Trump To Visit El Paso And Dayton; FBI Reports Dayton Gunman Was Exploring Violent Ideologies, Feds Now Taking A Central Role In The Investigation; Democrats Urging Trump To Cancel Planned Visit To El Paso After One Of Worst Attacks On Latinos In U.S. History.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Witnesses describe the gunman's cold-blooded stare, and police reveal new details of his surrender. What more might he be telling investigators tonight? Unwelcome visit? The president is defying Democrats who oppose his trip to El Paso tomorrow, amid concerns the shooter was influenced by Mr. Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric. What message will he send to grieving Latino families? And target list. New information tonight about the gunman in last week's shooting at a California food festival. We will tell you who was on his chilling list of potential targets. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in</s>THE SITUATION ROOM. ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>BLITZER: Breaking news tonight: The FBI just revealed that the Dayton gunman had a history of exploring very specific violent ideologies. That's why the bureau is now taking a central role in the investigation. Authorities say they haven't found any evidence that the gunman had a racial motivation or that he was influenced by the El Paso shooting massacre just hours before he opened fire. Also breaking, new details on how the El Paso shooting suspect surrendered. A police sergeant telling CNN that the gunman turned himself in to a motorcycle police officer, putting his hands up and identifying himself as the shooter. After one of the worst attacks on Latinos in U.S. history, some El Paso Democrats are asking President Trump to cancel his visit tomorrow. But he's sticking with his plans to travel to Texas and Ohio. I will get reaction from El Paso Council member Cassandra Hernandez. And our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. We have teams on the ground in Dayton, El Paso, and over at the White House. First, let's go to CNN's Randi Kaye in Dayton for us. Randi, authorities gave us an update on the shooting investigation just a little while ago. Update our viewers.</s>RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it seems the more information that is coming out in these press conferences, the more questions people have, especially as we hear more about these red flags that people who knew this gunman have been pointing out. We have also learned today, Wolf, that this Dayton, Ohio, gunman was not on the FBI's radar prior to this shooting.</s>KAYE (voice-over): Tonight, the FBI is taking a central role in the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, revealing moments ago new insight into the gunman.</s>TODD WICKERHAM, FBI AGENT: We have uncovered evidence throughout the course of our investigation that the shooter was exploring violent ideologies. One piece of evidence does not necessarily constitute a motive.</s>KAYE: Police aren't giving details of what they found, not linking his crime with any racial motivations or other mass shootings.</s>WICKERHAM: We have not seen any evidence that the events in El Paso influenced him at this point.</s>KAYE: A dark picture of Connor Betts, who killed his own sister and eight others, is emerging. Police have uncovered violent writings from Betts' home and membership in a metal band with extremely graphic, sexually violent lyrics. The gunman's ex-girlfriend says she was worried about his mental health.</s>ADELIA JOHNSON, GUNMAN'S FORMER GIRLFRIEND: He was jealous of the support system that I had of myself and he was jealous of how much I loved my therapist. He wanted that for himself. He wanted help.</s>KAYE: New terrifying cell phone video from inside Ned Peppers Bar the moment the Dayton shooter opened fire. These surveillance images show how crowded the Ohio bar was from the outside. They're grainy, but you can see 24-year-old suspect Connor Betts, a hunched-over figure moving between two umbrellas. As the gunfire erupts, one man crawls on the ground outside the bar, using his body to shield his girlfriend from bullets. Dion Green was at the bar wit his father that night and says he saw a man wearing a mask, but didn't immediately notice anything else out of place.</s>DION GREEN, SON OF VICTIM: It wasn't showing no type of body language. He just walked normally. Came around the corner, heard two shots, pop, pop.</s>KAYE: After those shots, Dion expected his dad to get up from the ground. Instead, he took his last breath in his son's arms.</s>GREEN: I just laid across his body and just laid on him, because it was just unreal. I just kept saying: "I love you. Get up. Get up. Just get up." I don't know what else to keep saying.