Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

California Killer Left a Chilling Manifesto; Pope Francis' Whirlwind Holy Land Trip

Aired May 25, 2014 - 18:00   ET

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


DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Hi, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick. This hour, we are fast forwarding to the week ahead.

Crucial evidence in the search for Malaysia Flight 370 could be released.

And we'll hear a pivotal speech from President Obama.

But the story driving the week will be the terrible shooting in Isla Vista, California, a college town.

Let's begin with our five questions for the week ahead all starting with this tragedy. Question number one, what's next into the investigation in the killing spree that left seven dead in Isla Vista?

Right now it's all about the evidence. Ten crime scenes, 12 locations, a series of retribution videos and a chilling 140-page manifesto. And now, the news that Rodger's parents have the documents and videos immediately before the killing begun. Apparently, the couple frantically searching for their son right at the time the shooting was happening.

Meanwhile, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown defending an earlier investigation his agency conducted on Rodger.

The places where those shooting victims died are today memorials, a store where Christopher Martinez was shot and the sorority house where Katherine Cooper and Veronika Weiss were killed. All three were students at UC-Santa Barbara.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

FEYERICK: The grief and fear palpable on the faces of all the thousands of students and community members who attended a vigil on campus yesterday. We're covering all the angles here.

First, we're going to go to Kyung Lah in Isla Vista.

What is the latest on the investigation, Kyung?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what investigators are focusing on and what we're still waiting to hear from investigators on is what happened inside that apartment before the shooting spree began. There were three roommates, three people found inside. We're still waiting to hear the identities. Still waiting to hear how he was able to succumb all three of them with a knife. So, that's still what we're waiting to hear.

Officers are also going over their history with Rodger. There was, as we've been reporting, that recent mental health -- the recent welfare check that his parents asked officers to go check and he was able to convince them that he was fine. There's also going to be a lot of investigation into his online history, his school history, as well as his mental health history.

But, Deb, the things that we normally ask questions about, the weapon, we know it was all legally purchased. How he got the bullets, all of that as well. So those questions have already been answered. It's much more now into the mind of this troubled young man.

FEYERICK: Yes, you wonder if any of those first three victims left any telling information behind.

All right. Kyung Lah, thank you.

Question number two: are we going to hear from Elliot Rodger's parents. Yesterday, we had a brief statement from the family attorney. Today, we learn at the time of the shooting, his mother and his father were frantically looking for him in Santa Barbara having gotten hold of his 140-page manifesto.

Pamela Brown in Santa Barbara right now.

What do we know about the family? What are they telling you?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that the family does not want to speak to the media right now. According to this family friend I spoke with, Simon Astaire, the family is going through indescribable grief, coming to grips with the loss of their son and knowing what he did. But this family friend did tell me about those moments, those frantic moments right before and during the shooting rampage on Friday because the parents had received that chilling 140- page manifesto right before the shooting.

The mother saw it, knew something was terribly wrong, and looked on his YouTube page and found that retribution video where he talked about slaughtering women at a local sorority house. And they hopped in the car, called 911. This is all transpiring while the shooting was transpiring unbeknownst to them, their son was behind it. And they later found out that their son carry Katie out this shooting, killing six people, injuring so many more, and his family knew he had a history of mental health issues is but never thought he was capable of a violent horrific act like this.

There's also been talk about that welfare check back in April that the family spoke about that and said they felt like that was a pivotal moment and really a missed opportunity. But the sheriff said, look there was nothing to indicate that he was a danger to himself or to others.

FEYERICK: And the suggestion that it may have been his mom who was the one who placed that call about the welfare visit.

All right. Pamela Brown, thank you so much.

And question number three, will we hear more from the victim's families? The visibly shaken father of Christopher Martinez, 20 years old, made a statement yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD MARTINEZ, CHRISTOPHER MARTINEZ'S FATHER: Why did Chris die? Chris died because of craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA. They talk about gun rights. What about Chris' right to live?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: We now know the names of all of the three shooting victims, the three people who were found stabbed to death at Rodger's apartment have not been publicly identified.

