florida communities including palm beach. president trump was briefed just moments ago. here he is talking with fema officials. >> i just asked you two days ago. we were given a really comprehensive briefing, and they seem to think almost every prediction was that it was going to go right through florida and into the golf, actually right across florida. does that not have a chance of happening now, or what do you think? everything seems, it goes up north. what do you think the chances are it goat straight as the original predictions were? >> yeah. the site of this cone guesses the variability. what's happened in time, once it slowed down, the forecast had to energy to the north because now it has an influence with that trough. teeny changes can make a big difference in the eventual movement of these storms. literally thousands of parameters we're trying to measure including the computer models to get these tracks. a small wobble can cause it to

change a little bit. that's why there's so much uncertainty. we talk about the actual cone. you look at the last five years, and that's the forecast. we try to communicate these uncertainties, and it does happen, especially when you're measuring thousands of parameters. when you get into the models, you can get these small changes. >> how certain are you it can go north? >> every single computer model we have is pulling it to the north. but the big question we have is where the center's going to go. that's why we try to communicate the edge of that cone. the landfall literally could be right on the coast anywhere in florida and even up the carolinas. we could see a landfall too soon where you can have some damage right along the coast, but we're trying to communicate. even if it's offshore. look at the size, how big the storm is. even if it's offshore, that could bring some devastating impacts even on the coast. we're trying to communicate that size and really try to focus people on this large system and not just the center. >> great job. thank you very much.

>> all right. that was the president just moments ago. let's check in with meteorologist jennifer gray. she's following the storm's progression from cnn's center. so, jennifer, millions of people are ancien an chusly waiting to where it's going to hit. >> that's right. it hit elbow kay. that's the first. it will probably make several more as it moves to the west. 185 miles. it's a strong category 5 storm. it's crawling to the west. in fact, it will come to a screeching hall or very, very slow pace before making that turn to the north. it's got gusts of nearly 220 miles per hour, and where it makes that turn, and that's just what we were talking about right there that the president was listening to. when it makes that turn to the north, that timing is so crucial

because that will mean everything as far as the impacts go for the state of florida and all up the coast of the u.s. so it is going to make that turn to the north eventually. but when that happens, it will mean the difference in, say, category 5 destructive winds possibly along the coast of florida or staying offshore, and you won't get as many of the impacts. but the closer it is to the coast of florida, the bigger the impacts are going to be. the force winds extend about 30 mile off senn tell. it could be offshore 20 miles and you're still get the hurricane-force winds. that's why it's still too early to tell. we're talking 28 feet in the bahamas. this is going to sit here for several days. we're talking catastrophic category 5 over the bahamas for several days. that's absolutely unheard of for this portion of the world. so locally, 20 inches of rain

about or more. 10 to 20 inches across the abacos. that's grand bahamas island right there with the 20 inches of rain. and right now we're talking about the number 6 as far as pressure goes for the storm. the sixth strongest storm ever to make landfall, and this could actually move up in rank as this storm continues to grow because it is by the minute becoming more powerful, more powerful, and, in fact, dropping the pressure while it's still over the bahamas. here are all of the computer models. most are taking it offshore. the question is how far offshore it's going to be. keep in mind we've seen this cone shift over and over over the last week or so. it's very uncertain this could continue to shift to the west as it has been during the last 24 hours. if it does so, that's going to bring it closer to florida. florida is still in that cone of uncertainty. that means the center of the storm still has the possibility of skirting the coast. so we're going to be watching it

extremely closely. >> all right. we'll keep checking back with you, jennifer. appreciate it. meantime, we talk about dorian has already hit portions of the bahamas. what we find are patrick oppm n oppmann. where are we? >> reporter: we're near it. it's expected to come near or but us over this evening and expected to stall out for hours if not longer. but 80 miles west of the abacos, and we're beginning to feel the first band. it's tropical-force winds, but it continues to pick up. the conditions continue to deteriorate, and it really is the worst case scenario because we're in a low-lying area.

