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Munich Terror Attack; New Development in Missing Malaysia Airliner Case; Hillary Clinton Chooses Tim Kaine as Running Mate; Latest on Failed Turkish Coup. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 23, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:10] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Terror in the heart of Germany. A gunman kills nine people in a shooting rampage in Munich. We'll take you live to the scene.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: In a serving swift in an aviation mystery evidence emerges of a suicide route practiced by the pilot of missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370.

HOWELL: And running mates, Hillary Clinton unveils her pick for a vice presidential candidates. Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: And thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta.

Our top story is from Germany. Police say a single gunman was responsible for killing at least nine people in Munich, Friday. First, police thought as many as many three shooters were responsible. It's always chaos when these things break out. But investigators believe a man who apparently killed himself near the scene is the lone suspect. This amateur video you're seeing shows a man dressed in black who appears to be holding a gun. But it is not clear if it is the shooter in question.

HOWELL: You'll see there the image. The shooter started at a McDonald's before crossing the street at the city's biggest shopping mall, the Olympia Center. Police say the suspect held dual citizenship with Iran and Germany. He was 18-years-old and had been living in had Munich for at least two years. Authorities say children are among the dead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): There's no doubt that yesterday was the most difficult day for me as the Police Chief in Munich. It was one of the most difficult days I had during the last 40 years.

The events of yesterday of this night, makes us sad and speechless. Our thoughts are especially with the victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Those victims have not been named. Our Erin McLaughlin joins us now live from Munich. When you hear the Police Chief there Erin say this is the toughest day of his 40-year career, that certainly says something, what do we know about how all of this unfolded?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Natalie, it truly was a horrific and tragic, not to mention chaotic day that began at 5:50 p.m. local time at a McDonald's, it's not far from here as when authorities say a lone gunman with a pistol walked inside the McDonald's and opened fire. He left the McDonald's and made his way then to a shopping mall. The authorities say that's where he killed the majority of his victims, at least nine people killed and at least 16 were critically injured.

Now, the gunman made his way from the mall. His body was later discovered at around 8:00 local time not far away. They believe he committed suicide.

Now, in the chaos that unfolded, authorities say there were multiple reports of multiple shootings throughout Munich, all of those reports -- additional reports they say, have been discredited. There were eyewitness accounts telling police that there were two other shooters in addition. That somehow managed to get away with using vehicles, they managed to track down those individuals and discredit that as well.

So authorities at the moment saying this was a lone gunman. But what they are trying to establish is whether or not he planned the attack himself. Natalie?

ALLEN: Now what do we know -- what more do we know about him? All I've heard is he's 18-years-old and had dual citizenship.

MCLAUGHLIN: Yeah. Authorities have not named him, so is we don't know his name. We also don't know, critically his motives and that is something the authorities are trying to investigate right now. I was speaking to one eyewitness who really recalled this harrowing account of being outside the McDonald's as the attacker opened fire. He said he comforted a 17-year-old teenager, an immigrant, held him in his arms as he lay dying. And he said the attacker, as all this was unfolding was screaming out anti-foreigner, in his words, sentiment. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I heard a scream at first. You -- foreigners. I am German. You will get it. And then the first shots were fired and a boy of 14 or 17 years of age who has left for me collapsed, fell to the floor. And then the next shots were fired and then I threw my bicycle to the side and went myself to safety on my belly in the direction of boy.

[02:05:10] I spoke with the boy, tried to make sure that he stayed alert. And in the meantime, more shots were fired. I estimate about 20 to 30. The boy asked me for help. I tried to talk with him, asked him his name, his age, if he had a girlfriend. I tried to make sure he looks at me that his eyes are open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: Such a tragic account. As you can see behind me this area outside the mall has been cordoned off. The investigation continues. We understand that forensic workers are there trying to identify the victims. The victims have yet to be name. Natalie?

ALLEN: McLaughlin for us there live in Munich. Erin, thank you. We spoke earlier with a woman who works inside the mall. Lynn Stein explained where she was when she heard gunfire and witnessed the chaos that followed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNN STEIN: I was inside. I was then just trying like, I wanted to buy something and my coworker were still working and I heard the shots fired and several shots, I know, maybe six, seven. And people are confused then hey were looking around and started running out. And there was like an emergency exit right at the shop at I was at. So I ran outside as well and there were more shots. And I just, I stood by and people came outside and more ran. And I just waited there for to see what happened or what was going on. But people are very confused and they're running and they were screaming.

