Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Shooter Kills Three Children and One Teacher at Oregon School; Trump's Next Midterm Blitz Stop, Battleground Georgia; Ukraine, Russia Trade Strikes on Energy Infrastructure. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired October 16, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, a quiet community shattered by violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHY SMITH, TEACHER, SILVER RAIL ELEMENTARY: I just figured, okay, today is a day that -- I'm sure that every teacher at the school thought, today is the day that I'm going to die saving my kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Three young children and a teacher gunned down inside an Oregon elementary school before the gunman is shot and killed. We're live in Bend, Oregon, with the latest developments on the investigation.

Plus, President Trump weighs in on the possibility of another impeachment if Democrats take control of the Congress in the midterm elections.

Back in the spotlight, Elizabeth Holmes is the subject of a new documentary, but our Dr. Sanjay Gupta got exclusive access long before she went to prison.

And strong winds fuel the fire threat in California as crews work to control the wildfires already burning.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is on assignment. You're in The Situation Room.

We begin this hour with the horrific tragedy in Bend, Oregon, where a 16-year-old gunman killed four people inside a Silver Rail Elementary School. This morning, police went to, want to know why. The toll is devastating. Three young kids, children just 5, 8, and 11 years old, and a teacher, all lost their lives. Right now, a seven-year-old child and another teacher, they are fighting for their lives in the hospital.

A fifth grade teacher watched the terror unfold right through her classroom window. Listen to her describe those harrowing moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: They were so afraid. The looks on their faces was really hard to see. I was trying to calm them down, you know? And some kids were praying, some kids were consoling other kids. And so -- but they were doing so quietly because they know you don't make any noise. I just figured, okay, today is a day that I'm sure that every teacher at the school thought, today is the day that I am going to die saving my kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We're learning the teenage shooter had a long gun. Investigators say he forced his way into the school by shooting through the locked doors. A community member followed him inside and shot and killed him before police arrived.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MIKE KRANTZ, BEND, OREGON POLICE: At 1:02 P.M., our first officers arrived on scene. Moments later, an officer reported that a suspect had been shot by a community member who had seen the suspect enter the school and pursued him into the school and engaged him.

Our officers entered the building and confirmed the suspect was dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: CNN National Correspondent Nick Watt is on the scene for us in Bend, Oregon. Nick, what are you learning about the community member who took out the shooter?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, on dispatch audio, he was described possibly as a father of one of the kids at the school. We do not know that. Community member is what we are told right now. Listen, the local police and the FBI are being pretty tight-lipped on details, not saying how many rounds were fired, not giving any details of that long gun while this investigation is ongoing. They're trying to figure out if this 16-year-old had any connection to this school. We do not know those details yet. We are expecting a press conference sometime during the day. As you can see, the sun is just coming up here in Bend.

Now, yesterday was picture day at this elementary school, so kids dressed up to get their photos taken, and as one mother said on Facebook, some parents are going to get photographs of their children on the day that they lost their lives. That mother also described it as the most incomprehensible day.

Now, as you laid out, Wolf, this all happened very, very quickly. That teacher we heard from, she saw the shooter walking into the school through her classroom window, called it in. Police were on the scene within three minutes of that first 911 call, by which time the shooter was already dead, as three children and a teacher were also going to die. We also have in the hospital still another teacher and a seven- year-old, Wolf, in critical condition.

[10:05:03]

Now, of course, there have been the usual condemnations from political figures from across the country saying, This can't happen. We need things to change. Of course, things won't change, Wolf. This is the 36th shooting at a K through 12 school in America so far this year.

So, here in Bend, this picturesque town of about 100,000 people, it's waking up to another horror. The community will be rallying round the parents of the dead and the parents of the children who survived here. Wolf?

BLITZER: It is so, so heartbreaking. Our deepest condolences to the families. Nick Watt, thank you very much for that report.

Joining us now, CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst, the former Philadelphia Police commissioner, Charles Ramsey. Chief Ramsey, thanks so much for joining us.

What would be your top priority in this very early stage of the investigation?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, right now, I believe that they're doing everything they can to get as much information about the shooter as they possibly can. Obviously, you want to check their social media footprint, you want to interview parents, you want to interview friends, relatives. You want to do all you can to try to uncover a motive and learn more about the shooter. They're also tracing that firearm that that individual had from the time it was, it was manufactured to the time it was sold.

Now, in Oregon, a 16-year-old cannot legally purchase a gun. So, how he got his hands on a gun is part of that particular question. They may very well also still be processing that particular crime scene as well. So, you have a lot of things going on right now as part of this investigation and there are still an awful lot of questions that need to be answered. Hopefully, many of them will be answered at this upcoming press conference.

