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New Day
Indiana Supermarket Shooting; Nuke Officers Caught Cheating?; Obama To Speak On NSA; Senate Benghazi Report; Obama No New Sanctions On Iran; School Shooting "Planned" Attack; Adam Lanza's Voice on the Road?; Family Shocked By Asiana Video
Aired January 16, 2014 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The officers entered the store. They heard what sounded like a gunshot.
CUOMO: Breaking news, shoot-out at the super market. Three dead after a man opens fire at Indiana store. Police rush to the scene, take on the gunman. We're live with the latest.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nuclear chief. The frightening scandal rocking the Air Force. Dozens of officers in charge of nuclear missiles accused of cheating on their proficiency exams. Were U.S. nukes at risk?
Voice of a killer. New audio recordings reportedly of the Newtown shooter talking on a radio show about his fascination with killing. How much advance notice was there?
Your NEW DAY starts right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It's Thursday, January 16th, six o'clock in the east.
Breaking overnight, an Indiana super market becomes a killing field. Police say two women were shot to death by a gunman. Officers then arrived on the scene, exchanged gunfire with the suspect. Pamela Brown is tracking the latest developments for us. Pamela, what do we know?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you. Police say the gunman walked into the super market intent to cause harm armed with a knife and a handgun. He killed two people, but the death toll could have been even worse had police officers who happened to be nearby the scene not arrived so quickly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BROWN (voice-over): It happened here at this Martin Super Market in Elkhart, Indiana. A short and bloody rampage that ended with multiple fatalities.
SGT. TRENT SMITH, INDIANA STATE POLICE: We live in that world. There's not a day that goes by it seems like anymore where, you know, we're not learning of a school shooting or at a business or you know, unfortunately, we hope that this would never come to our hometown, and here it is.
BROWN: Police say a gunman snuck to the doors of the deli at Marin Supermarket and then opened fire, killing two women, a store employee and a shopper. Their bodies found ten store aisles apart from one another.
SMITH: It's a huge crime scene. The area where the shootings happened in the store are basically from one end of the store to the next.
BROWN: Police race to the scene. When they arrived the gunman was holding a semi-automatic weapon to a hostage's head and that's when officers say the shooter turned his gun on them.
SMITH: They saw a subject there that pointed a gun at them. They fired on the subject. We believe they hit the subject. The subject is deceased.
BROWN: Police have not identified the gunman or the victims.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And police found, again, a large knife and a semi-automatic handgun next to the body of the suspect. Police say it is believed that he lived in the area, but we're still waiting to find out who he is and why he decided to go on this deadly rampage, and also whether he knew the two victims -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: Pamela, so scary. That is right near where I grew up. A lot of questions remaining. Thanks, Pamela. Thanks very much for that.
So we have to talk about a truly scary scandal rocking the Air Force this morning. Take a look at this unsettling number that we have right here, 34 officers are in charge of our nuclear arsenal, 34 of them, were said to be involved in a scheme to cheat on a proficiency exam. Even further, 16 of these officers were caught sharing answers to the test that allows them to take on this very dangerous role.
Our senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns is following these developments for us. When you see those numbers, Joe, does not make you feel good.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's true. Good morning, Kate. It's the biggest scandal of its kind in Air Force history. Now the Pentagon is scrambling to get to the bottom of it as quickly as they can. What's so disturbing is that in the nuclear weapons business, there's absolutely no room for sloppiness or misbehavior among the people who have their fingers on the trigger of the U.S. arsenal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS (voice-over): It started with a probe into illegal drug possession, but unexpectedly led investigators to an Air Force cheating scandal, nearly three dozen airmen, mostly from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. The Pentagon says some cheated on a proficiency test last August and September.
Others apparently knew about the cheating, but didn't stop or report it. All involved have been decertified and restricted from missile crew duty. The cheating was accomplished using text messages. Air Force Secretary Debra Lee James.
DEBORAH LEE JAMES, AIR FORCE SECRETARY: Now this is absolutely unacceptable behavior and it is completely contrary to our core values in the Air Force. As everybody here knows the number one core value for us is integrity.
JOHNS: There's a long list of scandals involving missile defense personnel. Just last month, an Air Force major was fired because he drank too much and got into trouble in Russia. The missile unit at Malmstrom failed a safety and security inspection last year and in the nuclear arsenal business where there's absolutely no room for error, a little thing like napping on the job is a major security issue. The defense secretary recently visited one of the missile bases to try to lift moral.
