Transcripts For CNNW The Situation Room 20130213 : vimarsana

30 miles on up into mow beel from here, this dredged canal. Red cans and buoys and going all the way through there. Any mariner remembers going through there, they are going to take it through here, through past sand island. Theres a cruise ship dock that they dont use anymore and thats where they are going to go. Its right there. Hopefully they get there this time tomorrow. It should be this time tomorrow. Chad myers, thank you. Youre welcome. As it is heading into port, and it will be docking there in mobile, alabama, we will bring you Live Team Coverage as it is returning. I know a lot of family members, some of whom weve talked to on this show, are eagerly awaiting their return. Some moms and dads and husbands and wives are ready to get home and have a good meal and nice good shower. Meanwhile, im brooke baldwin. Lets go to wolf blitzer in washington now. Hey, wolf. Brooke, thanks very much. Happening now, new information coming in, including the police radio conversations during what we presume were the final moments for a killer excop. Also, thousands of passengers remain at sea on a ship with no engine, no air conditioning, no hot water, and overflowing sewage. So when with all of this end . Plus, the debate about whether a tlirs see senators awkward moment hurts or helps his moment to perhaps one day become president of the United States. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. The beat of drums and a flagdraped kau coffin are all part of a funeral for an excops killing rampage. Riverside Police Officer Michael Crain was ambushed and killed a week ago tomorrow. He was 34 years old. Had he been with the Riverside Police department for 11 years. Crains one of four people who died during christophers tenday of vendetta of revenge for his firing of the Los Angeles Police force. As for dorner himself, investigators are piecing together the story of what exactly happened on tuesday, the day they are still assuming was their last day alive. Our brian todd is is in the town of big bear lake, california. Reporter more than two hours drive from where Christopher Dorners troubles began, the former. Larry a. Policeman terrorized a rustic community in his final hours. Near big bear lake, Rick Heltebrake says he was carjacked by dorner who came out of the trees while he checked on a property. He came up to me with his gun pointed at me and i stopped my truck, put it in park, raised my hands and he said, i dont want to hurt you. Just get out and start walking up the road and take your dog, which is what i did. Reporter a california fish and wildlife official tells us they believe dorner was driving a stolen car when he shot at two of their wardens as he passed them, damaging their vehicle. Others in this area also crossed dorners path. It was in this group of houses that dorner at one point encountered a couple cleaning one of the houses. He tied them up and stole their car. This was right across the street from one of the Law Enforcement command posts and a very popular ski resort where people are still feeling the anxiety over what happened. At Bear Mountain resort, where hundreds of skiers and snowboarders gather every day, one of the managers says people had been living in fear for days knowing that dorner was in the area. Some of the employees that work around here, they were feeling the vibration. It was scaring them. They had their guns loaded sleeping you know, sleeping with their guns. Reporter kaitlyn had come to spend her 17th birthday on the slopes just as the news broke that dorner was moving close by. I found out when my mom called me crying coming to get me. I dont know. It was kind of scary knowing that he was just right there. Reporter her mother pam drove to big bear frantic to get her out. What was going through your mind at the time you were driving up here . To get here as quick as possible and not cry pmz because i knew how scared i was and they had seen all of the activity so close to the slope. Reporter carla was just a few dozen yards away when the final gunfight broke out. We spoke to evans wife whos friends were calling and texting during the standoff. It was really scary. I was frozen in the kitchen for a good 30 minutes. And just trying to get in touch with him, i was thinking, oh, my gosh, am i going to be a single mom . That report from our brian todd whos in bear lake right now. Well be joined by him life late every. A big part of the story is the bravery of the countless Law Enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to catch Christopher Dorner. As brian just reported, the california fish and wildlife wardens were the first to put their lives in the line of fire on tuesday. The ad Agency Spokesman andrew is joining us from sacramento. Andrew, thanks very much for coming in. Thanks, wolf. Have you spoken with the wardens who were involved with this encounter with dorner yesterday . I have. I spoke to them last night. What did they say . What was it like . Can you walk us through what they told you . . Right. They were very amped up and excited, as you can imagine. The one warden who did the shooting was very excited in a woundup way but he said two things to me that ive thought about in the last two days. First he said, for a few seconds this was the wild, wild west and then he thought about it for a second and he said, im grateful and thankful to be alive. How were these wardens able to spot dorner . What did they say . Well, they are excellent officers and they are trained to do this kind of thing all the time. This is unusual but not out of their lane and they were in the right place at the right time in a position to help. They recognized, they had great Situational Awareness to be able to recognize mr. Dorner, even in a vehicle that they didnt think he was going to be in. They made direct eye contact and they engaged. This