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Donald Trump Riding High Atop Latest Presidential Polls; Frantic Search Underway For Two Missing Teenage Boys; Florida Man Jailed Today For Deadly Road Rage Incident; Rick Perry Says Gun-Free Zones A Bad Idea; Atlanta's Spelman College To Return Donation From Bill Cosby's Foundation; 3-4p ET

Aired July 26, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:38] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, new today, national polls showing Donald Trump firmly on top of the Republican presidential field.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not that surprised because I see the kind of a crowd we get. We're getting the biggest crowd and we're getting by far the biggest ovations. And they want to -- you know, these are great people and they want to see this country turned around.

WHITFIELD: We'll break down the numbers.

Rick Perry says let us take our guns to the movies.

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These concepts of gun-free zones are a bad idea.

WHITFIELD: And lost at sea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're on the boat as much as they possibly can.

WHITFIELD: Two 14-year-old boys go missing off the coast of Florida in a 19-foot fishing boat.

NEWSROOM starts now.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Hello again, everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with Donald Trump riding high atop the latest p presidential poll. A brand new poll shows him still leading the pack. Trump has 18 percent support. He is followed by Jeb Bush at 15 percent, Governor Scott Walker at 10 percent followed by Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio.

What does this all mean? Trump called into CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning in fact to react to that poll and said Republican Party leaders finally seem to be accepting that he's here to stay.

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TRUMP: They view me as an outsider, I guess, and now they're starting to view me not as an outsider because I'm leading in all the polls, not just yours. And I think they have been really nice over the last few days. They're starting to see what's happening. I mean, there's a movement going on. This is more than me. This is a movement going on. People are tired of these incompetent politicians in Washington that can't get anything done. They can't make deals. They can't do anything. I mean, they go and they -- all they care about is getting elected. They don't care about anything else.

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WHITFIELD: Alright, CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is in our Washington bureau with more on this.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, what this poll really does show is that Trump, he is not just a hiccup in this race, that right now he is the frontrunner among the Republicans. It's also important to also note that this poll was done after he made those controversial comments about Senator John McCain. So all the backlash that he received didn't seem to damage him.

But beneath the surface here, there are some red flags for Trump. His unfavorability ratings are a big problem for him, more than any other Republican candidate. I want to send you these poll numbers here. Eighty percent of Democrats, they have an unfavorable view of him, 53 percent of independents and 42 percent, that's still a big number, among the Republicans.

Now, despite this in an NBC/Marist poll out today he's also looking strong in the early nominating states. In New Hampshire, he is in first place with a sizeable lead. And in Iowa he's trailing only slightly behind Scott Walker. So what we've seen is Trump shift recently and start to take aim right at Walker. He went after him yesterday in Iowa and today on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION with Jake Tapper."

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TRUMP: Frankly, his state is having tremendous difficulty. I love Wisconsin, it's a great place. But, you know, he's putting debt up to the gills. The school system is a disaster because they don't have any money. I mean, you know, Walker's state, Wisconsin, is a catastrophe from an economic and a financial standpoint. I think he's number 36 or 38 overall in terms of the country for economic growth and the jobs -- his jobs projection were way, way off, I mean, beyond. I mean, they have budget deficits. He was going to have a lot of big surplus but there's a $2.2 billion deficit, so I think Scott Walker will be trouble.

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SERFATY: And that trademark rhetoric of Trumps is clearly attracting voters here. In this poll he is the candidate that Republican voters say they want to see up there on the debate stage. There you can see Trump leads well ahead of Bush, ahead of Rubio, Cruz. The first debate is just next week, right around the corner, so Trump has really already started to downplay his expectations a bit, saying he has no debate experience and predicting, Fred, that the other candidates will come out swinging for him.

WHITFIELD: All right, Sunlen Serfaty, we are about to find out, aren't we? Thanks so much.

But we are not done talking about that. This probably just gives us a little fuel to continue this conversation. Let's talk more about the latest poll numbers with political analyst Jason Johnson. He is also a political science professor at Hiram College. And joining us from New York, political strategist and lawyer Brian Morgenstern. Good to see you both, virtually and real.

