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North Korea Test-Fires Two Ballistic Missiles; Orlando Gunman Visited Club Hours Before Massacre; U.K. Votes Tomorrow on E.U. Referendum; Veepstakes Heats Up Ahead of Conventions. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 22, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: But the second missile traveled almost 250 miles, and that caught the attention of the Pentagon.

We have CNN international correspondent, Paula Hancocks, live in Seoul with more.

What do we know, Paula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, this is certainly what everyone's looking at in this region. That second launch. The fact it went 250 miles, the fact its altitude, according to the Japanese military, hit over 600 miles, many experts are looking at it very closely saying, does this mean that North Korea is making progress?

This was the concern that with all the failures and the intense testing, Kim Jong-un has been looking over in recent months, since April, there's been six of these missile tests. They are learning something with every single test.

Now, there has been reaction from around the world, from the State Department. We've seen a spokesperson, John Kirby, saying that Washington strongly condemns what they are doing, saying that they're going to go back to the U.N. and complain about this. But also, this will actually strengthen the resolve of the international community to rally around and make sure that the sanctions against North Korea really are making a difference.

Here in Seoul, in South Korea, they're even thinking of additional sanctions against North Korea -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Paula, thank you very much for that reporting.

Here's a crazy story to tell you about. Three people arrested with a truck full of weapons at New York's Holland Tunnel, reportedly telling police, they were on a rescue mission. There's the truck they were arrested in. We'll show that again in a minute. But here's the cache of weapons.

Police stopped their pickup truck Tuesday, finding several loaded guns, body armor, thousands of rounds of ammunition. Here's the truck they were driving in. CUOMO: That's a gun range truck.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Well, it wasn't flying under the radar, exactly, painted that way. But the leader of this trio that was arrested was a gun range owner and claimed they were rushing to rescue a teenage girl held hostage in a drug den in New York City. Police say they found that teenager who says she is not being held.

CUOMO: Yes, it is a bizarre situation. Our NEW DAY prediction is this, movie! A movie is going to come out of that story.

CAMEROTA: Based on the truck alone --

CUOMO: That was advertising for the gun range, not the best choice for this type of sinister move.

All right, now, this is a serious story. Golfer Rory McIlroy, he just added his name to the list of athletes skipping the Summer Olympics in Rio? Why? Concern over the Zika virus, of course.

So, he's not going to represent Ireland. There are two other top pro- golfers who have already pulled out. Now, this is a complicated story, because not only is it about the virus, but this is the first time that golf has been in the games since 1904. Now, arguably one of the two or three biggest names is out.

CAMEROTA: He says it's a risk he's not willing to take, have been though it is considered a low risk, as we've discussed, especially for a man, not a pregnant woman. But still, just spells trouble for these games.

CUOMO: It would be very -- first of all, if you get it, you're sick, like Lyme-esque illness, and how long it goes. And two, he would be a carrier. He's a young guy, who wants to have a family.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Well, let us know what you think about that.

Meanwhile, we have some new details to share about the Orlando terrorist. We now know he visited the Pulse nightclub hours before his deadly rampage. Why? We have a live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:37:09] CUOMO: So, it turns out the gunman in the Orlando terror attack visited the gay nightclub hours before carrying out the mass murder that claimed 49 lives.

CNN's Boris Sanchez live in Orlando with the very latest.

What are the theories on why, Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Chris, that's what investigators are looking at right now. They're trying to expand the time line of what happened between Saturday night and early Sunday morning, when the shooting unfolded. As you said, sources are telling CNN that the shooter came to the club hours before carrying out the attack. They said he bought a ticket and got a wristband that allowed him reentry into the club.

He then left for two hours before coming back and opening fire. The idea is that he came here to scope out security, to see how the security was laid out in the club, casing out the club before then coming back.

We're also hearing from investigators that the wife of the shooter has told them that he was agitated the night before the shooting, that he was very, very angry, and left their home in Port St. Lucie two hours away in a very disturbed mood, carrying bags. Later, we clearly found out those bags were full of firearms. She says that she didn't know exactly what he was planning, but that she tried to stop him.

Yesterday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch was here in Orlando and answered questions from reporters about whether or not the wife may be facing charges. She really dodged those questions. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORETTA LYNCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're not going to speak about anyone else's role in this right now, while we are investigating the matter, because we're not going to be able to provide that conclusion at this point in time. As I said, we are trying to learn everything we can about Mateen and all the people in his ambit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Clearly, still a lot of investigating to be done. One other interesting note here, Alisyn, investigators tell us that before the shooting, the gunman actually bought tickets to go from West Palm Beach to San Francisco with his family. We don't know the significance of that, but clearly it's something worth noting and worth exploring deeper, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: That is noteworthy, Boris. Thank you. We'll explore everything you've just talked about.