And later I heard the shots like I think they transferred like there's a parking lot. The already said that it is a parking house and I heard shots there or coming from that direction. So at that time, I went back inside the mall because I wanted to check on my coworker. She didn't take the phone and I haven't -- I couldn't reach her. So I went back inside and ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: There are so many questions. When we hear from people who were there, so many questions about the motive? Questions about how he was able to get the gun the in Germany? Very difficult to get a weapon in Germany when it comes to mass shootings there, they are rare in that nation but it happen before. Most recently in 2009, a teenage gunman carried out a mass shooting at a school in Southwestern Germany killing 15 people before taking his own life.

ALLEN: In 2006, a school shooting. In Germany, this time, five people wounded before the gunman kills himself. And in 2002, a school massacre in a town called, Erfurt, a 19-year-old former student killed 16 people and then took his own life.

CNN Law Enforcement Contributor Steve Moore joins us now from California. He's also retired supervisory special agent with the FBI joins me now on the phone. Steve, we talk about these things, unfortunately, too often here. But what do you think when you hear about this shooting that took place and the 18-year-old who's behind it?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I'm really curious this to -- the words he used, saying that he was a German and shooting at foreigners. This could be something akin to what we have here, you know, a white supremacist attack, something like that, a very nationalist attack. But we're not going to go know anything until police really release some details.

ALLEN: Exactly. And what about the police movements that as you saw this thing unfold, Steve, you and I talked about how quickly -- how important it is that police move quickly.

MOORE: Yes and I think the police did what they could. They got there as fast as they could. But he was apparently out of the location before they could at least as far as I can see, before they could do anything about him. And it's highly unusual that somebody -- if it were terrorism would actually take their own life.

HOWELL: Steve, its George here. I wanted to also ask you what we know about the gunman so far, you see at there on banner that he was a German-Iranian dual citizen, A German-Iranian national. And that Iranians for the most part are Shia Muslims. So that would not be in line with ISIS and Sunni Muslims. But I wanted to get a sense from you, it sort of takes the terror nexus out of this when it comes to motive?

MOORE: Well, yeah. I mean, George, I'm probably as confused as you are about this but you're absolutely right. The Iranian population are generally Shia and with the exception of the government are generally not radicalized.

And so this is -- this again, is it does not fit the type of terrorism that we're used to as far as ISIS based terrorism.

ALLEN: And Steve, what about the confusion at the beginning of these atrocities when police don't know how many gunmen that they have, that they're working with?

MOORE: Yeah and Natalie that is so common. It's almost to the point where you can just take the number of alleged gunmen and divide it by three almost.

[02:10:06] I have not been -- I've been to several shootings and I have never seen one where the number of reported shooters is accurate. And usually it's going to be just one unless you have a major terrorist attack.

HOWELL: Steve, you know, I raised this question earlier but we were talking about Germany, we're talking about a gunman in Germany. How did he get the gun? It's incredibly difficult to get weapons like that in that nation?

MOORE: Well I think, George, what it's going to come down to is people believe that guns, I mean, the war against drugs prove that we can't stop drugs. Guns are easier to manufacture than drugs and they come apart easier. People can manufacture from anywhere and ship them easily. It is not as easily as just banning guns to think that they'll go away.

HOWELL: Steve, I'll also want to ask this, so we see these images of so many people on the ground. We see law enforcement doing their role in these very delicate and dangerous moments but for people who are out there who get caught up running for their lives, what do you do? I mean, it's a matter of getting the safety, it's a matter of checking in with your family, I mean just from a law enforcement perspective, what would you advise people if caught up in something like this?

MOORE: Well, George, that's an absolutely phenomenal question. I actually train people on what to do when there is an active shooter and what I have found, even being the bad guy, being the shooter at times so that I can see from their side is the people who tend to hunker down and stay where they are tend to have more casualties than people who run or at least try to, in some way interdict the shooter. If you hide behind something and the shooter has time, he will find you.

ALLEN: Steve, I want to ask you, we were talking when the Bangladesh terror happened and we had people on balconies talking with us watching the whole thing. In this situation, as well, we had people watching from balconies. What would you advise people to do that see that there is a shooting incident and they're being a witness? How can they help officers?

