San Bernardino shooting updates: Families grieving their loved ones react to Obama’s speech

Here's what the president said in full :

"It is our responsibility to reject religious tests on who we admit into this country. It’s our responsibility to reject proposals that Muslim Americans should somehow be treated differently. Because when we travel down that road, we lose."

That was a knock on some of the 2016 candidates who have been making suggestions about putting more scrutiny on people of the Islamic faith.

The Los Angeles Times' David Lauter and Evan Halper examined how the attacks last week have scrambled the presidential campaign. They write:

"As President Obama spoke from the Oval Office to the nation on Sunday, and as the candidates seeking to replace him sought to recalibrate their positions, all sides faced a central problem: The nature of the attack defies the solutions that either party has been offering."

Read their article via the link below, and for more political analysis, please subscribe to our Essential Politics newsletter.

— Christina Bellantoni

Farook's father on Sunday told the Italian newspaper La Stampa that his son agreed with the ideology of Islamic State leaders and was "obsessed" with Israel. But a family representative said Sunday afternoon that the shooter's father did not recall the comments he made to the publication.

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR in the greater Los Angeles area, said the father, like the rest of the family, is "dealing with a lot of stress." Ayloush said that when he asked the father about the interview this morning, he said, "Which interview? ... I didn't speak to any media ... I didn't say any of that."

— Sarah Parvini

The K1 visa is a previously obscure program reserved for foreign men and women who intend to marry a U.S. citizen. Authorities now probing Wednesday’s massacre as a terrorist attack have said K1 applicants, like other visa applicants, undergo an extensive counter-terrorism screening that includes checks based on fingerprints and facial recognition software.

In his address to the nation Sunday, President Obama said he had ordered the Departments of State and Homeland Security to review "the visa waiver program under which the female terrorist in San Bernardino originally came to this country." He misspoke and the White House rushed to issue a correction.

The visa waiver program allows citizens of 38 participating countries — including Australia, the United Kingdom and many European countries — to travel to the United States and stay without a visa for 90 days or less.

By contrast, for approval to enter the United States on a K1 visa, Malik would have needed to check the "No" box on a series of questions asking about past — or future — terrorist activity or affiliations.

— Christina Bellantoni

Robert Garcia and Trish Hughes, both 44 and married, have been residents of the city for 16 years and say they grieve with their neighbors over Wednesday’s tragedy. Hughes works only a few blocks from the scene of Wednesday’s massacre. They even have an American flag hanging at half-staff in their front yard.

But they could not be further apart when it comes to their views of President Obama, and it was evident during tonight's speech.

Hughes, a Democrat, is a self-proclaimed “fan” of the president. Garcia, a Republican, not so much.

“Who would ever have dreamed that the president of the United States would ever utter the words, ‘San Bernardino?’”

— Louis Sahagun

The imam of the Bait ul Hameed Mosque, Mohammed Zafarullah, watched in his Chino living room with his wife and daughters. Zafarullah, originally from Pakistan, expressed appreciation for what Obama said, and was glad Obama pointed out that not all Muslims are extremists: "Whatever the government thinks about the protection of the country, that is their right and they have to do it," he said. "We have to cooperate, we have to help [Obama] ... it is our duty to put a finger on them."

The Medina family, whose home was hit with bullets as police chased the shooters through their San Bernardino neighborhood, watch as the president seeks to reassure Americans fearful of terrorism. As the president spoke of not allowing people on no-fly lists to get guns, Helen Medina nodded.

- Tighten gun restrictions

"Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun," the president said tonight. "We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons."

- Officially OK military force

President Obama asked Congress in February to authorize military operations against Islamic State. He renewed that call tonight, but did not call for ground troops to directly fight against Islamic State.

- Boost restrictions on visa waivers

Obama said the White House and Congress are working together to achieve this.

— Lauren Raab

Read the full transcript here.

When he addresses the nation from behind the famed Resolute desk in the Oval Office in a little more than an hour, President Obama will provide an update on the FBI-led investigation into the young couple who carried out the San Bernardino attack, officials said.

He also will explain how the terrorist threat has evolved since Islamic State first emerged in 2014, including its use of social media to promote ideology and attract foreign fighters, and its success raising money through taxes, tolls, extortion and smuggling in areas it controls, officials say.

He is likely to call on Congress to act, including renewing his request for a new authorization to use military force against Islamic State.

Aides said Obama will use his speech not only to explain his strategy before the largest audience possible, but also to counter rhetoric from the president's critics that stokes Americans' fears.

Here's what Obama had to say about the San Bernardino attack in his weekly address on Saturday:

Investigators trying to understand what motivated the San Bernardino shooters are digging into Tashfeen Malik’s background in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and are trying to determine whether the couple had financial support from elsewhere, a top U.S. lawmaker said Sunday.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, told "Fox News Sunday" that investigators still are trying to determine if anyone gave the couple money to buy the weapons or training to use them and build the bombs.

So far, authorities have found no evidence indicating that Malik or her husband, U.S.-born Syed Rizwan Farook, were part of a broader terrorist conspiracy.

U.S. Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch cautioned Sunday that it’s too soon to draw conclusions about the couple and what motivated them to carry out what the FBI considers an act of terrorism.

"We are trying to learn everything we can about both of these individuals," Lynch said on "Meet the Press." "We are trying to run everything to ground."

— Joseph Tanfani and Brian Bennett

Women pray at the Islamic Community Center of Redlands in Loma Linda on Sunday during a memorial service for the victims of the San Bernardino rampage. Members of local churches and other faith communities also attended to show a united front.

For emergency room nurses and doctors, coping with high-pressure situations and patients near death is familiar.

But usually, the danger doesn’t hit so close to home.

