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Deadly Shooting on Live Television; Stock Markets in the Asia- Pacific Area Gaining Ground Today After a Huge Rally on Wall Street; Biden Considers White House Run. Aired 00:00-01:00a ET.

Aired August 27, 2015 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:01]

ERROLL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: Ambushed while on the air, new details about the gunman who killed his former colleagues during a morning newscast.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: We are watching how markets in Asia are reacting to the DOW'S big rally.

BARNETT: And what Joe Biden is saying about a possible run for President.

ALLEN: We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen.

BARNETT: Good to be with you, Natalie. Hey, everyone, I'm Errol Barnett. This is CNN Newsroom.

ALLEN: The United States is dealing with yet another deadly shooting, this one all the more shocking because it happened on live television. Allison Parker and her cameraman Adam Ward were doing an interview when a former employee from their Roanoke, Virginia station walked up and shot them to death. Vester Flanagan was a reporter who had been fired two year ago.

BARNETT: It is a shocking incident. The crew had been interviewing a woman, Vicki Gardner, you see her here. She was shot in the back. Right now she's in stable condition after surgery. Outside the TV station, people understandably leaving flowers and balloons. It's a makeshift memorial that sprung up there. The young journalists' colleagues -- think of this, had to cover the story while dealing with their own grief.

ALLEN: CNN's Brian Todd is one of our team members covering the story there on the ground in Virginia. And he is joins me now with the very latest, Brian, hello.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, Natalie. This is still an active crime scene behind me, the Bridgewater Plaza Shopping Center where the two journalists Allison Parker, and Adam Ward were gunned down on Wednesday morning, investigators here combing through some of the scene tonight. What we're doing is putting together some new investigative threads now on the shooter's movements in the moments after the shooting. We learned investigators tracked him through his cell phone right after the shooting. He had driven almost 200 miles after ambushing the two journalists Wednesday morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is 6:45 a.m. WDBJ Reporter Allison Parker is conducting a live interview. Her cameraman Adam Ward is filming. Just seconds after Ward hands the camera back to his reporter, shots ring out. Both Parker and Ward are hit, as well as the woman being interviewed. Ward's camera films the shooter, gun raised in the air as he lay dying, and Ward's last living act capturing an image of his own murderer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allison Parker age 24 and Adam Ward age 27, died at the scene. Flanagan then fled before deputies arrived on the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, a manhunt is now on for a suspect who was obviously armed and is extremely dangerous. It would last nearly five hours and cover roughly 200 miles. Authorities say the shooter took off from the Bridgewater Plaza and headed northwest to the Roanoke Blacksburg Airport in a gray Mustang. While on the run, he apparently took time out to take credit for his crimes, 8:26 a.m., a manifesto from the shooter gets faxed to ABC News. Shortly after 10:00 a.m., a man claiming to be the shooter, calls ABC and tells them he shot two people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shortly before 11:00, Roanoke City Police Department located Flanagan's 2009 Ford Mustang at the Roanoke Regional Airport. Flanagan then left the airport in a Chevrolet Sonic that he had rented earlier in the month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These tweets started around 11:10. Around the same time, police discover he switched vehicles. He's actually posting things to social media while on the run. First trying to justify why he went after Allison Parker and Adam Ward and then unbelievably, posting video he filmed while killing them. What the shooter didn't know is the same phone he was using to post those heinous images was how authorities were tracking his movements and closing in. His car was spotted here, nearly 180 miles from away the airport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shortly before 11:30 a.m. this morning, Virginia State Police Trooper was on patrol along interstate 66. Her license plate reader alerted her to a license plate on a Chevrolet Sonic traveling east on 66. The driver of the Sonic refused to stop and sped away from the trooper. It was only a minute or two later when the Sonic ran off the road in to the median.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the trooper approaches the car, she discovers the driver had shot himself but is still alive. The manhunt is over.

RICK GARLETTS, VIRGINIA STATE POLICE: The suspect was later flown to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and died, pronounced dead at 1:26 p.m.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An important question now, how did the shooter know the two journalists were going to be at this shopping center so early on Wednesday morning? Authorities say that remains a key focus of the investigation right now. They do not have the answer to that question at the moment, Natalie?