MOORE: Well, I think if they -- the best thing they can do for their family is just stay away from where bullets can be flying. But if they're intent on helping the police, they can video what they're seeing for the sake of evidence later or they can report what they're saying. The problem is, first reports are almost always wrong or exaggerated. And somebody who is, you know, if a guy comes out shooting and goes back in and comes back out again, they see two shooters instead of one. So sometimes just the most basic information, it's a long gun and people are falling down tells the police it's more than a pistol, you better beware.

ALLEN: Steve Moove for us, thank you as always Steve.

HOWELL: Thanks Steve.

ALLEN: Facebook has activated its safety check for people who are in the Munich area.

HOWELL: That's right. Users can check in to let their family members, to let friends know that they are OK. And once you are checked in safe, a notification is then sent to your friends list.

Facebook activated that feature shortly after the shooting rampage in the German City.

One day after painting a picture of terror and doom in the United States, US republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is now reacting to the shooting in Munich.

ALLEN: In a rather subdued tweet, Trump said another attack, this time in Germany, many killed. God bless the people of Munich.

HOWELLL: Trump formally accepted his party's nomination for the presidency of the United States, Thursday in Ohio. During his speech, Trump said that the United States is in crisis and that he is the only one who can save it.

ALLEN: U.S. President Barack Obama took issue with Trump's speech saying the idea America is on the verge of collapse is not true. Friday speaking with CBS news, Mr. Obama said people should not give in to fear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President when Donald Trump spoke to his convention, he talked about the security thresh. He talked -- he painted a very dark picture now there's been a terrorist attack in Germany. Doesn't that suggest he's right about the darkness?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: No, it doesn't. Terrorism is a real threat and nobody knows that better than me.

One of the best ways of preventing it is making sure that we don't divide our own country. That we don't succumb to fear, that we don't sacrifice our values and that we send a very strong signal to the world and to every American citizen that we're in this together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Still ahead, new details on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, up next, what the FBI uncovered and how that information could help the search.

[02:15:09] ALLEN: Also ahead here, the well guarded secret of Hillary Clinton's vice presidential pick is secret no more.

Next, so look at who she chose as her running mate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. The mystery into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, it is now deepening an FBI report shows the pilot flew a suicide mission -- suicide route on his home computer.

ALLEN: Yeah, New York Magazine obtained this confidential report. It says the simulation was less than one month before MH370 disappeared.

HOWELL: Let's get some more details on this.

Matt Rivers joining us live now in Beijing. Matt, good to have you with us this hour. So, look this certainly casts a shadow of a question over that pilot but what all could it imply? And does it really serve to give us any new indications of where this plane might be?

[02:19:56] MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is certainly a significant development. All of offer information on this is coming from this New York Magazine article that article citing a document that the magazine said it obtain that was part again according to the magazine of the Malaysian government's investigation into the disappearance of this flight.

And what this document says is that during the course of their investigation, several hard drives from a home flight simulator from the home of the pilot of MH370 is Zaharie Ahmad Shah. They were recovered and handed over to the FBI for analysis.

Now, during that analysis, again, this is according to New York magazine, during that analysis, the FBI was able to uncover several deleted data points that showed that the pilot flew a simulated flight on that flight simulator that very closely matched the suspected route of the actual MH370 flight. And as you mentioned in this report says that that simulated flight took place just within a month prior to MH370 taking off from Kuala Lumpur.

So very, very significant, now CNN cannot independently verify the contents of that document. Still a very significant report especially given that Malaysian authorities have long deflected accusations against this pilot. In fact, a factual report published on the first anniversary of the plane's disappearance said, "The captain's ability to handle stress at work and home was good. There was no significant changes in his lifestyle, interpersonal conflict or family stresses."

So this certainly casts as more doubt on this pilot and perhaps has a significant impact on this investigation moving forward.

HOWELL: Matt, all of this, as you rightly point out, will have to be confirmed with the FBI but it's been some two years now. Why are we just getting this information now?

RIVERS: Well, that's the big question here is if this report is true, if this document does, in fact exist, why wasn't it released to the public beforehand?

Now, we have not heard anything from the Malaysian government yet, no response, at least publicly about this report. But that's the question. We actually spoke to a family member of one of the people on board that plane here in Beijing, we spoke to him this morning and he said, look, there's been all kinds of speculation about what could have happened to this plane, but we want the information. We want there to be transparency. That's the big question here, George.

HOWELL: Transparency, especially for these families who have been waiting for so long with such little information about their loved ones. Matt Rivers live for us in Beijing. Matt, thank you.