much of this island will be under water. many of the islands around me will be completely under water if people are on the coast. you just wonder how they will ride this storm out. it is one of the most dangerous storms i have ever covered, and it is about as bad as it gets. and i've covered two other category 5s. when you look out when it's over, it looks like a bomb went off. that's the power of these storms. >> what about people who are living there? people who are working, vacationing? what kind of measures have they been taking? >> you knono >> reporter: you know, for your the first time ever when i came to cover a storm -- and i've done this for a while now -- they would not let tourists board the plane. they said there was no reason to come here, the hotels were closed, and they were putting their lives at risk. they were turning tourists away. i don't know why you would come here if you didn't have to.

residents, some were flying to other parts of the bahamas. most of the bahamas has been under a hurricane warning. florida has been under the threat of this. people who could afford to leave didn't know where to go to. most people we talked to said while they were going to take the storm seriously, they were going to ride it out in their homes. for people who live along the coast, it's too late to evacuate now. the winds are picking up and it's dangerous. you wonder how these people are going to get through in the hours ahead. certainly this storm is much worse than anybody has ever gone through here because it's the most powerful storm since hurricane andrew. it's the worst category 5 since hurricane andrew, and hurricane andrew is one of the most destructive of all time. i coincidentally enough was on a family vacation when hurricane andrew hit. i remember the absolute devastation it inflicted on the bahamas.

there were islands that didn't have a single tree left and we're all sort of mentally preparing ourselves for what's going to kampf becaucome becausg to take a long time to pass. >> patrick oppmann in the bahamas. thank you so much. and now we go melbourne. it's the calm before the storm. what's happening out there? >> reporter: it can be deceiving. we've been out here for five days. this is the most people on the beach in five days. the reason, people want to check out the waves. atypical for this time of year. part of the group of people who came out to check out the waves, hey, how are you doing?

>> we're awesome. >> today you're awesome. do you worry about what's coming through. >> not so much. we feel we're pretty hurricane-ready. >> you actually have been keeping an eye on the track of the storm and you've been ready since wednesday. tell us what it was like. >> we prepared on wednesday, put up the hurricane shutters, filled up the car with gas, stocked up. we're not planning to leave. we're new to the area, so maybe that's naive, but we're here. >> are you nervous at all? >> not really. i know we're prepared. >> that's fine. i'm glad you're prepared and taking advice. we appreciate that. one thing the national hurricane center says is the hurricane could change at the last minute. it could make landfall in florida. it's not likely at this point. but it could change at the last minute. the last word from emergency officials is keep your guard up. >> indeed. nick valencia, thank you so much.

we're following two big stories. of course, hurricane dorian, a category 5. and also we're a day after a mass shooting in west texas, following that as well. a gunman opening fire in two towns on saturday. midland, texas, and odessa, texas, leaving seven people dead and 21 injured. police were able to track down the gunman near a movie theater, seth off an intense gun fooitd there. the gunman was killed in an exchange. at any moment, the police will be holding a news conference about the details. of course, you're seeing this happen in broad daylight. there are people who were bystanders. many took out their phones and started videotaping exactly what you see right now in complete astonishment. it turned out to be a deadly afternoon in midland and odessa. several people were killed, many injured. ed lavandera is live on the phone. ed, tell us about the

investigation the day ofafter? what's happening? >> reporter: hopefully we're set up to take in a press briefing that's expected in the next few moments from law enforcement in the west area of odessa and midland, dps and the governor of texas, greg abbott, who has arrived here in the city of odessa as well. right now we're in the process of settinging up f inin inup up hopefully we can bring that to you live in the next few minutes. there are a flurry of questions. all we know right now officially is it's a white male in his mid-30s who carried out this attack. and it was a shooting rampage that spread out across the whole city after the suspect was pulled over by police halfway between midland odessa on

highway 20. he immediately opened fire on the trooper and then started firing randomly at people. so this is an attack that set off a great deal of fear across the community. dps troopers are starting to give some introductory remarks about how this will unfold in the next few minutes. there are a great deal of questions unanswered, no known motive, what is it that triggered the traffic stop that led to the troopers arriving and confronting this suspect. and, of course, the suspect was gunned down behind a movie theater on the northeast edge of town several hours after the rampage started. so that's where we're at right now, fredericka. hoping to get many more answers in the coming minutes. >> we'll get back to you.

ed lavandera. thank you so much. lots of fear and suffering. now really extending beyond those state lines, people with a lot of questions. stay with us on cnn as we monitor two breaking stories at this hour. we're expecting an update on the shooting from midland an odessa, texas. and hurricane dorian strengthening to a category 5, making land fall. we're awaiting updates from president trump and the florida governor as well. we're live next. t-mobile's newest signal reaches farther than ever before. with more engineers. more towers. more coverage! it's a network that gives you ♪freedom from big cities, to small towns, we're with you. because life can take you almost anywhere, t-mobile is with you. no signal goes farther or is more reliable in keeping you connected.

