tv Hardball With Chris Matthews MSNBC August 3, 2019 4:00pm-4:59pm PDT
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. our special coverage of the i want the city of el paso to we are hearing about some know and el paso police funding for the state to better shooting in el paso, texas, mexican citizens who were continues here on msnbc. department and everybody in this might potentially cause. address that challenge. wounded in this shooting. entire community know that the >> what do you plan on doing so we're continuing to follow the that this doesn't happen again what have you got for us? state of texas provides its full >> reporter: yes. breaking news. support. the mexican foreign minister is at least 19 people have been killed, 40 injured after a mass in our community? holding a press conference right >> this responding to a situation like this to try to now. we understand at least six shooting at a walmart around the for this community and their make sure it doesn't happen efforts to rebuild. mexican nationals were wounded again is a replication of what in today's shooting. nearby cielo vista mall in el we're still working out the we just went through during the paso. for the country that i know has [ inaudible question ]. number of casualties. this is just a few miles from the border. the press conference is going on there was a sales been paying a lot of attention last legislative session. it was made a year ago when we right now. and some back-to-school sales to this, asking what they can we have been telling our viewers throughout about this do, i ask that you keep el had the horrific tragedy of the relationship between el paso and going on. reports are that a lot of people from mexico, nearby mexico, pasoens in your prayers. shooting at santa fe high school juarez. so many people traveling back juarez is the city on the other we know the power of prayer and that led to three days of >> so the question about the and forth between those two hearings that i conducted at the cities. the power that you can have by i know kids who live in juarez side of the border, had been using that prayer. manifesto and this emerging who go to high school in the there. some people refer to this as the capitol to get input from narrative that we're seeing for every mom and dad, for every united states because they have mexican walmart, it's so close educators, students, victims of relatives there. son and daughter, we ask that throughout our country as to so this is an surprise. to the border. shooting crimes as well as we're keeping our eye on press officials haven't confirmed the you put your arms around your status of the remaining people family members tonight and give experts in all different of any domestic terrorism which is, and conference here in mexico city. who were injured. kind fields to help us be able this is the lead story here in el paso police say initial calls them hug, and let them know obviously we don't know. about the incident came in at how much you love them. to strategize the best ways to we have to allow the mexico. it is worth noting that this is about 10:00 a.m. local time. a very important story. keep students safe and to not just in the u.s. but here in as i was talking with members of investigation to continue, prevent incidents like that from respect the process very much mexico as well. happening again. the texas house of so. >> you characterized it a little mountain ti representatives behind me right that led to hearings that were but without regard to this that's noon eastern time. now earlier, moments ago, they there were between 1,000 and 3,000 shoppers in the walmart at particular instance. the time of the shooting. pointed out to me as they showed earlier. conducted by the legislature by people who hiv around the the session again and then it is still under investigation. law enforcement sources tell nbc news the suspect is 21-year-old to me a video taking place in legislation that was passed by but the manifesto narrative is mexican border understand the
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the state of texas and is now this community about how people fueled by hate. patrick crusius a resident of the dallas area, a distance from in this community were standing and it is fueled by racism and el paso. in lines around buildings to law. that includes bill after bill multiple senior law enforcement give blood to provide water, to after bill to make sure we're bigotry and division. sim p doing more than ever before to keep students safe at school. symbolic relationship. some say it is two lungs in the officials believe crusius posted provide support. and you know, i want to stay a screed of sorts online prior as they pointed out, el paso is same body. during that time, we did not, as >> absolutely. national media is watching. i know people and i have good to the actual shooting incident. defined not by the catastrophe el paso has historically been a friends who work along the it's too soon to draw conclusion that struck this town. far as i know, evaluate for and border, trying to help migrants very safe community. plan for an incident like this. that said, i can tell you i can we've been safe for decades. that work in both cities. from the posting about a the way el paso is really we will continue to be safe. i know americans that go to defined is the way this possible motive. if you saw the posting, it's this is someone who came from outside of our community to do juarez for cheaper medication. clear what the motive is. community comes together and perhaps the most pro found and the issue here is that law supports each other to bridge agreed upon issue that came out us harm. enforcement want to be sure that of all of those hearings was the a community that has shown folks in juarez are doctors and nothing but generosity and work in el paso or they are this posting that was posted on the divide of this catastrophe need for the state and for lawyers and they live in juarez kindness to the least among us. an anonymous site is actually that's happened today toward the but work in el paso. society to do a better job of the commerce that goes on connected to the shooter. pathway of where el paso will be sources familiar with the tomorrow. between those two cities is in investigation also tell nbc news dealing with challenging mental at america's front door. so we'll wait to see what the tens of millions of dollars. that a second person has been health based issues. taken into custody by texas and everybody in this a component to shootings that there are tens of thousands of authorities. took place in schools, i think happens with this investigation once we have a determination by it's not immediately known what community, we must do one thing the effect is probably a law enforcement. then i think you will see a lot