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Shooter's Background Raises Flags; Three Guns Recovered at Scene; Shooting Puts Spotlight on Navy Security; Some Victims Identified; Flooded Homeowners Return in Colorado; Gunman's Friend in Shock, Disbelief

Aired September 17, 2013 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: He could be overly aggressive, especially when dealing with female diners where he sometimes moonlighted for tips.

CNN's Pamela Brown is digging into his background. She has some new information this morning on possible psychological issues.

So he -- what, he approached several VA hospitals?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's what we're learning from law enforcement officials, Carol and John, that he visited and made contact with two Veterans Affairs hospitals recently. And we believe that they were due to psychological issues. Of course investigators are still looking at the circumstances surrounding this.

Also we're learning that he's had several run-ins with the law. So the question remains, how was he able to pass two security clearances in the past year and what was his motive to carry out the deadly shooting?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): Law enforcement officials say 34-year-old I.T. subcontractor Aaron Alexis entered Navy Yard Building 197 legally, with a valid military-issued I.D. and an intent to kill. His motive, unknown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are looking to learn everything we can about his recent movements, his contacts and his associates.

BROWN: A picture is emerging of a complicated man. At times, quiet and polite, who spoke several languages and worshipped at this Buddhist temple.

MICHAEL RITROVATO, FRIEND OF SHOOTER: It's incredible that this is all happening, because he was a very good-natured guy, like I said, it seemed like he wanted to get more out of life.

BROWN: Other times, he could be explosively angry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He might be a little bit angry sometimes, you know. But I don't think -- I don't believe that. BROWN: Alexis was born in Queens, New York, joined the Navy as a reservist in May 2007. According to Pentagon officials he was discharged in January 2011 following a, quote, "pattern of misconduct."

While it's unclear what that misconduct was, he did have several run- ins with the law. He was arrested in Seattle in 2004 for shooting out the tires of another man's vehicle, described in the police report as an anger-fueled blackout. His father said his son was suffering PTSD after helping post 9/11 rescue efforts at ground zero.

In 2008, cited and briefly jailed for disturbing the peace in Georgia and arrested in 2010 for discharging a gun in public in Ft. Worth, Texas, where he lived until recently, never charged in that case.

Alexis had been staying at this hotel not far from the Navy Yard since last week. And a law enforcement source tells CNN Alexis recently purchased one of the guns used in the shooting at a gun store in northern Virginia. He also passed two security clearances last September and this past July before starting work at the Navy Yard.

His violent rampage has left his family devastated.

ANTHONY LITTLE, SHOOTER'S BROTHER-IN-LAW: It's very hurtful. And our hearts are going out more to the victims, people that got hurt because, you know, more lives lost. We don't need that right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And it is believed that the point that Alexis acted alone. And officials do not believe that there's any link to terrorism. Of course there are still a lot of questions about the weapons. We know that three were recovered at the scene. We believe that Alexis entered the building with a shotgun and somehow acquired either one or two weapons from the guards there.

COSTELLO: But yesterday we heard a lot about an AR-15. What happened to that gun? Did he have that, too, or are police taking that back?

BROWN: There are actually questions, Carol, about whether he was armed with an AR-15, whether there was one there. Whether -- if that actually belonged to another officer there who, you know, engaged the suspect. We have learned from a law enforcement source that he rented and returned an AR-15 before the shooting, we believe, at a gun range.

But as far as him being armed with an AR-15, that is -- that's still a question this morning about whether that, in fact, happened.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Rented? Very interesting.

COSTELLO: I didn't even know you could do that, but apparently you can.

BERMAN: All right, thanks, Pamela.

So an issue with the guns and so many questions about his past. There are many, many questions today about how this man had access to the building. We've been told that he drove on, using his military security clearance, that he did have at the time, as a contractor. But there are questions about whether that clearance, whether the background checks might have been tight enough, might have been stringent enough.

Let's go now to CNN reporter Evan Perez, who's got some information on this -- Evan.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's correct. One of the things that happens today is, you know, the FBI and the ATF are now going over everything that they can find about how this suspect was able to, A, you know, acquire the firearm that he had and whether or not, you know, he was -- he should have been cleared to be able to enter this facility.

As Pamela has mentioned, you know, he was able to buy a gun in recent days. So clearly, whatever information the federal government had on him was not enough to stop that purchase. And apparently not enough to stop him from getting a clearance, a security clearance to be able to get into the Washington Navy Yard.

Now the other part of the scene today is the FBI and the ATF and other agencies are going over the scene. All the shell casings from all the -- all the shots fired yesterday, that is a big part of the job today. They're trying to figure out how many shots were fired by the suspect, how many shots were fired by law enforcement.