BLITZER: And you're also the former Washington, D.C. police chief, Chief Ramsey. That's where I got to know you. There's still a lot we don't know about this shooter. What are the biggest questions you have right now about the shooter?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, the shooter, whether or not he had a history. I mean, I find it hard to believe that he didn't leave something behind. I mean, most shooters leave some indication that they plan to do something. A 16-year-old, I would imagine, would be very active on social media, or elsewhere and would probably have told someone something that would indicate that they were about to do something like this.

And so that's one of the main things that they'll be looking for. But also just how he got his hands on the gun. Did the gun belong to the parents? Was it not secured? Obviously, it wasn't properly secured. We already talked about how he got into the school. Apparently, he shot his way into the school. But that'll be confirmed through the police department, I imagine, through the press conference. And all those things will start to, you know, take shape.

But right now there's just so much. I mean, how can a 16-year-old get his hands on a gun and then do this? Does he have any connection to the school? Did he one time -- at one point in time attend that particular school? It only goes to fifth grade but he may have been a former student. We just don't know.

BLITZER: The school district just spent, we're told, millions of dollars upgrading security at the school, specifically reinforcing door locks, but this shooter literally shot through those door locks. What do you make of the school security protocols, and should there be police outside all of these schools from now on?

RAMSEY: Well, there aren't enough police to be outside of every single school in America. It's just not practical that that would happen. As far as security goes, nothing's going to be 100 percent foolproof. It'll slow a shooter down, but not necessarily 100 percent stop a shooter.

Remember, we're talking about schools here, and there's a balance that you have to have. I mean, do you really want kids like they're walking into a maximum security prison as opposed to a school? There needs to be security.

And one of the things that I would like to see -- I mean, the federal government spends money, I mean, billions of dollars on all kinds of things. Why not provide sufficient funding in the billions of dollars for schools across America and set some minimal standard for security, cameras, door locks, all kinds of things that they would need that would at least have an impact on someone that's trying to do some harm in a school?

We have to do something other than just thoughts and prayers and sit around and nothing happens. I mean, this is going to happen again. It's only a question of when and where. And in the meantime, unfortunately, our elected officials will do absolutely nothing, and that's the saddest part of this whole thing because they won't do anything at all.

BLITZER: It is an awful situation that's going on.

Chief Ramsey, as usual, thank you very much for your expertise.

[10:10:01]

And still ahead, happening now, Alex Murdaugh back in court, the critical evidence under review just ahead of his retrial.

And later, we're now hearing from the family of the man who fell from a rollercoaster and died. What his brother-in-law says were his final words.

Stay with us here in The Situation Room. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Happening now, President Trump is getting ready for his next stop in the midterm campaign blitz he's been engaged in. Today, he heads to Georgia, a battleground state that could play a key role in controlling Congress. If Democrats flip the House and the Senate, they could define the last two years of his presidency, including the possibility of impeachment proceedings against him or members of his cabinet.

[10:15:12]

CNN's Alayna Treene is over at the White House for us. Alayna, what did the president actually say about maybe facing impeachment for the third time?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, this is actually something that I think is sometimes lost in these conversations about the midterms, and part of the reason you've seen President Donald Trump just so invested in ensuring, or at least in trying to ensure, that Republicans win in their races and can hold onto the majority. And part of that is because they are concerned about what Democrats could do if they gain power, particularly in a place like the House where they could launch a ton of different investigations.

We know, of course, back during his first term two different impeachment trials were brought against the president stemming from the House. So, he has a long memory when it comes to that. And it's something I should say as well, Wolf, that I know the president's team has actually been preparing for since pretty early on since he got into office, knowing that they might be facing a slew of different investigations.

But I want you to listen to what he said. He was interviewed by Newsmax on this yesterday, and kind of detailed his thoughts on this. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, you know, it's -- by the way, it is interesting. You know, they impeached me twice. I won very easily both times. And there are those that say it helped me as opposed to hurt me. And I become good at anti-impeachment. I call it the anti- impeachment movement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

TRUMP: But for them to do that is it cheapens our country so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, part of what the president was arguing there is that he's become so good at fighting impeachment. It's kind of a similar argument you heard some people make when he was -- you know, different charges were brought against him once he left office, some people arguing that that helped him win a second time.

But one thing he said there too as well, Wolf, that I found notable was that he actually said he has information on Hillary Clinton, as well as the former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and that he hasn't brought any criminal investigations against them out of respect for office. Not really clear what he was referencing, but he almost suggested that if Democrats were to bring impeachment against him again, he would perhaps consider moving forward with some of those plans.

Just another thing that kind of ties into this, he did touch on pardons as well. It's something I know I've been having -- hearing in my conversations with sources here at the White House, Wolf, is that this idea that he would pardon some of his top advisers and officials before he left office. And what he told Fox News -- or, excuse me, what he told Newsmax on this last night was that he doesn't want to see people that work for him to go through years of nonsense, he said, hire lawyers and everything else all for nothing, so kind of suggesting that perhaps he would be throwing out some pardons to his team to avoid legal trouble once he leaves office. Wolf?

