This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," December 2, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And welcome to "Hannity." And this is a Fox News Alert. The FBI will not rule out terrorism as a possible motive in today's deadly shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, which left 14 dead, 17 people injured.
Tonight, we have dramatic new video of the gun battle between police and the suspects earlier tonight. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something's going on! Something's going on! There they go. They're after that guy. They're after that guy! Guns! Gunshots! Gunshots! Gunshots! (INAUDIBLE) did you see that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) shots?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. There were gunshots -- oh (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! Oh, we better get down, bro.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, police say two of the suspects were killed in that shootout and have been identified, one man, one woman. And a third person was detained at the scene, but authorities have not said if this person was involved.
Adam Housley obtained that video exclusively for FOX News. He's live on the ground where that gun battle took place with the police -- Adam.
ADAM HOUSLEY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sean, in fact, the gun battle began behind me. David Espinosa (ph) was the witness who shot that video.
I'm going to step away. It's dark. You're going to see it's a little bit grainy, but you can see what's going on. They've moved all of us back now pretty significantly, maybe, oh, a half -- no, a quarter mile from where the actual SUV is located. You can see the flashing lights there right now.
They've been taking their time with the vehicle and that area because they were concerned of a explosive device possibly being on that location. We do know that they've been able to get a lot closer, and I believe they've been able to get a lot more out of that truck.
You're seeing the video now of what took place in between where I'm standing and that -- those lights you saw a moment ago. David shot that video. They had come out -- the factory actually shut down for the day. People were going to go home because of the uncertainty that was in San Bernardino throughout the midday and afternoon about these shooters. No one knew where they were or what had happened here.
And then as that was happening, they walk out to see what they thought was police pulling over a car for speeding at about 40 miles an hour on a street that -- that would have been fast for. And all of a sudden, the back window shot out, as you heard. Then you hear about 100 yards later, more gunfire going back and forth between both unmarked police cars and regular police cars and then -- and the suspects, as well.
And then about 150 yards further is where it all culminated, just past the stoplight where the SUV came to rest and the female and male suspects were killed. And that is where the investigation continues.
Not long after that -- we weren't very far away -- in fact, you can see the truck, you can see the intersection. We were probably only 150 yards away ourselves when we all began to be moved back. We thought it was because they were expanding the crime scene and wanted to make sure they got all the witnesses kept in.
But what was happening, Sean, is there was a barricaded situation not far from here, just basically a block or two to the south of where that was located. And that was ongoing for some time, as well.
So a very tense situation even here now. No one really knows if these three potential -- the other person that was talked about being in custody -- are these the only people involved? Is that third person even involved?
We of course, have a situation in Redlands ongoing, so there are -- and you hear random police sirens around. I will tell you this, the police helicopters have gone down. That's something new. In the last maybe half an hour, there had been up to three up, my count, even as recently as a half an hour ago.
We still hear random sirens all around this side of town. We're on the eastern part of San Bernardino, which is roughly a mile-and-a-half from where the murders took place, Sean.
I'll tell you this also. We got tipped off by -- that one of the suspects that was killed was a female. We've also been tipped off of some names. I know you've heard the names, as well.
I talked to federal law enforcement and local law enforcement involved with this case directly right now. The issue is, they're not getting any directive from Washington or anywhere else. This is within their own agencies.
They know it's a sensitive situation in this country right now. They're trying to determine exactly the names, as you might imagine. At least one, they believe, could be Middle Eastern.
But part of the reason why they were holding back, Sean, is they wanted to get into that SUV, ensure that those IDS, or any information that might be in there, would help them secure what those names are. So that's why they're being very delicate, at least the people that I know involved in the case, that's why they're being very delicate. And it's understandably why they're doing that.
But they have -- one individual I spoke to, you know, has seen, obviously, the two dead suspects, and says, you know, that obviously, there are some concerns there, but they cannot connect that dot yet, Sean.
HANNITY: Well, the FBI spokesman was very clear they're not ruling out terrorism. Now you're reporting that, in fact...
HOUSLEY: Right.
HANNITY: ... one of the -- one of the people involved, one of those shot and killed, is Middle Eastern, so I'm sure that'll raise some questions in some people's minds.
HOUSLEY: Well...
HANNITY: Why no description...
HOUSLEY: The name...
HANNITY: Why no -- go ahead.
HOUSLEY: The key -- yes, sorry, Sean. You were hitting the point right there. The key is the name. It doesn't mean they're Middle Eastern. You know, it could be an American citizen with a Middle Eastern name.
It's the name and the potentially again the look, unfortunately -- and I'm not saying that's what it is, but they have to take all that into account. You know, you take into account if it's a young white man, you take into account if it's a man of Middle Eastern descent. You take into account whatever the person is.
And in this case, because of the delicate nature, because of the situation going on with ISIS, Middle Eastern terrorism, all that situation that's happening, they have to be -- they have to make sure they get it right and they want to make sure they get it right the first time. And that's why I'm told they're being so sensitive with this.
But yes, one of the names they were originally given and what they believed before they got into that SUV -- and I haven't talked to the person since they got into the SUV -- was a Middle Eastern name.
HANNITY: All right...
HOUSLEY: And the individual, who was responding to the scene who saw the cell phone video from one of the other agents, said that one of the suspects looked Middle Eastern in face. But that doesn't mean that the person was, and he hadn't seen him yet in person. He was going off on his situation on coming here to the scene.
HANNITY: Well, what do you know about the ongoing FBI raid at the home where they suspect that these two people lived?
HOUSLEY: Well, one of our producers, Dan Gallo (ph), is out there right now. He said he heard an improvised explosion device, meaning it was a device done by authorities. It was planned, I should say, planned explosion, as if they were destroying something. Doesn't mean that was a bomb. A lot of times, they'll blow up something that might appear to be such just to save everybody the hassle of having to get near it.
and there's obviously that going on right now. That's still fluid, as well. Redlands is not far from here. You got to believe that if that just happened recently, that to me intimates they probably got into the SUV and got some more information out of it.
