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Protesters Gathering Ahead of Trump Rally; Funerals Held Today For Five Shooting Victims; Analyzing Orlando Killer's Pledge to ISIS; Disney Adds New Signs, Barriers at Resort Beaches; Will Disney Brand Suffer after Boy's Death; Iraqi PM: ISIS Not Long Controls Fallujah; Protesters Gather Ahead of Trump Rally in Arizona; 49 Wooden Crosses Provide Comfort of Orlando Community. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired June 18, 2016 - 17:00   ET

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


[17:00:10] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: You can watch "THE HUNT" tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Five o'clock Eastern Time, I'm Jim Sciutto and you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

In about two hours, Donald Trump is set to speak in Phoenix. And police there are already bracing for protests. People have been gathering for hours now despite the intense heat. Several roads have been shut down around the event side to prepare for possibly raucous crowds. I also want to show you this. It is a giant, inflatable mock-up of Donald Trump. It has been inflated there in Phoenix featuring the presumptive Republican nominee wearing a KKK robe and swastika. Beside it, the sign, you can see it there, reads, make America hate again.

Joining me now from Phoenix is CNN's Ana Cabrera, she is right there where those protesters have been gathering and from inside the event, is CNN political reporter Jeremy Diamond. Ana, first, what happened to the inflatable? When we talked to you last hour, it was right behind you?

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the inflatable gone and so are the protesters. In fact, just over my shoulder, one last remaining sign. This is what's left of that gathering. That began early this morning around 10 a.m. here local time and ended around 1:00 p.m., which is what event organizers told me they had planned to do. They wanted to send their message before it got too hot outside. Because it is supposed to be 110 degrees here in Arizona today.

They were not looking to confront Donald Trump's supporters only to make sure they knew that this was their message, one of unification and one that is against what Donald Trump they believe represents. And they are tying him of course to these symbols of hate and divisiveness. Now, I do want to say, there is still a very large police presence around this event site where Donald Trump is expected to speak. Because in the past here in Arizona, when he came last in March, there were protests and there were clashes between protesters and Donald Trump supporters that resulted in a few arrests.

In fact, protesters shut down an entire roadway trying to prevent supporters from getting to Donald Trump's event here back here in March. Now, police took precautions this time, planned ahead. After seeing that, they are working with local, state and federal law enforcements in coordinating the effort and they're holding this event in an indoor venue that is heavily surrounded by a big cement wall. So, law enforcement really can control the access to the venue. And will only allow those Donald Trump event attendees into that zone. They are preparing for potential conflict. But they are hoping for the best here -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: We just saw one of those potential conflicts right on camera there. Jeremy, you are inside the venue there. What is the mood like in there? I can see the crowd gathering behind you.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Jim, well, people have started to come in here. We are about two hours away from Donald Trump speaking here. And of course, you know, just like a lot of the protesters outside are talking about immigration and protesting immigration. Donald Trump is also sure to talk about that hot button issue which is of course a key issue here in Arizona, which is a border state. This is Donald Trump's fourth visit to the state. The last three times he came here, there was a big immigration focus of course.

And today's visit comes in the wake of course of the last week during which Donald Trump has really hammered home his points on National Security in the wake of the Orlando terror attack last Sunday. And so, and Donald Trump has actually tied those two issues despite the fact that this gunman was actually born in the United States. Donald Trump has kind of seized on the issue of terrorism to reinforce his points on immigration saying that the United States needs strong border security, needs a wall and also reinforcing its point about the Muslim ban which is that he wants to temporarily ban all foreign Muslims from entering the United States. So, certainly we have seen the convergence of those issues in the last week and I think we'll be seeing more of that today -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Ana Cabrera, Jeremy Diamond covering Donald Trump. Thanks very much. So, that's what's coming in Phoenix. But I want to play for you something Donald Trump said in Las Vegas, this just a few hours ago today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Forced into a corner by crazy Bernie. One thing about Bernie, he doesn't give up. This guy doesn't give up, right? Crazy Bernie, he doesn't give up. Yes. Crazy Bernie. He is crazy as a bed bug but, you know, he doesn't quit. He doesn't quit. And I think Bernie should continue to go forward, folks. He should continue to go forward.