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get a free motion base upgrade or get up to $900 off select icomfort sets. live pictures on the left side of your screen. on the right-hand side of your screen, there was a mass shooting. several people killed, many others injured. a gunman, a 30-year-old white male is all we know. we're hoping to hear more from officials there as to what provoked this gunman, his intent. we know that he was killed in this melee of gunfire yesterday, but there's still so many unanswered questions. so as police work to understand what happened and hopefully reveal to us everything they know, there's so many questions about what could have been done to prevent this shooting in the first place. this morning, president trump had this to say when asked about any potential plans.

>> we're looking at a lot of didn't things, different bills, ideas, concepts. it's been going on for a long while. background checks. i will say for the most part sadly, if you look at the last four or five going back even five or six or seven years, for the most part, as strong as you make your background checks, they would not have stopped any of it. so it's a big problem. it's a mental problem. it's a big problem. >> but that statement comes in sharp contrast to what the president said two weeks ago about the shooting in el paso, texas. let's listen. >> what happened to the strong appetite for background checks? >> i have an appetite for background checks. we're working with democrats. we're working with republicans. we already have very strong background checks, but we're going to be filling in some of

the loopholes as we call them at the border. >> let's talk more about this. i'm going to talk with analyst juliette kayyem and also josh campbell. juliette, would it make a difference? he said meaningful background checks would perhaps be instructive. does this signal what's next. >> what does it signal i think you're trying to ask me, what does it signal. >> yes. >> it signals that there will be no background checks legislation. president trump has been told by the nra -- we certainly no mitch mcconnell has no interest it, that the background checks, national and more rigorous background checks will not occur. no one should hold their breath at this stage. it's already clear. whatever he says publicly, we shouldn't judge anymore. donald trump -- look at what's happening. the senate did not get back.

mitch mcconnell has not been meeting with democrats to come up with a solution. also president trump did something else, which is he puts that mental argument. this is just a bunch of crazy people doing this. so first of all, in the united states, we don't have more crazy people than in other countries. what we do have is more people killing lots of people than in other countries. as president trump recognized, it may be a combination of mental health -- most of the time it's not -- with these high-caliber guns. we dome know what was used in odessa next. that's the toxic mix that has to be addressed. i always think the focus on mental health is a punt by politicians. donald trump says he's looking at it. it's like me losing ten pounds. yeah, look. you don't have to do it anymore. there's no further analysis at this stage. it's not going to happen. >> josh, this shooting yesterday started with a traffic stop and

ended up with seven people dead. what do you want to hear from this press conference that could get under way at any moment or that you think even the public really needs to hear from officials to help people, you know, get some semblance of what happened, if there were any red flags, any of that. >> yeah. so many questions that we have, fred. i think at the outset, we all need to be prepared for the fact that we may never know what the motive here was with the shooter. now, that's going to come down to whether the authorities are able to glean from his digital footprint, residence, any type of evidence that he had at some point in time some antipathy for law enforcement, try to get into his mindset. they'll have to speak for him. if there's not something there indicating what took place, we may not know the answer which, very quickly, is why we need to look at the method. with the firearms, in all of these shootings, the commonality has been the gun. we expect to hear from authorities, additional

information. i talked to our sources, somebody on the ground, that they have positively identified the shooter. we'll wait to see if they'll announce that at the upcoming press conference. everybody wants to know what were the characteristics of this person. a the last thing, we still have not received the all clear from law enforcement that they don't think it was anyone else involved. that way citizens of that community can rest a little easier that of course, as we're talking, we're seeing the live room of what's taking place and the other side of the screen, the images from cellphones, people shooting what they were seeing unfold right before their eyes yesterday. so, juliette, first we were talking in the past couple of weeks, el paso, texas, dayton, ohio. we heard the president using the phrase mental illness. if there's a single factor or

