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Erin Burnett Outfront

Police Kills Man, Search Home For Ties To ISIS; Survivors May Be Trapped Inside Cruise Ship; Huckabee Jokes About Pretending To Be Transgender. Aired 7-8:00p ET

Aired June 02, 2015 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:09] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news. A man suspected of having ISIS ties shot dead by police in Boston. Tonight, investigators at this hour searching his home. Big questions about how major of an attack he was planning.

Also breaking, damning new evidence in the D.C. mansion murder. Sources telling CNN information tonight that could break open that case.

And an American woman mauled to death by a lion. How did this happen? Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, we begin with breaking news. Boston police at this hour searching the home of a suspected terrorist gunned down today in Boston. Investigators believe 26-year-old Usaama Rahim may have been part of an ISIS terror cell. Police say that when they approached Rahim this morning for questioning, he turned suddenly, pointing a large black knife at them. The officers say, he backed away, they ordered him to drop the weapon. He refused. That's when they opened fire, they say they hit him twice. Now they say they have the video to prove it, but Rahim's brother, an Imam, tells a much different story. He tells his brother was waiting to go to work at a bus stop when police approached him and shot him three times in the back.

Alexandra Field begins our coverage OUTFRONT tonight of this breaking news right outside of Rahim's Boston apartment where I know Alex a search is under way right now.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. Officers have been outside of his Roslindale apartment all day long, since the morning hours. They are now inside. We can see the tents set up on the back side of the apartment as investigators begin their search of Usaama Rahim's home. This is a man who police say was inspired by ISIS. They say that he had recently used social media to make threats against police officers. They encountered him this morning outside of a CVS. They had been following him 24 hours a day. He was under surveillance by the joint terrorism task force. Authorities say he died after he was shot twice, once in the torso, once in the abdomen. They say that first, he high waved a military style knife at them and refused to retreat, didn't listen to verbal commands to drop the knife. That's the account from police.

Officers say that they have surveillance video from some of the stores in that plaza will which back up this account, it shows the entire account this morning. But Erin, that video has not been publicly released at this time. It's up to the district attorney's office to determine whether or not to publicly make that video available, but we do know that the Boston police commissioner has reached out to the Black and Muslim community leaders and that there will be a private viewing of that surveillance video tomorrow morning for this select group of people who have been invited. And Erin, authorities from the district attorney's office and also the Police Department tell us this is part of their ongoing effort to try and show the utmost transparency. They say they want to be very up front with the community in whatever way they can be, while not publicly releasing that video yet in order not to jeopardize the investigation they say.

BURNETT: All right. Alex, thank you very much. Reporting live from Boston tonight.

And Deb Feyerick is OUTFRONT now. And, you know, as Alex is saying, there's going to be a private viewing of this video that for local leaders, for Imams, because the family is saying that police are not telling the truth. That this is not how it happened. His brother, in particular, is saying a very, very different turn of events went down this morning. What does he say actually happened?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. What he's saying, and he's the one who actually posted on Facebook and Twitter identifying his brother as the man who was yielding or wielding the knife. He said his brother was at the CVS, that he was catching a bus to actually go to work, when he was, in his words, confronted by three Boston police officers. Now, we know that at least one was an FBI agent. They wanted to question him because police believe some of his tweets were becoming increasingly alarming, and so they stopped him to speak to him at that point. And that's when, according to the brother, Usaama Rahim actually got on his cell phone to talk to his father because he needed a witness. Again, that's according to the brother. And the father heard the fatal shots. The brother saying that Usaama was shot three times in the back. Police saying, no, it was twice. Once in the abdomen, once in the torso, and he wasonly shot because he refused repeated orders to put down the knife and that he was approaching those investigators from the Joint Terrorism Task Force -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Deb Feyerick. I mean, it's amazing when you see the different stories here of what's happened.

I want to bring in now former CIA operative Bob Baer along with the former assistant secretary of Homeland Security Juliette Kayyem, who also was a member of this joint police FBI task force that actually carried out the operation today.

All right. So, Bob, let me start with you. We know Rahim was taken extremely seriously. This is a guy who had been under 24-hour surveillance by police and federal agents, that means a lot of resources. This isn't just someone just posting a few random things on social media that they apprehend. This means this was significant. [19:05:20] ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: Exactly, Erin.

You know, to watch somebody like this, you probably have to have 20 people on eight-hour shifts and so we're talking with 120 people maybe a day.

BURNETT: Wow!

