Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Investigators Painting Picture of Virginia Shooter; Donald Trump Stumps in SC; Three Arrested In Connection to 70 Plus Migrant Deaths; Controversies from the Campaign Trail. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired August 28, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:00] POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. The suicide note is coming together for investigators on the ground trying to paint a picture now of who Flanigan was. And Alisyn, as you mentioned this morning a new evidence surfacing, suggesting that he may have planned to make it out alive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

This morning, evidence of an apparent get away plan found inside 41- year-old Flanigan's car. A search warrant revealing that Flannigan had a wig, a shawl and sunglasses, along with multiple license plates, and to do this six magazines and a pistol. But the gunman was unable to evade police, shoot himself as they closed in on him on the side of the Virginia highway. This is video of his one-bedroom apartment obtained by NBC. You can see the refrigerator was covered with photos of himself, possible warning signs of the anger fueling the murderous attack on Adam Ward and Alison Parker live on air starting surfacing over a decade ago. In 2000, he was fired from a station in northern Florida.

MARIE MATTOX, ATTORNEY FOR SHOOTER FROM 2000 LAWSUIT: I was concerned about just his mental status and whether he need counseling.

SANDOVAL: And in 2013, he caused a disturbing scene after being fired from WDBJ lashing out at co-workers including victim, Adam Ward.

JEFF MARKS, GENERAL MANAGER, WDBJ: On the way out, he handed a wooden cross to the news director and said, you'll need this.

SANDOVAL: Prior to being let go, internal documents showed co-workers he made them feel threatened and extremely uncomfortable. A station's manager said Flanigan was asked to seek mental health assistance.

ANDY PARKER, FATHER OF KILLED JOURNALIST: I'm not saying let's take away guns, I'm saying let's make it harder for people with mental issues.

SANDOVAL: In an interview with Chris Cuomo, Parker's father says, gun regulations have to change.

PARKER: There has to be a way to force politicians that are cowards and in the pockets of the NRA to have sensible laws so that crazy people can't get guns. SANDOVAL: A father's crew said for stricter gun laws. A rally

against gun violence with a vigil in front of WDBJ station Thursday night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And this morning, really that makeshift memorial continues to grow outside the studios here, WDBJ. Look closer and you can actually see some of the flames of the candles also continue to burn, a sign of support from the community for this station here.

Chris?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The people down there, this is only just beginning. Polo, thank you very much. Appreciate the reporting this morning.

So let's bring in former ATF Special agent in charge and senior vice president for FJC security services Matthew Horace. You can help us on both points. One, the forensic part of the investigation and what it tells us. And also these bigger issues because you dealt with them from a policy standpoint and the reality on the ground. When you hear about the wigs, when you hear about the extra ammo, when you hear about the different items in the car, to you, does it suggest a plan or just more of the randomness of the madness of this man?

MATTHEW HORACE, FORMER ATF SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: No, it absolutely suggests that he may have had a broader plan. It was a cold and calculated and planned attack. There may be certain elements of the crime that we may never know at this point because the suspect is diseased.

CUOMO: And how do you then rationalize how he went from having a plan to killing himself? Circumstances?

HORACE: Well, it could be circumstances. Let's face it. When he committed the crime, he didn't disguise himself. There were CCTV cameras at the site. They developed the suspect very quickly although he has wigs in his car. So when was he going to disguise himself as a result of the escape or as a result of a crime? We will never know at this point but there are certain elements that point to mental illness here. And there are certain elements that this point to a crime.

CUOMO: Why have all that extra ammo and not have it on him at the time of the murder? He had it in the car. Also, we are not dealing with the most stable train of thought, from somebody otherwise so it's difficult to analyze it in a stable state of mind. And that takes us to the bigger issue that you are pointing to. Everyone is suggesting mental illness. We don't know about a diagnosis. We don't know about any treatment. We don't know about any medicine. We don't know anything from the family other than their condolences. What do you think?

HORACE: Well, here we are, two weeks after the last one, and we're pointing to mental illness again because of his behavior leaving the studio. He left a cross. Threatening. He threatened employees. He went out in a rage. So we're assuming that he had sort of mental illness. Why? You can be angry.

CUOMO: The suicide note, it was called a manifesto. But it doesn't really state anything of any purpose so really it's just rumblings and a suicide note. I was influenced by Cho. That's my boy right there. There's one point. He's talking serial killers. You don't have to be mentally ill to be bad minded. He talks about racism a lot. Is this a mentally ill person or a mean, self-loathing, vicious, racist person?

