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Terror Suspect Shot Dead in Boston; Poll: Obama Job Approval Takes a Dive; Desperate Search for Capsized Ship Survivors; Victim's Blood Found on D.C. Murder Suspect's Shoe. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 3, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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


ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It all began around 7:00 in the morning when the FBI and Boston police descended on this CVS, aiming to question the suspect, 26-year-old Usaama Rahim.

[07:00:04] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we have a gentleman, black male, 6 feet, coming out now with a knife.

FIELD: Rahim had been under 24-hour surveillance by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, radicalized according to one official, by ISIS and other extremist influences.

The FBI says Rahim made threats against police on social media.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, there's shots fired, unit shots fired.

FIELD: When officers approached him, Rahim lunged at them with this this knife, authorities say, before a federal agent and Boston Police officer fired, hitting him in the torso and abdomen.

WILLIAM EVANS, BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: The officers, again, gave several commands for him to drop the weapon. And unfortunately, he came at the officers and, you know, they did what they were trained to do. And unfortunately, they had to take a life, and that's never an easy decision for an officer to do.

FIELD: Rahim's brother, an imam at a mosque in California, paints a different picture, saying on social media that his younger brother was on his cell phone with their father, waiting for the bus when he was confronted by police and shot in the back three times. He says his brother's last words were, "I can't breathe."

The shooting is now under investigation, and Boston Police say they have a video documenting the entire event.

DANIEL CONLEY, SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We saw the video. It appears that the law enforcement officers were backing away before they exercised deadly force.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: There is, of course, a lot of interest in seeing what exactly those surveillance cameras captured. That video is not being made public by the district attorney's office at this point, which is normal during an investigation of this scale and this scope. But the Boston Police commissioner has actually reached out to black

and Muslim community leaders. He has invited them to watch this video privately. The police department and the district attorney's office both saying that this is an effort to maintain transparency and accountability -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That is such an interesting move, Alexandra. Thanks so much for that report.

Let's bring in now Juliette Kayyem. She's a CNN national security analyst, and she was undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security. She joins us live from Boston.

Juliette, nice to see you.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Nice to see you.

CAMEROTA: So this suspect was under 24-hour surveillance. And we know just -- that's a huge amount of resources being poured into one person.

KAYYEM: Yes.

CAMEROTA: What does that tell you?

KAYYEM: So the facts that we know right now, so just the facts rather than the motivation, is 24-7 surveillance is rare for a Joint Terrorism Task Force. There's hundreds of surveillance going on, hundreds of investigations. To put those kinds of resources is rare. So you knew that they had more.

The second fact that we know is they -- both the FBI and the Boston Police Department approached him during the day in an open area. That is rare. In most instances, when you have time, you like to approach someone either at their office or at their home in a confined space where they are not feeling hostile. So to approach them in a parking lot, it probably means that they were in a hurry, that something was happening.

And the third piece of facts that I just want to relate is it is also very rare for the FBI and the Boston Police Department or any local police department to do an approach together. In other words, they're sharing information all the time, but to do the -- essentially a patrol together is also rare.

So those three pieces make someone like me, who served on the JTTF here, think there was something very serious and specific, maybe not imminent, but serious enough to make all this sort of unfold as it did yesterday.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about this suspect's brother for a moment. Because he was a well-known figure in Boston. His name is Ibrahim Rahim. He was popular. He was a popular part of Boston's Muslim community, former spiritual leader at a couple of different mosques. He was seen as a moderate. He has spoken out against Islamist terrorism. What more do we know about him? KAYYEM: So that is true. And the Muslim community here is very

helpful to law enforcement. There's actually a number of sort of procedures and policies in place to sort of continue conversation amongst religious groups and with law enforcement. So this is actually a very good state in that regard and a good city in that regard.

But look, I mean, people don't know often what their children do, what their brothers are doing. So I don't take his sort of statements about the facts of what unfolded -- not as fact. He -- he is sort of telling a story that he needs to tell.