was a life and death moment for them. What happened to them . How did they get out of that death moment, shall we say . Well, wolf, there are actually two recognitions, two engagements, and two pursuits but the second one, you know, he looked right at it and what was happening was mr. Dorner was shooting at our game warden and put five to six shells into a fish and game chevy sill rad doe pickup truck and our warden escaped uninjured t was a harrowing moment for him, for sure. The l. A. Times is reporting that one of the wardens, a 35yearold, is a former marine. Is that right . Is he a former marine and he was very proud of that fact last night. So he was obviously well trained to deal with a situation like this. End result, what happened . How did he get away . Were your wardens armed . Absolutely they are armed. And so what happened . How was dorner able to escape . Well, what happened is, they were in a headon situation. Mr. Dorner shot five to six rounds into into the vehicle. The wardens immediately stopped. He opened the door, he took his p308 rifle off his lap and pointed it at mr. Dorner as he was driving away and unloaded his weapon with 15 to 20 rounds at the evading vehicle. And obviously dorner got away. What did they do next . I assume they got in touch with other Law Enforcement authorities to begin this manhunt . Right. You know, when i was in high school, a Police Officer told me, you can never outrun a radio and thats exactly what they did. They picked up the radio and mr. Dorner rode right into the waiting arms of the San Bernardino. How unusual is it for the fish and Wildlife Agency to be engaged in a fire fight like this . It is a little unusual. Weve had three of these kind of similar situations in the last year or so but they train for this and they hope it never happens but if they do, they are ready. They werent outgunned, they werent outthought or outfought. And they are okay now, the ones that engaged dorner, they are okay . Yeah. We had six wardens on the scene and all of them are fine and checked clear. Thats good to hear. Thanks very much, Andrew Hughan for joining us and thank your wardens for us. What they did was help set in motion the final chapter in this horrible, horrible massacre. Appreciate it very much. Thank you. Youre welcome. Tonight at 8 00 prk m. Eastern, Anderson Cooper will devote his entire hour to the frenzy shootout and to the victims of the l. A. Cop, Christopher Dorner. Thats coming up al 8 00 p. M. Eastern tonight. Other news were following, todays pushback to president obamas emotional call for restrictions on gun ownership. Last nights cheers and even tears unintended consequences of government overreach. Whats going on, chief our cnn National Political correspondent jim acosta is here. Youve been looking at the reaction since the speech. Whats going on . Wolf, this was a big moment last night. It may be moving votes. What was widely seen as an emotional high point, it may have also been a turn turning point in the debate over gun control. It was a moment carefully orchestrated for maximum emotional impact. As former congresswoman gabby giffords, the parents of slain teenager hideya pendleton and other victims of gun violence looked on, president obama called for a vote. They deserve a vote. Gabby giffords deserves a vote. The families of newtown deserve a vote. The families of aurora deserve a vote. One day later there are indications on capitol hill that the president may get it. We dont need a cheer leader. Even as mr. Obamas Top Republican critics, senator Lindsey Graham made the case that the current background checks needs to be strengthened before expanded. Answered the president s call. Will you personally block a vote in the senate on gun control measures . No. I dont disagree with the president having a debate. Lets vote. Lets find something that we can agree on. The reaction was the same for gun enthesiest joe manchin. You wont block a vote on i wont block a vote on anything, whether i support it or not. That doesnt mean that the National Rifle association will stop fighting. The president is trying to use emotion to force things through before they have been rationally debated. The nra released a new ad, pointing to an unpublished study from the Governments National institute of violence. An assault weapons ban is likely to have an impact on gun violence. The study goes on saying the effectiveness of those checks may depend on requiring gun registration, a major turnoff for owners of firearms. When asked about the study, a Department Official told cnn its not a Public Document and had no further comment. As for the victims families, the debate over gun control has turned them into political experts on the issue. Consider this man, whose sister was gunned down last year, telling a senator which measure is likely to get a vote. Universal background check, without a doubt. And i am a gun owner. I am an nra member. Im an avid hunter. But i truly believe i hope we can do it on ammunition as well as one step at a time. One step at a time. As for the nra, the gun lobbys outspoken Wayne Lapierre is holding a News Conference to respond to the state of the union speech. As for the Justice Department study, the nra is not saying how it it got it. Wolf . Do we expect there to be separate votes on gun control, one on the magazines, one on assaulttype weapons, one on universal background checks or are they going to try to wrap it up into comprehensive piece of legislation . I think thats undecided at this point. Harry reid is a big gun enthusiast and what that office is saying right now whatever coming out of the judiciary committee, they are looking at an assaultweapons ban, highcapacity magazines and universal background checks will get a vote. There will be a vote on some of these measures. There will be amendments avow lowed. As for the president , he called for a vote and it