[06:05:00] HORACE: Some of the things preceding a crime might point to an avenue of mental illness. The crime has cold and calculated. There was a plan. When you look at the things on the search warrant return, he actually planned it out. And then, he has extra magazines indicating he may have wanted to do more crime. Then he commits suicide. So it's all over the place.

CUOMO: But not following through, not being thoughtful doesn't mean you are ill. He went on trial. He was captured. Do you think he had a shot as an insanity defense?

HORACE: I highly doubt it.

CUOMO: The racism isn't being talked about as much. He believed, probably wrongly, by all indication of fact that he was a victim of racial things. Now the new reporting about what he thought this lovely young reporter was saying that was racist were probably things he was grabbing out of context. When she said going out into the field, which we say all the time, he took it as a primal reference. He was off. You can be off and not be sick. He talked about race as much as anything else as a motivation for actions.

HORACE: It brings us back to the broader issue. In trying to determine who should have guns and who shouldn't have guns, there is that question on the form of being adjudicated. He was not adjudicated. Several suspects, mass shootings had not been adjudicated. We have to start looking at the form, the laws, coordination of the laws and what we are doing here.

CUOMO: You dealt with weapons in the field all the time. You know there's a robust black market for guns.

HORACE: Yes.

CUOMO: A secondary market. There's sharing among gun owners that doesn't deal with or make them run around registration. Do you believe there's the tolerance, the ability within government or the wherewithal to make laws tighter than right now despite the heart break and pain of parent that is real?

HORACE: I don't know if there's tolerance, but this is the United States of America. Anything can be done if we put our minds to it. There's intersection between mental illness, how we treat it, the intersect between who should have a gun, who can purchase a gun and the idea of strengthening it to ensure the incidents don't keep happening over and over again. CUOMO: I hear you. I know that statistically kinds up that these

shootings are irrelevant. They are 1 percent of all shootings overall. Doesn't matter. They speak to issues we should be doing better on. The question is how. In Canada, you want to buy a handgun. They say how is everything? Is everything OK? They don't want to do that. Who is they? That's what Alison's father is talking about. Do you think we need to do more in terms of who gets guns?

HORACE: Absolutely.

CUOMO: People say there are hundreds of laws on the books. Enforce what is there. Is it that simple?

HORACE: No, we enforce the laws congress enacts. In Virginia, a gun friendly state, the laws are different. You can buy high capacity magazines. You can lay away a gun. You can't in New Jersey and New York. There needs to be a coordination between state and legislative changes. Not to strengthen the laws so much to impede the ability of firearms. Time after time, we have to wake up. This is happening too often.

CUOMO: There's no law in the books that would have kept him from buying weapons. There's no law on the books that would mandate he get evaluated, held over, look at the act or anything else or treatment for what you may have thought was mental illness. What do the conditions tell us? There's more that can be done or is there?

Matthew Horace, thank you for the perspective on the evidence and that the bigger issues, how they play out.

HORACE: Thank you.

CUOMO: Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris. Donald Trump stirring up controversy on the campaign trial in South Carolina on Thursday. Once again, talking about a silent majority. It's a term many fine charged. All this about his campaign fund raising. Let's go live to South Carolina and let's bring in CNN Political Reporter Sara Murray. Good morning, Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. You are completely right. Donald Trump is stirring up controversy now in more ways than one. What he's doing behind closed doors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

This morning, the GOP front-runner. The Washington outsider caught in the act, acting like a politician.

DONALRD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Give yourself a nice applause. Wow.

MURRAY: This time, stirring up debate after using what some consider yet another controversial phrase, the silent majority. TRUMP: So you have a silent majority of this country that feels

abused, that feels forgotten, that feels mistreated. It's a term that hasn't been brought up in years. People haven't heard that term in many years. It's sort of interesting as to why.

MURRAY: The main reason, people say the phrase originally coined by Nixon.

[06:10:00] NIXON: The great silent majority...

MURRAY: Had racial undertones. An appeal to White voters amid the civil rights movement. Trump also ruling voters with the promise to reject big contributions.

TRUMP: A couple weeks ago, somebody came to me, very powerful lobbyist, I would like to put money in your campaign. $5 million. I said I don't want it. I don't want your money.