ALLEN: Hillary Clinton has chosen Virginia Senator Tim Kaine to be her running mate. The announcement was made on social media and by a text to her supporters. That's him right there. She will introduce him this person on a campaign rally on Saturday on Florida.

HOWELL: And on a Facebook post sent out just hours ago, Clinton wrote, "I am thrilled to announce my running mate, Tim Kaine. Tim is a lifelong fighter for progressive causes and one of the most qualified vice presidential candidates in our nation's history."

ALLEN: Have you not heard of Tim Kaine? Well CNN's Jeff Zeleny takes a closer look at Kaine and his political background.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE, (D) VIRGINIA: Are we ready for Hillary.

ZELENY: Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. New partners on the Democratic ticket.

KAINE: Do you want a "you're fired" president or a "you're hired president"?

ZELENY: It may be an anti-establishment year, but Clinton's running mate is an insider, a U.S. senator from Virginia and a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

KAINE: And if I have anything to do with it, we'll win again.

ZELENY: By selecting Kaine, Clinton is betting that experience in government, not sizzle, is the best way to defeat Donald Trump.

KAINE: Elections are just the beginning. The real work starts tomorrow.

ZELENY: He's neither flashy or a showboat, a seemingly safe pick and steady hand, just what Clinton told Anderson Cooper she's looking for in a vice president.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to be sure that whoever I pick could be president immediately if something were to happen. That's the most important qualification.

KAINE: I'm Tim Kaine.

ZELENY: So who is Timothy Michael Kaine? A decade ago as governor of Virginia he introduced himself in the Democratic response to President Bush's State of the Union Address.

KAINE: I worked as a missionary when I was a young man, and I learned to measure my life by the difference I can make in someone else's life.

ZELENY: It was that stint as a Jesuit missionary in Honduras that shaped and now distinguishes him. He learned fluent Spanish and still speaks it today, which makes him a different kind of attack dog against Trump.

KAINE: If you're a Latino, he's going to trash talk you.

ZELENY: Born in Minnesota and raised in Kansas.

KAINE: The best decision I ever made was moving to Richmond to marry my wife Anne 26 years ago.

ZELENY: He built his political career in Virginia, rising from city councilman and mayor of Richmond to lieutenant governor and governor.

KAINE: Thank you all so very much.

ZELENY: He's 58, 10 years younger than Clinton, known well inside the party but not beyond.

[02:25:05] KAINE: I'm not the one with the biggest profile. I'm not the one that's the best known.

ZELENY: He signed on with Clinton this time around, endorsing her in 2014 more than a year before she declared her candidacy.

For an original Barack Obama supporter, it was a chance to make up for lost time.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Give it up for Tim Kaine.

ZELENY: His politics are more moderate than the liberal strain driving today's Democratic Party. He's Catholic, outwardly moved by Pope Francis's visit to Capitol Hill last year. His views on abortion are far more conservative than most Democrats as he explained in this interview.

KAINE: I'm personally opposed to abortion and the death penalty, and I've lived my life that way. Law is what it is and I'm going to carry out the law and I'm going to protect women's legal rights to make their own reproductive decisions.

ZELENY: He's also spoken out forcefully against the administration for failing to seek congressional approval to fight the Islamic State.

KAINE: The war against ISIL is just, it's necessary. It's noble, but it's illegal. There's been no congressional authorization for this war.

ZELENY: It's an open question whether Kaine fits the mold of today's red hot politics. Yet his selection could help soften Clinton's partisan edges.

KAINE: When it comes to our leadership in the world, trash-talking isn't enough. We need a bridge builder, and we've got a bridge builder in Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: And all eyes will be on those two with the Democratic National Convention set to kick off this week.

ALLEN: And the teams are now in place, it seems.

HOWELL: Yep.

ALLEN: Well, the suspected gunman in the deadly shooting in Munich was caught on video by witnesses coming up here. What he said and how it might help uncover his motive that's just ahead here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [02:30:05] ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. With the headlines would follow in for you this hour. In Munich, Germany, officials say there was only one shooter behind Friday's attack, the attack that killed nine people. Police say the 18-year-old man that he was a dual German and Iranian citizen, that he killed himself and that he was not known to police before all this happened. His motive remains unclear.

ALLEN: An FBI forensic report shows the pilot seen here. A Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 flew a suicide route on his home flight simulator. We're getting that news from New York Magazine which obtained the FBI confidential report. The magazine says the simulation was down less than one month before MH370 went missing more than two years ago.