CHUCK HAGEL, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We emphasize how important your mission is, how important your work is, how we depend on your professionalism and how you do your work.
JOHNS: And it's not just the Air Force. A Navy vice admiral overseeing nuclear weapons was recently removed from command after being implicated in a gambling investigation. Study show manning the missiles can be a very lonely isolated job and the DOD personnel assigned to them have suffered from burnout and been involved in domestic violence. But a CNN military expert says cheating must be dealt with as a question of character.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This isn't bad behavior. This is unethical behavior and it gets right to the core of the culture of this group.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: The Air Force has now begun the process of retesting all 600 of its launch officers. One expert told CNN there is a question whether the rigorous standards of these DOD personnel somehow set them up to fail -- Chris.
CUOMO: All right, Joe Johns, thank you.
New this morning, President Obama is preparing to reign in the NSA. The question is, how much? Tomorrow he's expected to announce new limits on the spy agency's reach. According to reports, Obama will call for greater oversight, but keep in place many of the programs that have raised privacy concerns.
For more on this, CNN's Jim Sciutto in Washington. Jim, what do we know?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Good morning, Chris. Well, it's been eight months since Edward Snowden revealed the existence of mass surveillance by the NSA. Now a little more than 24 hours, we'll know exactly as you say how far the president will go, maybe a little less far than you might imagine. Now you'll remember the president convened a reform panel, an intel reform panel.
It recommended some 46 changes to the program, but it's becoming clear he will not accept many of those recommendations. The headline, the bulk collection of phone metadata will continue and the panel did not recommend to stop it, but there is a report the president will not accept the panel's recommendation that that data be held by private phone companies rather than the NSA.
We've reported earlier that the phone companies didn't want to hold the data. They are fearing lawsuits. Now the president will likely appoint a public advocate to take part in the secret foreign surveillance court, which reviews searches of the data.
He also may set limits on spying on foreign leaders and direct his aides to negotiate agreements with allies on what spying is acceptable among friends and what is not. You remember, Chris and Kate, how much trouble it caused and controversy when it was revealed that we were spying on our all allies.
BOLDUAN: We'll see what this announcement, if this announcement has its controversy as well. Jim, thank you. I want you to take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIR: The security was inadequate and should have been beefed up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: That is the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, talking about a bipartisan report coming from her panel that concludes the attack that killed four Americans at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya could have been prevented. The report cites them for failing to communicate and respond to warnings about terrorist activities.
CNN's Elise Labott is live in our Washington Bureau with the very latest. Good morning, Elise.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Good morning, Kate. That's right. The committee really spreads the blame across the U.S. government, but it saves the most stinging criticism for the State Department for its failing to secure its mission after a numerous intelligence warnings about a growing security crisis around Benghazi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LABOTT (voice-over): The deadly attack on the U.S. mission could have been prevented. That's according to a damming report by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
FEINSTEIN: We know there were concerns about Benghazi. We know there were training camps around that area.
LABOTT: The 85-page report said the State Department didn't connect the dots and failed to increase security after numerous intelligence reports, which forewarned of the potential for an attack on U.S. facilities and personnel in Benghazi.
FEINSTEIN: It is something that I think the State Department has to really come to grips with and see that we have 285 missions and embassies. That in fact they are secure.
LABOTT: The State Department says it is already taking steps to do just that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been clear that we could have done more with security. That we need to improve our security.
LABOTT: But push back on the notion it missed the warning signs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was no specific threat indicating an attack was coming.
LABOTT: The Pentagon was faulted for not having military assets in the region to respond that night. And the intelligence community took heat too for creating the false impression the attack grew out of a protest of an anti-Muslim video leading to controversial statements like this.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: What we do know is that the natural protests that arose because of the outrage over the video were used as an excuse by extremists to see if they can also directly harm U.S. interest
LABOTT: Among the reports, 18 recommendations, the State Department must cut through red tape to quickly act on threats and upgrade security and work with the Pentagon and intel engines agencies to identify and prioritize security gaps in a high threat countries.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LABOTT: More than a year after attack, the Obama administration has identified several suspects. But those responsible have still not be brought to justice. The report warns that 15 people cooperating with the FBI investigation have been killed severely hampering that investigation -- Kate and Chris.