</s>KAYE: And just one more note about that man, Dion Green, whose father died in his arms, Wolf. He believes that he spoke to the shooter's sister that night. She was also killed, as you know. But before she died, he says that she said to him: "I have been shot. Call 911." It wasn't until he was interviewed by police the next day. They were questioning him about the woman that he was speaking to at the scene who died there. It wasn't until then that he put it together and then saw her photo in the news and realized that that indeed was the shooter's sister he was speaking to, so a remarkable connection, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Indeed. Randi Kaye, thank you very much for that report. Now to the shooting massacre in El Paso. CNN's Brian Todd is on the scene for us where police say the gunman gave himself up. Brian, what are you learning about that surrender?</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Wolf. We have new information that suggests this killer could have conceivably gotten away. And here is what we're talking about. If you see that sign way down there in the distance, that's the Walmart sign. Our photojournalist Taka Yokoyama is going to focus on that. That's about a half-a-mile away from where I'm standing. Our information tonight from police suggests that the gunman was able to get in his car, drive almost a half-mile to this intersection here, Sunmount Drive and Viscount Boulevard, where he was then apprehended. We have new details tonight on his capture and on the chaos inside the store.</s>TODD (voice-over): Tonight, dramatic new information on the apprehension of the suspected Walmart killer. El Paso police tell CNN Patrick Crusius drove up to a nearby corner where a police motorcycle officer was securing the perimeter. He got out of a Honda Civic, put his hands up and told that officer he was the shooter, according to police. The officer, having no time to call for backup, immediately handcuffed the suspect. Then Texas Rangers contained the scene. Tonight, witnesses to the shooting are giving new accounts to CNN of the chaos inside the store moments earlier.</s>KIANNA LONG, WITNESS: People were running inside just screaming, and I was just -- I just -- I was running towards the back because the police were holding open the doors. And they told us to leave the building, go into the containers in the back, and hide in there just in case the gunman came outside, that he wouldn't know we were back there.</s>TODD: Daniel Flores, an employee of the store, got a horrifying glimpse of the killer as he eyed his victims.</s>DANIEL FLORES, WITNESS: He was there just to kill. Like, whoever crossed his path, he was going to kill. There was no remorse. There was nothing. There was nothing. Like, there was just pure hate.</s>TODD: A veteran FBI SWAT team leader says the shooter had the advantage over police because of the layout of the Walmart.</s>JAMES GAGLIANO, RETIRED FBI CHIEF OF STAFF: Each row, the rows cascade against each other. They go perpendicular to each other. You have got different sections. You have got plants on one side and electronics on the other. And some of the super Walmarts have a grocery store. People could hide in there if they're bad guys or aggressors. They could hide there.</s>TODD: We are also learning how the alleged shooter made his way to the Walmart, where he killed 22 people, soon after allegedly posting an anti-Hispanic hate-filled screen online.</s>RICHARD BIEHL, DAYTON, OHIO, POLICE CHIEF: He took about 10 to 11 hours traveling from Allen, Texas, to El Paso. As soon as he got here, he was lost in a neighborhood. After that, he found his way to the Walmart because we understand he was hungry.</s>TODD: The shooter, who is in custody and being held without bail, has been unemployed for five months. He also bought his high-powered rifle legally.</s>BIEHL: Yes, he cooperated from the beginning. None of this had to be any way coerced from him or threats or anything like that. He volunteered most of the evidence that we are able to utilize at this time.</s>TODD: Daniel Flores, who's devoted his career to serving those Walmart customers, still can't get his mind around the killer's apparent motive to target Latinos.</s>FLORES: He was looking for someone that looks like me. That's like the biggest issue. It's like he was targeting me.</s>TODD: And just a short time ago, the family of the alleged shooter, Patrick Crusius, issued a statement. It reads in part: "Patrick's actions were apparently influenced and informed by people we do not know and from ideas and beliefs that we do not accept or condone in any way. He was raised in a family that taught love, kindness, respect, and tolerance, rejecting all forms of racism, prejudice, hatred and violence. There will never be a moment for the rest of our lives when we will forget each and every victim of this senseless tragedy." The alleged shooter's family, Wolf, trying to distance themselves from him in just about every way tonight.