He should fight to the last end. Well, he is waiting for really the FBI to do what everybody thinks they are going to do. I mean, I think that is it. I think he is sort of saying, look, let's hang in there, because ultimately it's called, the FBI convention. And then we'll be the only people and we will have done something like Trump did. I want to be like Trump. I want to be like Trump. But I think he is waiting for the FBI convention. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see if the right thing happens. Everybody knows what the right thing is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:05:37] SCIUTTO: Some classic Donald Trump there to hash this out. I have got CNN Politics reporter, Tom LoBianco, and CNN senior media correspondent as well as host of "Reliable Sources," Brian Stelter. Tom, let's interpret those comments there. Was that an entreaty to Sanders supporters perhaps could have joined the Trump train. Well, you know, I would take that as him digging in a little bit with Hillary. Trump had a bad handful of weeks here in what is effectively the general election now. And you know, what he still has is a foot hold within the Democratic Party.

TOM LOBIANCO, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: You know, it was expected that maybe Sanders would get out by last Thursday, by just a few days ago or at least dial it back. And he really didn't give a very strong indication in a lot of ways, he went the other way. And he said that he wants to hire, you know, more progressives to run at the local levels. He wants Debbie Wasserman Schultz out at the Democratic Party. It was little, it was weird, it's definitely not a concession, it was not a sign that he was leaving.

So, Trump is finding that leverage and he's pulling at it. He's doing what he does best. I mean, obviously, he did this incredibly throughout the Republican primary with his opponents. And here he is again.

SCIUTTO: Right. Trump had an issue to some other hiccups if you could call -- last couple of weeks, yet he's got a big social media fumble this week when he tweeted this. This poll showing him losing to Hillary Clinton. We know Donald Trump. You know, he doesn't run this through a team of editors or any sort of committee before he does it. Is this something that has some sort of staying powers, is that a 24 hour story and we move on to the next thing?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think it amused some people. Because normally, Trump is very, very aware of his polls, aware of status. He is very data driven. Earlier this week, he was quickly reciting his successes in various states and his successes in various polls. In this case, this commission poll had him down. Forty nine percent versus 51 percent against Hillary Clinton. It is actually a better performance than most of the polls we have seen recently.

The narrative about Trump's performance has changed wildly in the past month. Less than a month ago, you are talking about the polls tightening, about Hillary and Trump being right here neck and neck. And in some ways, Trump maybe right on her tail. But now, we've seen a real widening in the past two weeks. It is dangerous to read too much into conventional wisdom. The conventional wisdom has been wrong too many times as --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

STELTER: But right now, Trump is relatively far behind Clinton in most of professional polls. And so the idea that he picked out this one poll where he looked a little better but was still losing to her was notable. And we have heard him in interviews and rallies recently, starts to acknowledge that he is behind Clinton a bit. It will be interesting to see how he talks about that in the days and weeks coming go and forward at the end of the conventions.

SCIUTTO: All right. Brian Stelter, Tom LoBianco. Thanks very much. But please stick around, we're going to come back to you.

As unusual as this presidential campaign has been so far, it is even more unusual when you consider that neither presumptive nominee is particularly popular?

CNN chief national security national correspondent and "INSIDE POLITICS" anchor John King explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Crooked Hillary.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Temperamentally unfit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR, "INSIDE POLITICS": If you listen to the rhetoric on the campaign every day, it is rock-em, sock-em robots. Crooked Hillary, dangerous Don. But if you're in a battleground state, turn on your TV. Hillary Clinton is on the air, and the ads, they're pretty soft.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For Hillary, it has always been about kids. And when millions couldn't get health care, this first lady worked with Republicans and Democrats to fix it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Why is Hillary Clinton doing that? Well, here is one reason, she knows, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have sky-high unfavorable ratings. Record high. Fifty four percent of Americans in the latest Bloomberg poll say they view Hillary Clinton the presumptive Democratic nominee unfavorably. They think they don't like her. Sixty six percent, two-thirds of Americans say, they view Donald Trump unfavorably. So, if you're both of these candidates, five months to Election Day, you need to change this.

