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CNN Live Event/Special

At Least One Person Killed In California High School Shooting. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired November 14, 2019 - 13:00   ET

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

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): -- her family and the classmates and all of the kids.

[13:00:04]

And, I mean, I just think it's the new normal.

Do you know that, literally, kids, American kids and their parents are looking up how to buy bulletproof backpacks? They are going to school every day having drills, where they are being taught how to hide in a closet in the event there is mass shooter. They sit in classrooms trying to figure out, is this the safest classroom to be in if there's a shooter? Because I know in my humanity class, there's a bigger closet. These are the conversations I've had with our kids.

They are having conversations -- I've had kids come up to me, high school-age kids come up to me crying, saying, I don't want to die.

And so it's --

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: There's a numbness to this, I think, in some corners as well. I mean, it's a horrific numbness of people looking up on a T.V. screen seeing this yet again. And it just seems like it goes on and on and on.

HARRIS: Well, you are right. And I was supposed to share Villanueva, the Sheriff's Department and all of the first responders. And there's been an multi-agency response to this and I give them all praise for the work they've done to contain the situation, and they're now in the process of attempting to unify the students with their families.

But you're right, there has become an acceptance of the tragedy. And we should all agree that we should never predict that this might happen. This should be unpredictable. This should not be normal. We should not have drills on a constant basis because we have good reason to believe these things might happen. We have to stop it. There has to be an end to this.

COOPER: Do you know -- I mean, have you heard the type of weapon involved? I understand that -- I talked to the sergeant of the sheriff's office who said they had actually located a weapon, but it wasn't clear at that time what kind of weapon it was and whether the shooter had a weapon on him when he was apprehended. HARRIS: I don't know the type of weapon. And as you and I both know, the early details are often different than what we will eventually learn about the situation.

COOPER: Yes.

HARRIS: I do know there is a self-inflicted wound. This is what I've heard reported in terms of the shooter himself. But other than that, I don't know yet.

COOPER: We're told though the shooter is in custody, as far as e know, is alive at this point, and there have been conflicting reports.

HARRIS: That's correct.

COOPER: What do you say to people who are watching this right now?

HARRIS: Well, to the families of the students, I say just -- I feel awful about what has happened. And to the families, of course we want to support them in any way possible. We have to, as a society, agree this has got to stop.

And over 80 percent of the mass shootings that have occurred in the United States have occurred because of assault weapons or with the use of assault weapons. Assault weapons -- and I don't know again what the weapon was in this shooting. But as a general matter, over 80 percent of mass shootings involve assault weapons, which are designed to kill a lot of human beings quickly.

And I know there was a report that was released within the week, I believe, where there has been an analysis of what is involved in these mass shootings. And as a general matter, again, tragically, as a general matter, they happen within minutes, and it is because of the use of weapons of war that can kill a lot of people quickly.

So the obvious point is that part of what we all have to say is that enough is enough and we need reasonable gun safety laws in our country and just stop with the nonsense. Stop with the nonsense. We support the Second Amendment, but there is no reason for weapons of war to be on the streets of a civil society.

And this has to be part of the response that we agree is just a reasonable, rational and humane response to these tragedies.

COOPER: Senator Harris, I'm sorry, we're talking under these circumstances. I appreciate your time.

HARRIS: Thank you, Anderson. Thank you.

COOPER: I want to go with our Nick Watt, who is standing by at the scene.

Nick, what do you see?

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, I just want to give you an update on the condition of those victims. As Stephanie reported, one female victim has now died. And we're told from the two hospitals where those victims were taken that two male patients remain in critical condition, another male patient in good condition, at the other hospital, two patients, one in good and one in fair.

[13:05:14]

And the shooter himself is injured, is in hospital being treated as this investigation continues.

Now, Anderson, it's very interesting to hear Senator Harris there say that kids are deciding which classes to take based on the closet space, because we've heard from the students here this morning that they were communicating by cell phone with their friends who were indeed hiding inside closets as this shooting was taking place.

What we are hearing is that it was about 7:25 in the morning. One student said that they heard one shot followed by four more in the central quad of the school, after which the shooter fled. And that was what struck even deeper fear into this community. There are other schools in this area, and the fear was that he could be going to one of those. They were put in on lockdown, he did not.

So right now, what you're seeing behind me is a lot of these students being evacuated out of the area. But, of course, authorities are also wanting to speak to many of these students who are potential witnesses in this shooting. So it is a delicate situation of reuniting distraught children with distraught parents and also getting the information they need to fully investigate this crime.

And again, as Senator Harris said, this is just too common an incident now in these schools. These kids are shocked. But I hate to say it, but at some point, they could have almost suspect this to happen somewhere, if not, in their own school. This campus, we are told by authorities, is what's called an open campus, so there was possibly no metal detectors for kids going into the school, but the investigation is still in the early stages. We are told authorities are searching that suspect's home and that suspect is in hospital, he is not dead. He is being treated in custody in the hospital. Anderson?

COOPER: And do we know or has the sheriff's office confirmed the circumstances of the suspect's injury? I mean, was this a self- inflicted wound that was not fatal, or was it a -- do we know?