[00:05:09]

ALLEN: Brian Todd there in Virginia. We thank you. Thanks, Brian.

BARNETT: Listen to this, a man named Brandon Foster said he was involved in a road rage incident with Vester Flanagan last month in Roanoke and he said he called Flanagan out at a red light for driving like a maniac. Well, Foster said Flanagan followed him to his destination while driving recklessly. He posted this recording to Youtube after Wednesday's murders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you finished?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been finished. You followed me here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to lose some weight, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks. Talk to the mirror.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jesus Christ. You follow a guy for driving (AUDIO GAP) loses his mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: You can only see so much from that. So CNN caught up with Brandon Foster a bit earlier. Take a listen to what he said about that encounter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's following you. You are a big guy. You can handle yourself. What's going through your mind when you're getting to the parking lot and you see him get out?

BRANDON FOSTER: Just a lot of things. I parked in a way that I wouldn't get blocked in and I got in my vehicle quickly so I wouldn't be in a cage with somebody that's aggressively following me. And I was pretty much making a beeline to the store, to population really to have other people around because he was obviously not in the right mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Dr. Erick Fisher is a licensed psychologist and joins us here at CNN center to try to process what we've all witnessed. It appears that the gunman carried many grievances, was let go a number of times from various jobs, and put real planning and effort into this shooting. What was in his manifesto tell you about his mental state?

ERICK FISHER: Well, I think we have to look here, here's somebody who -- for a long period of time felt they had been persecuted, bullied, humiliated, embarrassed, and shamed, and all of these emotions and effect of those emotions is feeling weak, feeling our power taken away. And what he was seeking to do was to try to get his power back. Potentially his role in the media had him knowing how to get attention and his use of social media. He knew that he would get some attention, whether infamy or not. But the outcome is simply tragic. And we have to look at this as a society and not just focus on the individual.

BARNETT: You are saying this is a larger issue. This is the first time we have seen in live television and he even recorded it and posted it on Facebook, as well. I want to hear what WDBJ Station Manager Jeff Marks had to say about what it was like working with the shooter. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF MARKS: His personal relationships sometimes he was a little aggressive and people were shy to work him. He was not a pleasant person as it turned out. He seemed to have some anger and distress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: So he seemed to blame others for his own shortcomings. And we have people in our newsroom who have worked with him at previous stations and they say the same thing. Is that a common trait in disturbed people to blame others and not take on responsibility? Because what changes a regular person from being someone who can take on a violent act like this?

FISHER: Well, again this is somebody who externalizes. If he was more narcissistic, at the core of every narcissist, which is somebody who looks to the world like they're the greatest thing, at the core of every narcissist is a shattered ego. They can't deal with any more blame or shame or guilt so they project it outwards. If this is somebody with persecutory delusions who might have been potentially borderline psychotic and we won't necessarily know that, then you are looking at somebody who feels like the world is against him and that can overlap in to narcissistic traits. So what we have to look at here, he saw the world as it was him against the world. What he then did with the South Carolina shooting is he found his cause to attach to. In his mind, I believe he was trying to say I'm going to represent the African-American societal culture, and I'm going to fight that battle for them. And then he was able to focus that on his targets of -- he felt two people who affected his employment at that last news station. And he held a grudge for so long. It wasn't just about them. It was about all the people that wronged him and he just projected all of that rage, anger and hatred onto those individuals.

BARNETT: I guess as a way of trying to justify it in his own mind. You were telling our team earlier as bad as this all is, we don't necessarily see his act as evil?

FISHER: No.

BARNETT: What do you mean by that?

FISHER: Often we want to call the person evil and move on, next story. This is not somebody who was evil. He didn't see his act as evil. He saw himself as a justified persecutor. In other words, somebody who was persecuted first who justifies his persecution of others, and the martyrs, somebody who is trying to fight for a cause something positive. He said when I go -- if I die at least I will die at peace. So we have to see that this is something in our culture we have to look at. Something around the world in multiple cultures we have to see about how we feel like other people take our power, how we feel other people diminish us, rather than looking for ways we can find our power within us. That has to do with mental health issues, it has to do with family issues, it has to do with community issues, and has to do with international politics. We can project these issues of hierarchical models of having power over people versus having power with people.

