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Israel Begins Extensive Wave Of Attacks In Lebanon; Ukraine Says It Is Disabled A Third Of Russia's Black Sea Fleet; Police: Shots Fired At Kansas City Super Bowl Parade; Shots Fired During Kansas City Super Bowl Parade. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired February 14, 2024 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:32]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST: And the only rally seems to be fizzling out on Wall Street. The Dow is close to flat after trying to rebound from
yesterday's losses. Those are the markets and these are the main events/
Israel launches a wave of attacks in Lebanon saying it is going after Hezbollah terror targets. The US is concerned about possible escalation.
Uber and Lyft drivers are striking at major US airports hoping for better pay.
And the King of Bollywood reveals he always wanted to play James Bond or his nemesis. Shah Rukh Khan sits down with our very own Richard Quest.
Live from Atlanta, it is Wednesday, February 14th, also known as Valentine's Day. I'm Lynda Kincade, in for Richard Quest and this is QUEST
MEANS BUSINESS.
A very good, evening to you. Thanks for joining us.
Israel says its Air Force has begun an extensive wave of attacks in Lebanon. The IDF says, they are striking Hezbollah terror targets in
several areas. It follows a deadly rocket attack in the northern Israeli city of Safed, which the IDF said came from Lebanon.
Israel says one of its soldiers was killed in that strike. Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for that attack or commented about it.
Our Nic Robertson is following developments and joins us now from Tel-Aviv. Good to have you there for us, Nic.
So we are seeing is regional escalation, this tit-for-tat from Israel into Lebanon and Hezbollah firing back. Just explain what you know about the
details.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it is possible that there has been another Israeli air strike into Lebanon in the last
half an hour or so. Sources inside Lebanon are saying that there is a report of a strike in Nabataean.
Now, it is not clear if that has happened, but if it is, it is certainly in the range and area where Israel has hit five other targets that they say
are Hezbollah command and control and weapons system sites.
This comes after the targeting earlier on in the day Safed, which is a town close to a hill top, but significantly is where the main military bases for
all Israeli forces in the north of Israel along the border with Lebanon, the northern command is what they call it.
And the targeting there, as you said, one soldier killed, a reservist badly, seriously injured taken to an Israeli hospital for medical
treatment and underwent surgery there. We know as well, one other person had moderate injuries, six others had less significant injuries, but that
alone was appeared to be Hezbollah, though they haven't claimed responsibility for it.
Their response to late night strikes last night by Israeli Air Force in southern Lebanon, which themselves were a response by the Israeli Air Force
to some missile attacks in one of the principal northern Israeli towns close to the border with Lebanon.
So this is an indication that there has been this slow ratcheting up, significant strike in a town, a response with two airstrikes then a
significant -- very significant and deadly attack on military base with the response with five more Hezbollah sites hit and possibly one more that were
beginning to hear about.
So, that risk of escalation, this is something that the State Department says that they don't want to see. They believe they're building in with an
interlocutor. They're trying to build in a diplomatic off ramp that has been under negotiations between Israeli officials and Lebanese officials
now for a number of weeks that both sides had seemed to be not de- escalating, but at least getting to a position where there was some level of agreement according to US officials.
But as we stand tonight, there is that possibility of more and further escalation.
KINKADE: Yes, it certainly seems that way. Nic Robertson for us in Tel Aviv. Good to have you on the story.
Thank you.
Well, the US says it conducted a strike Tuesday against a cruise missile in a part of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. The US military says the
missile was prepared to attack boats in the Red Sea. CNN's Natasha Bertrand boarded a US warship sent to protect those shipping lanes.
[15:05:10]
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: We were on the frontlines of the US Navy's fight against the Houthis inside Yemen, who have been
launching missiles and drones into the Red Sea for several months now, targeting commercial vessels, as well as US and coalition forces there.
And it is hard to overstate just how phrenetic that pace was onboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, which has been launching jets,
multiple times per day to be up in the air, ready to respond at a moment's notice in case they need to target Houthi weaponry and capabilities inside
Yemen at a moment's notice.
Now, we also got the opportunity to go inside the command center of a US warship that is also stationed in the Red Sea. The US warship called the
USS Gravely and that has been the tip of the spear really in many of the operations being conducted against the Houthis, including by shooting down
their missiles and drones that they have been firing into the Red Sea over the last several months.