In these types of incidents, there's always friendly fire incidents. So you have to account for those types of things. So, again, a lot of this information is very preliminary and that is what they're trying to figure out today.

BERMAN: All right. Evan, talk to me about previous arrests. We count three of them now, correct? Two involving guns and then this third in 2008 near Atlanta.

PEREZ: So you have these previous arrests that is now -- according to law enforcement -- is painting a picture of perhaps some mental issues, some violent tendencies in recent years. The incidents in Seattle and in Ft. Worth, for instance, which involved guns were -- you know, obviously, are very alarming.

It's also a big question right now, why these incidents perhaps did not become part of his criminal history to be able to stop him from acquiring firearms. So that's a very big part of the picture that still needs to be filled in by the investigation.

BERMAN: He was arrested after shooting out the tires in a car that was parked outside his grandmother's house, arrested once for shooting through the ceiling in his apartment building. But those didn't apparently set off any red flags in these security background checks and he was given clearance to enter this building.

CNN's Evan Perez, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

PEREZ: Thank you.

COSTELLO: So many questions surrounding what you just said. There's a huge spotlight into security inside the Navy Yard. And already some in Congress are demanding answers.

Republican Congressman Michael Turner has actually sent a letter to the acting inspector general of the Department of Defense, demanding more information about the results of a Navy security audit. He writes, the congressman writes, "It is my understanding that the IG reports indicates the Navy may have implemented an unproven system in order to cut costs. I also learned that potentially numerous felons may have been able to gain restricted access to several military installations across the country due to insufficient background checks, increasing the risk to our military personnel and civilian employees."

CNN law enforcement analyst and former assistant director of the FBI, Tom Fuentes, is on the phone right now to talk more about this.

Good morning, Tom.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST (via phone): Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So is it true what the congressman says? Has the Navy cut costs surrounding issues like background checks and security?

FUENTES: Well, it's possible. And I think a lot of agencies are cutting costs with sequestration and just regular budget cuts that nobody seems in a hurry to resolve any of these issues. So I think that the -- from what I've heard, law enforcement agencies as well as the military are cutting costs and trying to get as much done as they can with lesser amount.

You know, nobody has talked about this in recent times. But it doesn't appear that many people care about it. You know, right now, the FBI has a hiring freeze. They're told they're going to be laying off 3,000 people next year and have, you know, extensive budget cuts.

And, you know, this is in the aftermath of the Boston marathon bombings and constant array of attacks and people conducting violent acts such as this. So I think it ought to ring alarm bells. Congress needs to be looking at itself as well as anybody else.

COSTELLO: Well, it just seems strange to me in light of what happened in Ft. Hood, right? After 9/11, this was like the most secure city in the world, let's say. I mean, it was barred access to many government buildings, including military installations. So why cut cost there? At the most important point, because you want to keep your military personnel safe.

FUENTES: Well, you do. And don't forget, you have, you know, military on the battlefield. You have the ships at sea. You have the troops forward deployed and, you know, possibly contemplating attacks in Syria and other places. So, yes, when you're looking at the giant scheme of things on where the military is spending money, labor costs for almost any organization, military or not, are one of the first places that can save money compared to other fixed costs that they can't.

COSTELLO: And before you go, Tom, I want to ask you specifically about Aaron Alexis and how he managed to get into the Navy Reserves in the first place. So in 2004, in Seattle, he supposedly shot out this man's car, had a blackout. His father claimed in the -- on the police report he was suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome because he did some sort of rescue work after 9/11? But that's not clear.

So why would the Navy accept a guy with that in his background in the first place?

FUENTES: That's a great question. And I think that, you know, that will have to be resolved in the days and weeks ahead, of just how liberal they are in accepting people and, you know, bringing them into the Reserves or continuing them with security clearances. So that's a great question. It'll have to be looked at closely.

COSTELLO: And we'll probably going to talk a lot more about that today.

CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes, thanks as usual.

BERMAN: Two areas here where security checks, background checks really in question right now. One, how did he become a Navy Reservist with this history? And after he left the Navy, how did he get security clearances a contractor, which ultimately gave him the pass to get into this facility behind us?

COSTELLO: Said he was discharged from Navy, right?

BERMAN: That's right. That's right.

COSTELLO: After a time after --

BERMAN: After a pattern of misconduct, we're told.

COSTELLO: A pattern of misconduct. And then he became a Navy contractor with clearance. So how did he gain that special security clearance with his background?

BERMAN: These are the questions we're all asking about the perpetrator today, even while we are trying to keep much of the focus, as much as we can on the victims of these horrible crimes yesterday here at the Washington Navy Yard.