I think that the showing of the video this morning is very important to sort of let everyone have the same facts about what happened. And then we can determine, well, was he actually radicalized? Was this an issue of ISIS?

CAMEROTA: But isn't that so interesting and unusual, Juliette, that the police are taking that step of calling in the leaders from the Muslim community and showing them this surveillance video. They didn't have to do it.

[07:05:07] That tells us that somehow they believe that that will quell questions and whatever sort of unrest there might be about a police shooting of someone who they say was armed, but who his brother says doesn't believe that.

KAYYEM: That's exactly right. I mean, Commissioner Evans, the Boston Police commissioner, is very sort of forward thinking about this. He's engaged a number of different immigrant and diverse communities. And I think this is a brilliant move, because what you don't want is people fighting over the facts.

If -- there are two issues here. One is, was this a legitimate kill, so to speak? The other is, who was the brother and was he radicalized?

And if we can just sort of all agree on the facts, then there can be an investigation to determine what -- who actually he was and whether this was a terrorism incident, whether it was a legitimate investigation.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

KAYYEM: So I think it's a great idea and hopefully will curb some of the, you know, sort of unease that people are feeling today.

CAMEROTA: And of course, there's been a suggestion that he was radicalized by ISIS. We don't know many of the facts yet. The police haven't released the details of what makes them think that there's that link.

But let's talk about the big news out of Capitol Hill this week that's connected to this. And that's the NSA and the new Freedom Act. How do you, as a law enforcement-minded person, see what the changes that this act will bring? KAYYEM: I'm actually pretty pleased with these changes. Because I

think that the sort of bulk surveillance aspects had to have greater oversight. That, just given what unfolded and the fact that there was no oversight over, really, a powerful tool, meant that the White House had to compromise and that the Senate had to compromise. So I have been happy with, ironically, what the House, not known for its compromise often, came up with.

The other provisions are just noncontroversial, and so they just needed to expand, including the most obvious one, is just you want to -- if you have an investigation, you want to follow the terrorists. You don't really care what phone number they're using.

So a lot of these are important continuations of tools that are necessary. So not a great way to run national security, but I guess it's the only way we know how in a democracy. So people will advance forward now.

CAMEROTA: OK, there you go. Juliette Kayyem, thanks so much.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Alisyn. President Obama's performance ratings are taking a big downward turn. Just three months ago, a growing number of Americans felt the country was moving in the right direction. Now a new CNN poll suggests people are growing more and more pessimistic.

So let's go to senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta to break down the numbers and the why of it all -- Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They can't be happy about these numbers over here at the White House, Chris. President Obama's approval numbers have taken a hit, according to our latest CNN/ORC poll. After the poll numbers were approaching that coveted 50 percent range earlier this year, public satisfaction is sliding once again here.

Take a look at this number right here. How is the president handling his job? Forty-five percent approve; 52 percent disapprove. Those numbers match almost how Americans feel about the most important issue they say that is facing the country right now, the economy.

But the big drag on the president's approval numbers are on ISIS and government surveillance. Roughly two-thirds of Americans don't approve of the way he's handling those issues. Take a look at this, how the president is handling ISI. Approve, only 32 percent; disapprove, 63 percent. And then it's even worse on how the president is handling government surveillance, that issue that was just wrapped up in the Congress and signed by the president. Approve, 29 percent; disapprove, 67 percent. Those are abysmal numbers.

But the most surprising number of the morning, guys, deals with how the public views President Obama's predecessor, President George W. Bush. Here it is: opinion of George W. Bush, favorable, 52 percent; unfavorable, 43 percent. That is his highest approval number since 2005 and perhaps can offer some reassurance to his brother, Jeb, that the Bush name is on the mend.

But getting back to the president's approval numbers, Alisyn, he had been getting close to 50 percent. Now he's at 45 percent. That 5 percent is just the toughest number in politics for this president right now.

CAMEROTA: Yes, sure is. We'll analyze that with some of our politicos, coming up on the show. Thanks, Jim.