I know that one of the issues they were having, Sean, is they felt there was more information inside and they wanted to ensure the safety before their investigators got in and were able to go through any personal artifacts that might be in there.
They saw some inside. That's one reason why they were being delicate with that. So was it a purse, was it a wallet? I don't know? They won't go into that kind of detail. But that's potentially what resulted in Redlands. At least that may have helped them with that part of the investigation.
Sean, as I was told by one of the other officers -- I talked to somebody, same person that told me earlier that they were -- before they had this chase and before all this went down, they said, you know, We have to go out there with the belief that we have three people with assault rifles that are wearing tactical gear. And that's what they had, at least in this case, at least with the two here.
And so that same individual says, you know, even though it looks like we might have these two and possibly a third contained, there still may be other folks along with them. We don't know yet, Adam. And there's still a lot of investigation to do.
And really, as you know, Sean, in these situations, that is the truth. I mean, is there a cell here? Was it workplace violence that happened to be someone with a Middle Eastern name? There's a lot of variables that have to be taken into account. And in this situation in the world right now, you've got to be very delicate with that. And that's what I think they're doing in this case.
And I can understand why, especially considering they don't want to make a mistake because then, of course, that really will come back with a lot of backlash and political stuff that they don't want to deal with. They just want to get it right the first time.
HANNITY: All right, Adam Housley, a lot of unanswered questions. We'll be checking in with Adam throughout the night tonight.
HOUSLEY: Absolutely.
HANNITY: Joining us now on the ground, also in San Bernardino, California, is our own Jonathan Hunt. Jonathan, can you tell us more about what's going on in the -- in terms of the FBI raid of this home?
JONATHAN HUNT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sean, the focus is on one particular property in Redlands. Now, that location about five miles from the original shooting incident, where those 14 people were gunned down and killed, another 17 at least injured.
Now, what's going on in Redlands right now is that police and other law enforcement personnel moving very deliberately, very slowly into that property. Our producer, Dan Gallo, was on the ground and sent us some video earlier of a robotic vehicle going towards the front door of that property.
Dan also reported hearing what he described as a detonation, that -- his thought was that that sounded like they were blowing up something that they had found in or around that property.
Now, the property, as we understand it, is connected to one of the two suspects who were shot and killed in that fierce gun battle with the police when they found and followed the dark SUV that they believe the suspects were in. They were fired on from that SUV. Cops fired back, and as I said, the male and female suspects within that SUV were both killed.
Now, one of those -- and we don't know which one he was or even if it was both of them -- were connected to this residence in Redlands. That's why they went there. Obviously, you have heard the police chief talking all day about the possibility of booby traps, the possibility of pipe bombs. That's why they're moving very carefully.
One other point on the question of pipe bombs, Sean. We had a news conference a short time ago with authorities here, and they said that a piece of pipe of some description was thrown from that SUV at some point. But they said -- and these are their words -- it was not an explosive device, Sean.
HANNITY: All right, Jonathan. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.
The FBI is not, as we said, ruling out terrorism as a motive for today's deadly attack. Joining us now in Washington with more on that is our own Catherine Herridge. Catherine, as more information comes in, it seems more and more likely this investigation is moving into that area that this could be a possible terror attack.
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sean, based on the evidence so far, a U.S. government official recently told FOX News that the central or prime assailant in this case is a U.S. citizen. They did not provide more detail on the suspect.
Now, for the last three to four hours, we've been working on a name here at FOX News. It's a foreign-sounding name, if you will. We were originally told that it had washed out. What we now understand is that when they ran that name against the terror watch list, they did not have any positive hits. But at this hour, we're told that that may well be the name of one of the suspects. We're seeking a second source on that before we broadcast that name here at FOX News.
In Washington, the way the evening has played out is that the homeland security secretary, Jeh Johnson, has been monitoring events, getting regular updates. Same pattern, if you will, with President Obama, who's been getting regular updates from his White House counterterrorism adviser, Lisa Monaco.
And there are a handful of facts that have everyone's attention here from an investigative point of view. One is the wearing of this assault- type clothing. The second is the use of assault weapons, rifles, as well as handguns, and the possible use of these improvised explosive devices. All of this speaks to a certain level of premeditation.
And then, finally, as we heard at that news conference, the growing involvement of the FBI -- one of our FBI contacts here in Washington this evening was working to confirm if, in fact, the FBI was going to become the lead agency in this case. If that turns out to be true...
HANNITY: Hey, Catherine...
HERRIDGE: ... that would be the strongest indicator of terrorism.
HANNITY: If I could just interrupt you for a second? Please forgive me. What we are seeing now is one of the assailants (sic) at the apartment which Jonathan Hunt was describing. You can see the robotic device going in. Obviously, the police saw something there that indicates that there might be some type of booby trap, some type of IED device. And I'm sure out of an abundance of caution, that is being sent in for the protection of the...
HERRIDGE: Well, that's correct.
HANNITY: ... officers prior to the investigation But that is a live shot of that robotic piece of equipment going into that apartment.
You can go back to your report, Catherine.
HERRIDGE: Sure.
HANNITY: But we now have learned two things, potentially a Middle Eastern-looking man, a foreign-sounding name that you're looking into. There have been initial reports that this could have been some type of workplace violence incident. Somebody went out of a party angry. They may have come back. That seems less likely now as more information's coming in as time goes on.
HERRIDGE: Well, as we heard at the news conference, that was one of the specific questions. The sheriff confirmed that there had been some sort of disagreement or altercation at that community meeting. The individual had left. But it was not clear to them, despite earlier reporting, that this individual returned along with at least two others with their -- with their weapons.
Just to go back to that apartment shot, if you will, what a standard procedure in this case is to use one of these robotic devices, if you will, to go in and try and determine whether there are explosives, or it has been booby trapped.
What we gathered from the earlier news conference is that there was the use of some kind of explosive device with the suspects, so they have to assume the vehicle, the apartment, the addresses associated with these suspects may well contain other explosives or booby traps, as well.
