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Manifesto Found At Vegas Shooting Scene; Charges: Driver Had Been Awake 24 Plus Hours; FBI: Bergdahl's Parents Threatened; Obama To Cap Student Loan Repayments; NBA Commissioner: Clippers Sales Not Final

Aired June 09, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

COSTELLO: Happening now in the "NEWSROOM" -- ambush.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: two of my officers were killed in the line of duty.

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COSTELLO: Two suspected white supremacist going on what they called a revolution.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This man came in out of nowhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw the gun in their hand.

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COSTELLO: Investigators raiding the cop killers' Las Vegas house overnight.

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TRACY MORGAN, COMEDIAN: I'm Tracy Morgan.

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COSTELLO: Tracy Morgan hospitalized after a horrific accident on the New Jersey turnpike.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is in intensive care at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick.

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COSTELLO: A Wal-Mart truck driver in court this morning facing state charges.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two tractor-trailers involved.

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COSTELLO: Was the driver dozing off?

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we said and we're looking into whether it might be possible to release the proof of life video.

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COSTELLO: the White House, Pentagon, State Department, inviting all House representatives to see the Bowe Bergdahl video. Should you have the right to see it too? This as the FBI investigates death threats against the Bergdahl family.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have received both e-mail as well as phone threats.

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COSTELLO: Plus, it's a far cry from digging your way to freedom. Why do that when help comes from the skies. Let's talk live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Three innocent lives gone in an instant. Now we're learning the married couple blamed for killing those two Las Vegas police officers as they ate lunch at a pizza restaurant held extremist views toward law enforcement.

I apologize. Investigators say they found what appears to be a manifesto, backpacks and flags or insignias with marking on them at one of the shooting scenes. Let's go out to Las Vegas and check in with Dan Simon with more. Good morning.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, this seems to be a very thought out and calculated attack based upon what you're talking about with those items that were found, the manifesto, the backpack and also the flag and insignias. We don't know what in fact they symbolize, but it appears that they went through the trouble to think things through.

I just sort of want to talk through chronology with you, Carol, because I think it's important here in sort of talking about what happened and the events that led up to what happened here at the Wal- mart. So it's around 11:22 a.m. when these two suspects we're talking about a married couple enter a pizza restaurant and they see these two police officers and they shoot them dead. Then they take the officer's guns and the ammunition. They then go across the street essentially to this Wal-mart where they confront a woman near the front of the store. They shoot her dead. Then, police converge on the scene. There's some sort of shoot-out between the suspects and police officers, but apparently this married couple had some kind of suicide pact.

The wife then literally shoots her husband and then she shoots herself so the details are absolutely horrific here. What motivated all this, we're not certain. Based on what we have seen online with what this married couple has written, it appears that they harbored anti- government and anti-law enforcement views.

Now, we know the names of the suspects, but CNN is not releasing them until authorities do. So right now we're holding back a bit. Certainly this is a group or this is a couple rather that harbored anti-law enforcement views -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Dan Simon reporting live from Las Vegas. Joining me now by phone from Vegas is Joe Schoenmann. He is a reporter with the "Las Vegas Sun." Welcome, Joe.

JOE SCHOENMANN, REPORTER, LAS VEGAS SUN (via telephone): Hi.

COSTELLO: I know you talked to neighbors about these suspects. What more can you tell us about them?

SCHOENMANN: They just appeared -- they talked a lot with everybody about various types of conspiracy theories. One of the neighbors described them as possibly being involved with methamphetamine. They kind of lived in a neighborhood -- actually, only about 4 minutes from where I live. I wouldn't necessarily call it a bad neighborhood. It's just a little bit older than most neighborhoods in Las Vegas.

COSTELLO: They were very overt with their views. They didn't hide the fact they hated police officers, right?

SCHOENMANN: No. I think they just -- a lot of people talk. I think people thought it was just a bunch of talk. They didn't have anything to back it up with.

COSTELLO: And then of course, this tragedy happened. Some strange things went down in the course of the crime. After these police officers were shot, one of the suspects covered them with some sort of flag. Do you know what kind of flag that was?

SCHOENMANN: That hasn't been confirmed. From some reports say it was a yellow flag that some say is associated with Tea Party Movement, which has a "Don't tread on me" insignia on it. That hasn't been confirmed. I don't know if that's true.

COSTELLO: And then the other allegation that's out there and according to your article, I believe, that these two suspects participated somehow in the Cliven Bundy saga?

SCHOENMANN: The neighbors said that the two came back and bragged about being up at the Cliven Bundy ranch in March. However, other reports say they were kicked out of the place. I don't know why they might have been kicked out. Mrs. Bundy said she didn't really know anything about them.

