these false stories. thanks very much, jim sciutto. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm blilts bliwolf blitzer in " situation room." "erin burnett out front" starts right now. good evening. i'm erin burnett. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. an airport attack. we are learning tonight that the suspect in the delgadoly shooting at the ft. lauderdale airport had been known to the fbi. investigators have not officially named the gunman but sources tell cnn he's being identified as stay van santiago. accused of killing five people, injuring at least eight others opening fire in a crowded baggage area at the airport. the gunfire sparking panic, hundreds spilling onto the tarmac, fearing for their lives. law enforcement officials telling cnn santiago showed up

several months ago at an fbi office in anchorage, alaska. at that time, he told agents he went to the fbi agent office and told agents he was hearing voices in his head telling him to join isis. president obama though tonight did not call the shooting an act of terror. >> i don't want to comment on it other than just to say how broken we are for the families who have been affected. these kinds of tragedies have happened too often during the eight years that i've been president. >> the fbi at this hour is interviewing the aunt of the alleged attacker at her home in new jersey. we begin our coverage with boris sanchez at the ft. lauderdale airport. boris, santiago is now in police custody. this did not end in a shoot-out. he is alive. what more can you tell us about what led to this attack? >> reporter: hearing reports from passengers on board his flight there may have been an

altercation with him on board. at the airport we're starting to see the lift of the lockdown. there's a large group of law enforcement officers over there slowly escorting passengers out of the taerm nal where all of this happened. we asked one if we would speak with us. he told us he just wanted to go home. understandably he didn't want to talk to us in light of a day that he will not likely soon forget. just before 1:00 p.m. a gunman opens fire at ft. lauderdale international airport. chaos inside terminal two. at least 13 people shot with multiple casualties. this cell phone video shows people lie ong the floor in the baggage room area. the panic inside the terminal spills outside as hundreds run from the gunshots, flooding onto the tarmac and out onto the

runways. the injured quickly evacuated to a nearby hospital. >> everybody started running out of terminal one, out of the rental car place. some lady was yelling for help. got in the granl. so i just ran. >> reporter: the suspected shooter left alaska earlier today. declared a firearm when boarding, that weapon packed inside his luggage. he may have gotten into an altercation during the flight. and on arrival after retrieving his bag one source tells cnn he went into a bathroom and came out firing. long after the shooting, hundreds continued to run through open areas around the airport. some driven by false reports of additional shootings. >> this shooter in custody, he's unharmed. no law enforcement fired any shots. the subject is being interviewed by a team of fbi agents and

broward homicide detectives. it looks like he acted alone. >> reporter: multiple sources identifying the shooter as a member of the alaska national guard leaving the guard last july. he served in the national guard in puerto rico, missouri, and alaska. we're also learning he served overseas in iraq for a little over a year. >> thank you, boris. evan perez is in washington. stunning the news you broke that the gunman spoke to the fbi, went in their offices a couple months ago and told them he -- talked to them about isis. >> reporter: that's right, erin. the picture beginning to emerge is a man struggling with mental health issues and that is what happened a couple months ago when he showed up at the anchorage, alaska, fbi office and said that he was hearing voices. he said that the voices were saying including that he should

join isis. this had aroused some concern among people around him so when he went to the fbi office, the fbi called the local authorities and they took him to a local hospital where he checked himself for a mental health evaluation. we don't know what happens after that. we don't know the result of the mental health checks but that's the only significant interaction that law enforcement had with this suspect. he didn't have much of an arrest record over the last few years so the next thing we know is he shows up on this flight in ft. lauderdale. there was some reports from some of the witnesses who had been interviewed by the fbi and by the broward sheriff's office in ft. lauderdale that there might have been some kind of altercation. but apart from that, nothing that really explay by plays the

motivation. at this point he did not show on any radar for the fbi as someone who might have been extremist or radicalized but really it does raise some important questions. if this is a man who sought mental health help in alaska, what kind of process is there for that information to be shared perhaps to prevent from getting on an aircraft with his gun checked in luggage and then carry out this attack in ft. lauderdale. >> he did go himself to the fbi and said he was hearing voices telling him to join isis. governor rick scott, thanks for being with me. i'm sorry it's under horrible circumstances again. you had a chance to speak to president obama about this attack. what did he tell you? >> he reached out just a few minutes ago and said, you know, prayers are with the families,