But the kind of surveillance, if you will, or situational awareness the FBI can have on that property goes well beyond the robot that you're seeing right there. Once the bureau makes a decision to focus on an address, they essentially can get it inside what I would call this sort of electronic box.
And what I mean by that is that they will be accessing the phone system, the wi-fi system, any kind of security camera system, putting their own probes into that location to get a better, as I said, situational awareness of what is inside that apartment building.
Just a final point. The FBI and local police have a lot more information then they're making public. You heard that from Adam and you also heard that from Jonathan Hunt.
I know that one of the things that's happening at this hour is that the FBI has asked their counterterrorism contacts to start taking at least one of the names and doing what they call an electronic scrub. That means that they look at social media, they look at phone records, they look at anything that speaks to a digital footprint for this individual to understand who their network of associates are, as well as their activities leading up to today's events.
So we have the very visible part of the investigation that you can see now, this going -- the raid of this apartment, the search of the SUV, and then we have this sort of unseen chapter to the investigation, as well.
HANNITY: All right, Catherine Herridge, thanks so much.
HERRIDGE: You're welcome.
HANNITY: We are getting more information. We are now told that our producers, our reporters on the ground outside of that apartment complex are now being told to stand back, that they view this as a direct threat. The police have detected that something is inside of that apartment where you see that robotic -- well, I guess robot going in there to find out whatever that is.
But the police apparently suspect that there might be some type of booby trap, IED device inside that apartment and they've now asked everybody in the area to now move back. We're going to continue to watch this live as it unfolds.
Joining us now with reaction, former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman, former NYPD detective Bo Dietl, trial attorney, political commentator Eric Guster, former FBI special agent Manny Gomez.
Mark, let me begin with you. You watched the robotics. You see at the place where the shooting took place, where the two suspects were killed, Mark, and you see all of these tactical vehicles that have been brought in. I have checked in with my law enforcement sources in Los Angeles, FBI -- "All hands on deck," is what I'm hearing. This seems to be bigger than what we are so far being told, probably out of an abundance of caution. But what is your read on it?
MARK FUHRMAN, FORMER LAPD DETECTIVE: Well, we saw the press conference, Sean. FBI says, We're not ruling out terrorism, which is FBI words that they're ruling in terrorism. And that means that they'd rather be safe than sorry. So it's a complete alert for all law enforcement agencies adjacent to San Bernardino County. All assets of special units is being pulled to San Bernardino County and they're working with multiple teams.
You have investigative teams that are working at that homicide location. You have people that are assigned to the victims that can talk. They're trying to glean any information they can. They're showing pictures of the suspects to the people at the scene, people at the hospital, anybody that can talk. They're trying to see the connection there. They're trying to see if they can try to connect up any other suspects, or what we now know as or refer to as a cell, where some group of people that could have been involved in this that they haven't accounted for.
HANNITY: Yes. Manny, let me go and ask you, from the FBI's perspective, when you hear "All hands on deck," when you see what's unfolding right now before our very eyes, and you hear that little bits of information are being released from Adam and Jonathan and Catherine, three of our best reporters, about perhaps Middle Eastern, perhaps a foreign- sounding name, what do you take out of that?
MANNY GOMEZ, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: They're being very cautious. They obviously know more than...
HANNITY: A lot more.
GOMEZ: ... they telling, a lot more than they're telling. But they're going to be 1,000 percent sure as to the information that they let out. And they're also going to vet it through their chain of command to see what is going to be the flavor of the political correctness of what they let out.
HANNITY: You know, one of the things I noticed, Bo, is, you know, this was so well prepared. They had their tactical device. They had their guns. They had their weapons. They went in, according to eyewitnesses, they fired straight for 30 seconds, they dropped their clip, they reloaded, they shot again.
They got out. They had an escape vehicle, but yet they stayed in the area. They knew -- they stayed in the same vehicle that was being reported for a couple of hours, literally just a couple of miles from where the shooting took place.
So the question I have in my mind is, why would they stay so close? It tells me when they could have gotten away that they're willing to go down with the cause (ph).
BO DIETL, FMR. NYPD DETECTIVE, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, you know, and the other thing is that it's just very -- it's a mystery there that there was an argument, and it has been documented...
HANNITY: At the party.
DIETL: At the party, where a guy stormed out there. Was there something that was said that heated this guy up, where he ran back and got his friends, one female, one other guy, and come back and wanted to do exactly what they wanted to do?
Look, it may turn out to be that their Middle East-sounding name -- we don't know, on fact, if they're a cell or anything like that. That will all be put together.
HANNITY: But listen, we don't know the answer. Nobody can say definitively. The FBI is telling us that they're not ruling out terrorism. But after Paris...
DIETL: You always got to look at the motive. The motive...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... were well prepared.
DIETL: Why did they go to the second floor, going into that room and shoot those people? Why didn't they just blast people on the way up?
HANNITY: 670 people work in that building. So it seems like...
DIETL: You could have got a lot more...
(CROSSTALK)
DIETL: You could have got a lot more body count.
HANNITY: You could have, if they wanted...
DIETL: And they were fully armed there. So what I'm saying is they went into that room for a specific reason. When we find out what the motive is -- then again, on the other side, they could have been praying to Allah and that part of their life. Who knows?
HANNITY: We don't know.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sean...
HANNITY: Could be domestic terrorism. All right, let me go to KNBC in Los Angeles...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sean?
HANNITY: ... actually spoke to a witness, Jose Rocha who actually captured part of the police chase and the gunfire when the two suspects were killed. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Gunshots, (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Those are gunshots!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are gunshots!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, gunfire right now. Oh, damn! They got him right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Really, really scary, and it reminds us, by the way, how law enforcement puts their lives on the line every day for us.
What's your take on all of this from your perspective, Eric?
ERIC GUSTER, TRIAL ATTORNEY: From my perspective, I thought it was a hit or a direct target that -- they went into a specific room, shot specific people, and without blasting the entire campus of this corporation. Now, if they -- if the LAPD and the FBI find booby traps, that would totally change my viewpoint of this.
HANNITY: Eric, I got to interrupt you here. Apparently, we have some breaking news from Adam Housley, who has information on the suspect's name. Adam, what can you tell us?
