malls or movie theaters, to review their security practices, to make sure they have security there, that they're taking these measures, because unfortunately, this is something that we have to deal with. we need to make sure that we're focusing on the technology that can help understand these threats that are being used and shared on social media in a way that can help tip and cue federal law enforcement to do that prevention piece. so these are some of the questions that we should be engaging in to prevent this type of thing from happening in the future. unfortunately this is something we've seen too many times. >> it's unfortunate indeed. unfortunately it happens every few weeks. at least every few months, here in the united states. before i let you go, congressman hurd, this manifesto, you make a very important point. if you see something on social media, if you see something on the internet, you see someone writing a manifesto as this is being called, that's full of hate, of a various group of people, you have to notify authorities right away. you can't just dismiss it as some stupid thing going on. this is potentially a huge threat to a lot of people. >> wolf, 100%. screenshot it. if you're looking at it on your phone, screenshot it and do a search for whatever city you live in, police department. there's guaranteed to be an email where you can send these kind of things and then attach that screenshot to an email and send it to local police. you can actually find the fbi's phone number in the phone book, i don't know how many people still use phone books, but that is something you can go on the internet and find out as well. this threat is real. and i can give you an analogy from the terrorism world and being involved in counterterrorism. the number of terrorists that get stopped and prevented and identified because they share stuff on social media is incredibly high. so everyone has to be vigilant. when you see this stuff, you have to notify people. oftentimes if the police goes and knocks on someone's door or talks to someone's parents, that could be enough to prevent them from doing something heinous like what just happened in el paso. that is something that every american has the duty and responsibility to do if they see it. >> if you see something, say something. and certainly if you see something online that is full of hate of various people, you must notify authorities as quickly as possible. hopefully it's nothing serious, but sometimes it could be very, very serious indeed. congressman will hurd of texas, thank you so much for joining us. >> wolf, thank you for always being there when there are these emergencies and let people know what's really going on. >> thank you. unfortunately it's happening way too often. to our viewers here in the united states and around the world, we're following the breaking news out of el paso, texas, where at least 20 people were killed, 26 people wounded, in a mass shooting. a gunman opened fire on a very business shopping center, forcing men, women, and children, to run for their lives, while others hid wherever they could as gunfire rang out. witnesses described some truly terrifying moments. >> we were in the freezer section. he heard the shots. at first we didn't think anything of it, kind of sounded like fireworks. then they started coming closer together, like, doo-doo-doo. people were running inside saying yes, there was a shooter. we took off towards the back of the store where the stockroom was. we were pushing people out of the way. the employees told us to go to the freight containers. we sat there for 20 minutes. then they told us to come out. there were elderly and children in there getting hot. >> there was a whole but anyonc kids in there. i tried to bring them out with me. >> i heard cops with guns, a lot of yelling, saying get on your knees. we went back in the room. we were scared to death. >> police have arrested there's a one suspect, a 21-year-old white male from allen, texas, that's about 600 miles from el paso. el paso police chief greg allen discussed what's being described as a manifesto, suspected of having been posted by the gunman. the manifesto, he said, has a, quote, nexus to a hate crime. there is an urgent plea for blood donations to help the wounded. el paso residents have been answering the call, they've been queueing up to donate ballood. shimon prokupecz, first of all to you, this manifesto, as it's being called, they're reviewing that very closely. they're trying to make sure, 100% confirmation, that it was written by this 21-year-old white suspect. >> right, and they seem to be farther along in that process than they probably were a couple of hours ago. the fact that you had the police chief come out and say there was a nexus to a hate crime, they're looking at this as a possible hate crime, that's exactly what he means by that, that this shooter went in there, you know, with hate and wanting to hurt a certain group of people. so that is very significant. they clearly have some information already, outside this manifesto, perhaps, that is leading them in that theory. the other thing we learned is that he's going to be facing the