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Funeral Services Today for Massacre's Victims; Gun Shop Owner Claims Alerting the FBI; SWAT Commander Details Club Rescue Mission; Blame Game on Capitol Hill Over Gun Control; Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 17, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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


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CAMEROTA: All right. That does it for NEW DAY. "NEWSROOM" begins right now.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Pamela Brown. Just a few blocks from the Pulse nightclub.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, where 23 victims are still recovering inside.

BROWN: Here in the city wrapped with pain and reeling from so much tragedy this past week, another heart wrenching day unfolds. Funeral services are scheduled for at least nine of the people killed in Sunday's massacre at a gay nightclub. Right now Orlando's mayor is about to hold a news conference, of course, we'll bring that to you once it is underway.

Well, today brings new questions. Did the feds miss warning signs of the terrorist's deadly intentions? A gun shop owner who says he alerted the FBI weeks earlier when the gunman tried to buy body armor and a thousand rounds of ammunition. He would later go to a different gun shop and buy the weapons that killed 49 people.

WHITFIELD: Pamela, all of this following a visit by the president and vice president. Mr. Obama telling the families of those killed, quote, "Our hearts are broken, too."

CNN's Boris Sanchez is here with a closer look. This is heartbreaking for so many, Boris. BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's hard to imagine what these

families are going through, Fred. We know that today there are supposed to be five funerals, the first of 49, as you can expect, of those killed in early Sunday morning's attack.

We're also expecting a series of vigils later today in Orlando, at least three that we know of. This, on the heels of President Obama's visit, a very emotional visit, the White House called it, where he met not only with the families of victims, but also survivors, and doctors, nurses, medical workers that attended to the wounded, and law enforcement. We heard that he thanked law enforcement for their brave efforts in responding to the attack.

Aside from that the president went to a vigil himself and he laid down a bouquet with 49 roses, obviously, in memoriam of those 49 that were killed, and he also talked about shortly after laying down the bouquet what the parents and what the families of the victims told him. Here's some of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So today, once again, as has been true too many times before, I held and hugged grieving family members and parents, and they asked why does this keep happening. And they pleaded that we do more to stop the carnage. They don't care about the politics. Neither do I.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The president also later adding that sadly, he can't make any promises when he tells these families that he is going to make an effort to try to enact some change because you heard him mention, he's made this trip, you know, many times before. Ten separate cities that he's visited that have been scarred by these mass shootings -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: But he did renew his commitment to prolonged comfort, especially to the LGBT community.

Thanks so much, Boris Sanchez. Appreciate that. Pamela.

BROWN: Fredricka, now let's turn to this investigation and haunting claims by a gun shop owner. He says he alerted the FBI to the gunman weeks before the massacre.

I want to bring in CNN's Jessica Schneider, who is here with the very latest on this investigation. Very disturbing here.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very disturbing, Pamela. You know, Robert Abell is the owner of Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach, Florida. It's about two hours south of here. Robert Abell says that a man came into his shop looking for body armor, armored vests, and 1,000 rounds of ammunition. It wasn't until after that Pulse nightclub shooting that Abell says he realized it was Omar Mateen who was looking to make that purchase.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROBBIE ABELL, CO-OWNER OF LOTUS GUNWORKS: When he was on his cell phone, he had a conversation in a foreign language that was more concerning. Then he came back and he was requesting ammo. So he wanted bulk ammo only. So at that time, he declined any business, and he left the store. We had no link, no contact, we had -- didn't know who he was. But we did contact authorities and let them know, we just had a suspicious person that was in here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Now Abell says he contacted the FBI, but with no I.D. on the suspect, no surveillance, no purchase records, the FBI just couldn't continue the investigation. Now in the meantime, we're learning that Mateen and his wife corresponded numerous times during that standoff inside the nightclub. In fact, around 4:00 a.m., when Mateen was barricaded in that bathroom in the standoff with police, he texted his wife, have you seen the news? She responded that she loved him.

We also understand she made several calls to him, but he just didn't pick up. And also, a disturbing profile of this gunman is beginning to emerge. We understand from disciplinary records from school, he was suspended for 48 days in high school. He was also disciplined 31 different times in elementary school. A third grade teacher wrote that he had been violent. Classmates say he threatened to bring a gun to school and even after September 11th, Pamela, he claimed that Osama bin Laden was his uncle. So some very disturbing things emerging from the school disciplinary report.