BAER: And if there are two more people involved in this, we're talking about hundreds of people. And for JTTF to put a surveillance team on somebody like this, they have to have something very specific, they have to worry about this guy. It can't just be social media. And it's not something you do randomly. Let's watch this guy for a couple days. It doesn't work that way. They're already overtasked in so many ways. So, they had something to go on, and clearly, they were nervous about this guy, and by the way JTFF is not trigger happy and they don't shoot people in the back. These aren't provincial cops, I tend to take the FBI's version of this right now.

BURNETT: Right, right, and you mentioned there were two others that they are watching. And I want to talk about those, too, in just a moment. But first Julia to you on this issue of what was about to happen. I mean, officials say, I'll quote them, the level of alarm brought them to question him today. They seemed intent on moving fast. Right? They confronted him at the CVS bus stop.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Absolutely.

BURNETT: Not at his home, they didn't go to a private place, take him in for questioning. You think this means they were very concerned that something could happen very soon.

KAYYEM: That's absolutely right. I mean, as Bob was saying, look, JTTF will have hundreds of investigations going on based on Twitter or following social media or intelligence aspects coming in. They're not putting 24/7 surveillance on almost anyone. And so you have to just, you know, reading the signs here, this was a serious incident, and also to approach him in a public space is sort of -- it's not guest protocols, but it's not desirable if you have the time to wait if they're at their office or at their home. You have a secure environment. Things are less caustic. And so, you know, just thinking through some of the -- at least what we see publicly right now, it's got to be that they were at least in a hurry to talk to him.

BURNETT: So in a hurry, Bob. I mean, Juliette agreeing with what you're saying, I mean, they are now questioning as you pointed out, two other people, two associates, they say, of Rahim's. They were all under surveillance. And as you point out, it takes about 120 people to watch one person 24 hours a day. So, I mean, we're talking about an incredible commitment of resources. What could they have been planning?

BAER: Well, I think it's -- to go back again, more than just threats on Twitter. They had to see them take some sort of action. It could have been anything from buying tickets to go to Syria, to buying weapons, to buying explosives, to being in touch with the Islamic State in Raqqa, something like that, e-mails. It's, again, it wasn't just an average threat, because remember, again, going back to the surveillance, I have done this for years. And it's amazing. It's not a one cop following somebody. It's a lot of beaten up cars and people that don't look like police and follow them. They have to follow the house as well as, you know, look at the house as well as the person, and associates, so I think JTTF in Boston was on to something and they had as Juliette said, they had to pull the trigger on this so to speak.

BURNETT: And Juliette, you know, you live in Boston. You were there when the Boston bombing happened. Obviously, it seems from the information we're getting here preliminarily, the Tsarnaev brothers went to the same mosque where the suspect today who was killed or his brother was an Imam for a time, is there a connection?

KAYYEM: Oh, I don't know if we can say so yet, especially if you look at the timing, the Tsarnaev brothers were at that mosque many years ago. It's been several years since the Boston marathon. But you know, obviously, the Tsarnaev was convicted and is now sentenced to the death penalty. That was definitely something of concern for people looking at this, and I'd be curious when they started the 24/7 surveillance. Was it in the last couple weeks since the trial ended? And so, you know, I don't know if we can say that there was a meeting there, but definitely, if the facts lead to this mosque, it may be that something was energized there. I know that mosque. It's about four blocks from my house. It's a good place. They're actually quite cooperative with the JTTF. So, I sort of reserve judgment about what's going on because actually, they have been very open about opening their doors. CNN certainly knows, because I know they have been in that mosque as well.

BURNETT: Yes. No, we've done reporting there. All right. Thanks very much to both of you. Obviously, a lot of questions here. But something extremely serious in terms of what they thought this man was planning or about to do. Tonight on CNN, a special report on ISIS, what should the U.S. do now? Nine Eastern with wolf right here on CNN.

And OUTFRONT next, a race against time. The search is on right now for hundreds. They're missing after a cruise ship capsized. We're live on the scene.

[19:10:04] Plus, Mike Huckabee, his transgender joke about being able to shower with the girls. Coming to light after Caitlyn Jenner's announcement.

And breaking news in the D.C. mansion murders. A major break tonight. That's all coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:14:16] BURNETT: Breaking news. A desperate search under way at this hour for more than 400 people after a cruise ship sank in just minutes. Rescuers by the thousands have been working through the night, desperately searching for survivors. As you can see, in some of these cases, they literally have been using hammers to try to knock on the ship as a way to try to communicate, to tap to the inside to passengers who have been able to find isolated air pockets. So far, 14 people have been rescued, but as I said, nearly 400 are on that ship. It was reportedly on a cruise along China's Yangtze River when it ran into a deadly storm.