[00:10:40]

BARNETT: So many issues and also -- even though he had this bizarre behavior, there was no mental health record history. So it's unclear if changing gun laws would have made difference because as far as we know he purchased his weapons legally.

FISHER: And if he is narcissistic he doesn't think he needs treatment. And that's what happens so often is people don't think they need treatment. They think the world needs to change, not them.

BARNETT: Some incredible insight here, Dr. Erick Fisher, great to get you in here as a psychologist, appreciate your time, thanks a lot.

FISHER: Thank you.

ALLEN: Chris Hurst is a News Anchor at the Virginia station. He was Allison Parker's boyfriend. They had just moved in together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS HURST: This is my memory of her. When we had our six-month anniversary, she made a scrapbook for me. Put in all of the pictures we spent together for the first six months. Even pictures I didn't want to be in there. She put them in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Parker's friends and co-workers describe her as a rockstar, who loved her job and took a genuine interest in the people she interviewed. Parker started working full time at WDBJ a year ago. She was teamed with Ward on the morning show. CNN's Randi Kaye has more on what they both brought to journalism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLISON PARKER: When I was younger, I wanted to either become a doctor or become a pharmacist. But as a journalist, I get to cover those types of fields.

RANDI KAYE: This is how viewers got to know Allison Parker, a video produced by the station showing her smiling, full of life.

PARKER: I absolutely love Mexican food, very, very spicy food, enchiladas, tacos, you name it, I will eat it and the spicier the better.

KAYE: The 24-year-old Virginia native signed on with Television station WDBJ last year as a morning reporter. Allison covered everything from zoo animals to weather, even appearing on CNN last November.

PARKER: What you are seeing right now started out as heavy rain.

KAYE: Allison graduated from Virginia's James Madison University in 2012, and was the News Editor for the school paper. She loved white water rafting and kayaking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She took any assignment and ran with it. Her personality came through. She was smart, and gave her all to the job.

KAYE: Allison was dating the station's Evening Anchor Chris Hurst, though the couple had kept their relationship quiet. On twitter Hurst said he was numb, writing they were very much in love. They just moved in together after dating nine months. The best nine months of our lives, he wrote. We wanted to get married. She was the most radiant woman I ever met, and for some reason she loved me back. WDBJ Journalist Adam Ward was also killed at the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Adam Ward, news 7 sports.

KAYE: After a stint on air, he became a photographer and was Allison's morning partner for the last year. They first met at the station as interns. They were a good team, and it showed. Adam, come out in front of the camera, how do you feel right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I first put on the heels, I rolled an ankle. But we're good since then. It is very form fitting we'll say.

KAYE: Adam, an ex-athlete was a hard worker who was always smiling and respectful. He joined the station in 2011 after graduating from Virginia Tech. He enrolled the same year a gunman killed 32 people in a deadly rampage at the school. Those who knew him said he had a heart of gold. Adam was 27 and engaged to the station's Morning Producer Melissa who was at work in the control room watching the broadcast when the shooting happened live on air. It was her last day at the station. She had taken a new job and Adam may not have been far behind. He told her recently, I'm going to get out of news. I think I'm going to do something else. Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now, Allison Parker's family released a statement just a few hours ago. Her father called her a bright shining light. ALLEN: Andy Parker said, "Although her life was brief, she was so

happy with it." He appeared on Fox News earlier along with Allison's boyfriend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY PARKER, FATHER OF ALLISON PARKER: She lived a great life. I mean she did a lot of stuff. She excelled at everything she did. And she loved what she did. She loved the people that she worked with. She was happy with her place in life. So, you know, we can only take some solace in the fact that she had a wonderful life. She was extremely happy and she loved this guy with all her heart. That's the toughest thing for me -- everybody that she touched loved her and she loved everybody back. And, you know, I'm not going to let this issue drop. This is -- you know, we've got to do something about crazy people getting guns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:15:56]

BARNETT: And this incident, as many of the previous shooting has sparked up this debate over gun control.

