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Memorial for Orlando Victioms; President Obama Talks about Orlando in Radio Address; Iraqi Officials Optimistically Declaring Fallujah Feed of ISIS Control; Terror Suspects in U.S. and Gun Purchases; Britain in Shock over Murder ot Lawmaker; Brazilian Government Declares State of Emergency 50 Days Ahead of Olympics. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 18, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Hello, you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington.

Heartbroken family and friends are gathering today in Orlando to say their final good-byes. Five funerals today will honor victims of that bloody rampage at a gay nightclub. Just hours ago, 21-year-old Corey Connell was laid to rest. He died trying to protect his girlfriend who was shot in the wrist inside the nightclub that night. She has told him to run, instead he turned back, he yanked her away from an open doorway. That's when he was shot and killed. Connell was a college student, studying to become a firefighter. He was made an honorary firefighter during today's service, a tribute to his long- held dream. A senior firefighter presented Connell's honorary helmet and she paid her final respects.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORI CLAY, FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC: He said I want to be a firefighter, he said I'm in school right now, that is what I want to be. And I said you know, in my dated head, I said well, it's long hours, you don't get paid a lot, you miss holidays, you are not with your families all the time, you don't get paid a lot, so you sure you don't want to be like a doctor or something? He says to me, he smiled, and that smile that I will always remember about him, he said no. I don't care about the money. He said I want to do it because I want to save people. I want to help people. And I was like that right there -- made me know that that kid was going to be a firefighter one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Now, to the investigation. Right now, the FBI is reviewing surveillance video from inside the nightclub. Investigators are studying the killer's movements, analyzing his deadly path as he moved from room to room, killing so many people. Also the FBI's questioning a friend of the shooter who called him during the rampage. The two discussed medication at the time. But it's not clear whether the friend knew that the massacre was underway.

Also, new evidence suggests that the killer was making preparations to die. Sources tell CNN that in the weeks before the attack this terrorist added his wife's name to life insurance documents and made sure that she had access to his bank accounts on her own. He also bought his wife an expensive piece of jewelry, a 7,000 piece of jewelry.

Right now some victims wounded in the attack are still fighting this day alive. Ed Lavandera is tracking the story in Orlando.

So Ed, what is the latest story from the Orlando regional medical center. I think people forget there are folks in there who are struggling with horrible wounds.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as we've seen Jim as you mentioned off the top the funerals beginning here in earnest in Orlando. But the work continues to save the lives of those victims, nearly a week later continues at the Orlando regional medical center which is just up the road on the other side of these barricades roads there in Orlando but very close to the Pulse nightclub. The latest figures we have from hospital officials is that in all 44 victims were taken to the hospital, nine of them died, 16 have been released, 19 are still hospitalized, four of those in critical condition, Jim.

SCIUTTO: We also know there were so many folks who just showed bravery and commitment in the hours after the attack. There is a brave young doctor who worked the nit of the attacks and he is wearing a special momento now. Tell us about that momento?

LAVANDERA: Well, it's one of those poignant stories that kind of a merge from a tragedy like this, but doctor Joshua Corsa who works in there in the trauma center, Orlando Regional medical center, he was one of the first doctors to begin treating the victims that were being rushed into the hospital last Sunday morning when all of this was coming to light. And obviously that doctor worked tirelessly for hours and hours on that Sunday as the victims coming in. He described it as wave after wave of victims being brought in there to the trauma center toward the end of last Sunday, when he finally had a chance to come down and breathe a little bit, and kind of take in what he just experienced and endured. He looked down at his shoes and they were stained in blood. He took a picture of hl shoes and posted it on Facebook with a touching message to the people he had treated. It went viral. The Facebook posting, and just those shoes in the special odd kind of way have meant a great deal to him and it served as a symbol and as a reminder of the important and special work that he is doing. And he talked a little bit about that this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOSHUA CORSA, TRAUMA SURGEON ON CALL NIGHT OF ATTACK: I've been wearing the shoe covers, obviously, to keep you know -- just for hazard protection. Bu no, again, I want to remember them as they are. It's the tangible reminder of all the patients we saw. I don't know whose blood this is. It kind of symbolizes all the good that we did that night as well as to remind me of the terrible things we had to deal with. But -- again, it's a tangible reminder to not forget the good that happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [15:05:08] LAVANDERA: And Jim, the doctor Corsa said that he will continue to wear those shoes every day he works until the very last of the pulse nightclub victims are discharged from the hospital there - Jim.