Well, day two of a desperate search in the Yangtze River for survivors from that cruise ship that capsized Tuesday in China. Rescuers finding another survivor, but more than 420 people still unaccounted for.

CNN's David McKenzie is live in China for us this morning.

Good morning, David.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, they are doing this frantic search here on the River Yangtze, trying to get into that hull. They're now breaking it open with welders and others to try and reach anyone who might be in air pockets.

But as the hours stretch by and the days stretch by now, the hope is lessening.

I'm right here at a spot where family members will be streaming in in the coming hours. We've spoken to them. They're on buses from cities across China. One man, Mr. Foo (ph), said his mother and father, who are retirees, were on this pleasure cruise. He just hopes against hope that maybe they are still alive.

[07:10:19] They're now bringing three vessels into the region, huge vessels, to lift up the bow of that boat to reach inside and perhaps start, frankly, the salvage operation at this point.

Some of the family members are angry, saying they need more support. But right now, China is reeling from this tragedy, several hundred still missing -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, David, thank you very much. Please keep us up to date on all the numbers as they go forward.

The U.K.'s Alton Towers theme park will stay closed today. Why? Well, investigators are still looking into Tuesday's terrifying roller coaster collision that left four people seriously injured. An unnamed source telling "The Daily Mail" one of the victims lost a leg. A total of 16 riders stranded, 20 feet off the ground for hours. Why? Well, their car hit an empty car.

The Smiler -- that's the name of the ride -- has a history of problems and reportedly broke down earlier in the day. The investigation continues. CAMEROTA: Wait until you see this video, Chris. A man skiing in the

French Alps plummets into a deep, snowy crevasse. The horrifying ordeal captured the ordeal on his helmet camera. This skier says he thought he was going to die, as you can imagine, as he screamed for help for more than a half an hour. But incredibly, crews did hear his calls, and they came to his rescue, pulling him out of the 20-foot hole.

Yes, that's scary.

CUOMO: Mouth hangs open.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: Heard him there or did he have -- was he one of those, you know, off-pieced, back-country guys who had the communications?

CAMEROTA: I'm afraid I don't have that detail for you, but I will research it and get back to you in the next hour.

CUOMO: Do you do that kind of stuff?

CAMEROTA: Off -- off-trail skiing?

CUOMO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: No, I don't. I'm really best in the lodge.

CUOMO: Falling in holes, though?

CAMEROTA: Yes, well, sure. I fall down, but I'm really at my -- if you saw me in the lodge...

CUOMO: Your lodge game is strong?

CAMEROTA: ... I would look great in the gear. Yes.

CUOMO: Look good in the outfit?

CAMEROTA: Barstool skiing, yes, is my specialty.

CUOMO: I respect that.

New forensic evidence may be the strongest link yet connecting this man to the so-called D.C. mansion murders. What is that evidence? Why is it so impressive? What does it mean for the case? All answers, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:16:17] CUOMO: What can only be called a major break in the quadruple murder of a prominent Washington, D.C., family and their housekeeper, investigators say they have new blood evidence linking suspect Daron Wint to one of the victims.

Let's bring in CNN law enforcement analyst, former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes.

Tom, on the face of it, how damning, how strong will this evidence be if it stands up?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think, Chris, on the face of it, it will be very strong. And I think the reason is that a good defense attorney in court can maybe argue that the evidence of saliva on a pizza crust by a potential defendant -- you know, might convince a jury that -- you know, how certain can we be of that. And maybe it's not that good of a science.

But blood analysis has gone on for decades, and I think it's going to be more understandable, more acceptable, and probably something that a jury will have an easier time to -- to look at as greater degree of evidence.

CUOMO: At this point, does your gut tell you that there's any chance that this suspect was not at least present?

FUENTES: I think, you know, from the evidence that we've heard about it, it sure indicates that he was present. And particularly the blood. You know, there'd be really no other way to get blood on his shoes unless he was in the house where the blood was on the floor, where it was, you know, from the victims.

CUOMO: Tell us what types of things are going on that we don't know about. Because we do know authorities believe that Wint was involved but very well may not have been alone. So how do you triangulate who else was there?