She is on the air with these soft ads saying Hillary cares about children, Hillary cares about health care. Hillary is fighting for you. And she is doing it in important places, places like Colorado, places like Nevada, places like Ohio. Interestingly, North Carolina. Romney won that in 2012. Obama won it in 2008. So, Hillary Clinton was on early advertising trying to stretch the map. We would like to show you a Donald Trump ad countering that. But he is not running any. And that has a lot of Republicans frustrated. [17:10:12] Fifty five percent of Americans right now say they have a

favorable view of President Obama. That is pretty good. He is above water, if you will. Above 50 percent. If you put him on this chart, it would be 43 percent have an unfavorable view of President Obama. So, these are the two people who want to replace this guy. He is doing okay. That tells you, these two have a lot of work to do. So, if you are watching this election, one of the questions you get a lot when you travel to countries, what about the libertarians? What about some third party candidacy? Is that possible? Because as we just noted, these two candidates dislikes so much.

It's a problem for her, it's a crisis for him. We are in that very critical phase right now. And again, the Clinton campaign has unity in the party, has resources in the bank. He's beginning to use those resources to try to change these bad numbers. And a lot of Republicans were saying, Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump, you have to do things differently. His answer has been, I did it in this way in the primaries and it worked for me. I think I'm okay. I don't think I need to spend as much money, he doesn't think normal campaign metrics apply. We're going to find out.

SCIUTTO: John King there ahead live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Final good- byes as family and friends of the victims memorialize their loved ones. Investigators piecing together the Orlando killer's final days.

Plus, tragedy at Disney, new signs and fences go up at Walt Disney World beaches. But in the wake of a deadly gator attack, is this enough?

And later, high-tech, hijacking, why one man is hacking the Twitter accounts of ISIS supporters replacing terrorist propaganda with gay pornography. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:01] SCIUTTO: We have new details today on the investigation into the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando. That is just moments away. But first, it is a day of mourning. One more day of mourning in Orlando. Heartbroken families and friends are gathering to say their final good-byes. Five funerals today honoring victims of the rampage at the Pulse nightclub. Cory James Connell, Joel Rayon Paniagua, Luis Vielma, Stanley Almodovar III and Antonio Davon Brown. They're all being laid rest today in separate private ceremonies. Right now, some victims wounded in the attack or still fighting to stay alive.

Here is the update from the Orlando Regional Medical Center. Nineteen injured people remain hospitalized, four of them still in critical conditions. Three victims in guarded condition. Twelve of the wounded are in stable condition. Since the attack, surgeons there have performed some 54 operations to try to help these victims recover.

Now, on to the investigation. The FBI is questioning a friend who called the Orlando shooter during the rampage, while it was underway. We know the two discussed at the time medication. But it is not clear whether the friend knew that the massacre was underway. Also new evidence suggests that the killer made financial provisions for his family in the weeks leading up to the attack. And he bought his wife a very expensive piece of jewelry.

I want to bring in Ed Lavandera, he's covering the investigation today from the ground in Orlando, Florida.

Ed, we hear the FBI is now scrutinizing what could be a crucial clue from inside the nightclub. Tell us what they have in their hands now.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. A crucial piece of evidence. And it's probably excruciating to watch. But it is surveillance video from inside the Pulse nightclub. And as rain falls here in Orlando, those investigative teams continue to work the scene. This area still blocked off to traffic as investigators have mobilized here in this block. And they continue to do the forensic work inside of that nightclub gathering all the clues and evidence that they can possibly gather.

And one of the key ones we are learning about today is that surveillance video. Jim, it is hard to imagine that this kind of video would ever see the light of day. But investigators need to take a look at that video to kind of see for themselves exactly how everything played inside that nightclub during those horrific three hours last Sunday morning.

SCIUTTO: So, Ed, we are learning now about the killer's spending habits in the weeks leading up to the attacks. I mean, it looks like he was making preparations to die.