And question number four, can the Internet stop the next killer?

Nick Valencia has been digging into the red flags, hints the shooter left online about what he wanted to do.

Nick, what do people, what do they say? What are they noticing?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He posted on a variety of forums including PUA hate, which we'll get into in just a little while in another segment, as well as a body builder forum. And we talked about that 140-page manifesto he sent back to somebody on that body builder forum, passed to their friend who tried to get Rodger help, but it was just simply too late.

I want to talk to Pamela Brown left off as well, talking about that welfare check. In his manifesto, Rodger writes about a close call with authorities that somebody, as you mentioned, it could have been his mother, it could have been somebody from a health agency, that's just not clear, whether or not they called police, but somebody called police, seven officers showed up at his apartment.

He went on to write -- I want to read to you. "For a few horrible seconds, I thought it was all over. He said the incident made him realize to be extra careful. For the police department's part, they do say that there was nothing to indicate that Rodger was violent or that he was a threat to himself or a threat to others. So, they simply left it at that.

But Rodger talked about if he even searched his room they would have found and foiled his plot that he was planning on carrying out. Those on the Internet, he was on the fringe of fringe groups on these forums, people trying to flag authorities, but there just wasn't enough time, Deb.

FEYERICK: Yes, and it's interesting because when the welfare check folks came, he told them no, he said that he was having trouble socially and he was probably was not going to come back the following semester.

All right. Nick Valencia, thank you.

We'll talk more about the groups that the gunman allegedly belong to and why some say they only seem to egg him on.

Question number five: should this be treated like a hate crime? In Elliot Rodger's manifesto, the word "girls" appears 295 times. That is almost two times per page. Was Rodger a misogynist, somebody who hates women?

Let's go now to my panel, law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes, criminal defense attorney Holly Hughes, and retired law enforcement agent Lou Palumbo.

Tom, you first. This is a young man who keeps saying that he is so much better than everybody else, that's he's a god, he's superior and that women are just not paying him any attention, and yet his hatred for women. He goes so far as to suggest that they should all be wiped out. How do you make sense? What he's writing certainly very different from the message he was putting out there.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It's obvious that he hates women, but, you know, the rest of the manifesto he talks about being slighted when he was trying to get on an amusement ride when he was a little kid, he was too short.

It sounds like pretty much, he hates everybody, in terms of a hate crime, it's usually racial or religious motivated, ethnic group motivated, but when you hate the world, it's going to be kind of hard to single out, although he does mention women a lot, but he still pretty much hates everybody. Yes, he hated the world, but he also makes it very clear that he hates women because they're the ones who are torturing him.

And interestingly, he mentions a lot of the male friends he had. Holly Hughes, you got to wonder whether this guy was just completely sexually conflicted and almost terrified of the very possibility of any sort of intimacy.

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, and I think we also have that not just in his words but I think it shows up in his actions. You know, we've been listening to that fascinating interview with the neighbor who said we tried multiple times, we invited him to parties. We tried to get him to hang out in a fun and social setting.

He tells us that when Eliot was hurt, he reached out again, let me help you, do you need stitches? Let me get you medical attention.

So, we know that there were so many different times when he was reached out to and he just physically acted upon all those words. The words that I don't like anybody, I hate everybody. We see it played out in his actions as well, where he wants to be separate. He wants to be apart.

FEYERICK: And, Lou, Tom doesn't think it's necessarily a hate crime although he makes it very clear in this manifesto and in that video that he's going to target a sorority. He's going to get back at all those blond girls who didn't treat him the way he felt he should be treated. Do you see it as potentially as a hate crime that should be taken seriously when you hear this kind of vile speech?

LOU PALUMBO, RETIRED LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT: You know, Tom, as you know, a former FBI agent and the FBI investigates hate crimes. By the textbook definition, it doesn't really fill the bill, so to speak. But I would say hate is what drove this crime. And his focal point clearly was women.