common thread of these shootings, what would it be? >> there's only one through line. that's weapons that can kill people quickly. so forget handguns. put those aside. then we don't have to have a debate. the question is from the perspective of somebody who does homeland security, i want to focus on the high consequence, high events. what's the thing that's going to harm a lot of people and most likely to do that? that's going to be weapons. the background, video games, person, that's all irrelevant. it's the method of what they're using. everything you use to identify the risk is important. but until you tell the country ban assault weapons, things that kill quickly, which makes it impossible to stop from a first responder per speckperspective,

doesn't allow a person to escape it, take that all away from it, you g the high probability, the data is clear. taic the emotions out of it. the data is clear. >> even though the gunman is dead, we're talking a crime spree that spans great distances. we're talking about a gunman that was on the move, starting with targeting law enforcement and then hitting passers bi. talk about the difficulties of trying to obtain as much information, evidence as possible that will help further the investigation, especially since the gunman is dead. >> yeah. this is going to be a massive effort. we should only look to the resources that the government is bringing into that locational. we're hearing from our sources yesterday the fbi alone is

bringing in expert examiners from dallas, san antonio, el paso, from the neighboring field offices to assist the investigators there to process what they're calling multiple crime scenes. as you mentioned, this was a span along a highway and popular theater area. and so when you have someone firing indiscriminately along that way, every shell casing has to be accounted for and all that collected. this is going to be a massive effort. that's what we're going to see, authorities going through and doing a concerted effort to gather all the evidence. bhoopd the scenes there will also be an effort along the way to dig into the digital footprint. if they don't already, they're going to prepare go through his media. it's going to be a while before they get to the bottom of what took place. >> we're probably a minute from the press conference before it gets under way, juliette, is the signal i'm getting.

talk to me about the decision-making that led to taking out the gunman especially after already so much carnage, but, you know, if he were alive, there's information they might be able to glean. but, of course, he's an ongoing threat. take me through it. >> it's not even a decision. when you have an active shooter like this, he's already shot law enforcement officials, your only job is to stop the gunman in any way possible, and that is more likely than not going to result in death. sometimes you see these guys surrender as you've seen in the past. but most of the time, you basically have to rid the harm. the fact that he's dead, i would have anticipated from the beginning. the other quick thing here, one of the j chas of law enforcement was that he was in two different cars. it's almost impossible to communicate to a public -- >> commandeering, taking the

postal carrier. >> right. so if you think about a school or walmart or place like that, at least you can have people shelter in place. there's probably been training or a program to shut doors. this is just a new phenomenon and one that once again gets to the capacity of guns and the guns that are used of the mobility of the shooter. it means that one of the tools that law enforcement has to protect the public is tell them what's going and tell them to hide they weren't able to do in the cars. that's why you saw, i think, so many people shot. it's almost impossible to be able to communicate to people who are in cars unless you have an alert system through radio. but most people aren't listening to radio anymore. >> and, josh, it seemed as though just based on some of the chronology that's been made public, this is what of a plan by this gunman, an opportunity, you know, that, i guess, he didn't know that he was going to

be stopped by police, but then having the equipment, you know, to take out target law enforcement and then take out other citizens. does that say to you there was a plan? >> i think it's too soon to tell specifically. as you mentioned, you had someone willing to engage law enforcement. i think the one thing that's possibly different here from past shootings is -- i see the governor coming to the microphone -- is this person was coming to a traffic stop. this is something you haven't seen before. >> we'll leave it there. for now, let's listen in on this press conference out of odessa after a mass shooting yesterday, several killed, many injured.

