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Flags at Half Staff to Honor Fallen Officer; Shooters Had Assault Rifles and Body Armor; ISIS Claims Responsibility; Texas on Alert; College Student Held in North Korea; Texas Governor Orders Deployment of State Militia; Pentagon War Games; Attorney General in Baltimore. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired May 5, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Damascus. Wherever you're watching around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We start with an ISIS claim. They're claiming responsibility for the terror attack in Texas. The terror group referring to their so-called soldiers as carrying out that failed attack on an event featuring cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

We're also learning more details about the shooters themselves from their home in Phoenix, Arizona. Joining us now from Beirut is our Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh and joining us from Phoenix is Kyung Lah.

Nick, ISIS taking responsibility but what do we know about the terror group's actual role in this attack in Texas?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At this stage, very little and there is scant detail offered in the statement that they put out on their official radio station. Al Abiand (ph) is thought to broadcast out of northern Iraq. They said, as you mentioned, that they're soldiers of the caliphate. That's the area in northern Syria and northern Iraq. They have self-declared as an Islamic state. That those soldiers, as we well know from reading media reports, were engaged in an exchange of fire in which a security guard was injured. There's none of the intimate detail or a suggestion of foreknowledge that you might expect in a genuine claim of responsibility. And what this more sounds like is a bid by whoever wrote that announcement to latch themselves on to that particular attack.

What's going to be key to investigators is working out whether or not there was prior communication between ISIS leaders in northern Iraq or northern Syria and those two gunmen in Garland, Texas. This statement doesn't suggest that. And it may be because they don't want to reveal those or it may be because there simply isn't ahead. Ahead of the attack, Elton Simpson. One of the gunman tweeted a request for a pledge of allegiance towards what a man here referred to as the leader of the faithful. That's most likely the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. But it wasn't until afterwards that we heard from ISIS. So, it is a confusing picture and one chilling whichever way you look at it, really. If there was a chain of command from ISIS leadership toward these two men, well that suggests attempts to specifically target the U.S. homeland. If not, then we're talking equally chillingly about lone wolves inspired by the ideology online carrying out attacks before, in fact, their allegiance to ISIS has even been accepted by that group. Either way, pretty troubling -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And there was no video of these two gunmen. Very often, as you know, Nick, there's video that these guys going into some sort of suicide attack, they prepare in advance. They make a statement saying they're ready for martyrdom. But in this particular case, as far as we know right now, there's no individual of them declaring their intention?

WALSH: Not at this stage. It could still emerge. But recall the Paris attacks and the gunman at the kosher grocery store, Ahmed Coulibaly, he was clear to leave a video behind him which made certainly obvious his desire to be associated with ISIS. But it's that key important point, was there actual genuine logistical assistance or command from ISIS leadership? That's not the same as a lower level person on Twitter exchanging a few messages.

In order for this, I think, to be considered to be a directed ISIS attack on the U.S., you do need some pretty clear signals and pretty clear things to be there. And, at this stage, we're lacking even in photography or explicit notions that much of the ISIS association was significantly preplanned, even by those two gunmen -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Nick, stand by. I want to go to Kyung Lah. She's been doing some serious reporting on these two gunmen in Phoenix where they lived. What do we know about these two guys, Kyung?

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that they lived in this apartment complex, Wolf, about a year, according to the neighbors. And not a lot of people had direct contact with them, at least to the point of intimacy where they went into the apartment where they knew much about their inner workings. But they didn't appear to be any major red flags.

We are learning the background, though, of both of these gunmen. Elton Simpson, he grew up here in Phoenix and we've seen yearbook photos of him. And by all indications, it looks like he had a fairly typical American upbringing. He was the captain of his high school basketball team. He was quite a good athlete. Somehow, he decided to convert to Islam in high school.

That's where the details then become a little scant. We know that he did attend the mosque here just a short distance from where I am for the last 10 years or so. But, again, the mosque says he didn't show outward signs of radicalism.