SCIUTTO: And there are so many reminders, I guess the question as a country, what do we do with them? What do we do as we move on?

Ed Lavandera, thanks very much.

The killer's problems may have started when he was just a child. School records show that he was disciplined 31 time, this in elementary school alone. When he was in the 3rd grade, he was described as a child who often spoke about violence and sex. His teachers said that he was verbally abusive as he got older. There are even disturbing alarms. The FBI launched two inquiries into the shooter. And recently both of them were closed.

Let's talk about the FBI investigation with our expert panel, national security analyst Peter Bergen, former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes, and our senior law enforcement here at CNN, plus CNN politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson.

Peter, Tom, I want to ask you both your opinion on this. Because you both worked with terror cases for so long. There were clearly some warning signs with this guy. Going back years, the FBI had him under investigation. They stopped. But for context we know there were hundreds of people under investigation at any one time and they have to make tough judgment calls. \

But Peter using your expertise, you look at all the smoke around this guy before, was there enough for the FBI and others to determine there was a fire? There was a possible fire there? A possible real risk?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I don't think so, Jim. You know, I -- hindsight is always 20/20. I mean, and also, you know, we probably live in a rule of law society. And the attorney general has guidelines about how long you can keep these cases open. But I will say that this is not the first time that this happened. I mean, major Nadal Hassan who killed 13 in Ft. Hood, Texas. It is a subject with FBI interest with his sort of quashed internally. (INAUDIBLE) who killed U.S. soldier in Little Rock, Arkansas, was interviewed by the FBI in Yemen and also the United States. And I think the real issue here is not so much, you know, giving the FBI more powers but it is ensuring that people who have been the subject of these types of inquiries can't acquire semiautomatic weapons, which we saw in the case of Ft. Hood in (INAUDIBLE) and Little Rock, Arkansas and also, of course, in Orlando.

SCIUTTO: Tom, is there an ability, is there a legal flexibility or -- are there tools that you believe the FBI needs, that it doesn't have right now to take incomplete information and act on? Right, I mean, because we got the constitution, you can't lock people up for the possibility they might commit a crime. I mean, is there some ability that the FBI should have that it doesn't have today? TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Jim, I don't really think

so. Other than maybe more resource, more analysts, you know, the usual thing you hear. But you have to understand and I have run these cases. I have ran to joint terrorism task forces. The FBI, if they think there is going to be an issue with someone and they are going to commit a terrorist act, they will do everything as aggressively as they can. And in fact, over the last 15 years, we have so many accusations that all of they send in an informant immigrant, somebody who talk to them and to doing it, therefore it is entrapment. Oh, you know, they shouldn't have Meta data, they should not be able to crack an iPhone.

So you know, there is constitutional and political resistance to the FBI going beyond that point where they are going to violate somebody's rights. And that was the problem. This guy was not radicalized and was not ready yet to go operational in 2013 and 2014. His wife has said that he just only recently became more aggressive and more withdrawn. He bought the two weapons used the week before the attack and tried to get body armor about a week before that. So you really don't have this guy going really over the edge until just very recently. And he was not under investigation then.

SCIUTTO: All right.

Steven, President Obama this morning mentioned Orlando and gun violence in his weekly radio address. Let's have a quick listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Alongside the stories of bravery and healing and coming together over the past week we have also seen a renewed focus on reducing gun violence. As I said a few days ago being tough on terrorism requires more than talk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: That of course not a radio address but is the address he puts now out digitally.

Stephen, I have to ask you. So here we are again. And I've covered countless number of shootings like this in the U.S. and literally really more than I could count. There is always this period, a couple of days, couple weeks afterwards where we as a country talk about gun control measures. Someone brings something up on the hill. We have Senator Chris Murphy's filibuster trying to get the conversation started. But I hear when I speak to folks on the hill that there are just not the votes there.

You know politics well. Is this one different? Is anything going to happen different this time? Are we going to be back forgetting this in a week or month?

[15:10:16] STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Jim, I think there is some hope from the gun control, out of this point of view that something small could get done on the issue of making it more difficult for terror suspects. People on the FBI lists, on no- fly lists, to get hold on weapons. There are couple of bills that are going to be debated in the senate next week. Now, the question is does that portend a more sort of fundamental change of politics in gun control. And I think that is very much in doubt right now. Even if something does get through the Senate it has to be through the house.