offered whatever resources we night immediate. i heard from president-elect trump trump this afternoon and mike pence this afternoon about this. this is disgusting, evil. nobody in our state's going to doll rate this. we'll be everything we can to hold whoever is accountable for this to the full extent of the law. there's an ongoing investigation. i just left the airport. i've been briefed this afternoon about what was happening. there's a lot of unanswered questions. we'll hold people accountable. i want to keep everybody safe in our state. i each reefed out to our national guard to make sure they're ready. all the airports in our state, sheriff's offices, we are helping displaced passengers. we have the westside flr flr disaster dot-org slash info for passengers to help them. >> and you are talking to investigators as you said.

what are you learning about a motive? this man had gone into fbi offices in alaska saying he was hearing voices telling him to join isis. what are you learning tonight about a motive? >> there's a lot of unanswered questions. we're still learning a lot about the shooter. law enforcement will be putting out more information as they have it. it's disgusting. it's evil. we won't tolerate it. i know they're working very hard. the local, state, and federal law enforcement is working well together. no different than what happened after pulse. law enforcement wants to do everything they can to keep people safe. >> and president obama did not say this was an act of terror when asked. do you think it was? >> there are so many unanswered questions. we do know it's absolute evil.

innocent individuals, some children are still -- hopefully they will survive. we have individuals in the hospital. i hope all those survive. absolute evil. five people lost their lives. >> rick scott, thank you very much. our panel joining us now. general marks, when the shooter was being interviewed by the fbi, went in under his own direction, nobody forced him to, said he was hearing voices in his head, some telling him to join isis. they let local authorities know. he went into a mental hospital but he's not on the government radar for terrorism. allowed to fly, take a gun on a plane. how could that happen? >> first of all the connection is to his time as a national guardsman. did any of this occur when he

was in status as a reservist -- i'm sorry as a guardsman and what did he notify his chain of command, were they involved in some way, was there some referral that might have been helpful as well. i think the key thing is when somebody self-refers, in order, somebody raises a hand and says i have an issue and you go into either law enforcement office or you go into a medical institution, whether it's mental or whether it's a physical medical type of a challenge -- >> they take it less seriously in a sense? >> no, no. my point is that there's nothing that can be done legally. we are wrapped in so many legal restrictions that would prohibit decisive actions. commonsense approach might be we need to put this poor person over to the side and do some form of evaluation, but you can't do that. you are legally prohibited from doing that. >> he shot 13 people. got off a plane, got his bag,

went in the bathroom, got the gun out, went and shot 13 people. we understand there may have been a disagreement on that plane. with what he did, 13 people, could this be premeditated? >> very much so monopoly it depends on whether the legal definition of insanity, i mean, that's out there right now, but when you talk about premeditated murder, you can take 60 seconds, you can take ten seconds so premeditate a murder. in this case he flew, he arranged his own flight, something may have happened on the flight, and as you say he went through a lot of deliberate action and then came out shooting. if that is true, it sounds like he came out and targeted at least one or two individuals coming out of the bathroom. >> bart, what does this say about a motive? >> it says to me, when you boil this down purely from a law enforcement perspective, you have an individual here that's got mental health issues.

erin, how many times have we talked about mental health issues when it comes to active shooter incidents. it's almost every single time. even when we talk about terrorist attacks, they're not mutually exclusive. there's a mental health issue in this country that has got to be addressed. the general is correct, there are so many protections, so many protections for somebody to raise the level high enough to reach the point where they can't carry a gun and can't fly. it's a very high standard. >> chris, before we go, what do you make of this crucial fact? he gave himself up to police. this didn't end in a shoot-out. he is alive. they are questioning him right now. >> yeah. that's not sort of a jihadist-type act. i mean, this will to survive, he's not spouting jihadist ideology. i think that his reference to isis when he went into the fbi in this case is just going to be sort of tangential. i don't think it's going to be a central theme to this. i think as art points out, i think mental illness is the