As far as the other gunmen, Nadir Soofi, he spent his formative years in Pakistan. We do know, from a source who is familiar with the family background, that his family divorced. His parents divorced and then he moved back to the United States with his American mother and then he grew up.

[13:05:10] People here who know him say he owned a pizza shop. He had a son. We understand that that son is quite young, about eight to 10 years old. And that he also didn't show any outward displays of radicalism. His grandmother, Wolf, did talk to a CNN affiliate, KPRC, in Texas and she says that she does not believe her grandson was the instigator of this attack.

BLITZER: All right, Kyung Lah reporting for us. Kyung, thanks very, very much. Nick Paton Walsh also reporting.

Inspiration but no command and control, that's what seems to be the ISIS link to the Texas attack. For more on what's going on, I'm joined by Kimberly Dozier, our CNN Global Affairs Analyst, contributing writer for "The Daily Beast." Kimberly, do we really believe this was a specific order by ISIS or these two guys were inspired by ISIS?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, there's no evidence yet of a specific order. But what ISIS could be doing right now is creating a new model, go out, carry out an attack small or large and we will claim you as our own afterwards and you'll still get all that reflected fame. I find that almost more troubling than finding that they had, you know, clear messages that they were going to carry this out.

BLITZER: Because these two guys showed up with body armor, with bulletproof vests, with assault rifles. But one off-duty police officer managed to kill both of them and he got slightly injured. It was not a successful mission, on the part of ISIS, if, in fact, this was an ISIS operation. So, why would they be bragging about it?

DOZIER: Not successful in terms of taking lives but, yes, successful in terms of getting our attention. And that's U.S. counterterrorism officials, current and former, said, expect more of this. The director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Matt Olson, who had just retired last year said he expects to see more not Mumbai style attacks where you have hundreds killed in several buildings but ones and twos, not car bombs but, yes, small arms fire.

And in terms of the equipment these guys had, you know, I went on-line and I found you can get bulletproof vests on Amazon and Craigslist. It's just not hard to get the tools you need to create violence.

BLITZER: And in this particular case, Nadir Soofi, he did spend a few years in Islamabad and Pakistan. But as far as we know, neither here or Elton -- he nor Elton Simpson ever spent time in Iraq or Syria actually getting any training with ISIS.

DOZIER: You don't necessarily have to spend time overseas, but the counterterrorism officials are also seeing greater numbers. The new figures I just got from the director of National Intelligence, they're up to 22,500 estimated foreign fighters in Syria. About 180 of those in Iraq and Syria are thought to be American citizens. At least 40 have come back. The FBI is trying to track all of those, but they know they can't track down every single one. BLITZER: But 40 doesn't seem like a huge number. They could easily

be monitoring 40 Americans who may have received training in Iraq and Syria, right?

DOZIER: Forty is not a huge number but one of the things they look for is social media, things like these tweets. The more popular ISIS becomes through attacks like this, the more you've got this kind of social electronic footprint to comb through to try to figure out who's real, who's a threat and who is just expressing their constitutionally protected right to support this group.

BLITZER: I assume the FBI is doing a postmortem now on Elton Simpson. He was on their watch list for a long time. He was actually convicted of a terror-related incident even though he only got three years' probation, never served time in jail. They're looking to see what they may have missed in his particular case and also Nadir Soofi, his roommate.

DOZIER: But, again, that -- what that does is it rise -- it raises the amount of people that they have to keep an eye on. Does that mean everyone they've ever looked at for the slightest crime related to militancy is about to attack? That's a lot of resources to devote to the problem.

BLITZER: All right. Kimberly Dozier, good analysis. Thank you very much.

Coming up, the governor of Texas orders his state guard to be on alert in response to rumors. That's what they are, rumors, that the U.S. military may be trying to take over parts of the southwest. We're digging deeper into this very bizarre story.

And later on, a 21-year-old American resident now held in North Korea gives his first T.V. interview to CNN. You're going to hear why he says he decided to cross into North Korea illegally.