COSTELLO: And then finally, as they rushed towards this Wal-mart store, they said something like this is a revolution. Were these extremists? Were they meth heads? In your opinion, where was their anger really coming from?

SCHOENMANN: You know, it's puzzling to me. It's almost beyond conception to me. I can't understand it. I don't know if they were just drug addicts lost in their own fantasy world or -- in either case, no matter what their motivation or what they thought they were doing, it's insane. That's all I can tell you about it.

COSTELLO: I think I would agree with you there. Joe Schoenmann, thank you so much. He is with the "Las Vegas Sun." Appreciate it.

Breaking news to pass along to you, we have learned the truck driver charged in the accident that left comedian, Tracy Morgan, critically injured was awake for more than 24 hours before it happened. That's according to the criminal complaint. The 35-year-old Wal-mart truck driver, Kevin Roper, faces one count of death by auto and four counts of assault by auto.

In the meantime, Morgan is responsive. He's showing signs of improvement after that terrible crash on Saturday on the New Jersey turnpike. The collision killed one person, left three others hospitalized. Listen to what Morgan's limo driver told TV station, WCAU about this ordeal.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw traffic and I stopped. I was upside down in the vehicle.

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COSTELLO: All right, let's bring in CNN aviation and government regulation correspondent, Rene Marsh, about this latest bit of new information. Tell us more.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, this is really highlighting a debate that's been happening here in Washington. I mean, we've been asking the question since this weekend at last minute why did this truck driver swerve to avoid vehicles and essentially it seems as if he wasn't aware of the slow moving traffic ahead.

Now we're just getting that information that he was awake more than 24 hours before the accident. Now, we do know that investigators are there on the scene as far as new Jersey State Police as well as the NTSB looking into all of these factors, the log book for this individual and they're going to want to know more details about his work schedule. We do know that the drug and alcohol tests are being conducted. However, authorities have already said that they don't believe that will be a factor. Let's get back to this issue of fatigue. That's something that NTSB investigators have always been very concerned about and back to this debate happening here on Capitol Hill.

We do know that there are senators both Republicans and Democrats who are calling for changes to the truck rest rules, which are currently in place. We should say the Department of Transportation put these rules in place about a year ago in July. The portion of the rules that they want to change is when a driver hits 70 hours of driving for a week, we know that they're required at this point to take at least 34 hours off.

And that must include two mornings between the hours of 1:00 and 5:00 a.m. Those are the rules that are up for discussion here on Capitol Hill because there's some lawmakers who say they want to change that portion. Essentially we're telling these truckers when to sleep and they believe that that will in turn force them onto the roadways during the daylight hours.

The 9:00 a.m.s, 10:00 a.m.s when a lot more people are on the road and they feel that would be more dangerous than having them work overnight -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK. So I know that Wal-mart has responded to this crash. What did they say?

MARSH: Well, we do know that the president of Wal-mart just this weekend put out a statement in part saying that this was a tragedy and they're very sorry for what happened. One of their truck drivers was involved. The president of Wal-mart going on to say the facts are continuing to unfold and if it is determined that our truck caused the accident, Wal-mart will take full responsibility. So they're getting out front of this issue here because as we know that truck driver was a Wal-mart employee -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Rene Marsh reporting live from Washington. Thank you.

There are new details of the tortured captivity of Bowe Bergdahl and the firestorm over the deal that convinced terrorists to free him. Today on Capitol Hill all members of the House will meet behind closed doors with the three main points of those negotiations, the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon.

Those officials will face very tough questions from lawmakers. They're worried about the future threat from those five Taliban commanders who were released in exchange for Bergdahl's freedom. That deal is igniting outrage both in Washington and in the Idaho hometown of Bergdahl's family.

The FBI now investigating death threats against his parents who has stayed out of public view in recent days. CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Hailey, Idaho this morning and Capitol Hill reporter, Lisa Desjardins, ahead to this afternoon's close door briefing. Welcome to both of you. Lisa, tell us about this meeting. How contentious do you expect it to be?

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: This definitely could be highly contentious as this classified as behind closed door so we won't know what's said inside. I will tell you this. This is the first chance that House members will have to get this information since it was announced. The House was out of session all last week and a full week of House members to get their blood boiling and to hear from some of their constituents about this.

Also, Carol, it's being held in Visitor Center Auditorium, which is a very large space. They are planning for a crowd tonight. The question will be do the House members believe that the White House has a political agenda here or do they think they're getting straight information today? That will tell us whether it's contentious or not. They have a lot of questions.