ALLEN: As it always does.

BARNETT: In the U.S. it is important to keep in mind the second amendment in the U.S. constitution allows the Americans to right to bear arms, to have weapons. Now how would the many restrictions placed on that right.

ALLEN: President Barack Obama and Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton say they don't want to deny basic gun access to law- abiding citizens, but they are asking for gun control legislation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: What we know is that the number of people who die from gun-related incidents around this country dwarfs any deaths that happened through terrorism. We're willing to spend trillions of dollars to prevent terrorist activities, but we haven't been willing so far at least to impose some common sense gun safety measures that could save some lives.

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I feel just great heartache at what happened. And I want to reiterate how important it is we not let yet another terrible instance go by without trying to do something more to prevent this incredible killing that is stalking our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now to put this gun issue in to context for you, look at these numbers. Private Citizens in the U.S. own more guns than any other nation worldwide, an estimated 270 million civilian own firearms. This is according to the 2011 Small Arms Survey Report. ALLEN: Four years old. And the U.S. also has the most civilian guns

per capita, 89 firearms per 100 people according to the Small Arms Survey, that's well ahead of the other top five countries, Yemen, Switzerland, Finland and Cyprus.

BARNETT: Now the coverage of the shooting deaths of those two American journalists continues in our next half hour. We'll hear from the family of the man who carried out the murders.

ALLEN: Also ahead here, Wall Street breaks the six-day losing streak. We will see if the market in the Asia-Pacific region can follow suit. We have a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:22:09]

ALLEN: We're going to turn to the global economy now, stock markets in the Asia-Pacific area gaining ground today after a huge rally on Wall Street.

BARNETT: Yeah, let's take a look at some of the live numbers as they're coming in to us. The shanghai composite is up more than 1.5 percent. And you are seeing green throughout the region, the Nikkei is up 1.2 percent, the Hong Kong Seng showing the strongest growth of the day at 2.5 percent, and Australia's SNPA is (AUDIO GAP) also up, almost 1.5 percent there.

ALLEN: As we said, Wall Street managed to break its sixth day losing streak in grand fashion surging 619 points, thanks to a late-day rally.

BARNETT: Yeah, investors and analysts hope the optimism will be contagious. Richard Quest has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD QUEST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS ANCHOR: The sort of number investors has been hoping to see, the sharp rise in the DOW Jones up some 619 points after many days of serious losses. The markets have been up throughout the course of the whole session. It opened up sharply. It held the gains and then right towards the end of the close, up it went like a rocket. This is the third best performance in terms of points of the DOW since 2008. It's also a remarkably resilient and strong performance up 4 percent. Factor in to the overall global scene at the moment. You have markets like Hong Kong and China that have been down so much in recent days. You also have the London, the Frankfurt, and the Paris market. And now the hope has to be that with the buyers coming late in to the day into New York, and showing some form of resilience and optimism, that ultimately what's happened is that the negative feedback loop has been halted. Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: CNN's Steven Dinan is following developments from Beijing joins us now live, Richard Quest really showing us the how. But you know for those of us who aren't experts in financial markets, we all just wonder why. The sky was falling earlier in the week, today things seem fine. I'm wondering if today's rally in Asia is based on Wednesday's rally in the U.S. Is it that simple?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Errol, that's certainly related, the huge rally on Wall Street is very much felt here throughout Asia, but here, as you mentioned, the Shanghai composite ended up more than 1 1/2 percent before the lunch break. At least here in China, some of the government measures that have been announced in the past few days may be finally showing the desired effect. Just late last night, on Wednesday, the Central Bank here again injected more than $20 billion in to the economy trying to shore up the growth. And that was on top of the earlier week announcement of cutting the interest rate and easing bank lending. Also, the authorities announced more investigations into executives at the country's largest brokerage house, as well as officials in the securities regulatory commission for alleged insider trading and boomer mongering. So all these measures taking place here in China, they are trying to show they are in control to restore investor confidence. Because remember, when it comes to what investor confidence, the fundamentals of the economy is almost as important as the government's handling of the markets. Here in China, before the recent crash, many people have that thought the leadership here -- because of the political structure here, it is a one-party dictatorship, they are able to react more quickly to economic crises. They can adjust and launch policies without the oversight of parliament, for example. But since the market crashed on June 12th, the government series of policies didn't seem to have worked as well. The visible hand of the government seemed to have failed. And that was not good for the markets. That may explain some of the days of losing streaks that we have seen here in the market. So that's why the government continues trying to announce these measures trying to restore investor confidence, Errol?