OK. So, you know, Trump is saying that the polls indicate that he has support. He's even reading into the polls as you heard in that conversation with Jake Tapper, that he says Republicans are now looking at him not as an outsider, I'm quoting him, and he said and they have actually been nice. Jason, how do you interpret these polls?

[15:05:42] JASON JOHNSON, POLITICAL ANALYST: He's winning. I said this last week. I was like he's not going to lose much in the polls for saying what he said about John McCain. People in the audience laughed. Some of them thought it was witty. Some of them thought it was offensive. Donald Trump is saying things people in the primary actually believe.

WHITFIELD: There were a lot of people thought that was a game-changer when he would insult John McCain.

JOHNSON: Right. It didn't make that much of difference. Because the kinds of people who are supporting Donald Trump, you know, they still exist. Now, does that mean he's going to be a presidential candidate? Probably not. But I do think he speaks for a particular constituency in the primary. That's why he is doing well. And he is here to stay.

WHITFIELD: And, Brian, what is that constituency? Because even if, you know, Donald Trump who says, you know, there is a movement going on and that's what he's speaking to.

BRIAN MORGANSTERN, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Yes. Well, there is a big constituency that's fed up, like I was saying, with business as usual. The size of government has ballooned out of control, we have an out of control border where people can enter and re-enter at will. You know, there are problems with our VA system for our veterans. These are problems that should be common sense, that should be, you know, sort of the first orders of business for our politicians and they haven't fixed them. So finally somebody coming along saying, you know, the guys who have had a shot haven't gotten it done is sort of refreshing to a certain segment of the electorate.

WHITFIELD: And of the Republican candidates, many of whom have complained that they feel like he's taken all of the oxygen out of the room, they're not getting any air time, they're not getting any coverage. Some are criticizing they're not saying anything to get the coverage, Trump says I'm not a debater and he's not going to be doing teleprompting on the campaign trail. So how might his dynamic his style change the way we see the debates unfolding, Jason?

JOHNSON: One of the things Donald Trump is good at is this guy can land a punch. He is Mike Tyson politically. His takedown of Scott Walker is the best one I've ever heard. I mean, he said look, this fate -- they're in debt, the school system isn't working well. They are 36, 38 in the growth.

WHITFIELD: He's also using words like idiots, you know. He's calling people idiot and he is saying that they don't have the IQ.

JOHNSON: People like it, it's engaging. And here is the thing. What we'll find out in the debates is can Trump take a punch because we know he can swing them. And that's what it will be who is going to take a punch at him and can they land it and maintain their own integrity and their own brand. That's the real question that they are saying.

WHITFIELD: Brian, how do you see it? That's an interesting point, huh, if we're talking in, you know, terms of boxing now.

MORGANSTERN: Yes. Well, I mean, you call him Mike Tyson. I think he's more like Don Rickels (ph) because he kind of roasts everybody. But I don't think he really can take one. Because we already saw what happens when people start fighting back and he started saying to the Republicans, you know, watch out. If you're not nice to me, I'm going to run as an independent and then I'm going to tank the whole party's chances.

So it shows that, you know, he can dish it out. But I'm not so sure that he can take it very well. You know, as soon as Lindsey Graham started talking back to him, he just read his cell phone number to an audience, presumably because he wasn't too happy about being criticized.

So this is going to be very interesting to see how the other candidates address him. And like you said, whether he can take a punch. I'm not so sure that he can despite all his bluster.

WHITFIELD: And I think yesterday we were trying to figure out who are all these supporters. Are the people who, you know, the people who show up at Trump's events, are they trying to elect, you know, Donald Trump or there because of the entertainment value. But then this latest poll showing that 52 percent of GOP respondents say they want Trump to stay in the race while only 18 percent support him, what does that mean?