central theme to this incident and we've seen these before. columbine, aurora, colorado, the list goes on and on. >> all right. thank you all. next, we're going to go thrive new jersey where fbi agents are questioning the suspect's aunt at this hour. plus more breaking news. a u.s. intelligence report says russian president vladimir putin ordered a campaign to hurt hillary clinton, to disparage her, and help donald trump. is it an act of war? and first lady michelle obama's emotional farewell speech today. >> being your first lady has been the greatest honor of my life. and i hope i've made you proud. ] whoa. [ gears stopping ] when your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. try this. but just one aleve has the strength to stop pain for 12 hours. tylenol and advil can quit after 6. so live your whole day, not part...

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new details about the man police say shot -- was engaged in that shooting rampage at ft. lauderdale airport at this hour. five dead, eight wounded. sources telling cnn the suspect is stavan santiago, a former member of the alaska national guard. moments ago the fbi interviewing his aunt in new jersey searching for clues and answers, trying to understand what the motive might have been. deborah feyerick is in union city. what are they learning right now? what do you know from santiago's aunt? >> reporter: they were here about 45 minutes questioning the aunt who flifs the home. there were about eight agents and police officers who were here speaking to the family. they were trying to get as much information as they can to try to get an understanding as to

why this happened. the shooter was born in new jersey, moved to puerto rico, joined the national guard there and was deployed in 2010 to iraq. his aunt tells reporters that when he returned after about a year or two-year long stint over in iraq, he was acting strangely. he did seem happy about a year ago with the birth of a child and the aunt is dumbfounded as to why this happened telling reporters she didn't know why it had happened. we do know he was in fairbanks alaska prior to his discharge in august of this year. he was discharged for unsatisfactory performance. we're now learning that he did make the radar of law enforcement officials there in alaska when he basically approached them saying he was hearing voices and that's when he checked himself in for a psychiatric evaluation. we don't know what he was doing

going to ft. lauderdale, but, again, this is taking the family very much by surprise. >> thank you so much. shocking when you hear the news there being a new child in this too. this comes as airports across the nation are trying to increase security following the shooting at ft. lauderdale airport. rene marsh is out front. we saw a horrific attack that was terrorism in turkey. we're now seeing this here at ft. lauderdale with this shooter. how concerned are authorities now? he was able to get a gun off the baggage claim and just shoot people. >> they're very concerned. i spoke with two police chiefs, airport police chiefs today and they say although they draped for this sort of active shooter scenario, their hearts simply dropped when they saw the event unfo unfolding in ft. lauderdale because the bottom line is this is happen at any airport across the country. all airports across the nation

have this so-called soft target area, the area of the airport before you get to the tsa security check point that is vulnerable. any law enforcement official or expert will tell you it is virtually impossible to get the vulnerability down to zero. when you see the situation like we saw in ft. lauderdale, it really does send chills up and down the spine of law enforcement charged with protecting airports across the country. in that spirit, we have heard from several major airports from l.a. to airports right there in new york city who have told cnn that they have stemmed up their law enforcement presence in that soft area of the airport directly as a result of what happened in ft. lauderdale. >> and rene, people are saying that he had the gun in his checked baggage. he declared it. he went to the bathroom and pulled it back out. people are allowed to do that even if you're flying into a state that doesn't allow you to

carry a gun? >> he did everything right. at this point based on the all information we had, he did everything legally. you are, indeed, allowed to carry a firearm as well as ammunition in your checked luggage. you cannot obviously take it on board in your carry-on luggage, but you can take it in your checked luggage. it has to be unloaded. the firearm cannot have ammo in it. it has to be stored in a hard side case. so there are strict guidelines for how to carry a firearm in checked luggage. you also have to declare it. but as you saw, there's nothing stopping an individual from retrieving that gun and opening fire in that soft target area of the airport, erin. >> pretty stunning in any place, including states you would expect no such thing because it would be against the law. thank you, rene. phil mudd, former inspector general of the u.s. department of transportation. mary and art join us again as well. it is stunning. he did everything legally.