We're five months away from an election. House speaker Paul Ryan doesn't want a divisive gun debate. Many Democrats don't want tough votes on gun control. But what I think is very interesting, we have seen in this presidential election the use of the gun control debate by Hillary Clinton. The way that Donald Trump has posed to somebody that is going to protect the second amendment. So I think there is a real debate over control and gun crime in America and it is unfolding in this debate. How that turns out perhaps could influence how the gun politics develops in the next administration.

I think it's very clear that Hillary Clinton, if she is elected, is going to make a major push for an assault weapons ban. If the Democrats win the senate, we could see the numbers shift somewhat. But I think it's more of a long-term thing. And I think we might be back to where you suggested we might be at the beginning there, you know, talking about gun control with not much happening in the short term, at least.

SCIUTTO: As a country we have short memories, it seems.

As you know, Donald Trump gave a speech on terrorism just one day after the Orlando tragedy. And in that speech he raised again this idea of a Muslim ban although he seemed to expand it. It was not just about the religion, it was about the whole regions of the world with what he said was a history of terrorism against the U.S. or its allies.

Peter, you tore this apart in a piece on CNN.com. I'm just going to quote from it from our viewer's sake. You said - you wrote would this vague plan to suspend immigration solve the problem of terrorism in the states? Hardly, since 9/11, every legal jihadist terrorist attack in this country has been carried out by an American citizen or legal resident.

Peter, explain why you believe that Trump's proposed just over- simplifies the issue.

BERGEN: Well, Jim, I think, you know, since we have had a decade and a half of cases now, and you know, they have been carried out by American citizens, the lethal terrorist attacks or legal permanent residents. So stopping immigration will just have no effect on that. The problem is not coming from outside. The problem is homegrown. You know, some Americans may think of terrorist attacks on the United States as being a sort of foreign phenomenon. Of course because on 9/11 it was 19-hour borne foreigners who carried out the attacks. But since then, it has been really an American phenomenon. And we should partly, you know, we have had very good defenses. It's very hard for American - for foreign terrorist organization to attack the United States right now. And so we are left with this homegrown problem which banning immigration would have absolutely effect on. SCIUTTO: Right. And of course you have whole other shades of whether

you call it terrorism or not, mass shootings with a whole other range of motives.

Peter Bergen, Tom Fuentes, Stephen Collinson, thanks so much for joining us on a Saturday.

BERGEN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Coming up, as investigators dig into how the Orlando gunman may have been linked to ISIS, the terror group suffers a major blow in Iraq. The central district of a critical city that has been in ISIS' hands for two years is under Iraqi control. We will go right to Iraq on the fight for the rest of Fallujah.

Plus, Rio's Olympic size state of emergency. The government warning it needs money and needs it fast or the games themselves could be in jeopardy.

And the U.S. Senate locked in a heated debate over gun laws as new figures reveal just how many people are on the terror watch list have easily bought high powered weapons.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:41] SCIUTTO: Welcome back. Of course, ISIS has been back in the conversation here in the U.S. after the supposed ISIS tie to the attack in Orlando. But we are getting news now from Iraq, one of its bases, where American bombers have been helping to destroy the terror groups hold on the Iraqi's city of Fallujah, just west of the capital, Baghdad. Iraq's prime minister and other Iraqi officials are somewhat optimistically declaring Fallujah free of ISIS for the first time in years. U.S. military officials aren't quite ready to be that definitive. They agree that Iraqi troops are finally in control parts of the city, but that there is still fighting to be done.

Straight to Baghdad tight now, CNN's Ben Wedeman is there. He is in Baghdad, only 40 miles from Fallujah.

So Ben, help us out here. We know that they made progress in the city but from what you're hearing is there confidence that they have control of Fallujah now, Iraqi forces?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, actually we were in the heart of Fallujah today with the Iraqi army. And I can tell you that certainly they have made dramatic progress in taking much of the southern and central part of the city. But we were on one of the main roads through Fallujah in the center of the city. And I can tell you one block over on our left there was a gun battle. About 250 yards in front of us, there is another massive gun battle also with rocket propelled grenades. And on the block to our left there was a gun battle going on.

