Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Colorado Reels from Flood Devastation; Navy Yard Still an Active Crime Scene; 911 Call of Police Shooting Released; Gun Laws Didn't Stop Navy Yard Shooting
Aired September 18, 2013 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In his first interview since his son's tragic suicide, the author of "The Purpose Driven Life" sits down with CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll do anything to help you live. I cannot help you take your life.
COSTELLO: Plus, dramatic new details emerging this morning on the Navy Yard shooter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got a report on the fourth floor. A make with a shotgun.
COSTELLO: Aaron Alexis. The gun trail and the voices he said he heard in his head.
SHAWN HENRY, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: It almost seems that this was the type of thing that was bound to happen.
COSTELLO: Our Pamela Brown and the stunning new developments.
And Siri mans up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me think. OK. Here you go.
COSTELLO: And gets an overhaul.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. We do begin with breaking news this morning from the housing market.
Higher mortgage rates appear to be taking their toll. New data out just minutes ago show builders began work last month on far fewer homes than projected. Now while the pace of new home construction increased over July, it wasn't nearly as much as experts had expected. The number of new home permits also dropped nearly 4 percent.
Christine Romans is in New York to tell us what this means.
Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol. And each piece of housing data so critical because this has been a bright spot in the economy. So let me show you quickly the trend here for housing starts. And again, this is construction of new homes. How are home builders feeling? Are they getting access to credit?
Do they feel -- do they feel solid enough about the economy that they're willing to spend all this money to break ground? And that's what you can see the trend here, not as rich as it was in the earlier part of the year.
Here's what we're watching closely. The rising mortgage rates. Mortgage rates have been rising so far this year. Now about 4.57 percent for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. That steady climb here so far this year, the highest in two years.
Will rising mortgage rates, Carol, start to dampen or cool what we have seen in the housing market? This one bright spot in the economy. Will the Fed, if it does its so-called taper, pulling back on all that stimulus it's putting into the economy? That stimulus is buying mortgage backed securities, buying treasuries. If the Fed starts to do that and does it more quickly than expected, it could send mortgage rates up maybe 5 percent by early spring, would be a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.
That's something everybody in the housing market right now, Carol, is very closely watching.
COSTELLO: And I know there's a big meeting at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. And of course, CNN will cover that.
Christine Romans reporting live from New York this morning.
Coated in mud and still awash in misery, thousands of people return to flood ravaged homes in Colorado and find their lives -- well, much of their lives, their physical lives, what they own, I should say, in ruin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's worse than I thought it would be. We lost absolutely everything we own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Homes ripped apart. Families separated. Hundreds are still waiting to hear from loved ones who vanished in the deadly floods.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know they've all been out looking for him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we've gotten is more love than I had ever known existed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Days in limbo and answers still out of reach. Colorado grapples with the devastation.
CNN's George Howell has been following this unfolding disaster. He's in Boulder this morning.
Good morning, George.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.
What a dramatic six days. From heavy rain to flash flooding to rivers that at one point overflowed their banks, it has been a dramatic six days. Now it's about the rescue and recovery operation. Now it's about picking up the pieces. And the story of one family that we chronicled shows you what a lot of families out here are left to deal with.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL BIRDSONG, FLOODING VICTIM: Yesterday we cut up all the carpet and smashed out most of the drywall and I pulled down almost all the insulation.
HOWELL (voice-over): The basement --
BIRDSONG: You see here is the water line, right here.
HOWELL: Trashed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can go first.
HOWELL: And on his front lawn, there's debris all over. Still, Michael Birdsong considers himself lucky.
BIRDSONG: Last day or two we've actually been able to turn the corner. That first 60 hours was crazy. You know.
HOWELL: We do know. We were there Friday. His wife, friends and family scrambled to hold back a seemingly endless river rushing straight down their street.
(On camera): Have you ever seen it like this?