We want to bring in our CNN counterterrorism analyst and CIA counterterrorism official, Phil Mudd, and CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez.

Phil, let's start with the theory he was scoping out the club hours before he did the massacre. What do you think?

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: I would be careful about the theory. It seems perfectly logical, but there's a couple of things you've got to think about in this case. First, we're going to try to make what he was doing rational. We're going to look at it through our lens and say, what would I have done, what was he thinking about? And we're going to make assumptions.

Let me give you one specific example. I wouldn't have assumed he knew in two hours advance that he had the courage to do this. I could see a scenario as illogical as it sounds that he walked in, got nervous, he was trying to pump himself up for the operation. Secondly, we heard about buying a ticket next day for San Francisco.

I would not assume, that he thought, irrationally, that he could get out of the club and fly to San Francisco.

[06:40:01] I doubt it, but let's not assume a sense of rationality on a man that murdered 49 people.

CAMEROTA: OK. So, meaning, you don't see the idea that he bought these three plane tickets for his family as either a suggestion that he wasn't going to do the attack or that he would survive.

MUDD: I would stay open-minded in cases like this.

CAMEROTA: Evan, what are investigators telling you about all this new information in terms of scoping out the club and everything else?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, I think Phil hit it on the head here. The issue for us is to try to ascertain where he was and why he was there. We know earlier in the evening, he also dropped by Disney Springs, which is an entertainment complex. It was a crowded place and had families, and it was also gay days, which is a celebration by the LBGT community in Orlando.

So, we're not sure whether maybe he considered other places to attack that evening and finally arrived at 2:00.m. to carry this out.

CAMEROTA: Phil, do you think the wife is in trouble?

MUDD: I do think she is. You might ask the question, we're now a week and a half out from the investigation. Why not just go ahead and charge her?

CAMEROTA: Why not?

MUDD: A couple of things you got to think about here. First, the investigation is underway. The event is already over. There is no rush for a prosecutor to run to a court in a complex case and say, hey, we're going to charge her. They can wait.

The second is, remember, they're not just talking about a potential, or I suspect, thinking about a potential charge of whether she was a co-conspirator. One of the things they've got to think about is a classic federal problem when you're involved in investigation. Did she lie to them after the fact?

So, they're going to do a lot of investigation to determine exactly what she said, the day after, two days after, three days after. And there's really no rush here, since the event is already over and 49 people are dead. I think she's in trouble.

CAMEROTA: Evan, you know, we had heard some reports that she has some sort of limited mental capacity. Are investigators talking about that at all?

PEREZ: You know, I don't real1y think that's relevant. I think the reports are talking about some teachers backing her school days, who said that she had some kind of learning disability. I think that really doesn't matter unless there is some proof that she had some kind of cognitive disability.

Whether there was some reason why when her husband walk out the door with guns in a bag, which she knows are in there, and she knows he's very angry, she knows he's agitated, why she doesn't decide that that is reason to call someone. Maybe even the father or maybe call the authorities, because she said that she was very fearful. She called him all night, texted him, called him and, you know, never once picked up the phone to call the authorities.

That's the crux of what the Justice Department and what the FBI is looking at. You know, because, you know, reasonable people might say, this is the reason should call the authorities.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And in fact, other people did call the authorities on this guy. There was a Muslim man in the community who knew this gunman well. And he saw signs and he called the FBI.

Listen to what he told CNN yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED MALIK, REPORTED ORLANDO SHOOTER TO FBI IN 2014: Omar Mateen brought the name Anwar Maliki. My reaction was, what did you think about the videos, and he told me they were powerful. Both of those raised a red flag for me, and prompted me to speak with the FBI. He had gotten married for a second time and had a son and was starting a family. I didn't think that he fit the profile.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: This man didn't want to come farm to tell his story publicly, but in part he did because he thinks that he wanted to put the lie to the idea that you hear so often, the Muslim community needs to speak out about these people in their midst. They're not doing enough. I mean, he and others did come forward.

MUDD: Let me tell you something, there are glimmers of hope in every tragedy. This man is a glimmer of hope, for one reason from a counterterrorism perspective. Not only does he represent what Americans ask of communities, whether it's a drug community, whether it's Islamic extremism, come forward to the feds, but it represents a fundamental change in the counterterrorism world.