Here's a peek at what it takes for the crew to respond to an incoming missile on a pretty regular basis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is air new track, 8-0-3-0-6 ISS is anti-ship cruise missile inbound. Gravely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Positions on the air new track 8-0-3-0-6. Assess anti- ship cruise missile inbound, Gravely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kill track 8-0-3-0-6 with missiles. Visual screen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Break MSS kill track 8-0-3-0-6 MSSI. Missiles away. 8-0- 3-0-6.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Strike 8-0-3-0-6.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERTRAND: Now the crew on board, the gravely, they told us that they often only have a matter of seconds to respond when a missile is launched inside
Yemen and it is important to note here that it is not a full-proof system.
In fact, just last month, the USS Gravely had a very close call with a missile and they had to use one of their last lines of defenses called the
PHALANX system in order to shoot down that missile before it actually got close enough to do any damage to that warship.
But look, this is all in conjunction with the broader US effort to try to degrade the Houthis' capabilities. The Houthis, of course, are backed by
Iran, and so the question now is, how long does the US have to stay in the Red Sea to effectively deter the Houthis from carrying out their attacks to
degrade enough of their weaponry so that they can no longer disrupt international shipping in this very vital waterway.
Here is what the commander of Carrier Strike Group 2 told me, when I asked him how long the US plans to sustain this mission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAR. ADMIRAL MARC MIGUEZ, COMMANDER, CARRIER STRIKE GROUP 2: The sustainability, we can go for a long time. We've got our logistics train
already mapped out to stay here as long as the president needs us to stay here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERTRAND: Now, the US clearly feels that it can outlast the Houthis and it remains to be seen whether that is the case or how the US is going to
continue this mission without knowing for sure just how much of the Houthi weaponry they have managed to destroy. The US doesn't have a great picture
of that at the moment.
But for now, they say they're going to continue this mission, this presence in the Red Sea, really for as long as it takes.
Natasha Bertrand, CNN in Bahrain.
KINKADE: Well, Ukraine says it is now taken out a third of Russia's Black Sea fleet after releasing video of another successful drone strike. The
footage shows a sea drone approaching a ship followed by an explosion. Kyiv claims the blast sank near the Caesar Kunikov.
By Ukraine's count, it is the 25th worship that they have disabled or destroyed. NATO chief, Jens Stoltenberg says the attack show the skills and
competence of Ukraine's armed forces.
Our Alex Marquardt is following the developments and joins us now from Washington. Good to see you, Alex.
So, obviously, we saw that drone vision, incredible vision of this ship seeming to explode and apparently sink. If confirmed by Russia, this would
be a heavy loss, right?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It would, Lynda.
All of these drones have those cameras on board and Ukraine is sending a very clear message to Russia here that we can come and attack your most
important and your biggest ships.
And what Ukraine has managed to do quite effectively is neutralize Russia's formidable Black Sea fleet, forcing Russian ships to stay farther away from
the Russian shoreline, and that's even if they get out of Russian ports at all.
We know that Russian ships are staying more in their ports these days, but that hasn't kept them safe. We've seen Ukrainian sea drone strikes inside
those ports, going after the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet in the home of the Black Sea Fleet in Sebastopol and in southern Crimea.
Today's strike against the Caesar Kunikov was also in southern Crimea. And so, in addition to pushing these Russian ships farther away from Ukraine,
keeping them in their ports, these attacks and this technology have enabled Ukraine to maintain a grain corridor at exporting grain from southern
Ukraine from those ports out through the Black Sea, so while there is some stagnation on the battlefield in the southern part of Ukraine, in the
eastern part of Ukraine, Ukraine has really been stepping things up in and around Crimea, in the Black Sea and really taking the fight to the Russian
navy with these sea drones -- Lynda.
[15:10:10]
KINKADE: Alex, I just want to come back to you in just a matter. We've just gotten some information coming in to CNN about gunshots being fired at a
Super Bowl parade in Kansas City, Missouri.
There is a significant emergency response around Union Station area and the parade is of course to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs' victory in
Sunday's contest.
We will bring you more information on that when it comes to hand.
Alex, I just want to go back to you now. Alex Marquardt, on this drone attack carried out by Ukraine because you spoke to a drone operator last
year, these drones seem highly effective. What did you learn about the range of these drones? How far they can travel without detection from
radar?
MARQUARDT: Highly effective, as you say, they have helped take out now this 25th ship in the Russian fleet, a third of the Russian ships, according to
Ukraine, have been disabled in some way.