[13:09:40]

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BLITZER: The governor of Texas is giving an unusual order to the commander of the state guard. Governor Greg Abbott wants them to keep an eye on the U.S. military as it carries out a large training exercise called Jade Helm 15. The exercise takes place in seven states and it actually led to rumors on the Internet and elsewhere that U.S. special operations' forces are trying to take over parts of the southwest.

Our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is joining us now. Barbara, this is a very, very bizarre story. What's going on? Why are Texans apparently worried about an operation, a special operations exercise, that happens every year?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It's a good question, Wolf. Look, here's what's happened. It's about 1,200 U.S. troops, mainly Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Air Force. They're going to exercise for eight weeks a war game over the summer in very remote areas of these states, including Texas, public and private land, with the permission of land owners. But the Internet went on fire about this as Web sites said that they suspected the U.S. military was trying to do everything from invade Texas to stage a takeover.

And even a map was published showing Texas as a red state hostile territory in this war game. That led Governor Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican, to order out his state militia, something under his control. He said, originally, that, you know, he wanted to make sure there was good information flow between the U.S. military and his state militia.

But his letter, let me tell you, it also says this, that he wants his state militia to, quote, "ensure constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed." Not infringed by U.S. special operations' forces on one of these training exercises.

It's caused a lot of kerfuffle, everywhere from Texas to the hallways of the Pentagon. U.S. military people saying they have absolutely no intention of invading Texas or taking away anybody's rights.

[13:15:04] BLITZER: Or occupying Texas or anything. They do this exercise all the time, don't they?

STARR: Yes, Wolf. Special operations forces do these types of exercises quite often. Now, let it be said that this is one of the largest, if not the largest they've ever done. But what they need to do to train in the United States is find large, remote areas that resemble the overseas areas they're most likely to go to, the Middle East, Africa, that sort of thing.

A lot of the exercise is actually going to take place on U.S. military bases in the southwest, but in Texas, they've been talking to land owners and only with their permission asking if they can train on their land. It's getting attention because some of it they may not be in uniform, they may be carrying weapons with blank ammunition, they may be traveling in private vehicles, but the Pentagon insists there will be monitors with them at all times, that there is no risk to the public, that all of this is being done with everyone's permission.

But right now, you see people weighing in all over the country. Senator Ted Cruz saying he knows, he understands why Texans are concerned. Chuck Norris weighing in. And even on the other side of the equation, Jon Stewart weighing in on his TV show.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Very, very bizarre indeed. We invited, by the way, the governor, Greg Abbott, to appear with us. So far we don't have a final answer but hopefully he'll come on the show to explain his concerns about this U.S. military special operations exercise.

Barbara, thanks very, very much.

STARR: Sure. BLITZER: America's top law enforcement official is now on the ground in Baltimore and not only seeing the aftermath of protests and looting firsthand, but also sitting down with a family whose lives have been ripped apart by this tragedy. We're going to go live to Baltimore when we come back.

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[13:20:20] BLITZER: President Obama says the recent problems in Baltimore and other U.S. cities are not just policing problems, he said they are the result of a lack of opportunity, especially for young African-American males. On "The Late Show With David Letterman," the president spoke about the issues affecting what he called pockets of poverty across the United states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Part of the message that I'm trying to deliver is, look, you've got a crises in these communities that's been going on for years where too many young people don't have hope, they don't see opportunity, there aren't enough jobs. How can we send a message to young people of color and minorities, particularly young men, saying your lives do matter, we do care about you, but we're going to invest in you before you have problems with the police, before, you know, there's the kind of crisis we see in Baltimore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: President Obama has dispatched the nation's top law enforcement officer to Baltimore. The attorney general of the United States, Loretta Lynch, is there right now. And just a little while ago, she met with the family of Freddie Gray, the man whose death in police custody led to charges against six Baltimore police officers. She also praised the people working to get Baltimore back on track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORETTA LYNCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Watch people come together and be determined as the city of Baltimore has been to reclaim the city, rebuild the city and make it again the great city that it has always been has been inspired for me. So let me say, first of all, thank you for letting me be a part of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our correspondent Athena Jones is in Baltimore for us.