If you're saying in the future, could we possibly prosecute people if they now directed their aggressions towards a gender, for example? You know, that's going to be something that again we're going to visit in the courts perhaps, but I don't think in this instance I'm as concerned about his fixation with women as his overall delusionary state. I mean, if you read what he wrote, he alludes to having a problem with mankind, not just women. This young man was severely deteriorated in his mental state.

FEYERICK: Yes, definitely suffering from a personality disorder as we heard Jeff Gardere discuss at length yesterday.

OK. Well, all of you, stay with me. We're going to hear more about the gunman's deranged view of women and how that may have played a part in his violent rampage. Whether police could have stopped this before the killer had the chance to take the life of a single person. That's ahead.

And next, Pope Francis won over Catholics around the world, but taking on peace in the Middle East? That's right. He's bitten off a lot. Is it more than he can chew? We'll talk to our expert as our fast forward rolls on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Live from tomorrow, you're looking at Jerusalem's Zion Square. Pope Francis is spending the night in the city. His trip wraps up Monday but he's already made extraordinary news on his three cities in three days Mideast tour. Pope Francis is inviting the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian authority to the Vatican.

Could the pope help bring peace to the Mideast when so many others have failed in the past?

John Allen, our senior Vatican analyst and an associate editor of "The Boston Globe" is with us now.

And, John, it's rather remarkable that the pope has invited both leaders to the Vatican technically to pray but maybe to even have some discussions.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST (via telephone): Yes, that's right, Deborah. The official purpose for which the pope has invited both Mahmoud Abbas and Israel President Shimon Peres is to have a common prayer for peace, but obviously I think the working assumption here is that the two men find themselves together in a neutral space. By the way, both leaders quickly accepted the invitation and although the Vatican won't officially confirm, it looks as though this is going to happen in early June.

I think the hope is that they will also have perhaps some conversations about restarting the peace process that broke down a month ago. Look, I think it was the inevitable that the first pope in history named Francis, after St. Francis, the legendary peacemaker of the middle ages, was going to want to try to bring peace, and there's no more intractable conflict on the global stage than the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Francis had also met both Abbas and Peres in meetings at the Vatican individually and, by all accounts, established what he regards as good rapport with both of them. So, he's hoping that he can get something done here.

FEYERICK: You know, it's interesting because the pope did lament the fact that the U.S.-mediated peace talks last month failed. Was this his way -- look, the Vatican's official position has been to call for a state of Palestine, but the pope also said, look, Palestinians are entitled to their state. The Israelis are entitled to peace and security. But it's got to be both.

This man of peace, how does he broker that in a meaningful way? When so many have failed.

ALLEN: Well, it's somewhat amusing, Deborah, that, you know, several times prior to this three-day trip Francis has said that he was coming solely as a pilgrim, that this was an exclusively religious outing, but the truth is there's been an awful lot of politics here. The Vatican's official position, longstanding position on the Middle East is that it wants a two-state solution with security guarantees and clear recognition of Israel's right to exist, at the same time sovereignty for Palestine. It's been referring to the state of Palestine since 2012 when the United Nations voted to give it nonmember state status, which by the way, the same status that the Vatican enjoys at the U.N. and also wants a kind of special status for Jerusalem with the security guarantees for the holy sites.

And that has been its position for a very long time. Francis reaffirmed that today saying it's critical that the two-state solution become a reality and not just a dream. Now look, previous generations and leaders around the world have tried to move the ball on Mideast peace and all have failed. I'm not sure how realistic it is to believe that Francis can wave a magic wand and transform the situation. But, obviously, he felt he could not come to this part of the world and not at least give it a shot.

FEYERICK: Pretty remarkable. And, John, we want to point out, you are in a remarkable and unique position. You're the only journalist who is traveling with the pope. Give us some of the back-story. What is that like to be on the plane with the pontiff?

ALLEN: First of all, I'm not the only one. There are about 70 of us. But I suppose I'm the only one from the CNN galaxy on the papal plane.

FEYERICK: OK, that counts.