Twelve lives, 12 lives cut short. We're beginning to learn some of the names of the victims. They've been released.

CNN's Rene Marsh joins us.

Rene, what can you tell us about some of these people who fell here?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do have some of the names, John. But you know, in speaking to a lot of people that we met yesterday we know that the victims go beyond not just the people who lost their lives, but also the people who survived. And now they're waking up this morning and it's beginning to sink in.

I spoke with two people who were here yesterday when this all happened. And you can hear in their voices the emotional burden is heavy for them this morning. But back to those victims who it lose their lives. We have seven of the 12 victims' names. We're going to read those to you now.

Michael Arnold, 59 years old. Sylvia Frasier, 53. Kathy Gaarde, 62. Kenneth Bernard Proctor, 46. John Roger Johnson, 73. Frank Kohler, 50 years old and Vishnu Pandit, 61 years old.

So those are the seven victims that we know of right now. Of course we know that there are still five other victims. We don't have their names as yet. We've been told that, of course, there's a process. You have to identify and reach out to the family members first. And we're not sure how long that process will take. But when it happens, we'll get the remaining names.

BERMAN: And these were civilians or contractors who worked at this site, not military personnel.

MARSH: Right.

BERMAN: And again we are still waiting on more names of these people where people who went to work yesterday just like many others, they never went home.

Rene, we also has some new information about some of the people wounded, I understand.

MARSH: We do. We just received an update this morning from the hospital. We can tell you a little bit about the conditions of the three people who suffered gunshot wounds. We know that the male police officer, the D.C. police officer, shot in the leg. He has said to be in fair condition. That's the latest update this morning.

One female civilian shot in the shoulder. She is also listed in fair condition. And then the third victim also shot, she suffered a gunshot wound to the head and hand. She is in good condition. So that is good news on the second day.

BERMAN: Wonderful news.

MARSH: Yes.

COSTELLO: Actually, Mike Brooks, one of our security analysts, talked to the police officer who was shot across both knees, right? He said he's in good spirits, he's looking forward to returning to walk. And of course getting out of the hospital. So he's up, he's talking, and hopefully he'll fully recover. His surgeon said yesterday on "PIERS MORGAN" that he probably would make a full recovery. Because there was some talk about him losing -- the loss of his legs. But -- so we hope, we wish him a full recovery. MARSH: One good bit of news on this day in which we know that those survivors are now, when they hear the names and they realize they know some of these people, that's a tough one to deal with as well.

BERMAN: Emotionally, a lot of people dealing with those.

Rene Marsh, thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

COSTELLO: Coming up in the NEWSROOM, we're learning more about the shooter in Monday's rampage. Friends say he often meditated in a tiny Buddhist temple but was frustrated with life.

John will speak with one of his friends, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: I'm Carol Costello, along with John Berman.

We'll resume our coverage of the Navy Yard shooting in just a few minutes. But, first, we want to check on two other stories happening this morning.

This time-lapse video captures the successful first step in salvaging the Costa Concordia. Earlier this morning, a crew righted the damage cruise ship. Less than 24 hours after starting that task, much more work has to be done before the ship can be towed away for dismantling next summer. The Costa Concordia ran aground, as you know, off the Italian coast 20 month ago, killing 32 people. The remains of two of those victims were never found and are believed to be inside or near the ship.

Several evacuees in Colorado are facing a grim reality as they return to their flooded neighborhoods. Floodwaters have moved their homes, damaged or destroyed them. Homeowners are slogging through the thick mud and raw sewage as they try to save what personal belongings they can. Nearly 18,000 homes have been hit statewide, with the death toll now standing at eight.

CNN's George Howell is in Longmont, Colorado, with more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New images emerged overnight. Choppers once again taking to the sky, evacuating at least 100 people.

Emergency response out in full force, searching homes -- a desperate search for anyone still stranded in the mountains or unaccounted for, following Colorado's deadly flash floods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some areas in Larimer County experienced a 100- year flood, others experienced a 1,000-year flood. So, something that would only happened every 1,000 years.

HOWELL: This is what the region looked like from space, just days before, compared to this image taken after the massive flood that inundated northern and eastern Colorado.

Returning to a devastated community, residents in Longmont seeing their homes for the first time since Thursday no longer habitable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's ruined. The basement is gone and it stinks so bad in there, you can barely stand it.

HOWELL: Jeff Larson's wife, Nina, watched as their SUV was swept away by rushing water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We watched it being swept down the road. Our basement immediately started flooding at that time. And so, I just took my son and his friends, Wyatt and Cole (ph), and we went to the third level with the belly boats.

HOWELL: Evacuated nine hours later, they consider themselves lucky.

Thick mud and water moved through Lyons, shifting entire homes from their foundation.