LAVANDERA: Right. Investigators have been saying that this wasn't an attack that was quickly carried out or was a spur of the moment decision by Omar Mateen to attack this particular nightclub last Sunday morning. And they point out to a series of clues, evidence like having visited this area, driven up to this area in the weeks leading up to the attack as well. Looking at financial documents in the family that Omar Mateen had changed bank accounts to include his wife's name on those accounts as well as documents related to his life insurance policy as well as the thousands of dollars that he spent on the weaponry that was used in the weeks leading up to this attack as well as you mentioned off the top there buying a very expensive piece of jewelry for his wife as well. So, the point to all of those clues as evidence that this was a premeditated attack.

SCIUTTO: Premeditated mass murder. Ed Lavandera in Orlando right from the scene there.

Next live, in the CNN NEWSROOM. The Orlando shooter pledged his allegiance to ISIS in the middle of that bloody massacre and he warned of fresh ISIS attacks upcoming on the U.S. soil.

Coming up, we'll talk about the terror group's ability to inspire often troubled young men without even speaking to them or contacting them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:22:44] SCIUTTO: Welcome back. Live to the CNN NEWSROOM, in the middle of his killing spree right in the middle. The Orlando shooter stopped to call 911 and pledge allegiance to the terror group ISIS. He also has said to have posted an ominous warning on Facebook promising more ISIS attacks in the U.S., in the coming days. CIA Director John Brennan told Congress this week that the Orlando shooter had no direct links to ISIS but was rather inspired by the terror group online.

Let's talk this over this with our panel, global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier and former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes. Tom, I will ask you here. I mean, we have been here before, not just in terms of terror attacks but also mass shootings. I just wonder if there is anything different about the reaction to this attack that you see in your experience that might spell a different respond, something more comprehensive, whether it is gun control or how it would have a political effect or are you seeing more of the same?

TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Well, Jim, I see more of the same. And I think, but the key issue to all of this is, is that we have to find a way to stop ISIS from broadcasting its messages all over the world going to tens of thousands of people who then self- radicalize, get inspired and are told, use a gun, use a knife, use a hatchet, if you can make a bomb, great, use your car, run people over. That message is just a steady drumbeat. And I don't see any way we are going to stop that until we find their broadcast studio in places where they are disseminating from and stop it.

And as long as they can control territory from which to produce those kinds of inspiring messages that go out every day, until we stop it, they are going to keep going out. And people like this guy and others, there will be more in the future, will take action. They will do something at some point. And it's going to be up to the authorities and the United States and all over the world to try to read their mind and figure out when they are going to cross the line and go active.

SCIUTTO: Kim, we heard C.I.A. Director John Brennan making a grim assessment this week. He said ISIS is as strong at least of a terrorist group as ever and that's despite their battlefield losses in Iraq or Syria. I just want to ask this basic question because we talk about ISIS as primarily a terrorist group. And it's also an insurgency, it's effectively a state there in Iraq and Syria. Is there a focus on inspiring terror attacks abroad? Or is there real focus on fighting a battle there on the ground in Iraq and Syria?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, they do have a few different areas that they are trying to reach out to people too. One of them is by saying, look, even though we are facing the coalition, we are still holding ground in Iraq and Syria. And they are fighting hard tooth and nail to get us out. But it is not easy for them. And yet, we are still here. Meanwhile, they are moving to other areas where there is instability. Places like Libya, across Africa, Yemen, places or parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Places where the government is there and the security system is there, also fairly weak. So, they can simply move their ideology to another location. Meanwhile, they are also trying to inspire people a little bit like direct mail. You send out 2,000 pieces of mail and you hope that three people respond. That's what they're doing trying to inspire these terrorist's attacks. They are hoping there will be just a few people who will want to use their mantle, their banner and come up with their own skills to carry out an attack.

SCIUTTO: Yes. You don't need a big response rate. Tom, and just to help our viewers at home explain. They have heard the report that the FBI looked into this shooter, in 2013, 2014. They had him under investigation for ten months. He had posted some things on Facebook, social media in the past, made comments and yet he is able to carry out this attack. I mean, today, how many folks fall into that category in the U.S.? How many hundreds or dozens fall into that category that gives law enforcement and counter terror officials, you know, a chance to make a judgment call? How many folks do they have to deal with?