HOUSLEY: Yes, Sean, a bunch of information. Just got off the phone with some law enforcement sources. They're telling me several things. First of all, they now believe that this is a two-person crime. They're dialing it back from a third person. They're not saying that others aren't involved, but they say that with the interviews that's been taking place and some of the early investigative processes that they're thinking this may have been a two-person crime, and both those people would be in that SUV.
I'm told that the SUV back there, while they've gotten closer to it and be able to get some stuff out of it, it's not completely cleared. It's (INAUDIBLE) You see the flashing lights.
Also, we're now being told -- we've been told a name, at least I have, for about four hours. I know its been circulating at FOX and also other agencies that The LA Times is now saying that they've got it confirmed. I know I have two law enforcement sources saying the same thing, but The Times is the one that came out and said it's Syed Farook and that he's an American citizen is one of the names, S-Y-E-D or Syed, Farook.
The reason why this has been delicate, I was told by law enforcement when I asked them about that name, was because I'm told both names are obviously not your typical American name. Doesn't mean that it was a terrorist attack or anything like that at all. But because it's a Middle Eastern name and the other one is also, quote, a "weird" name, in the sense that it's not a common name, that that's why they're being very delicate here.
Is this workplace violence? Is it terrorism? They want to make sure they get it right. That's why they have been very delicate with us. Also that name, Syed Farook or -- Syed Farook, had another name associated with it. As you know, a lot of times, names that are immigrant names will have two or three other names. Even in the Hispanic population, you'll have two or three last names, and it makes things a little bit more difficult sometimes.
And so they were dealing with that also because they had a couple other names associated with Syed -- S-Y-E-D -- Syed Farook. So that's why that was all becoming a bit difficult for them to talk to us about, at the same time, for us really to report, Sean.
The LA Times is now saying they have it confirmed, and I have two law enforcement sources that said that that's the name that they are going with, as well. So that again makes this a much more interesting situation. They've dialled it back to two. They've given us a name -- well, The New York Daily Times (sic) has given us a name, I should say. I'll hang it on them, and that the other individual's name is again, quote, a "weird" name, meaning not normal -- not a common name...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Have you heard that name? Is it similar sounding? I mean, it's very difficult to glean anything exactly from a name. But they're saying it's similar?
HOUSLEY: Yes, and that's part of the problem, Sean. Some of these names -- it could be Armenian. It could be -- it could be, you know, Arabic. I mean, some of those names are kind of right there on the fringe, and that's what this name is.
And so I'm not going to say it, obviously, because I'm not even close to having that confirmed. But the first one, LA Times is confirming it. I know a couple of the news agencies are confirming. When I mentioned to the law enforcement sources that I've been speaking to, just hung up with, who told me they've dialed it back to now two suspects, they believe, they confirmed it, as well.
That doesn't mean that there's not a bigger picture here, Sean. Doesn't mean there are more suspects out there or other people they worked with. That part they're taking very, very seriously. I'm still hearing helicopters periodically. We'll hear sirens.
We know about the situation in Redlands, where our crew's been told to move back. They're worried about problems there, and they're worried about problems here down the street. And that will continue, I'm told, for some time because, again, safety and security is number one for them, but also trying to preserve as much evidence as they can as this investigation...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Well, Adam, I can add to this, by the way...
HOUSLEY: And obviously, a lot of concern here, Sean, a lot of concern. FBI came out here very early on, and they came out here in a large force.
HANNITY: Adam, I just got this tweet. The Washington Times is tweeting out that Syed Farook, San Bernardino shooting suspect, identified apparently by his father, as reported by The Washington Times, as a devoutly religious Muslim. So that now raises once again the possibility that this was...
HOUSLEY: And it raises it again.
HANNITY: ... a terror attack in the world that we're living in today.
HOUSLEY: And Sean, we've been told he worked nearby, and maybe at a medical industry, some sort of technician or something. I didn't get the exact detail on that because I wanted to get to you.
I do know that CAIR, obviously controversial Council on Islamic Relations, is having a press conference in Anaheim about an hour from here with, they say, a member of one of the suspect's family is going to be there. So that's going to be interesting to see how that's painted or played out.
But obviously, this is evolving very quickly this evening, Sean, a lot of concern, as you might imagine, amongst law enforcement about, are these two folks that just acted alone? Are they people that were connected to other people? Was it terrorism? Was it workplace violence? Obviously, this was planned. I mean, they guaranteed that from the beginning...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Adam, you know, one of the things I didn't quite understand how somebody -- if it was the workplace violence situation, and the police have left that open as a possibility. We heard the FBI director. We heard others tonight...
HOUSLEY: They have to, though.
HANNITY: They have to. Of course. And they didn't rule out terrorism and they were very clear that there were certain things that indicated possibly it could be. But what never made sense to me is the idea that somebody would leave a party angry, go home, get somebody else, get dressed up in tactical gear and have all those weapons all ready to go -- I wasn't sure if I believed that from the beginning.
HOUSLEY: And that's what they're -- and that's one of the loose ends they have, Sean. I mean, it wasn't do cut and dried. I mean, if this guy had a problem there, and all of a sudden started shooting, it would make it a lot easier to say workplace violence.
But you know, part of the problem, as well, is you have the situation of the names, where they had a couple of different last names associated, or at least they thought might be associated. You know, there was reports there were three suspects. I mean, there were a lot of things they had. And of course, the number one priority is to secure -- ensure security and safety.
And before the shootout happened, I mean, within 20 minutes of the shootout happening here, before I was tipped off on my phone that there was a chase and we bolted out here in our car, I was told by law enforcement that, You know what? We're going on a theory we have three people, fully armored with, you know, semiautomatic rifles, and looking to kill. And they had to go on that premise.
Now it looks like there were two people obviously looking to kill because you saw the video on your show.
HANNITY: Yes.