BLITZER: Alayna, as you know, the White House's new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, is defending herself this morning against accusations that she claimed to be a lawyer without having passed the bar exam. What can you tell us about the latest developments on this front?

TREENE: Yes. This has really kind of consumed, Wolf, the entire introduction that Katie Zacharia has had to the White House press corps, these questions of her credentials of being a lawyer or an attorney. And, of course, we have reported that she never actually passed the bar exam, despite frequently presenting herself as a lawyer publicly.

She did address these both last night on Fox News and again this morning. Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE JONES, FOX NEWS HOST: Do you wish you would've disclosed to the president about the bar and not passing the bar?

KATIE ZACHARIA, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes. Well, Lawrence, those questions weren't asked. I'm being hired as White House press secretary and not White House counsel. The conversations and the reason I was -- the reason that I was hired was to represent the president in the press.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, there she's defending herself saying that her legal credentials actually never came up in the hiring process and that she's not here to do legal work for the president. So, that's kind of her way of pushing back on this.

I will say, though, I found it interesting that Fox News also asked her this morning, Wolf, about whether she still has the confidence of the president. She argued, I'm still standing here, as her reply. It just shows, I think, how tenuous and controversial her start has really been this week since her first day on Monday, Wolf.

BLITZER: And just to be fair, she did graduate from law school, but she never passed the bar exam. And there's an issue of whether or not someone who's not a member of the bar is actually a lawyer or an attorney as opposed to simply a graduate of a law school.

Alayna Treene at the White House for us, thank you very, very much.

Coming up, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is in Brussels rallying support from European leaders as his relationship with President Trump turns very, very icy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:20:00]

BLITZER: Happening now, Russia and Ukraine trading strikes overnight, targeting each other's energy sites. This comes as a source now tells CNN Ukraine has run out of missiles for the US-made Patriot air defense missile system.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is in Brussels this morning. He's been meeting with European and NATO leaders as he tries to shore up support amid the ongoing war and a very bitter and escalating public feud with President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I'm so thankful that we have such huge support from E.U. Council commission and leaders, real leaders.

[10:25:04]

So, that they stay with us from the very beginning of this war. It's crucial, and we count on the support, and really our agenda is energy needs. This is point number one. And, of course, we want to end this war as quick as possible. We don't see now signals from Russian side that they are ready for this, to end this war. That's why we have to prepare for the winter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Let's go to CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen. Fred, what more is Zelenskyy saying this morning, specifically about President Trump?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, one of the interesting things is he hadn't actually mentioned President Trump by name in some of that criticism. But what we heard there in Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking about European leaders, calling them real leaders, he did seem to make very clear that right now his relations with the U.S. president certainly aren't where many people would want them to be, certainly - where many Europeans leaders would want them to be.

One of the things that the Ukrainian president then also criticized, Wolf, was that diesel deal that the U.S. president did with the Russians, obviously sending some Russian diesel to the United States, but also to global markets. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, both in the session and in his press conference, said he does not believe that that diesel deal is going to change energy prices and do much for global energy supply. But he says what it will do is it will fill the coffers of the Kremlin to continue what the Kremlin still calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

One of the other things that the Ukrainian president also criticizes, he believes that a deal like that sets a precedent. He says he believes that it will not remain a deal just for diesel, but in the future that there could potentially be deals for gas as well. So, he says he believes for Ukraine it could be a dangerous precedent that could be set.

In total, it really was clear that the relations between the U.S. president and the Ukrainian president certainly seem to be deteriorating. I want to take a listen to the, the Ukrainian president being asked a question about his relations with the U.S. president at a press conference, and his response are probably more accurate to called a non-response. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: His personal popularity is very low. Diesel prices in the U.S. are very high, and the war that he started in the Middle East is not going the way he wants it. Do you think you are being treated as a scapegoat for his own problems?

ZELENSKYY: This is my answer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Ukraine's president saying there that non-answer is his answer when it comes to his relations with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Of course, one of the other big questions at this summit with the European Union was also the question of Starlink, which, of course, the Ukrainians had said had been moving quite slowly over the past couple of days. The Ukrainian president making clear that the Ukrainians do not use Starlink to attack sites inside Russia, but use it to actually help themselves fend off Russian missiles, which, of course, fly into Ukraine, especially those jet-powered ones that are very fast and very difficult to intercept.

And one of the key points, Wolf, that the Ukrainian president kept making, that for them right now, they don't believe that the war is going to end any time soon, that that is why they are looking to surviving the winter. That's why these energy questions for the Ukrainians, they say, are absolutely key to sort those out before it gets really cold there in Eastern Europe. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes. It looks like that situation is escalating big time.

Fred Pleitgen reporting for us, thank you very, very much.

Coming up, 52, let me repeat that, 52, that's the number of school shootings this year in the United States. 52. The latest, less than 24 hours ago in Bend, Oregon. Up next, I'll speak to an activist trying to stop this horrible gun violence here in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:00]