FUENTES: Well, Jim, having run these types of case in my time and the FB time, there are a number of cases, there's thousands that the bureau opens, looks at, does everything they can and ends up closing, because the person has not crossed the line or hasn't radicalized yet which may be the case with Mateen. That in 2013, he just wasn't ready, he wasn't going operational when they were looking at him and introducing informants into him, trying to see what he was doing. That was a ten-month investigation.

[17:27:28] I could tell you, that would tie up a couple of dozen agents and analysts for all ten months to have a case that intense. And if he is not radical, they cannot talk him into it. We've heard that whole entrapment argument for years. So, if he is not ready to do it, there is nothing they can do about it. As far as guidelines beyond that of how long to keep the case, the bureau doesn't have full discretion on that. We have attorney general guidelines, we have other rules and requirements and constitutional requirements that kick in that prevent the bureau from investigating somebody forever if there is no new information to do it with.

Now, we are hearing from his wife and others that he started to do a lot of things just in the last couple of weeks. He bought the two guns a week before the attack. He was trying to buy body armor a week or so before that. Now, we are hearing about the jewelry and the quitclaim deed on his home and other activities. But that's all within the last couple of months. That is not what was happening in 2013 or 2014. Unfortunately, when it started happening in 2016, nobody notified the bureau that it was happening.

SCIUTTO: Kim, based on what we know now and there's still questions to be answered. Was this more of a mass shooting or a terror attack?

DOZIER: It really is looking at least to me more like a mass shooting done by a disturbed individual who was looking for a reason to carry it out. He wanted to make this sick violent attack look noble in some way. He bought into the message being sold by ISIS. But also he mentioned a few other terrorist groups, he mentioned al Qaeda at one point. So, he doesn't seem to even understand that these different groups get along or work together.

So, mass shooting with, you know, he found a reason. Unfortunately, ISIS has designed it that way. They're saying essentially, you know, do whatever violence you want, against whatever target you choose. Just claim allegiance to us and we will give you our cover.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Cover for something horrible.

Tom Fuentes, Kimberly Dozier, thanks very much again.

Coming up live in the CNN NEWSROOM, the new precautions Disney is taking after that little boy was killed there by an alligator.

Plus, we are hearing from that two-year-old's family now for the first time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:32:56] SCIUTTO: Welcome back, live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Walt Disney World is now instituting new precautions just days after an alligator dragged a little boy to his death in a lagoon at one of the theme park resorts. Crews are installing barriers and new warnings signs at several beaches on Disney properties.

Brynn Gingras joins me from Lake Buena Vista Florida.

Brynn, how far is Disney going to warn guests of this possible danger?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, after this horrific incident happened on Tuesday night, we know that Disney said they were going to survey all their properties and figure out where extra precautions needed to be made. You saw some of that video. They realized about two dozen properties where there is water needed those extra precautions. So far, they have gotten to about nine areas, waterfront areas that either needed fencing or extra signage. Some of that extra signage, where this incident happened, the Seven Seas Lagoon, it just said "No swimming." There are going to be other signs now. And some of them say, "Danger, alligators and snakes in the area," "Stay away from the water," "Do not feed the wildlife." So these are some of the extra measures that Disney is certainly taking at this point.

SCIUTTO: This family is still suffering. They will for time immemorial, I imagine. But we are hearing from them now. What do they have to say?

GINGRAS: Well, Melissa and Matt Graves, they are back home in Nebraska. They were welcomed home by their neighbors, by members of their community who actually put up blue bows on their home to hopefully ease some of their suffering and know that they have family and friends around them.

And today, they did release a statement to everyone, thanking everyone for that support. In part, I want to read some of that statement: "Melissa and I continue to deal with the loss of our beloved boy, Lane, and are overwhelmed with the support and love we have received from family and friends in our community as well as from around the country."

Jim, it wasn't just that in the statement. They also wanted privacy. They have this unimaginable task of laying little Lane to rest this week. They do want that time to help this grieving process -- Jim?