JOHNSON: That means that what he's saying needs to be said and they want to see if that can come out of the other candidates. But one of the other things is for people -- if Trump wasn't their first choice, a lot of them end up going to Marco Rubio, a lot them end going to Scott Walker. So what Trump is representing is that outsider, that aggressive person. They're like, look, we know you probably can't win this thing, but we want these other guys to have to address these issues. That's why I think he's doing so well, and he knows how to work television.

WHITFIELD: And so, Brian, do you think especially as we lead up to the debate are some of the other contenders trying to figure out how to best take on fellow candidate Donald Trump as opposed to the preparation that's usually about the moderator, who's going to be asking the questions?

MORGANSTERN: Well, you know, the candidates I'm sure will engage with one another and whenever there is a frontrunner, you know, the other candidates, even in answering a question directly, will try to, you know, insert sort of a little jab at whoever is leading. So, you know, we'll see that kind of a thing.

I think what we'll see with Trump that we don't necessarily see when other candidates are in the lead is a little bit extra trepidation because when you do engage him, it can turn into a rabbit hole of personal insults, which is not -- obviously not traditional in our politician. So I'm sure that there is Trump-specific debate prep and I can't wait to see the outcome of that.

[15:10:29] WHITFIELD: All right. Well, back to the boxing analogies, the jabs, the punches, wow. Who's going to be in the ring? This is going to be quite the show, gentlemen.

Brian, Jason, thanks so much, appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you guys.

All right, coming up, the young women gunned down in a Louisiana movie theater will be laid to rest tomorrow as police tell us more about the mental state of this man who took her life. CNN's Ryan Nobles has a preview.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, police are learning quite a bit about the background of the shooter, John Russell Houser. What they told us about their investigation, coming up.

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[15:14:27] WHITFIELD: The funeral for Mayci Breaux, one of the young women gunned down in the Louisiana movie theater shooting will be held tomorrow morning. The 21-year-old was a student at Louisiana State University.

Meanwhile, the investigation is revealing a lot more about the mental state and online rants of the gunman, John Houser.

CNN's Ryan Nobles joins us now live from Lafayette with those details.

So Ryan, investigators are probing a lot of Houser's online comments, and what have they found? NOBLES: Yes. Well, Fredricka, they're learning a lot about his past

and what may have led him here to Lafayette a couple of days ago to commit this awful crime. And they're starting to believe that this attack was meticulously planned. Listen to what colonel Michael Edmonson from the state police department told me.

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[15:15:13] COL. MICHAEL EDMONSON, LAFAYETTE STATE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We've been continuing to go through his rant and raves that he had on the internet. He was on several different blog sites. He had several areas where there are different groups that had a synopsis of some of the stuff that he was saying, some comments. We have seen a lot of writings about people who are trying to make rhyme or reason of what he did right here so we're continuing to go through his diary making comments.

But here's one thing that's perfectly clear. This mad man was certainly of sound mind because, you know what, he wrote it down. He said he's coming to this movie theater at 7:15 on Thursday night. What we do believe is that he was in other theaters, whether it was Lake Charles, Lafayette and Baton Rouge, maybe disguised himself from some of the things we've heard about, and then for whatever reason, he's in this theater on that night at 7:27 and he stands up and he kills two innocent people.

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NOBLES: And it's not just what Houser wrote about that police are looking into, it's also how he acted. He has a long history of mental health problems, also violence. In his estrangement from his family he had protective orders out against him by both his daughter and his wife at one point. And it's believed that his family was very concerned about his potential for violence.

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EDMONSON: You hear this now, family members and somebody made the comment, well, you know, I didn't think he would do this at a movie theater, but maybe a governmental building. Well, you think maybe you ought to let somebody know. You think somebody ought to speak out. I think sometimes we protect our families and friends. I understand that. But you know when they make those type of comments, maybe somebody ought to talk to them.

We as a state when we find out information they make about people, we go visit them. We sit down and say, you know, OK, we heard you made this comment. Why did you make it? It makes them think that somebody else is paying attention, and maybe we ought to do that.