With the San Bernardino shooters still on the loose Wednesday, those caring for victims couldn’t help but worry, “What about our own families? Could they potentially be shot?” said Dr. Kathleen Clem, emergency medicine department chair at Loma Linda University Medical Center, which is three miles from the site of the massacre.

The emergency room scrambled to beef up its staff for the occasion. Then, as patients arrived, the hospital received a bomb threat.

— Soumya Karlamangla

Cynthia Tibke, second from the left, wipes away tears as the names of the 14 people killed in Wednesday's attack are read during youth Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral in San Bernardino.

Two students who attended college with San Bernardino assailant Tashfeen Malik confirmed that during her time studying pharmacology at Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan, Pakistan, she began attending Al Huda, a chain of modern institutes of Islamic education that mainly focuses on women with the stated objective of “bringing them back to their religious roots.”

“She used to go to attend sessions in Al Huda almost every day,” said a fellow student, who asked not to be identified. “She was not too close to any class fellow."

Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani security analyst, said Al Huda institutes teach women "fundamentalist" ideas, though they do not necessarily promote a jihadist agenda.

—Aoun Sahi

With President Obama set to deliver a rare prime-time address from the Oval Office on Sunday, the investigation into the San Bernardino massacre continued Sunday both in the United States and Pakistan, where one of the attackers once lived.

The FBI on Saturday raided the home of one of the shooter's friends as agents searched for the source of the guns used in the attack. And in Pakistan on Sunday, the interior minister said the country has launched its own investigation and offered assistance to U.S. authorities.

In San Bernardino, residents tried to get back to their routines after what is appearing to be the most deadly act of terrorism on U.S. soil since 9/11. On Saturday, many residents resolved to get on with life but said they were still anxious.

"I'm nervous," said Fernandino Rodriguez, 39. "You hear ambulance and a firetruck's sirens and you wonder: 'What happened now?' You're constantly in fear."

—Paloma Esquivel, Joseph Tanfani and Louis Sahagun

A vigil to honor the 14 people killed and 21 injured in last week’s mass shooting in San Bernardino will be held at the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors headquarters Monday evening.

The candlelight vigil is planned for 5 p.m. at the headquarters at 385 N. Arrowhead Blvd. in San Bernardino.

The gathering will include county employees, local and national labor leaders, elected officials and clergy, among others, according to a news release by the Service Employees International Union, which is sponsoring the memorial.

The shooters, Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were killed in a shootout with police hours after the rampage Wednesday.

— Stephen Ceasar

Staff writer Christine Mai-Duc wanted to get a sense of what it's been like for San Bernardino's elected officials.

She spent time with Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, who represents the area.

Her piece has a lot of great detail, but one particular story stands out for the Democratic lawmaker as she tries to comfort her community:

On the day of the shootings, Brown rushed to the Rudy C. Hernandez Community Center, where family members were waiting to be reunited with survivors and those who had been evacuated from Inland Regional Center. She knew she had to do what she could to calm frayed nerves, allay some of the panic she was seeing on people's faces as the afternoon's chaos unfolded.

She saw a bearded man, pacing back and forth, his eyes on every bus that arrived to drop off more evacuees. “He looked forlorn,” Brown said. Brown asked him if he was okay, if she could pray for him.

“I’m pagan,” Ryan Reyes replied. He was looking for his boyfriend, Daniel Kaufman, who ran the coffee shop in the center and wasn’t answering his calls. Brown embraced him, told him she cared about him, and said she would be praying for him anyway.

When Kaufman was named as one of the victims the next day, Brown said her heart fell.

— Christina Bellantoni

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson will sit down with Muslim community leaders Monday in northern Virginia to discuss Obama administration efforts to protect civil liberties while also preventing and stopping future terror attacks.

The roundtable discussion at All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center is the latest in a series of events around the country Johnson has attended to encourage community leaders to push back against radical ideologies that can inspire violent attacks.

In September, Johnson created the DHS Office for Community Partnerships with a goal to promote trust with the Muslim community and find ways community organizations can discourage violent extremism and undercut messages that promote terrorism. “Countering violent extremism has become a key focus of DHS’ work,” he said at the time.

FBI efforts to work with Muslim community organizations have had mixed results. Some Muslim leaders have been frustrated by the agency’s efforts to collect intelligence while also trying to build open channels of communication with local groups.

— Brian Bennett

The San Bernardino massacre has focused new attention on "lone wolf" terrorists who plan attacks away from traditional high-profile targets without directly coordinating with others.

While the FBI typically takes the lead in major terrorism investigations, local police officers and sheriff's deputies are the initial line of defense — especially in the case of home-grown plotters.

The challenges are daunting.

— Cindy Chang, Richard Winton

In Bell, a Lebanese Muslim community established itself at roughly the same time as another group that's frequently in the crosshairs of politicians on the stump: immigrants from Mexico and other parts of Latin America.

Layla Matar, 21, who sells cars at Kia in downtown Los Angeles, said growing up in Bell never made her feel out of place. Half of her friends are Latino, the other half Arab.

"I never knew wearing a head scarf was something different," Matar said.

— Ruben Vives

Here are some of the shootings in 2015 that made it onto the front page of The Times. And some that didn’t.

—Julia Kingsley and Ali Swenson

Residents in San Bernardino are still struggling to recover from the massacre.

Dyesha McCrumb, who came to the city's Christmas parade, said she was on guard.

"I’m listening and watching for signs of trouble,” she said. “I believe police still have not gotten to the bottom of this terrorist attack.”

As additional law enforcement officers gathered in front of the parade in preparation for the start at 10 a.m., McCrumb broke into a smile.

“We can still have fun,” she said, “if there are police nearby.”

— Louis Sahagun, Sarah Parvini and Ruben Vives