FUENTES: Well, they'd still be looking at all of the forensic evidence at that home and try and -- try and look for DNA samples, whether it be hair, skin particles, other material that doesn't match up to any of the victims or to Wint. Look for other people that may have been in that home. And then try to identify anybody else who's been at that home, maybe a guest or maybe the son had sleepovers and friends came to stay; other people that had a legitimate reason to be at the home. The other housekeeper that didn't come to work that day, individuals like that. So that would continue.

The problem is that the clothing and blood on shoes and that type of thing from other suspects could be long gone. You know, Wint was taken into custody fairly quickly after the event, but the others who may have been involved at this point could have been smart enough to have disposed of all of the clothing or shoes, if they were present at the crime scene.

CUOMO: But the best thing, obviously, authorities have going for them is they have Wint. And if they want to find other guys, I guess their best tactic is to squeeze him and see who else he brings in, in order to save himself if, in fact, there was anybody else.

One of the things that's shocking to people in this situation, Tom, is if this was just for money, how did it get to be so brutal?

FUENTES: That's true, Chris. And the indication of that is that whoever did this enjoyed the violence, this this is more, you know, psychopathic behavior as opposed to just -- $40,000 doesn't go very far. Especially if it's being divided among a number of other co- conspirators.

So I think that, you know, the indications and the psychologists that I've talked to believe that the degree of savagery in this case indicates that there was more to it on the part of the person taking their lives and torturing the young boy, more than just money.

CUOMO: More than just money. Maybe money was the fuel, but in terms of what they did in that house, they were motivated by something darker, as well.

[07:20:07] It does kind of remind, unfortunately, of the Petit case in Connecticut, where that family was all lost except for the father, obviously. And he had to live with that.

What happens going forward here in terms of other potential charges?

FUENTES: Well, I think that, again, it's a focus on who else was involved in this? The person that brought the money to the house, you know, is another key aspect of this.

So I think in time, we should be able to find out how many people were involved in the greater conspiracy, involving the money, involving the delivery of the money, involving what occurred in that home, what the coordination of it was.

But I think at some point we'll hear a lot more about that. This is just the type of investigation that's very difficult, has to be conducted in a very meticulous, orderly manner.

CUOMO: And the more you learn about it, the more you realize it JUST didn't have to happen.

FUENTES: Correct.

CUOMO: Tom Fuentes, thank you very much. We'll come to you with the next development -- Alisyn.

FUENTES: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. President Obama's favorability down this morning, according to a brand-new CNN/ORC poll. John King reveals those numbers, coming up on "Inside Politics."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:09] CAMEROTA: Police in Boston shot and killed a suspect for allegedly charging at them with a knife. They say the suspect was radicalized by ISIS and was part of a broader terror investigation. His name, Usaama Rahim. He's been under surveillance for years, they say, and was making social media threats against police. Another man, identified as David Wright, also taken into custody just outside Boston. CUOMO: The chances of finding more survivors on a cruise ship that

capsized in China are unfortunately growing slim. More than 429 people on board the Eastern Star remain unaccounted for. Most of them are elderly victims at this point. The ship capsized in the Yangtze River late Monday during a severe storm. The captain and chief engineer claimed they were hit by a tornado. Initially, they were both taken into police custody.

CAMEROTA: Federal authorities investigating a series of telephoned bomb threats against flights originating or landing in the U.S. on Tuesday. At least four commercial flights involving different airlines were targeted. All of the planes landed safely at their destinations. Officials later said none of those threats was credible.

CUOMO: President Obama will deliver the eulogy for the vice president's son, Beau Biden. A funeral mass is scheduled for Saturday in Delaware. Meantime, the public can pay respects in a pair of services Thursday and Friday.

Now, the former attorney general of Delaware, as you know, died last Saturday. He was only 46 years old when a battle with brain cancer got the best of him.

Let's turn to Inside Politics now on NEW DAY with John King.