pedestrians who cross every today, one thing tomorrow, and month between juarez and el role, if any, that individual each and every day after this. component to any type of of us coming together to make played in the shooting itself. shooting that takes place paso. we must unite. some very strong statements, but so this is truly becoming a however, at least 19 people are including, for example, the shooting that took place in for now we will let the multinational breaking news story. and again, we'll continue to dead, 40 are injured in el paso. especially, i want to emphasize sutherland springs. investigation continue. the bottom line is mental health reach out to mexican authorities joining me now is shelby cap a is a large contributor to any to try to get a handle on how the importance of every man and reporter for our el paso type of provided many mexican citizens were >> let me say in closing to echo affiliate ktsm. wounded or killed. she's been on the ground there woman, black, brown, white, but again, this is emerging as a whatever your rac be, now to su
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all day. what congressman escobar said, very important story in mexico. shelby, bring us up to speed on the situation in el paso. this person did not come from el >> thank you. stand by. paso. with any new information you it is not what we are about. have, please bring it to us. >> reporter: we are standing we are a special community and right now directly behind that to help these families in need for those viewers joining us now walmart where that shooting this would not have happened and to make sure that el paso is from an every pasoan. at the top of the hour, our happened. we have been stationed here all i can assure you. coverage of the shooting in el day long. going to be able to take a step we have seen multiple officers i can thank those who have paso continues. forward that it needs to take. we now have confirmation that 20 come in and out. expressed their support and you it's still an active scene but may want to know if there are people were killed in a walmart going to be any more updates on i've known for more than two super center in el paso and a it has died down. this. and i'll going to let chief neighboring mall. decades a man who has a passion the el paso approximated telling allen close with that. they are on the same place. me this is a crime scene >> we'll do another press investigation now. for el paso and the people of this town. conference if we find out they're not telling us how many let me bring you up to speed. anything different that we can that's your great mayor who will speak next. and pound upon later. people passed away because so at 10:39 a.m. mountain time, many drove away in their everyone, thank you all for 12:39 just after noon, in vehicles. the parking lot is full of >> thank you, governor. vehicles because so many people coming. eastern time, calls came into we appreciate your attendance >> let me recap what we have 91 were evacuated from there and here under these circumstances. this is a tough time for el heard. the cielo vista mall. paso. the first call came in on 911 at we cannot confirm numbers because so many drove to their 10:39 a.m. mountain time. hospital on their own. something none of us one of you that would be 12:39 a.m. eastern we saw people being wheeled out of the walmart with the sam's ever imagined. my condolences and prayers go club cards directly next to it. time. out to all of el paso as we within six minutes, police were the el paso police department mourn those who've been impacted on the scene. does tell us that they have been by this tragedy. there are 20 confirmed takingnt middle class to be fatalities. this is the first time we've heard that. able to have them reunited with
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with the rest of el paso, we 20 confirmed fatalities. their families so they can make will pray for and mourn those sure they're okay. you can see it at the bottom of as of now, not confirmed who we have lost. we will remember their lives and the picture. completely about how many people were affected by the shooting. 26 injured. i want to go to david shin, the but it is still a very active honor their memories together. scene here in el paso, ali. our community will not be defined by this senseless, evil >> that is an important point. ceo of the del sol medical center. police are being reticent about act of violence. one of the two chief saying how many people have destinations for the victims of actually been killed. the attorney general for texas the shooting. what can you tell us? >> we ended up receiving 11 is saying more than 15. we heard reports from police that it's 19. injured patients ranging from, i want you to help me with we will be defined by the unity. something because we've been putting up a map and graphics of ranging in age from young to our community will heal. the cielo vista mall and the el paso is too strong to be walmart. what's the relationship between old. by the grace of god at this them? broken by a cowardly act like this one. are they on the same pad of point, all the victims brought property? would you be parking in the same to us are still alive. place to go from the walmart to i want to assure the el paso we have an unbelievable team of the cielo vista mall? community that we are safe. care professionals, doctors, we are safe. tell me as well what the nurses, all sorts of medical relation is to mexico. how close are you to a crossing professionals, taking care of thank you to the el paso police patients and that's what we've into mexico? department and our law been focused on the majority of >> reporter: that's right. we are very close to the cielo the day. enforcement partners for their >> are you at liberty to say what the nature of the injuries vista mall. swift response and assistance. the walmart is directly next to are for most of the patients it. el paso police told us that the second reports came from a you're dealing with? i will now turn it over to chief are they all gunshot victims? shooter inside the cielo vista allen for specifics. mall, however, they haven't >> i believe so. confirmed what actually happened >> thank you, mayor. the majority of them, i'm not in the mall. right now they're keeping
