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Friend: Shooter Unhappy with Navy; Navy Yard Gunman Had Troubled Past; Investigators Scour Shooting Scene; Report: Budget Affecting Security; Colorado Towns Cut Off After Flooding; Startling Economic Numbers Out Today.
Aired September 17, 2013 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to this special edition of CNN NEWSROOM from the Washington Navy Yard.
Friends of the shooter, friends of Aaron Alexis, they're painting a picture today of this young man who was quiet, but, according to them, pretty well liked by friends, his colleagues. A man who was prone to occasional angry outbursts but not someone they could even fathom could be capable of gunning down a dozen people in cold blood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NUTPISIT SUTHAMTEWAKUL, AARON ALEXIS' FRIEND: He taught me a lot of how to live here. I've been here for four or five years. He taught me how to be -- watch out and everything, you know. Tell me about, you know, stuff like you should do stuff, like you shouldn't trust people, people that try to come and take advantage of me or my family. So he like would watch out for me too.
KEVIN MCDANIEL, STORE OWNER AND FRIEND OF NAVY YARD GUNMAN: He was always smiling. Always - you know, if he couldn't talk, at least he waved, you know, and, you know, just said hi from a distance and, you know, I'm busy at my store and he's over here doing what he need to do. And sometimes we'd see him. Sometimes he'd come in, you know, and I'd see him three or four, five times a week, sometimes a couple times a week. Sometimes I'd talk to him a couple times a day. It just varied. And sometimes he would disappear for three or four days or a week and then he'd be back and everything seemed fine. And he was excited about his new job that he was going to in D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: But Aaron Alexis did share his frustrations over his discharge from the military with one of his friends.
KRISTI SUTHAMTEWAKUL, FRIEND OF AARON ALEXIS: He got back and he felt very slighted about his benefits at the time. Financial issues, he wasn't getting paid on time. He wasn't getting paid what he was supposed to be getting paid. His point of contact wasn't able to clearly explain what was going on and why his benefits were so messed up at the time. And I know he expressed a lot of frustration and a lot towards that. That's when I first starred hearing statements about how he wanted to move out of America. He was very frustrated with the government and how, as a veteran, he didn't feel like he was getting treated right or fairly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Those words from friends and colleagues here to begin to put the pieces of this puzzle together.
One side, they said, hey, this guy was warm, he was friendly. Then you have this other side saying he was angry, harboring deep frustrations.
I want to bring in Joel von Ornsteiner, joining us now, a forensic psychologist.
And I know you work, sir, with criminals each and every day. You see the full spectrum. From the pieces of the puzzle we already have, and this is just tough to even you know think, but could friends, but could have seen signs, seen that there could have been a moment where he snapped?
JOEL VON ORNSTEINER, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, from what that last individual was saying, yes, most definitely. You're talking about someone who's very, very resentful. You're talking about someone who feels frustration. And they're in isolation because they're not speaking about it, not working on forming a therapeutic alliance with a therapist. They're just talking about it with, so far, just a few friends and it kind of brews. You're angry. You really feed to listen when that last individual said, you know, he was felt pet slighted. He felt he wasn't getting what he deserved. And then you're seeing the start of an incredible amount of resentment. So again, we do hear these stories. And, again, if this person does have a history of mental health issues, we're looking at paranoia, we're looking at a skewed perception, we're looking at limited coping skills. We're looking at a history of when he gets angry, he doesn't use negotiation strategies. He turns to grab for the gun where he reportedly shot out someone's tires and also reportedly shot his ceiling when he was angry at a neighbor for playing music too loud. So I see the history there. It's a selective history. But I do -- to answer your question, I do see a history there that I would use as a red flag if I had been seeing him or the family had reported this background to me.
TAPPER: Doctor, I want to drill down there because I know a lot of veterans. I have to say probably half of them have expressed frustration with the V.A. at within point or another. His father said his son may have suffered from post traumatic stress from being a first responder during 9/11. But again, PTSD fairly widespread among veterans. It seems to be the violent incidents that you just referenced, the shooting out the tires in Washington State and then shooting the ceiling of the house -- I believe that was in Ft. Worth, Texas -- those two seem much more likely to be warning signs for something like that this than just complaining about the V.A. or expressing frustration about benefits. No?