death penalty. this is a capital crime. and so that is significant as well. and also the fbi. the fbi is on scene there. they're going to help the local authorities. they too could potentially bring some kind of charges here after the state officials charge the fbi, the special agent in charge there saying they're looking at it. the fbi is heading to other parts of the state. remember, this individual drove some ten hours to get to this location. he chose this area for specific reason. he drove there, he got there. and now they're going to go back and trace his steps. and obviously the manifesto, that is going to be one of the key pieces of evidence in all of this. and then the victims. we have yet to learn about them, so many of the people who were inside this walmart, back to school shopping, with the kids, with the parents, with their family, some of the hiding, running for their lives, and now some of them dead. we have yet to tell that story and that's obviously going to be one of the most important parts of that story. >> john, you were struck by some of the witness accounts. what stood out to you? >> first, our thoughts and prayers go out from dallas to our friends in el paso. we know the pain of a mass shooting and we know it's going to be a long recovery for them. from the witnesses, i was encouraged that they had drills in the mall just a month ago that helped them plan and prepare for this event. i was very encouraged, the employee accounts, the eyewitness accounts, that employees actually grabbed citizens, grabbed members of the public, sheltered them, got them out of the line of fire. as somebody who has been studying these shootings for a couple of decade, i'm encouraged about our citizens being proactive, about them training, about them planning, and about them helping save the lives of other people. i think that is so, so important. i don't want that to get lost in all of the other details of this investigation. >> so when you wrote your book "mass shooting: six steps to survival," john, and you heard some of the steps individuals were taking to survive this mass shooting, what stood out to you on that front? >> i heard witnesses say they heard the shots and instead of just dismissing it like we've heard in the past, they actually drove away from the scene. they grabbed their children, they put them in a car. they found cover behind vehicles or behind barriers. and as we said, some of the employees, they sheltered witnesses. they brought them inside. they locked the doors. and they tried calming them down. this is as important as sheltering them, to let them know, if you need to use a phone, here's a phone, call somebody, let them know we're okay. and they didn't panic. they went about it in a manner that saves lives. i want to mention something else. listening to the press conference, hearing about the manifesto, hearing that the suspect surrendered, i've been studying this a long time. to me, it says this suspect is a message he wants out. and maybe he wants it out in court. that's why he surrendered. >> if there is this manifesto and they could 100% confirm it was written by this 21-year-old white male who is now in police custody, it presumably, john, is full of hate, hate of various individuals. how do you deal with that? >> well, i was taking notes during the press conference. and i wrote down several times, "social media." he had many postings on social media that were filled with hate. he apparently had a manifesto, if it can be tied back to him, that is filled with hate. he surrendered. that is a huge, huge indicator, wolf. the shooter in norway several years ago surrendered after killing many, many people. when they asked why did you just surrender, he said, because i want my day in court, i want everybody to hear what i have to say. i don't know if this suspect is thinking the same thing, but if he's posting on social media for everyone to see, if he's writing a manifesto, and if he willingly drops his weapon and surrender to police, look gilroy last week, even after officers shot the suspect, the suspect took his own life. that's more the norm, not simply giving up. maybe the suspect, and we'll find out in weeks and months to come, he's trying to get a message across, a hateful, deadly message that started with the carnage today. >> he obviously left allen, texas and drove all the way to el paso, 600 miles, to send some sort of very sick and destructive message. we'll learn a lot more about that i assume in the coming hours and days. everybody stick around, we'll have a lot more special coverage on all the breaking news out of el paso, texas. 