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everything that happened inside entirely certain. >> can you tell us about the of that walmart, they're not confirming everything. active shooter call went out differences? i know we've had some people but they did evacuated everyone from that mall. this morning to 911 at 10:39 and mexico is close to us. a.m. going to the university center. we're about a five-minute drive how was it determined what police response first officer on patients you received and what from it right now by freeway to be able to get to it. the scene was 10:45 a.m., a a lot of people do cross to shop patients other hospitals received? >> del sol is a level two trauma at this walmart. it's a very international area six-minute response time. center. right here, so we have a lot of unfortunately, or fortunately, people from out of the country as well. we are prepped and ready to from this shooter we have 20 >> what is this sales tax confirmed fatalities. holiday that we're hearing about that would have drawn people, a and we have 26 wounded. handle incidents such as this. larger number of people than i believe there were children normal to the mall today? the ages and genders of all transferred to el paso >> well, it is back to school, so all of our stores around here these people injured and killed children's. del sol is incredibly close to are drawing a lot of people, where it happened. especially from mexico. a lot of people come and buy are numerous in the age groups. their back-to-school gear from so as the ems crews just are the walmart here. sometimes they get better quality stuff. they like to buy everything here. we get a lot of people crossing the situation needless to say is a horrific one. the border, especially coming back to school as well. tr triaging are derrelling where to crime scene is being assisted by bring them. >> let me ask you about some of i mean, all these boolz salack-l the fbi, various law enforcement the talk going on around the fact that there are a lot of skaelz. the walmart was at capacity when agencies responded to the scene. people not american citizens who the shooting happened. >> shelby, thank you for your the sheriff's department, dps, would have been at that mall, and that there are concerns if reporting from our affiliate in they show up, either at a
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border patrol, everyone that el paso. carries a badge in this town hospital or with emergency i want to bring in ben collins workers, there is an issue. who's been looking into the pretty much showed up to that how does your hospital deal with particular scene. suspect and the posting that needless to say, the scene is a that? allegedly was made by the >> we will take care of anybody horrific one, unfortunately, suspect before the shooting. that needs care. because of the nature of the what have you got, ben? at this point, from a care >> this is a posting that law situation. the scene will be in play for a enforcement officials believe is probably from him. perspective, the nationality long period. it was posted on an extremist doesn't make a difference. if a patient needs care, if a unfortunately, the deceased will remain at the scene until the patient is injured, patient is message board than anonymous scene is processed properly for hurt, we will do our best to posters can post to. take care of them. it talks a lot about >> what do you need? we know there was a call that evidentiary purposes to be anti-immigration, something gathered for later prosecution. went out for blood earlier and that -- this is a white we have heard the response has nationalist code ward, they talk the state of texas will be the been phenomenal. about european identity in we keep hearing anecdotally there. it's basically a racist lead agency or into the manifesto about people crossing people lining you around the prosecuting of this particular block to give blood. over the border and how he individual. what is the blood situation as believes the country is full, it has a nexus at this point in far as you know? >> we have had four patients who basically. that's the gist of it and that's time to a hate crime. have been activated for the the gist of what happens in this the fbi will be looking into community. that with other federal this is a message board that massive transfusion protocol. believes this guy is a martyr. authorities. but right now we are looking at it ends up using massive amounts they have said that over and of blood to make sure the over again since the shooting potential capital murder charges occurred. for this individual. patients are being kept alive. i'm not going to give you his so all the hospitals have banned name right now, he's a >> what's the hesitation? together to make sure that why are police saying don't draw those, where the victims ended 21-year-old white male out of
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allen, texas. up, are getting that blood, any motive or we can't draw a motive because from what you've grateful for people who are been examining if one took that donating and blood banks for to be the posting of the person with that, i'll -- i'm sorry? continuing to make sure we have in custody, the motive would the vital resource. seem clear, unless there's some turn this over to chief augustit >> so in other words, that's not slight of hand or trickery going a call to tell people who on? >> right. haven't given blood, that they that's the complicated thing. shouldn't at this point. hn is by definition an anonymous it continues to be useful? no. >> i want to highlight what the chief and our mayor was saying. >> absolutely. message board, right? there are ways to track this. and certainly for these nt coupf this incident happened this hn is cooperating with morning, it activated the whole system and the system was days. likely will continue to need investigators with the successful. christchurch shooting. from the first calls that came blood. into the 911, getting crews on >> what does your training at this is something they can find out and will find out. the scene within six minutes. del sol medical center set you they'll trace an ip address to we had hundreds of sponsors, not up for? just local, but state and is this within the parameters of either this person or somebody what you have trained for? else and we'll know in a couple federal. as tragic as it is, luckily we >> unfortunately, yes. had no first responders injured last october, we actually weeks. >> all right. in today's events. to be clear for our viewers who participated in a statewide but it does take a toll. i'd ask that the community keep may not know, it's not the same their thoughts and prayers not drill around this, with prepping thing as posting on facebook only with the victims and their families who lost their lives for an active shooter. and so these are the types of where there would still -- and were injured today, but with police would be reticent to say things that we end up drilling their first responders as well. anything without confirming it, i'm going to turn it with the for. we have to be prepared for just but you would see ben collins fbi special agent in charge. and ben collins' posting and it about anything. >> thank you. and unfortunately, the nature of would be clear that unless my name is emerson buie.