ALLEN: You know, look, popes typically move in a bubble, but Francis -- you know, what you see on television, the man loves to come to the people, that's true on the plane as well. He comes back at the beginning of these international trips and makes a point of coming by and spending a couple minutes with every one of us. And that at the end, he's promised once again he's going to give us one of these no holds barred press conferences on the way back to Rome Monday night.

Bear in mind, the last time he did that was when we were flying back to Rome from Brazil in July, which is where his immortal line "who am I to judge" came from.

FEYERICK: Yes.

ALLEN: Remains to be seen if this one will be as much of a barn- burner, but it certainly makes it worth it being on the plane, Deborah.

FEYERICK: No question about. Certainly a very exciting place to be.

John Allen for us, thank you so much.

ALLEN: You bet.

FEYERICK: Well, what was going on in the mind of the gunman before his violent rampage in that California town? Was the young man who killed six people counting up all the little injustices against him, were they fueling his rage, his homicidal anger against women? We're going to address that, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: The Isla Vista killer Elliot Rodger wrote in his manifesto that he was sick of women turning him down his entire life, 22 years of it. Well, he shared those frustrations with an online forum geared toward men who feel the same way, it's called PUA Hate.

What does that stand for?

Nick Valencia joins me now. He's been looking into this.

I'm also joined by former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole.

Nick, we're going to start with you. You spoke with people who have done research on this site.

First of all, tell us what this name PUA Hate stands for?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It stands for pickup artist hate. I want to preface with what I'm about to say, is saying that we can't blame one specific Web site or forum, of course, for the violent actions of one individual, but it's these forums or the PUA forums or forums like it, that seemingly gave Elliot Rodger direction in his beliefs according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups. At PUA Hate, as I mentioned, it stands for pickup artist hate and it's a website dedicated to exposing so-called dating experts or those who seek money from men to get them dates in return. Men on this Web site use it to air their grievances after failing at the tactics used by pickup artists. Within this forum, Elliot Rodger began to self- identify with a group called incels, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Incels, what does that stand for? Involuntary celibates. It's their belief that they have to rise up against the so-called oppressive feminists who, you know, are oppressive against them, they believe. They say, are we going to rise up or are we going to stand back and take it?

So, there certainly is right now in the United States, a segment of society, and we've seen it online, Deb, of people who think that Elliot Rodger, his actions were speaking for them. And that he stood to right their wrongs.

We also want to say that it is kind of ironic, isn't it, Deb, for a group that's dedicated to pickup artists, that there would be in long leap of hatred towards women. When I talk to the Southern Poverty Law Center, they say at the core, notwithstanding their hatred towards these so-called "dating experts" at the core of those who use this forum is hatred of women. And that's in itself is the real issue.

If you look at all those tapes, if you look at Elliot Rodger's YouTube video, it's clear he had a problem with women, Deb.

FEYERICK: Yes, there's no question about that -- just blaming the whole world but specifically women. And interestingly enough when you hear him reference his father, he calls him father. When he references his mother he uses her first name.

Mary Ellen, based on what we know about the shooter, you think -- and what he was writing, is this the kind of guy who hits a radar soon enough? Because clearly in this case, he did not. You're a profiler. What would you look for?

MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER FBI PROFILER (via telephone): Well, we know that there are warning behaviors before these mass shootings occur, especially with ones like this where there's evidence to indicate that it had been planned for a long time.

These are not impulsive events at all. And so, what we're trained to look for are those precursor behaviors. And you know, frankly, we don't look for signs of mental illness because, as many of your guests have said, maybe it's delusional, maybe he's depressed, maybe he's schizophrenic. We look for behavior.

So, for example, if we were do dg a threat assessment on someone, we would look for suicidal, homicidal ideation. We'd look for someone who was a very severe injustice collector. That's someone who goes through life seeing real and imagined slights everywhere they go and they never get over it and they just keep adding to their bag of real and imagined slights which I think is really becoming pretty clear here right now with this shooter.