20 confirmed dead. 26 wounded. much more right after this. with all that usaa offers why go with anybody else? we 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(vo) the network more people rely on, gives you more. like plans families can mix and match, including the new just kids plan. that's verizon. don't you get the one of those travel sites?t they tell you that, but when you book at hilton.com, you get the price match guarantee. so if you find your room at a lower rate, hilton is like... we're gonna match that rate and give you an extra 25% off. what would travel sites do if you found a better price? that's not my problem, it's your problem. get outta here! whoa, i really felt that performance. it's just acting, i'm reallyt. book 25% off that stay.get the hilton price match guarant it's rukmini here from the new york times . hey, you see this? we just heard from the police authorities in el paso, texas. they have confirmed at least 20 people have been killed at that mass shooting in el paso, texas. at least 26 people have been wounded. young, old, children. and there was apparently some sort of, quote, nexus to a hate crime involving the so-called manifesto that apparently has been associated with this 21-year-old white male, the suspect. polo sandoval is joining us, he's been working his sources. polo, you've been following the condition of the victims. what can you tell us? >> reporter: wolf, at least 26 right now that are recovering in hospitals throughout the el paso area. now we're hearing from the mexican government that at least six of those injured were mexican citizens or are mexican citizens based on the latest tweet posted by mexico's foreign relations secretary. the secretary there basically laying out the victims here which include a man and a woman that are in their 40s and a little girl just 10 years old who was shot in the leg. all three of them are said to be in the hospital there in el paso. then the other three, not a whole lot of information being offered there, only that they're being treated in el paso area hospitals. that's important because it speaks to the international natural now of this latest mass shooting to happen in the united states, this walmart. five or six miles from the border. it would not be unusual for mexican families to drive across the border to get the bulk of their shopping done. it happens every day along the eventually be investigated as a hate crime. at this point, again, as we continue to get confirmation from authorities, at least 20 people dead, and 26 injured, and among those 26 we know at least six of them are mexican nationals. we're continuing to dig for more information on who these victims are. growing up in a border region, i can tell you these are very close-knit communities, so word travels fast, whether it be good news or, in this case, tragic. >> indeed horrific news. polo, we'll get back to you. charles ramsey is still with us, our cnn law enforcement officer, the former washington, d.c. police chief. chief ramsey, you listened to the news conference from the governor, from the mayor, the police chief, the fbi, all of the authorities. what did you think? >> well, that's going to be a lot that they can't say because this individual is alive. they're also thinking about the evidence and the fact that they have to present it in court, so they don't want to taint anything. but we still got a lot from it. i was very interested in mr. matthews and what he had to say as to perhaps why this individual surrendered as opposed to what they normally do, either shoot themselves or police officers wind up killing them. if that's the case, he's probably cooperating and talking and they can find out why he did this besides just reading the manifesto. what sent him over the edge? he's filled with hate, but what made him drive from allen to el paso? obviously he wanted to be at the border, so this had something to do probably with that. is anybody else involved? did anybody else know about it? is he part of a group? was he a lone wolf? there are a lot of questions when it comes to this. and the fact that he's alive, if he's willing to talk, we're going to learn an awful lot as time goes on. the one thing i found interesting was that, you know, the chief used the word "wounded," which indicates it could either be a gunshot wound, shrapnel or whatever, but you have to think a lot more people were injured just trying to escape the area. so it's not limited to the 46 or so people we know about. it's probably others. juliette kayyem mentioned earlier that some may be afraid to go to the hospital. this is truly a horrific thing that took place in el paso. hopefully we find out more very shortly. this probably is connected to a hate crime, even though the fbi doesn't want to say it until they're 100% certain because he hasn't been charged with anything yet. >> they want to make sure that so-called manifesto was actually written by the 21-year-old suspect. congressman will hurd made a very important point that if you see something on social media, you see something posted, whether on facebook or internet or twitter or any place on the internet that is potentially threatening, don't just write it off as someone making stupid comments, notify authorities. right? >> he's absolutely right. the congressman made a lot of good points but that's certainly one of the more important ones. it's incumbent on us as citizens, if you see something like that, bring it to authorities, don't write it off as nothing. maybe ten times it turns out to be nothing. it's that one time that makes a difference. your responsibility, if you hear somebody or see somebody saying things like that, let us know. police can't be