MURRAY: Trump now appears to be saying one thing and doing another. CNN learned the candidate is appearing at his own big dollar fund raising events, both for a superpac supporting him and a group that accepts unlimited contributions and keeps its donors secret. Donors yearning for an up close look at the bravado need only come to the campaign events.

TRUMP: I don't wear a toupee. It's my hair. I swear. Come here. Is it mine?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is.

TRUMP: Say it, please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I believe it is.

TRUMP: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now that donor spirit will be alive and well today. Trump is traveling to Massachusetts where he's hosting an event called a fund- raiser. Trump insisting it is not a fund raising event.

Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Sara. Thank you very much. Let's flip to the other party now. New accusations this morning adding fuel to the Hillary Clinton e-mail fire storm. A conservative group claims e- mails show Hillary Clinton and her State Department aids made plans days after the Benghazi attack to set up a group called, "Slush fund" citizen united says the State Department e-mails it obtained show that Clinton and her aides mixed government business with a Clinton fund raising efforts the chief of staff to then Secretary of State Clinton denies each and all allegations.

CAMEROTA: Breaking news, CNN learning three people were arrested in connection with the death of at least 70 migrants. The victim's decomposed bodies found in an abandoned truck in Austria near the border of Hungary.

CNN's Senior Internal Correspondent Arwa Damon is live in Hungry with the very latest. What do we know, Arwa?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Alisyn, they are trying to figure out what kind of criminal network was behind the horrific deaths. It's an indication of byproduct of Europe's fundamental failure when it comes in dealing with this tide of migrants and refugees. The likes of which they have not seen since World War II really coming across the entire region. The problem is that Europe is not handling this adequately. Just look behind me. This is Hungary a field where migrants and refugees are being held. They just crossed over from Serbia, they spent hours here under the sun. There's no shelter. There's no medical assistance. They can't communicate with authorities. I can't even communicate with the Hungarian aide. They keep telling me...

CUOMO: All right. We are having communication problems with Arwa. You can see what she's trying to do where, explain the plight of migrants. We'll try to get the shot back and her back.

Also breaking overnight, a student shot at Savannah State University in Georgia has died. Christopher Stars was a junior in Atlanta Georgia for the area. The police are on the case. No arrests have been made so far.

CAMEROTA: Florida's governor advising people to be prepared as Erika continues the march across the Atlantic. It battered the Caribbean, blamed for four deaths after pounding an island with torrential rains. You can see the rushing, muddy water, causing building to collapse. My goodness. Erika threatening the southeastern U.S. coast next week.

Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers for the very latest on Erika's path. How is it looking, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not what you went to bed with last night. The models have changed. Pay attention here a little bit. The storm, not forecast to be a hurricane anymore, but a strong tropical storm that runs over Florida. It's going to run over Haiti and the Dominican Republic, maybe Cuba. Yesterday, they were here now they are back to the west.

[06:15:00] Significant rainfall no matter where the storm goes. This is going to be a rainmaker, not a wind maker that blows every building down. You saw there, in Dominica. It travels over the Caribbean, not over Cuba and the DR, it could go over the Bahamas. It will go to Florida, the keys and up into here. See how it stays over Florida for a very long time. Watching the San Juan radar right now, I believe this is the center of circulation here as it moves toward the Dominican Republic. Watch for flooding there. Guys, back to you.

CUOMO: Sometimes it's good to test the model. You never know what is going to happen. Appreciate it. We'll check back with you in a bit.

Donald Trump is using the term silent majority now. He's doing it intentionally saying he haven't heard it in a long time. Is it OK to use? Do you believe silent majority is code for a racial situation or not? We discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about developments from the campaign trail. There are new accusations stemming from the Clinton e-mail controversy.

Plus, Donald Trump making comments some call racially charged. Let's talk about this with Nia-Malika Henderson. Nia, let me start with you. Trump has been using the term, silent majority in many speeches. Let's play that for you and get your response to what the term means. Listen to this.

[06:20:00] TRUMP: So, you have a silent majority of this country that feels abused, that feels forgotten, that feels mistreated. It's a term that hasn't been brought up in years. People haven't heard that term in many years. It's sort of interesting as to why. There are all different reasons. I think it's a restrictive term. Every time I speak I have people. They want to see wins and victory.

CAMEROTA: Nia, what do you make of that term?

