL: I heard like for loud gunshots or bangs in the middle somewhere around the middle of the school, and then we all just looked at each other, and we got -- some of them grabbed their phones because in a cubby thing. And then we ran to the bathroom, some in the closet, and locked ourselves for like 15, 20 minutes. Then the cops came, and they told us that we can open the door and to come out. But we didn't want to until they unlocked in case.

I was scared, thinking what if there's one in middle school too, because I have my sister over there. And I was nervous, trying to calm down some friends because they were panicking. And I just had to stay strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: The big question this morning, when will we see that 14- year-old make his first court appearance? And how did he get his hands on that AR-15? John?

BERMAN: All right, Nick standby. Let's go to Josh Campbell. Josh, let's get a sense in your mind of what's happening in the investigation right now and the major questions. JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the key part, John,

is trying to get to that motive. This is a unique situation in that this is a shooting that resulted in the suspect being taken alive. So often we see the suspect shot and killed by law enforcement. Sometimes they kill themselves. And so if this individual is willing to cooperate with authorities, perhaps they can glean what the potential motive was.

[08:05:00]

Now, the motive isn't necessary, in my opinion, for this case. I'm sure that there's enough while witness testimony, perhaps surveillance footage inside the school. But authorities certainly want to know what the motive is, the victim family members, they certainly want to know. And it also helps to try to allow law enforcement to prevent the next one.

Now, speaking of prevention, there are two other unique aspects about this case. First, technology. Just one week before this mass shooting, this school had installed a panic button style system, which essentially alerts law enforcement that there's a potential threat, sends the school into lockdown. And then secondly, we know that there were school resource officers who were on scene who bravely rushed in and confronted the gunman. So having both of those type of prevention efforts on site likely saved lives.

And then it's worth pointing out that two things can be true. While there were no doubt brave actions by law enforcement on that day, there are serious questions for law enforcement about what transpired before the shooting. We know the FBI came out and said that they had received tips last year regarding some type of anonymous threat. They boarded that two local law enforcement who interviewed this suspect. They ultimately determined that there was not probable well cause to actually make an arrest.

But we've seen situations in the past where there were warning signs and missed signals. So although it looks like law enforcement did everything that they could, there are still serious questions, and I wouldn't be surprised if the inspector general's office at Department of Justice is going through and scrubbing to see what exactly transpired. In this country we trust but verify, because certainly this was an incident that resulted in loss of life. It's just tragic.

BERMAN: Law enforcement went to the house, they were told yes, there were guns there, but the child did not have access to them. That was more than a year ago. Josh Campbell, thank you for that reporting, to Nick Valencia as well. Sara?

SIDNER: All right, we are now going to speak with Stephen Kreyenbuhl. He joins me now. He's a teacher at Apalachee High School. Thank you so much for talking to us today. I'm really happy to see that you are safe right now, but I am really sorry to hear about this tragedy and the trauma that you're going to have to live with for the rest of your life.

Stephen, can you tell us a little bit about what you experienced, but also anything that you can tell us about the teachers and the students who were killed here, the victims of this, and the nine people who were shot.

STEPHEN KREYENBUHL, TEACHER AT APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL: Well, first and foremost, thank you for your thoughts and your concerns. I really appreciate it, and this community appreciates it as well.

The biggest thing I can say, that response was very fast from our SROs. Probably within a matter of probably 120 seconds after gunfire, the SROs responded to the individual and made sure that he was put into custody.

In regards to some of the teachers and students that were involved, it's tough. They were very, very important members of our community. They made a difference. They were there for their students each and every day. And it's going to be very, very hard and difficult to move forward from that.

SIDNER: Can you -- I think it's really remarkable, because we heard from school administrators, we heard from police that there is this new system that was put in place in your school just a week prior that the doors locked. So describe what that did and how that created a much, much safer and much less deadly incident this time around in the school.

KREYENBUHL: Yes, ma'am. So, I believe the program is called Synergecs (ph). Basically, every teacher has a little digital card on them where we can press a button where four presses gets our admin involved, and then eight presses of the button gets law enforcement sent to the high school and alerts that there is a physical threat on campus.

SIDNER: How important was it to have that in place? Not all schools have it certainly. How important was this? Because you said that officers got there about two minutes, 120 seconds, from the time of the initial shooting.

KREYENBUHL: Critical. I will tell you that I actually saw the lockdown initiate before I even heard gunshots, so I had time to prepare. Someone saw the threat even before he started to engage. So it's almost -- we knew before anything truly happened, before lives were taken. So it's insane the technology that we have access to, and we practice it quite a bit with our administration. They've done a great job in preparing our staff for these kinds of situations. And I just want to say God bless them for doing that and hard work that they put into those scenarios.