everywhere, can't monitor everything. these people want to be heard, that's why they put it out on social media. we need to be vigilant and say, whoa, this is not normal, we need to let somebody know about this so they can check it out. >> in this specific case, maybe there were people who saw what this individual was allegedly posting but they ignored it, saying this is just some nut. >> i can almost guarantee somebody saw it, he wasn't writing just for himself, otherwise he wouldn't have posted on social media. he's part of a larger group or he's got a closed network of people that he posts to. i don't know, and they'll find out pretty soon. but somebody saw something. it's incumbent on them to notify authorities if they do see that. don't take anything for granted. >> absolutely. 20 people are dead, 26 people are wounded. several of them in life-threatening, very serious situations right now. we're hoping that they survive. chief ramsey, i want you to stand by. to our viewers, our breaking news coverage of this mass shooting in el paso, texas, will continue after a quick break. alex marquardt is standing by to take over. of a full line utility vehicles. at the lexus golden opportunity sales event. lease the 2019 rx 350 for $389 a month for 36 months and we'll make your first month payment. experience amazing. at t-mobile, for $40/line for four lines, it's all included for 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phone, and save hundreds of dollars. it's pretty much the easiest way to save since sliced bread. sure is. because savings is as savings does. and sometimes you've just got to stop and smell the savings. i'm sorry, i think you mean roses. oh right. you need to stop and smell the roses of savings. bring in your own phone, switch to xfinity mobile and save hundreds of dollars a year. now that's simple, easy, awesome. get $100 back when you bring in an eligible phone. click, call, or visit a store today. you're live in the "cnn newsroom." i'm alex marquardt. we want to bring you the latest news from the mass shooting in el paso, texas. at least 20 people have been confirmed killed. more than two dozen others wounded, many of them critically. texas governor greg abbott just gave a news conference moments ago. take a listen. >> 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 have been harmed in any way and bind up their wounds. >> that's the texas governor greg abbott there. police have a suspect in custody and say that the threat is now over. they have not named the suspect, but three sources have identified him as 21-year-old pra patrick crusius of allen, texas. federal and state sources tell cnn that investigators are reviewing an online writing posted just days ago that may speak to a motive. the sources say the online posting is believed to have been written by the suspect but that has not been confirmed. cnn's shimon prokupecz joins me live. shimon, there are new details about the suspect and about this online posting. >> reporter: yes, significant here because the police have now said they are investigating this manifesto, this posting that he made on we're going to report some details concerning what was contained in that manifesto. the police saying they are investigating this as a possible hate crime because of some of these postings. essentially it was a four-page document that he -- that officials below and are investigating that he wrote. and what it essentially says is that he feared an influential hispanic population in texas would make the state a democratic stronghold. he wrote that the republican party is also terrible because the republican party is pro corporations, which can lead to more immigration. then it goes on to say that his thoughts, his feelings about immigration, about hispanics predate president trump and that he held these beliefs for years. now, he's only 21 years old, now facing the death penalty. he also wrote that it took him less than a month to plan this shooting. he describes the type of weapons that he intended to use, the gear that he was going to wear, explaining that sometimes when you fire this style of weapon, it gets too hot so you have to use gloves. he also wrote that he did expect to die. so what's not clear yet is why he ultimately surrendered to the police. he did expect to either get killed here or perhaps maybe take his own life. but in the end, it is interesting that he decided to surrender. and from what we're told, he has been cooperating with the police. they've been questioning him, they've been interviewing him. this is all very significant for investigators, obviously, for many, many reasons. one of the biggest things the investigators have said is that if this is in fact linked to him, and they're looking at that, this is potentially a hate crime. he faces the death penalty and it opens all sorts of avenues for investigators to determine what really led up to this, where did all of this start, how did it all start. this manifesto certainly an important part of this investigation. >> shimon, we just heard charles ramsey calling on people to, if they see something, say something. do we know how long this had been up on this website 