Athena, so what are the goals of Loretta Lynch's visit to Baltimore? What do they - what do we know about her meeting with Freddie Gray's family as well?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf.

Well, we know that that meeting with Freddie Gray's family was behind closed doors, so we haven't gotten readout of it. We weren't allowed inside with cameras. But we do know that she also met with the Fray's family attorneys. She also met with members of Congress, with faith leaders and with about 10 law school students at the University of Baltimore.

You heard part of the message she delivered. But this is really about the ongoing conversation this administration has been having about how to improve police/community relations. She's going to be meeting - she may be meeting right now with the police commissioner and other police department officials to talk about that.

This is something that we've heard the president focus on, yesterday included, and also something that we know that Attorney General Lynch was going to be focused on even before the death of Freddie Gray and the events of last week. So today we know the Department of Justice has opened their investigation into whether Gray's civil rights were violated. We don't expect today to hear any answers coming out of that investigation. This is really about continuing to listen to the community, hear from the community and talk about ways to move forward, improving police/community relations and combatting the distrust that exists.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Things clearly have called down in Baltimore. The curfew has been lifted. Maryland National Guard troops, they're packing up, they're leaving Baltimore right now. But the situation still remains tense as we saw yesterday afternoon during an incident there. Tell us about that.

JONES: That's right, Wolf. Well, the incident didn't last very long, but there was a lot of confusion on the streets, I'll put it that way, at one of the key intersections that was central in the unrest a little over a week ago. There was an incident where police were trying to arrest a young man for a - or a man for a gun violation. The gun fell and went off. And there were a lot of people on the street who believe that they had seen that man be shot in the back by police. In the end, the police said no one was shot. The young man was not at all injured and was transported in an ambulance just as a precaution.

But the problem on the street was that a lot of the folks were telling us, we don't believe the police. We don't believe anything they have to say. We live in this community. You guys shouldn't believe them.

So even though, yes, it has called down quite a bit. There's a lot more activity everywhere you look. Cars on the street, we're not seeing - we haven't seen today any National Guard troops because so many of them pulled out yesterday and are continuing to pull out. But the bottom line is, there's still going to be, there still is that distrust between many members of the minority community here and the police department. And that's the kind of thing that the administration, along with Loretta Lynch and with President Obama, they're trying to find ways to combat that with various recommendations, including from the president's 21st century task force on policing. So this is why there's going to be an ongoing conversation and ongoing work to be done here, Wolf. BLITZER: And as you know, Athena, the Justice Department, the U.S. Federal Justice Department, conducting its own investigation into the death of Freddie Gray. What's the focus of the federal investigation? Is it a civil rights investigation? What do we know about this?

[13:25:02] JONES: Well, that's really the question, is whether Freddie Gray's civil rights were violated in that arrest. But, of course, the state's attorney said he shouldn't have been arrested in the first place. But this is something that's going to take some time. I understand - we understand from our - my colleague Evan Perez, what their - what - how far they've come so far. They're going to be reviewing the investigation that's being - still going on with the state's attorney, they're going to be reviewing the police investigation that is also, we understand, still going on.

We also believe the FBI has had a lot of access to some of the interviews with witnesses that those other two investigations were conducted. So there's going to be a lot of reviewing going on. It's going to take some time.

We know that these cases, when it comes to civil rights violations, have a high bar. So it's very hard to tell how it's going to turn out in the end. But we know that it's not going to be an answer we get very, very soon. Still, Attorney General Lynch is assuring the folks here that they are conducting that investigation and are going to keep people up to date.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Athena, thanks very much. Athena Jones reporting from Baltimore.

Just ahead, a student from New York University, NYU, is being held prisoner in North Korea right now. During an exclusive interview with our own Will Ripley in Pyongyang, the student reveals the surprising reason behind why he ended up in North Korea. Stand by for a CNN exclusive.

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