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White House Response to Shooting Massacre; Investigators Find ISIS Connection In Shooting; Female Killer Pledged Allegiance To ISIS On Facebook; Media Sees Inside Killers' Home. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 4, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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


[13:01:00] JOSH EARNEST, U.S. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: -- and the president summoned his national security adviser, his top counterterrorism adviser, his attorney general, the director of the FBI, and the deputy director of Homeland Security to the Oval Office yesterday to get an update about what exactly transpired and to make sure they understand how determined he is to get to the bottom of exactly what transpired. And that's exactly what the FBI and law enforcement officials, and intelligence officials and others are doing. They are using the significant resources of the United States government to learn as much as they can about what exactly transpired.

And the president has been getting regular updates including as recently as this morning. But it'll be the responsibility of the investigators to make information public when they have concluded that it wouldn't harm the investigation to do so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Josh, I want to ask you about a rather stunning scene that played out on live television just a few moments before we came out here in which reporters and television crews broadcasting live were permitted into the home of these killers and allowed to broadcast all kinds of passports, photos, I.D. cards that were left in there. Since the FBI is as you said running this investigation and the landlord said this was handed back to him by authorities, does the White House think that that was an appropriate decision by the FBI to allow that to happen?

EARNEST: Well, yes, this is -- this ongoing investigation is being led by the FBI but in close coordination with local law enforcement. And for decisions about the investigation, I'd refer you to either local or federal law enforcement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the president have complete confidence in the way that the FBI is carrying out this investigation?

EARNEST: Of course he does. Again, there are significant resources, investigative resources, that are being dedicated to getting to the bottom of what exactly transpired, to learning as much as we possibly can about the shooters, about their foreign travel, about their foreign contacts, about their use of social media, about their potential motives, and that work is well underway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there any reaction from either the president or from officials here at the White House who are closely following this investigation at seeing that level of detail of things that appeared to be sensitive made public in that fashion?

EARNEST: I didn't speak to the president about this. I saw some of the footage on television but just watching it like the rest of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the president is going to be meeting today with some gun control advocates. What will his message be to them, in terms of what they can expect from the administration about further steps to reduce gun violence?

EARNEST: Well, Josh (sp), the administration is an open dialogue with outside organizations and with those who share the president's passion for taking some common sense steps to make it harder for those with bad intentions to get their hands on guns. And this is, obviously, important work that the administration has been quite focused on and the administration has worked closely with some of these outside groups to amplify the call of people across the country so that members of Congress can be responsive to those public priorities.

Unfortunately, it hasn't had the intended effect. And, in fact, we saw just yesterday that Republicans stood up, once again, with the NRA and in the face of common sense to vote down a measure that would close the loophole on background checks.

Currently, individuals can purchase firearms over the Internet and at a gun show without going through a background check. And it doesn't make any sense if we're actually committed to making it harder for individuals that are criminals that are the subject of a court order or have mental problems, documented mental problems. We shouldn't make it so easy for them to get a gun. And we can do that without undermining the basic rights of law-abiding Americans. But, once again, Republicans blocked that effort. And Republicans also blocked the effort to make it illegal for people who are on the no-fly list from being able to buy a gun.

Again, I think it's a simple question. Why are on earth do we think it's a good idea for somebody that the government thinks is too dangerous to board a plane be allowed the buy a gun? It doesn't make any sense. But, once again, Republicans blocked legislation that would make that legal. So, you know, we've obviously got some additional work to do.

OK, Roberta (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, is the White House concerned at all that just days after this shooting, the apartment where the suspected shooters lived was not secured?

[13:05:01] EARNEST: Well, again, for how and whether that specific location was secured, I'd refer you to the FBI and to local law enforcement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, just to put a finer point on it, is the White House at all concerned today that reporters were allowed to just walk through that scene?

EARNEST: What the White House is focused on is making sure that our investigators get to the bottom of what exactly transpired. Did they conduct the kind of thorough investigation that will allow us to learn as much as we possibly can about the individuals who carried out this terrible act and about their potential motivations? And, frankly, to learn what we can to try to prevent something like this from ever happening again. And that's what they're focused on. So, again, you have to ask the FBI and local law enforcement and about whether the media access that was granted earlier today is going to have any impact in their ongoing investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But, at this point, you're not prepared to say whether the White House is concerned about that at all, (INAUDIBLE) the investigation?

EARNEST: At this point, for any impact that that may have on the ongoing investigation, I'd refer you to the investigators.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How worried should Americans be, just to take a step back for a second, about the risk posed by copycats and self- radicalized people in America?

EARNEST: Well, the president, as he mentioned yesterday, it's important for people to be vigilant. I think people can be vigilant knowing that the United States government, particularly since 911, going back to 911, has been quite focused on security the homeland and securing the American people. And in the aftermath of 911, so much was learned about what the government can do to better orient our defenses to keep the American people safe. And in the years since, there have been a number of steps that have been taken to do exactly that.