Talking to sources today, Carol, a lot of Republicans and Democrats feel they're getting a few different stories from the White House over the past couple days especially over why it was necessary to release Bergdahl now. Expect those questions and Carol, think of today's briefing as very important, but really an opening to this week.

We'll get more information on Wednesday when the House holds an Armed Services open hearing with Secretary of Defense Hagel.

COSTELLO: That should be very interesting. I want to ask you about this proof of life video. There was talk it might be shown publicly. Are lawmakers for that?

DESJARDINS: Yes. Most lawmakers on Capitol Hill that are taking a position on that say release it. We want the public to see it. As we reported last week with Dana Bash, Senator Tom Coburn who is a medical doctor says, I look at that video and I see someone that's drugged. I think the public should look at that themselves. But so far, the White House is not releasing.

Today these House members will be seeing this video most of them for the first time including, Carol, some very high ranking members like the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. He still has not seen this video that we haven't seen. He will see it tonight. I expect afterwards, we will hear more calls for that to be released publicly.

COSTELLO: All right, let's head out to Idaho and check in with Ed Lavandera. What do you know these threats against Bergdahl's family?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, law enforcement source tells CNN that the threats came through e-mail to Bob Bergdahl at his home. There were several of those threats. Military spokesperson for the family says they will not comment on it. This is a law enforcement issue.

It's obviously something of great concern not only to the Bergdahl family, but many of their friends here in Hailey, Idaho, who have told us that Bergdahls have been stunned by the level of intensity and the backlash against not only their family but toward Bowe Bergdahl as well. They knew there would be some controversy given the unknown questions and unanswered questions about his disappearance and how he became captured.

But the intensity of all of that family and friends tell us is really surprising and saddened that the Bergdahl family and of course, this just intensifies that even more -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We haven't seen the Bergdahl family publicly for quite some time. Have they gone into hiding, do you know?

LAVANDERA: We do know that they've been here in Hailey. They live several miles on the outskirts of town of this small town in one road out through this canyon in a very remote area. They laid very low. The last time they spoke was a week ago yesterday when they arrived back from Washington, D.C. here in Boise and spoke briefly with reporters and saluted some of the supporters that they had here for almost five years throughout all of this ordeal.

But because of the intensity and everything, we've asked repeatedly if they want to make any statements or comments and they said that they have nothing to say for now and they're focusing on trying to reunite with their son, Bowe.

COSTELLO: Ed Lavandera, Lisa Desjardins, thank you so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, reducing the burden on millions of Americans with rising student loan debt. Our chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, has more on what President Obama plans to do about it. Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. The White House wants to make it more manageable for 5 million more student borrowers to get their monthly payments down so they can have a financial life. I'll have details right after the break.

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COSTELLO: In just a few hours, President Obama will announce a new initiative aimed at easing the burden of crushing student loan debt for millions of Americans. Take a look at the numbers. Federal student loan debt now tops $1 trillion. It is now the second highest consumer debt behind mortgages. And more borrowers are having a hard time repaying. The three-year default rate has jumped from 13.4 percent to nearly 15 percent. The president says more has to be done.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The average undergraduate student who borrows for college now graduates owing almost $30,000. I've heard from too many young people who are frustrated that they've done everything they were supposed to do and now they're paying the price.

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COSTELLO: CNN's Athena Jones is at the White House with a closer look at the president's plan and CNN chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, looks at what it means for the overall economy. But Athena, first to you. What is the president's plan?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're talking about expanding a program that allows borrowers to cap their monthly payments at 10 percent of their discretionary income. This would help an additional 5 million borrowers and it would start in December of 2015. This is all part of the White House's efforts to make college more affordable. It's something that we've heard the president talk about for years frankly.

He said no one should go broke because they choose to go to college. Now, the White House is also saying this is part of what they are calling the president's year of action. Where he uses the power of the phone and the pen like signing this presidential memorandum today on this issue to bypass Congress where we have seen this bipartisan gridlock.

But I should mention, the president is also going to be asking Congress to act in this matter so they can help even more borrowers. There is a plan put forward by Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat, that would help up to 25 million borrowers refinance their loans, bring those interest rates from around 7 percent to just below 4 percent.

So while he's using his own executive action, he is also going to be calling on Congress to act and this is an issue the White House certainly sees as a big winner for Democrats. That's a bit of what we can expect today.

COSTELLO: So is it students or former student's discretionary income or their total income that this is will be based on.