So, we look for mitigators that would prevent someone from acting out violently. And then we look for other variables or behaviors in their life that would tend to promote the possibility that they're going to act out. But it all comes down to behavior and not mental health label.

FEYERICK: And so, when we talk about behavior, and this is something that everyone is asking, if you look at signs as a profiler, when do people act? When do people -- you would think that having seen this time and time again, that there would at least be some sort of a go- team so that if there are concerns that a person like this stays on the radar, continues to be monitored, continues in some ways to be profiled and watched so that if the behavior goes to the next level and those little squirrels, those little nuts of injustice that he's collected become greater, that a team can go in and act.

What's in place?

O'TOOLE: Well, we do have what's called threat assessment teams. And most of the universities around the country do have these teams of experts. They're made up of psychologists, law enforcement and other specialists who will do threat assessments on individuals. And just like a mental health assessment, a threat assessment has a very short shelf life.

So, you can do an assessment on someone, and then 24 hours later something major can change in their life. So, if someone comes to the top, bubbles to the top and they really have some severe and potentially lethal behavior that they're demonstrating, that individual -- our system is just broken. It's not prepared to institutionalize someone for long periods of time.

But that said, we still can be in a position to get them some kind of hospitalization, keep them monitored, and if we have to do it repeatedly over and over again, then that's what we'd have to do. But we do have these teams throughout the country to have special training to go in and do these kinds of threat assessments.

FEYERICK: Yes, it's interesting. Something that you just said reminded me of one of the agents who actually had interaction with another crazy person, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Boston marathon bomber, and they cleared him, and he didn't hit the radar again.

All right. Mary Ellen O'Toole with the FBI, and, Nick Valencia with CNN, thank you so much. We appreciate your insight into this.

And while a community is in mourning, there's a haunting question that cannot be ignored. Could police have done something, anything, to perhaps intervene before the gunman killed anyone? The manifesto suggests that perhaps they could have. That's coming up, along with more from one of Rodger's neighbors, and our fast-forward look at the week ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FEYERICK: The neighbor of Elliot Rodger, the man police say killed six people in Isla Vista, California, Friday night is talking about his neighbor and gunman, and what he saw at the apartment complex that is now a crime scene. He's asked us not to identify him. He spoke to our Sarah Sidner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was home the whole night. I didn't hear a single thing. If I had, like, instantly I would jumped in. I didn't hear a single thing. We're just at the apartment. My friend, like, living down there, they got back from I think like a bar, something like restaurant or something, and they have a parking spot right next to him. So when they parked they got out of the car and they saw him in his car on his laptop. And that was like right before he went out.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You said the (INAUDIBLE), how do you think you could have not heard anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he had a gun on him, you can make people pretty quiet if you point a gun at their face. Like I don't know how it went down, but there's obviously a lot of blood. You can see like the bloody sheriff's footprints outside the door. There's obviously like a lot of blood. And I mean, if he killed them in the bedroom, then the carpet would have absorbed most of it. So I have a feeling he killed them in the kitchen or at least one of them in the kitchen.

They played video games. I don't know if he just went in there while they were on that computer and like -- I just -- I can't imagine it. But the only way that I can imagine them being that quiet the entire time is he had like to hold a gun to them and like make them be quiet.

SIDNER: Had you ever been inside his apartment?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last year when I knew the people living in there, but ever since he moved in there, I've never been in there.

SIDNER: Did you see the roommates earlier in the day? Is it possible --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

SIDNER: Possibly like he killed them the day before?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never see anybody down there. They're all so quiet. Really, when everybody moved in we tried to make it like as open a community as possible. And within a couple of weeks everybody just -- literally they go to class, come right back. So honestly, like, I just -- I haven't even seen any of them in like two months.

SIDNER: Can you tell us again where you lived in conjunction with the suspect's apartment?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Upstairs, four doors down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scary the idea that three people were stabbed. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three people were dead while I was a sleep, yes, it's kind of trippy. Some people here aren't taking it too well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Wow. Three people dead as he slept. Well, as we look beyond this weekend's horrific event, one question really keeps coming up, will the killings change our expectations of what police should handle and perhaps how they should handle it? Is it fair to ask officers to conduct these so-called wellness checks?