</s>BLITZER: All right, Brian, thank you, Brian Todd on the scene for us in El Paso. Over at the White House tonight, President Trump is ignoring complaints about his plans to visit Dayton and El Paso tomorrow. Let's go to our Chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. Jim, I take it the president's trip is still very much on.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. President Trump is laying low today and steering clear of the cameras as he prepares to head to Ohio and Texas tomorrow to check on those communities devastated by last weekend's massacres. Aides to Mr. Trump say he will make the trip despite some lawmakers in those states saying the president and his offensive rhetoric are not welcome.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): With the president staying out of sight, his aides are responding to leaders in the shell-shocked cities of El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, who question whether Mr. Trump should just remain at the White House.</s>QUESTION: What's your reaction to lawmakers in Dayton and El Paso who say President Trump is not welcome because of his rhetoric?</s>HOGAN GIDLEY, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: Right. The president's the president of all the people.</s>ACOSTA: Dayton's mayor is encouraging her residents to speak out against the president.</s>NAN WHALEY, MAYOR OF DAYTON, OHIO: Look, I know that he's made this bed. He has got to lie in it. He hasn't -- his rhetoric has been painful for many in our community. And I think that people should stand up and say they're not happy, if they're not happy that he's coming.</s>ACOSTA: While former El Paso Congressman and Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke is telling Mr. Trump, don't come.</s>BETO O'ROURKE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is the most racist president we have had since perhaps Andrew Johnson in another age and another century, and he is responsible for the hatred and the violence that we're seeing right now.</s>ACOSTA: The president was glued to supportive segments on FOX News, tweeting: "I am the least racist person." But the president is facing plenty of new questions about the connections between his slurs against migrants and the El Paso gunman's manifesto adopting Mr. Trump's use of the term invasion.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is an invasion. This is an invasion. We have a country that's being invaded.</s>ACOSTA: Something his campaign did as well on Facebook, as noted by "The New York Times." The White House is rejecting any notion the president is to blame for the violence.</s>GIDLEY: It's not the politician's fault when someone acts out their evil intention. You have to blame the people here who pulled the trigger.</s>ACOSTA: The president jumped into the debate on Twitter, asking: "Did George Bush ever condemn President Obama after the Sandy Hook school shooting?" That was in response to a statement tweeted out by former President Barack Obama, who said: "We should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred." The Department of Homeland Security is calling for more funding to guard against white supremacist violence.</s>QUESTION: Is it now our top domestic terrorist threat?</s>KEVIN MCALEENAN, ACTING SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Well, I think that's the information we have from the FBI over the last two years, that a number of their investigations are racially motivated. And within that category, the majority are white supremacist-, extremist- motivated.</s>ACOSTA: Democrats are calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring lawmakers back to Washington to vote on new gun control measures, after protesters gathered outside his home this week.</s>SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know what he's waiting for. And I don't know what Republicans in the Senate are waiting for. They should be calling on Mitch McConnell to bring the Senate back to vote on this legislation today.</s>ACOSTA: And getting back to those elected leaders who don't want the president to come to their communities, Veronica Escobar, a Democratic congresswoman from El Paso, Texas, she was invited by the White House earlier today to join the president for his trip to El Paso tomorrow. She has declined that invitation, Wolf. And the White House says the president was in meetings with aides today preparing for tomorrow's trip to Ohio and Texas and looking at a wide range of policies aimed at preventing mass shootings. Those officials maintain the president understands the gravity of the moment. We will find out tomorrow -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: We certainly will. Jim Acosta at the White House for us, thank you. Joining us now, El Paso City Council Member, Cassandra Hernandez. Cassandra, thank you so much for joining us. I know you were born and raised in El Paso. First of all, how is your community feeling, in light of this targeted attack on the Latino community?