>> whenever you're ready. >> okay. yesterday, august 31st was a saturday. it should have been a great day, a long holiday weekend. instead a little after 3:00 in the afternoon we had something happen that we never would wish on anyone. the texas department of public safety made an initial traffic stop at about 3:15 on i-20 yesterday afternoon, and the trooper was shot during that traffic stop. the subject then proceeded into the city of odessa.

he had over a period of time created several more victims. initially it was thought that there may have been multiple shooters, and that is because at some point this subject changed vehicles. we're now confident that there was just the one actor. this is an ongoing investigation, active, there are still crime screenes being work. there are no answers or motives or reasons at this point, but we are fairly certain that the subject did act alone.

you'll notice i'm not naming the subject, and there's a reason for that. i refuse to. i'm not going to give him any notoriety for what he did. we'll provide that information to you, but not on this public stage. as we stand, 22 people are injured, three of them law enforcement. very, very sadly, seven people have been killed, seven of our citizens. those seven victims have ranged in ages from 15 years to 57. very sincerely i say to those families, i offer my apologies and my condolences. my heart aches for all of them. i ask the city of odessa, the state of texas, and the nation to please lift up your hearts and send us your prayers.

i thank everyone who has already done that. there has been a tremendous outpouring. just to the local audience, please, with your show of support, if you're going to the crime scenes and you're dropping off food and water, and that is much appreciated, but it is also hindering the investigation. so, please, if we could stop that and just bring that stuff to a central location here at ut p.d., we'd be thankful. also we've gotten support from other local and state law enforcement agencies. the outpouring of support and resources has been amazing. the cooperation while this incident was ongoing was amazing. please understand this is a different type of active shooter that we were involved with because he was mobile, and that

creates some very special types of issues. so my thanks go out to our brothers and sisters in midland with the sheriff's office and the university of texas police department and the independent school county police department and district. i could sit here all day and name those local agencies that helped out, and my heart is just filled with gratitude to each and every one of those professionals. to close out, i would invite everyone, the community, to join us here this evening as utdb for a prayer vigil, which will start at 7:00 p.m. thank you. >> well, chief, thank you. >> thank you. >> we're proud of you. as you all know, the lives of

the people of odessa, the entire region has been shattered over the past 24 hours. hearts have been broken. we want people in the peruvian basin to know that all of texans stand with you and embrace you at this time of challenge. we are here today and we'll be here every day until this community is pieced back together. but we know that words alone are inadequate. words must be met with action. i want to thank the police chief for his tireless efforts over the past 24 hours in the robust and heroic response that he and his fellow law enforcement agencies and officers utilized to bring the gunman down and to

quickly de-escalate the challenge and to literally save lives that could have been lost had it not been for the action of the collaborative effort by law enforcement. along those lines we cannot thank enough all of the first responders from all of the law enforcement agencies involved in this process to ensure that they were going to be able to do what was necessary to rae store safety in this community. as governor i want to thank the texas department of public safety for what they did. we talk about this all the time, and that is there is no such thing as a routine stop. the way all this began yesterday was with what would be categorized as a routine stop by the texas department of public safety, only for that stop to

immediately escalate into gunfire by this killer with a dps officer being injured in the process. so i appreciate the way that the texas department of public safety steps up every single day, always prepared, knowing that their lives are on the line, any stop they make, ensuring safety in our communities across the state. i also want to express my gratitude to the incredible health care providers of this region. they had to deal with probably what was their most challenging day ever, and they stepped up with collective calm and poise to make sure that they were able to heal the wounded as quickly as possible. i want to express my deepest sorrow for the families who have lost a loved one and for all the

victims who have been wounded. the hurt you feel is incalculable. you best hold onto the hope that you can also have. we're seeing this already with the family of one of the victims. some of you know that one of the victims is a 17-month-old child, and moments before coming in here, i received a text from the mother of this 17-month-old. i want to read you the text of what this mother wrote. she said, quote, thank you all for praying. this is all of our worst nightmare. but thank god she's alive and relatively well. she goes on to say that toddlers are funny because they can get

shot but still want to run around and play. she says that we are thanking god for that. her mouth is pretty bad, but will heal and can be fixed. thankfully it doesn't seem like her jaw was hit. just lip, teeth, and tongue. she's having surgery tomorrow to remove the shrapnel from her chest and to fix her lip and mouth and to get a better look at her tongue. we are thanking god for healing her and appreciate continued prayer prayers. i want her family to know they can be assured of those prayers today, tomorrow, and every day as that young child continues her pathway to healing. let me say this.

