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Police Investigating Terrorism As Possible Motive; Trump, Romney To Meet For Second Time Tonight; Wildfires Rage In Popular Smoky Mountains Resort Town. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired November 29, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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


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[12:31:30] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Classes are back in session at Ohio State University today, roughly 24 hours after a student rammed his car into a group of people on campus, got out and charged at more people with a knife. And Ohio State Police Officer shot and killed him after he failed to obey orders to stop. This is the front page of the schools website today, it reads "Together we remain unified in the face of adversity, today and always, we are all buckeyes." While the university copes in the 11 people who are hurt in the attack recover from their injuries, investigators are searching for a motive. We now know who is responsible his name is Abdul Razak Ali Artan. And he recently transferred to OSU, but what we don't know for sure yet is why he did this. Rosa Flores is joining me now from Columbus. Give us the latest Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Brianna. Police as you mentioned, are trying to figure out what the motive is here. So I want to take you through some of the evidence that they're going through. First of al they're looking at surveillance video from this university of the moments leading up to the attack, they're also interviewing family members and also witnesses. I've talked to one witness who describes the ordeal as being surreal. He says that he took them a few seconds to just realize exactly what was happening. Other people called 911 take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy ran a car through a crowd of students, he did it purposely. I'm at Ohio State right outside of the watts hall and there was a guy crashed his car into a bunch of people and ran out with a knife.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need an ambulance here fast.

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FLORES: Now, authorities are also looking at the attacker's social media footprint. They're looking for clues and they're specifically looking at a Facebook post that they say he posted around the time of the attack. Here is a quote from that post -- "My brothers and sisters I am sick and tired of seeing my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters being killed and tortured everywhere. Seeing my fellow Muslims being tortured, raped and killed in Burma led to a boiling point. I can't take it anymore".

Now, authorities are also looking in the archives of this university. Because hear this, he actually granted an interview to the newspaper here and I want to share a quote from that newspaper again these are the things that authorities are looking through to establish a motive here. It is "I wanted to pray in the open but I was scared with everything going on in the media. I'm a Muslim. It's not what the media portrays me to be. If people look at me, a Muslim praying, I don't know what they're going to think. What's going to happen." Now, Brianna, he's talking about his Muslim brothers and sisters there, from talking to Somali community leaders here. His brothers and sisters here, from that community, they're afraid now because of the attack that he conducted.

KEILAR: Yeah, certainly they are. All right, Rosa, thank you so much. I want to bring in Tom Fuentes, our Law Enforcement Analyst here at CNN, our Senior Law Enforcement Analyst. He's a former FBI Assistant Director. You know, what strikes me about that description of the fear of what people think of him as a Muslim is, when you talk to nonviolent law-abiding Muslim-Americans, they express a similar concern. There's a -- some leap that he took to be violent or to be radicalized. What are you thinking happened here?

[12:34:55] TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I'm not sure what happened, Brianna. And I think that you're exactly right. In our degree of derangement on his part to say, I don't like the fact that people think of Muslims as possibly terrorists. So I'm going to become a terrorist, or I'm going to become, you know, violent and try to murder people.

So I think it on a way it makes no sense. We don't know, and in a way the authorities may never completely be sure of what exactly triggered him to do this yesterday. To all of a sudden decide, I'm going to drive my car and run people over. I'm going to try to stab them with a knife. Even though there have been story after story of that type of thing happening all over the world, including September 20th. The mall attack in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where a Somali, you know, person attacked people, tried to stab them in the mall and an off-duty police officer shot and killed him. So he's almost playing out a similar scenario, only this time using the car and people on the street.

KEILAR: Using the car, though, that's something that might not have just come out of the ether, right? This is ...

FUENTES: Well, you have the attack in nice, where the guy had mowed down, you know, hundreds of people in a truck. Using a truck to kill all of those people, so -- and, again, you've had all of these postings and reports of the postings in the media about ISIS saying, use a truck, use a car, use a knife, use a hammer, use a hatchet, whatever you have. You don't need a firearm or an explosive. Use whatever you can use to attack people. So we don't know what might have led him to think of that yesterday, at that time, to make this attack.

KEILAR: We don't know. We're going to hopefully piece more of that together.

FUENTES: But we hope but may never know.

KEILAR: WE may know. All right, Tom Fuentes, thank you so much.

FUENTES: Thank you.

KEILAR: Coming up, President-elect Trump's transition developments, and the dinner meeting that everyone is going to be talking about. Donald Trump is sitting down with Mitt Romney again.

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[12:41:00] KEILAR: Donald Trump transition itinerary is pretty jammed pack today. The president-elect has another full day of meetings but eyes will be glued to the last sit down of the day with Mitt Romney. The two are actually meeting over dinner. All of this amid speculation that Donald Trump could pick him for secretary of state. An idea that Trump's former campaign manager has openly criticized in recent days.