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somebody hacked you or was impersonating you, you probably the tragedy today is something posted that. as a member of this community that fortunately we were it's not the same thing on hn for the last two years, words prepared for. .nd 4 chan? cannot express how i feel because this community has you can be completely anonymous embraced me with open arms. >> thank you for the service you until you run into a problem with the feds. are providing to the el paso you can, in fact, identify i share the sentiments of yourself if you want to, but everyone at the table as to how area. nobody really does that. the ceo of del sol medical we all feel for the families and his name is anonymous in the the victims today. center. i want to manifesto. it's not in these posts, but it the fbi as a federal law does talk about texas a lot. it does talk about immigrants moving into texas a lot. enforcement agency responsible has des moines assist with the if that was posted, which it other federal agencies as well as state and other local was, it's posted hours agencies just to provide support beforehand, if that's the case, it would be a coincidence if in the investigation as this murder investigation continues, it's somebody else. >> stand by, ben. as well as look at other aspects i want to bring in former fbi special agent and msnbc national of the investigation that could potentially be looked at from a security analyst clint watts. federal standpoint. you and i have talk about this a the investigation is still early lot, people who post things and on. the primary concern, of course, is the victims, making sure they have views and, because this is receive the care and courtesy america and you can get yourself that they deserve. a very big lethal gun, go out as we continue to move through this investigation, we will and do something about it. that is the road this looks like provide updates along with our other partners. it's going down. what do you make of what you >> we'll take a few questions.
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heard so far. [ inaudible question ] >> yeah, it's remarkably similar to the pattern we've seen really over the last one to two years, which is a series of white it would be best for the fbi to identity, white extremist answer that question. movement, they're organizing >> could you repeat the online and it doesn't look question? >> the reason you called -- [ inaudible question ] dissimilar to what we saw five or six years ago in terms of jihadists online. they have an ideology online and they're pursuing. first and foremost, i did not what's fascinating is looking at call ate hate crime. we're looking at other aspects to see what potentially violations are out there before how they're doing without a we can label any type of investigation. base. they're citing each other's we have to ensure that the evidence and the precursors are there and they have to be reviewed to make sure that we manifestos. and it's showing up as place are executing, moving in the where they share ideas and thoughts about where to attack or how to attack and how to right direction. at this point in time we're organize. it's a remarkably similar reviewing all the evideha we have collected so far. pattern. we're pursuing other leads. it's almost grassroots online officers for assistance in that extremi extremism grown from the bottom. vein and we will conduct this is, again, what we've seen investigations just like we have in other incidents. is cascading terrorism. we saw it a week ago, with the >> is this a terrorism investigation? gilroy shooting and this week we >> one seconds. go ahead.