HOWELL: U.S. politics and who is Hillary Clinton's pick? Well, it's the man right there, Virginia senator Tim Kaine now running as her running mate as the vice president on the ticket. Clinton is set to introduce him in person at a campaign rally on Saturday in Miami.

Democrats close to the campaign say Kaine got the stamp of approval from President Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton.

ALLEN: More now on the shooting rampage that occurred in Munich, Germany. Police say they will have to investigate everything. And they say their work will be even more difficult because the shooter is dead.

HOWELL: Little is known about him publicly, other than the fact that he was 18-years-old and that he has lived in Munich for the past two years.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called a security meeting for Saturday in the aftermath of this attack.

ALLEN: Omid Nouripour is an Iranian German dual citizen himself and a member of German's parliament. He joins me on the line from Frankfurt. Thank you so much for being with us, Mr. Nouripour. What more are you hearing about how this happened, how this broke out and anything more you can tell us about this shooter?

OMID NOURIPOUR, IRANIAN-GERMAN, MEMBER OF GERMAN'S PARLIAMENT: The first thing is I've been not it's not over yet. There are at least three of the injured still fighting for their lives. So, we just can hope and pray for them. The second thing is that there is no working to rule out in this moment. Nobody knows what happened. Nobody knows what the motive is of the shooter. It could be an Islamist. It could be a guy who doesn't definite this has sold it out.

I saw it about and relation step parliaments and we do not know what happened to him. And there are rumors that he could be a person being in treatment because of mental illness. And this is the moment when I hope that definitely it's political scene stop spreading poison rumors. There are some things indicating that maybe he could be an Islamist. First thing is, he's an Iranian and then a German. Most Iranians are Shia. Shia are not attracted by ourselves. Second thing is, he definitely shouted out that he says, "Hate in Turks". This is not what ISIL's people are doing. And the last thing is at the end, he just shot himself without killing other more people. This is not a Jihadi way usually to kill themselves. At you know, at the end of the day, the most important thing is just to wait for the authorities announcing what they did and know what happened there and not spreading more rumors.

HOWELL: One question that comes to mind, especially given the, you know, requirements, the restrictions for people to get weapons there. The question is to how he ended up getting that weapon?

NOURIPOUR: This is the right question to ask. We have no idea. We have very civil law - laws in Germany, welcome law over Germany. So it's not very easy especially now for 18 years old of a young man to get that things. They had still to find it out. This is a very, very important thing to find out because that maybe there are some problem we have with our law - I mean it belongs. So it's unfortunate. We have to find that to make - do our country more secure.

ALLEN: Mr. Nouripour, do you have any information on whether authorities have found family members, whether this person lived alone or has his family been interviewed at all? Anything like that?

NOURIPOUR: I have no idea about his family. I just know that the German authorities promised yesterday that they're going to go for everything and I'm truly sure that in this moment they are trying to check the family and to find out more about the background of this guy.

HOWELL: I have to ask you this question, and I apologize for asking it because it, it you know right now, the story line, it's about the dead. It's about the fact that children are among the casualties.

[02:35:04] But I do want to get a sense of just the public sentiment to given what happened there that the motive could be many things. You point out it could be mental illness. There are questions about whether it could be terror. That looks unlikely. Regardless of all of that, the simple fact that this happened in your nation how are people responding? What is the feeling among people?

NOURIPOUR: You know, first thing is that now everyone is in shocked. It definitely the people in Munich, but, you know the whole German- Iranian community. So it's the same thing. No matter what the motive is the same thing like we have and complete that at the beginning of the week and what's have been (inaudible) refugee. A 17-years-old, took at nights and went for -well, what happened after people there, the civilians there. The most important thing is that we have to do everything we can for keep this country safe. But at the end of the day, we should not let hate and the people who are spreading hatred to decide about our - our way of life. This is the most important thing.

Do you want ISIL to decide the next election in the U.S.? I don't think so. Do we want the ISIL to decide what's going to happen in the next election you know of either in France and Germany? I hope we are resilient enough and I hope that we are - we are smart enough not to let them spread hate and fear in their countries. And this is the most important thing. This is not about Islam. It's about Democrats standing together, standing up and fight the instruments among them, they decide.

ALLEN: Well, we certainly appreciate you joining us, Omid Nouripour there from Frankfurt. Thank you.