8chan? for those in our audience who don't know what a toxic cesspool this website really is, can you tell them? >> reporter: yeah, it's an online message board, right? essentially there's a lot of racist and anti-semitic conspiracy theories. that's what this website is really about. there are all sorts of postings like this. we've heard other people posting stuff like this on these kinds of websites. and it's always a concern for law enforcement. and there's always the concern, as the chief has said and others have said, there's going to be copy cats. people do review this information, people who consume this, they're on these websites, they read this stuff, and it's always a concern that this kind of information could bring someone to the edge, could finally bring someone who may be thinking about doing something like this and they're consuming all of this information, reading things on these websites, and then finally, because of consuming all of this information, it brings them to the edge and they get to the point where they, you know, cause such harm as we see today. it's a huge concern for law enforcement, for the fbi. it's really a problem now that is much bigger probably than any of us have really realized. law enforcement is trying to get people to come forward as they do in terrorism cases, it's that whole campaign, if you see something, say something. now we're talking about things happening in this country, from folks who are not linked to any kind of overseas terrorism group. it's people who are unleashing these kinds of attacks, who are from this country and are unleashing this kind of attack in this country. it's a huge concern for law enforcement. >> right. and that site in particular really a breeding ground, this is not the first time we've seen so-called manifestos posted there before attacks like this. shimon, thanks for your reporting, we'll get back to you quickly. i want to get to former assistant secretary of homeland security juliette kayyem. first, juliette, your reaction to what shimon was reporting about the shooter's online posting. >> so this is clearly a homeland security problem. it has to do with terrorism or a form of terrorism in which individuals believe in a certain ideology that is targeted against other individuals, the others, whether it's african-americans or immigrants or whoever else. and so christopher wray, the director of the fbi, testified about a week ago, this is the number one terrorism problem in the united states right now. it is white supremacy. why is it happening now? it's a combination of factors. one is a sense of what many of us in terrorism call sort of displacement theory of white supremacy. it isn't simply racism. it is a belief that the existence of the immigrant or the existence of the "other" somehow makes my own existence impossible. then there are social media networks where that belief is given all sorts of authority and everyone is cheering each other on, as you guys were discussing about 4chan, but there's other platforms that do that. the third piece is a political dialogue that does not shame the white supremacy. in other words, i don't believe white supremacy will go away, but you have to shame it, you have to make it not acceptable. and what's happening now is those three things are coming together in the united states, with weaponry, with soft targets, leading to this exceptional rise in white supremacy. it's far passing isis now. no one in homeland security stays up late at night for isis, compared to this phenomenon we're seeing that has to be discussed, has to be named. it's an american problem about white supremacy in this day and age. >> juliette, we also know now the shooter drove from allen, texas all the way to el paso, over 9 1/2 hours. you heard what shimon said, in that manifesto, the shooter referencing up granimmigrants a politics. before we got those details we heard from authorities who said that that posting, that document indicates some nexus to a potential hate crime. that seems like a pretty big understatement. >> yes, it is. it's this weird sense that if we don't name it, then we don't have to deal with it. i'm just on air now telling you, we need to name it, which because it is the thing that is -- it is the form of ideological radicalization that is killing more americans today than isis. it's of the greatest concern to the fbi because it's being amplified through social media, through the public sphere. and it's not being sufficiently shamed. that's why people like chief ramsey say, if you see something, you have to expose it because these people have to be shamed into believing this attitude is not appropriate. it's not surprising to me, i was sort of hinting at it earlier when i was on air. one does not drive nine to ten hours to a border community, to a walmart in a part of the city that is predominantly hispanic and is well-known, it took me five minutes to figure out where this walmart was, well-known to be the sort of border walmart where people from mexico, immigrant, even possibly undocumented immigrants, go to shop. you know, these are the facts. you just can't sort of pretend like it's not happening now, because