SIDNER: Yes, this is such an incredibly different scenario than what we saw in Texas, in Uvalde, where there were 77 minutes where there was really no stopping this gunman. In your case this happened so quickly, you have the technology in place.

What would you like to say to members of Congress, to your lawmakers, to those that have some power to perhaps make some changes, what would you like to say to them about having to go through this?

[08:10:04] You go to school to learn. You go to school to teach. You go to school to make friends and to be part of society. And every year, we're just at the beginning of the school year, here we are again, four people killed, nine people injured, including students and teachers.

KREYENBUHL: Yes, ma'am. The way I look at it from a very objective viewpoint is that a lot of people are grieving right now. A lot of people, to express their grief, they want to -- they want to cry, they want to hug their loved ones. They want to make sure that everyone is safe.

However, I think it's appropriate that other people, their response in grieving is activism, that they want to make a positive change in their community and whatever that might be. I hope that there is significant change throughout that hopefully will come in November, and I hope that more legislation can be done to hopefully prevent these situations and keep our children safe.

SIDNER: It sounds like the school took matters into their own hands and really put in a system that worked with the unfortunate and horrible realization that there are people who have been killed and injured. But it is very different from what has happened at other schools. Would you recommend this to other schools around the country?

KREYENBUHL: Yes, ma'am, without a doubt in my mind I think this program that Apalachee instilled upon us 100 percent save lives, without a doubt in my mind. I recommend it to any school district.

SIDNER: Stephen Kreyenbuhl, thank you so much for taking the time. I know you are grieving. I know you're going through it, and we just appreciate you coming on and letting the country know what it is you and those in that school have gone through over the past 24 hours. Appreciate you.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, Donald Trump's legal team goes in front of a federal judge for the first time since the Department and of Justice revise the indictment against him in the federal election subversion case. We've got new reporting on the strategy.

Muted microphones, no notes, and a bottle of water, just days until the big debate between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

And then new video of an asteroid bouncing off of Earth's atmosphere. We've got new details on just how close it got to us. Wow, that seems like to close. How nervous should we be here?

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[08:17:00]

SIDNER: Less than two hours from now, Donald Trump's legal team and special counsel Jack Smith, will go before a federal judge for Trumps election interference case.

It's the first hearing since the Supreme Court ruled that Trump has broad presidential immunity. That ruling led the special counsels team to finally revised indictment. Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to decide where the case goes from here with the November election now, just two months away.

CNN chief legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid is joining us now from outside the court. What are we expecting to hear in this hearing today?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, good morning, Sara. It's been quite a while since we have been at federal court for this case. As you said, this is the first hearing since the Supreme Court issued its opinion that limits what the special counsel can charge Trump with and what evidence they can use to support that and in their revised indictment last week or they did remove some of the evidence that they had previously included, but they did not eliminate any of the charges that Trump is facing here.

Now, there are no cameras in the courtroom. Trump is not here today. He is not required it to be, but I'll tell you what's going to happen. The judge is going to have a plan.

Judge, Tanya Chutkan, she is no nonsense. She will have read everything they've submitted and she will have a roadmap of questions that she will ask a both sides. And I think there we may get some indication of how this case will proceed because that's really the big issue today.

What is the next step? What does the schedule look like? I'm told from a source, familiar with the Trump legal strategy that they believe a win today is just getting any significant hearings pushed off until after November.

Now, the special counsel, they have not given any specifics about their preferred plan, but they also have not agreed to what the defense has proposed so now it's up to the judge.

SIDNER: All right, so, you talking about the Trump team. As any defense team would be trying to push this further and further. Hopefully, for them past the election, right?

Is there a chance this doesn't go to trial or if it does, when might that happen? It's not going to happen before the election, correct?

REID: That is the one thing everyone agrees on. I think, Sara, is that and this is not going to go to trial before the election. If Trump is re-elected, this case will go away along with them Mar-a-Lago documents case, both federal prosecutions, Trump would certainly have his attorney just general dismiss both of them. They'd go away.

But if he is not re-elected, the timeline that were looking at that is likely a trial that wouldn't even start until next fall because I'm told by my sources this case isn't going to trial if it goes to trial without at least one more trip to the Supreme Court because there are a lot of questions that they're going to be litigating over the next few months about which evidence can and cannot come in and whoever loses that argument here at the trial court, they're certainly going to go back to the Supreme Court because sources close to this case say that the two sides believe there's sort of an implicit invitation in the Supreme Court's opinion to come back with additional questions related to presidential immunity.