Tom Fuentes, Holly Hughes and Lou Palumbo join me again. And I want to read a quote from Elliot Rodger's manifesto. He talks about one of the times that police visited to check on his welfare. And he says, quote, "I don't suppose I'll ever know the full truth of who called the police on me. The police interrogated me outside for a few minutes, asked if I had any suicidal thoughts. I tactfully told them that it was all a misunderstanding and they finally left. If they had demanded to search my room, that would have ended everything."

Lou, you're a retired law enforcement agent. I know we're not pointing the fingers at police, but should they have been accompanied by some sort of mental health expert? If police can only do so much, why not bring in somebody else who may be able to recognize the signs a little bit more quickly?

LOU PALUMBO, RETIRED LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT: Well, that's suggesting that someone would spontaneously be able to recognize the signs, number one, and number two, even if you brought a mental health specialist with you, that would not necessarily have justified gaining access to the apartment.

There were issues here. If during this wellness check they convince the police that he was OK, that's all they're looking for. They don't have probable cause. And that's something that's necessary to go further, to go to the next step, to begin a search. You have to have something that legally prompts you to move forward. And that's what's lacking here.

You know, and again I go back to what I said earlier, Deborah. I think we need to find out exactly what was communicated to law enforcement or a mental health professional, and then try to revisit this topic. In response to your question about should they have a legal right on a wellness check or request to go a bit further? I think maybe that's something we have to open up the dialogue.

You know, I'm certain that police, myself included, you go to someone's home and you'll ask them, do you mind if I come in, sometimes they say no, sometimes they say yes. You know, when they say no, it's no. You can't force your way in, you have no legal footing.

FEYERICK: Right. And so, Tom, take that one step further for me. If the police officer says, look, a lot of people are worried about you, we just want to come in, we just want to check, we just want to make sure and the person maybe puts up defenses and says, no, no, no, again, can that be maybe -- shouldn't there be a little check in the box going he would not allow us into his home?

I mean, again, we're just talking about moving the ball ever so slightly so we can maybe get clues in terms of how we think about this?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, that doesn't move the ball enough. And Lou is exactly right. You only have so much rights as a police officer when you get there. And the purpose of the call was to check on someone's well-being and when you get there and he talks to you and says I'm well, pretty much it's over. If you want to take it further and ask him can I come in and the person says no, it's no. As Lou mentioned, you go home.

I mean, you can't -- there's only so much you can do in that situation. And I should add that the -- you know, there should be a check of how many of these type of calls. And I can tell you when I was a police officer these are frequent. Usually it's somebody that's elderly and a member of the family or a neighbor is worried that, you know, the older person may be sick or passed. But even in a young person, you have these checks and when you get there and find out they're OK, that's what you were there for. To see if they're OK.

There weren't -- as far as we know, we don't think the police were told, you know, this guy is going to kill somebody. Go check on that. They were checking on whether he was OK.

FEYERICK: OK. So Holly, let me ask you this question, because to me, you know, the elderly aside, all right, the family, it was a family wellness visit that we were told by the sheriff yesterday. So if the family called, is there -- do you think that there's some sort of a record, OK, as to what they said, what their concerns were and what they wanted to check on? Or do you think the family just said, yes, we're not so sure, could you maybe just knock on his door as opposed to he's posting disturbing videos, he's making threats, there are allegations out there?

Again, shouldn't that be part of the requirement when you're doing a welfare check, the behavior that is prompting the concern in the first place?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Sure, Deborah. Let me -- you asked a couple of questions in there. Let me start with number one. Yes, there's a record. It's called a cad report. It's a call log report when somebody calls in. It's either recorded or a dispatcher is taking very, you know, detailed notes saying, but in almost all of these, it is for the benefit of the person you're checking on because it goes something like this.