David McKenzie begins our coverage, he is live tonight in China where it's daylight. They searched through the night, and I know David a frantic search is under way at this moment.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Erin, they're in the staging ground of the searches behind me as scores have arrived on the scene to try to get any survivors out. But as the hours tick by, the situation is looking grim. They haven't entirely lost hope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE (voice-over): New surveillance video purports to show the cruise ship eastern star sailing through a lightning storm less than 45 minutes before it capsized in the Yangtze River. It's become a desperate race against time, and the vast majority of the 458 passengers and crew onboard are still missing. This ship is floating upside down in about 50 feet of water. Among the few survivors so far, the captain and chief engineer. They told authorities that late Monday night, a sudden tornado caught the ship without warning. Something Chinese weather officials confirm hit the area. The vessel capsized so quickly, within a minute or two, that the crew couldn't get off a distress call. Seven people swam almost two miles to shore and alerted police. Now, more than 4,000 soldiers, police, and civilians crowd the scene. Taps on the hull have been returned from inside, but rescues have been rare. A diver described how he found a 21-year-old crew member still alive in the cabin.

GUAN DONG, DIVER IN RESCUE OPERATION (through a translator): The bottom of the ship had a layer of air cushion which was one and a half to two meters thick. The victim was sitting on a water pipe in the upside down ship bottom.

MCKENZIE (on camera): So, there was oxygen inside?

DONG: Yes, there was a thin layer of air. I handed over my diving year to do it.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): And miraculously, one woman surfaced from under the ship. Holding onto a rope, she crossed the hull and collapsed in the arms of rescue workers. But hundreds remain missing. And heavy rains and high winds make a difficult rescue even worse. As the hours pass, family members are demanding answers. Their grief turning to anger.

XU JIONG, RELATIVE OF MISSING PASSENGER (through a translator): You can't just mysteriously hold us all here and not give us an explanation. You can understand our feelings when they just chuck us in here. They haven't even tried to make us feel better and we barely know how they plan to deal with this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE: Well, certainly, the weather continues to be a problem. It's been raining all throughout the night here and into this morning, and though they are rushing to the scene with specialists search and rescue teams, Erin, the prospect of finding people is becoming slim certainly at this hour -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you so much, David McKenzie. But just that poignant moment and the man with the hammer and there are taps inside, there are people alive, trying to get out. Investigators are trying to figure out the final moments before this luxury vessel, which is owned by the state, owned by China, to try to figure out what happened. Why did it capsize, and so quickly?

Chad Myers is OUTFRONT. And Chad, what do we know right now about this boat? A riverboat, right?

CHAD MYERS, CNN SEVERE WEATHER EXPERT: A riverboat. Higher in its being than it is wide now here. We're talking about a 250-foot long boat, about 45 feet wide. But if you look at it, the sail area, as we call it, the side of the ship is much taller than what's under the water, causing it to be a little tipsy. And what's underneath is the ballast that holds the ship in place. And that's how you get a taller ship than a deeper ship. But yesterday was just a dreadful day. The warning was there. There was one storm in the area, but it got so intense, the updraft was so intense that we know the Chinese equivalent to the National Weather Service said, yes, there was a tornado. Right now, maybe 80 miles per hour, but maybe more than that. Don't know for sure that the tornado directly hit the ship. And everyone was asking me, would that make it a water spout because it's on the water?

Technically, if it started on land, I guess I would still caught it a tornado. Significant enough to knock over a cruise ship. Passengers said it went over very quickly because of that large ciliary (ph) like pushing over a sailboat and then it continued to go all the way down. Weather has gotten a little bit better from where we were. The storms have moved away, the big red area right here has moved away. But as soon as that ship got hit by the side, the waves pushed that boat over and now that's what that boat looks like, still a little bit sticking out of the water but not very much -- Erin.

[19:19:12] BURNETT: So Chad, you know, we talk about the tapping, that there are people inside tapping. What do you know at this point, given you know, you're talking about the top heaviness of this boat, about possible air pockets?

MYERS: Well, because the ship is water tight, it's theoretically air tight. Not perfectly, but yes, because ships leak. They just do. And pumps take that water, pump the water out, and the boat stays afloat. But this air, if the air is hissing out of these very small little areas where the wheels would be coming out of the back, where the props would be, then you're going to start to lose some of that air. But because this is a steel ship, it's very heavy in itself, so there's not just that two or three foot of air in there. There's more than that in there because the steel is causing the boat to be even lower in the water than it should be. It's a buoyant wooden boat. It's not a wooden boat. It's a steel ship. And so that steel ship pushes it down, pressurizes the air in there, and as long as there's air inside this hull, I know you grew up with the movie and so did I, the Poseidon adventure, there's still that potential, that these air pockets on top will still hold survivors for days to come.