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see the shooting in texas. it has a lot of similarities. it's about identity. >> right now it is a murder i think we have a real problem investigation. there is potential for a number in this country. you heard director wray talk of different other types of violations and we're reviewing all the evidence to make a about this was the biggest determination as to what potentially else is out there extremist threat. >> do we take this seriously? addition to the violations that this cascading terrorism of a have been stated that the local authorities are pursuing. different sort? in that vein, we will assist these would have been one-off them in that effort as we work together with state and local loners and to some degree the and other federal agencies all internet, gives people who over the country to do, and we otherwise don't have a community will keep you updated as the a community, and for many people, that's an amazing thing investigation proceeds. but in the case of people who >> right now we have a manifesto are filled with hate toward from this individual that indicates to some degree he identifiable groups, immigrants, still a nexus to potential hate whoever it might be, the internet does provide them with crime. some ability to do this sort of i didn't mean to step on the fbi's toes on that, but we are thing, to gain inspiration from taking this down the road of others and to provide simply a murder investigation inspiration for others. you and i have talk about this with numerous casualties. as has ben. as i said, the state of texas is this taken seriously enough will be the lead prosecuting by the government? somebody said earlier if 18 people had been killed by ebola, agency in this. >> was it -- this would be a national crisis
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>> what was the nature of the and we'd be taking emergency action. if this were an al qaeda or manifesto. >> i can't get into the specifics because we have the verify this was from this individual that we've arrested. isis-inspired thing, things would happen a different way. with that in play, we still have but we treat them at one of his, to be aware of the fact that but they're occurring in more this person is still entitled to days than when we in the year. >> that's right. we don't put a label on it a fair process as far as the domestically because we don't law. have a domestic terrorist we don't want to complicate by making any statements right now organization designation like we that may be -- the investigation. [ inaudible question ] do al qaeda or i.c.e. >> would you mind repeating we had a series of cases that that. >> was there any citizens who inspired a lot of americans to were either a fatality or casualty? do attacks from home. >> we're not able to ascertain that right now simply because we essentially designated hospitals will not release that anybody who followed that information to us specifically. ideology and we would lead >> can you confirm the number of investigation in that way. locations where the shootings we don't have that today in the domestic setting. occurred and the types of weapons that were used? instead we treat each of these as one-off investigations. >> again, those are details that the fbi did a remarkable job we're going to keep under play based on their limited ability right now as far as the to go after this as a cohesive investigation goes. ideology. we have one weapon that was put you can see it spring up in a
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out on social media. global fashion. i'm sure you're aware of that, which was an ak-47. new zealand, norway, the united states repeatedly. it's a white identity movement. he don't know if those pictures released on were the actual they plan and plot, they pick a individual. so right now, again, going back to the fair process with this out their targets and celebrate each other. individual, we don't want to it's remarkable the ideology is tank the investigation by made from whoever has the most matter-of-factly saying things successful attack of you're right now. >> chief, how could this have seeing them build one after each other trying to one-up each happened? what about this individual -- [ inaudible question ] other and oftentimes reference >> you mind repeat that go? each other in their manifestos. >> i know you can't get into too i guarantee if we had had this number of attacks, just two al many specifics, but this one individual and the fire power they had, how was that able qaeda or isis uninspired attacks in one week, we would totally be going at this as an entire to -- [ inaudible question ] >> the capability of the weapon country. but we have not treated -- allowed that. and then his intent. >> where does this change, and then the location of where clint? because the fact is in media we he chose was a walmart, a super are always wary about providing mart where people are in large numbers there. the type of coverage that would inspire other people, right? you can cause a lot of damage. so we sometimes -- i don't think [ inaudible question ]
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we deliberately downplay it, but again? we're cautious about it. but in being cautious, do we >> the fact there was some sometimes not name what this is? is that part of the problem, people inside -- that we are not all come to [ inaudible question ] >> no. >> chief, there was only one terms that this is a form of suspect? >> again, the initial terrorism and it is happening and growing under our noses? information coming in was several suspects. that information was put out to >> yes. the field. we treat it totally different. we had misleading information going to different locations as i like your head response. we're trying to not to celebrate far as supermarkets, costco was one location, dillard's was these individuals, not adding to another. others sitting on the if he everyone was responding to that, said. but at the same time, it's a totally different approach. social media somewhat influenced and then it becomes a that. but in the final analyze of all double-edged sword. of this, suspect was arrested at how do you raise awareness. these aren't one-off attacks. sun mount. this is an extremist movement. the foefrmt needs to take vie count, which is on the west leadership and state this is what we are facing, this side of the walmart where the administration where those people are, and this is where they reside and this is what everybody to do about it. director wray's testimony last initial shooting took place. >> was he arrested by el paso police officers? >> yes. week articulated how serious >> and i think the governor mentioned that he disarmed this is. you are far more likely to be himself on their command? >> he surrendered to the killed by a domestic terrorist.