Meantime, another name being considered for the same position is General David Petraeus, who met with Trump yesterday, and trump said he was very impressed with him and while Petraeus is well respected in Republican circles, his mishandling of classified information is raising red flags for some. I want to discuss this with former campaign manager for Dr. Ben Carson and Donald Supporter, Barry Bennett. We have CNN Political Commentator and Democratic Strategist Maria Cardona and Former Senior Adviser for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign Kevin Sheridan.

All right, so what's your read, Kevin, on what's going on right now with Mitt Romney? It seemed like he was such a real possibility, and perhaps that possibility has dimmed?

KEVIN SHERIDAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER FOR 2012 ROMNEY CAMPAIGN: Well, there's two people we have not heard from anything about this on and that is Donald Trump and Mitt Romney. So I think that's a good sign to say that they are seriously talking, but we have no idea where that conversation currently is. They're going to meet tonight. This is only the second time they've met. They've talked before. We know that. But they're not saying anything. They're not putting anyone out there to say anything. At least Mitt Romney's not, and I know nothing more than what I read in the paper so I think look, Donald Trump has got his, you know, his pick of three or four really good choices for this spot, and if it's not Mitt Romney he's got another great pick. We'll see what happens today.

KEILAR: OK, now Barry, if let's say, this whole process must have been somewhat embarrassing for Mitt Romney, just all of the drama about it.

BARRY BENNETT, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Awkward?

KEILAR: Right. It's just so awkward. And when I see this dinner happening I wonder if it isn't a gesture to let Mitt Romney down perhaps, I mean what do you think the possibility is that this is sort of a, a dinner where Mitt Romney walks away with the idea that maybe this isn't going to be my gig?

BENNETT: You know, lord knows, right? But it seems to me that if it was going to be a very positive conversation, that you'd do that in person or in the phone, perhaps, it seems like it's going to be a more detailed conversation.

KEILAR: And what does that mean "A detailed conversation"?

BENNET: Well, remember, there are lots of other jobs, too, right? I mean, there are a lot of ambassadorships and other things on the table as well.

KEILAR: It's hard to imagine, though, that there would maybe even be another job. I don't know.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that tonight's dinner is the culmination in, you know, top king of reality T.V. show manner, right? The episode where, will Donald Trump give Mitt Romney the rose? Or won't he, right? And, you know, who knows? Really, none of us know, except for Donald Trump, and maybe he doesn't even really know yet whether he's going to say, yes or no, but I do think that this having the dinner it's the second or third conversation that they've had. The episode which I thought was purely bizarre of Kellyanne Conway going out there and trashing Mitt Romney.

KEILAR: The episode? Like it's a reality show.

CARDONA: It is. I mean do we really think it's anything less than that, right? You got me. I think that was really strange. What I love about all of this is Mitt Romney's continued sort of dig in all of this. I thought was particularly brilliant the picture that he tweeted out on Thanksgiving of him and his grandchildren. Which told everybody, you guys can talk about whatever you want, Kellyanne Conway can say whatever she wants. I don't care.

KEILAR: OK, so one of other possibilities is general David Petraeus. And I want you guys to take a look at some of the headlines of columns that he has written over the last year. Veterans deserve -- or sorry. This was one of the once he says, Brexit would weaken the west war on terror. Putin hasn't given up his designs on terror.

[12:45:02] There's also another one where he's talking about anti- Muslim sentiment, it's not on there, but anti-Muslim sentiment and how that actually hurts soldiers, because it gets turned around on them actually and inspires people to be violent against them. He's been so critical, Kevin, of Donald Trump in his own way and very public ways, op-eds in the "Wall Street Journal," the "Washington Post"?

SHERIDAN: By all accounts, Donald trump takes any information from smart people and he is listening to a really impressive list of people right now and he's going through methodically a list of some of the brightest minds in the country, and David Petraeus is one of those. And if he decides on David Petraeus, or Corker or mountain Mitt Romney, he's going to get a really good pick in that spot as his secretary of state and none of them are going to agree with him 100 percent. Because Donald trump ran his own campaign, he gets to pick whoever he wants and they just need to figure out whether or not they can get on enough of the same page to, you know, be the voice in the face of his foreign policy.

KEILAR: Barry, how big of an issue is handling of classified information when it comes to David Petraeus? I mean Republican just rales against Hillary Clinton for lesser offenses in her e-mails?

BENNETT: Yeah, this is the sweet spot of Washington, right? Where the tables get turned. So now the Democrats are going to be against him because of the e-mails which didn't matter in the Hillary case. You know, this is the sweetness of being in Washington. I think the important part is that he's willing to sit down and listen to David Petraeus and all of these people. I mean that's to me, shows exactly what I want in a leader. No whether General Petraeus, who I believe is a brilliant man, is the right choice for secretary of state, I don't know, but I'm glad that he's at the table.