i have been to too many of these even events. as governor the first one i went to was the shooting in downtown dallas that killed police officers as well as others. then there was sutherland springs where 26 people were killed. then there was santa fe high school where ten people were killed. and then less than a month ago, there was a shooting in el paso. i am heartbroken by the crying of the people in the state of texas. i'm tired of the dying of the people of the state of texas. too many texans are in mourning. too many texans have lost their lives. the status quo in texas is unacceptab unacceptable, and action is needed. after the shooting at santa fe

high school, i signed more than 15 laws to make our schools safer from shooting attacks. in the immediate aftermath of the shooting at el paso, i spoke with the volusia governor and with advocacy groups. we have been working on drafting solutions that can be taken on by the governor and the executive branch in texas, solutions this address racist -- take racist hate attacks like what happened in el paso, solutions that will address keeping oukeep i ing communities safer. now in the aftermath of the recent shooting, we must broaden our efforts to address the tragedy that has befallen odessa, and we must do so quickly. we need solutions that will keep guns out of the hands of

criminals like the killer here in odessa, while also ensuring we safeguard second amendment rights, and we must do it fast. most of all, in the aftermath of what happened here in odessa, we must replicate what we've seen in el paso, sutherland springs, santa fe, and in dallas. that is we must do what texans do best. in times of tragedy, we unite. we come together. we support each other. we reinvigorate the community with the love we have for one noofr. and knowing the permian basis the way i do, i know that's exactly what's going to happen here in odessa, in midland, in the entire region. so thank you all as a community in what you do in helping each other, an thank you to the heroic law enforcement officers and first responders for everything you've already done.

[ applause ] >> as i continue with this press conference, i would echo what the governor said. we don't want to put a lot of attention on the active shooter. as the regional director and having to work two active shooter scenes in a matter of 28 days is unheard of especially here, so when we have things like this, incidents like this, it's important that we reach out to our partners, and you can see

those behind me and those at the table with me, we can't do it alone, and it's important that we continue to focus, unify collaboratively in helping the government fight the fight, and we'll continue to do so. i just want to give you an update on our trooper that was shot yesterday. but by the grace of god he survived the shooting. he went through a couple-hour surgery yesterday and the doctors left it very optimistic that he will have a full recovery after obviously some rehabilitation, but he will be fine. at the onset of this, we had troopers, as you know, that not only shot the suspect. we had many in the arena helping the odessa p.d., and we brought in all the resources we had available, not only law enforcement but also the non-commissioned side. people were working behind the scenes with the police department and the federal bureau of investigation as well, ensuring that those families

that are suffering the losses are definitely educated and compensated as the law allows, and thanks to the governor and the officers of the attorney general who make sure that all monies are made available to the families to help them on the road to recovery. thank you. >> along those lines, i'm going to emphasize one thing. first is gratitude to the legislators from this region who can be very helpful in the effort of making sure that the victims and others get the resources they need. they're behind me, and i want to recognize the senator from this region, which is senator kel seliger and the house of representative brooks line graph as well as regional senators, senator perry and representative craddock. thank you to all the extremely helpful in working with working with local families and local communities and local schools as

well as the health care providers in providing information to us at the state level. so i urge you to be active in the next day, weeks, and months to come, and working with these representatives and senators to make sure that all of your needs are raised and addressed. with that we'll pass it over to the federal official involved. >> hello. my name is christopher combs, i'm the fbi special agent in charge. first i want to commend the local law enforcement effort and the state effort here. there's no question that these are the true heroes. in the midst of a man driving down the highway shooting at peopling local law enforcement and state troopers pursued him and stopped him from possibly going into a crowded movie theater and vt another event of mass violence. i think that's the story of law enforcement that should be conveyed and of how heroic the membership and women are.

i want to come memd them on that. the fbi that's here now almost every other week supporting our local and state partners on active shooters. we're almost every two weeks an active shooter in this country. the fbi responds to them. all the support of our state and local departments here in odessa. we have the support -- >> looks like we lost the signal right there from that press conference coming from odessa. you're listening to the fbi agent in charge. oh, i think we've got that signal again. let's go back. >> at this point i can tell you we do not believe -- we do not believe there's any connection to any domestic or signs of intheer national terrorism. we're still working through that. we're conducting sefss at this exact moment in time to make sure that there is nobody else even possibly connected with this. i support the chief's announcement. we do believe this was a single

shooter. this is not a multi-shooter event. we have worked closely in the past with the dps and texas rangers. in fact, the very same team that worked at the sutherland springs mass shooting is the team that's here from the rangers along with the fbi team that did that crime scene as well. so the connection between the fbi, the dps, odessa police is built on the unfortunate experience of working together. but we're all working together to ensure that this community is as safe as it can possibly be, and we'll be here for the duration of time that the chief needs our services. and unfortunately we'll be ready to go to the next active shooter, which is an unfortunate statement to make, but that seems like what we do. we respond one after another to these horrible events. we'll respond to our local partners and help them with these horrible tragedies we see here in texas and across the country. thank you, sir. >> thank you.