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>> let's be clear. approaching officers. >> he was still armed at that time? let's be clear, clint. >> i don't know that matter of and you others in testimony, you fabricating factually but he have warned of these things. surrendered to police upon being there does seem to be an active seen. >> there was a honda accord at decision by this administration the scene. was that his vehicle? that we are not going to call this by its name and hit it head >> are you asking me for specifics? right now that's still under on. >> that's right. it's been very passive, really investigation. is just a series of tweets, >> the manifesto has become a right? there's been no cohesive increasingly common threat in the united states it feels like. response to this threat. what can we do to prevent this as long as it's that way, you're from happening in the future? going to see it's very difficult >> that's for a psychologist to for the foefrederal government answer. that's something that is mobilize and do much about it. if you can't go after these definitely, i think, in play, but that's beyond my skill set. cases and investigate them as an [ inaudible question ] inspired terrorist ideology, you're going to struggle to stop the attacks and you're going to see this cascading effect like we've seen this week where at any given moment there's one, i only caught the tail end of two, three extremists of any that, ma'am. >> do we train for active shooters? persuasion. >> we train for active shooter when they see someone events all the time. successful, it helps push them as i said to my staff and to the to go mobilize and attack as department, well and inspires other attacks.
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even today, i'm worried not just nonetheless we have to prepare about the attack that happened for it to happen. and we -- understanding what ths today, i'm worried about what's the one that might come next week. >> yep. and whether the person is taking inspiration from this. this is a double-edged sword. cal perry is standing by you have been watching and reporting on this since it began. what have you got? >> you know, i think it's worth mentioning that this has been the fear amongst people who work on the border, who work with migrants, humanitarian workers, aid workers. el paso's relationship with juarez and the it's been the center of the migration crisis in america. it's beene center of the political debate happening in the country. it is why, for example, at msnbc when we've covered these shelters that house migrants, we don't give the location away because the organizers have feared violence and they feared exactly this happening. as police work through the motive -- >> but to your point, at cielo
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vista mall, it's known as a place where mexicans would be on a saturday in summer at a sale at a shopping plaza. >> yeah. look, the traffic goes both ways. it's what makes el paso such a wonderful city. i know people there, close friends that go to juarez for medicine because their prescription medicine is a fraction of the cost of what it is in america. i know people who live in juarez to come to el paso to go to high school, to do shopping, to visit relatives, to see the doctor. these are two cities that operate completely with each other. it's something that is really remarkable. unfortunately, this has long been a fear. ironically, the very organizations that have feared the hope border institute are asking we pass the word that they are accepting blood donations in town. it is worth noting, of course,
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and we have been over and over again there are more than 40 people wounded. there are also asking me to tell people, if you are afraid because of their status, because of their immigration status, again, el paso is a milita multinational city. reach out. don't be afraid. they're helping families be reunited and they're organize ing a vintage for tomorrow night we will, of course, be covering. these are the organizations that the city of el paso rise on and, frankly, the city of juarez r e relies on as well. these people care for the migrants crossing the border every day. unfortunately now they're not only worried that that is going to be sort of their legacy, but added to that legacy is a vicious act of gun violence. it is worth saying and you and i and many others have been talk about it. gun violence and domestic terror, that is what we're looking at here, especially -- >> two distinct problems.
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>> right. it's worth calling it by its name. if law enforcement is able to uncover this essay. what pete williams is saying is important. let's not call it a manifesto. this essay, if this essay is from this shooter, then this is an act of domestic terrorism and we do not serve anyone by calling it anything other than that, ali. >> yeah. cal, stand by. thank you for your reporting on this. i want tog to jim cavanaugh formerly of the atf. you and i have covered instances that may not be domestic terrorism, that might just be shooting. but there's a flavor to some of these things. we have a gun violence problem in this country. that's well established. and every instance of gun violence is not domestic terrorism or born of white nationalism, but we're starting to see closer interactions between these two things. if you happen to be a white nationalist and intent on terrorism in this country, it's relatively easy to do because of your access to high-powered
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weaponry that can inflict a lot of damage. >> historically, this is true. i go back 40 years working on these neo-nazi and klansmen and they were saying the same stuff. my death is going to start the revolution that's going to make an all-white homeland. if you read these screeds back in the '70s, right in the post-60s civil rights era, it's the same stuff. i mean, we were immersed and they wanted guns and bombs and machine guns. and that's why aff and fbi and the police were on their heels. we were effective in keeping it down. but we're in a new era now. a lot of the talk we hear then at klan rallies, you hear in the mainstream now. you hear this talk against immigrants constantly. and then the other dimension you
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have that clint just laid out for you, and i agree with him wholeheartedly, is how they're leveraging the internet. back then they used to leverage pamphle pamphlets, but they can reach out to any soul and grab him with this poison on the internet. look what it's doing to america. i would just hope that our legal scholars, i'm not qualified to discern whether the first amendment or second amendment are used as suicide pacts, but our legal scholars can look at these things. i'm fine with free speech, but you ought to be able to stand on the milk box like you do in london and say whatever you want. but do we have to allow them to leverage every electronic medium to the point where we all get massacred? maybe some of our legal scholars can tell us maybe some of this
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can be damped down. and the second amendment is put out by the gun lobby as absolutism. you can't do anything about it. the heller decision, there can be more restrictions. we can't let the constitution be a suicide pact for us. it has to work for all of us. but these haters are strong, they're on encrypted message boards, they're on these 4 chan and 8chan. they get energy from this. they're celebrating this tonight. it's nothing new. it's just that they're all interconnected. that's the danger. >> they're all interconnected. jim, stand by. ken dilanian reporting that a law enforcement official with direct knowledge says the fbi is deploying a victim services team to el paso to provide information, support, and assistance to those directly affect by the incident. this is separate from the fbi special agents who collect evidence and support the criminal investigation.