BROWN: And we know in 2013 when the FBI opened up an investigation, he was claiming to his colleagues that he had family who's related to al Qaeda members.

Back to the claim by this gun shop that the FBI was called, so essentially the FBI didn't have an I.D. on the gunman. They just said someone came in who was acting suspicious and there were no other investigative clues for the FBI?

SCHNEIDER: Exactly. It was simply a matter of this man came in. Robert Abell says he requested the body armor, he requested the ammunition, 1,000 rounds but because it hadn't gone any further than that, and because they had to turn him away, they had no records of him. They said that the surveillance video had been run over. It had been taped over. And that they just didn't have any I.D. to then give the FBI to further any investigation.

BROWN: Wow, all right, Jessica Schneider, thank you very much for that. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jessica, Pamela, thank you so much.

So hiding from a killer with no way to escape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, OK. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Terrifying video showing the inside of a bathroom stall at the Pulse nightclub where more than a dozen people hid from a killer. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to those terrified men and women, an Orlando SWAT team was planning their rescue. Listen to SWAT Commander Mark Canty describe that harrowing mission to Brooke Baldwin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. MARK CANTY, ORLANDO SWAT COMMANDER: Our main goal is to try to save lives. When we start talking about the bomb vest, kind of the average -- the normal inclination of people is once you hear someone has a bomb, you want to back up. Our normal protocol is to back up 1,000 feet. The officers knew they had to stay there, even though they were in jeopardy, because there was a chance that we could get some of those people outside. So we started thinking about -- we have a good relationship with the sheriff's office here, they have a bomb disposal unit. It has the capability of creating charges for a hole through a wall. So I asked him we start prepping for a charge.

We knew the suspect was in the north bathroom. We knew there were some additional hostages from some of the text messages and phone calls that were given.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: In an adjacent bathroom.

CANTY: Right. So it was the bathroom just south of him. We knew there were probably 10 to 15 people in that bathroom, alive, so the decision was made, try to get them out as quickly as possible. We got approval from the chief, to go ahead and initiate our plan. Let the charge go off. The charge detonates. It is only partially effective. So long it kind of -- it kind of breaches the wall or partially breaches the wall.

BALDWIN: So you couldn't fully get in.

CANTY: We couldn't get inside at all. So we have a bearcat, armored vehicle, which has a ram on the front of it, and I immediately told the guys, go ahead and --

BALDWIN: Ram it in.

CANTY: So they made an initial hole and they realized they were off mark and that kind of put them in the hallway between two bathrooms. So the commander on the scene which is one of my lieutenants, they immediately had to start to move. And they made a couple of other breaches, where they were finally able to get the hole into the bathroom and --

BALDWIN: Were people screaming at that time?

(CROSSTALK)

CANTY: They were quiet initially, and I think as, you know, we breached the hole, we were calling to them, hey, come to us, so they were taking our command, they're trying to get out.

BALDWIN: What was the gunman doing? Obviously he's hearing this noise.

CANTY: Right. At first he is not doing anything. As he starts to realize what is going on, I think he fired a couple of shots.

BALDWIN: Within the bathroom.

CANTY: Either within the bathroom or outside the bathroom. I'm not sure of yet. We threw a couple of distraction devices in the hallway just to kind of distract him so we could finish getting all the hostages out.

BALDWIN: Gas?

CANTY: No gas, because we had people in there. Then as we breached another wall -- another part of the wall, he came out and engage our officers.

BALDWIN: On his own volition.

CANTY: On his own volition.

BALDWIN: So he is -- where is he exactly? I mean, is it a small tight space where he is outside of the bathroom?

CANTY: He comes out into the hallway.

BALDWIN: How far is he from your officers? Feet?

CANTY: I would say probably within 10 to 15 feet.

BALDWIN: And then what?

CANTY: And then he engaged. He fires, they fire. It's kind of --

BALDWIN: That's where he was taken down.

CANTY: Right.

BALDWIN: In the hallway.

CANTY: Yes.

BALDWIN: You were one of the few people who I've talked to who was actually been in there. Was the music blaring? Were the lights on?

CANTY: The lights were not on. I don't remember any music at that time, when I got there.