BOLDUAN: That's one of the more surprising things that has come out recently. Thank you so much, Elise CUOMO: A light of other news this morning. Let's get to John Berman in for Michaela -- John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, Chris, President Obama, another push on senators to hold off on more sanctions against Iran. The president told a group of Democratic senators that passing more sanctions could hamper progress with Iran. An interim deal was reached that was criticized by many lawmakers as soft on Iran.
The 12-year-old boy who opened fire on his classmates in a New Mexico middle school planned every detail of the attack in a journal that he kept at home. This is according to police. Two students were wounded. One is still in critical condition. The family of the suspect released a statement saying they are heart broken. They are praying for the victims they say. We still do not know the young's man's motive.
Former top aides to Governor Christie in New Jersey could be served with subpoenas today. The Jersey Assembly Committee is taking over the bridge investigate investigation and officially convenes at noon Eastern. Meanwhile, the governor is getting back to work. The governor is scheduled to appear at a public event on the Jersey Shore this morning to promote the state's Sandy relief efforts.
New development this morning on the deadly movie theater in Florida, memorial and funeral services for Chad Oulson on Saturday. We are also learning more about an earlier run in with shooting suspect, Curtis Reeves. A Central Florida woman says Reeves glared at her and her husband during a movie two weeks and he seemed to be bothered, she says, by everything.
Dramatic video to show you of a Navy pilot removed from a rescue chopper and rushed to a Virginia hospital on Wednesday. The pilot is in critical condition this morning after his single seat jet crashed off the coast. Officials say he ejected and he was rescued by a civilian fishing vessel. Lucky man. The Navy is investigating the cause of the crash.
BALDWIN: Looks like training came into play there that he ejected in time.
BERMAN: I'm glad he is doing OK.
BOLDUAN: Yes, thanks, John.
CUOMO: Time for a check of the weather.
BOLDUAN: Let's please do. Indra Petersons.
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Nothing too big out here on the east coast. We are talking about some light showers thanks to the cold front still making its way through. This is the drier one of the several systems out there. So you can barely see anything on the map, but it's just enough. You're going to have extra clouds and maybe a couple sprinkles out there today. Again, it is the system behind that we keep watching. This is one that's currently bringing blizzard conditions out towards the Dakotas and Minnesota. It's is something we call a ground blizzard. The reason for that we're talking about not as much snow, but a lot of blowing snow and low visibility thanks to the winds.
And then eventually, by the weekend, it will take its time, it will start to bring light flurries and even some rain into the northeast. Let's take a look now at the totals. We are talking about 4 inches to 6 inches maybe in the Ohio Valley, way north, kind of -- yes, you get more about 6 to 8 inches, but generally speaking around Minnesota, Dakotas, only looking for several inches of this, 65 mile per hour gusts.
If you're flying in that area, look for delays extending as it continues to make its way east throughout the night and tomorrow. Temperature wise, here's the story. You can see them starting to go down, never a good thing. Chicago 35 down below normal to the 20s. Thanks to those cold fronts kind of kicking through.
New York City, you'll eventually see 30s, but keep in mind, that is on target. Atlanta same thing, seeing those temperatures dive down as we go toward was the weekend. We're not 65 below, we're right on target. A little bit of rain.
BOLDUAN: Goes back into the mild category.
CUOMO: Talk about where you set the bar.
BOLDUAN: Exactly. This winter we've set it very low.
PETERSONS: Very low.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Indra.
CUOMO: Coming up on NEW DAY, we have a tape of the Newtown shooter talking to a radio station about mass murder one year before his evil plot that took the lives of 20 children and six adults. The question, how was this missed?
BOLDUAN: Also ahead, their daughter survived the deadly crash only to be run over and killed by first responders in the chaotic aftermath. The parents viewing this tragic video for the very first time, hear what they have to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY.
Disturbing new tapes released just this morning possibly containing the voice of the Sandy Hooks school shooter. "The New York Daily News" says Adam Lanza's voice is the one heard speaking with an Oregon college radio station about mass murder, just a year before he took the lives of 20 children, six educators and his own mother. Using the game Greg, he compares the chimp that mauled a Connecticut woman back in 2009 to a teenage mall shooter. It raises the question, were red flags missed that could have prevented the massacre.