if we then address it, right, then maybe we will be able to calm or tone things down. but this is a form of terrorism that is -- you know, this is unfortunately america today. >> and you tweeted that very powerfully not long ago, "weekends in america," this is what we see all too often. to that last point, you were referencing director chris wray of the fbi. if this is indeed a hate crime, if i'm not mistaken, that means it is domestic truerrorism, rig? and we heard congressman will hurd just moments ago telling our wolf blitzer that this is domestic terrorism. so in your mind, that's what this is? >> yes. right. exactly. so we're kind of careful, there's a difference between you and i, people in the terrorism and national security space, and what a prosecutor might be willing to bring. a hate crime is evidence of an attack against a group because of their national origin, race, religion, or whatever else. terrorism is a crime that is based on a belief. it becomes a little bit more complicated for lawyers. some statutes don't cover it. that's sort of irrelevant today. what we know is that this is a hate crime that was targeted against individuals that were named, a group of individuals that were named by the perpetrator in this information. this is -- look, you know, he may have held these beliefs for long time. he's quite i don't think, i don't know how long he held them for, but there's an amplification going on that the fbi is noting that is causing a rise in terrorism incidents. as i said, we just can't shy away from it anymore, believing that in some way isis is our threat. i look at the numbers, i'm a homeland security expert, i look at the numbers. i'm not worried about isis as much anymore. >> all right, juliette kayyem, thank you for your thoughts and your voice all afternoon and into the evening. thank you. we're going to take a quick break. we'll be 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[definitely breakfast.] how good is that? be a booker at booking.com. he borrowed billions donald trump failed as a businessman. and left a trail of bankruptcy and broken promises. he hasn't changed. i started a tiny investment business, and over 27 years, grew it successfully to 36 billion dollars. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message. i'm running for president because unlike other candidates, i can go head to head with donald trump on the economy, and expose him fo what he is: a fraud and a failure. i was in the mcdonald's, wondering what's happened. i'm looking to see what's going on and more people are coming in and we hear, boom, boom, boom. >> we are staying on this breaking news out of el paso, texas. a mass shooting we now know has left at least 20 people dead and wound wounded, another 26. those numbers confirmed coming from texas governor greg abbott at a press conference just a short time ago. our ed lavendera joins me from the scene at el paso. ed, can you describe the scene, now nine hours later? >> reporter: hey, alex. we're here on the back side of this walmart store. i'll kind of give you a picture of the scene here. this is the side of the walmart store. you see that orange paint along that wall there. right around the corner from there is the entrance to the walmart. we can see from this vantage upon the the crime scene tape, and investigators coming in and out of that entrance area. you can get a sense of how packed this place was and the shopping center was at the moment of the shooting. you can see all of the customers' cars still sitting here in the parking lot, hours after the shooting. so this is basically a scene frozen in time from what unfolded here earlier today. so crime scene investigators inside that area. this entire shopping center, which is usually congested with people especially on a saturday full of shoppers, not only here from here in el paso but this particular shopping center, alex, also very popular with mexicans who live just across the border in juarez, mexico. as you look out in the distance, you can see all of that sprawl. the majority of what you see in the distance is juarez, mexico. so this walmart sitting here very close to the border between el paso and juarez. that is why you see so many people coming from mexico. it's a very popular destination for shopping, especially people getting ready to go back to school. you can get a sense here from the parking lot, just how many people were inside this walmart when this shooting unfolded earlier today. >> and the fact, ed, that this town, the city, is so close to the border, is a very important part of this story. in addition to what you were saying about the cars there, we do understand that those who have been killed will remain at the scene until it is cleared. ed, i want to talk to you about the most important part of this story, the victims. what more are we learning about them? we understand that among the dead and the wounded, there are also some mexican citizens. >> reporter: yeah, we understand that there are a number of mexican nationals who were killed here earlier today, as well as some of those that were injured as well. so, you know, the full scope of just the personal