NIA MALIKA-HENDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think the term goes back to Richard Nixon. In that sense, he was talking about working class White people, who at that time, made up 80 percent of the voting population. Now they are 40 percent. It's unclear to me whether that's what Trump is doing there. If you look at a lot of his crowds, certainly the crowd in Alabama, for instance, it is working class White people that he seems to be galvanizing. Others are attracted to his candidacy, too.

The rhetoric he's using, take the country back, make America great, it aligns with tea party rhetoric as well. It is that silent majority of the coalition, again, working class White people. In some ways, back then, at least, it was purposeful that they weren't talking about liberals or people that were active in wanting to see social and cultural change in America. That's what it was back then. Whether or not he's trying to en vogue that and people in the audience get that is unclear.

CUOMO: Purposefully or not, he is invoking. Let's take it up a notch for you, Jackie. Back in '69, what was Nixon doing? He was trying to counter the culture. What is Trump doing? Arguably going after political correctness. You could see it as identifying with the same groups. Do you think it is a coincidence there's reporting that a lot of White supremacist groups whether Trump wants them or not. He may not want people like us, but he is resonating with us and saying the kinds of things we want to hear said.

JACKIE KUCINICH, SENIOR POLITICS EDITOR, DAILY BEAST: He is appealing to this disenfranchised, you know, White base of the republican party. When you have someone like David Duke saying they like you, it's not really good. You are seeing it reflect in the polls. You see that most of his support is with White voters. When you look at the cross tabs for Black voters, Hispanic voters he has no support. It's very, very low. If he wants to go the distance, he has to broaden his base. At this point, he is really capitalizing on the passions of this one set of electorates.

CAMEROTA: Who doesn't respond to the make America great again? You don't have to feel disenfranchised or be part of a minority group. You know, that's a compelling argument.

CUOMO: Absolutely. He didn't stop there, though. You said make it great, I'm with you. It's not code for anything. This could be.

KUCINICH: When you pair it with comments about immigrants and immigration, it does start to flush out a different way.

HENDERSON: I think he taps into it. A lot of people, whether it's African-Americans, women, gay people, they feel like America is progressing. They don't want to go back to the bad old days. It taps into a white nostalgia.

CUOMO: I don't think Trump is trying to court this group. There's nothing in anything else he said.

CAMEROTA: The White supremacist.

CUOMO: Yes. Or any anti-anything group. He's a law and order guy. Is this going to be the impact of a strategy he may not see right now? That's a question of how he handles it and becomes their candidate.

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and her campaign. I know you have looked into this. Can you explain the e-mail controversy. It appears, based on the e-mails, there was some, possibly inappropriate cross pollination between her staff and the Clinton foundation?

[06:25:00] HENDERSON: People at the center of this are top aides coordinating things for the Clinton Foundation and the State Department as well and using this personal e-mail. Think about voters and if they are going to parse the details of this and make their decisions based on this.

Again, this is the drip, drip, drip of this candidacy, of Clinton's candidacy. On one hand it is strong, the other hand it is flailing. Democrats saying she's got to get a handle on this. You saw her do this. She understands why people have questions about this. She feels she's going to answer them. She's not making jokes about it the way she was, talking snap chat and wiping her server clean. This is a different footing they are on. To a lot of democrats, it's about time.

CUOMO: When you talk to insiders, you get two takes. To the people in the political media and the talk shows, they love going on about this for every detail. It's nice coverage, gives you something to talk about. To regular people, they see it as a metaphor. I don't know what she did and didn't do. It was wrong, she knows it was wrong, she didn't handle it the right way. I don't trust how she would handle any other information. Is that the caution?

KUCINICH: That is the caution. That's why we have nervous democrats. When you look at the polls, she is way in the hole of whether she is honest and trustworthy. You wonder how she will get out of it. For politicians, the easiest two words are, I'm sorry. You haven't seen that. At the end of the day, is it too little too late? Are voters going to trust her? They haven't been able to give a clear answer on the e-mail scandal. It's starting to bear out and make people nervous.

CAMEROTA: Jackie, Nia, great to see you. Have a nice weekend. What is your take on the stories. Tweet us, #newdaycnn or Facebook. You can tweet me. I will read them.

CUOMO: You will.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I will.

He is one of the most talked about 2016 candidates. Senator Rand Paul's poll numbers have been sluggish. Some question if he is presidential material. How will he rebound? We will ask the Kentucky senator himself. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)