it is legal wherever you're flying to declare your gun, put it in a hard case, carry your ammo, check it, and you're good. >> right. i think the only glitch here or the only people that didn't follow the rules might have been alaska airlines if that was the airline, and their regulations on-site state that you have to get your bag with the gun in it by presenting your i.d. at the bag claim office. could that have made a difference had they proceeded in this way? would the felon have had time to calm down or, you know, some other method? but that's the only thing i see where the rules were not followed the way that the bag was claimed and the i.d. or the bag claim check was not presented at the bag claim office. >> so when these horrible things happen, we so often look at the details and say how could the rules be this way? and here we are again, do you think that that is an outrage that's fair to have? how could the rules be this way and why is the security zone in

airports not wider? >> that's right. >> i don't think that's an answer -- >> sorry. go ahead, phil. >> i don't think we're going to have answers here that are pleasing to us at all. i think we'll walk away in the coming days and say there's not very much we can do. let's look at the airport itself. we are looking at this incident in isolation. i'd encourage you before we go down this road of saying let's secure baggage arias to understand the targets we've witnessed in the past five years. museums, beach resorts, open air markets in germany last month, synagogues, churches, schools. at some point you have to step back and say in an open society this is going to happen if you allow people to carry a weapon onto -- not onto an aircraft but in a baggage compartment of an airplane and it's going to happen in museums and shopping malls. we can't look at this in isolation, erin. >> which is a very fair point. yet, bart, this is something that had happened. it was a terror attack in the case of turkey. we don't know the motive yet here.

where they rushed in, again, into the unsecured areas of the airport, the arrivals and departures. it did not appear there were any security measures long term that was taken in this country. it was obviously very easy for him to do this. >> i mean, erin, you can only push out the security so far and break one foot beyond that security is going to be a soft area so it's difficult to determine where you actually stop security or where you begin security. i think another key point here that i saw after watching this all unfold today is why did they keep the airport open? i know this happened at a terminal, but then they kept the other terminals open and people are on snapchat, on twitter talking about what they just saw, and i think that caused a lot of this false positive reporting that occurred at the other terminal causing everybody to start running. >> they thought there was other shooting. >> exactly. i think law enforcement has to sit back and look at venues that have thousands of people in them and determine, hey, we should

shut this whole venue down. now, i know that flies in the face of commercial airlines, but the law enforcement response i think is the key issue here. to pull people away on false positive reports from an active crime scene is really, you know, that's the detriment to law enforcement investigating this crime. >> phil, the bottom line here as we know that this individual had gone to the fbi and talked about how he heard voices including isis encouraging him to join isis, then went to a hospital voluntarily, got a mental health evaluation, is this going on the end up in your view being something that could have been stopped? or do you think the fbi simply has so many people walking in saying these sorts of things that they can't be putting them on lists? >> if you walk into the fbi and you have voices in your head, i don't care if you're talking about isis, i don't care if you're talking about jesus christ, i don't care if you're talking about a video you saw on the internet, that suggests men stalin stability. that is not a crime.

if i were at the fbi yesterday and tomorrow i would do the same thing. the person needs to be reviewed. if somebody's suggesting this is an fbi fault just because somebody who appears to be insane muttered the word isis, i'd say think again. one quick point, erin, when i was at the cia people showed up a at the front gate all the time saying we had stuff we installed in their head. we're not going to investigate them. we're going to turn them away. >> thank you all very much. a just intelligence report declassified tonight saying putin did it. he ordered the campaign to help trump win the election. and an emotional michelle obama today saying good-bye. her final big speech after eight years in the white house. my belly pain and constipation?