[09:10:03] I don't hear any music. I think a lot of it is we're focused on our task. We kind of -- some things that aren't important, you kind of block out. You kind of focus on what is important.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: So for more on the investigation, I'm here with CNN law enforcement analyst and former assistant director for the U.S. Marshal's Office, Art Roderick.

So, Art, you just heard Captain Canty describe the rescue mission. After the fire fight, the SWAT team moved in. What is your take on what unfolded?

ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, when you hear this interview, and you also hear Anderson Cooper's interview with Chief Mina, this is really a true story of heroism on the part of the first responders. Initially, you have an active shooter situation. He was right there at the front door with the police officer who engaged him. They moved into the room. The officer knew he was outgunned, you've got an AR-15 assault rifle up against a handgun, so he immediately called for back-up.

When back-up showed up, I think it was only a few minutes later they immediately responded into the room to engage according to active shooter protocols. Once the individual left that area, went into the bathroom, and said he had hostages, then you've got a hostage situation going on. A barricade hostage situation, which changes the whole background of what you're going to do. When the SWAT team showed up, you know, the -- one of the things that you did here throughout the interviews is law enforcement was constantly coming and going and moving people out of the main room, and then trying to handle the barricade hostage situation according to the protocols done by just about every SWAT team around the country.

BROWN: Let's talk about that because we know he was in the bathroom with these hostages for several hours, and during that time, he is claiming that he is going to strap explosive vests on some of the hostages. He's claiming there are accomplices in the nightclub. How does that change the calculus for the SWAT team?

RODERICK: That changes everything because you have to take for face value what the individual is telling you is going on. Now if there is more accomplices, and especially if there's explosives out there then there is a real danger. You've got to have somebody come in and try to negotiate with this individual. And the SWAT team's main concern is the safety of those hostages. And it came to the point where after a couple of hours, three hours, they made the decision to go in, and I think it was at the right point in time.

When you listen to Commander Canty's interview, he said when they got there, there was no shooting going on. So you really did have a hostage barricade situation.

BROWN: You know, it's so easy to Monday morning quarterback.

RODERICK: Right.

BALDWIN: But at the same time, while there was no gunfire taking place, there were still people injured in the bathroom. And so some question, you know, should they have gone in sooner. What do you have to say to that? RODERICK: Yes. I mean, that's a decision you've got to make on the

ground. Listen, I've been in law enforcement for 40 years, I spent 10 years on the U.S. Marshal's special operations group team, as much training and as much operation, I've been involved in. Nothing can prepare you for something like this.

BALDWIN: Yes. The worst mass shooting in American history.

RODERICK: Absolutely.

BROWN: No doubt these first responders are heroes.

Art Roderick, thank you so much.

RODERICK: Thanks, pam.

BALDWIN: Fred, over to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, Pamela, thank you so much.

OK, well, right now, the Orlando mayor, Buddy Dyer, is now about to speak. Let's listen in.

MAYOR BUDDY DYER, ORLANDO: The FBI's Office of Victim Assistance and the American Red Cross have assembled 35 different agencies on-site to assess these victims and their families. Services at the family assistance center range from grief counseling to financial assistance to obtaining visas to something that wouldn't have occurred to anybody. Recovering the deceased's cars and transferring title. We can't thank these organizations enough for their tireless efforts in these situations, and I want to personally thank them right now.

(APPLAUSE)

DYER: Over the past two days since we've opened the center, 94 families, 94 families and 256 individuals have visited us for assistance. Some of the people come here, thinking they need only one or two resources. But once they see the variety, they leave with so much more. Just a few of the examples. Over 200 free airline tickets have been provided to grieving families to reunite them with their loved ones. So far 85 compensation claims have been filed for victims who receive help from medical or funeral expenses including claims from all 49 families of the deceased.

We have 65 translators on-site speaking multiple languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French. One family came here not knowing what they would be able to find. They came for one simple thing. To find out about burial. And they were able to get support from 27 different agencies.

[09:15:07] Amy Decker, with the Red Cross, is going to talk about that a little bit. Amy.

AMY DECKER, RED CROSS: Thank you all for being here. We're honored as the Red Cross to be a part of this city and all the organizations that are represented have responded to many disasters and to see the incredible coordination of over 50 agencies to come together is such a blessing to the victims and their families.