three questions. >> chief, can i ask you, do you believe that the gunman was going to go to that theater eventually. >> there's no way of absolutely knowing that, but it begs the question, why go to the theater if you're not planning on entering the theater. and police understand that on a saturday afternoon in odessa, texas, that is one of the most crowded places to be. >> do you know what his initial motive was at the traffic stop? >> i do not. at this point, i do not. >> is there any reason to believe that this could have been a planned attack? >> again, the investigation is ongoing and there's a lot of questions we don't have answers to yet. >> the shoot-out outside, how long did it last? did he have a chance to load? was he saying anything to the officers there? >> again, all of that is under investigation. there are some videos that are out there, but i'm e not going

to get into that incident at this point. >> at this point in order, we're going to call on people. >> raise your hand and then we'll call on you. >> there was also another crime scene you responded to at a stadium where an eyewitness said a blue pickup was shot at by police officers. do you know if that scene was connected to the shooting earlier today and if not, can you tell us what happened in that situation? >> i have no information about the incident you're talking about. >> what was the firearm used in the shooting that the suspect had? >> the fire arm was an ar-type weapon. as far as how he obtained it, that is still under investigation. >> why was he stopped in the first place? why was he stopped in the first place. >> he was stopped for a simple

traffic operation. >> by dps. >> for failing to signal at the required distance. [ indiscernible ] >> i'm sorry? [ indiscernible ] >> we'll discern that later. >> gun laws went into effect. what do you say to people who look at that and wonder if texas is going in the wrong direction to stopping more shootings? >> well, for example, one of the laws that went into effect and some deal with issues like this, and that is laws that ensure that school marshals -- more school marshals will be able to have guns to keep schools safer. so some of these laws were enacted to make our community safer. >> is texas doing enough to restrict guns like ar-15s? >> well, what we have been doing especially in the aftermath of the shooting in el paso, we've

been meeting daily, in part, with members of the legislature, in part with the victims, in part with members of the community, in part with federal counterparts, and we've been hammering out on a daily basis, new additional solutions that we will be working to offer up, some by the governor, some by the executive branch, some by the legislature, but these will be new and different solutions that will work to de-escalate gun violence in texas. >> does it decrease the sense of urgency to have two incidences like this in less than a month? >> absolutely. >> is the suspect from odessa? is the suspect from odessa? >> the suspect has a\count -- c address. >> go ahead, sir. >> do you know if the subject was resisting the stop due to outstanding warrants or as a result of criminal acts as far as you know? >> as far as i know, there were no active warrants. >> can you offer us a timeline?

>> no, we can't actually because it is -- it's a very chaotic situation when these things happen, and that is all being pieced together as we speak. >> governor, one of the things you said is -- [ indiscernible ] the shooting in sutherland springs, el paso, it's an ar-style weapon. >> these are the kinds of things legislators are already talking about. it was one of the topics raised during a discussion in el paso. i do want to point out -- i was going to say i do want to point out, however, of the shootings have not involved ars. it's important that the shooting that took place at the high school did not. they involved a shotgun and a

handgun. the largest was at luby's in central texas and involved only handguns. let me just answer your question. we're going to look at every issue. there's no issue we will not look at. and we're going to be looking at legislators to find out what the best solutions are for texas. [ indiscernible ] >> the people we also talked to are law enforcement officers. [ indiscernible ] >> do you believe that it's each one or are they all going to be taped off during the investigation? [ indiscernible ]

