CNN "CNN Newsroom" - TRANSCRIPT Interview with Representative Judy Chu (D-CA) about the Monterey Park Mass Shooting; FBI Found Six More Items with Classified Markings at Biden's Wilmington Home; Biden Orders White House Flag at Half-Staff to Honor California Shooting Victims; Remembering Lisa Marie Presley; Tight-Knit Community in California Reeling After Dance Hall Shooting; Bills Fall to Bengals in First Match Up Since Damar Hamlin's Injury; Prices High, But Inflation Easing. Aired 10-11p ET

Interview

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NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Over time this community is going to start learning who has been lost and who is still trying to recover in the hospital.

I want to bring in Congressmember Judy Chu who is a former mayor of Monterey Park, and this is your home community, and you represent this district. Tell me a little bit. I heard you during the press conference trying to reassure people during what is supposed to be the happiest time of the year to tell them it's OK, the threat is over. Tell me about that desire to try to reassure people.

REP. JUDY CHU (D-CA): All day long, I heard people who were anxious, who asked whether they should go to the events that are around the community and there are so many Lunar New Year events going on, who wonder whether they should send their kids to school even, and even as much as I said that they should continue doing that, I could feel the fear in their voices. So it is with great relief that we can tell them this shooter is no longer a threat and that they can feel safe and that they can do the things that they would normally do during this Lunar New Year period which is supposed to be the highlight of the year.

CHEN: Yes. And, you know, we talked earlier about the fact the last time you and I saw each other in person was likely when you came to visit Atlanta after the spa shootings there.

Now, we're talking about two very different scenarios because the motives can be very, very different here, but can you speak to the impact of the Asian-American Pacific Islander community across this country when we first hear about a shooting in a predominantly Asian neighborhood, everyone's mind this morning went to the same place.

CHU: Yes. The sensitivities in the Asian-American community are very high right now. It's because we're coming off of three years of anti- Asian hate crimes and incidents due to COVID-19 and there have been 11,500 anti-Asian attacks, hate crimes and incidents and so forth. And so they were so frequent at one time that any AAPI would go out to walk on the sidewalk would ask themselves first, will I be next?

And so the first thing that so many of us thought when we heard about the shooting this morning was that it could have been a hate crime. Now it seems as though it is not, and it seems that it could be a domestic issue but still, this act of utter violence comes on top of all this violence that has occurred this past three years so it has been very difficult.

CHEN: And you yourself, you were at the festival here in the streets just yesterday, hours before this happened. You mentioned to me that you would also in the past been to this dance hall. Tell me what you remember from that visit what type of business it was, and if you can describe what it looked like on the inside.

CHU: Well, the immigrant Chinese especially love ballroom dancing so if you went in there, you would see usually older Americans, Asian- Americans dancing really, enjoying themselves and, you know, some are such excellent dancers. They're really into it and love to go every day. So they would get their exercise. They would hone their craft and it was widely used and popular, so yes, that's what I saw when I went there and this was one of the prominent ones, and the Lai Lai Studios in Alhambra was the other prominent one.

CHEN: Have you spoken to leaders in Alhambra what happened in that second incident, especially those people who were able to wrestle the guy and get his weapon away from him?

CHU: We haven't spoken to the persons themselves who did that, but Sheriff Luna talked a lot about it and I have to say they are heroes for doing what they did. They saved a massive amount of lives by taking that kind of action. They are true role models and they should be honored.

CHEN: And Sheriff Luna also mentioned during tonight's press conference that some of the people who rushed into the building right down the street there were some of the force's youngest officers who had only been -- who had only joined in the last several months. What was your reaction when you heard that?

CHU: I felt so bad for them because I'm sure it must have been traumatic to see these 10 bodies, to see all the blood everywhere, to see the wounded, and I can only imagine what they felt.

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I hope that they can get counseling to deal with that but I also have to really thank our first responders because regardless of their personal feelings, they have to go ahead and make sure that people are safe and that the situation is taken care of and that people are taken care of.

CHEN: There is one more thing from that press conference I want to get to, which is the sheriff, using quite strong language when it comes to gun violence. He was talking about -- saying that the status quo is not working so we need to re-examine what we're doing and what may work better, saying that California already has pretty strict gun laws. What are your feelings about what can work better given that clearly this happened in a place where we're already pretty strict?

CHU: There is a clear path forward. I have been a member of the Congressional Gun Safety Caucus since Sandy Hook. So we're talking about a long time. And there is commonsense gun safety legislation that should have been passed by Congress a long time ago.

See, the universal background checks are the best way to make sure that guns don't get into the hands of dangerous and violent people, but there are loopholes and people can buy guns without those checks, without the background checks by buying online or at gun shows or through personal purchases. Those loopholes have to be closed.

I want to tell you that the majority of Americans support these commonsense laws, which would make us all much safer.

CHEN: There is definitely still a lot of work ahead in the long term for that issue given that, you know, some of the residents here who talked to us today even commented, you know, that America's gun issue is out of control, maybe it's best not to go out in public spaces right now. What would you say to those people who came up to us with that sentiment today?

CHU: I understand the fear. I understand the anxiety. But what we have to do is change our gun laws and we need their voices to be included in that. But we also need to come together as a community. We need to participate in everything that is going on and we must continue to live our lives.

Now one thing I can say about Monterey Park after having lived here for such a long time is that it is resilient. The people are strong, and I think we can get through this. There's so much healing that still has to be done but we can get through this together.

CHEN: And finally, do you have remaining questions tonight? I know you mentioned there is a lot outstanding. But what is the most pressing issue for you to be solved regarding this investigation?

CHU: Of course I want to know what the motive is behind this.

CHEN: Yes.

CHU: Who did he know that was in the dance studio? I mean, the rumors are there that he's a husband whose wife was in there, but I don't know. And I want to know whether the guns that he had were legal. Of course, we already know that one is illegal. I want to know if he has a criminal history especially of domestic violence and I want to know whether he has a mental illness or any record of that.

CHEN: Congressmember Judy Chu, thank you so much for speaking with us. All day really you've been here since 8:00 a.m. alongside me, so I appreciate your time and all of those questions she asked hopefully we're going to start to try to get more answers as the days go on -- Pamela.

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