So, one thing that happened in the aftermath of 911 was we've more effectively fused our law enforcement, our military and our intelligence capabilities to make sure that when information was coming in, it was being properly shared with relevant authorities and that action could be taken to secure the homeland.

The other thing that we knew that was important for us to do is to strengthen the coordination between federal law enforcement and military intelligence authorities and local law enforcement. These first responders are on the front lines of keeping communities across the country safe. And we have strengthened those relationships.

And, you know, there's hundreds of millions of dollars a year as provided by the federal government to local communities all across the country to make those communities safer and more resilient and more effective at preventing these kinds of actions from taking place. A lot of effort, as we discussed at some length yesterday, has been invested in countering violent extremism and making sure that we have a robust effort, particularly online, to counter the radical messaging that we see from extremist organizations around the country and around the world. I think we've acknowledged that while we have made progress in countering that message, that there's a lot more that can be done to make those efforts more effective, and that's certainly a top priority.

And in a variety of ways, we have actually seen the important results of this work. That can be quantified by the aggressive efforts of law enforcement to arrest people who have stated an intention to travel to Syria, for example, to fight alongside ISIL. We have also seen first responders act effectively to save lives and to respond to terrible incidents when they do occur. I think the situation in Boston is a -- is a good example. That's a place where we saw first responders work quickly to save the lives of people who were badly injured in that attack, and over the course of the few days, bring to justice those who were responsible for carrying out that attack.

And the response that we saw from the citizens of Boston was absolutely inspiring. This appeal to the notion of being Boston strong. And that just days after this terrible attack was carried out at the finish line of the Boston marathon, 10s of thousands of Bostonians turned out at Fenway Park for a baseball game. That's the kind of response and spirit and patriotism that the American people have shown in the face of this threat.

And the president continues to be confident that while the U.S. government is vigilant in doing what's necessary, all that's necessary, all that's possible, to protect the American people, that the American people can continue -- can continue on with their lives with the sense of confidence about the future.

April (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Josh, I want to comment along that line that you gave to Roberta. In the midst of the efforts to try to find out who is radicalized or what have you in this notion, particularly after Paris and after what just happened in California, is there a concern and what level of concern is there for the fact that some of these possible suspects have gone underground because of the magnitude of the situation, and the fact that they know that the FBI is conducting raids trying to find those who sympathize with the terrorists here in this country?

[13:10:20] EARNEST: Well, again, I -- for updates on the investigation and any raids that may or may not be conducted by the FBI, I would refer you to them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, let me ask you this so you can understand what I'm saying.

EARNEST: OK, maybe I didn't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is -- and I'm not necessarily talking about the raid. What is the level of concern here when it comes to finding those who are sympathizers to terrorists or sympathizers to ISIS who could possibly want to conduct something here? And especially, what is the concern of finding them when it's gone so public with Paris and the intent to find people in Paris and in this country and what happened in California?

EARNEST: Well, again, I don't want to talk about the situation in California, because there's still an ongoing investigation to determine exactly what transpired and what motivated those individuals to take the terrible indefensible violent action that they took. Let me just say, in general, that the president and our national security officials have talked about how challenging it is to disrupt particularly lone wolf attacks. And that is -- that is work that has drawn the intense focus of law enforcement, both at the state and federal level. This is obviously something that the intelligence community is focused on as well.

And -- but, if you take a look at the track record and, particularly, the important work that is done by the FBI and the Department of Justice, their record of disrupting these kinds of plans before they are carried out is good. And should give the American people confidence in the capabilities that we have, and in the resources that are used to confront this threat.

All right. Joe (ph).

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: There is a lot of information on the record, travel from Saudi to the United States, one of these individuals from Pakistan, there's an amassing of weapons that we know about, bombs. Are we at the point where the administration is ready to, if not concede, become concerned about the possibility of a major intelligence failure on these individuals in the west coast?

EARNEST: Joe, I think, at this point, it's far too early to reach that kind of conclusion. We're still learning exactly what was motivating these individuals, what steps they took to carry out this terrible act of violence. So, I think before we make any grand pronouncements along those lines, it's important for our investigators to learn more about what exactly happened.

JOHNS: Is it time for the president perhaps to change the guidance to Americans that we should feel confident that we are going to be able to defend ourselves, especially during the holiday season given what's happening here?

EARNEST: Joe, the American people can continue to be confident that the U.S. government, that our law enforcement professionals, that our intelligence professionals, that our military professionals, that those who are charged with protecting the homeland take very seriously the responsibilities that they have. That they are keenly aware of the threat that we face. And that there is an all of government approach that is taken to protecting the homeland, to protecting the American people, and to protecting our interests, both in this country and around the world.