VON ORNSTEINER: Yes, I hear what you're saying. It's a combination of things. We all have frustrations. I have frustrations. You have frustrations. It's how we deal with them, how we cope, and what are the solutions we will seek. Here we have a person who clearly has a short fuse, has difficulty coping and, again, reaches for the gun. So there's limited coping skills. Then you're dealing with this attitude of revenge. You're not really taking another person into consideration here. If the reports are true, we're also dealing with a person who is hearing voices. There's schizophrenia possibly. But again, this has just been reported. So it's a history of mental illness, a history of limited coping skills, a skewed perception, and then you're not forming a strong therapeutic alliance with someone with the mental health industry.
BALDWIN: OK, Joel von Ornsteiner, thank so much.
Again, we can talk about what we think we know about this person but the picture is so vague at this moment. Again, we're waiting for this news conference from the FBI. Perhaps we can glean a little bit more from that.
But let's talk about those who really were able to help in this tragedy yesterday. I should tell you that the Navy Yard is closed today -- just a couple blocks behind us. It is closed but to essential personnel. Investigators are scouring the crime scene looking for evidence.
I want to bring in Mike Brooks, a law enforcement analyst with HLN.
This is your old stomping grounds.
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Right.
BALDWIN: You were with metropolitan police for years and years, FBI. I showed you this picture. This is the cover of the "Washington Post" which everyone has seen this man, Park Police officer. You spent your morning with the Park Police.
BROOKES: I did.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: They were crucial.
BROOKS: They were unbelievable. They're the ones who rescued the four people from the roof of building 197. We spoke to the chief pilot there. He was talking about -- I said, you know, you did heroic stuff. He said, no, the people who were inside that building were the heroes.
One of the people they rescued was a woman shot in the shoulder. She was one of the ones that they flew to the MedStar unit at the Washington Hospital Center. They said her attitude was incredible. They called her a hero.
BALDWIN: Wow.
BROOKS: But we saw some of the other people involved in this. We saw is the U.S. Park Police. But U.S. Park Police and Metropolitan Police, they were the first ones to go in with that active shooter team. In fact, one of the first teams that went in, one of those officers, was one of the ones shot in the legs when he confronted that gunman on the third floor. He fired three shots. One of the rounds went through both legs, that officer, and they took him to the Washington Hospital Center. I spoke to a source of mine who knows him personally. They said he's in great spirits.
BALDWIN: He's OK?
BROOKS: -- and doing well.
TAPPER: I was told by a city councilman, the councilman that represents this district, that those shots nearly severed one of his legs. It was a very complicated procedure to perform the surgery on him and he will be wounded forever.
BROOKS: Right.
TAPPER: I don't want to make light of -- we all want to feel good about something out of the story. But he's gravely hurt.
BROOKS: Right. That's what we heard from one of the doctors yesterday. There was a lot of damage to bone and a lot of damage to the vessels. In a scene like it was, it was a high-powered semi- automatic round that went through both legs. But you know, but he lived through it and he's still with us. That's the important thing.
TAPPER: Incredibly brave.
Tell us about this active shooter team because the D.C. police chief, Cathy Lanier, said that the call went out from the Naval Yard shortly before 8:15. They had that active shooter team responding, U.S. Park Police and the Metropolitan Police Department, there within seven minutes?
BROOKS: Seven minutes. By the time they were able to get there and put together an active shooter team to go in and confront him, they could hear shots going off inside that building. So you can't wait. You know, a lot of law enforcement took a lot of heat on Columbine when they waited to put a team together before they went in. That doesn't happen anymore.
(CROSSTALK)
BROOKS: Everything changed after Columbine. I used to teach on an active shooting, on how to the put together an active shooter team. Now, it's you put together a team and you go in. That's the protocol.
TAPPER: The protocol is no longer let's wait it out --
BROOKS: No.
TAPPER: -- and see what happens.
BALDWIN: We're going in.
BROOKS: And everybody is trained to do that now. TAPPER: Incredible.
BALDWIN: Mike Brooks, thanks so much.
BROOKS: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Give our best to your former colleagues here in D.C.