DOUG LESSIG, FLOODING VICTIM: No. I'm from Boulder. And I've never seen it like this before ever. It's just amazing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to just keep averting the water that keeps rising.
HOWELL (voice-over): A muddy, desperate fight with shovels, buckets, and boards. But as it happened in so many neighborhoods, 16th and Iris was no match for Mother Nature. More than 19,000 properties were either damaged or destroyed in these deadly storms. Most residents forced to evacuate their homes, managed to make it to safety.
More than 1,000 had to be rescued by air. And for those who are still stranded in hard-to-reach places, dramatic air rescues happen to this day. Birdsong knows what he was up against.
BIRDSONG: Our basement filled with five feet of water in the first 20 minutes.
HOWELL: Could have been much worse.
BIRDSONG: Thankfully, I have some of the best friends, neighbors, acquaintances. Even people I don't even know came over to help. And that's the reason -- the reason we still have a house right now.
HOWELL: In the losses column, there's a lot of catching up to do.
(On camera): To put a dollar estimate on this, what would you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're already planning for probably about $50,000, $60,000. To get it all redone, you know.
HOWELL (voice-over): But there's one thing he found.
BIRDSONG: It was laying right here in the mud. I just happened to see the logo.
HOWELL: That makes all the hard work these past few days a little more worthwhile.
BIRDSONG: A ticket from an old University of Colorado basketball game that I went with, with my dad. It was 1995. I was still in school there.
HOWELL: A precious piece of his own history. Surprisingly washed up by an historic storm.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: So a bright spot there for Michael Birdsong after the mess that he went through, that you saw there. And that's really the story for most people out here. However, for 306 people, for the families and friends of 306 people who are still unaccounted for, it's all about the search for survivors.
And, Carol, that search continues today.
COSTELLO: Yes. Still so many missing. Not accounted for.
George Howell reporting live from Boulder, Colorado, this morning.
While his motive remains unclear, we're getting a sharper look into the mindset of the man who killed 12 people in Washington's Navy Yard. About a month ago Aaron Alexis told police about the voices in his head. And the people talking through walls and using microwaves to keep him awake.
Now two days after the deadly shooting, the Navy Yard in Washington remains a crime scene and off limits to all but essential personnel.
And we finally know how he got a gun, how Aaron Alexis got a gun into Building 197 without anyone becoming suspicious.
CNN's Pamela Brown joins us now from Washington with that part of the story.
Good morning, Pamela.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. You know, if you look at a timeline of Aaron Alexis' movements in the months leading up to the shooting, it's clear that he was becoming increasingly troubled. In fact, police notified the Navy about a disturbing incident involving Alexis back in August.
Yet despite all the red flags, his security clearance was not taken away and nothing prevented him from walking into Building 197 and opening fire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): This morning we're learning new details about how Aaron Alexis brought a gun on to the Washington Navy Yard. A federal law enforcement official tells CNN that the gunman entered Building 197 with a small bag. It's believed to have carried a disassembled Remington 870 shotgun.
He's then seen on surveillance video ducking into a bathroom with the bag and emerging seconds later with a gun. Moments later he opens fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a report on the fourth floor. A male with a shotgun. Multiple shots fired. Multiple people down.
BROWN: As investigators continue poring over Alexis' life, the trail of red flags leading to Monday's massacre is troubling.
August 7th, he calls Rhode Island Police complaining of hearing voices coming through the walls of his hotel room. According to this police report, Alexis said those voices were sending vibrations into his body using some sort of microwave machine.
August 25th, Alexis arrives in the Washington area where he contacts a V.A. hospital for a second time for sleep problems.
September 14th, two days before the shooting, Alexis stops at this small arms range in Norton, Virginia. An attorney for the gun range says Alexis practiced shooting. Then paid $419 for a gun and two boxes of ammunition.
And on Monday, he accessed the Navy Yard with legitimate I.D. and proper security clearance.