And last summer, I was in Ukraine. I spent a day with developers and soldiers who use and have created this sea drone as it is called. It is
essentially a large jet ski. Of course, there is no one on board, it goes around 50 miles or 80 kilometers an hour. It can go as far as 800
kilometers, so that's -- so that means it is relatively easy for those drones to go from the southern in port city of Odessa all the way to
Crimea, for example, where we have seen some of these attacks.
And I did speak about the capabilities of these very small vessels going up against these Russian ships with one of the developers. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUARDT (voice over): This is Ukraine's latest sea or surface drone designed to attack Russia in the Black Sea. They've never been shown to the
public before. This model is armed with 300 kilograms or almost 700 pounds of explosive and can hit a target 800 kilometers, 500 miles away.
MARQUARDT (on camera): How effective are the Russian defenses against these drones?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Not effective. The equipment they have on their ships is designed to attack other ships. They can't hit such
small drones. These are faster than anything else in the Black Sea.
Russia's equipment is from the 20th Century and ours is from the 21st. There are a hundred years between us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUARDT: So Lynda, that drone is called the MAGURA, which is a mythical figure in Ukraine. A MAGURA version five was what was used to take out the
Russian ship today. At that time that I was in Ukraine, that was right after Ukrainian sea drones had managed to strike the Kerch Bridge, which is
that critical bridge between Mainland Russia and Crimea, which is so valuable to Russia.
And what's really notable here, Lynda is we are having these debates here in the United States about funding and military aid for Ukraine, sending US
weaponry to Ukraine, these are all domestically built and this just goes to show how innovative Ukrainians can be, how much focus they are putting on
their military base and how effective essentially they can be taking these weapons to the fight against Russia at such an important time -- Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, really is incredible, as you say, they've developed them in Ukraine.
Good to have you with us for that insight. Much appreciated.
Alex Marquardt, thanks.
Well, still to come, Richard Quest speaks to one of Bollywood's biggest stars, Shah Rukh Khan has made himself, he introduced himself to Richard
Quest. You will see his sit down and just a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAH RUKH KHAN, BOLLYWOOD ACTOR: Like I told you, I'm not a legend. I'm Bond. James Bond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:16:36]
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kincade.
More now on our breaking news story this hour. Police say gunshots were fired during the Super Bowl parade in Kansas City, Missouri. They say there
are multiple victims.
There is a significant emergency response around the Union Station area. The parade was marking the Kansas City Chiefs' victory in Sunday's contest.
We will bring you more on this when it comes to him.
Well, Lyft shares are higher after a dramatic after hour swing on Tuesday and stock briefly surged to nearly $20.00 before giving back some of its
gains.
The jump was driven by a typo in the company's earnings. Lyft mistakenly announced its margin would grow by five percent, that number was off by a
factor of ten.
During the earnings call, the CFO corrected the mistake. Margin growth is expected to be 0.5 percent.
Well, Clare Duffy is in New York covering the story for us and joins us now live. Good to have you with us, Clare.
So Lyft shares soared about 60 percent after this typo. Where do things stand now? And what does this all mean for investors?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Well, Lynda, this was a big flub.
This gross margin metric sounds kind of wonky, but it is an important one because what it means is essentially the cut that Lyft takes from each ride
that it books. So it is a big difference between saying that's going to grow by five percent when Lyft really meant by 0.5 percent, that was a big
mistake.
But look, it seems like this earnings report was strong enough to sort of alleviate most of investors' frustrations over this error. The company
stock is trading up 30 percent today.
Lyft has been struggling over the past couple of years to come back from the hit that the pandemic took to its business, I should say, and
struggling with competition against much larger rival, Uber.
But there was good news in this report. The company reported a 17 percent increase in ride bookings during the December quarter and while Lyft is
still burning through cash, it is doing so at a much slower rate these days. The company said that it had a net loss of just $340 million during
2022 compared to a $1.6 billion loss in -- I['m sorry, $340 million loss in 2023, compared to a $1.6 billion dollar loss in 2022.
So certainly some good signs for Lyft here, despite that error last night.
KINKADE: Yes, certainly, it looks that way.
Clare Duffy for us. Good to have you on the story. Thank you.
Well, I want to go back to our breaking news story now. Police saying gunshots were fired during the Super Bowl parade in Kansas City, Missouri.
There is a significant emergency response around the Union Station area. The parade was marking the Kansas City Chiefs' victory in Sunday's contest.
Well, our chief national affairs commentator, Kim Dozier joins me now for more on this.