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NOBLES: And this town is ready to get back to normal. But first, they have to get through the mourning process. The funerals for both victims, Mayci Breaux, and Jillian Johnson, will happen tomorrow -- Fredricka. WHITFIELD: All right, Ryan Nobles, thank you so much.

So the city of Lafayette only a year ago was named the happiest town of America, a point the local paper made today in a powerful op-ed titled "we will recover, give us time." It reads in part --

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WHITFIELD: What Houser stole was the best of what Lafayette had to offer. His fatal victims were a 33-year-old successful, beloved businesswoman and accomplished musician and an aspiring student, just 21. We all know them or someone like them and we will press our neighbors' memories close to our hearts. We're that kind of town. We will recover because we are that kind of town. We will recover because we don't shrink from danger, because tomorrow's sunrise will reveal a place still beautiful because we will ever welcome strangers.

We will recover because we will keep our faith and be guided by it, because we will work harder to make our community one where Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson, Thursday's fatal victims, would find unending joy and fulfillment. We will recover. Give us time.

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[15:22:11] WHITFIELD: All right. Checking our top stories, in Southern Turkey, a car bomb exploded, killing two security officers and wounding four other people. The attack happened while the officers were on their way to an emergency call. In recent days, Turkey has stepped up its anti-terror campaign near its border with Syria. Hundreds of people suspected of supporting either ISIS or Kurdish rebels have been arrested.

And a suicide bombing killed 15 and wounded at least 30 people at a luxury hotel in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu. The blast was so powerful, it destroyed part of the hotel and damaged nearby building. The terror group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the bombing saying it was targeting western diplomats at the hotel.

And President Barack Obama made his way from Kenya to Ethiopia this morning for a two-day visit. He is the first U.S. leader to visit Africa's second-most populous nation. The president will meet with regional leaders tomorrow to talk counterterrorism.

And back in this country, a frantic search is under way right now for two teenage boys missing at sea. They disappeared while on a fishing trip off the coast of Florida. The boys, who are 14 years old, were apparently headed to the Bahamas. Former NFL star Joe Namath is a friend of the families and he spoke about everyone staying safe in that search.

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JOE NAMATH, FAMILY FRIEND: You know, the love is there. We're all praying. And Nick actually wants the folks to know that are trying to help out that are out there searching, be very careful. We've got a lot of people out on the water and in the air looking. Both families have been hard at work at this and praying. So let's just stay safe and we'll keep on looking until we find them.

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WHITFIELD: Reporter Saneka (INAUDIBLE) from CNN affiliate WPBF has the story.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER (voice-over): Two families distraught. Since 5:00 p.m. Friday evening, rescue crews have covered more than 5300 square nautical miles searching for the two boys aboard a 19-foot white single engine center console vessel. They were last seen purchasing $110 worth of fuel at Jupiter pointe club and arena.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think anything could be a factor at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: The two families say the boys are avid fishermen, just as comfortable in the water as they are on land.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're on the boat as much as they possibly can. They have been around the water, the ocean, boats, going to the Bahamas fishing for years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: The coast guard has launched an hc-144 airplane and mh-65 dolphin helicopter and boat crews from the lake (INAUDIBLE) and station Ft. Pierce. The search now extending to the coast of Melbourne.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We appreciate the entire community's commitment already and we only ask that everybody continue to be safe in assisting to try and find the boys, and to try not to interfere with the search and rescue that the coast guard is doing. But to please just spread the word to anyone that we know here in the Bahamas that if they have seen these boys, we need to know.

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[15:25:22] WHITFIELD: And that was reporter (INAUDIBLE) from the CNN affiliate WBPF.

Earlier I spoke about the search with coast guard's public affairs specialist with Petty Officer Mark Barney. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK BARNEY, SPECIAL PETTY OFFICER (via phone): Right now the area is quite vast. As we heard before, we started this search off of the Jupiter area, stretched all the way up to Melbourne and then back down to Ft. Pierce. So far currently we've searched approximately 25,400 square nautical miles for Austin and Perry. So, I mean, we're heavily concerned for their well-being and we're doing everything that we can do to bring them back home.