So really this is a work in progress. U.S. officials here in Baghdad have been somewhat more cautious than the Iraqi officials who are essentially saying that the city has been almost completely liberated. But speaking to soldiers and officers on the ground, they said that there is still a large section of the northern city, or rather northern section of the city that remains under ISIS control. It's under pressure from Iraqi forces from coalition aircraft. We have been watching for days now as the city -- northern part of the city has come under steady bombardment, but it isn't over yet --Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, let's say even if it is not over, this is still a fairly significant development, is it positive in that. We have seen some progress on the ground there. Earlier you saw Ramadi taken back, some other less populated areas. But from your porch there, how significant - you know, it's not a complete win there. How significant a win - a victory would this be?

[15:20:11] WEDEMAN: It's significant. We should not understate it in any sense. The battle is ongoing. But certainly it seems inevitable that ISIS will be crushed in Fallujah. Yes, they have taken Ramadi, they retaken Tikrit, Baiji in the north. And that they are sending forces to launch - begin a gradual offensive to move on the city of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.

So there has been progress. And I can tell you firsthand that I have seen over the last two years a definite change within the Iraqi army. For one thing, they're battle-tested like they have not been in years. They seem to be better equipped, better trained and better led. There is still a lot of shortcomings in terms of logistics and supply. There are some shortcomings in leadership. But there has been a definite improvement. And it's partly because of course the hundreds of millions of dollars for the United States, it has put it into training, equipping and supporting Iraqi forces as they fight ISIS, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, Ben, you know this better than me, you have been there a million times. Please stay safe. You and I both know it's still not quite safe there. So we appreciate you being there for us.

Coming up, Donald Trump speaking right now at a rally in Las Vegas as momentum builds for what could be a convention revolt. The new plan hatched by GOP delegates desperate to stop him, and how Trump is fighting back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:31] SCIUTTO: Welcome back, live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. Donald Trump with a message for Bernie Sanders and his supporters that might surprise you. Here is that he said just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Think about Bernie. He doesn't give up. This guy doesn't give up. Right? Crazy Bernie, he doesn't give up. You know. Crazy Bernie. He is crazy as a bed bug, but you know he doesn't quit. He doesn't quit. Got to hand it to him. 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're going to do. I mean, I think that is -- I think he is sort of saying look, oh, let's hang in there. Because ultimately, it's called the FBI convention. And then we'll be the only people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Donald Trump speaking there today in Las Vegas. Meantime, a major effort to block Donald Trump from becoming the official Republican nominee is, we are hearing our reporters under way. And it's being led from some within his own party. A GOP delegate tells CNN the drive is dubbed anybody but Trump. And its goal is to free up delegates at the convention so they can vote against the presumptive nominee. The political maneuver has been sparked in part by two recent issues. One is Trump's continued insistence on some sort of Muslim ban for travel here to the U.S. The other is a series of polls including this one, which shows Trump badly losing to Hillary Clinton.

To talk more about this, I'm joined now by Boris Epshteyn. He is a Republican strategist and a Trump surrogate, as well as CNN senior politics reporter Stephen Collinson back with us.

Stephen, first to you, Trump said this idea of a revolt at the convention, possibility of delegates changing their votes, is illegal. Is that true and is there any chance this could work?

COLLINSON: Well, the convention could change its rules in theory to allow any sort of manifestation of voting and delegates amassing against the candidate. So you would have a series of votes to come up with the nominee. I think the question is whether it's practical. This thing has been going on, this election for a year. The Republican Party has not been able to put any meaningful opposition up towards Trump. He beats 16 of the party's best candidates, supposedly the best generational contest of Republican candidates in many years. And I think, you know, while there are some dissidents within the Republican party that look at these polls and think there could be a horrific outcome in November, it all boils down to the end, aggregating the will of voters. Donald Trump has millions more voters than any other Republican candidate. And even if this scenario came to pass, he could walk away with those voters, while there could be a third candidate be a very disruptive force and doom the Republicans to defeat anyways. So likely, you know, we will watch it very carefully over the next few weeks. This is going to be a topic of the convention but it could be a very, very grave step for the party to take the nomination from their nominee when he has won it by democratic means.

SCIUTTO: Boris Epshteyn, I mean, there are two forces at play here. One is, frankly, there is strong discomfort even within the Republican Party with Donald Trump's stances, style, et cetera. But it is also his declining position in the polls. I'm curious, inside the Trump camp is there genuine worry that there will be a revolt at the convention that tries, whether it's successful or not, but that tries to take the nomination away from him or not?