BARNETT: It's different than what we saw earlier in the week, but you know what, the smog in Beijing has cleared behind you, giving us an unusually scenic background so maybe the financial fears are clearing up, as well, Steven joining us live from Beijing today, Steven thanks. Natalie?

ALLEN: Another story from China we have been following and there are developments. China state-run news says police have arrested 12 people suspected of involvement in the devastating explosions a few days ago in Tianjin. Those in custody include the chairman, vice chairman, and three managers of the company which stored the chemicals inside the warehouse that blew up. Last week, state media said ten senior executives with the firm had been detained. The blast killed 139 people.

[00:27:15]

BARNETT: Still to come here on CNN Newsroom, an update on the deadly shooting of a TV news crew. And we'll show you the statement from the gunman's family.

ALLEN: Also, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is considering a run for the White House. He's still undecided. His latest admission on that subject is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: You are still watching CNN newsroom, thanks so much for staying with us. I'm Errol Barnett.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: And I'm Natalie Allen. The headline this hour, Vester Flanagan was a former television reporter who had a long history of complaints with his employers. On Wednesday, he shot to death a reporter and cameraman during a live television interview in Virginia. Flanagan later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

BARNETT: The murdered victims were 24-year-old Alison Parker and 27- year-old cameraman Adam Ward. Parker had been a reporter at WDBJ. Just over a year, a college friend said he never saw Ward without a smile. Chamber of Commerce Director Vicki Gardner, who was being interviewed by Parker when the shooting took place, was shot in the back. She is recovering in the hospital.

ALLEN: Stocks are higher across the board at the Asia-Pacific region right now, as you can see the Shanghai composite up 1.55, Tokyo's Nikkei up as well, just under that. The Hang Seng is at 2.53 percent and Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 1.46. The Dow broke it sixth day losing streak finishing up 619 points, its biggest one-day gain since 2008.

BARNETT: U.S. military officials say they are close to confirming the death of a prominent ISIS recruiter who was targeted in a U.S. drone strike in Syria. Official say, Junaid Hussain, a British-born recruiter and hacker was heavily involved in inspiring ISIS attacks. Including one of the cartoon contest in Garland, Texas earlier this year, you may remember.

ALLEN: Returning now to the shooting death of a TV crew as they were doing a live interview. Friends and family are grieving the loss of a reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward.

BARNETT: And details are emerging about that killer as well a former reporter, as Natalie mentioned, who had repeated conflicts at work. Hala Gorani takes us through the events as they unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A regular retro's (ph) television scene. Local reporter Alison Parker interviews a guest live from a shopping center in Virginia. Moments later, horror as she and her cameraman Adam Ward are shot dead while on air. As Adam falls, his camera captures a glimpse of the shooter. His weapon still raised. The gunman is Vester L. Flanagan, a former reporter at WDBJ who went by the screen name Bryce Williams. Chillingly, hours after the attack, Williams posted a video of the shooting from his perspective on social media. Proving he was there. Williams' tweets also hint at a motive. Apparent gripes with his former colleagues. According to an ex- employee, Williams was fired from WDBJ. The station has been left reeling after first announcing the death of their colleagues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY MARKS, WDBJ GENERAL MANAGER: It was my very, very sad duty to report that we have determined that Alison and Adam died this morning, shortly after 6:45 when the shots rang out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Alison Parker was just 24 years old. Her boyfriend, and anchor at the same network, tweeted shortly afterward. "We didn't share this publicly, but Alison Parker and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb." Alison's colleague Adam Ward was engaged to Mary, one of the morning producers at WDBJ. In a cruel twist of fate, his fiancee was in the control room watching when this played out live on air. Speaking to CNN shortly afterward, the WDBJ president said his staff was in shock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARKS: We have people around here in tears, a lot of hugs. We have a friend of the -- of our newsroom who is a pastor and here consoling people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:34:55] GORANI: The woman being interviewed when the shooting took place was also hit. She's been undergoing surgery in hospital, a routine interview that turned in to inexplicable tragedy. Hala Gorani, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: And you know it's unreal how the station kept on reporting and reported on their own colleagues because they are in shock.