And Kim, obviously we are just starting to get some details in to us. We know this happened in downtown Kansas City. The parade had been going for a
couple of hours there and we are hearing that there are multiple victims. What are your sources telling you.
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, this attack hit according to local news reporters in an area where there was a large number
of people gathered for -- near the culmination of the parade. The problem is that Kansas City is not a place like New York or Washington, DC that is
regularly used to high-profile events that might also be targets for extremists.
[15:20:10]
And therefore, while you can see from the response that there was a large number of security in the area, questions will be raised, were people able
to smuggle weapons into the crowd? And what kind of attacker it could have been, there is no word of that at this point.
But this is a rich target for anyone trying to get the world's attention whether it be a domestic extremist inside the United States or someone with
aspirations of terrorism or trying to raise attention to a global headline like what's going on in Gaza.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. It was interesting as soon as this story broke in the last 10 minutes or so, I was quickly reading up on this particular area
of Kansas City.
They had a shooting in this area just last month. What can you tell us about gun crime in that region, in Kansas City? Obviously, this is a prime
target as you say. We don't know at this point in time what sort of security measures were taken. We can only assume there were security
measures in place.
Clearly, a great deal of law enforcement on the scene right now.
DOZIER: Yes. Unfortunately, gun violence is no stranger to Kansas City. If you look at the headlines over only in the past week or so, a car crash led
to some sort of a shootout. So this could be a tragic domestically focused bit of violence.
At this point, what people will be trying to do, the security officials will be trying to do is secure the scene, try to find the evidence of the
attack, the attackers, and also get to anyone who was injured.
And the local police will be reaching out to FBI domestic and international intelligence networks to try to figure out, did this have a nexus overseas?
Was this just local crime? Was this something like a pushing and shoving match that unfortunately, if someone was armed, got out of control.
All of these things we just don't know at this point.
KINKADE: And I was just getting word, Kim, as you were speaking, that we have some confirmation that law enforcement have taken two armed people
into custody.
So it sounds like at least two people were involved in this shooting incident. We saw some pictures just there of clearly someone who had been
shot, taken away on a stretcher, but it is hard to say how many people were shot at this point in time, but clearly, there were many people milling
around towards the end of this parade, just looking at the pictures coming in to us right now. These pictures coming in just moments ago.
What do you make of the fact that there were two people, two people in that crowd that were armed.
DOZIER: Well, as I said, unfortunately, carrying weapons in Kansas, in Kansas City is something that happens if there were not stringent measures
for checking people in the crowd, and from what you can see just for watching from the video, it doesn't seem like areas had been roped off
where you have checks on one side and allow people who had been checked on the other.
And this was a very high-profile event, a Super Bowl win. The potential for a Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift citing, so it drew people from all walks of
life. And while the city has had events like this before, FBI, other law enforcement sources have been warning, especially the closer we get to the
election, the presidential elections in the states this year of higher threats of some sort of politically motivated, extremist motivated
violence. And of course, US intelligence has also been watching and quietly warning of the possibility of violence centered on what's happening with
Israel's prosecution of the war in Gaza and the Arab and Muslim world fury over that.
So lots of different possibilities of what this could be.
But, the most likely is, this is an area where there have been shootings in the past. It is a city where guns are available and it could just be
pushing and shoving in the crowd that got out of hand because guns were in the mix.
KINKADE: Yes, it is tricky to say exactly right now, but just to recap for our viewers, there has been a shooting at the Super Bowl parade in Kansas
City. We know there are several victims.
We have heard from law enforcement that two armed people have been taken into custody. We've got these pictures just coming in to us right now.
[15:25:10]
We saw panicked people just running, fleeing the scene where thousands of people had gathered to celebrate the Chiefs' victory in the Super Bowl
after back-to-back wins, two years in a row.
Of course, you were comparing the sort of security measures, Kim, that you see at an event like this in Kansas City, which of course has celebrated
this win last year compared to events that happened in other places here in the United States, like a New York.
What sort of comparisons do you know of at this point in time in terms of security that would have been in place ahead of this large event?
DOZIER: Well, as the camera is panning across, you can see that certain areas have been roped off with metal barriers. Perhaps though that is just
for crowd control to keep the crowds from getting into the road where the long parade would be streaming by as opposed to what they have to do, say,
Times Square around New Years and certain events like presidential inaugurations here in Washington, DC.