I haven't been able to reach my loved one, son, daughter, father, grandfather, in about 10 days. I've been leaving cell phone messages. I've been e-mailing them, I've been tweeting them. They haven't responded to anything. So most times it is just, are they dead on the floor? That's what a welfare check is in 90 percent of the cases.

So yes, there's going to be a log of it. But that's what they're checking on, did he harm himself. Now if they had in fact thought that there was something going on, we have to look at the timeline, they're so important in these cases.

FEYERICK: Right.

HUGHES: Because what we're hearing is the manifesto and we know the manifesto was written later because he refers to on this date the police came and checked on me and they could have foiled me, so that's written at a later time.

FEYERICK: Right. He's adding chapters.

HUGHES: After the welfare check.

FEYERICK: Yes.

HUGHES: Let's talk about the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The United States citizens have a right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. You have an absolute right as a citizen in this country to say, no, you cannot come in my house. Right then and there the police are stopped. They can't go any further. So that's -- right. I know, I hear you sighing, but it's a good thing. I mean, we don't want the police -- it's not a police state. We don't want them kicking in doors in the middle of the night.

FEYERICK: I absolutely agree.

HUGHES: Here is our issue, Deborah. Here's our issue. We have a problem with the mental health system. So when you get somebody who has these problems, there has to be another mechanism. We have got to enable law enforcement to go further. So what does that mean? That means going back to the legislature and saying, yes, maybe creating like a response team and saying if in fact this call comes in on he's mentally disturbed, he's suicidal, he's going to hurt somebody, but that doesn't sound like that's what this was.

FEYERICK: Yes.

HUGHES: This sounds like my kid's gone off the grid, he's not really right. But it doesn't sound to me like they said he's threatened somebody, he's suicidal, because they got there.

(CROSSTALK)

HUGHES: He answered all the appropriate questions.

FEYERICK: Yes.

HUGHES: And then their hands are tied. They can't legally go forward or the police department is getting sued.

FEYERICK: I agree with you. I guess what I'm -- the point that I'm trying to get at is it has to be a holistic answer and we as a community have to address it from every level.

HUGHES: Right.

FEYERICK: Parents have to be honest with law enforcement.

HUGHES: Agree.

FEYERICK: Law enforcement has to work with the parents. There's just got to be some mechanism. And if you need a threat assessment team who can go on -- go inside and do some sort of really meaningful look with follow-up, then perhaps we will have moved the ball as opposed to everybody left sighing once again that this has happened.

(CROSSTALK)

HUGHES: Hey, Deborah --

FEYERICK: And I'm not sure that Tom and Lou are going to agree with me, but it's got to be a holistic approach. I really believe that from the bottom of my heart.

PALUMBO: But Deborah --

HUGHES: Deborah, if I could legally speaking --

PALUMBO: May I just say one thing?

HUGHES: You can't have a psychiatrist or a psychologist go in there on behalf of the police.

FEYERICK: OK.

HUGHES: And do what the police would have done.

FEYERICK: All right. We got to stop. We got to stop.

(CROSSTALK)

FEYERICK: We will come back. I know Lou wants to continue the conversation. I will continue that later.

All right. Thanks, everyone. We appreciate it.

Well, a father who lost a son on 9/11 says that people were dancing on his son's grave at a black tie gala. Next, will outrage over the 9/11 museum force any changes there?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Another moment of outrage over the new 9/11 museum. Big names in New York held a cocktail party at the memorial dressed in their finest. Well, some families were already offended by the museum gift shop and plans to add a restaurant.

CNN's Alexandra Field spoke with some of the victims' families about this outrage.

And Alexandra, is it justified?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Deb, I think what's interesting here is that a lot of these families, actually they wanted to see this museum built. They felt that it was important for future generations to learn the lessons of this day but above all they want their loved ones to be honored. And they have questions about whether that's really happening now.

They believe it isn't happening and that's why some of them are calling for the immediate removal of some of these unidentified remains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): Jim Riches lost his son Jimmy, a firefighter, on 9/11 but he won't set foot inside the museum meant to honor the victims.