[17:35:00] SCIUTTO: God knows, they deserve it.

Brynn Gingras, thanks very much.

Disney World, called the happiest place on earth, so what happens to the brand of the company when a tragedy like this strikes?

CNN senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter, joins me now from New York.

Brian, it has been a really tough week for Disney. You had this alligator attack. The focus was supposed to be opening this huge new Disney World in China, in Shanghai. Plus, you also have a tie, something of a tie to the Pulse nightclub attack because we know there were signs that he might have been casing Disney properties as well. Does this impact the company immeasurably?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: It was supposed to be their best week and, in some ways, it was the worst week at the same time. What they're doing in China will last decades. Bob Igger (ph), the CEO of Disney, was over there, had been over there for a week, when this all happened this week. They were opening this $5.5 billion resort in Shanghai, which will be a part of its business for decades to come. He was able to reach out to the family, get them on the phone and express his condolences.

There was speculation about whether, with this gator attack, whether there will be a lawsuit against Disney or some type of settlement I the weeks of months to come. In the statement from that family today, so tragic to hear them say they cannot speak. They don't want to speak and they cannot speak. They have nothing to say at this point. So all that talk about lawsuits is way down the road.

But for now, for Disney, this has been an ugly, a very bad week for them, reputationally. However, it is unlikely to have long-term implications. As one of the popular Disney blogs wrote, "Part of the experience of going to Disney World in Orlando is to be close to nature." Unfortunately, the worst-case outcome is what we saw at the park this week.

But even before the gator attack, there were issues for Disney because of that attack at the Pulse nightclub, even though it's many miles away from the Disney resort. You think of Disney as being this hermetically sealed place, its own campus in central Florida there. And in some ways, that was punctured this week. Even the very word "Orlando," shorthand for happiness and tourism, and now nearing that name has a different shorthand, at least for the short term.

SCIUTTO: Sadly, it does. A lot of it comes down to the way companies respond in public.

STELTER: Yes.

SCIUTTO: From your perch there, how do you think Disney has responded, at least in the initial days following?

STELTER: I think there was a somewhat slow response from the top executives because they were over in Shanghai. They were in China. There was a time zone difference which did make it difficult. In fact, when the gator attack happened, the president of Walt Disney World Resorts was in Shanghai, boarded the first flight back to Orlando to oversee the response. What more could they do besides put up these signs and warnings areas? We have seen pictures of the signs that have been posted. I'm not sure what we can really identify as another solution for the company. But I do think it's going to be a problem for them. We are hearing from tourists that say they were feeding alligators in weeks and months in some of the new areas that have been built there along the resort property. It's specifically designed so you can interact with the wildlife. That could be a problem for them down the road as more and more come forward and talk about their experiences at the park.

SCIUTTO: Brian Stelter, in New York, thanks very much.

STELTER: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: In the war against ISIS, slightly different reports out of Iraq today but none of them are good for the terror group. The city of Fallujah either almost or perhaps totally cleared now of ISIS fighters. Our CNN crew went there to see for themselves. You are going to hear from them next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNFIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:42:07] SCIUTTO: A major development this weekend in the war against ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNFIRE)

(EXPLOSIONS)

(GUNFIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: This is the city of Fallujah, just 40 miles west of the capitol of Baghdad. Still, some scattered gunfire, but a Humvee flying the Iraqi flag now moving through the streets the same day the prime minister announced that all ISIS fighters are gone from the city, pushed out. U.S. officials are not yet convinced. But American war planes have been pounding ISIS positions there for weeks.

Our Ben Wedeman was in Fallujah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To save Fallujah from ISIS, Iraqi forces have destroyed vast expanses of this city, block after block, one flattened building after another.

(EXPLOSION)

WEDEMAN: In military parlance, the city was "softened up" before the push into the center of Fallujah after days of heavy bombardment from land and air.

(EXPLOSION)

WEDEMAN (on camera): We are in this Iraqi army Humvee.

UNIDENTIFIED IRAQI SOLDIER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WEDEMAN: Heading inside one of the neighborhoods in southeast Fallujah. We have already heard small-arms fire crackling inside and also heard the thud of incoming artillery rounds. We'll see what we find inside.