The security services have unfortunately had to become very adept at putting up high walls that can't be scaled or at least they can really spot
anyone trying to go over them, and metal detectors to make sure that they've basically searched everyone going into the safe zone to make sure
there isn't an incident like this.
The sad thing is that a lot of cities, they don't have a budget for this. They never plan for something like this because, you know, if it is not New
York, Washington, LA, somewhere where it is a large city that draws a lot of people with a threat of this kind, of an attack because we still don't
know what this was -- a pushing, shoving match with guns that got out of control and just the dense pack of the crowd meant that a lot of people got
injured in the crossfire or if this was some sort of targeted attack by a domestic actor or a foreign inspired actor of some sort.
At this point, all they can do is grab whoever it seems to be responsible and the lessons on how to prepare for a big event like this will have to
come another day.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly.
We are going to continue to follow this story.
Kim dozier, if you can stay around for us, global affairs analyst, we will come back to you after a short break. For our viewers just tuning in right
now, we are following a developing story, a shooting at the Super Bowl parade in Kansas City, several people have been shot.
We know at this point in time that two armed people have been taken into custody. We will have more on this in just a moment. Stay with us.
You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:31:48]
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. An update on the breaking news we're following this hour.
Police say gunshots were fired during the Super Bowl parade in Kansas City, Missouri. Victims are currently being treated right now. They say two armed
people have been taken into custody. First responders are on the scene in the Union Station area right now in downtown Kansas City. The parade was
marking Kansas City Chiefs' victory in Sunday's Super Bowl.
I want to bring back our global affairs analyst, Kim Dozier.
All right, Kim, obviously, like we're looking at pictures coming into us now live. Certainly the crowds have cleared out now. Take us through what
law enforcement would be doing right now, given they now have two people in custody.
DOZIER: Well, there'll be trying to find out why they opened fire, where they're from, and unfortunately Kansas is an open carry state. As long as
they're over 18 and they have a registered gun license, they are allowed to carry guns, conceal them. So this very well could be a matter of gang
violence or some sort of pushing-shoving match that got out of control, or depending on, you know, who these people are, they also could have been
just armed people in the crowd who were trying to stop whoever the shooter was and the shooter got away.
We really have very little information at this point. So we'll be waiting to hear for -- from the police, police press conference, giving us some
details. At last report from local news stations at least 10 people have been injured, possibly shot, but of course they're also would have been
panicked, pushing, shoving, and running once shots like that broke out, that could have also injured people.
But the real goal will be finding out who did the shooting, you know, testing for things like gunshot residue on their hands. And also seeing if
there are any other attackers in the crowd, and gathering any evidence that can point to who needs to be held responsible for this, and is the threat
over with.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. There, of course, is so much interest in this Super Bowl game. It was the most watched television show since the moon landing.
We know that Taylor Swift wasn't at this parade. She of course is the girlfriend of Travis Kelce, one of the players on that team. We have no
update from the team at this point in time, but the parade had been going for some hours.
I understand we have someone else with us right now. Is it Josh Campbell? Andrew McCabe. We've got Andrew McCabe with us.
Kim, if you can stand by for just a moment. I want to go to Andrew McCabe. He's the former deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Good to have you with us, Andrew. So we are hearing that two people, two armed people, have been taken into custody. Can you take us through what
law enforcement would be doing right now?
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Sure. So there's many, many questions and unfortunately not too many answers for us, certainly
here in the public just yet.
[15:35:02]
The range of possibilities here is really pretty broad. As a major, you know, outside event that's going to attract tens of thousands of people
this event certainly looms large in the minds of law enforcement in terms of being a potential target of violence, be that terrorist violence or
extremist violence or even a detraction for a mass shooter.
These are all things that we unfortunately are getting all too familiar with in this country, particularly mass shooters. But it's also possible
particularly when we know they have two shooters in custody. It's also possible that this is nothing more than an argument or a fight that's
broken out between two people who happened to be armed in this space. As you know, firearm restrictions are particularly loose in this country.
And the number of folks owning and possessing and carrying firearms is, of course, going up every year. So this is just another reality of law
enforcement that our first responders deal with every day. So right now, the range between planned directed attack all the way to instance of
haphazard violence between two armed people is really, really very broad, and we're going to have to wait until we hear more from our law enforcement
and first responders until we really can get an understanding of what's happening here.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. Andrew, if you can just stand by for just a moment, we've got some interviews with some witnesses who were there from our local
affiliate, KCTV. They spoke to them a short time ago. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We saw people running out of Union Station, on the east side, the doors pretty franticly. And at that moment, we were
receiving information that we needed to change where we were. So just to gather and then just get to a safe space. So there was information provided
quickly, which was nice, but sure, it was a frantic situation. And it is still a little chaotic as people are still finding family members and
understanding where is the best, most safe route away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: So that was a witness at the Super Bowl parade in Kansas City where a shooting broke out. We know that several people have been shot. Two
people who are armed have been taken into custody.