WHITFIELD: And so we know that the family members say that these young guys are so familiar with being on the water, even more so than being on land. But what has the family shared with you about their planned journey? At what point they decided, you know, to push off and go toward the Bahamas. What do you know about their plan on water?

BARNEY: Well, normally they fished about 200 to 300 feet off the pier from where they live. We did receive the same reports that they did have intentions on going to the Bahamas. However, based off the evidence, the fact that they didn't carry a GPS with them, food, water, these kinds of -- these pieces of information are what led us to believe that they might not have went all the way out to the Bahamas.

Like their parents have said that they are fishermen, they go out in the water a lot, so they would know to bring supplies. The very bare essentials would be water and food.

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WHITFIELD: The coast guard is warning, it would be good Samaritans not to voluntarily search for these boys at sea adding that the process of search and rescue is very dangerous.

Meanwhile, the families are offering a $100,000 reward for anyone who has information about the whereabouts of these boys.

All right, coming up, Rick Perry says gun-free zones are a bad idea. He thinks we should even take our firearms to the movies. We'll talk about it, next.

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[15:30:45] WHITFIELD: All right. Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry says the Lafayette, Louisiana, theater shooting is another example why he believes people should be able to take their guns to the movies. Here's what he said to Jake Tapper on today's "STATE OF THE UNION."

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RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will suggest to you that these concepts of gun-free zones are a bad idea. I think that you allow the citizens of this country who have been appropriately trained, appropriately back grounded, know how to handle and use firearms to carry them.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I don't know that a law would have kept the gun out of the hand of the shooter in Lafayette. But you seem to be suggesting that a solution to the problem would be to allow patrons in the movie theater to bring guns with them into the movie theater?

PERRY: I think that it makes a lot of sense to send a message across this country. If we -- if we believe in the second amendment and we believe in people's right to protect themselves and to defend themselves and their families, that to tell them that they cannot carry a weapon that they are legally obliged to carry, that they have been through the training for makes sense to me.

TAPPER: That makes more sense than trying to keep a gun out of the hand of the person who had been involuntarily committed to begin with?

PERRY: I didn't say there was one more important than the other. I share it with you. I think that the laws are on the books to keep individuals, you know, obviously I think that's what's happened in these two cases. And we need to enforce the laws that are on the books.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. So let's talk about this. Here with me in studio, CNN legal analyst Philip Holloway who is a former police instructor and in Boston, CNN commentator and attorney Mel Robbins.

All right, good to see both of you.

So Phil, let me begin with you because you too are an advocate of packing a weapon when going to the movies. Why?

PHIL HOLLOWAY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I certainly don't see a problem with it in general. But, you know, the fear of armed resistance could be the thing that deters someone from picking that particular target. Movie theaters are unique because they're dark and they're oftentimes loud and if you go in there and you open fire, who knows what you're going to hit. And if you happen to have a firearm on you, it may not be the right thing to do to immediately resort to that because you cannot identify the shooter.

So in principle I don't have a problem with what Governor Perry said, but I don't think necessarily that resorting to a firearm in an active shooting situation in a movie theater under those circumstances is the correct first choice.

WHITFIELD: Because the governor said, you know, that that person needs to be appropriately trained. And what does that mean? Because what also comes with the response of when something happens and you are a licensed, you know, gun owner, you have to have the wherewithal in order to assess, and now we're talking about assessing just like police officers are going through intense training about assessing when to use their weapon.

HOLLOWAY: That's absolutely correct. You know, active shooter training is something that is very, very difficult. And even the best trained police officers engaging in active shooter in this situation, they will not take a shot, Fred, unless they know where their shot is going, they know who the shooter is and they know that a third party is not going to get hurt.

So effectively what that means is they're going to engage the person physically, they're going to get as close to them as possible, assuming they can identify the shooter in the darkness. And then only at close range would they consider using their firearm. They're more likely than not going to just simply overwhelm them and tackle them like we saw with the Ronald Reagan assassination attempt, for example. WHITFIELD: So, Mel, how do you interpret and how do you see what

Governor Perry is proposing, and how Philip has chimed in?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Fredricka and Philip, a great conversation. Good afternoon to both of you.