BARNETT: Yeah, and of numbness to the insanity of what happened.

ALLEN: Yeah, what it was like when they got home and were able to let it go.

BARNETT: Probably just sinking in now.

ALLEN: Horrible. A spokeswoman for Vester Flanagan's family in California spoke with reporters in the hours after the shooting.

BARNETT: Yeah, and the statement was short and expressed grief for the victims. It did not mention the shooter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMBER BOWMAN, FLANAGAN FAMILY FRIEND: It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness we express our deepest condolences to the families of Alison Parker and Adam Ward. We are also praying for the recovery of Vicki Gardner. Our thoughts and prayers at this time are with the victims' families and with WDBJ television station family. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Spokeswoman for the family. We are learning more about Flanagan, including the day he was fired from WDBJ. His former co- worker there tell us that day he was so enraged, he had to be escorted from the TV station by police.

BARNETT: Now with strangers after Wednesday's shooting, he faxed a 23- page document to ABC News in the U.S. detailing his grievances. Included was also a suicide note. He expressed admiration for the gunman in the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech that killed 32 people. And Flanagan said his tipping point was the June mass shooting at the predominantly black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

ALLEN: CNN analyst and former assistant director of the FBI Tom Fuentes join me now to talk more about this. Tom, thanks for joining us. We know you have been on CNN talking about this. Let's start with the gun used, the type of gun that he was able to use to shoot two people so easily and wound a third.

TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: Well, Natalie, apparently he had purchased two glock pistols legally, here in Virginia. And they are not sure yet which gun was used to or if both were used. We will know that better after the autopsies and after the ballistic comparisons are made, but he did buy two with glocks legally here in the state of Virginia.

ALLEN: He had a troubled past, but nothing from that troubled past would prevent him from purchasing a gun in the U.S.?

FUENTES: No.

ALLEN: That will be what? Unless what?

FUENTES: Well, unless he had convictions for felonies or if he had been known to be committed for, you know psychiatric care, mental health care, let's say. And apparently, neither of those two occurred. So he was able to, this year purchase both guns legally.

ALLEN: And he said that he did -- he put a deposit down, I'm quoting him, "I put down a deposit for a gun on 6/19. The church shooting in Charleston happened on 6/17 and he reportedly indicated that the Charleston shooting was the trigger for him. What do you make of that?

FUENTES: Well, he indicated many things. And it sounds like he had, you know a very serious mental health issues and anger management problems and extreme narcissism and other indicators going back many years. He had already been employed and fired from several TV stations here in the U.S. and you know, so it sounds like it's not something that developed overnight. It developed over a long period of time. He, himself, cited that as one of the triggers, but it would have been on his part of piling up of grievances and feeling discriminated against and oppressed over a long period of time. And I think finally, you know, he felt like he was going to seek retribution on based to reporters -- the reporter and the cameraman based on, you know, relationship that he had with them when he worked at that station. ALLEN: It is hard to believe with such troubles in the past, losing a job, he's been involved in -- he was involved in lawsuits, that he wouldn't have sought psychiatric care or perhaps the TV station not had asked him to have psychiatric care through their own benefit. You say, though, if he had any psychiatric care it would have shown up as far as a background check.

[00:39:28] FUENTES: Not necessarily. We have to enter a record, would have to be made of that could be retrieved when they do the background checks for purchasing guns, but there are many loopholes in that here in the U.S. for you know, being able to obtain weapons without the necessary background checks. And you know, as far as a mental health issues, really, it's difficult for anyone else, even a family member to commit somebody to psychiatric care if they don't want to get it. And the fact they have mental health issues, they probably don't realize they have mental health issues and don't seek the care. So although, he did say in his manifesto that you know he was a powder keg and was going to go boom, but you know beyond that, a lot of people make statements in various, you know social media accounts that often it is just talk and you don't know they are actually going to go over the edge and commit a violent act.