</s>CASSANDRA HERNANDEZ, EL PASO COUNCIL MEMBER: Thank you, Wolf. And thank you for your words. It means so much to El Paso and to me. What has happened in our city is unimaginable. We are mourning. We are saddened. We have been bruised and battered, but we are unbroken. El Paso, in this time of adversity, I have never been so proud of. We are stepping up. We're giving love. We are being generous. We are praying. And we are El Paso strong. And I'm so proud of this city, but my heart hurts for the families who have been shattered and to those who have lost their lives. And we will continue to move forward and not let fear control our community.</s>BLITZER: What are you hearing, Cassandra, from the survivors and the families who are grieving right now?</s>HERNANDEZ: The families who have been shattered are heartbroken. They're asking, why? Why is this happening in our city? Why did this happen to the ones that they love? And El Pasoans and families have come together to pray and to give strength and love to them and to let them know that. There's a reason why this is happening in our city. It's become commonplace in our nation. And it's unfortunate. And we're tired. We're angry. And we want to see change, so that this does not happen again in our city and across the nation anymore.</s>BLITZER: Just a little while ago, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar -- I assume you know her -- she represents El Paso here in Washington in the U.S. House of Representatives. She tweeted out an update on President Trump's scheduled visit tomorrow to El Paso. She wrote that the White House invited her to join the president, but she requested a phone call with the president today to share the impact of his rhetoric on the El Paso community. She says she was told the president was simply too busy to have that conversation. What's your reaction to what she is now saying?</s>HERNANDEZ: Well, my reaction is kind of the reaction of what I have heard from the city. In the past 19 hours, there has been a petition circulating. And the Border Network for Human Rights has reported that over 20,000 El Pasoans have signed a petition not to welcome President Trump. And so I think Congresswoman Escobar is right. We are at a time of healing and mourning. And I don't believe that the general population of El Paso is welcoming to President Trump. Others want to welcome a President Trump and show us our generosity and compassion and let him know that his words and hate-filled rhetoric would not define our city. But, for the most part, people are not happy with his visit.</s>BLITZER: She wrote, Congresswoman Escobar: "I decline the invitation because I refuse to be an accessory to his visit. I refuse to join without a dialogue about the pain his racist and hateful words and actions have caused our community and country." Will you be receiving the president tomorrow?</s>HERNANDEZ: No, I will not be meeting with the president. I would not entertain a conversation with him because he has spoke loud and clear at his press conference to send his condolences, which we accept and we appreciate. And it's not just enough to denounce white supremacy. We want to see action today, not tomorrow. And he has made clear that he's not willing to take action and has diverted blame to mental health illnesses and to video game industry. And it's not enough for our city. And so, for those reasons, I have decided to stand behind my city, and to not welcome President Trump.</s>BLITZER: What action do you and your constituents want to see from the U.S. Congress right now?</s>HERNANDEZ: My understanding is that U.S. Congress has brought forth bipartisanship of gun reform policies that make sense, that can be easily implemented today. And so what we demand as a city and what others have said across the nation is that we need to call upon Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to pass that legislation now, to let it be heard. And then, at the state level, this state has easy access for guns in our community, in our schools, in our universities. And we need to strengthen those laws more, have universal background checks, to have a ban on assault rifles, of weapons of war, and just the things that we have heard over and over again, so that we can prevent this tragedy from happening. We are tired. And people in my community, Hispanic Latinos, we are afraid, but we are unbroken. And we will just spread the love of -- spread the message of love and fight forward and hope that this never happens again.</s>BLITZER: Cassandra Hernandez, thanks so much for joining us. And please send our love to everyone in El Paso right now. Hearts go out to all of you. Thanks so much for joining us.</s>HERNANDEZ: Thank you, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: We will have much more on the breaking news coming up, as the FBI reveals the Dayton gunman was exploring what the FBI is now describing as violent ideologies. What more will the feds uncover?