It's interesting because this all dates back to a law that George H. W. Bush put into place in 1990 when they prohibited guns being brought into and around schools and punished it by up to five years in prison. And it's kind of spread across businesses and businesses are well within their rights to establish gun-free zones on their premises.

Now, interestingly, I actually kind of agree a little bit with Philip where if you've gone through the process of getting a license to carry a concealed weapon, presumably, and let's put the emphasis on presumably, presumably you're in a state where you've gone through extensive amounts of training, you have been certified at a gun range, you've gone through safety classes and we've given you that license because we believe as a society and as the government that you can conduct yourself responsibly now that you have this greater privilege.

I think that the problem is that we live in a country now where there's 300 million guns. I don't think there is anything called a gun-safe zone anymore in this country. And to think that we should just hope and pray that there is a licensed concealed weapons holder in a movie theater that can act appropriately in an active shooter situation is putting the emphasis on the wrong thing.

We have had over 100 laws enacted in the last six years that have loosened the requirements for gun ownership in this country. And I think we need to stop talking about gun-free zones and start talking about closing loopholes. I think we should look at what California has done. They just enacted a gun violence restraining order. Because the truth is the guy that went in and killed these two beautiful young women in the movie theater just bought it legally. And so, there's got to be something not only that stops people that shouldn't have access to guns from buying them but also gives neighbors, police and family members the opportunity to seize them when somebody starts acting in a really unsettled way.

WHITFIELD: And I know you have a final thought. You want to jump in quickly.

HOLLOWAY: Yes. What Mel said acting appropriately with that firearm, if someone is in the movie theater armed and an active shooting situation takes place, you don't want that person acting inappropriately, you want them to seek cover and to decide whether or not they have a shot they can safely take, otherwise, it can only make matters worse.

WHITFIELD: All right, Philip Holloway, Mel Robbins, thank you so much. This is just the beginning of that conversation. Appreciate it.

HOLLOWAY: Thanks, Fredricka. All right, next, a fatal road rage incident captured on a chilling 911 call. Nick Valencia has a preview now. NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those 911 calls absolutely

frightening. Both parties calling 911. We'll play you that audio after the break.

You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[15:41:08] WHITFIELD: All right. This just in. The U.S. coast guard is telling CNN that a capsized boat was found 67 nautical miles outside of Cape Canaveral in Florida. As you know, there has been an ongoing search for 14-year-old boys who went in their 19-foot boat to go fishing and family members reported that they haven't seen them some four hours after they launched from Jupiter, Florida, and now the coast guard will not confirm that that boat that was located is that of the 19-foot vessel that these young boys were believed to be in, but the coast guard is confirming that they did find a capsized boat in that near vicinity. Of course when we get more information, we'll bow able to bring that to you.

Meantime, a Florida man is in jail today charged in a road rage incident that turned deadly. Both sides of the altercation were captured in a horrifying 911 call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are just saw a full-size truck and trailer, you know what I'm saying? You don't just drive like idiots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a truck with some maniac (INAUDIBLE) trying to follow me, trying to run me off the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Valencia joining me with more on this story now. It is horrifying to hear that call.

VALENCIA: Absolutely frightening 911 calls made by both parties. We're choosing just to show snippets of that audio. But this incident happened Thursday afternoon in Citrus County, Florida, when the alleged shooter, Robert Doyle, and the victim, Candilario Gonzales (ph) got into an incident on the road. Both called 911 on each other to report the other's erratic driving. Investigators I've spoken to say that this call, both these calls give insight not just to the victim's mindset but also to the mindset of the alleged shooter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT DOYLE, ACCUSED SHOOTER (via phone): My gun is already out, it's cocked and locked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Moments later this would turn violent with Robert Doyle opening fire, shooting Gonzalez five times. You can hear the victim's wife on this portion of the 911 call. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHY GONZALEZ, VICTIM'S WIFE: Hurry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're coming as fast as they can. Just do whatever he asks you to do, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Now, in another portion of this 911 tape, the 911 dispatcher actually tells Gonzalez, the victim, to stop pursuing the alleged shooter, to just go home and keep on going. He chose not to follow that order by 911. I asked a captain with the Citrus County sheriff's office if that's going to complicate the investigation. He says no, that Doyle had the chance to not engage the victim and that he should have just gone inside his house.