JOHNS: What can you tell us about, if anything, the vetting process for Tashfeen Malik, the wife? It does appear that she was vetted by the government, to some extent, before she traveled here.

EARNEST: Well, Joe, this is one of the things that is part of the investigation is to learn exactly the circumstances of some of the international travel that we saw from one of the individuals who is an American citizen, and also to learn more about the circumstances that the other shooter entered the United States. So, this is the subject of a -- of an ongoing investigation. JOHNS: Is there a significant difference between the vetting of

someone coming through on a K-1 fiance visa as opposed to someone coming to the United States as a refugee from Syria?

[13:14:48] EARNEST: That is a good questions. And it -- what you've heard us say quite a bit over the last few weeks is that refugees seeking to be resettled in the United States are subjected to the most rigorous, intensive screening of anyone who attempts to enter the United States. That process can take, typically, between 18 and 24 months and includes in-person interviews, the collection of biographical and biometric information, the vetting of individuals running their names through a variety of databases, including databases that are maintained by the intelligence community, by the military and by international law enforcement. The standards for individuals who enter on the visa that you just described is not as strict and there still is information that's being collected about the circumstances this person's entry. So there's more to be learned on that.

JOHNS: And last question. Given the fact that this was a woman on the west coast involved in this situation, what is the implication for migration policy now? We know in the case of the refugees coming from Syria, women and children were given preference over young men of military age, for example. Does the United States need to look into whether women should be held to a stricter standard coming from certain countries due to the fact of what we've just seen?

EARNEST: Well, Joe, I think we - part of the - this investigation is to collect information that we believe could be used to adjust our security posture to insure that we keep the country safe. And so, again, this will be a question that - that our investigators will consider and that ultimately our homeland security professionals will have to evaluate as well. They, like all of us, are trying to follow the admonition not the jump to conclusions. But, you know, obviously, this is something that they will carefully consider. OK.

Gardner (ph)?

QUESTION: One that's slightly off topic from what we were talking about, do you think Paul Ryan's going to have more power with his conference than John Boehner did in the fall (ph) and get this omnibus (ph) passed?

EARNEST: Well, I - I guess I would say that I hope so.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're going to break away from the White House press conference. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, offering some significant thoughts on where the president of the United States stands on all the late-breaking, major developments in the San Bernardino attacks. And there are several major and breaking developments right now. Investigators have uncovered a link - a link between ISIS and that massacre in San Bernardino, California.

Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is with us, along with our justice reporter Evan Perez. Jim, what can you tell us about this so-called pledge of allegiance

from the wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27-years-old, originally from Pakistan, some sort of pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the ISIS leader?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This is what we know. That as the attack was underway, that Tashfeen Malik put a posting on Facebook pledging allegiance to the ISIS leader. Investigators have not said by what device she used. We are told that it was under a different name, though, that investigators believe still is tied to her. So this is adding to the narrative, the explanation here, that this was an ISIS-inspired attack. To be clear -

BLITZER: This was posted on Facebook.

SCIUTTO: Posted on Facebook. To be clear, there's no evidence established at this point that this was an ISIS-directed attack. In other words, that someone from ISIS central command reached out and said, attack this target on this day. They're putting it in the category at this point of ISIS-inspired attack.

And to be clear as well, there is some precedent for this. You remember the Garland, Texas, shooting in May of this year. The shooters in that shooting posted a pledge of allegiance to ISIS - to the ISIS group before they carried out the shooting. They were, of course, killed in that attack. They were attempting to attack that convention center with the Mohammad - the convention of Mohammad cartoons. So there's some precedent for this. In fact there's precedent for ISIS, in effect, demanding of its followers to make such a pledge as they go in for an attack.

Now, at this point, this is added to - added substance to terrorism having been behind this attack. But to be clear, and we've been talking about this for 48 hours, the idea that there was some workplace dimension to this, investigators still examining whether there were some encounters at work with regards to the shooter, Farook's religion that may have also contributed to this. But still, clearly there's a direct connection to ISIS here, further evidence of ISIS inspiration for this attack.

BLITZER: Evan, do we know when this pledge of allegiance was posted actually on Facebook?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, it's not entirely clear. It could have been right just before the attack or perhaps as it was beginning, Wolf, is the information we have. And it really does go to what Jim was talking about, the fact that,

you know, in the United States, this is the biggest threat, which is people who are, for better intents - for lack of a better word, DYI (ph) terrorists basically working for ISIS. They don't need any direction. They already have the direction thanks - from social media, from ISIS propaganda, and that's our biggest problem, not quite what you see in Paris where you had someone who was taking instructions from Syria and Belgium and taking an - organizing a cell. This is our (ph) version of the ISIS threat. [13:20:24] BLITZER: But the big question now, Jim, and this is what

they're really focusing in on, the investigation right now, were these two individuals, the husband and wife, acting only as husband and wife, or were there others directly involved in this terror operation?