At 9/11, the feds have to look at al Qaeda and determine they're sending people into America. ISIS is not sending people into America. It's a kid and a community who self self-radicalizes. Now, in this new world, we need people like this to come forward because the feds can't find him.

CAMEROTA: And I agree with you, he is a beacon of light and it's great he came forward and told his story.

CAMEROTA: Phil, Evan, thank you very much. Let's get over to Chris. CUOMO: All right. The countdown to whether or not Britain will exit

the European Union. They call it the Brexit vote. So, what's going to happen, and what will the ripple effect of this big vote be. We have a closer look on why it matters to you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:27] CAMEROTA: We are in the final hours of campaigning before tomorrow's high stakes Brexit vote in the U.K. Will they decide to leave the European Union?

CNN's Phil Black is live in London with more.

How's it looking, Phil?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, the last day of campaigning and this is still a divided country. The Prime Minister David Cameron says he doesn't know which way this is going to go, and that matters to him, because he is the leader of the remain campaign. The expectation is, he won't keep his job as the leader of the country in the event of a Brexit vote.

World markets are watching, because they expect something of a shot in the event of a Brexit vote. Europe, its leaders are worried that both Britain and the European Union will be weaker in the event of a Brexit vote, and America wants its special friend, Britain, to continue its influence within the European Union.

So, all of this is at stake, as well as the general direction of this country for decades to come. In the final day and through the final debate last night, we heard both sides sticking to their core arguments, those advocating for leave say this is about taking back control of immigration, trade, the economy, the ability to make laws for them. It's about sovereignty.

For those who want the country to stay with the European Union, they say Britain will be better off, safer, and more secure, more influential on the world stage, with the European Union.

So, here we are, the final stage, too close to call. And there is a sense here that regardless of which way this goes tomorrow, the divisions that have been exposed and reinforced over the course of this long, often ugly campaign, well, they will not be easily healed.

Chris, over to you.

[06:50:00] CUOMO: We keep hearing the die has been cast, if not of this moment, in moments to come, to be certain, if Britain leaves, as Phil Black is suggesting, it could go either way. It's going to have big reverberations for the markets back here at home and we'll stay on this story.

We're also just weeks from the first political convention kicking off. Who will you see next to Trump and next to Clinton as their running mates? Are you going to know before the conventions? Well, we have some indication of what might be on the short list

coming up here when it comes to V.P. We're going to discuss that, next. Make your guesses online. Alisyn Camerota with the why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Twenty-five days until the start of the Republican National Convention. We will find ourselves situated in Cleveland. Who is Donald Trump going to pick as a V.P.? Who is Hillary Clinton going to pick as a V.P.? Who should they pick?

A new CNN poll tells us where Americans' heads and minds are on this. Let's discuss.

CNN political analyst and editor in chief of "The Daily Beast", John Avlon, and CNN political commentator and former White House staffer for President George W. Bush, Margaret Hoover.

All right. Let's start, Mr. Avlon, good morning to both of you, with Trump. What do you see in this poll that is interesting, the headline is, they seem to like a military mate for him.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. And I think -- look, V.P. picks now are increasingly about balancing the profile of the person at the top of the ticket. So, look, it would be crazy for Donald Trump to pick a businessman.

[06:55:02] He's got that covered.

What's interesting is they want to go for military guys as opposed to someone in politics, which is what Donald Trump has said he's going to look for. I think the reason for that is it's really the tough guy coalition that folks are looking for particularly on the Republican side. You get double down on the outsider, no nonsense, executive ability or perceptions thereof.

So I think that explains why the Republican primary voters want to see him pick a --

CAMEROTA: OK, give me some names, Margaret.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: A military guy. Well, here's --

CAMEROTA: Well, some names - -you don't have to go with that. Just who should he pick?

HOOVER: It would round out his experience, but there's also geographic. Is there a geographic or demographic advantage to somebody as well?

So, the challenge with Trump, you have a university of people pie in the sky that would round out his profile both geographically and demographically get more people to the party, potentially. But none of those people want to actually be his V.P.

Pie in the sky, Condoleezza Rice, Nikki Haley. But neither of them will do, right? You have minority Republican women.

AVLON: Susana Martinez wouldn't even go to his rallies when he's in New Mexico.

CUOMO: Nikki Haley is one proposition. Who says that Condoleezza Rice resonates as a candidate and brings in everybody?