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the president-elect donald trump briefed tonight by the heads of the intelligence community about the role rusch played in the hacking of the u.s. election. according to the newly declassified intelligence asaysment, i quote, "russian president vladimir putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the u.s. presidential election. rusch's goals were to undermine public faith in the u.s. democratic process, denigrate secretary clinton and harm her potential presidency. we further assess putin and the russian government developed a clear preference for president-elect trump." jim sciutto is out front. there was no mincing words. this was a clear conclusion. >> reporter: no question. imagine how difficult for the top spies to deliver face-to-face to donald trump to say it is our judgment with

confidence that rusch did this hacking to help you win. interesting as well they saw the russians adjusting somewhat throughout because when donald trump's fortunes were falling they focused more on hurting hillary clinton, i'll quote from the report here, that when it appeared to moscow that secretary clinton was likely to win the election, the russian influence campaign began to focus more on undermining her future presidency. of course they focused on helping him win. throughout he was their favorite and hillary clinton was their target. >> the report also cleared um another major controversy, right, which is who was targeted. obviously we know democrats were but also the report says republicans, right? >> reporter: that's the thing, but they say these cyber operations targeted both parties, republicans and democrats, and yet the russians released strategically in the days and weeks leading up to the election on almost every day, released only those documents

affecting the democrats. they were able to access both parties but in terms who have that they lease that was focused on the democrat party, counter to a message you're hearing from trump supporters today and even trump himself. from the i.c.'s standpoint, they got into both parties and only used the material for one. >> trump is saying the republicans, anti-hacking was better. they got in but chose not to release. thank you very much. despite receiving the full briefing on the classified version of the report today, the president-elect donald trump is still not blaming russia. sara murray is out front. >> reporter: tonight donald trump still isn't ready to point the finger at rusch for election-related cyber hacking. hours after calling the u.s. intelligence community's assessment that rusch interfered in the election a political witch hundredth. trump was briefed by the heads

of the fbi, cia, and the director of national intelligence. he complimented the officials calling the meeting constructive but refused to acknowledge their findings that rusch, at the direction of president vladimir putin, ordered efforts to influence the u.s. election and that putin aimed to discredit hillary clinton's campaign and improve trump's odds of winning the election. instead trump insisted in a statement there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election, including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines. this morning he told "the new york times" the only reason democrats care about the hacking is because they got beaten very badly in the election. they are very embarrassed about it. in the run-up to the briefing trump and hissed a veiders bristled at the idea that the focus on rusch was anything more than a political attack. >> there are those trying to delegitimize his presidency, review the election results, and you know it. >> reporter: but trump insists

he'll vigorously battle cyber hacking once in office. after his intelligence briefing, saying we need to aggressively combat and stop icyber attacks. i will appoint a team to give me a plan within 09 days of taking office. it's not just trump's opponents in the democratic party raising the alarm about rusch's cyber hacking efforts. u.s. intelligence officials are expressing display and republican leaders in congress say there's little doubt about rusch's role in the cyber hacking. still trump was more concerned with nbc's cyber hacking coverage than with rusch's efforts to interfere in the u.s. election, tweeting, i am asking the chairs of the house and senate committees to investigate top-secret intelligence shared with nbc prior to me seeing it. the president-elect hinting he may be more willing to trust his own officials once he takes office. members of his incoming team including his pick for national security advisor, michael flynn, and his choice to lead the cia, congressman mike pompeo,

accompanied him for today's briefing. trump telling the "new york times," we have great people going into those slots. i expect to have a very, very good roim with them. in speaking with advisers and people familiar with donald trump's thinking, they say privately he doesn't dispute the notion that cyber hacking occurred but what he does dispute and take offense to is any kind of suggestion that rusch was out to help him or that they could be in any way responsible for his victory. i talked to one person. he said there's basically nothing that intelligence officials could have said to donald trump today to convince him otherwise. >> sara, thank you. our guests joining us. jeremy, let me start with you. trump still not pointing the finger at rusch. he was briefed today, saw the classified version of this report. it had a clear conclusion in both versions that putin himself

ordered the russian sanctions. why won't he say it was putin? >> not only was it putin but it was designed to help trump and undermine the clinton campaign. those are important. but i have to say i think his tone is changing a little bit. earlier in the week he was saying i trust julian asanction of wikileaks more than i trust the officials at the cia and nsa who risk their lives to defend our country. he was saying he had secret information. there was no talk about that. i think statement today is actually in some ways conciliatory, saying i get it, there was hacking, they tried to hit us and i'm not going to dispute that. there's no way he can dispute it because the evidence is unassailable. >> mike, what does his refusal to come out and say this directly say about donald trump? he didn't come out and say i saw it and here's the conclusion and i agree.