JIM RICHES, LOST SON: Disgusting. It's totally horrible. They were dancing on our son's graves and I'm very insulted. And I think they crossed the line.

FIELD: The latest, splashy headlines documenting a VIP cocktail party at the museum the same week it opened. Another affront to some who are already fuming over the museum's gift shop, the plans to open a restaurant and a $24 admission fee.

RICHES: I think it's now become a money machine and it's a revenue generating tourist attraction.

FIELD: The museum is defending the party which it calls a donor reception. In a statement, the museum's president, Joe Daniels, said, quote, "It is absolutely appropriate to thank donors who gave hundreds of millions of dollars and others including family members who worked so hard to make the museum a reality."

Part of that reality, generating revenue. Museum organizers say it cost $65 million a year to run but some families insist their loss shouldn't be part of a gain for any reason.

SALLY REGENHARD, LOST SON: To have a cocktail party over the graves of 8,000 human remains of New York City's heroes and victims is truly a sacrilege.

FIELD: The unidentified human remains are housed in the underground museum behind a wall. Some family members feel the location isn't fit for a final resting place. They're vowing to fight to have their loved ones moved above ground, part of the memorial which is free to the public.

RICHES: We wanted to memorialize and honor our loved ones and to tell a story of the day. What happened I think they lost track of what they were going to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: Now a group of these family members plans to get together later this week. They'll have a demonstration to try and highlight what they believe is the importance of having these remains removed -- Deb.

FEYERICK: Yes. Understandable. So much pain still for some of these families.

FIELD: Always.

FEYERICK: Just because of their loss. Always will never go away.

All right, Alexandra Field. Thank you so much, appreciate that.

And President Obama is heading home from a surprise visit to Afghanistan but even after he returns to Washington this week his week ahead will continue to focus on events beyond U.S. borders.

Here's CNN's Erin McPike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The president travels to West Point on Wednesday to deliver the commencement address, but he'll also lay out a clearer vision for his foreign policy approach that especially in light of recent criticism to some of the things he's done, including his handling of the humanitarian crisis in Syria as well as Russia's military incursions into Ukraine.

Now as far as that speech is concerned, a White House official tells us today you will hear the president discuss how the United States will use all the tools in our arsenal without overreaching. There's a lot at stake and now is the right time for this speech.

And that, of course, is especially now that the U.S. is winding down this long period of war in both Iraq and Afghanistan where the president traveled today and says he has some decisions to make on how to proceed for the rest of this year. We likely will hear more about that on Wednesday as well.

Erin McPike, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Erin McPike, thanks so much.

And coming up, why is it taking so long to get that Inmarsat data from the missing Malaysian airliner?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: So will this be the week that we finally get the release of data of the missing Malaysian airliner? The information would include communication between the satellite company Inmarsat and the plane in its last four hours.

Richard Quest takes a look at why this has taken so long.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: For days now we've been awaiting the publication of the so-called Inmarsat data. This vital piece of raw data that explains why the satellite company and the investigators and the searchers all believe MH-370 flew south deep into the Indian Ocean.

Inmarsat has now compiled the raw data along with explanatory notes and have sent it to Kuala Lumpur where it's being combined with other information. What's not clear is why it's taking so long for the Malaysians to release the information. It's believed that discussions have gone backwards and forwards to assess the exact right amount to give out.

Give way too much of the raw data and you confuse everybody with a mass of computer numbers that will be meaningless. Give away too little and you don't make it possible for people to understand how they came to the results that they've come to.

Getting it right is essential because they have to build confidence of the families and other people who criticize the very foundations of the search operation. It's expected the information will be released next week.

Richard Quest, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Well, I'm Deborah Feyerick. You will hear the very latest on the investigation into the terrible tragedy near Santa Barbara with details about what was learned about the gunman, his victims and his friends and loved ones now in mourning. All of that is on "NEW DAY" starting tomorrow morning, 5:00 a.m. Eastern, ahead "EARLY START."

But for now join us as we go with Anthony Bourdain on a marathon, Russia, India, Mexico. Come with us, the journey begins after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)