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the fbi victim specialists were in gilroy, california, last week and provided support to victims and their families, including linking people up with medical care, retrieving personal items that are often left when people run from the scene. they also handle death notifications and for those requiring long hospital stays, they deal with logistics and therapy dogs. let's go to pete williams, our justice correspondent. what have you got? >> what we're told by law enforcement now, ali, is that this essay that was posted on the internet was posted about an hour, maybe an hour or so before the shooting. and it refers to -- it says this attack -- so the intel agencies obviously knew the person who posted this planned an attack. they connected the name of the suspect to the manifesto, but only a few minutes before the
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shooting. so there was no way to do anything. >> so they were already on this. they were able to determine from the posting that there was a potential attack going to happen? >> yes. but this thing is posted only an hour or so before the attack. and it takes some time to realize it's a potential threat and to figure out where and who it came from. by the time that work had been done, crusius, authorities say, was well on his way to carrying out this attack. so there was essentially no way to stop it. but there was some knowledge that somebody planned an attack, but it came so late that there wasn't any way to deter the attack. >> so authorities are on these boarders with that frequency that they can determine when something is posted and start to act on that? >> i guess in a very general
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way, yes. obviously the government doesn't know everything that's posted all the time. but perhaps it was called to their attention from someone on these, perhaps they happened to see it themselves, perhaps some sort of software looked for the phrase attack. i don't know exactly how they became aware of it but they did become aware of it, but it was too late. it was just posted within an hour or so of the shooting. it does appear that the thing was written sometime well before the shooting because at one point the author of this says -- he talks about the weapons and he says that he wants to get a certain type of weapon. and then it says the other gun is -- he discusses the model and says, if i get one. it was written well before the attack, but it was posted only an hour or so before according to the initial assessment we're getting from law enforcement. but so close to the shooting that there was no way they could have done anything to prevent
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it. they're fairly confident that the suspect they've identified crusius is the author of this screed. what it means ultimately, who knows. it could provide the federal government a possible jurisdiction for a hate crime charge if they decide to file it but they may well decide the texas authorities will have handled the case. they remain in charge, the texas authorities. the fbi, the atf, other law enforcement agencies are assisting them, providing forensic work, looking into the background of the suspect and so on. >> let me just ask you to repeat that. they have been able to confirm or identify that this screed, this essay was written by the man in custody? >> they are reasonably confident is the way -- that is their belief tonight, yes. >> got it. ben collins, i recall you and i
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discussing when there were the lockdowns in colorado at columbine that authorities had been able to figure out that this girl had posted it and was on her way to colorado. tell me about how that works in relation to what pete williams just told us. somebody alerted authorities or they were able to somehow figure out that something was under way, they just weren't able to get to it in time? >> i have a detail to add on that. shortly after this was posted on 8chan, the first shoresponse wa hello, fbi? there are some people who are extreme and some people who are not. this guy said, hello, fbi, someone may have called the field office. >> that's what happened with the columbine situation. somebody alerted authorities or somebody was triggered by the idea that somebody was going to
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go and potentially shoot up a school. so authorities either of their own accord or through key words or some sort of alert get o to find out something is afoot. >> that's exactly right. these places don't self-police. when it looks really bad like this, they tend to. in fact, this guy didn't even post this manifesto correctly yet. he tried to post it one time. he forgot to attach the essay that he wanted to put up there. and then this guy, before he could even post the thing for real said, hello, fbi? the game was afoot well before the shooting happened, i'm sorry. but it's hard. this website is run by a person who lives in asia who does not live in the united states for a good legal reason. so down fast enough to stop a shooting like this. it just doesn't happen. >> but fromhae been able to see of the posting, how easy or difficult is it to
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pinpoint -- you may pinpoint something's going to happen. was there enough information that somebody would have been able to figure out where it was going to happen and what it was? >> no. you could probably figure out that it was texas because he talks about texas so much in this thing, but there's no specific thing. in fact, he doesn't put his name on it. that is the weirdest part. usually these people put their names on these things. he didn't want to work up the courage to do that. the other issue is there's two kinds of people on this website. people who are, like, okay, this is a lot and i don't want people to die today, they call fbi. other people respond this is not a joke, this happened after the san diego shooting. go get a high score, things like that. they view this as a video game. they view them as a first-person shooter. that's how they deal with this stuff. they probably got tipped off maybe from the guy who posted shortly thereafter. >> let me bring -- we're looking at pictures. this is walmart. we've been looking at graphics and pictures from the ground.