>> first there's this political cloud that challenges his legitimacy as a president. that's not help to feel the nation. it's exactly what the russians would like to have us be doing right now. i understand where he was coming from. i do believe he was legitimate hi e ly elected. the russians clearly had a hand in trying to disresult to cause some doubt in our election system. that is as sere as it gets. this is not the first time they've ever tried this. they've done it in latin america and yeerp europe and are doing it here. they have this new tool called cyber and social media that ramps up their game. it shows the country how serious this issue is, but i think trying to conflate this into donald trump didn't win or won because of vladimir putin i think is absolutely wrong.

the democrats should stop saying it. the president should stop saying it. what we should say, we better look at russian activities targeted against the united states including their serious interest in trying to impact in any way the election of the united states. >> i want to read from the report. the goal was, quote, to undermine public faith in the democratic process, denigrate secretary clinton and harm her electable and potential presidency. we further assess putin and the russian government developed a clear preference for president-elect trump. are you surprised that the primary motive seemed to be denigrate secretary clinton? >> no. that's common sense. throughout the campaign trump was saying pro-russian things. he was talking about -- >> that would be being pro trump. they're saying the motive was against her and developed a preference -- >> a choice between two choices, between clinton and trump.

so if you're anti-clinton you'll be pro trump. by the way, hillary clinton had a record of being tough on putin and being tough on rusch so, it's not surprising. i want to also broaden this out of the context of the election because what's important is not what happened. it's what's going to happen. it will be very important for president trump, the 45th president of the united states, to keep his eyes wide open and be clear eyed about the threat from russia. russia is not our friend. over the coming months and years they'll continue to try to hack our systems, penetrate our networks, influence our politics, confront us in europe, in the middle east, all over the world. his team has to understand that. >> mike, when jeremy makes the point vut season not our friend, president obama spoke to george stephanopoulos tonight. his way of saying it was vladimir putin is not on our team and when he was asked specifically about the conclusion of the new report,

here's how he answered the question. >> one of the thing is am concerned about is the degree to which we've seen a lot of commentary lately where there are republicans or pundits or cable commentators who seem to have more confidence in vladimir putin than fellow americans because those fellow americans are democrats. that cannot be. >> do you think donald trump has more confidence in vladimir putin than in democrats in the united states? >> i don't. i hope when they start taking the reins of power, they'll get the combination to every lock and the keys to every cabinet in the intelligence community, i think their team need to get a good assessment of russian activities not just in this case but in all cases. we have seen a ramp-up of

activities in recent years at a breathtaking pace where they've been very aggressive. a few years ago "the new york times" reported they found what appeared to be russian malware in our financial systems. we've watched their work overseas in syria and what they're doing across europe. it's really concerning. that's i think what jeremy was talking about and i agree completely. they need a good handle on what russian activities are targeted towards the united states and our allies in total so we get a good handle on the notion we better start pushing back on russia. by the way, this is a silver lining in this, two things. one, finally americans i think are getting the hint, both republicans and democrats are also getting the hint that this cyber hacking is a serious, serious issue and threatens the national security of the united states. by the way, the russians have never been our friends and will continue to be our adversaries. >> thank you both.

one of putin's bitter enemies is a close friend of puten. how does he feel about the trump/putin friendship? he is the former president of georgia. and michelle obama, her voice breaking during her final good-bye from the white house today. i had that dream again --

that i was on the icelandic game show. and everyone knows me for discounts, like safe driver and paperless billing. but nobody knows the box behind the discounts. oh, it's like my father always told me -- "put that down. that's expensive." of course i save people an average of nearly $600, but who's gonna save me?