John, you've got poll numbers. You've got people getting in the race, Donald Trump saying he has a big announcement. I mean, what else could you ask for?

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Donald Trump's big announcement, OK. Yes. We won't start with the circus here, though, this morning.

Chris, good morning to you. There is a lot going on, so let's go "Inside Politics." With me this morning to share their reporting and their insights, Jackie Kucinich of "The Daily Beast," Olivier Knox of Yahoo!

Let's start with the new poll numbers. The country is in a bit of a funk. It's not sure exactly where to go. Let's look at how are things going in the country today?

Now, the recovery is supposedly taking steam, but people seem concerned about ISI and other things. Look at this: only 47 percent say things in the country are going well. In March it was 53, November 51. So you can see there's been a downturn in recent months, all of a sudden. I think a lot of that's ISIS. A lot of that might be the presidential campaign beginning and a big political debate that gets everybody polarized again.

And related to that, how's the president handling his job? Forty-five percent approve, 52 disapprove. Now if you go back to February, that's about consistent. In between February and now, the president had actually gone up to 48-47. What do we make of this sort of -- it's not horrible, but it's not good? JACKIE KUCINICH, "THE DAILY BEAST": People just aren't feeling the

recovery. And we've talked about this before. If it's not coming down to you, if it's not mattering with your books and how your kids are doing, it's not -- you're not going to think the president is doing a great job. So until people feel this recovery, you're going to see these sort of meh poll numbers.

KING: And we usually say the economy is what the president rises or falls in the polls, with the economy. But there are other things going on. Right? People are turned sour about the fight against ISIS. And the president is also a pinata on a daily basis, because you have, you know, eight, 10, maybe 15 Republicans running for president.

OLIVIER KNOX, YAHOO! NEWS: That's right. And there's been a big drop in the approval of the president's handling of the Islamic State, the campaign against Islamic State. And that coincides with a couple things. One is that a lot of Americans are still not clear on what the strategy is.

And they're hearing some -- I mean, I don't want to call it happy talk, but sort of upbeat, you know, we're making progress; we're degrading ISIL at the same time as they're seeing headlines that say Ramadi, this big city in Iraq, has fallen to the Islamic State. So there's a disconnect there between the government's position, public position on the Islamic State and the headlines. And that's never good for the president.

KING: No. It will be interesting to watch how people feel about the direction of the country and how they feel about their presidency as he closes out the last year and a half. He's also a big issue in the campaign that begins.

I want to turn now to two former presidents. Now, former presidents always in the polls, always look better in the rearview mirror. If you leave office, your poll numbers start to go up. But I want to look at a couple that are significant.

Here's George W. Bush for the first time in a decade, the first time in a decade. I want to repeat that. George W. Bush is above water. Fifty-two percent of Americans now have a favorable opinion of George W. Bush, 43 percent unfavorable.

Again, I think the big headline is the more removed from office you are, the more people tend to like you. But he is a bit of an issue in this campaign, because his brother is running. I'm not sure that helps Jeb, but maybe hurts him a little less?

KUCINICH: Maybe hurts him a little less. But there's still -- I mean, you saw some polls earlier this week that showed that Jeb Bush's name is still a problem.

But I think one of the interesting things is when you look at how George Bush was doing at this time in his presidency, it was around 32 percent. So if you look at that, Obama is actually ahead of the game.

KING: Obama is in terms of late during their presidency. You're right. Bill Clinton was about the same number, as well.

KNOX: Yes. And you're seeing, obviously, these two legacy candidates. You have Jeb Bush and you have Hillary Clinton. And to some degree, I think, it's going to affect how people decide to cast their ballots. I hear a lot from voters who say, just categorically, "I don't want another Clinton. I don't want another Bush." And that's -- it's going to be interesting to see how those candidates navigate that problem.

KING: And so let's bring Bill Clinton into the equation.

[07:30:00] A lot of headlines lately about the Clinton Foundation. So you ask, will that be baggage that hurts Hillary Clinton? At the moment, the Clinton campaign, the Democrats would have to feel pretty good about that.