CNN's Pamela Brown has been looking into this very eerie phone call and, of course, this may be very difficult for some people to listen to.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It truly is chilling, Kate.
CNN hasn't been able to independently verify the voice heard from this radio show caller, and that it's that of the Sandy Hook shooter. But the eerie audio from "The Daily News" might bring insight into the mind of a young man not long before he went on that shooting rampage that shattered a nation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): Is this the voice of Adam Lanza?
ADAM LANZA (allegedly): Some little thing he experienced was the last straw and he was overwhelmed by the life that he had.
BROWN: According to a report in "The New York Daily News", it is. The coverage story includes what is purported to be recently uncovered audio, recorded a year before the 20-year-old committed one of the deadliest mass murders in American history. The paper spoke to two classmates of Lanza who said it was him.
LANZA: He didn't act any differently than a human child would --
BROWN: The audio obtained by "The Daily News" is from an Oregon college radio show called Anarchy Radio. The man the paper identified as Lanza wanted to discuss the death of a domesticated chimp named Travis, that the radio host himself, proclaimed anarchist, John Zerzan. In 2009, Travis was shot and killed by a police officer after he brutally mauled a Connecticut woman.
The caller who identified himself as Greg compares the violent chimp attack with that of a teenage mall shooter in an over seven-minute interview.
LANZA: His attacks can be seen entirely parallel to the attacks, random acts of violence that you bring up on your show every week, committed by humans, which the mainstream also has no explanation for. An actual human I just don't think it would be such a stretch to say that he very could have been a teenage mall shooter or something like that.
BROWN: Zerzan doesn't know who the caller was but remembers the call.
JOHN ZERZAN, RADIO HOST: The voice was kind of odd, sort of robotic, and maybe he's trying to disguise his voice or something, I don't know.
BROWN: According to a blogger cited by "The Daily News", Lanza posted in an online forum under the user name "Smiggles", a name Sandy Hook investigators say he may have used in instant messages. In one 2011 post uncovered by the blogger, Smiggles wrote, "About calling into John Zerzan's radio show.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the subtext of what he's saying, violence is innate and instinctual to humans and really should not be punished because it is their natural basis. That's the message I think he's trying to get across. And the parallel to himself is obvious. He feels possessed by this need, this compulsion to commit violence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: We reached out to Connecticut state police spokesperson Paul Vance and we're still awaiting a comment from him. Meantime, Lanza's father Peter says he's willing to release any medical records that he can related to his son. A month ago, the Sandy Hook advisory commission said it is vital to have access to more information about Lanza's mental health history.
BOLDUAN: And again, though CNN hasn't independently confirmed it's his voice, it's still troubling to listen.
BROWN: It really is. It's creepy.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Pamela.
Chris?
CUOMO: All right. We've been talking about how weather has become a major issue at the Australian Open. Yesterday, we're telling you about players were forced to cope with extreme heat. But now, matches are being suspended because of rain and lightning.
Let's bring in Joe Carter with this morning's "Bleacher Report".
Make your witness, my brother. What's going on?
JOE CARTER, BLEACHER REPORT: Well, actually, Chris, Australia's about 16 hours ahead of us here on the East Coast. So, it's about 10:20 right now. So, earlier today, temperatures reached 109 degrees. Obviously, that's very extreme dangerous temperatures to play tennis in. So, any of the matches played inside on the arena courts, they had to close the retractable roofs.
Now, as far as the matches on the outdoor courts, they decided first to push the matches back to start late in the afternoon, about four or five o'clock. But that's when the rain and the lightning came through and that's what forced 14 matches outside to be suspended.
Now, Friday is going to be another scorcher. They're expecting high temperatures, about 111 degrees. So, obviously, the plan will be to start matches later in the day again.
But they're looking at some major relief this weekend. On Saturday, temperatures are going to drop nearly 40 degrees. So, obviously, 73, 74 degrees, they're going to have temperatures on Saturday and Sunday, ideal conditions to play tennis in. Lauren Tannehill, the wife of Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill, apparently left a rifle in the back of a rental car. Now, this happened in Fort Lauderdale earlier this month. The sheriff's office says she rented a car at the airport and then went in a few minutes later to swap the car, but left the rifle behind. The next renter found the rifle, turned it over to police. No charges are expected to be filed.