[ voice breaking ] and that's when i realized... i'm allergic to wasabi. well, i feel better. it's been five minutes. talk about progress. [ chuckles ] okay.

back with our breaking news tonight, president-elect donald trump downplaying russia's meddling in the u.s. election

despite a newly declassified intelligence report saying putin did just that. a bitter opponent of vladimir putin who has done massive business with donald trump, s k saakashvisac saakashvili is the president of georgia and opposition leader in ukraine. good to have you with us in new york. >> thank you for having me. >> you've seen the intelligence report. you have experienced being hacked by russia and vladimir putin. the report concludes we assess russian president vladimir putin ordered these efforts to influence the u.s. election. this is the putin you know. >> certainly he heavily influenced our elections in georgia and tried to influence ukrainian elections. back in 2012. first of all, in 2008, we were monitoring the first of their cyber attacks. they basically attacked all our computers in the georgian government before the military attack. cyber attack is part of general

warfare for sure. in georgia's case, they staged a video which was later found out was staged by people with clear ties with russian intelligence but it spread like fire and had its impact at that moment so it was well done. they would intercept our telephone calls and upload just before elections, at important moments, just before a political crisis. that's their way and there is no doubt. i know putin well. i've seen this many times. i've spoken to him many times. he always knows every detail of their intelligence operations. he boasts with it. nobody would ever dare to challenge him in that way. >> not just ordered it, knew the details. donald trump refused to give that direct ak knowledgement, that it was vladimir putin as opposed to china or someone else.

you've been friends with donald trump for two decades. why is it so hard for him to admit this? >> i've interacted with donald trump. obviously he's a very, very, you know, intelligent man. i can say he's always been -- all his decisions have been everything but boring. i think he will surprise lots of people still. that's my conviction. he came to georgia and really came to a country which was attacked by the russians. he clearly knew that i was the least favorite of president putin but it didn't stop him from coming and helping, praising, assisting us in supporting the investment projects. i didn't detect any particular

weaknesses. the problem here is what we have with putin, you know, putin thinks he's eternal. he lives for president putin. so bringing back all the parts of the administration, but it took some time. bush was my good friend and also an intelligent man. then president obama and secretary clinton also started. so putin thinks that any new u.s. president will come in and he doesn't have to reach us. less than 3% of the world. but because he thinks he can outlive us all or outlive them all he thinks every new president comes in -- the problem here will be president trump certainly will give benefit of doubt to russia like every predecessor has done. it's very important that he --

putin measures everybody from the point of view the carrot. from that point of view, and putin likes to dominate and intimidate, especially during the beginning. my prediction is they will meet within a couple of months after -- >> putin and trump. >> yes, a couple months after the inauguration. i think that will be the moment because he always measures everybody's character. his first page, that's what he measures. i think from my experience with president-elect trump, he'll be a very tough nut to crack for putin. for these kind of reasons, because putin doesn't like several people. he likes people he can manipulate and intimidate. the only thing that america cannot afford to show the russians that america is weak. the only thing putin appreciates is sheer force. >> thank you very much. very much appreciate your time. i want to break in because the governor of florida, rick scott,

is speaking live about the shooting. i want to listen in. >> they're looking forward to get on with their lives. we're going to hold people accountable but do everything we can to keep them safe. florida disaster.org slash info for any of the passengers that were displaced to do everything we can to help them. this is a great state. we love all our tourists, people that live here and we'll keep everybody safe. i'm be glad to answer any questions. >> did you meet with any of the victims? the can you tell us how their spirits are? >> say again? okay. the first thing is make sure i thanked the people that took care of the patients. i did that. i talked to some patients.