CARDONA: There's bipartisan agreement on that, but I do think the classified information will be an issue, because it wasn't just the e- mails. It was the fact that he pleaded guilty to actually sharing classified information with somebody that he shouldn't have. And he got probation because of it, and a fine. So he actually -- you know, he not only did it and admitted it but he was given a punishment for it. And so, this will clearly be something that will come up if he goes with Petraeus as secretary of state that will be part of all of the hearings in terms of confirmation and I think it will be difficult.

KEILAR: Barry, Can we talk about Dr. Ben Carson?

BENNETT: Sure.

KEILAR: What happened? He said that there was a forthcoming announcement and -- where is it?

BENNETT: Yeah. I don't know. I think that Ben has gotten over the tips of his skis a couple of times during this whole process. And I'm glad that they're not saying anything right now.

KEILAR: Okay.

BENNETT: Because, you know, I think it would be very amazing, at least to me to have a HUD secretary who actually grew up in housing projects.

KEILAR: All right.

BENNETT: Someone who actually understands what's going on.

KEILAR: Yeah, that's right. All right, thank you so much Barry, Maria, Kevin thank you guys so much.

CARDONA: Thanks Brianna.

KEILAR: Up next, high-rise hotels, sprawling mountainside resorts. A hundreds or more homes and businesses in flames as thousands flee wildfires raging through the hills around Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I going to talk to the man who shot this video that you're watching, next.

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[12:52:08] KEILAR: It's been a terrifying 24 hours for people at a well-known resort community in eastern Tennessee.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go.

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KEILAR: A race to safety there in Gatlinburg, Tennessee where wildfires from the surrounding smoky mountains have impacted half the city according to its Mayor. The town has only about 4,000 permanent residents, but many more flocked to Gatlinburg and the sounding area as a vacation getaway and this is some brand new video that we are showing you just in to CNN that shows some of the damage that has been done there. Gatlinburg's fire chief says the worst is over. We showed you that footage that was shot from the car though, just very dramatic video and it made its way -- the car made its way through flames on either side of the highway. Another man in the Gatlinburg area went through something very similar.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is crazy.

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KEILAR: Chris Owenby recorded that video. He is on the phone with us now. Chris, where were you going when you shot this footage?

CHRIS OWENBY: I was going up to see my father and step mom and brothers up in Gatlinburg.

KEILAR: And the road was open?

OWENBY: It was at the time. I don't believe anybody really knew of that fire or maybe that, you know, escalated so bad than a quake. You know, on our way towards Gatlinburg, (inaudible) we took some pictures, and I saw it on the other side, you know, on the other side of the road and we went back across, so you know, pretty much to shoot a video to send to my dad and them that probably what -- I don't believe at the time I was aware of that fire on that part of the mountain.

KEILAR: Sure. And you know, I imagine, Chris, that some wildland firefighters would look at this video that you shot and they would be very fearful for you because to be surrounded like that is a situation where you could be very much in peril. Were you aware of that as you went through the area? What were you thinking?

OWENBY: Really? No, I wasn't thinking much. Just thinking how crazy it was. You know, I've never seen anything like that. Never even really, you know, you hear about wildfires and stuff in this area and, you know, parts of the south a little bit, but, you know, all of the people, you know, the animals and all that stuff, it's just crazy. And, you know, just really didn't -- you know, didn't use too much common sense there, obviously and just kind of wanted my dad to see how bad it really was on, where he couldn't see it.

KEILAR: OK, well so and you made your way to your family, right? How's your family doing?

[12:55:01] OWENBY: Actually, I haven't. They got evacuated.

KEILAR: OK.

OWENBY: And they're still staying kind on the outskirts of the city and not been able to talk to them too much this morning, but they're kind of wondering about their homes, you know, and a lot of the stuff. Their possessions and stuff like that at their house.

KEILAR: Sure. And these things move so quickly. They don't have much time to adjust for that. They've been evacuated. You haven't talked to them much, but they're OK, right? They're just sharing, certainly, the concerns of so many people in the area?

OWENBY: Yes, exactly. That's what, you know -- that's what's going on. This, you know, horrific -- you a lot know, a lot of many people staying even in the cabins, but, you know, like I've seen a lot on the local news and the interview and just a lot of people just coming here for the weekend or the week. And, you know, a lot of the local people, you know, they've a lot of them losing everything. Not just their houses, but, you know, even maybe their jobs.

KEILAR: Yeah. I know. It's a -- it's a huge concern, and we're thinking of them. Chris Owenby, thank you for being on with us. That's it for me. "Wolf" starts right after a quick break.

[12:00:02] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 a.m. here in Washington, 9:00 p.m. in Moscow, 3:00 a.m. Wednesday in Seoul South Korea, wherever you're watching from around the world thanks very much for joining us.

Up first, filling the cabinet, we're learning more of President-elect Donald ...