BORIS EPSHTEYN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Absolutely not. This whole movement is 30 out of 2400 delegates. Think about that. Almost one percent of delegates. That's about it. So it is really a movement. It is a collection of folks who happen to not like Donald Trump. That is fine. That is their right. But almost 14 million people have come out and voted for Donald Trump. Two million more people voted in the GOP primary than the Democrat primary. In 45 out of 50 states the turnout for the GOP primary went up while the Democratic side in 45 to 50 states, it went down. Donald Trump did more for the GOP than anybody since Ronald Reagan in this primary season. And he is by far the best candidate to face off against Hillary Clinton. That is why he has been the presumptive nominee now for six weeks. So absolutely not worried about this.

[15:30:00] SCIUTTO: Boris, let me ask you this. I was in Orlando all week. I covered this issue for some time. It is first time I had had a chance to speak to a Trump surrogate since Donald Trump repeated his proposal for a Muslim ban. And seem to expand it because initially he talked about Muslim as the religion. But in his Monday speech, he talked about country's with the history of terrorism against the U.S., which frankly includes many countries, many of which are not even Muslim majority, because if you think of France or Belgium where they have a strong terror presence there, can you help define for me and the viewers, exactly which countries he would ban would in compass?

EPSHTEYN: Where we are looking at what Donald Trump is talking about is a pause on immigration from countries which are deem to be after a study sources of threat to the United States.

SCIUTTO: What are those countries? Is it terror sponsors designated by the state department? Is it terror safe havens, because the state department has its own category of a safe haven. But it also has a whole another category of countries where there are terror groups that have a presence and that includes, you know, many countries, the arm say the Somalis or the Afghanistans of the world. I'm just curious, as candidate sat down and talked about exactly which country he is talking about because this could be anywhere from a handful to 40 some-odd countries.

EPSHTEYN: Well, as all legislation is there would obviously be tiers. One would be countries where there is state-sponsored terrorism. You have to talk about those countries. Then you want do have to consider countries where there is a lot of terror cells. And you have to consider what folks out of those countries you have to let in to the United States of America.

SCIUTTO: Does that include France, Belgium, the U.K. for instance, which are U.S. allies but also would have a presence of terror cells.

EPSHTEYN: You would have to consider how much immigration and what kind of immigrants, illegal immigrants you let in from those countries, and what kind of immigrants you grant legal status to.

SCIUTTO: I assume when you say what kind you talk about what their religion is?

EPSHTEYN: Yes. Their background, take an example the wife in the san bernardino shootings. On earlier, who said the terrorism was home- grown. She was not born in the United States, here on a visa, and it was reported that she had a widespread presence on jihad. That was missed. We need to pause on immigration based on backgrounds of the actual immigrants and where they're coming from.

Boris Epshteyn, Trump's surrogate, Stephen Collinson, politics reporter for CNN, thanks very much.

Coming up, stunning numbers on terror suspects buying guns legally in this country. Last year 244 people on the terror watch list walked into gun stores. Wait until you hear how many were turned down. That answer right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:57] SCIUTTO: He was once on the FBI's terror watch list. But we now know that the Pulse nightclub killer managed to buy two firearms just in the days leading up to his rampage. One of them, an MCX assault style semiautomatic like this one. If that surprises you it should not. The reality is that nine out of ten people on terror watch list who want to buy a gun are able to after passing a federal background check.

And here is the breakdown. The government accountability report found that 244 people on the terror watch list walked into gun shops last year to buy firearms. And of those, 223 were approved. Just 21 denied. That is because to be denied you have to be among other things, one, a felon, or a fugitive, a domestic abuser, an undocumented immigrant or have a legally declared mental health issue. But being on the terror watch list by itself is not if you can believe it an automatic strike.

The issue has touched off a heated battle on Capitol Hill with votes on the so-called terrorist loopholes as well as expanded background checks scheduled for this Monday. The result of Senate Democrats launching a 15-hour filibuster this week to get Republicans simply to vote on it, not hope for it but vote on.

Back with me now is CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes and CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen.

Tom, if I could begin with you. You are a former assistant director at the FBI. This kind of proposal that Dianne Feinstein is talking about right now to allow the attorney general to block the sale of a gun if there is quote "a reasonable suspicion that person will be involved -- or support a terrorist attack." From your perspective, your experience, would that help the FBI prevent terrorist attacks?