UNIDENTIFIED IRAQI SOLDIER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): I asked the soldiers in the Humvee if Daesh, the Arabic acronym for ISIS, is still inside the city.

"No response," said Jessen (ph), a 12-year army veterans. "There is no Daesh."

He then qualifies his statement.

"There are pockets, one or two still fighting here and there."

(EXPLOSION)

WEDEMAN: The pockets we soon discovered were many and deep.

(GUNFIRE)

WEDEMAN (on camera): This is the Nizar (ph) neighborhood in central Fallujah. It was, until day before yesterday, under the control of ISIS. Now, we see lots of Iraqi troops and Humvees in this part of this town. But what we are not seeing are any civilians.

(voice-over): This officer, he asked to be called simply Abumedia (ph), encountered civilians fleeing the fighting.

"They were in a bad way, exhausted," he says. "They were suffering from lack of food and water."

(EXPLOSION) WEDEMAN: The Iraqi officials expected stiffer resistance in Fallujah, the first major city seized by ISIS two and a half years ago.

But Iraqi forces have managed to push rapidly inside. Officers insist resist steps is at best scattered.

"There are still a few snipers and we're dealing with them," says Yasin Badri. "Soon, we will finish them off."

(SHOUTING)

WEDEMAN: One group of fighters did manage to liberate an ISIS banner. The liberation of the city, however, is still a work in progress.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[17:45:03] SCIUTTO: That's our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, on the very dangerous assignment in the key Iraqi city of Fallujah as Iraqi forces advance.

I want to go live now to Ana Cabrera. She is in Phoenix, Arizona, just two blocks from the Donald Trump rallies that take place there at 7:00 tonight.

Ana, I understand it is getting a bit messy there, some clashes among protesters and supporters?

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Still peaceful, but definitely a few heated exchanges. The Donald Trump event is going to happen in a little over an hour from now. You can hear a lot of traffic, a busy intersection. This is where Trump supporters are having to cross this street and walk through this crowd of protesters that are coming out with signs and megaphones. They are loud and they have a powerful message. Their message is not hate, not racism, which they believe Donald Trump represents.

There is a very large police presence here. I want you to look over my shoulder. And among these protesters are probably nearly a dozen police officers a well. And as we've seen, some of the protesters and supporters get very close to each other at times and it gets very loud with shouting. We've seen police officers get very close to them as well, making sure that this doesn't escalate to a point of any kind of physical confrontation. Right now, it has just been only verbal -- Jim?

SCIUTTO: Ana, I know you'll stay there to monitor the story. It's a story we'll keep our eyes on this evening.

Thanks very much.

Straight ahead, live in the CNN NEWSROOM, the story of a hacker hijacking the Twitter accounts of ISIS supporters and replacing terrorist propaganda with gay pornography.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:50:29] SCIUTTO: Welcome back, live to the CNN NEWSROOM. Twitter accounts belonging to ISIS supporters have been hacked. Their jihadist content replaced by Gay Pride messages and links to gay pornography.

"CNN Money's" Laurie Segall tracked down the tracker behind it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: How long does it take you to successfully take over an ISIS members' account on Twitter?

UNIDENTIFIED HACKER (voice-over): Once I get the information I need, I can be in an account as fast as 60 seconds.

SEGALL: ISIS has been waging a cyber war online. Then there are the folks fighting against ISIS and these guys aren't doing it legally. They're hackers.

One of them I've been talking to for months. He goes by the name Wachula Ghost (ph). That's his alias.

His latest move has been taking down hundreds of ISIS members' Twitter accounts and replacing the account with pornography and Gay Pride memorabilia.

So I'm going to call him up and ask him why he's doing this, and also how easy is it to hack into the Twitter account of an ISIS member.

Hello?

UNIDENTIFIED HACKER: Hey, Laurie. How you doing?

SEGALL: What exactly have you been doing with ISIS accounts?