We have with us Kim Dozier, our global affairs analyst, and Andrew McCabe, formerly from the FBI.
Can I go back to you, Andrew, on this? Because we understand that some 600 offices from Kansas City Police were present, plus another 250 from 34 law
enforcement agencies there at the event. But this event of course drew people not just in Kansas City, but from all over the country. This is a
massive, massive event. How does law enforcement try to handle an event of that size in a state that has very lax gun laws?
MCCABE: Well, I mean, there are obviously many considerations for law enforcement going into an event like this. The primary one of course is an
assembly of people this large is likely to gain attention. It becomes an attractive what we call soft target, a place where if you are someone who
is intending to unleash violence on a crowd to draw attention to your issue or to strike out about some sort of grievance, these are the places where
those things are likely to happen because you have large crowds of people.
But even from those really heightened concerns, you have some very things that are seeing more mundane and every day -- kind of everyday
considerations but are very important when you're dealing with crowds of this size. So it's crowd movement. Where are people going to stand, how
close are they going to be able to get to, in this case, the parade and the football players that they're all there to see?
How do you move those folks out of the area if there's a problem like this or if there's a fire or a quick turning weather situation or something like
that? How do you safely get a massive crowd of people like this out of the area onto transportation and dispersed in a safe manner? I'm sure that was
primary in the minds of law enforcement when they learned they had a call of shots fired.
People tend to flee in a panic when they hear noises like that. And you can typically get a large number of injuries in these situations, not from the
actual gunfire but from people getting trampled and losing their balance, and really getting kind of roughed up in the panicked flee from the area.
So it's great that they used apparently relied on mass distributions of information to get word out to people to start moving in different
directions. But, you know, only time is going to tell how many folks were actually injured in this situation.
KINKADE: Yes. And on that point, Andrew, we're just getting word in from the local fire brigade.
[15:40:03]
They're saying upwards of 10 victims right now injured in that shooting at Union Square, at the union station, which is in downtown Kansas City. This
is where the Super Bowl parade was happening, for those just joining us two people in custody right now. Two armed people.
I want to go back, you need to stand by for us, Andrew, to Kim on this because obviously law enforcement will be considering motivation with a
shooting like this. As Andrew was mentioning, this is what's considered a soft target. You've got thousands of people there out on the streets. And
despite the fact you've got hundreds of police officers, it's really hard to check and monito everyone.
We know ahead of this event that we're telling people to leave their backpacks at home and don't bring weapons and alcohol. But it is clearly
how to monitor any of this and an event of that size in a state where you can, as you've said, Kim, you know, carry guns without a registration.
Explain what sort of things that law enforcement will be looking at when it comes to a motivation in a potential attack like this, given what we know
at this point in time?
DOZIER: Well, if the two armed men that they arrested are the attackers, what they'll be doing is running their names across databases to figure out
any criminal networks that they're a part of, any international connections that they've got. And of course, trying to figure out the motivation for
this. Was this just a loud, noisy crowd situation where tempers got frayed? And when you add guns into the mix and possibly alcohol, there were -- I
was reading the instructions on how to attend the parade in advance and it did instruct would-be parade goers that they were not supposed to bring
alcohol or be drinking alcohol, or tailgating as the expression goes during this event.
But that doesn't mean it didn't happen so, you know, they'll be trying to examine who they've got in hand and also looking at things like, do they
have their cell phones on them? Who were they talking to? Who's their network of friends? Working backwards through time to figure out how this
moment of violence happened.
KINKADE: And at this point in time, we don't know if anyone else is at large. As you've pointed out, we don't know if the two people taken into
custody were responding to a shooting or whether they were indeed involved in that shooting. As you say, many people in Kansas City can carry a gun
without registration. Anyone over the age of 18. It is an open carry state.