HOOVER: Condoleezza Rice was on the short list as Mitt Romney, is always talked about as a perennial pie in the sky, nobody would refute her likability, her favoribility or credentials she would bring to the ticket.

The universe of actual people who want the job are people who actually accentuate Trump's strengths and weaknesses, they don't round them out. In other words, Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie. For all the people that love Trump, they love the characteristics that Newt and Christie bring to the ticket. Strength, you know, some sort of credibility on the far right.

CUOMO: Christie got crushed in this poll.

HOOVER: But what they --

CUOMO: Christie's plus/minus in this poll is not good. He's way underwater.

HOOVER: But what none of them do is actually round out his entire palatability, I think. Some of them -- Newt certainly brings Washington politics know-how, but that's a downside for people, too. People don't want the insider.

Bob Corker brings foreign policy experience, which Trump desperately needs. It looks --

AVLON: He's also an elegant, decent man.

HOOVER: But he's a white man from Tennessee.

AVLON: That's not going to trouble Donald.

HOOVER: It's not going to round out the ticket in a way that makes it more palatable.

CAMEROTA: John is just throwing in quick -- he's not actually offering anything. He's just throwing in punch lines to all your --

CUOMO: This is the upside to marriage. She listens to him and ignores him all the time.

AVLON: But with patience and agreement.

CUOMO: No military names, no big names popped up?

HOOVER: What Donald Trump has said himself, he doesn't need a military man, because he knows what he needs to know about foreign policy. CUOMO: Poll says otherwise.

AVLON: Christie probably makes the most sense if you're looking for someone who's dogged, loyal, who can play attack and willing to take abuse.

HOOVER: But let me tell you, the reason the foreign policy is on there is because of Orlando. In the wake of a terrorist attack, in the wake of -- this is a -- Republican voters want somebody who knows how to handle national security.

CAMEROTA: Short list for Hillary Clinton, John?

AVLON: This poll was fascinating, because it showed, first of all, if Hillary Clinton were to pick a woman, ala Elizabeth Warren, it would have a net negative for her. I think that's fascinating. Again, it's about balancing the profile. Already you've got an historic first woman at the top of the ticket, doubling down on that starts to seem like identity politics.

CAMEROTA: She is being vetted, we hear.

AVLON: We hear that, and in the vetting process, there are always political calculations for the people you float on the list, right? Satisfy certain constituencies.

Meanwhile, back in reality, I think Hillary Clinton would be crazy not to pick Tim Kaine. The senator from Virginia, former governor, former head of the DNC, enormously liked and respected by his colleagues in the Senate. Speaks fluent Spanish. So, therefore better than Ted Cruz and the Castro brothers.

And somebody who has won in a swing state and can broaden her appeal just a bit. And it would be a liaison to Congress. Yes, he is, you know, center left. But he is not as, you know, far to the center as, say, a Margaret Warner. I think Tim Kaine would be a great pick.

HOOVER: Tim Kaine certainly would be a tick that would be palatable for a centrist, for women. But the problem with Tim Kaine is he does nothing for Hillary Clinton to shore up her left.

AVLON: Who cares?

HOOVER: You don't care, but the problem for Hillary Clinton is that if she's going to beat Donald Trump, she needs to run up the numbers for all these demographic groups.

CUOMO: So, who does that?

HOOVER: You have to shore up her progressive left. If you do not have --

CUOMO: I hear you. Who does it?

HOOVER: Sherrod Brown is the only one of the top three that actually represents them that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren would give the nod. And what about all these millennials? These millennials don't like Hillary Clinton. They like Bernie Sanders. If Bernie Sanders --

CUOMO: Do they vote?

HOOVER: They vote if they get a blessing. Otherwise, they stay home.

AVLON: No --

HOOVER: Chris has actually nailed --

(CROSSTALK)

HOOVER: You know what, you are in la la land.

CUOMO: Two cars home!

HOOVER: None of the -- they will stay home.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: For one second.

AVLON: Yes, one second. Sherrod Brown makes sense to the extent that Hillary Clinton is going to have a harder time than people expect in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Yesterday's poll shows that Donald Trump is doing very well in those two states. So, I could make a case there. But the idea that a Republican governor could then pick the Democratic senator's replacement.

HOOVER: That's a good plan B.

AVLON: I'm just saying.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, Sonny and Cher!

AVLON: Whoa, hey now, Sonny and Cher.

CAMEROTA: Clever jokes.

CUOMO: They fail. Let's move on.

HOOVER: I'm a rock star, let's go.