FUENTES: Well, I think, Jim, it is common sense that as a law enforcement officer you would think that fewer bad guys have access to this kind of fire power that certainly it would make the public safer. But we go back to this debate about the constitutional right to buy a firearm. You don't have a constitutional right to fly on an airplane. So the mere fact that you end up on the no-fly list or on a terror watch list so far people have said that should not be enough. And that is not a matter for the FBI to decide. That is a matter for our congressional leaders and the president to decide whether that should be the case or not. The FBI is going to enforce whatever law they're handed, no matter how difficult it makes their job. SCIUTTO: No question. But in your experience, do lawmakers ask the

FBI's point of view on this and say hey, would this help you? Does the FBI lobby them quietly to say this is a power that we need? This is what we need now to save lives. Is that a communication that goes on between the FBI and the hill?

FUENTES: Well, I think the FBI can make those kind of recommendations. And police associations, international association of chiefs of police, other associations, major chiefs of America. They make a lot of recommendations that they don't want these assault rifles on the street gunning down police officers. Gunning down members of the public. Unfortunately, the police and FBI lobby is not as strong as the NRA, so I don't see that changing.

SCIUTTO: Yes, lot of money to back that up.

Peter, we heard the director of the CIA this week, John Brennan, sounding the alarm saying that despite the military progress against ISIS on the battlefield, the group is as dangerous as a terror organization as ever. Let's have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BRENNAN, CIA DIRECTOR: We judge that ISIL is training and attempting to deploy operatives and further attacks. ISIS has a large (INAUDIBLE) of western fighters who could potentially serve as operatives for attacks in the west. And the group is probably exploring a variety of means for infiltrating operatives into the west, including in refugee flows, smuggling routes and legitimate methods of travel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Peter you know this issue well going back to meeting Osama bin Laden, even pre-9/11. One trouble with this is that there is no absolute sign that someone is going to become a terrorist. They don't sort of suddenly wave flag and say I'm about to shoot someone, right? And there are so many different profiles of people who go down this path. And that is why it seems when folks carry out these attacks that there often may have been previous sign that in retrospect looks somewhat obvious. But really aren't at the moment in time, obviously.

Is there a tool that you can envision that kind of brings together these incomplete pieces of information, an FBI investigation in the past, you know, history of beating his wife as you had in this case, that kind of thing that puts these things together in some way that can give folks like Tom a sense of who they have to pick up?

[15:40:42] BERGEN: Well, I think this question of domestic abuse is sadly something to look at. You know, somebody who is willing to beat up his wife may be willing to do other things. And we see it of course in the case of murderers, often they start with torturing or killing animals. So you know the FBI has a powerful tool here which they call the path way the violence. And you know, by the account of behavioral analysts I have spoken to don't get too hung up on the ideology, whether you're a neo-Nazi or jihadists, what they concern about are your actions. And so, very obvious actions would be buying semiautomatic weapons. And you know, it is no brainer that we should be at minimum flagging such purchases or perhaps even borrowing them by people who have been the subject of FBI interests. Because some of the most prominent terrorist attacks in this country have been carried out by people who were on the FBI's radar, Carlos Bledsoe who killed an American soldier in Arkansas, major Nadal Hassan who killed 13 at Fort Hood and now the Orlando attack. All of these attacks were carried out by people who have legally purchased semiautomatic weapons and have been the subject of FBI interest.

SCIUTTO: Yes. How about just warning when it happens, even if you don't prevent it from buying it.

BERGEN: Right.

FUENTES: You know, Jim if I could add some to that, having watched all of these events over the years many times, there is a hue and cry after immediately after the event that why can't the FBI have more tools? Why can't they be more powerful? Why can't they read minds? And about three weeks from now the tide turns and it goes, we don't want the FBI doing that. We don't want the FBI having Meta data. We don't want the FBI cracking iPhones. So I have seen this go up and down over the years politically and the mood of the public and what the FBI should or should not be able to do.

SCIUTTO: No question. I mean, we have short memories on these things somehow.

Peter Bergen and Tom Fuentes, thanks very much.

Coming up, vigils held across Britain in honor of a lawmaker brutally killed there. Her family's emotional statement as the man charged to the case makes a dramatic appearance in court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:28] SCIUTTO: All of Great Britain this weekend still in shock, and in disbelief at the horrific broad daylight murder of a member of the British parliament member. Jo Cox, just 41 years old. She was in a small town in her district meeting with voters when a man stabbed her and shot her multiple times.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in that small town right now, Birstall, England.