We are just seeing these pitches coming into us of a victim on a stretcher. We know from the local fire brigade there that up to 10 people were injured
in this shooting, potentially also in the crush from the panicked crowd that went running. This Super Bowl parade has been going for some hours. It
started at 11:00 a.m. local time, which is 12:00 p.m. Eastern. It began with the parade through the streets and then was due to wrap up with a
rally at Union Station where this shooting took place. We can see dozens of law enforcement on the scene, possibly hundreds right now.
What do you expect would be happening right now, Andrew, in terms of securing the scene to ensure that there aren't any other people in that
crowd that may have been involved in this shooting?
MCCABE: Well, it's very tough at this point to try to maintain any kind of security perimeter around that location to hold in potential offenders or
people who were involved. It's an outdoor venue, so access to the venue is very tough to control. You can see on the video that we're showing on the
screen now, it's just wide open areas where people are kind of free to roam towards the stage or in the opposite direction towards transportation out
of the area.
So I don't know that that's something that they're really focused on. I would expect that law enforcement is more focused on getting the other
attendees who weren't involved in the event out of the area, getting them to take their belongings, whatever things they may have brought with them.
And, you know, exfiltrate the area to kind of skinny down as it were. The kind of population and reduce the number of folks that they have to deal
with, get people out of there before they get injured.
As you know, law enforcement is always at any kind of response to a shooting. One of the questions that goes through the mind of first
responders is, is this the only one or there is a planned activity? Is there some sort of staged event by extremists? Do we have to worry about a
follow-on attack? So you want to get that crowd out of there as quickly as you possibly can. And then of course all the work behind the scenes.
As Kim was referring to before, those two individuals who you have in custody I'm quite sure are being subjected to a very thorough scrub against
all intelligence and databases that law enforcement has access to.
[15:45:06]
They'll be reaching out to their federal partners at the FBI and other agencies to kind of broaden the scope of the look that they can give into
the background and associates of these people, all in an effort to try to answer that question. Was this some sort of a planned ideologically
motivated attack? If so, do we need to worry about a second attack or additional problems? Or is this some random act of criminal violence that
we have now in hand with these two people in custody?
KINKADE: All right. We're going to take a short break. Andrew McCabe, formerly of the FBI, and our global affairs analyst Kim Dozier, if you can
both stand by for us, we're going to take a quick break. We're going to have more on this breaking news story in just a moment. A shooting at the
Super Bowl parade in Kansas City, Missouri. Up to 10 people injured, two people armed taken into custody. More in just a moment.
You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
We are learning more about that shooting in Kansas City at the Super Bowl parade. Police say gunshots were fired during the rally there. They also
say two armed people have been taken into custody. First responders are at Union Station in that area right now. The fire department says there are
more than 10 victims. The rally was marking the Kansas City Chiefs' victory in Sunday's Super Bowl.
Kim Dozier, global affairs analyst, is with us as well as Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Good to have you both with us.
I want to start with you first, Andrew. Would the FBI be called in to assess a scene like this where you've got a huge event watched around the
world, a shooting breaks out, two people in custody? What would be the steps that are happening right now?
MCCABE: Well, it's likely that the FBI was involved before the event, so particularly in a place like Kansas City where, you know, you have a
massive event like this. It's going to involve the entire law enforcement community. They take a task force approach to managing security at large
events. The FBI would have been providing intelligence to the Kansas City Police Department in the leadup to the event, monitoring places online to
try to understand if there were any threats that were facing, that they should be considering when setting up their security.
[15:50:08]
And then of course in the aftermath of an event like this, the FBI can be a very important partner to the local police agency. Now the Kansas City
Police are I'm sure in the lead of this investigation, but the FBI would be able to augment them with first evidence recovery teams that are
particularly expert and have a high degree of training and technology that they bring to large complicated crime scenes.
We unfortunately have a lot of practice with this here in this country. We experience mass shootings in the United States on a level that no other
country on earth experiences. And very often FBI evidence recovery teams are brought in to try to come collect the evidence and help investigators
prove exactly what happened after the facts. I'm sure that's happening.
I would also expect that FBI intelligence apparatus is assisting the Kansas City Police and checking out the individuals that they have in custody and
trying to identify potentially others who may have been involved, reviewing things like video surveillance, looking at online chatter to see if there's
any talk about a concerted effort to target this event. And then FBI tactical teams, FBI agents who monitor and work at events like this to be
around if things start to erupt or take shape so they can respond quickly. And FBI SWAT teams that are there to help out if it turns into a tactical
situation that has to be managed.
KINKADE: Andrew, just stand by for us. I want to bring in our Stephanie Elam, who joins us from Los Angeles.