So, if this case survives, the Supreme Court's scrutiny, scrutiny by the judge here the trial court, the earliest a trial would go forward is in the fall.

[08:20:06]

SIDNER: Okay. We've heard a couple of things from Donald Trump. One, he did an interview where he said that he should have been allowed to interfere in the election. But on Tuesday, we heard something very different. The former president went on a podcast and acknowledged that he lost the 2020 election. You do not hear that often. Could these things make an impact in this particular case?

REID: I have that same question. So, I made a round of calls yesterday to my sources. I'm told again by people familiar with the Trump legal strategy, they don't believe that Trumps comments about losing the election by a, "whisker" would factor in here.

They don't believe that comments like that would enter into a case like this, but Sara, Jack Smith may have different ideas. So, even when they get closer to the trial, there is possibly some way that they could try to introduce those comments, but they're not contemporaneous to the alleged conduct.

And really, the bigger argument is over what he was told at the time, right? The Trump team is going to try to exclude what Bill Barr was telling him, saying, that's an official act, got to toss it out to the Supreme Court. Same thing with conversations he had with Mike Pence, they're going to try to toss those.

That's really the key evidence around his frame of mind at the time. It's going to make or break this case. Not I am told what he's saying right now on the campaign trail.

SIDNER: All right we will wait and see if Jack Smith decides and try to include some of that. But for the meantime, there's plenty to do now. We will check in with you after the hearing happens. Thank you so much, Paula Reid, appreciate it.

All right. Ahead. New details this morning on warning signs about the Georgia school shooter who killed four people, two teachers, and two 14-year-olds. We'll hear from a student in class with him just before he opened fire.

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[08:26:01]

BERMAN: Any moment now, the 14-year-old suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting is expected to make his first court appearance. The alleged gunman is expected to face murder charges as an adult. Classes have been cancelled at the school for the rest of the week. With us now is Lyela Sayarath, a student at Apalachee High School who

was sitting next to the alleged shooter before this incident all took place.

Laila, thanks so much for being with us. I know you spoke to CNN a couple of times yesterday. You had a chance hopefully to get some sleep tonight. I just want to check in with you. How are you doing this morning?

LYELA SAYARATH, STUDENT AT APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL: I'm doing a little bit better. It definitely hits you harder like when you're asleep.

BERMAN: It's a lot to process, right?

SAYARATH: Yes.

BERMAN: So you were sitting next to the alleged shooter in class before this all happened? Walk us through what happened.

SAYARATH: So, I get there this morning inside a period like usual and I saw him in his seat next to mine and I went to sit down and unpack my bag and I'm just talking to my friends like usual and sometime between the beginning of class, he gets up and leaves.

I presumed he'll go to the bathroom, but he skips usually, so it's you never know where he's going but he's in the bathroom and I'm just in class as normal and we're working and my friend goes to the bathroom and a little bit later and (sure) he comes in looking for them, well one of them and they mistake my friend for him and they take my friend like his bag and a little bit later, he comes back in with his bag and I had asked him like, oh, what happened and he was like, oh, I don't know. They were looking for the kid that sits next to, you not me.

And we just continued class like normal. And my teacher is teaching and she gets to call the intercom to check her e-mail. And so she goes to check her e-mail and then she comes back and it's a little bit of back-and-forth until she's just at her computer and they are talking over the intercom and he knocks at the door and she like, she sees him like, we all see him and she had said like two people over the intercom that she's talking to like, oh, he's here and they went to like, let him in the door, but likely backed off and when they backed off, you could just see him turn to my right and then you just hear gunshots.

BERMAN: So it seems like he was trying to get back into your classroom. Was turned away in then you heard shooting.

SAYARATH: Yes.

BERMAN: What was that like?

SAYARATH: -- feel real, like, this doesn't really feel real, like all of it that happened.

BERMAN: You had sat next to this kid for a while. Is there anything you would notice about him before or even yesterday morning? SAYARATH: Oh, no, he had never really spoken, if he did speak to as

probably one word answer, the short answers, but he was quiet for the most part.

BERMAN: And, Lyela, did you know anyone who was in the classrooms where the shootings took place?

SAYARATH: Yes.

BERMAN: Did, you, know any of the victims?

SAYARATH: I don't think so, no.

BERMAN: How are your friends doing? Who were there and saw it all happen firsthand?

SAYARATH: They're struggling a little bit, but trying to be there for them and make sure that they're okay. But we're all just kind of, in one spot right now.

[08:30:20]