BURNETT: Hah. Well, we can only hope that that's the case. Thanks so much to you, Chad.

I want to bring in Allen Kipping-Ruane, a former navy diver. He trains rescuers. So Allen, you know, we have them tapping with hammers trying to get response, right? We have people inside tapping back. One of the survivors is saying the bottom of the ship had a layer of air that was five to six-and-a-half feet thick. Does all that make sense to you? Do you think there are survivors, a lot of them? I mean, how long can they survive?

ALAN KIPPING-RUANE, NAVAL SWIMMING SUPERVISORS FOR RESCUE SWIMMERS (on the phone): So, I'm going to assume that, you know, there's air pockets, and with the amount of oxygen that humans have to consume to stay alive, they're looking at two to four days of oxygen just to live. You know, with more people in each compartment and where it's settled, you know, that's the estimate I'm going to give, is two to four days. It's not a lot of time so they need to hurry up to get these people out.

BURNETT: Two to four days isn't a lot of time, but in a sense it's more than some people might think. I mean, do you think they're going to be able to do this, to rescue a lot more people? Because, you know, when you hear about this, it's only 50 feet of water. It seems much more accessible in some ways than some of the stories we hear where you have ships in hundreds of feet of water.

KIPPING-RUANE: So, you know, I have to have some hope that they are going to get more people out. You know, it's difficult. They're dealing with the weather, they're dealing with the murky water that's there, and even though the ship is in relatively shallow water, the divers are still doing the most that they can to get these people out. But the combination of the murky water, the two to four day limit, you know, with the lack of oxygen, it's going to be tough. But if they're sticking lines down there to pump some of these compartments with oxygen, then we're looking at maybe up to a week.

BURNETT: All right. So let's say they have up to a week, and you're saying two to four days just with the air they have. If they're able to pump more in, they get up to a week. But Alan, then how do you actually physically get someone out? Right? Because, you know, getting someone out when it's underwater involves water going in. How do you actually pull it off?

KIPPING-RUANE: So, they're obviously looking for areas that maybe compartments are already filled with water. Right? And so this way, the pressure is already equalized, so they're going in, cutting in the hole, also trying to not find a weak spot where maybe the ship might crumble underneath them. The divers are very well trained with what they're doing, they're salvage divers, they're rescue divers. And with the training that they've gotten, they're looking for certain areas within the hole to get these people out. Now you're right that water rushes in. Is this going to make it difficult to rescue somebody? So, they're also not only coming from the side but also trying to go in from the top. You know, as you saw the images earlier, that are using blow torches to kind of dig holes in through the hull. So, they're trying everything right now. You know, the biggest thing they have to worry about is the pressure equalization --

BURNETT: Right.

KIPPING-RUANE: But these divers are trained and they know what they're doing.

BURNETT: All right. Alan, well, I hope you're right that they end up having a week for a lot of these people and that they can save a lot of lives. It was said only 14 known survivors right now out of 400, possibly nearly 400 people in that boat right now, many of them alive, desperately praying for to be saved.

OUTFRONT next, Mike Huckabee. He's learning why a transgender joke, and here's the question, it may really not have been a joke at all. Might not be the best thing to do.

And breaking news, sources telling CNN major new evidence in the D.C. mansion murder case is breaking tonight. There's a stunning link between a victim and one of the suspects. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:01] BURNETT: Tonight, shocking comments from Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee about pretending to be a transgender. The comments were actually made in February but they're coming to light today after Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner revealed her new identity on the cover of "Vanity Fair."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wish someone had told me when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in P.E., I'm pretty sure, I would have found my feminine side and said, coach, I think I would rather shower with the girls today. And yet today, we're the once who were ridiculed and scorns because we point out the obvious. That there's something inherently wrong with forcing little children to be a part of this social experiment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: The social experiment Huckabee is referring to are rules that allow transgender students to use whatever bathroom corresponds with their gender identity. He also slammed his policy back in 2013.

Dana Bash is OUTFRONT to begin our coverage of this. I mean, Dana, these comments are getting a lot of attention because of Caitlyn Jenner. DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly.

BURNETT: He was playing to his base, he was making a joke, but he was making more than a joke and he's done this before, calling it all a social experiment. You know, why should the people be able to use the bathroom that they identify with? What's the reaction now?

BASH: Well, you mention that he was playing to his base. This is obviously something that he cares about, and he talks about frequently, and it is getting a lot of buzz, as you said, because of Caitlyn Jenner. And because that is so much in the forefront of kind of the zeitgeist right now. But you mentioned, this is kind of a key here. He talked about it several months earlier, and it was about the idea of allowing men to use women's bathrooms and vice versa, and it of course sounds harsh that he appears to be making fun of transgender people, and since his campaign isn't commenting, I can't tell you exactly what he meant.