stories of the lives that were cut short here today, we do not have a full grasp on that yet. that is clearly the most important aspect of this story. that will continue to unfold here in the coming hours. you can imagine what those families are enduring right now, especially those who are in hospitals fighting for their lives. we understand there are a number of victims that are undergoing surgeries in local hospitals. those people are in desperate fight for their lives as well. >> head, i know you've just gotten there. you also know el paso really, really well. you and i have been on shows together before and you've reported from el paso a number of times. can you tell me how the community is reacting, how they would react, in the wake of such a horrific incident? >> reporter: i think there's a feeling of stunned disbelief throughout the city. if you remember, earlier this year there was a big rally here between president trump and beto o'rourke, essentially, where there was a lot of talk, the president described el paso as one of the more dangerous places in the city, that ruffled the feathers of many people in el paso and there was a counterrally to his visit. the point of the story is to shed light on the fact that many people in the city consider themselves living in one of the safest places in the united states, despite its close proximity to one of the most dangerous cities on the planet. so many people here always prided themselves on the safety and sense of security that they felt here in this city. so obviously that rattled in a horrifying way today, and that is what many people are coming to terms with right now. >> all right, ed lavendera on the scene in el paso, we're lucky to have you there and we'll be coming back to you very soon. meantime, i want to get to james galliano, retired fbi agent. james, so many new details in the last hour, really, since state, local, and federal authorities gave that press conference. i want to start with this manifesto, this document that the shooter posted which was titled "i'm probably going to die today." he didn't, though. he didn't die. he was taken into custody without shots being fired. what does that tell us? >> first of all, when these mass shootings happen, and again, alex, for the viewer, a mass shooting is defined by the fbi as four or more people killed not including the shooter. when these things happen, it generally breaks down, law enforcement gets here in five or seven minutes. in this instance police chief greg alen advised law enforcement was on the scene in since minutes. usually what happens is, the shooter before police gets there either leaves, kills himself, or someone else on scene interdicts himself. this is very rare, because after police get there, the options are the police arrests the person, the person commits suicide, or the person is interdicted or shot by police. the amount of times that a person perpetrates something like this, a horrific crime, gets arrested is very slim. we just had a mass shooting in california six days ago. >> on sunday. >> for 2018, 27 mass shootings twined by the fbi as four or more people killed. in 16 states. 85 killed. 128 wounded. and from 2000 to 2017, 799 people killed, 1,418 wounded in 250 different mat shooting events. the fbi was very cautious here, they didn't want to call it a hate crime just yet. but alex, as we're looking at this, this is clearly going to be defined as an act of domestic terrorism, i can't see it any other way. >> why are they so reluctant to say that now when the indications that we have, which is less than what they have, point -- every arrow points in that direction. >> as chief ramsey pointed out earlier, the investigation is still ongoing. you don't want to taint the jury pool and you want to make sure there are no co-conspirators. the fbi breaks down domestic terrorism in four cases. it's not a one-size-fits-all, but four different ways. racially motivated violent extremism which i believe this fits into. antigovernment, environmental a. a hate crime, as juliette kayyem pointed out earlier, is a crime of violence, of prejudice or bigotry, attacking somebody's ethnicity or religion, something like that. that's what this appears to be. >> i want to bring in brian childress, a former police chief in valdosta, georgia. brian, what are authorities doing as we speak? i should note there are local and state agencies, federal authorities, the state of texas will be taking the lead on this. we have a 21-year-old white male in custody, presumably being questioned. what is going on right now? >> i remember we had a crime scene, we worked for 11 days. in el paso, this is a horrific crime scene. you're talking about that many killed and injured, they could be out there for days. i'm saying that, i think folks need to understand the most important thing is we have somebody in custody and what's going on with that. local, state and federal authorities if have not already done it are interviewing the suspect and trying to get a confession from him. in the meantime, you have a major crime scene over at walmart. this could take days to process. >> right. the authorities have said that