ALLEN: We appreciate your expertise analysis, as always, Tom Fuentes for us. Thank you.

FUENTES: You are welcome, Natalie.

BARNETT: More of the world's biggest stories coming up. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is hesitating about entering the 2016 presidential race. The emotional reason, after this short break, stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: Now for those of you following U.S. politics closely, you know that it seems as if Vice President Joe Biden could enter the 2016 presidential race any day now.

ALLEN: It is has been a will he, won't he thing in a while. In a conference call with key members of the Democratic Party, he spoke emotionally about his concerns about running. Here's Jim Acosta with that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Behind closed doors, Vice President Joe Biden held a conference call with Democratic Party leaders, gathered for a summer meeting that's aimed at attracting presidential contenders. During the call, Biden revealed he is trying to determine if he has what you called the emotional fuel to run.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If I were announce to run I have to be able to commit to all of you that I would be able to give it my whole heart and my whole soul. And right now, both are pretty well banged up and we're trying to figure out that issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The call was billed as an opportunity to hear from Biden on the Iran nuclear deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We have access to any place in the entire country of Iran, regardless of where it is, where we suspect it to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:45:05] ACOSTA: But it was all seen by top democrats as another sign Biden wants to stay on their radar screen. The vice president has ever reason to hurry up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Vice President Biden is a friend of mine. He and I were colleagues in the Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: His potential competition, Hillary Clinton is busy building up her reputation in Iowa. Having a key endorsement from that states popular Former Governor Tom Vilsack, but she is sounding more contrite than ever on her use of a personal e-mail account to conduct official business as secretary of state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Well, I know people have raised questions about my e-mail use as secretary of state and I understand why. I get it. So here's what I want the American people to know. My use of personal e-mail was allowed by the State Department. It clearly wasn't the best choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: A source close to the Clinton campaign tells CNN they are not worried about Biden. They are way more focused on Sanders. But the vice president's allies like the draft Biden super pac says democratic donors are ready for an alternative.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE SCHALE, DRAFT BIDEN: I have been surprised by the number of donors who reached out some of them are with Hillary Clinton fairly. Some who are not until they want to get involved?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Still, after losing his son Beau to cancer, Biden may not be prepared for a run. As one friend told Politico, he is just not himself. He is sort of all over the place. Something the vice president hinted at in that call with the DNC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: That's the truth of the matter and the -- but believe me, I have been giving this a lot of thought and dealing internally in the family about how to do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Meantime, on the other side of the aisle, republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump remains unapologetic, imagine that, for tossing a prominent journalist out of the news conference in Iowa on Tuesday night. And here's what Trump had to say in a TV interview, Wednesday morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He was totally out of line last night. I was asking and being asked a question from another reporter. I would have gotten to him very quickly. And he stood up and started ranting and raving like a mad man and frankly, he was out of line and most people, in fact, most newspaper reports said I handled it for well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Trump had Jorge Ramos escorted out of the event by his security for trying to ask about his plan to deport some 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. Ramos explained to CNN why he wanted Trump to answer his questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORGE RAMOS, UNIVISION ANCHOR: As a reporter, I believe you have to take a stand when it comes to racism, discrimination, corruption, public life, dictatorship and human rights. The best of journalism that which (inaudible) is always when reporters take a stand in front of those who are in power, and I think the most important social responsibility as a reporter is to prevent and denounce the abuse of those who are in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now for those of you who may not know, Ramos is a well- respected Mexican-American journalist for Univision. He has a very large following. And he wrote an article before the incident, painting a picture of what Trump's plan would look like if he did become president, quote, "For Trumpland to be free of undocumented immigrants, terror would necessarily reign."

ALLEN: Coming up here, first there was Apple's Siri. We all know her and then Microsoft's Cortana now we'll tell you what Facebook's new virtual assistant can do.