BROOKS: I will.
BALDWIN: Now another big question we're asking today. That question is this: Are budget cuts -- talked about that a lot here in Washington -- budget cuts compromising security at military facilities like the Navy Yard here? We will take a closer look at that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Welcome back to CNN special live coverage outside the Navy Yard here in Washington, D.C. I'm Jake Tapper, here with Brooke Baldwin.
As the investigation and the shooting moves forward, many questions are being raised. One of them is, did the Navy drop its guard in order to reduce costs. The soon-to-be-released government audit is pointing in that direction.
One Congressman is looking for answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE TURNER, (R), OHIO: Shortly after this event, this tragedy occurred, an inspector general report was delivered to Congress that cited failure across the Navy security system for access to these type of facilities. It said that, in the inspection report, that the people who worked there were at risk and, in fact, cited 52 felons who had been able to get through the system inappropriately. The inspector general report does cite cost pressures on the Navy for the decision making that put this system in place that may have caused the risk. But the report itself specifically says the people at these facilities remain at risk as long as the system is in place. That's certainly what Congress is going to having to check on when we get back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Let's bring in Zeke Miller, a reporter with "Time" magazine. And he wrote about this.
Zeke, first of all, help us break down this report. As I understand it, the investigation started in the September, 2012, and ended last month. What kind of cutbacks took place? Does this have anything to do with the so-called sequester cuts?
ZEKE MILLER, REPORTER, TIME MAGAZINE: That's the take away. This is pre-existing.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: Presequester. So it can't be blamed on sequester?
MILLER: Yeah. You can blame it on the general pressures of the entire federal government over the past several years to bring down their costs. They're been budget cuts to the Defense Department and the Navy. This isn't the sequester. This isn't the thing you've heard Washington talk about, everybody watching --
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: The forced budget cuts, right.
MILLER: This is a decision that somebody made. This wasn't something forced on the Navy. And that led to -- this inspector general report says it led to a decrease in security at these facilities and put service members and civilians at risk.
BALDWIN: Let's talk about that specifically because I read the piece on time.com. Two takeaways I had. One, the fact that Alex Rogers, who wrote this, saying, "That the government audits on the Navy, in an attempt to reduce costs, let its guard down to risks posed by outside contractors." We know the shooter was a contractor. The thing that jumped out at me in terms of convicted felons -- and this guy wasn't even convicted. But according to this piece, according to the audit, "shows criminal records, 52 convicted felons received routine unauthorized installation access." That puts a lot of people -- exposing them.
MILLER: Exactly. This is a systemic problem that really does go to the very top of the Navy, probably broader if you expand it just outside the Navy. There would probably be similar incidents of this. Probably not all these convicted felons were not violent.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: Right. Financial pressure --
(CROSSTALK)
MILLER: -- might not have been direct threats. But certainly, they should not have had access to that facility. It shows a breakdown in the system of controls. And in the aftermath of this, that's one of the things you're going to see investigators look a lot at. Should this -- this wasn't a convict. It was somebody arrested on a number of charges. Will that -- you know, due process have to change? Should there be more funding or at least restore it to where it was before the cuts took place.
TAPPER: I know the story is still young but you'll have to come back and tell us whether or not there's any evidence that it had any of the advice taken -- been taken from that special inspector general report, could this have been avoided in any way. Again, it's so early, we don't really know.
Zeke Miller, thanks so much. BALDWIN: Thanks, Zeke.
Very soon, we can tell, very soon, we can tell you, the FBI holding a news conference in the D.C.-Virginia area on new details we're learning today on this investigation.
Stay right with us. You're watching special live coverage. We'll bring that to you live here on CNN?
TAPPER: Plus, the latest on the devastating floods in Colorado. Some residents can return to their neighborhoods. But, for many, there is not much left to see. We'll take you there live coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: You are watching CNN's special live coverage of the investigation into the shooting at the Washington Navy Yard here just behind us on M and Third Street Southeast.
We are expecting in a couple of minutes to hear from the FBI, also from Metropolitan Police here in Washington on any new developments on this investigation. So stay with us because we'll bring that to you live.