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this is a helicopter shot of the walmart. you can still see police around there. remember, this is a very, very complicated matter because people are often taught too walmart and an adjacent shopping shelter in place and they don't know when to come out. they don't know it's over. they're not watching tv. they don't kw every swear inch mall where they' ld that, of co police -- i want to bring frank figliuzzi in. that continues to pose a threat. so until the thing is absolutely over, there is always a danger because a police officer who is going in and opening doors and trying to find people doesn't know whether that person who may or may not have a gun is a threat or a victim. but to the point that ben collins was making and pete williams made before him, how does this work? the police get some notice that something is afoot, someone is going to do something somewhere. the guy is talking about texas. we do not know what his name is. this is an impossibility for police. they know something is going to happen and it's a needle in a
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haystack. >> it is a nightmare for law enforcement. this issue gets to two important factors. number one, there is going to be an eerie similarity between the acts of this terrorist today and an international terrorist isis. we are watching now in real time the radicalization of young people on the domestic terrorism side, on the white hate racially motivated side. and the second factor, ali, is this. that law enforcement does not have the tools to deal with this growing threat as they do with the international threat. for example, fbi, u.s. law enforcement community is all over al qaeda, isis chat rooms and blogs and sites. they come up and down and it's a constant game of whack-a-mole, but they're there, they're on it. there's undercover personnel on
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those sites because we have legislation that allows us to act against international terrorists and their membership. we do not have similar legislation on the domestic terrorism site, why? our constitution, our society is so all about privacy and free speech that we don't want to invade that. if people want the to talk all weekend about how they hate people of another color or how they hate people of another religion, we stay away from that historically. but here today through pete williams reporting, we may have an impetus for congress to take action. the fbi agents association has said they don't have the tools or the legislation to deal with this. so why is it that we can't be undercover in those sites so that when somebody makes that split-second flash point turn from i hate blacks or i hate brown people to i want to kill them today, that we're not
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there. why is it we have to wait for someone to report that? >> because we're very, very clear when we are pursuing -- whether it's on social media or the fbi or the cia or pursuing people from al qaeda or isis. we're very clear on what that progression looks like, hating someone into planning to kill them. for law enforcement, people like you, you know that line, you know how people approach it and you know how people cross it. we should be able to use the same technology and law enforcement know-how to deal with it domestically because you are more likely to die of domestic terrorism. let me stand by. don't answer that just yet, frank. i see the governor of texas on the screen right now. a local affiliate, i'm going to check with our control room. i think we're going to listen in to governor abgot that's going to be speaking. we'll speak to the ceo of one of the hospitals nearby, the del sol medical center which has received a number of the injured.
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remember, i want to be clear. police are being reticent to confirm the number of people who are dead and injured for a lot of reasons. one is they want to get it right. two, they are not sure about people who were not transported by authorities to the hospital. let's listen into greg abbott, the governor of texas. we have heard from the attorney general already who said more than 15 people have been killed. this is governor. >> my name is greg abbott, i'm the governor of texas. and i want to let you know, texas grieves for the people of el paso today. on a day that would have been a normal day for someone to leisurely go shopping turned into one of the most deadly days in the history of texas. lives were taken that should still be with us today. 20 innocent people from el paso
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have lost their lives, and more than two dozen more are injured. we as a state unite in support of these victims and their family members. we want to do all we can to help them, to assist them. we pray that god can be with those who've been harmed in any way. and bind up their wounds. we want to express incredible gratitude for all the law enforcement and the swift response that they took to minimize the loss of lif confro shooter, getting him to disarm
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