Nic, the man who witnesses say kill Jo Cox, he appeared in court today, more on that appearance in a moment, but if you could just show us what is happening there behind you there as people memorialize Jo Cox.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Jim, there are still people coming in. I mean, we have been here all day. They came since the early hours. They are still here, bringing flowers, coming to pay their respects. Coming to, you know, give their final good-byes, if you will, with Jo Cox. Her family, her parents came here today. It was very silent, very

somber, very emotional. Her sister, Kim, spoke. She thanked all the aid workers who tried to save her sister. She thanked the elderly gentleman who was stabbed badly, wounded, trying to save her from the attack. And she spoke of her sister. This is what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM LEADBEATER, JO COX'S SISTER: And we will never let Jo leave our lives. She will live on in the world, to Brendan, to us, and to her truly wonderful children who will always know what an utterly amazing woman their mother was. She was a human being and she was perfect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: You know, and as Kim stopped speaking there, people came forward there. Those in the crowd that knew Jo that knew her well and liked her and loved her. And they gave that love and that warmth to her parents and to her sister. There were hugs for 20 minutes. The family were embraced in the love of this town -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Nic, a dramatic court appearance for the alleged killer today. What did he say in court?

ROBERTSON: Well, he was asked his name, Jim. And he said my name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain. The indications are that he believes that his actions, his vicious murder, it came from political motivations. Jo Cox, of course, campaigning strongly to keep Britain as part of the European Union. He perhaps had other ideas. We have yet to find that out, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Nic Robertson, such a sad story, thanks so much for joining us today.

Coming up, a stunning announcement, less than 50 days before the Olympic games in Rio. The government declaring a state of emergency, so desperate for money there could be a total collapse of vital services. We will get a live report from there. Please stay with us.

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[15:53:00] SCIUTTO: First, it was the Zika virus. Then, polluted water. Then, massive protests around the impeachment of Brazil's president. And now, more trouble less than 50 days before the Olympic Games in Rio are set to start. The local government has just declared a financial state of emergency saying if they do not get more money fast, vital services could completely collapse.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is live in Rio de Janeiro.

So Nick, just how serious is the crisis there now?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Deeply. And I think many knew that Rio's government full staff and the country's states we are in financial trouble. But to hear a declaration like this late yesterday in the mayor gazette here saying look, we got to face a security crisis. We need the ability to cut through red tape. Make extra loan. Declare the state of emergency because what they called a financial calamity is shaken. Many people indeed.

Their assurances that it is not going to affect the Olympic infrastructure itself, all the games, and I think they are going to go ahead, certainly. But there real issue is what kind of back drop will Rio be able to provide for that. Now, we know the police have to provide security for potential half million or so Olympic visitors they hope to get. The hospitals have to be in good shape. Public transport has to function as well. But they are looking it seems going to local media for a billion dollars to be injected here into Rio state to make sure that can all happen. They are already $5 billion in debt. So there may be assistance from the sort of Brazilian federal level, so to speak. But it is of course, the president here, the interim president can't be seen to let the games slide. But the fear is and I think that this may impact potentially the state of backdrop, the atmosphere, the kind of welcome that Rio could give those visitors.

And the other thing too, I think that maybe there are shows that there can be more surprises to come. If something like this can emerge in just weeks to go before the Olympics, what other surprises may there be in terms of the Olympic infrastructure itself. We know, for example, Jim that a subway extension from behind me to the Olympic park is only going to be ready with just four days to go before the Olympics begin. A lot more concerns and potential surprises ahead, Jim.

SCIUTTO: No question. We hope they come off OK.

Nick Paton Walsh in Rio. Thanks very much.

Coming up in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, the medical examiner who saw the worst of the Orlando shooting massacre speaks out in a CNN exclusive.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's almost like time stopped. There were still things background TV playing.

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[15:59:19] SCIUTTO: Parents who have children with downs syndrome face special challenges and they can be made harder when families experience negative reactions from others, sometimes even neighbors and friends. But this week's CNN hero, Nancy Gioni is working to change that.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our kids wear their diagnosis on their face. So they are judged from the minute they wake up in the morning, anywhere they go, whatever they do. So we do have a lot to prove. We have to show that we can and we will learn to do everything everybody else does. It might take us a little bit longer, but we are going to do it. And you need to believe in us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: See how Nancy is changing the lives with people with downs syndrome and public attitudes about what they can achieve. Go to CNNheroes.com. And while you are there, nominate someone who you think should be a 2016 CNN Hero.