HOUSLEY: Right there, Sean, I mean, 150 yards away as an unmarked car leaves. That's where the back window was shot out. Was it shot out by the police officers or was it shot out by the individuals inside? We don't know, but it was shot out. And then 100 yards past that, the first real barrage of gunfire. Then about 150 yards past that is where it ended. And that's where those lights are right now. And that's why they're still trying to deal with the SUV, and they think there's a possible device still inside. They haven't been able to truly get all the way inside...
HANNITY: The one thing I think we can...
(CROSSTALK)
HOUSLEY: ... evidence out. So you know, there's a lot of things going on here, and safety and security being one, Sean, and then, of course, trying to figure out the connections, if there any, to terrorism is number two.
HANNITY: Adam, the one thing that we can determine is when my FBI source out in Los Angeles, which is the second largest bureau in the country, second to New York, confirmed to me that it's all hands on deck. And it's all hands on deck for all law enforcement.
HOUSLEY: Yes.
HANNITY: And the way, hours later, they're still treating that vehicle, and the robotic device going into the home of one of the suspects that were killed, and the slow release of the name and identity and ethnicity of the background -- I don't think there's any doubt from an outsider's perspective that the FBI is taking what they said very seriously, that this is a potential terrorist attack.
HOUSLEY: Absolutely. You know, I got an individual in the law enforcement community in D.C. that has a lot of stuff on the counterterrorism side of things and messaged me just now that the last name, if -- you know, that's being reported by The LA Times, and by the father's being true, and I was told by law enforcement, has an either Egyptian or eastern Libyan normally denomination. That's where you generally find that last name.
As you know, it's tribal, so they're very easy to connect names or easier to connect names in other parts of the world in some respects. And that's obviously where that might go.
But we don't know, Sean. There's so much still to do here. The number one thing again is security and safety. Then it's to see -- you know, and that includes are there other people involved here? Did someone help them get the weapons? Are there other people that were planning on doing? (sic) Is there a situation where there's other people waiting? That's the situation that they have to ensure first as they try to clear this scene and the one in Redlands.
And then, you know, as part of that, of course, they look at the terrorism angle. But you know, safety and security is going to be number one always. And you know that. And the FBI did come out here with a massive contingent.
As we were driving out, Sean, I mean, we -- we left the office within minutes, and we were -- you know, surprisingly, there was no traffic in LA. That never happens. And we're on our way out here on the 10 freeway, and we were, you know, doing a pretty good clip, and here comes the FBI guys. I know their vehicles. They come flying by me on the shoulder, on the inside, and they were -- you know, they were moving. And...
HANNITY: Hey, Adam...
(CROSSTALK)
HOUSLEY: ... Whoa, this is...
HANNITY: I've got a little bit more...
HOUSLEY: That's a quick response by a large team.
HANNITY: I just told you what The Washington Times reported, that he was devoutly religious, according to his father. Now The New York Daily News is reporting that the father, whom they didn't name, confirmed in an interview that his son inspected restaurants, hotels for health violations, and was married with a child.
Now, from what I understand, at the Christmas party that was at the center, that now that maybe gives you more indication that it could be some type of workplace violence event.
DIETL: Well, I think it's...
HANNITY: Hang on, Adam. Stay right there.
HOUSLEY: And that's why...
DIETL: Sean, I think it's very important that we look at one thing. First, they lived right nearby. Second, was what jumps out? Everyone said they had masks. Why would they have masks? So they can't be identified. That means people in that building knew who they were, and they had to put masks so they wouldn't be identified.
HANNITY: Well, bank robbers would do it, too...
DIETL: My feelings are because his name is Egyptian, that's an Egyptian last name, he could be a support of a Muslim --
HANNITY: Let me go back to the "New York Daily News." The father also identified his son, Farook, as very, very religious. "He would go to work, come back, go to pray, come back, he's Muslim." That's a quote, direct quote.
ERIC GUSTER, ATTORNEY: That doesn't indicate it's terrorism, though. And we can't make that --
HANNITY: I'm not saying that.
GUSTER: When we look at domestic terrorism like Columbine --
HANNITY: Hang on. Adam? Jump in, Adam, go ahead.
ADAM HOUSLEY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Sorry, and that's a good point. And that's what I think needs to be stressed here. We've got some people who have criticized, or at least I've got a couple of messages on my phone saying how come you're not coming out and calling it terrorism. That's exactly what we're all discussing right here. There's a lot of variables here and there's a lot of sensitivities here. And really right now for law enforcement, they could care less about that. What they care about is ensuring that they get these people and that situation cleared behind it and that there's no other immediate threats. That's the number one priority right now.
HANNITY: I totally agree. We don't know. And we'll know more, but certainly the FBI, and law enforcement, as a whole, are treating this as the worst possible scenario that this could be an act of terror, and all hands on deck is an indication of that.
I do have some numbers to share with our audience, Adam, if you stay right there. When this whole Syrian refugee debate came up, remember, we learned there were 1,000 ongoing probes of ISIS within America. We have a new study that actually came out today. George Washington University shows U.S. authorities have made 71 ISIS-related arrests since march of 2014, 56 of them, this year. And 71 people have been arrested nationwide for the alleged connections to is, 13 people arrested in New York alone, 11 people in Minnesota alone. And all told Americans now, according to the study, report, George Washington University, 250 Americans that tried to travel successfully to reach Syria or Iraq to join ISIS.
So when you add the thousand with the 250 in the country, you know, we should not be surprised. This of course should be top of mind for law enforcement. We're not making judgments, but it would be prudent and frankly, it would be dereliction of duty not to, right?
MANNY GOMEZ, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Agreed. And in fact the director of the FBI, Comey, has said he reported to Congress that the FBI and local law enforcement cannot cover all of these potential suspects. They have thousands of people there.
HANNITY: That's scary, right?
GOMEZ: It is scary. When you have the top badge in the United States basically telling Congress and the U.S., we can't cover them all. We don't have the resources. So could this be somebody that fell through the cracks? Sure. But I think the fact that we're even here discussing this situation on the heels of what happened in Paris is very interesting indeed. And 20 years ago this would have been just horrific murder and we wouldn't have this panel here. Today, on the heels of Paris and other attacks, and let's face it, this is an epidemic here in the U.S. --
HANNITY: Let me go back to the FBI spokesman. He said we will go where the evidence takes us as it relates to terror. He was very, very clear about that. And he mentioned a few potential things were out there that are making them stay on that course as well as the workplace violence course.