This woman unable to reach her home on the other side of the river, in utter disbelief that it was picked up and moved several feet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today is our first day up here since we've been evacuated. And I feel like it's worse than I thought it would be. We lost absolutely everything we own.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: So the best perspective, the best way to explain this, when you look here at this river, you see it's still rushing. Where I'm standing right now, just a few days ago I would have been standing in the river. So, it gives you a good indication that the floodwaters are receding.

We're also seeing the number of unaccounted for go down. Just a day ago, that was at 658 people, according to the Office of Emergency Management here in Colorado. That number now at 648 people. So, slowly, but surely that number is going down.

And there are centers in various counties where people can go to check in with officials to let them know that they are OK so that they are no longer counted on that missing list. Also, we're seeing people go back into these communities now to see what's left over, communities that were cut off. They're seeing their homes that have been damaged or flooded.

And keep in mind, there are still communities where people are cut off. There are still areas where the floodwaters are high. So, we know that the rescue operation continues to help people get back to safer ground, Carol.

COSTELLO: Almost afraid to ask you this question. What's the weather going to be like today?

HOWELL: Well, you know, you see the sun coming up. That's great news. You know, it's another day where things can dry out here. We had a good sunny day yesterday. The hope is that we'll continue to see this pattern, you know, to help things get better here in this part of the state.

COSTELLO: I hope so. George Howell reporting live from Longmont, Colorado, this morning. Thanks.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see the sun there.

COSTELLO: Yes.

BERMAN: Meanwhile, just ahead from here, the Washington Navy Yard -- friends of the shooter here say that that man was fun loving, but frustrated. I will speak to a man who knew him, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, new details about the gunman who opened fire here in the Washington Navy Yard.

Friends of 34-year-old Aaron Alexis, some say they didn't see it coming. Others describe him as being frustrated with his employer and some people say he had a temper.

The former Navy reservist also had a history of gun violence, including several run-ins with the law. And now authorities want to talk to friends and family who knew him best, to find out what they can.

One person who did know him is Kevin McDaniel, a store owner and friend of Aaron Alexis. He joins us now from Ft. Worth.

Kevin, you spoke to Alexis right before he moved to Washington. How well did you know him? And generally speaking, what kind of guy was he?

KEVIN MCDANIEL, STORE OWNER AND FRIEND OF NAVY YARD GUNMAN: Well, I've known him for the last two or three years, because of being right next -- my store being right next to where he worked with his friend at the Thai restaurant.

And, you know, I would chastise him for smoking. He would say he was going to quit. I would catch him smoking and we would laugh about it. He would say, I'm going to quit tomorrow, and we laugh and say, well, tomorrow's never going to come if you keep putting it off.

And, you know, just everyday conversation type things. He'd bring -- sometimes he would bring food to me from the restaurant. Sometimes I'd go over and meet up. We would talk about current events, just whatever.

He was such a nice, jovial, kind, laughing, just -- it's unbelievable to think that he would do something like this because of the way he acted.

BERMAN: Well, were there any warning signs to you? Our Pamela Brown was reporting that there have been several contacts between this man and the V.A. -- could have been for mental health issues. Did he show any signs to you that he was struggling with any issues?

MCDANIEL: None whatsoever. None whatsoever at all. I mean, like I say, he was always smiling. You know, if he couldn't talk, at least he waved and said hi from a distance.

You know, I'm busy at my store and he was over here, doing what he needed to do. And sometimes we would see him. Sometimes he'd come in and I would see him three, four times a week, sometimes a couple of times a week. Sometimes I'd talk to him a couple of times a day. It just varied.

Sometimes he would disappear for three or four days, a week. And he would be back and everything seemed fine.

He was excited about his job that he was going to in D.C.

BERMAN: And he seemed to you like he was coming here to work, not like he had some plan for something awful.

But, Kevin, had you heard anything about the arrest? We learned about three arrests in the past, including two that involved gun violence. Is this something you were aware of? Did you see him with or near guns?

MCDANIEL: Absolutely not. You know, I figured being that he was former military and I thought he was still in the reserves that he had some association with weapons, but I knew of none that he carried on his person or that he had any, you know, dealings with guns other than that.

BERMAN: So completely inexplicable to you this entire incident here, based on your two-or three-year relationship with this man?

MCDANIEL: Correct.

BERMAN: All right. Kevin McDaniel, thank you so much for being with us. I'm sorry for what you and your community are going through.

MCDANIEL: You're welcome.

BERMAN: We really do appreciate the insight you provide.

Still to come here at the Washington Navy Yard, one of the questions being raised about yesterday's shooting rampage, did government cuts put security at risk at this installation and others around the country? We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)