TAPPER: But first, flood waters are receding in Colorado. But the number of dead has unfortunately, been on the rise. Up to eight people have died while more than 600 others are missing or unaccounted for.
There are still entire towns cut off and without electricity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY HUNT, FLOOD VICTIM: Today is our first day up here since we've been evacuated. And I feel like it's worse than I thought it would be. We lost absolutely everything we own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: As you can see and hear, just utter devastation for so many people in Colorado.
George Howell is live for us right now in Boulder.
And, George, what are people telling you? How are they coping with this?
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, right now, I would say that all eyes are to the skies. It's quite a beautiful day out here. People are happy about that because now this makes the second day that things are drying out here on this side of the world after several days, you know, of heavy rain.
And some good news to report. We know the number of people unaccounted for, that number is going down substantially. In Boulder County, they resolved 567 cases. They're now at 183 people unaccounted for. And also in Larimer County, according to their official Twitter account, they are now at 197 people unaccounted for.
Also, keep this in mind. Officials are urging residents, if you reported someone as missing, be sure to follow up. Follow up so that you can tell them whether the person is still missing or if that person has indeed been found. And that is why we're seeing that number of unaccounted for go down so quickly.
TAPPER: All right, George Howell reporting from Colorado. Thank you so much.
BALDWIN: Coming up next here, the Costa Concordia finally upright. But really this is just the beginning of this journey of this massive piece of a ship or what's left of it here. We're going take you live to Italy next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Welcome back to our special coverage of the Washington Navy Yard shooting. We're waiting for the FBI any minute now to fill us in on new details in the investigation. They're holding a news conference in just a little bit. We'll bring that to you live.
BALDWIN: So as we wait for that, we want to take you to New York. We have to talk about the economy. Some startling economic numbers out today. There was a new report that's just been released by the Census Bureau, and what it shows is that millions of Americans are still living in poverty.
Alison Kosik joins me from the New York Stock Exchange with more.
Alison, tell me about this report.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Think about it, Brooke. The recession ended four years ago. Americans are still struggling financially. Did you know that 46 million people are living in poverty? The poverty line means someone makes about $11,700 a year.
But here's what's worse. 15 percent of Americans are making less than that. It's not getting much better. We've been seeing the poverty rate rise since 2007, when the recession began. It peaked at 15 percent in 2010. That's after the recession ended. It took time for the recession to really ripple through, especially after the stock market hit bottom. Unemployment peaked in 2009. It took a year for all that to fully hit people's finances and for the poverty rate to hit its peak.
Guess what? Now that it has, it's difficult for people to bounce back. The poverty rate has shown almost no improvement in three years.
I wish I had better news for you -- Brooke?
BALDWIN: I wish you did too.
Alison Kosik for us at the stock exchange. Alison, thank you. TAPPER: In Italy, crews turned the Costa Concordia right-side-up. It took 19 hours and still it's mostly under water. This was the first steps in the salve efforts. Crews are also searching for the bodies of two people who were never found after that horrific crash.
CNN's specific coverage of the Washington Navy Yard shooting continues all day long, into tonight. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: CNN tonight, at 8:00 on "Anderson Cooper 360," the shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard. Anderson Cooper is there live with the latest on the investigation. And at 9:00 on "Piers Morgan Live," a test of faith for the man known as America's pastor. Piers talks exclusively with Rick Warren and his wife, their first interview since their son's suicide, and about what he did what he heard about the Navy Yard shootings in Washington.
RICK WARREN, PASTOR: The first thing I did was get on my knees and pray for those families.
ANNOUNCER: It's all on CNN tonight, starting with "Erin Burnett OutFront" at 7:00, "Anderson Cooper 360" at 8:00 and "Piers Morgan Live" at 9:00, tonight on CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That's what's coming up tonight.
Meantime, right here on CNN, we're watching and waiting for this news conference to happen with the FBI, with Metropolitan Police in Washington. The latest on this fatal shooting, this tragic day at the Washington Navy Yard. That is supposed to begin in a couple minutes. We'll bring it to you live on CNN.
Plus, brand new information just in to us, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel making a bold move in the wake of these shootings regarding all, every single military installation here in the U.S. Really, worldwide. We'll take you to the Pentagon for that update next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