HOWELL: Germany had already been on edge following an axe attack by a teenager on a train last week. Journalist Nicolas Nau is on the phone from Munich to talk to us more about the situation there in Germany. So Nicolas, I pose the same question to you, given the axe attack that we've seen before given this attack that happened in Munich, what is the sentiment among people?

NICOLAS NAU (ph), JOURNALIST: Well, at the moment, it seems that the situation in Munich is slowly returning to normal. So transportation is starting -- started to run again since early in the morning. And the concern emerges or anything out on the perpetrator, we will don't know anything yet.

So far, there's no indication and whatsoever of a political motive. So we will just have to wait until the police have further - have done their inquiries and ask further information.

HOWELL: The fact that he was able to get a weapon at that, that's just seems to be a big question in my mind certainly in the minds of many people in your nation. It's very hard to get access to weapons like the one that he used. Is there an investigation into that?

NAU (ph): I would certainly investigated at - when it's started there were reports of three perpetrators with rifles. Now it seems that it was only a pistol, which still is hard to get in Germany. And you have to have all sorts of permits and so on. So that was certainly be one of the points police are investigating.

ALLEN: And Nikolas, we know that the gunman and witnesses exchanged words when he was discovered on the rooftop. What can you tell us about that?

NAU (ph): Well, there is a video and police seem to believe it's genuine. And it's - you can hear they let perpetrator speaking without an accent. And for some people, it seems to indicate that it is not an Islamic background, that he's acting from for some it seems to indicate there might be a medical history. But so far, it's really everything is still out to be judged and police are looking at the video and trying to make sense of it.

HOWELL: And I do want to just get any sort of insight from you. I know that you're asking plenty of questions officials there, you know, trying to get any inkling of information about a possible motive behind this. But rightly point out here given that he is a German- Iranian national, he was that many Iranians for the most part, that they are Shia Muslims which would not be in line with Sunni Muslims certainly and the ISIS, you know, with the terror connection. How are people trying to square that circle?

NAU (ph): Well, it seems the start of the attack, of course, on twitter, on the internet, people have started to speculate. But the police have only search his room. Apparently, follow some report say he lives with their parents. So police have searched his room apparently confiscated some of his things. And we will just have to wait. Of course that there are experts who are saying suicide would be pretty untypical of an Islamist perpetrator. But we will just have to wait and see.

[02:40:38] HOWELL: Nicolas Nau (ph), thank you so much for being with us on the line, a journalist in Munich following the story. And we'll stay in touch with you.

ALLEN: Thank you.

HOWELL: A mass shooting in Germany comes as Norway remembers another horrible attack there. Friday was the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Norway terror attack.

ALLEN: Anders Behring Breivik set off a bomb in Oslo outside the office of Norway's Prime Minister. We may have recall eight people were killed there and more than 200 wounded on an island.

HOWELL: He then took to a ferry, a nearby island there and then he opened fire at a youth camp. He killed 69 people and wounded 110 others. After his arrest, Breivik identified himself as an anti-Muslim fascist and he was convicted of mass murder.

ALLEN: President Obama made his first public comments on Friday on Turkey's failed coup attempt, coming up here. Who he's voicing strong support for? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back. The U.S. President Barack Obama is rejecting any suggestions that the U.S. was behind the failed coup attempt there in Turkey and he's voicing strong support for the government and the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

ALLEN: CNN's Nic Robertson spoke with a politician in Ankara who also backs Mr. Erdogan and he's hopeful of Turkish future despite this past week. Here's Nic's report.

[02:45:07] NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On the hilly fringes of Turkey's capital, Yasha Akalin (ph) the local community leader Mukhtar where he is known lays out a rosy vision of Ankara's future.

New housing for all away with the old illegal shanks he says, his job to keep everyone happy with the government. As we pass, an old lady in a green scarf listens carefully. We'll come back to her later.

In the valley below, Akalin (ph) proudly shows us a new brand new sports stadium.

We've got a new swimming pool too. He tells me. It's what the people here deserve and we've got it thanks to President Erdogan.

Back in his tiny office, he is busy. 30,000 local residents depend on him. He tells me, "He is a bridge between people and government." Indeed, Erdogan describes Mukhtar like him as the core of democracy, makes time to meet them, all 50,000.

Akalin (ph) has no high school education had his turn a few years ago.

"Erdogan is a simple man," he tells me. He speaks the language of the people, understands the people. He is a great leader.