looks like hell get them. Separate votes but hell get votes. Well see what he can achieve on these sensitive issues. Jim acosta, thanks very much. President obama hit the road today. Also, another day on a hot ship overflowing with raw sewage. Is the end now in sight . [ male announcer ] when we built the cadillac ats from the ground up to be the worlds best sport sedan. People noticed. The allnew cadillac ats 2013 north american car of the year. For a limited time, take advantage of this exceptional offer on the allnew cadillac ats. Exceptional offer with the bing it on challenge to show google users what theyve been missing on bing. Lets bing it on. [fight bell ding, ding] how many here are google users . What if i was to tell you that you would actually like bing way more than google when it came to the results . Prove it. Lets look up some taco places. I like the left side. Yeah . Okay, do we need to find out what the waves are like down at the beach . What side do you like better . I like the results on the right. Im gonna go with the one on the left. Oh bing won people prefer bing over google for the webs top searches. Dont believe it . Go to bingiton. Com and see what youre missing. All stations come over to mithis is for real this time. Step seven point two one two. Verify and lock. Command is locked. Five seconds. Three, two, one. Standing by for capture. The most Innovative Software on the planet. Dragon is captured. Is connecting todays leading companies to places beyond it. Siemens. Answers. Omnipotent of opportunity. You know how to mix business. With business. And you. Rent from national. Because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. And go. You can even take a fullsize or above. And still pay the midsize price. I could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. Yes, you could. Go national. Go like a pro. President obama took his state of the union speech on the road today at a factory in asheville, north carolina. The president taughted the come back of the u. S. Manufacturing industries and the jobs for the middle class that they create and double downed on his calls for new spending on education and jobs. Our chief analyst engineer yeah borrow injury is walking into the situation room with more of the fallout from the speech. Clearly hes doubling down on a very ambitious agenda. Yeah. This is a secondterm president who is not scaling back here at all, wolf. He comes to the state of the union speech and second term with a lot of ambition. What we saw last night was a president who was not so much reaching out to members of congress as he was reaching over their heads to the American People. He is making a bed here through executive action, hes doing some things on cybersecurity, for example, that he can take his solutions to the problems of this country to the American People and say, im on the side of the middle class and the republicans are not. Now, there is a risk in this for the president because the republicans are saying, you know what, americans dont want to raise any more taxes. They are tired of the tax debate. They want to make the size of government smaller and they are going to be with us on that argument and the president says, you know what, a party that wants to survive on an austerity platform just isnt going to survive in the long term. So it sets us up in many ways for the next debate and the next president ial campaign. That debate is going to be intense, i must say. Very much. He laid out some new, pretty costly initiatives. He did. On jobs, education, other areas. But he left out some sensitive details. Yeah. Like what is the cost of those costly initiatives . One thing that struck me last night is the one that gaurn knees that every 4yearold child in this country will have access to highquality preschool and no cost estimate was provided for this, wolf f and when i asked a Senior Administration official about it yesterday, we attended these briefings with Senior Administration officials. All they would say is, were going to tell you about there is no there is a significant federal investment. I did learn that it would be shared by the federal government, by the states, and also a sliding scale for parents depending on what they are able to pay. But, again, we dont know what the price tag is. Great idea, what will it cost. The speaker, john boehner, he he reacted to the president s speech earlier today. Ill play a little clip. Last night the president offered up more of the same. Higher taxes and more stimulus spending. And just as disappointing, were weeks away from the president s sequester and the president laid out no plan to eliminate the sequester and the harmful cuts that will come as a result of it. Thats 85 billion in automatic spending cuts, the sequester as he calls it. Two weeks away. Two weeks away. I dont see any movement, bridging of the gap. I didnt see any movement on boehners face last night. Did you see him . Sitting behind the president , completely stonefaced, not cracking a smile at all. I asked a Senior Administration official about this and he said to me, look, theres a myth in washington that if these two men actually sat around a table they could get everything done and he said, thats not true. Because boehner cant deliver. Now, the republicans would say president obama is afraid to take on his own liberals in his own party and thats his problem. So where are we, wolf, right now . Were nowhere. That sequester, march 1, just two weeks away, and nothing has been settled. I think what the president wants to do is kick the can down the road, as hes told us, but im not so sure the republicans are going to go along with it. And then the automatic cuts go into effect. And some republicans say, great. They are not happy with defense cuts. Some of those republicans, Tea Party Conservatives in the house are saying they might. Okay, gloria, thank you. Sure. T