JONES: It's their discretionary income and so 10 percent monthly payments, the White House sees this as something that should be manageable for students and it's part of a series of efforts to try to bring the costs down for folks who borrowed a lot of money to go to college -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And Christine, I'll throw this question to you. Isn't is it hard to determine what discretionary income is?

ROMANS: Well, it's your after-tax income and you work with the Department of Education on that quite frankly. You know, there's calculators on Sally Mae and even CNN Money has lots of calculators that people can use. Also the White House wants to really be pushing, Carol, so that students know about this plan.

Income-based repayment is something that's been around for a long time. It was expanded under healthcare reform and there's forgiving student loans. For example, the White House even gives this example of a teacher who makes $39,000 a year. She's got 26 grand in debt. This would cut her monthly bill by $126 a month.

And then Carol, after a period of years if you're in public service, you would forgive the rest of the loan. That's another important part of this. Say you're in the arts and you have a student loan bill or a public defender, over the course of your working life, if you are current on your loans at some point they'll forgive the loans.

So that's a really important part of this too. Remember, the president talked last week about forgiving student debt for VA doctors, for example so to get more VA doctors and nurses. The White House really trying to use this as a way to fill some of the gaps we have in society and help students at the same time.

One thing it doesn't address, Carol, is the fact that we're borrowing too much money to go to college in the first place, right? We are borrowing a lot of money and families really should be talking about where they're choosing to go to school, how long it's taking to get out of school.

There are a lot of universities with three-year programs now. That helps keep the debt down. Keeping the debt down on the front end, tuition is up 544 percent, 544 percent since the '80s. We have to talk about that too.

COSTELLO: We certainly do. Christine Romans, Athena Jones, many thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the NBA commissioner addresses why nothing was done about Donald Sterling before now.

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ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: I don't want to make excuses. Clearly there's a different standard now in part because of social media and there's a much greater awareness now.

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COSTELLO: CNN's Rachel Nichols sits down with Commissioner Adam Silver for his first one-on-one interview since the Sterling scandal broke.

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COSTELLO: The air conditioning was working in San Antonio last night, but the Spurs were still overcome by the Heat. The Miami Heat that is. LeBron James bounced back after leaving game one of the NBA title series with cramps, but LeBron scored 35 points leading Miami to a 98- 96 win and tying the series at one game each.

Before the game, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sat down with CNN's Rachel Nichols for his first one-on-one interview since the Donald Sterling scandal broke.

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RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN HOST, "UNGUARDED": The Board of Governors needs to approve, but what does it feel like to be on the other side of all of this? SILVER: I don't have any feeling about it yet because it's not done. Donald Sterling still has a billion-dollar lawsuit filed against the league, against me personally. I'm not worried about that because I can't afford it. There's still a last issue to resolve and that is Donald dropping his lawsuit and resolving his former issues with his wife.

NICHOLS: His lawyer has said they plan to do that, but are you in a "I believe it when I see it" mode?

SILVER: Absolutely. I've been there with him before. He's almost sold his club over the years. There's well known incidents in the league when he was there at a closing and at the last minute decided not to sell and until he sells that document, we have pending litigation with him.

NICHOLS: We all saw you come out for that press conference, which will now be a historic press conference. Give me behind the scenes the 5 minutes before you walked out to that podium. What was going through your head of what was going on?

SILVER: I generally tend to get a little bit nervous in those situations. I haven't walked out on such a large stage ever in my career with that many cameras and that many members of the media. Up until the last second, I was really writing what I was going to say.

Effective immediately, I am banning Mr. Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers organization or the NBA.

NICHOLS: All right, so then what about the 5 minutes after you walked off that podium and had delivered the shell shock bomb to everybody?

SILVER: I didn't have a sense of what a big moment it was until I walked back to the office. I began to have a sense of people coming up to me.

NICHOLS: You were walking on the street and people just started talking to you about it.

SILVER: Absolutely.

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NICHOLS: Love the idea of him walking back from that press conference, Carol, and people just coming up to him with tears in their eyes telling him how important it was to them. I also pressed Adam Silver on why the league did not do anything about Donald Sterling earlier. He acknowledged to me that they should have.

That just because there weren't any convictions in any of these harassment or discrimination cases against him, he settled them with money. They should have done something more. At least they are doing something now.

You have to give him credit for being accountable in that interview. He did admit they should have done more in the past and they'll try to do better going forward. He took a lot of responsibility. You have to be impressed with that.

COSTELLO: Rachel Nichols, many thanks. Rachel has more with Adam Silver including his future plans for the NBA on her show this week "UNGUARDED" with Rachel Nichols airs Friday night, 10:30 Eastern Time.

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