HENRY: In a case like this where you've got so many red flags over a protracted period of time, I mean, it almost seems that this was the type of thing that was bound to happen. BROWN: Even more troubling, Alexis' record while serving as a Navy Reservist. Eight instances of misconduct including insubordination, disorderly conduct, and unauthorized absences from work.
HENRY: It's easy now to look back and piece it all together and say somebody should have known. If you think about it over a long period of time it's a little more challenging.
BROWN: He was honorably discharged in 2011 and retained his Navy issued security clearance, which is good for 10 years. The Defense contractor he was working for has now pointed the finger at the military for overlooking his misconduct as a civilian and during his service.
REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, CHIEF U.S. NAVY SPOKESMAN: Looking at his offenses while he was in the Navy, the offenses while he was in uniform, none of those give you an indication that he was capable of this sort of brutal, vicious violence.
BROWN: Investigators are now collecting evidence from multiple crime scenes. Towing away his rental car. Removing boxes of materials from his hotel room. Interviewing family members in Brooklyn. All in hope of understanding why he did this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And in the wake of the shooting, the administration has announced three investigations. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced a rapid review of security at all Navy and Marine Corps installations. The White House says the Office of Management and Budget will re- examine the standard for federal contractors and employees.
And CNN has learned that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is ordering a review of all military installations worldwide. We expect to find out more information about what that will entail sometime later today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Pamela Brown reporting live this morning from Washington, D.C.
New details in the death of an unarmed man shot and killed by a police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina. Police say this man, Jonathan Ferrell, was looking for help after he got into a car accident. He banged on the door of a nearby home. You know, he wanted to get some help. But the homeowner panicked and called 911.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Is he still in the house? Did he leave yet?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. He's not in the house, he's in the front yard yelling. Oh, my god. Please. Oh, my god, I can't believe I opened the door, what the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is wrong with me?
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: You panicked. You weren't sure what to do. You say he kicked in the door after you realized it wasn't your husband?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just glad I got that door shut.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Well, the officer that responded to the scene of that incident ended up shooting at Ferrell 12 times. Ten of those shots hit Ferrell. The cop behind the trigger is now facing charges.
CNN's Alina Machado is live in Charlotte with more on the story.
Good morning, Alina.
ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. In that 17- minute 911 call, you don't actually hear the shooting, but you do get a better sense of what police officers thought they were responding to.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MACHADO (voice-over): Charlotte Police believed Jonathan Ferrell came to this house looking for help after surviving a car crash just down the street. It was Saturday, about 2:30 in the morning. The woman inside panicked and called 911.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need help.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Where are you at?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a guy breaking in my front door.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: There's a guy breaking in your front door?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. He's trying to kick it down.
MACHADO: The homeowner pleads for help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's in the front yard yelling. Oh, my god. Please.
MACHADO: Police say Ferrell was unarmed when he approached the three officers who responded. One of them used a taser to try to subdue Ferrell without success. Police say officer Randall Kerrick fired 12 shots. Ten hit Ferrell, killing him. Dash cam video has not yet been released, but an attorney representing the Ferrell family says they have met with police and seen the video from that night.
CHRIS CHESTNUT, FERRELL FAMILY ATTORNEY: You can see, you can tell he's unarmed. He begins to approach the officers, and there are immediately two dots, laser beams in the center of his chest. Then he gets excited, he's like, wait, wait, wait. You know, stop. He's coming forward saying stop. And he goes off the camera, you just hear shots. One, two, three, four. Pause. One, two, three, four, five, six. Pause. One, two.
MACHADO: Police say Officer Kerrick told investigators right after the shooting, quote, "The suspect assaulted him by unknown means." And he had, quote, "apparent minor injuries, but refused treatment."
Still, police say the shooting was excessive and charged Kerrick with felony voluntary manslaughter.
MICHAEL GREENE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We're confident at the resolution of this case. It will be found that Officer Kerrick's action we're justified on the night in question.