And so it was on the night of the coup, bombs dropping, tanks on the streets. Akalin (ph) says he was one of the first to risk his life for the leader.

"I was climbing on the tanks, pulling at soldiers," he says, when I ask him, "Why?" He says, "Because he want our future, the coup people would put us in jail, kill us just when the country was getting better." Outside Akalin's (ph) office, validation he is delivering for government.

I want to ask you how has this area changed in the last ten years? "Erdogan is a great man," she says. "He has made so many and prevalence around here better housing, better life." But not everyone buys the Mukhtar's message. Remember the lady with the green scarf? She lives in one of the old ramshackle houses. We go back to see her.

"The government is not giving us good housing," she complains and then she starts railing on the Mukhtar, insulting him says, "He gets paid by the government and he makes money filling out all those forms. We don't trust him." But she admits, life is getting better.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Ankara, Turkey.

ALLEN: Appreciate that positive note he was able to end on his story there. Well the world is seeing record heat. We will show you the hottest hot spots on the planet, coming up.

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[02:52:03] HOWELL: Welcome back to NEWSROOM. So a heat wave is stifling parts of the Middle East and they're seeing some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded.

ALLEN: Karen Maginnis has that for us from the international weather center and certainly tearing a lot of people around the world sweltering this month.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We have seen heat waves, both hemispheres, it has been staggering. But in the Middle East, they are now saying these are some of the hottest temperatures we've ever seen in the eastern hemisphere. But also, we're looking at temperatures over the last several days that rival the hottest temperature ever recorded. That was in Death Valley, California, 1913. That was 57 degrees or 134 degrees celsius. But they're saying because that's over a hundred years ago, some people are skeptical that that's an accurate reading. But because the temperature is so hot here they closed down some government buildings. It is so difficult and people are just staying indoors.

But even those overnight low temperatures aren't cooling off, either. So for the next several days, what can we expect? Well, this is just one example. Kuwait City, the temperature expected in the mid to upper 40s. Don't be surprised if it actually makes it to 50 degrees in some of these areas. And certainly, as we go into the next 24 hours, as I take a look at Kuwait City, don't be surprised if you see the potential for dust storms there because we're seeing the wind gradient really picking up here. Quick see wind gusts right around 50 kilometers per hour.

Now I want to take you across California. In the United States, a heat wave has enveloped much of the Middle Eastern -- Mid Western part of the United States. Before the West Coast, we're starting to see these Santa Ana winds. It's been very dry. And these pictures are coming out of Santa Clarita. This is just to the north of Los Angeles by about 60 kilometers or around 35 miles to the north. What started out as just a minor brush fire, this very afternoon has erupted now to 3300 acres or about 1300 hectares that have burned. They are trying to get this under control. They're saying it is zero contained and now between 200 and 300 homes are being evacuated because we have seen such devastation associated with that fire.

Now take a look at this as we look into the forecast coming up for the start of the weekend, hot and humid weather conditions all the way from the Carolinas, North and South Carolina. We have seen triple digit heat across the South Central U.S. but there might be some good news in that temperatures cooling just a little bit across the Midwestern U.S. by the beginning of the workweek. Back to you guys.

ALLEN: I'm just wondering, Karen. We know that June was the hottest month on record. How is July looking compared to June?

MAGINNIS: You're speaking for the United States? Yes, it looks like this heat wave abates just a little bit across the Midwestern U.S. by the tune of about 5 to 10 degrees. But still, the Southeast -- the South Central United States is expected to continue to bake. The computer models are suggesting the next two weeks or so, we're still stuck in this rut with a ridge of high pressure over us keeping us baking still.

[02:55:24] HOWELL: You know, it's hot here, but I won't complain given what you just described there in the Middle East. Karen, thank you so much. You know, so we're following this historian Munich and there's so much to talk about from that attack there. But we want to show you how social media users are reacting.

ALLEN: Yes, the hashtags pray for Germany and pray for Munich are trending around the world. Of course hashtags we're becoming all too familiar with. Twitter users created images to convey their prayers, many with pictures at Munich hearts and the German flag.

HOWELL: One Twitter user wrote, "How many disasters do we need to unite humanity, to love one another more than to hate." That's a good note to end on.

ALLEN: Yes. I'm Natalie Allen. Thanks for watching this hour.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. We'll have much more on the mass shooting in Munich after the break along with other major stories covered around the world.

You're watching CNN.

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