WATT: It appears to be that way, but there has been conflicting information floating around. There were law enforcement sources reporting a little while ago that the suspect was, in fact, dead. That has been revised to say that the suspect is just, in fact, injured. And, yes, the belief at the time was this was a self- inflicted wound, but I cannot confirm that right now 100 percent. Anderson?

COOPER: Yes. Well, it's good. I always think in these situations, it's as important to point out what we do not know because there is so much conflicting information, there's a lot of different agencies working, a lot of different eyewitnesses to account for. We'll continue to check in with you. I'm here with Josh Campbell as we monitor these developments.

The confusion, I think, people watching, often conspiracy theories sort of are born based on early reports and people say, well, look, there were multiple shooters reported. I think for who haven't actually been on sight in one of these or in law enforcement, it's very hard to understand just the chaos that is involved with thousands of children, potential lethality and many different law enforcement agents.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: That's right. There's a saying in law enforcement that action beats reaction. The shooter gets to determine the first move. And so once that happens, law enforcement is then having to respond to an often chaotic situation. As you mentioned, information is flowing at a rapid pace.

And if you're a law enforcement officer or a member of leadership, the debate that you're having internally is what information do I release, do I need to get out there in order to help the public understand what's going on, either to elate fears or to use the public as a resource, a couple or compared with what you want to keep close to the vest in order to help with your investigation.

So, again, a very chaotic scene, we know with the distance of hindsight, we will know exactly what transpired. But we're still in that fog right now where you law enforcement is trying to determine what happened.

COOPER: And we're waiting a news conference from the law enforcement with the latest details, again, the tragic news that one female victim, we don't know if it was a student, a teacher or who, has died. Two male patients are in critical condition. One male is in good condition, one in fair. And the shooter is actually being treated also in hospital while also being in custody.

When you have a shooter who has left the scene, as we believe the shooter did, that adds a whole other layer of panic and confusion for law enforcement, because all of a sudden you do not have a controlled crime scene that has a perimeter that is secure, you have multiple scenes.

[13:10:04]

CAMPBELL: Absolutely. And we know that in this post-Columbine era, we talk about this all the time. Every time we cover one of these, the police will not go to the sound of the gunfire. If that gunfire has stopped and a shooter is now fleeing, officers oftentimes won't know where to go. And coupled with a very chaotic scene, where you have students that are fleeing, they're trying to determine which people are innocent, which person in this group may possibly be a shooter, trying to figure all of that out.

And, again, as you mentioned earlier, this is unusual in a sense that we have this period of time where law enforcement didn't tell us what was going on there. Was this manhunt -- these are often over very quickly. We don't yet know what caused the shooter to become injured, whether that was an exchange with people or whether it was self- inflicted, but, again, a lot of unanswered questions that we don't have.

COOPER: And you also have to realize a lot of these shooters -- it's one of the reasons I try never to use the shooter's name or even their image, they study other shooters and sort of try to build on what other shooters have done. And in Columbine, there were attempts to have explosive devices, and we've seen that from other shooters as well. So law enforcement has to go into this, especially when a shooter is on the loose.

With the idea of are there other people involved, are there devices this person has preset in some location, even going to the home, you have to be concerned about some devices left behind.

CAMPBELL: Absolutely. And so the good guys and the bad guys learn from past incidents. Senator Harris mentioned a second ago this report that just came out. Law enforcement studies each incident and try to learn from them. But, as you mentioned, the suspects often learn as well and that either a way cause mass casualties or having to evade law enforcement.

We saw some of the images earlier of the SWAT vehicle that arrived at this residence. As you mentioned, the law enforcement, they don't know what's on the other side of that door. There could be something, a device, something to hurt them. They just don't know.

What we do know is now that the person is no longer a threat, they can proceed at a more methodical pace. There is less of an urgency but a lot of work ahead of them at this investigation, whether this person acted alone.

COOPER: Yes. And, obviously, the whole school has to be secured and searched.

We're going to take a quick break. A news conference, we're told, moments away, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was supposed to be walking here right now as we're speaking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So they told you to come here and wait for him. And then is that him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. Can you -- go answer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sean (ph)? Sean (ph), where are you, honey?

Okay, just stay at the church. They moved them over to the church next door, all the kids. I know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it within walking distance?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we're going to walk over to you right now, okay?

They walked you to the church to put you on a bus to bring you next door? That doesn't make sense. Our car is parked there.

Okay. Can you just stay there, Sean (ph), and we'll walk there to you, okay? Okay. I'm going to walk to get you. Don't move, please. You just need to be in my arms right now, okay?

Okay. I'll be right there, son. I love you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: A lot of conversations like that happening in Santa Clarita this morning. Joining me on the phone is California State Assembly Member Christy Smith, a resident of Santa Clarita and also a local school board member.

I just wonder what your thoughts are upon seeing this, obviously, in your community.

CHRISTY SMITH, CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLYWOMAN: It's a devastating day, Anderson. As a former school board member and after Sandy Hook, all of us locally at every school district level engaged in the process of local law enforcement and with our teaching teams in training children for what we thought might be possible but hoped it would never occur here. And to see it here today is utterly devastating to all of us.