SCIUTTO: They don't have evidence at this point of others directly involved, but they are looking at foreign contact now. As Evan was the first to report, that there were communications that they've now discovered between Farook and known terrorism subjects overseas. Not leaders, not recruiters, but subjects. People who are sympathizers to the cause. This is still, though, relevant and important because oftentimes, as Evan was saying, that's all you need, right? You don't need the phone call that says, here's the plan, attack this place on this day. Just the inspiration is enough.

PEREZ: And really what it shows is, I think, for investigators, is an indication of what - what was going on in his mind in the last couple of years. Was he drifting towards -

SCIUTTO: Right.

PEREZ: Violent jihadism and was completely undetectable by what we are able to do.

SCIUTTO: And the thing about that, when it is just inspiration as opposed to direction, that is actually, in many ways, harder to detect -

PEREZ: Right.

SCIUTTO: Right, because there's no phone call, there's no e-mail, there's no direct message or text message that says, you do x on x day. A guy could be in his basement, he could be on the websites interacting, but no one knows what his plans are. And we look at this case, apparently even his family didn't know what his plans were before the attack.

PEREZ: His family didn't know, right.

BLITZER: All right, guys, standby, because there's more breaking news coming in, including an unbelievable level of access. The news media allowed into that home of the San Bernardino shooters. This is an amazing development that happened just in the past hour or so. Much more on this part of the story when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:26:31] BLITZER: We're continuing to follow the breaking news, including now some pretty horrific images from the two crime scenes in San Bernardino, California. Now CNN is getting its first look inside the shooters' home. This as we learned the female shooter, Tashfeen Malik, pledged allegiance to the leader of ISIS in a Facebook post. That according to three U.S. officials familiar with the investigation.

Let's go straight to CNN's Victor Blackwell and Stephanie Elam. They're joining us from nearby Redlands, California. That's right outside where the shooting took place.

It was a pretty extraordinary moment, Stephanie. Tell us about what you and Victor just witnessed inside the shooters' home.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was definitely surreal I think for both of us.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

ELAM: We've never seen anything like that. The owner came with a crowbar. Eventually they got out a drill and they took off the plywood that was blocking off the entrance of the door. And then after that, it was just everyone going in to see what they could see.

I asked the landlord specifically, did the FBI tell you not to let anyone in? And he said, no, that was not the case. He also told me that there's pictures throughout and he could not identify who was in the pictures. He said he only dealt with Farook. He never dealt with his wife or with his mother either.

So the crush inside was quite surprising and alarming actually.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it was, because it's a really small house.

ELAM: It is.

BLACKWELL: I mean the hallways are small. That flight of steps up to the second floor. And no fewer than, what, 75, 100 people in there with cameras.

ELAM: Easily.

BLACKWELL: So you can't see to your side or behind you. And it kind of painted the picture of simultaneously a small, young family, because there are the child's toys around and you see, you know, kind of just - things we all have in our homes, and then shards of glass, the front door broken in half, gashes into the walls. So it painted the picture of both this raid and the family that lived there before, of course.

ELAM: Yes, definitely.

BLITZER: Stephanie, did you - were you allowed into the garage? I take it that's where that bomb lab was where they were building, what, about a dozen improvised explosive devices. Did you see any evidence of that?

ELAM: So the - the situation with the garage, it's actually detached and removed. It's not actually connected to the house. I actually, after being in the house, went around and looked around the back side of it. And the garage is still very much contained and sealed off. You cannot get in there.

There is a sliding glass door on the back of the living room, but that is also still sealed off with plywood and still all the broken glass there right around the children - the child's toys. So there's still a lot of questions about what was going on inside the garage, especially since we've heard so much speculation about what the couple may have been doing there. But, overall, when you look throughout the house, most things in the house look very normal. There were I.D.s, there were pictures, normal family things, like lotions -

BLACKWELL: Half-eaten food on a plate.

ELAM: Half-eaten food, yes.

BLACKWELL: So you can tell they left in a hurry. I mean dishes still in the sink. So it looked as if someone just left that home and the next people in were the FBI.

ELAM: Yes.

BLITZER: I know, Victor, you received permission - you and about 75 other members of the news media, to go into that home from the landlord, but has there been any reaction, any official statement from the San Bernardino Police Department or from the San Bernardino County or Redlands or any of the official law enforcement authorizes there or, for that matter, the FBI, which is now the lead investigatory agency in this - in this whole mass murder?

[13:30:02] BLACKWELL: Yes, official statement or response that is received by us or anyone here stopping people, as you can probably see behind me if I step to the side, people still going into this home. And you can tell some of the people, by what they're wearing,