WHITFIELD: So because of that alleged pursuit, how much is that weighing into the kind of charge that police are entertaining?

VALENCIA: Well, police believe that Doyle, the alleged shooter, had the chance to step away and diffuse the situation which is why they decided to charge him with second-degree murder as well as aggravated assault for holding the family of Gonzalez at bay, at gunpoint until police arrived. Earlier we posed to the question to Danny Cevallos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: There's potential kidnapping any time you move someone from a to b, even a few feet. They could have charged a higher degree of murder. Whether or not those will ultimately be dismissed or this defendant would be acquitted is another thing, but I think that frankly the charges fall right into the zone of what could be charged in this particular case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: The alleged shooter, Doyle, was held on a $60,000 bond. He posted that on Friday night. We have reached out to Mr. Doyle and his family. They have not returned our calls -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Valencia, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

All right. Coming up, a man who may be responsible for a string of slayings in Ohio is dead. The disturbing details on that, next.

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[15:48:28] WHITFIELD: All right. Investigators may have the break they have been looking for in the case of a possible serial killer in a small Ohio town. In the past year, six women have either vanished or turned up dead. The victims ran in the same circle. Many were drug addicts or prostitutes. The potential break in the case happening two hours away in Charleston, West Virginia. A woman said she was attacked by a man who answered an ad she posted on the adult Web site backpage.com. Here's the 911 call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a lady in the alley here. She's saying that some guy tried to rape her and she had to defend herself and she shot him and he's in the kitchen. He pulled a gun on her. She's got cuts and stuff all over her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She knows who this guy is?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know who the guy is?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I opened the door and he said live or die and he (INAUDIBLE) to me and I wrestled him and he was going to kill me (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he actually rape her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not sure. She said he tried to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was she able to injure him in any way?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. She shot him. She said he's on the kitchen floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So that shot was fatal. What investigators found in the man's car was shocking, according to police. Lieutenant Steve Cooper is heading the investigation in West Virginia.

So, lieutenant, tell me what was found in the car. What was so shocking?

LT. STEVE COOPER, CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA POLICE: When we processed the crime scene, what we found in Mr. Fall's vehicle was an ax, numerous knives, a bulletproof vest, a lot of handcuff a shovel. A large number of trash bags and a large container of bleach.

[15:50:18] WHITFIELD: And so, what have you surmised with that kind of information. Are you linking that to this spade of killings?

COOPER: We also found four sets of hand cuffs in Mr. Fall's pockets. And the brutality of the attack that took place in the house where the victim was able to defend herself and survive. All those things together lead us to believe that Mr. Falls has been involved in similar crimes. He is 45-years-old. It's unlikely that this is his first violent crime. So we're just sharing information with law enforcement across the country.

The Ohio case may or may not be linked. We are comparing notes with them and having regular conversations with them. There are several cases in Las Vegas where four girls have either gone missing or been murdered. And Mr. Falls lived there at the time and there was some dismemberment involved in those cases. So we're comparing notes with other detectives and the FBI and just trying to keep it all together.

WHITFIELD: All right, these are very gruesome details. So at what point do you try to make the connections? What will it involve?

COOPER: We're sharing our case file, photographs from the crime scene, statements from witnesses and from the victim herself. And they will compare facts and evidence in their cases and we will be entering the case into a (INAUDIBLE) with the FBI which is a national data base which tries to connect the dots on cases like this where there may be a serial killer involved or something similar to that. As well as (INAUDIBLE) which is a DNA database that linked sexual assaults and sexual murders in another data base.