And the mayor has asked me to just talk about one family that with one request, and through the coordinated efforts of everyone here, through the city of Orlando, 27 different agencies identified needs of this family. And by the time they left yesterday, there wasn't one single thing that the 16 family members didn't receive. And I just wanted to let everyone know that, that what is happening here --

WHITFIELD: This is a city exemplifying it is tighter and stronger out of tragedy. You just heard from the Orlando mayor, Buddy Dyer, who said that people have come together not just from the city but really across the country. Airline tickets have been donated to get loved ones of those who have been killed or injured, to get them here to Orlando as well as assistance in other measures. Translators have also descended on this city.

We are continuing to monitor the developments here and listen in on the mayor. We're going to take a short break and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:21:02] BROWN: Welcome back. I'm Pamela Brown live in Orlando. And right now we want to turn to Capitol Hill because the politics of gun control are taking center stage in the aftermath of the Orlando terror attack.

This Monday the Senate is poised to hold a series of votes on four new gun control bills. And that vote comes as one of the chamber's most high-profile members, John McCain, sparked swift criticism from Democrats after saying President Obama is to blame for the shooting at the Pulse nightclub.

Senior political reporter, Manu Raju, is in Washington. Manu, good morning.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Pam.

There has been a lot of posturing in the Senate this week on both sides of the aisle, but it's very unlikely to change the dynamics on Capitol Hill. Earlier this week, a top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, of California, and Republican leader John Cornyn of Texas were discussing whether there is any possibility to cut a deal over preventing terror suspects from acquiring guns. Those talks have collapsed. And after a 15-hour filibuster launched by Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, this much still remains clear. The votes are just not there for new gun control measures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's almost like they gave up on ISIS.

RAJU (voice-over): Donald Trump, taking on President Obama. Joining fellow Republicans in framing the Orlando shooting as an issue of terrorism, rather than guns.

TRUMP: To a large extent, he is blaming guns. And --

(CROWD BOOS)

TRUMP: And I'm going to save your Second Amendment, folks.

RAJU: Top Republican, John McCain, striking a similar tone. Laying blame for the massacre squarely at the president's feet.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Barack Obama is directly responsible for it. Because when he pulled everybody out of Iraq, al Qaeda went to Syria, became ISIS, and ISIS is what it is today. Thanks to Barack Obama's failures.

RAJU: The 2008 Republican nominee clarifying within minutes that he, quote, "misspoke," saying in a statement, "I did not mean to imply that the president was personally responsible. I was referring to President Obama's national security decisions, not the president himself."

Democrats quick to pounce. With Senate minority leader, Harry Reid's spokesman telling CNN, "Senator McCain's unhinged comments are just the latest proof that Senate Republicans are puppets of Donald Trump."

This blame game happening as the gun debate continues to rage on Capitol Hill.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Is going after the Second Amendment how you stop terrorism? No, that's not how you stop terrorism.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: The Republicans are going to have to explain to the American people why they are just plain handmaidens of the National Rifle Association.

RAJU: Both sides of the aisle presenting competing legislations, aimed at keeping suspected terrorists from acquiring guns. With Democrats calling for an outright ban of sales to those on a terror watch list, something Republicans say could unfairly target innocent Americans.

And Republicans proposing to delay gun sales for three days to allow the FBI to investigate. An idea many Democrats call meaningless.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: It's a fake. It's way for them to say they're doing something when they're doing nothing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: Now as we expect the four gun bills to fail in the Senate on Monday evening, watch for this fight to become a wedge issue in Senate races across the country. And look for it also to become an issue in the Florida Senate race if Marco Rubio ultimately decides to jump into the race and run for reelection. He voted against the Democratic bill to prevent terror suspects from getting guns, and I'm told that Democrats are planning to use that vote aggressively against him if he decides to run in the state, of course that housed that deadly massacre that we saw in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

And it's just a sign, Pam, that this fight is quickly getting mired in election year politics.

BROWN: Yes, far from over. Manu Raju, thank you so much for bringing us the very latest there. Fred.

[09:25:03] WHITFIELD: Pamela, here to discuss now, Jason Johnson, politics editor for TheRoot.com, political science professor and Sirius XM contributor, and John Avlon, editor-in-chief for "The Daily Beast." He's is also a CNN political analyst.