[00:48:52] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: Welcome back, everyone. After a quiet start to the Atlantic hurricane season, tropical storm Erika has formed and now has its sights set on the U.S. mainland.

ALLEN: Erika, she sounds like she could be in trouble. Let's find out. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is with us. I thought that El Nino, was supposed to keep the Erika's of the world away from us.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Normally, it would and yeah, it keeps the Pacific very active and the Atlantic relatively quiet. Well, now Natalie, we are starting to edge towards the peak of the hurricane season which is roughly September 13th. Fortunately, Erika is very disorganized. Remember we got the National Hurricane Center and NOAA working together. They send reconnaissance aircraft to and from these developing tropical storms and they just came back with the latest update. Pressure really isn't even dropping for the storm. Very disorganized, but nonetheless, something we want to monitor very closely. Tropical storm warnings stretching from Antigua to the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, all the way to Puerto Rico. But there is also tropical storm watches from the northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic up towards the Turks and Caicos, now as well. Latest stats on this, 45 mile per hour sustained winds right near the center, higher wind gusts. And we had a spread of ensembles. We call it a spaghetti plot because it literally looks like pieces of spaghetti. Well, this shows the potential tracks depending which model you look for. The furthest east facing model actually indicates an intense strengthening period with the storm. Perhaps, even a cat three or cat four as we work into the first parts of next week. But the more reliable models show the storm, well actually, weakening for a brief period before strengthening later on as it edges closer and closer towards the U.S. mainland, near the Florida coast. In fact, here's the official forecast from the National Hurricane Center and you can see the storm system just edging that area. It's going to move in to warm open waters as well. Temperatures need to be above 80 degrees in order for favorable development, but it is going to go through a lot of wind shear and that has potential to really deteriorate the storm, before it goes through the strengthening process. Nonetheless, we still see three to five inches of rain across the Dominican Republic. I want to quick end with this, Natalie and Errol. We've got a drought ongoing across much of Europe, including Germany and Poland, but something impressive has happened here in Warsaw. The River Vistula that has actually dropped to its lowest record levels, but take a look at what it's revealed lately. This is amazing stuff. Some archaeologists have actually revealed some World War II artifacts, including a soviet fighter with, pilot remains, that's inside of this plane. You are looking at it right now. And they have found parachutes, uniforms, pistols, and heavy ammunition. And really, this is all thanks to the fact this ongoing drought has allowed for the archaeologists to get in there and actually retrieve some of these World War II artifacts, amazing stuff.

[00:55:28] ALLEN: And it's interesting.

BARNETT: Fascinating.

DAM: Yeah, it is. I agree.

BARNETT: Derek Van Dam, thanks very much.

DAM: Thanks guys.

BARNETT: Now along the lines of Apple's Siri, Facebook has announced its own assistant program. It's simply called M. It doesn't have a voice, instead you just communicate with it via text.

ALLEN: Siri, game on. It's war.

BARNETT: Yeah.

ALLEN: Just like other digital assistants, we are told M, will answer your questions about trivia or the weather, with if you don't have Derek Van Dam on your Twitter. But M can also help you place on-line orders and book flights and hotels. It is thanks to a team of people working behind the scenes to supervise M. We'll see if it takes on Siri.

BARNETT: Interesting. Yeah. Now Burger King is a friend (ph) to join forces with its Golden Arches rival, McDonald's. This is strange. They say that was for a good cause. The burger chain proposed that both companies come together to make the McWhopper, a blend of their Whopper and Big Mac burgers that they sell on Peace Day, which is September 21st.

ALLEN: The McWhopper (inaudible). But McDonald's had declined that offer to and the beat saying the two brands could do something bigger to make a difference. That looks like we won't have a McWhopper.

BARNETT: Maybe sell some McSalads, just make people McHealthy.

(LAUGHTER)

BARNETT: Just like that (inaudible).

ALLEN: Sounds pretty good.

BARNETT: All right, thanks for watching, everyone. I'm Errol Barnett.

ALLEN: And I'm Natalie Allen. I will be back with more CNN newsroom after a short break.