GUSTER: Right. But workplace violence is what makes sense in this one, Sean.
HANNITY: I actually disagree with you.
GUSTER: A lot of people say, oh, they went home, it doesn't take long to go home, get your guns, then come back.
HANNITY: But wait a minute, Eric, you're saying they went home, that they had incident at the party. They went home. They put on tactical gear that was all prepared and all laid out, that apparently might have been even booby-trapped their house, and they might have had some type of explosive devices, hang on, then they had loaded, long rifles, probably an AR, loaded pistols, then they went back, and then they left, and then they still stayed in the neighborhood?
GUSTER: If the house is booby-trapped, absolutely not.
HANNITY: That might be a problem for your theory.
GUSTER: That would be. But as far as going home, getting your guns, putting your clothes and coming back, that doesn't take time, because just like with me coming to FOX News when there's breaking news, I can get from Brooklyn, I can be working out, put on my suit, get here from Brooklyn --
HANNITY: You're superman. Let me go back to Mark Fuhrman. Mark, with all this new information since I last spoke to you, and now the name that has been released in this particular case, what do you make of the investigation in the police resources going into this?
MARK FUHRMAN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Sean, you know, I've been listening, quite intently on really an effort to be more delicate with a known suspect that shot it out with the police and killed 14 people than we are the 14 people that are dead. I think being delicate about possible terrorism in this country and possible terrorists and people that don't belong here is exactly how we got here. And whether this is terrorism or not, and whether they went to the party and came back home and got all dressed up and then came back is almost irrelevant. We know the two people that did. We know that they went there. We know one is a Middle Eastern, of Middle Eastern descent, highly devout.
Whether he came back there or somebody else did just to make sure that certain people were there, they targeted the location. It's an act of terrorism if they never find a scrap of paper or computer entry or any kind of radicalization. It's terrorism. It's terrorizing a community for no reason whatsoever. It's terrorism.
HANNITY: Well said. All right, we have new information. We go back to Adam Housley on the ground for us tonight. Adam, what's the new information?
HOUSLEY: Yes, Sean, I want to touch on what you said a second ago. I'm glad you mentioned this, one of the problems law enforcement was having with the whole making this workplace violence, and it still could be, is the situation that they had the tactical gear. And that's what really throws a curve ball for them.
Off of that, one of our producers recently heard an interview with the neighbor, a neighbor over there in Redlands who said that she was alarmed because the new people that moved in next door had been receiving packages and a lot of package deliveries and working late in the night in the garage. So it had her a bit alarmed because that is not something that would normally take place there. So obviously that is playing into this.
We also can't forget one more thing, Sean. There's 14 people that lost their lives tonight. And as we look at the terrorism angle on this, the potential of that happening, we have those families who've lost 14 loved ones, and also the update from the hospital I just got that the medical center, Loma Linda hospital, obviously very well-known for what they do in the medical field, five total are there. Two are critical. So, as you know, tonight, as this investigation goes forward and law enforcement trying to ensure the safety and security of this community, there are families that have lost loved ones and many others that are fighting for their life right now, Sean.
HANNITY: We can't forget them.
You know, I want to go back, go back to what the neighbor was saying. And, yes, families are in thoughts and prayers, and it's unimaginable that believe 14 people died and their families are mourning tonight and 17 other people and their families are praying for their safety and their survival. But let's go back to the neighbor of Syed Farook and what they saw late at night and the packages being delivered, and that made them suspicious. Would it go late into the night? Were there multiple people in that garage? You know, some people might go into the garage and tinker on their cars, but, maybe now knowing what we know happened, you have to suspect maybe something was going on.
HOUSLEY: Yes. And I'll give you the exact quote what was said, it was being said to a radio reporter, a local radio reporter, 1070, which is a radio station here Los Angeles, respected --
HANNITY: KMX.
HOUSLEY: The quote was this, this is from the neighbor now -- yes, KX. This is the quote, it said, "Three to four Middle Easterners had recently moved into the apartment of interest," which is the one next door in Redlands in the past couple of weeks. She was alarmed because they were getting a lot of package deliveries and working late in the night in the garage. That came from the neighbor next door.
Again, lends you to believe that there's something suspicious going on here. And that's the one problem law enforcement's had from the beginning on this, Sean, is you know, workplace violent, you don't generally see someone go back home, get somebody else, mount up, so to speak, and put on tactical gear like that and come back with that kind of weaponry. That just doesn't what usually happens, I'm told by law enforcement, when you have workplace violence situations.
HANNITY: Yes. It doesn't make any sense.
HOUSLEY: It's a very delicate situation to put it lightly. It's one of several reasons why.
HANNITY: You're talking about three to four Middle Eastern men in a place in the garage late at night, they had just moved in, suspicions of the neighbor. Again, this is an unfolding story. We can't jump to conclusions, but it certainly is getting -- we're beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Now, stay right there, Adam, great reporting tonight. We'll get back to you in a second.
We just got unbelievable tape into FOX News. It's an interview on KTTV outside of the suspect's home, in Redlands, California. It was interrupted by a large bang. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're talking like it's possible terrorists attacks and stuff. It's crazy. Oh, my gosh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now there's booms?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, joining us now with the latest information about the suspect's home that is being searched, you see the robotic device going into that home, is our own Jonathan Hunt. Jonathan, were you there? Did you hear that boom?
HUNT: Our producer Dan Gallo was on the scene, there, Sean. He heard that boom. It sounded to him like the controlled explosion of something, something suspicious being carried out by law enforcement personnel on the scene. He also was the one who shot that video of the robotic machine heading towards the front door of that property.