MACHADO: Ferrell's mother says she forgives the officer who killed her son.
GEORGIA FERRELL, VICTIM'S MOTHER: I pray for him each and every day. But I do want justice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACHADO: Now Officer Kerrick is free on bond. It is unclear at this point if police will be releasing this dash cam video. The family attorney says it answers many questions, even though police say it does not show the actual shooting -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Alina Machado reporting live from North Carolina this morning. Thank you.
Straight ahead on the NEWSROOM," Starbucks telling gun owners, leave your weapons at home. Howard Schultz sits down in a CNN exclusive.
Plus, caught on camera. A burglary suspect tries to jump out of a moving police car, reaching out of the window trying to unlock the door.
Also, cheek to cheek. A face first slide. And he still didn't steal the base.
NEWSROOM is back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Starbucks has a new message for gun owners. The coffee giant got pulled into the gun debate last month when some gun owners praised its policy of allowing weapons into Starbucks stores where they're prevented by state law.
CNN's Poppy Harlow sat down for an exclusive interview with the CEO. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD SCHULTZ, STARBUCKS CEO: We're not pro or anti-gun. However, we do believe that guns should not be part of the Starbucks experience. And as a result of that -- making that decision, we are respectfully requesting that those customers who are carrying a gun just honor the request and not bring the gun into Starbucks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Schultz added that Starbucks isn't banning weapons from its stores. Customers who bring guns into the store will still be served. They will not be asked to leave. But Schultz is just saying, please, don't do it.
The man behind the deadly shooting at Washington's Navy Yard had a history of violence with weapons and a history of arrests and anger issues. Yet, Aaron Alexis legally brought a shotgun in Virginia, which he then used to gun down 12 people on Monday.
This morning, I'd like to talk not about gun control but the gun laws already on the books. Laws many say ought to be enough to stop many instances of gun violence.
Joseph Greene is a retired ATF agent.
Thanks for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
JOSEPH GREENE, RETIRED ATF AGENT: Good morning. Thanks for having me.
COSTELLO: It's a tough conversation. I know a controversial one. So, bear with me here.
Let me take you back to 2004. Aaron Alexis shot out the tires of a car with a gun because he thought the owners disrespected him. Alexis then told police he blacked out because he was so angry, doesn't even remember the incident. He was only charged with malicious mischief.
Now, if I was the owner of that car, that would really frighten me that someone shot out my tires with a gun. Should he have been charged with a more serious offense?
GREENE: Well, you would certainly be frightened if he shot your car, you might be the next target. However, you'd have to talk to the police department that did the actual investigation into that shooting incident. They may have come up with some information that he provided as to why he shouldn't have been charged with a more serious crime.
COSTELLO: Well, in your mind -- I mean, you have a lot of experience with gun laws and people who use guns. In your mind, I mean, you know, hindsight is 20/20 and I realize that. But it certainly was an early warning sign of things to come in this instance.
GREENE: It was a warning sign. The talk that's been going on for the past couple days is how did this individual actually get firearms.
I think the important fact to remember is that under the Gun Control Act, this individual was not prohibited from purchasing firearms. He wasn't a convicted felon. He was not an illegal alien. He was not dishonorably discharged from the military. Nor was he found mentally defective by a court. So, therefore, he was able to go into a gun store and buy a gun.
COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about that because he bought the gun in Virginia. And he didn't live in Virginia. He was an out of state resident. He was able to buy a shotgun if he passed a background check in Virginia, which he did. He could buy a shotgun, but he could not buy a handgun.
GREENE: Yes.
COSTELLO: Why?
GREENE: There are certain provisions and exceptions in the Gun Control Act about sporting guns and rifles. But we also have to look and see what type of identification he provided to the gun dealer. Did he provide maybe a fictitious driver's license saying that he was a resident of that state? All of that would be on the ATF form 4473 which would be firearms transaction record. It's filled out by the purchaser and the dealer.