COOPER: There are conflicting reports about the shooter -- the shooter is custody. The L.A. county sheriff said that the shooter is in custody at the hospital. Earlier, there were reports from some law enforcement sources saying the shooter was, in fact, dead. So we don't know the details. We are waiting for a press conference on that.

Have you heard anything from law enforcement?

SMITH: No. I've heard those conflicting reports. I just arrived on the scene for the press conference, so I'm hoping that we will get an update from law enforcement. But we do know, I think at a minimum, that the shooter is injured and possibly deceased.

COOPER: The response by law enforcement, as you have been watching it, it seems like there were police -- I mean, one police officer was said to be dropping off their own child when he or she heard shots. It seems like they were on the scene very, very quickly. SMITH: They were. I mean, we can always count on our law enforcement for a rapid response. And today, they certainly didn't let us down. The school district was very pleased at how many officers were on scene as quickly as they were, and then, of course, our first responders to triage those who were injured and needed medical attention. So, you know, never a shortage as gratitude to our first responder community here in Santa Clarita.

[13:20:03]

COOPER: It is extraordinary. We're seeing a helicopter shot from KCAL KCBS of several hundred students in the field and obviously in the process of uniting kids with their family members is ongoing. But it just gives you a sense of -- there are 3,000 kids at this school, give or take. The ripple effects of something like this in their lives, it's impossible to kind of calculate that.

SMITH: It is, it is. And the ripple effects for families across our community, a number of neighboring schools for good reason immediately went on lockdown and we're talking about children as young as five years old.

And as I said, our law enforcement community and our educators have stepped up and we've trained all of our local campuses on run, hide, sight technique and ensuring kids that we will get them to safety in the event of a lockdown situation.

But this brings a whole resonance and sharpness to it to the vulnerability of even our community where we knew we were prepared but we hope we'd never see this day.

And my heart just goes out to all our community members, to our parents, to our families. We are a very tight-knit community. People are already coming together and supporting one another and thinking of ways to support the victims' families.

But this kind of tragedy is unnecessary and senseless. We need gun control regulation across the country. California has pushed the envelope in this respect and yet there is a background check measure sitting on Mitch McConnell's desk that has gone nowhere.

And to those across this country who are tone deaf, it's just a matter of time before it's your community. We have all got to come together as Americans and put our children first and their safety first.

COOPER: Christy Smith, I appreciate your time and I'm sorry it's under these circumstances. Thanks for being with us.

SMITH: Thank you, Anderson.

COOPER: We're going to take a short break. That press conference, we are anticipating any moment now. We will bring it to you live for the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:25:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I was going -- coming out of my house to go get my coffee, and I saw all kinds of kids running up the street screaming, crying, yelling. And it really saddened my heart, you know. They were saying, can we go in your house? And there was like -- I don't know, there must have been 20 of them who went in my house. I wanted to make sure they were safe.

So we got them in there and I told my wife, okay, watch them. And so my wife was watching them, and I came down here because my granddaughter goes to this school and I was very really concerned about her. And so there was nothing I could do because they were still in the school at that time.

And then I guess I saw them being herded out down there. They took them over to central park, lots of children, and I was out here with my neighbor, and he's a police officer and lives across the street from me. And we were directing the traffic down here so that people wouldn't -- I wanted to make sure nobody got shot or nothing, you know what I mean, because we had no idea where he was.

And so we did that for a while. And then after that, when I saw them get herded out, I told him -- he said, well, it would probably be good that you can go get your -- maybe go find your granddaughter over there now.

So I walked over to central park, and the other grandma was over there in her car. She pulled up and we both got there about the same time. And then like next thing I know, my granddaughter threw her arms around me and was hugging me. And I was so happy she was still alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: So happy she was still alive.

I'm Anderson Cooper. We're following breaking news out of Southern California. There has been a shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita just north of Los Angeles. At least six people were transported to the hospital, the suspect reportedly in custody, no longer a threat.

Conflicting reports on the suspect, someone said that there -- in fact, some law enforcement sources had indicated that he had died of a self-inflicted wound, but the sheriff's department has put out a statement saying that the suspect is in custody at the hospital being treated. So we're waiting for details on that.

The news conference, it is expected at any time. I want to go to our Stephanie Elam for the latest. Stephanie?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I imagine some of that conflict in information is maybe why this news press has been pushed back a little bit, Anderson. But I do want to give some clarity on what we know about the patients, and the fact that we do know that one female has passed away according to Henry Mayo Hospital. They said that they have two males in critical and one male who is in good condition.

There is also just an email that went out from the William S. Hart Union High School District, which is where Saugus High School is. And in that email, they actually say that, quote, several students have been students have been transported to local hospitals. That's noteworthy because they weren't sure if this was perhaps all students, that there may be some teachers, some staff from Saugus High School.

But according to this email here, it would appear that what we are looking at is this may have been fellow students that this alleged 15- year-old shooter, who he was targeting were other students at the school.

[13:30:06]

Obviously, we're still following up on that to find out if --