Just going back to your discussion, Sean, on the theories that have been put forward by the FBI, that terrorism may be one of them, workplace violence may be another. Those two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Let me put this to you. You possibly have somebody who has planned to carry out some kind of terror attack. That person is then at a gathering apparently with his colleagues, because we now know this one person named was an environmental health inspector. Health workers were holding this party where the shooting took place today. Say that person feels that he is slighted at that gathering. Then he leaves. Then he goes and gets his accomplice and he says, never mind what we were planning, let's do this now.
So those two theories are not necessarily mutually exclusive. That is not to say that is what happened. We do not know the details yet. We will be told them. We will find them out via officials eventually. But those two theories, not mutually exclusive, Sean.
HANNITY: I certainly can see and understand anything is a possibility at this point. But the idea that somebody got angry, just happened to run home, get another person, get their tactical gear, load their weapons and come back that quickly is, to me is a little bit of a stretch.
HUNT: Sean, the point being, Sean, that that person could be thinking that, could have --
HANNITY: It's 100 percent they were ready for an attack.
HUNT: All of that gear is ready to go.
HANNITY: Bo Dietl agrees with you too.
DIETL: I like that theory very much.
HANNITY: Let me ask this question. What do you know about the robotic device going in? Now usually that is done in cases where the police believe, maybe they were looking into the apartment building, but where they believe that there might be some type of explosive device or some type of IED or some type of booby trap. Do you believe that that was an actual trap that was set off, something that was left behind to injure and hurt or kill police?
HUNT: Officials have not told us that at this the point, Sean. It is quite possible that that was the case. But, clearly, they are on a very high alert here. Clearly, they know that these two attackers who shot, that already shot dead 14 people were heavily armed. Clearly, they were suspicious that they might have some sort of booby trap in that property and in the vehicle where they had that, remember, that intense shootout with the two suspects earlier. So the police and other law enforcement who are on the scene there are obviously moving with the utmost caution. And if they see any kind of package, any kind of item that they are suspicious about, they're going to send in the robotic machinery first. They're not going to take any risks with their own personnel, Sean.
HANNITY: All right, Jonathan, thank you, and stay there. We are getting some new information that the group CAIR, the Council on Islamic Relations, you might remember, they were unindicted co-conspiracies in that big Texas case. Anyway, they will hold a press conference in about 45 minutes. It's expected that they will have one of the family members, I assume of Syed Farook, considering that's the only name made public at this time, which is also the father has been quoted in the "New York Daily News" and the "Washington Times" as of tonight.
Let me turn to you, Bo Dietl. As you get all of this new information and you hear what Jonathan is saying and you hear the package and that boom, what do you think?
DIETL: I like his theory. They were possibly terrorists in the planning. Something came down --
HANNITY: Set him off.
DIETL: Something was said to him, "you towelhead," excuse my expression, something was said in the respect, it was negative. And he ran home, got his accomplice and came back. He could have said something negative --
HANNITY: You're saying some type of epithet was used, racial epithet, and out of anger that would have set off what was in the planning already.
DIETL: Exactly, in the planning already. That could sound very possible.
HANNITY: It's speculation. We really don't know. But I do see as this is unfolding more and more, it's certainly apparent to me, and you know the FBI tactics, it certainly appears that they are treating this as a terror attack.
GOMEZ: Agreed. It seems to me that if they knew that it wasn't, they would have already put that out and quelled everybody's concerns.
HANNITY: Are they too cautious though? They knew the name for a long time. They didn't release it. Are they too cautious? I heard this name hours ago tonight. Are they too cautious, they won't give any description of those that are deceased?
GOMEZ: They are being cautious.
HANNITY: What is the caution about, being PC?
GOMEZ: Right, totally.
HANNITY: So the FBI is PC?
GOMEZ: The FBI answers to a higher calling, and the truth of the matter is, this could be a politically charged incident if it turns out to be an ISIS cell. And they want to be absolutely sure --
HANNITY: But the FBI has been very clear. I have to give credit to these guys. They have pointed out there's 1,000 probes ongoing right now in the United States. That's why I have been so outspoken and passionate, if we know that a certain percentage of Syrian refugees have ISIS sympathies and the national director of intelligence, James Clapper, and James Comey, who everybody respects, the FBI director and our assistant FBI director and the general in charge of tactics that take out ISIS are all saying that ISIS will infiltrate the Syrian refugee community, why would we risk the lives of Americans? Why would we take a chance like that?
GOMEZ: On top of that, I believe that even beyond that, even if they don't infiltrate, even if we're that good at being able to discern which is an ISIS sympathizer and which isn't, we're basically importing the next wave of potential sympathizers. They will be radicalized, statistically, a percentage of them --
HANNITY: If that robot set off a bomb, all bets are off.
GOMEZ: That's 100 percent.
DIETL: We agree. The thing we're talking about, 10,000 FBI agents. When I was on the police department many years ago, they used to deputize a lot New York City cops and cops of Nassau County as U.S. marshals to support the FBI. They have hundreds of thousands, well, 100,000 cops across this country that can be deputized and work with the FBI and have their surveillance teams. They should be utilizing all the police departments and start to get candidates in there to be sworn in as U.S. marshals along with the FBI to support the FBI.
HANNITY: From the earliest moments, let me go back to Mark Fuhrman, my law enforcement resources and my friends out in Los Angeles, they were telling me from the get-go that all hand were on deck. They were telling me from the get-go, everybody was on board. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, the FBI, every law enforcement agent, everybody with a badge and a gun was called into this situation, Mark.
FUHRMAN: Well, what they did is they established a tactical alert probably in four or five of the southern California counties. And that means that everybody comes to work. The lower levels have to maintain the patrol and the security of the city, and all the upper echelon detectives and special tactical units end up going to San Bernardino or other locations where they've indicated there might be a threat.
And, you know, I'd like to try to understand why we have to be so sensitive with known suspects, known names, known shootouts, known murderers. And this is the problem. When you make political correctness ahead of justice, you're not going to get justice.
HANNITY: Yes.
FUHRMAN: It's just not going to happen.
HANNITY: And listen, the name, I first heard the name Syed Farook hours ago today. I heard it during my radio show which didn't end until four and a half hours ago, that name was passed on to me. So they knew more, and it does raise a very important question, why are they so slow and giving the public the information and I guess they don't want people to rush to judgment in this case.