>> all scenes are being processed. again, well over 15 scenes. it takes time to process that many scenes. >> and when someone has an ar in their car like that, is that of concern? does that mean -- [ indiscernible ] >> you know, there's no way of knowing without talking to him, and we can't talk to him. but, again, he showed up at a movie theater, which would tend to show his motives. >> we're going to go to the last question -- [ indiscernible ] >> go ahead. >> yes, sir. first of all, thank you, guys, for everything you've done. mass shootings are unpredictable. but you spoke with a man

yesterday who was in the theater during the whole evacuation process. he was disturbed and wondering is there a reason why -- was initiated rather than a lockdown? >> the situation was so fluid at that point. this person was driving from location to location to location to location. a lockdown/evacuation, two sides of the same coin, i think. you just don't have enough personnel to lock down every location in the city, you just don't. so you do the best you can with the personnel you have, and that's why we had people there at cinergy. i think, again, a lockdown would have -- >> during the time was he moving? >> absolutely, absolutely.

>> earlier yesterday you said -- [ indiscernible ] something happened earlier that day you were tipped off on? you said something about -- [ indiscernible ] that you were looking for. >> no. i think maybe you misunderstood what i was saying yesterday. what i was saying yesterday was that when the suspect was down, we had a good idea who he was at that time and that we just had not totally identified him yet. that's why we wouldn't release that until we had an absolute stone cold identify kalgs on him. that's what i was saying. >> my question for christopher -- [ indiscernible ]

>> i can tell you we're executing a federally authorized search warrant at this point in time. as we also describe, there's over 15 crime scenes, so, frankly, we're all over the place in odessa with dps, the rangers, and the odessa police. i would say all day today and probably all day tomorrow, you're going to see significant police and fbi activity throughout the city. >> and, governor, when it comes to you saying too many -- [ indiscernible ] what do you say to the people of texas -- call to action? what do you say to the people to calm them down? >> first of all, from the response side at the state level, we have a sense of urgency to arrive at solutions,

working together with the legislature, working together with our law enforcement officers, and federal partners, and we are working quickly to hammer out some solutions, to put some solutions on the table. second, importantly, is the way that our law enforcement responds. they work 24/7 to make sure that their communities are as safe as possible. you can see the defecation they have. they'll be doing that across everyplace across texas. >> all right. you are listening to a press conference out of odessa, texas, there. the governor, the police chief, fbi, special agent in charge, representatives, all trying to fill in some of the blanks of what happened yesterday. just a few details about the gunman being stopped on a routine traffic stop by a state

trooper there. they're in midland and being stopped for a failure to signal with an appropriate distance, but then that driver turned into a gunman by turning the gun on the trooper and then proceeding. now, the details we didn't get. too many specific details coming from the officials there. we did hear from the police chief who said he didn't want to give the notoriety by giving the name of the gunman, at least at this juncture. but we do know from this press conference, this would end at a movie theater, where the gunman would go into the movie theater an then taken out. i've got back with me juliette kayyem and josh campbell. this is an interesting press conference that took place, because we heard some details that really are quite extraordinary. but then there was a deletion of a lot of information in between. and i'm not really sure what,

you know, the method is here. but, maybe, juliette you can help us understand why. >> yes. for a rare moment i'm speechless. i've never seen anything like this. this is a law enforcement press conference. it's supposed to disclose information of relevance to the public and if media who can then determine what's relevant. we have a debate here at cnn, i get it, about whether we name a terrorist or white supremacist. that's a different debate rather than a public official who knows the name of the person, is willing to disclose it publicly before a global audience. he said he's going to get the name out later. remember, we e're 24 hours -- >> he said it wasn't appropriate at this time. >> this is the moment. that's not his choice. this is public information. and secondly, they don't disclose it's an ar rifle until asked the question? i mean who's the person and how

did they do it? this is the job of public officials. instead it was praise. i get it. i worked with responders all my career. i get get that. it was a lot of braise and a lot of weird fatalism. the fbi guy, the governor, the chief, we'll be here again, we'll support each other, as if we have no control over what's happening in this country with these guns. my worry by not saying his name, one, there's going to be conspiracy theories now and they should have shut those down. there's going to be fears that something's being whitewashed. my fear is that the texas officials are trying to minimize the person who did this as a way of making it seem as if, you know. these things happen, it's just another person. yeah. that sort of -- >> explain why you believe it's important for people t