they're in good spirits. it's a traumatic experience but they feel blessed to be at this hospital. >> you mentioned pulse. this is your second recent massive shooting, debate guns and all that stuff. where's your mind at right now? >> this is not the time to talk about politics. we have an ongoing investigation. we have to make sure exactly we know what happened. we have to hold people accountable, mourn for those who lost their life. those individuals and their families' lives are changed forever. also have to play for all those that are still going through surgeries, having lifesaving surgeries done to help them. >> i'm sure you've been talking to fbi. do we have a motive or anything yet? >> i've been talking to law enforcement, ftle, fbi, local

sheriff's department. i've been kept apprised all day. it's an ongoing investigation. but everybody is working well together. i saw that after pulse. state, local, and federal law enforcement work together. we're blessed in our state. we have a 45-year low in our crime rate. but this investigation will take some time. as law enforcement has information, they'll put it out. >> one more question. >> can you clarify the numbers, please, how many were seriously hurt? >> sure. according to law enforcement, five individuals lost their life. eight individuals, you know, were shot. that's what i've been told by law enforcement. just remember there's an ongoing investigation. they're doing everything they can to take care of everybody. other individuals ended up coming to our hospitals to make

sure they were -- some had head injuries, that they were taken care of. >> governor, you have one last question. >> can you tell us more about your conversations with the president and the president-elect? >> sure. the president called me about 30 minutes ago. he said his prayers are with everybody impacted, anything i need, to gave him a call. i talked to president-elect trump and vice president-elect pence earlier this afternoon and they basically said the same thing. their prayers are with us. any resources that they can help with they wanted to. i was talking to them when no one was exactly sure what happened. but i appreciate that both president obama and president-elect trump called and vice president-elect presence called. when something like this happens you know you have the support of the federal government. >> thanks, everyone.

>> thanks, everybody. >> governor of florida speaking about the shooting in ft. lauderdale earlier today. as we get more on that, we'll bring it to you. also tonight the first lady gave her final farewell. michelle obama choked up as she delivered her final official remarks as first lady. she touched on values of hard work and a good education today when she spoke. michelle kosinski is out front. >> as i end my time in the white house, i can think of no better message to send to our young people. something that has carried us through every moment in this white house and every moment of our live, and that is the power of hope, the belief that something better is always possible if you're willing to work for it and fight for it. it is our fundamental belief in the power of hope that has allowed us to rise above the voices of doubt and division, of

anger and fear that we have faced in our own lives and in the life of this country. >> reporter: in a crowd of educators, advocates, school counselors, the first lady took this opportunity to speak to america's youth about america's values. she didn't miss the chance to once again hit out at the kind of rhetoric she has said defined the trump campaign. >> if you or your parents are immigrants, know that you are part of a proud american tradition. and whether you are muslim, christian, jewish, hindu, sikh, these religions are teaching your young people about justice and compassion and honesty. our glorious diversity, our diversity of faiths, colors, creeds, that is not a threat to who we are. it maybes us who we are. >> reporter: noting, too, that it comes with responsibility. half of those young people she's

speaking to didn't vote at all. >> you cannot take your freedoms for granted. empower yourselves with a good education. then get out there and use that education to build a country worthy of your promise. lead by example with hope, never fear. and know that i will be with you, rooting for you and working to support you for the rest of my life. and i am so grateful to all of you for your passion and your dedication and all the hard work on behalf of our next generation, and i can think of no better way to end my time as first lady than celebrating with all of you. so i want to close today by simply saying thank you. thank you for everything you to for our kids and for our country. being your first lady has been the greatest honor of my life, and i hope i've made you proud. >> thank you.

>> really got the sense this was tough for her to deliver. her face was serious most of the time, not smiling. it seemed difficult to keep that emotion under control. just a few days ago we heard her deliver some surprising words in an interview with oprah winfrey. she said we're feeling what not having hope feels like. today the message was continued hope. now tonight here at the white house, the obamas are hosting a party, a farewell party. it's expected to be celebrity studded, and this weekend the president will work on his farewell speech and the white house says the goal there is for it to be optimistic and forward looking. erin? >> thank you, michelle. we'll be right back.

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a friday afternoon, a man got a gun out of his checked back and killed five people and injured eight others. the gunman is in custody. one witness said the gunman shot indiscriminately and at point-blank range. you'll hear from that witness and others over the next two hours. the shooting set off chaos out of the airport of people running for cover out onto the tarmac. you'll hear what we know about the suspect. it's generally our policy not to give mass shooters any infamy they may be seeking. in this case it is early in the investigation. authorities are still seeking information about the suspect. so we'll use his name and picture but sparingly. the suspect has been identified