UNIDENTIFIED HACKER: Lately, we started hijacking their accounts, taking over their accounts, basically just to troll them, to annoy them and make fun of them, and take screen shots, phone numbers, I.P. addresses, the whole nine yards. I have all of that information on all the accounts I've ever taken. And we got the idea and there were others that had the idea, also, of spreading porn through the accounts.

SEGALL: So why pornography?

UNIDENTIFIED HACKER: We thought putting the porn, naked images, would offend them. And I'm sure it's offended other Muslims, but that wasn't our goal.

SEGALL: Now that this horrific tragedy has happened in Orlando, you guys have also been putting up Gay Pride messages. Can you talk me through that?

UNIDENTIFIED HACKER: I saw the news, and you know, you had all those people, those innocent lives that were lost, and all the people -- everyone was mourning. And I just felt there was something I could do, so I took their images, their flags, and I left a message on a lot of the accounts in support of Gay Pride.

SEGALL: You don't believe that the government is doing enough? You don't believe that the social networks are doing enough?

UNIDENTIFIED HACKER: If social networks were doing enough, we wouldn't be on there doing what we're doing. I get beheading images, I get threats, we're going to kill you, we're going to do that. And that's great, because they're focusing on me right now, so that means they're not able to do something else.

SEGALL: Why is it so personal to you?

UNIDENTIFIED HACKER: Sometimes, you just have to stand up for what you believe in. If you want change, you have to make that change.

SEGALL: Even if it means doing something illegal?

UNIDENTIFIED HACKER: Even if it means doing something illegal. If the change is for the good, it's got to be done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: In Orlando, an emotional tribute to some of the 49 people gunned down in a nightclub, a wooden cross for each one of them. The man who has put thousands of these memorials together tells us why he does it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:57:14] SCIUTTO: Welcome back. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Mourners in Orlando are seeing many tributes for the victims of the Pulse shooting, including 49 wooden crosses lining the lake outside the Orlando Medical Center. Each one is built by hand by one man who traveled more than a thousand miles to get to Orlando.

His story from my colleague, Fredricka Whitfield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez (ph) and Jonathan Antonio Camoy Vega (ph) -- a name for each cross placed at Orlando's Beauty Lake. 49 white crosses for the 49 killed in the nation's worst mass shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very somber. Very, very somber. Live in a large city, but it feels like a hometown, especially in the gay community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they hit home, that's close to the heart.

WHITFIELD: Each marker with a name and photo, placed here by Greg Zanis of Illinois.

GREG ZANIS, CARPENTER: You know, you've got to love your neighbor, love your brother, and quit all that judging. WHITFIELD: Love for people he never even met fueled his 1,200-hour

drive from Aurora, Illinois, to Orlando, putting his hand-built crosses in place.

ZANIS: We just need to honor them, and we look like we're a religious country and we're not. We have so much trouble.

WHITFIELD: Symbols, he says, of how he coped after the shooting death of his father-in-law 20 years ago.

ZANIS: I just put the red hearts on there, just to show love.

WHITFIELD: This time, his poignant tribute attracts dozens from dawn to dusk in Orlando. Over the years, the carpenter says he stopped building houses to make crosses for victims including those in Aurora, Colorado, and Newtown, Connecticut. At least 13,000 crosses, in all, across the country.

No community could ever wish for a memorial like this, but for Jeannette McCoy, who was with her friend, Angel Colon, who she feels was shot while trying to protect her, this has become a place of reflection and healing.

JEANNETTE MCCOY, ORLANDO SHOOTING SURVIVOR: Something that we're going to have to live, and somehow cope and come together, as humans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: I'm Jim Sciutto, in Washington.

"Smerconish" is next.

And I'll be back at 7:00 eastern with live coverage of Donald Trump's speech in Phoenix, Arizona. You're looking both inside and outside that rally right now. Protesters and supporters lining up for hours ahead of the arrival of the presumptive GOP nominee. That's the podium he'll be speaking from. Arizona is a state where Trump's stance on immigration and a border wall has served as a lightning-rod issue for both sides. Big Latino community there. Inside, those supporters are waiting to hear from Trump. Again, we will bring you those remarks live at 7:00 eastern time. You can see outside protesters lining up to make sure that their voice is heard as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)