Good to see both of you. All right, so, John, you first. John McCain is now saying he misspoke. When you look at the, you know, transcription, and he said Barack Obama is directly responsible. So McCain is saying it's the president's Middle East policy decisions and failures that are to blame, not the president himself. So will this ongoing battle, this blame game, block any potential action particularly Monday on those four bills?

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't know that Donald -- that John McCain's comments are going to have an impact on the bill. It was a dumb thing to say. And, you know, obviously the president has -- any attempt to politicize a mass shooting is dumb, tactless and tasteless. And John McCain has been one of the more decent Republicans in the Senate for a long time. But the tone and tenor of the times are leading people to escalate their rhetoric instinctively. It's the Donald Trump effect.

And when a guy like John McCain has a challenger from the right in a primary, it can lead him to say things that are off center. That's not to excuse, it is to explain. Any implication that any person is personally responsible for this attack other than the shooter is insane and not relevant, and not worthy of debate in the Senate chamber.

WHITFIELD: And Jason, General Stanley McChrystal wrote a "New York Times" column today urging action on guns and it reads in part, I'm quoting now, "One consequence of our leaders' inaction is that felons, domestic abusers and suspected terrorists have easy access to firearms. Some opponents of closing these gaps in our laws will continue to argue that dangerous people will obtain guns in our country, no matter what. And therefore that taking steps to make it harder for them is fruitless. That is both poor logic and poor leadership."

So, Jason, you know, we've heard this argument and very similar jargon. Will it resonate any differently coming from General McChrystal?

JASON JOHNSON, POLITICS EDITOR, THEROOT.COM: It should, but I don't think it will. I mean, one of the things, Fred, that's really key to me is, a year ago, we had the shooting in Charleston. And what have we seen change since then? That hurt thousands and thousands of people, damaged a community. I don't see the Senate changing much. You had people saying things last year, you have McChrystal saying things this year.

And here is one key issue. Even though background checks is something that Republicans and Democrats agree to, even though expanding background checks is something that Republicans and Democrats agree to, we still have these issues of the constitutionality of the no-fly list and whether or not it's a good idea to attach that to gun ownership.

I say that while there's tons of plans out there, the idea of a not quite constitutional no-fly list, also keeping you from being able to buy guns, that takes us down a slippery slope that no one should be happy to vote for.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: And John --

AVLON: Fred, I hear what Jason is saying about --

WHITFIELD: Go ahead, John. Yes.

AVLON: I hear what Jason is saying about the no-fly zone. But I do think it's a mistake to dismiss Monday's vote as, you know, not going anywhere. You know, citizens impasses for wisdom in Washington, but let's not forget that even in the wake of Newtown, 90 percent of Americans supported closing background -- you know, check loopholes. And lobbyists and folks on the far right and some spineless Democrats ended up blocking that initiative, and most of those Democrats are trying to protect their seats, lost their seats any way.

So something is better than nothing. There should be moral urgency behind this, and a folk -- a guy like Stanley McChrystal pointing out that 125 Americans have been killed by guns since Orlando, you know, let's keep our focus not only on the mass shootings, but on the daily toll. Let's do something. And it should be a centerpiece of this election if folks fail to do that in the Senate.

JOHNSON: I agree. But I don't know if I believe they will.

WHITFIELD: You don't, you feel fairly pessimistic?

JOHNSON: Yes, yes. I don't think they're going to do all that much. I would like to think that at least some of the purple state Republicans and red state Democrats would change their mind. Rob Portman, from my home state of Ohio, you know, I wish that this would make a difference, but unfortunately my hope has been crushed. I don't think between a mixture of lobbying and political cowardice, as John mentioned, I don't think we're going to see the change we need and we'll continue to see this shameful level of death unfortunately until perhaps it touches the personal lives of members of the House and Senate. Because they've done nothing until now and I have no reason to believe that with the heightened rhetoric that we've seen, that anyone is going to make any substantive changes on Monday. I'm disappointed, disgusted, but not changing my view.

WHITFIELD: All right, we're going to leave it right there. Jason Johnson, John Avlon, thanks so much, gentlemen.

JOHNSON: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Pamela.

BROWN: Thanks, Fred.

And still ahead, on the heels of a heartbreaking tragedy, Disney plans changes to warn visitors of the dangers of alligators.

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