there is no longer a threat, but as you know, it is still a very active scene. our senior law enforcement analyst josh campbell is live there at the scene of the shooting. josh, what have you been seeing them do in terms of processing that scene? >> just a mass of crime scene behind us, alex. what's happening now, you can see a police presence. they pushed us back here to set off this large standoff area behind us. there are a number of police personnel and the corner at the front of the walmart, you have the tactical vehicles, the command center working this crime scene. as your guest was just mentioning earlier, this is going to take time to process. we were just on the scene of yet another mass shooting last week in california, local officials and the fbi telling us it could te take days and weeks to process that scene. authorities are going to want to account for every move of the shooter. eve they're going to want to track the shooter's movements as he went throughout the scene and that's going to take time. sadly we have a number of incidences. inside they're going to want to account for every sing male rou that the shooter fired. you can only imagine the amount of weaponry that this shooter brought to this walmart here in el paso. that will take a lot of time. that's what happens happening behind the scene. what we can't see is an investigative interview that is likely taking place. authorities want to talk to the shooter to get into his mindset. we've seen in the past where some of these people are proud of what they've done and they'll admit exactly what their motivation was and exactly what they're doing and we've seen instances where they clam up. we're continuing to gather information about how that interview is going. everyone wants to know why did he come here to this location and cause mass chaos and plunge this community in el paso into a state of grief. it hard to cover these because everyone you talk to here, we've talked to a number of witnesses and bystanders. everyone is impacted, whether they were here or not. >> what do we know about the weapon that was used today? >> reporter: we're continuing to gather that information from law enforcement officials we can only surmise based on the amount of people hit here, we're probably talking about some high-powered rifle, a large amount of ammunition he brought here to this walmart and opened fire. looking at the time frame of the shooting and the impact, the number of people impacted, we can only imagine he brought an arsenal here. we're gathering information to try to fill out that story about what was the weaponry, where did it come from, was it bought legally, a ul all of the questi that we have. >> brian, this is obviously a saturday right before students go back to school. we understand that there were between 1 and 3,000 shoppers inside that walmart. this incident started nine hours ago. what's your assessment of how law enforcement responded in. >> i think they did great. i heard the chief earlier mention a six-minute response. i've looked at a lot of law enforcement agencies across the country. some of those response times could range even during an emergency up to 10, 15 minutes. for el paso police to get there in six minutes, i know that's a lot of time, i know when you're being shot at that, you know, that could be a life time ftime some people but six minutes was a pretty impressive response time and my hat's off to them. >> i used to live in the middle east. if you go into a shopping mall in tel aviv, in beirut, even in paris after the terror incidents there, there was heavy security. you got checked before you went into shops and shopping malls and office buildings. is that the path that we're on here in the u.s.? >> you know, i don't -- i'll tell you this, when i was a police chief, i had a lot of folks ask me about active shooters. i heard the chief in el paso talk about training. we train down here. that's a national standard across the country for law enforcement. but you can't -- you just can't be everywhere. do i see more private security at larger venues like walmart? yeah. i see it coming. there's a bigger picture here. you got to get to the root of the cause and that's something i'm sure cnn and the texas state government and local officials throughout will discuss in the upcoming weeks but it's just important for people to remember, law enforcement can't be everywhere. >> all right. brian childress, josh campbell, james gagliano, we're going to take a quick break and our special coverage continues on the other side. this is cnn breaking news. >> you are live in the cnn newsroom. it is breaking news right now on cnn gunfire and bloodshed, deathin and unimaginable fear at a walmart recall why are today in south texas. the newest official information we have, 20 people are dead after a man with a gun opened fire on people outside and then inside a crowded store in el paso. i'm about to show you video taken, a warning, it does show people shot and wounded and you may find it disturbing to watch. >> i know! no! >> in is in el paso, texas earlier today, about 10 in the among

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