The group CAIR, which, by the way, is going to hold a press conference, release a presser and say later tonight the greater Los Angeles office of the Council on American Islamic Relations of Southern California will hold a press conference with leaders of the Muslim community to condemn today's deadly shooting spree in San Bernardino and to offer condolences to loved ones, which I can understand. I don't think people blame all Muslims. I think there are people that blame radical Islamists. And this is the distinction, and this president can't even utter those words, Eric, not to get too political.
GUSTER: Some people cannot distinguish the difference. Some people -- but some people just assume all Muslims are bad. That's why we have to be careful with trying to put names out there and trying to lump all of them together.
HANNITY: Four or five hours to put out a name?
We'll take a break. We'll come back, and when we come back we'll have the latest information out of San Bernardino. Not only are we awaiting the CAIR press conference, we're also awaiting another press conference. "Hannity" will go until midnight tonight here on the Fox News Channel. We'll have full coverage of all the events that are happening in San Bernardino and the investigation into who was responsible for the killing of 14, injuring of 17 earlier today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to Fox News. This is a Fox News alert. And of course our continuing coverage, 14 people killed, 17 injured earlier today. We go back to Catherine Herridge. She has some new information for us. Catherine, what's new?
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Sean.
A law enforcement source here in Washington D.C. is telling us that this name Syed Farook is in play. They're describing it to us as a strong lead and a possible suspect in the shooting. They're also saying that at this time based on the evidence they do not believe that the female and male suspect who are have been identified.
Now, earlier today we were given a longer version or what I would describe as a variation of this name Syed Farook, and we were told at that time it had washed out. A U.S. government official says it had been run against the databases and they had no positive hits. But now it says it may well be one of the suspects in this case, Sean.
HANNITY: I'm trying to understand exactly what you said there, because I thought you said they were not identified, but yet the name was released.
HERRIDGE: What they're saying to me is that the bodies have not been identified. They're saying that this name, Syed Farook is separate from those individuals. That's how it's explained to me.
HANNITY: OK, understood. And we don't know the name of the female that was killed in the shootout?
HERRIDGE: No. I don't have that.
HANNITY: OK, but we were told earlier, I think it was by Adam Housley, I believe, that in fact that too, was not a regular-sounding name? Maybe I guess, not John Smith.
HERRIDGE: I don't have any sort of visibility on the names of the two dead suspects. What I do know is that Syed Farook is the name that's in play. It's described as a strong lead and a possible suspect in the shooting, someone who was involved. And then I was told the two dead suspects have not been identified by name. So if you put that together it would not seem that name linked to those suspects.
HANNITY: All right, appreciate it. Thank you, Catherine Herridge. Mark Fuhrman, I understand during the break, you feel not releasing the name earlier when in fact they knew the name was a big mistake because valuable time was lost?
FUHRMAN: Well, valuable time was lost. One you put the name out, you have everybody listening. If this person was actually in our society and working and living and going to school or whatever he was doing, then people would know him, and then you could place him. You can find out his associates, where he was going, and this investigation might have turned at least quicker in what they found out and quite possibly might have got those two suspects before they actually took off and ended up in a shootout with police.
HANNITY: In other words, they could have gotten more information from the public. We were told during the press conference that in fact a tip did lead to the discovery of these two people, Mark.
FUHRMAN: You know, I'm listening to Catherine Harris --
HANNITY: Herridge.
FUHRMAN: And two people in the car are deceased and haven't been identified, and yet we have a named suspect. Is that the named suspect that was actually in the conference that left the conference and these two people in the car? Or are the people that actually went in and did the shooting? Do we have another suspect that's loose? Do we have four people or is the suspect loose the named suspect? I'm a little confused.
HANNITY: We did hear from Adam Housley and Jonathan earlier that they believe this was a two-suspect crime. Now, they additionally, when they talk about a third person that was caught running away and that has been detained, but we have not been told officially, although we expect a press conference coming up momentarily, we do expect that we will get more information when in fact that happens, Bo.
DIETL: You know, we got some information there about the guy supposedly working with the health department or something. The father said that he's married, he's a devout Muslim and all that. Now, that would stand to reason if that's him, the cops have him identified now. Through fingerprints he's got to be identified by now. Now with the father saying that that is his son, is there a possibility this in fact is his wife, the female? Where is the wife? He's supposedly married.
HANNITY: Then, we go back too, Eric, according to Adam Housley, remember the reports and Jonathan Hunt earlier talking about the one neighbor that was worried about all of the packages being delivered to the house where we see that robot going in live, and we have had heard the explosion, that late night activity in the garage. Remember, these were two new people moving into the neighborhood, lots of packages, lots of late night activity in the garage that made the neighbors suspicious.
GUSTER: When you see something, say something. If they in fact were doing something sinister, but you have to remember, when people are moving in, they're going to get packages. When I moved first moved into Brooklyn, I was getting packages every other day with furniture.
DIETL: Sure everybody gets assault rifles.
GUSTER: Nobody said there were assault rifles. You can't make that assumption, Bo. You've got to be careful not to make that assumption.
DIETL: They shot 14 people.
GUSTER: The FBI not giving out information, they already had the mans' name. They already knew where he lived.
HANNITY: Hang on. I think what Mark is saying is a very valid point. In other words if in fact it was a public tip that led to the discovery of these two people, I think he makes a point if they knew the name earlier they could have gotten more public assistance. But as we've been talking about all night tonight, there is a level of political correctness, a fear, they don't want to jump the gun. We in the news media, we don't want to make a mistakes either and jump the gun. So it's a fine line, a razor's edge.
GUSTER: Sometimes the FBI and police department don't want to release all of the information because they may alert someone else that they knew who these people are, they may be searching and on their trail. They have to be careful with what they release, especially if they already know who it is.
HANNITY: Yes. Well, we're going to watch it continue and monitor, and we'll have the very latest on the San Bernardino shooting and of course the investigation and all the latest details as the next hour of "Hannity" starts right here, right now.
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