WHITFIELD: All right. All these very tough details for anyone to listen to.

Lieutenant Steve Cooper thank you so much.

All right, coming up, a Spellman grad speaks out after the predominantly black women's college dropped Bill Cosby's big endowment. That story's straight ahead.

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[15:56:23] WHITFIELD: Atlanta's Spellman college is returning a very sizable donation from Bill Cosby and his foundation saying in a statement quote "the William and Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby endowed professorship at Spellman college has been discontinued and related funds have been returned to the Clara Elizabeth Jackson Carter foundation. The college has no further comment."

The foundation was established by Bill Cosby's wife Camille in honor of her mother as part of a $20 million gift years ago. The school has already suspended the endowment back in December of 2014 when allegations of sexual misconduct around Bill Cosby really reached a particular, you know, plateau.

So here with me now attorney Mo Ivory, you are an alum of Spellman College. And just to be clear, we did reach out to Spellman College to get further explanation of their statement. But we did not receive any answer.

But, you know, we did want to talk to someone who has close ties with the college, a historically black college, all women's campus, on what this entire process has meant. Because the Cosbys made this very sizable $20 million donation many, many years ago. And it was very greatly appreciated on that campus. There's a huge auditorium, the art center, which their names are prominently placed. And now with this investigation ongoing --

MO IVORY, ATTORNEY: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel like the college had to do something like this? Or what is your response to this?

IVORY: I feel very sad about the whole situation. You know, sort of dismissing myself from giving legal commentary on what's going to happen with Bill Cosby, just being a Spellman grad. And I'm a Spellman grad who was also there when the gift was given.

WHITFIELD: And what did it mean for that campus and for students on that campus that such an endowment, such generosity was given?

IVORY: Yes. So Spellman at that time, Doctor Cole had become the president there. And there was something happening at Spellman at the time. And we were becoming, you know, a school to be looked at and we were in the news. But we weren't quite there with the money and the funding that Spellman needed.

So, you know, she on that day made, you know, plans to make a big announcement and everybody gathered. And she made that announcement $20 million in 1988. What's that meant -- oh, my God, we're going to get better dorms and we are going to get a new science center. We were so happy. And there was a big celebration on campus. And Dr. Bill, we always call him Dr. Bill and, you know, Ms. Camille came and the students. They were around, you know. They were like the Huxtables. They were around and they, you know, would hug us. And Dr. Bill Cosby will come around and talk to us. His son was in my graduating class at More House College. So, he had two children - and that's who tragically died. And then his other -- one of his older daughters was at college at the same time at Spellman. She was two years above me. So, you know, the Cosby love was everywhere on Spellman campus.

So then fast forward, you have these investigations or at least these allegations and now we know one case has been given the green light to move forward in California. What has happened to that sentiment that so many on Spellman's campus shared and how have these allegations impacted that gift or even the image of Bill Cosby or the fact that Camille and Bill Cosby's names are on a very prominent building on an all-women's campus.

IVORY: Which I posted many -- on an all-women's campus. Listen, when their allegations first came out, there is a Facebook page for Spellman alone and it was very much split down the middle. Women were shattered, others were I don't believe it. Others said it doesn't mean anything for the college. They still did good stuff with the $20 million. They still - he still a philanthropist. You know, it was very split down in the middle. And then there was a woman who were saying, you know what, this is a woman's college. We cannot stand for this. So in 2014, there was a suspension of the professorship, the chair - the humanities chair - and now, they've made the decision to cut all ties. And I stand behind...

WHITFIELD: And to return the fund.

IVORY: Yes. And I stand behind whatever decision Spelman College made in their best interest but I know - being a Spelman grad - our hymn says, "Spelman thy name we praise, standards and honor raise", and that is something that means something to us. So I think we have to look at what our values are and I think we've made a decision in line with that.

WHITFIELD: All right. Mo Ivory, thanks so much and thanks for sharing with us. I know Spelman is very close to your heart.

IVORY: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. Appreciate it.

We'll have much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. It all starts right now.