We know the gun has been traced by ATF and that information has been provided to the FBI and Metropolitan Police Department. They would be able to exactly tell you what he used for identification to purchase that weapon.
COSTELLO: Well, according to "The Associated Press", the Firearms Owners Protection Act was passed by Congress in 1986. It opened up interstate sales for shotguns and rifles. In other words, it made it more convenient for out of state gun buyers. But it also made it more convenient for people like Aaron Alexis.
Now, I'm not naive. I don't think this law will ever change. But when we hear we already have effective laws on the books to keep dangerous people from buying guns, is that really true?
GREENE: Well, Carol, there's two ways to look at this. You have one side of the group that says on the firearms issue we need more laws. There's the other side that says there's enough laws on the book.
Right now, there are enough laws on the books. The laws especially dealing with prohibited persons need to be looked at a little more carefully. Maybe tweaked a little.
We don't need to legislate new laws. Let's take a look at the laws that are already on the book and see how they can better serve law enforcement so they can do their job and better protect the American public.
COSTELLO: Joseph Greene, former ATF agent, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
GREENE: Thank you very much.
COSTELLO: Still to come, a father buries his son. A young man who struggled with mental illness.
(BEGN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK WARREN, PASTOR: We knew that this day might happen some day. But it's a day no parent wants. It's your worst nightmare. And I'll never forget -- I'll never forget the agony of that moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That is Pastor Rick Warren. He gives his first interview since his son Matthew's suicide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Pastor Rick Warren said his son Matthew had a tender heart and tortured mind. Pastor and best selling author is speaking out about his son's suicide to bring attention to the issue of mental illness.
Warren and his wife Kay appeared on CNN's "PIERS MORGAN LIVE" for their first interview since Matthew's death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN: Matthew was not afraid to die. He was afraid of pain. I remember 10 years ago, when he was 17, he came to me and sobbing. And he said, "Daddy," he said, "It's really clear. I'm not going to get any better."
We've gone to the best doctors, the best hospitals, the best treatments, therapist, everything, your prayer, everything you could imagine, good support. And he says, "It's real clear. I'm not going to get any better, so why can't I just die? I know I'm going to heaven, I know I'm going to heaven so why can't I" -- he was not afraid to die.
PIERS MORGAN, CNN'S "PIERS MORGAN LIVE": And what did you say to him, Rick?
WARREN: Well, in that situation, I said, "Matthew, the reason why is there is a purpose, even in our pain. And I am not willing to just give up and say that the solution isn't there. You might give up. But as your father, as your mother, we're not ever giving up that we wont' find the solution."
Because I really believed Matthew could have been a great advocate for children in the world. He was an amazingly compassionate kid. He had an ability to walk into a room and he would instantly knew who was on the most pain in that room. It's like his antennae up --
MORGAN: He could feel it.
WARREN: He could feel it. He would make a bee line for that person. And the rest evening, during that party, he'd spend that entire time talking to that person, trying to cheer them up, trying to encourage them. And many times, he'd say, "Dad, I can help a lot of other people. I just can't get it to work for me."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Rick Warren said he's cried every day since Matthew's death but he calls that grief a good thing, a way to get through the transitions in life.
Here's a look at what's coming up tonight on CNN starting at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: CNN tonight. At 7:00, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT". Controversy and the crown. The new Miss America responds to racist comments over her win.
Then, at 8:00 on "ANDERSON COOPER 360", remembering the victims who lost their lives in the Navy Yard shooting.
Then at 9:00 on "PIERS MORGAN LIVE", it's a deadly combination -- guns and mental illness.
WARREN: There's no way guns should ever get in the hands of a mentally ill person.
ANNOUNCER: From the suicide of Pastor Rick Warren's son to the shooting at Washington Navy Yard, Piers asks the experts, can anything be done?
It's all 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)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