Trending this morning on bleacherreport.com, Sarah Harbaugh, the wife of 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, she told the San Francisco radio station that she absolutely hates when her husband wears those $8 Wal-mart khakis during games. She hates them. So, when Jim was asked if he was going to ditch the pleats for this Sunday's game, well, we found out who really wears the pants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM HARBAUGH, 49ERS COACH: Problem solved there. The Levi's or the Nike and the Dickie makes a flat khaki. So, happy wife, happy life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARTER: Yes, good advice.
Guys, the pants -- I mean, the pants have always not looked good on Jim. She said that when he was being ripped about it on a San Francisco radio station earlier this week, she called in to that radio station just to defend herself, saying, I don't pick his wardrobe. I tried to get him to wear more fashionable clothes, but he insists on wearing those old school pleated khakis that he gets from Wal-mart.
But obviously, a more fashionable look looks good on Jim, but I like it how he's sort of an old-school coach to wear those whatever pants.
BOLDUAN: I think it's not anti-Wal-mart. It's anti-pleat. I speak from experience. It's been a long road to get my husband out of a pleated front pant.
(LAUGHTER)
CUOMO: But sometimes, you need a little bit more room. Jim Harbaugh is a bigger guy.
CARTER: They look comfortable, right?
BOLDUAN: Joe Carter, you do not wear pleats. Don't even start with me.
CUOMO: You know what I like. He is old school though, Joe, because if you noticed, he said the Nike, Dickies. He said the Nike.
CARTER: Yes.
CUOMO: That's old school. That's how you talk about things.
BOLDUAN: Let's look it up on the Google. Thanks, Joe.
CARTER: He's just like the Patriots coach. The sweatshirts that he cuts himself, Bill Belichick --
BOLDUAN: Do we really need to bring that up? Because that is the definition of not fashionable.
CUOMO: He's like the Belichick.
BOLDUAN: We do not speak those words on NEW DAY.
Joe Carter, thank you so much.
Coming up next on NEW DAY, shocking new video we have to show you of a teenager who survived the deadly crash of Asiana Flight 214, only to be run over and killed by first responders in the aftermath. Now, her grieving family is speaking out.
CUOMO: And the nominees are, Oscar nods set to be announced in a couple hours. So, let's get it going. Let's get the Twitter verse working on it.
BOLDUAN: Let's go, people.
CUOMO: Who are your picks? The surprises, the snubs -- bring it to us.
BOLDUAN: Let's do it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: The family of the girl run over by a truck after the Asiana crash last summer is reacting to the disturbing video you just saw. Their lawyer is speaking out saying it shows fire crews noticing her body near the runway, but neglecting to check to see if she were alive.
Her family seeing the video for the first time.
CNN's Rene Marsh is in Washington with more.
What's the reaction so far, Rene?
RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, we showed you portions of the video yesterday. And now we have the entire video from firefighter's helmet cameras.
The new video couples with the facts, it really paints a disturbing picture. It suggests that emergency rescue teams did nothing to rescue this girl.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARSH (voice-over): This chilling video up close of the burning Asiana fuselage is shocking the family of one crash victim. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop, stop, stop. There's a body right -- there's a body right there right in front of you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
MARSH: Investigators say that body is 16-year-old Ye Mengyuan, who the San Francisco medical examiner says was still alive at that moment. Surviving the crash, she somehow managed to escape the aircraft and came to rest in this grassy area. Within minutes, firefighters arrive on the scene. You can see them walking by her, even waving a fire truck around her. But not a single firefighter stops to check her pulse or see if she was breathing.
JUSTIN GREEN, FAMILY ATTORNEY: At least five firefighters who saw her who understood she was there and none of them did the basic step of checking if she was alive.
MARSH: As the fire on the plane continued to rage, this truck moves into position and here rolls over his head killing her. But sadly, it does not end there. Another firefighter jumped into this rescue truck, allegedly without proper equipment or a spotter. The truck maneuvered into the area where Ye Mengyuan was located and rolls over her a second time.
GREEN: It's unthinkable. It's unimaginable, because the first thing that -- the first priority of the firefighters or any rescue personnel is saving lives. The person that needed their help the most was Mengyuan, and that's the person they didn't help.