Stephanie, we know that the Super Bowl event was the most watched television events since the landing of the moon. There was a lot of
interest in the Super Bowl parade today and people coming from all over the country to attend it. Take us through what we know right now about the
show.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, this was a massive event and this is a tradition. After the team wins at the Super Bowl, you want to
have this big celebratory event in your hometown, which is supposed to be all joyful, all exciting. Obviously this changing the tone completely. This
happening at the end of the rally, this after the big parade that already happened earlier today at the end of the rally.
We understand that this happened near Union Station, near the garage. We know that this was when the shots were fired. It's important to also keep
in mind here that police are saying that they have taken two armed suspects into custody. And at this point, police are asking for people to leave the
area because they're trying to treat people. We have upwards of 10 people being injured is what we understand now from officials there on the ground,
and that they're trying to treat people that may still need to be helped while they clear this area.
Obviously, when you have this many people coming together, it can be chaotic. Also if you're trying to identify everyone, take a look at that
shot right there and you can see just about everyone is Chiefs red. So it would also make it very difficult to maybe spot somebody in a crowd where
everyone is wearing very similar clothing. This is what they're trying to do, what they're trying to work through here to identify what happened.
But obviously no one wants to see something like this happen during the rally when you have so many families coming together. Keep in mind, schools
were closed today for much of Kansas City so that everyone could participate in the celebratory events. So you have people who were probably
still there with some children, also trying to get out of that area. Very scary, very unclear what to do in those times usually because it's such a
big area and things are so loud that you just see people running in different directions.
But at this point, we do know that two armed people taken into custody and upwards of 10 people injured is all we know at this point.
KINKADE: Yes. This of course has been unraveling over the last 20, 30 minutes or so. We do get some information that Taylor Swift, who of course
was a big draw card, at the Super Bowl and over the course of the Chiefs games this past season was not in attendance.
Can you confirm that? And have we heard at all from the team, from the players?
ELAM: Yes. She has performance in Australia, so pretty sure she did not have time to go to the parade. We have not heard from the team yet. Who
knows? I don't even know at this point how close it was for when the team was still there on the platform, if they were gone. We do know that this
happened at the end of the event, but we haven't heard anything from the team as of yet.
I'm sure we will as time goes on, what we do know, though, is I can see -- I'm just looking at some of the information coming in that there are five
victims that are being treated at Truman Medical Center. So we do have some confirmation there. The Kansas City Fire Department still saying upwards of
10 victims. So we're getting adding some confirmation. Obviously, if they're treating these people, these are people who are alive.
[15:55:02]
We don't know yet if there's anyone who's lost their lives at this time. But really if you think about it as far as whether or not a superstar
singer would be there, it would make sense that she probably wouldn't be because she had this concert to go to and this was all about the Chiefs
nation here and this game that they won, this massive Super Bowl win that they had. But obviously just devastating for the city of Kansas City right
now.
KINKADE: Yes, absolutely. Frightening scenes, seeing people fleeing in panic as the shots were fired.
I want to go back to Kim Dozier, our global affairs analyst. Take us through, Kim, what you know about the security arrangements, what people
were advised ahead of this major event.
DOZIER: Well, Kansas City had published pretty detailed instructions on things like where to park, what to bring, to watch out for things that
might be suspicious, and call 911 if you see anything. But more importantly, they were focused on things like if you lose your family
members in the crowd, have a reunion spot set aside before you go, and warning people that they wouldn't probably have very good cell service
because there's so many people packed into one place.
It seemed like an event that was focused more on crowd control than fearing of threat from the outside, though they did have a large number of police
on the ground to try to control this event or to try to make sure that it mostly a whole went off OK, and right now, I can imagine there are a lot of
people who are trying to make sure that their loved ones are OK.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly.
DOZIER: In a situation where people scattered in several directions, and with so many people in one location, cell phones not working so well.
KINKADE: Yes, we are going to continue to follow this story.
Kim Dozier, our global affairs analyst, Stephanie Elam in Los Angeles, and Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, good to have you all with us.
We will continue to cover this breaking news story, this shooting at the Super Bowl parade in Kansas City.
I'm Lynda Kinkade. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Just want to recap this hour's breaking news. Police say gunshots were fired during a Super Bowl rally in Kansas City, Missouri. The fire
department says there are upwards of 10 victims. Police say two armed people were taken into custody and first responders are at Union Station in
that area in downtown Missouri.
END