But when I can't tell you in covering him for several years, is he often gets his point across by using over the top, it's not focusy language. And this was a classic example. But you know, to be fair, he hasn't commented on Caitlyn Jenner, he actually declined to answer a question on that today. And as far as I can tell, he hasn't given his position on transgender individuals in general other than as you mentioned, Erin, comments that he makes often about this idea, which is really in front of a lot of local ordinances, allowing people to use bathrooms of the opposite sex, which as you just heard, he believes is ridiculous.

BURNETT: He absolutely does believe is ridiculous. All right. Dana Bash, thank you so much.

OUTFRONT tonight, HLN host Dr. Drew Pinsky, and editor and chief of "The Daily Beast," and CNN political analyst John Avlon.

Dr. Drew, let me start with you. Mike Huckabee is running for president. He's calling the move towards transgender equality a quote-unquote, "social experiment," that he thinks is inherently wrong.

DR. DREW PINSKY, HLN HOST, "DR. DREW ON CALL": Well, look, he's entitled to his opinion, but it's insensitive. He's now bled over into misogyny and sexism in the course of his being insensitive to these issues. And whether or not it's a social experiment, whether or not psychologists or psychiatrist have this wrong, listen, he's not the one to say. The fact is there's a human being here, these are human beings that deserve sensitive care and the best possible care by experts, not attack by their politicians.

BURNETT: So John, when you hear Huckabee, who is running for president, right, who specifically is talking about allowing people and children to use whatever bathroom they think corresponds to their gender identity as opposed to the gender identity others might perceive them as having. You know, look, he said this kind of thing before. He said it a couple months ago, he said it in 2013. This is clearly what he believes. What do you think about it?

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, clearly, it's what he believes. I think he's out of step with the particular cultural moment. But it's not surprising for someone who is a social conservative.

The problem with the sound bite is he's clearly using it as a laugh line. And as, Dr. Drew said, you are dealing with real human beings and you don't like to see politicians divide and ridicule for political gain or simply to play to the base.

The larger point, of course, is that we're undergoing a sea change in this country, in a gay sylph rights moment, that a lot of the majority of Americans now support marriage, something that would have been unthinkable a decade ago, and Bruce Jenner coming out as a transgender, as Caitlyn Jenner is a new teachable moments that very powerful culturally, but going to be challenging for a lot of these folks. And for him to try to demagogue it for laughs I think is needlessly divisive.

BURNETT: And, Dr. Drew, I want to play something else that Huckabee just said. Let me play it so you can hear it from his own mouth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For those who do not think that we are under threat, simply recognize that the fact that we are now, in city after city, watching ordinances that say that your 7- year-old daughter, if she goes into the rest room, can not be offended and you can't be offended if she's greeted there by a 42-year-old man who feels more like a woman than he does a man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Dr. Drew, some people might hear that and think there's something do that. Is this a point people should take seriously?

PINSKY: Let's not -- there's confusion everywhere on these issues. Look, they're confusing gender identity with sexual orientation.

BURNETT: Right.

PINSKY: He's not helping the process. As we're saying, there's a cultural moment here --

BURNETT: Right.

PINSKY: -- when the issues are coming to the fore. People want to be sensitive. They want to get their head around. They want to understand this. This sounds very much like the kind of sort of frankly knuckleheaded notions that people had about gay and lesbians not that long ago. And this is the same phenomenon.

Should we not allow a gay man into a man's room either, Mr. Huckabee, is that what you're saying? I mean, for goodness sakes --

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: Right. Just saying if you're transgender or gay, right, you're somehow some sort of a predator.

PINSKY: You're -- exactly, you're a predator, somebody who is going to act out on children. Just simply no relationship amongst these various things, and it's being -- as we're seeing here, it's been used as a joke. It's been used for political gain. And it's actually harming people.

BURNETT: And, John, to that point, Mike Huckabee just recently defended Josh Duggar, right, the reality star who sexually molested his own younger sisters when he was a teenager.

So, Mike Huckabee in a statement said, quote, "Good people make mistakes and do regrettable and even disgusting things."

So, he's asking us all to forget a straight man who is a sexual abuser but he's saying transgenders are dangerous to your 7-year-old daughter?

AVLON: Yes, there's clearly a degree of double standard. A double standard rooted in the fact when Mike Huckabee was governor of Arkansas, he knew the Duggar family. And, obviously, it's more difficult to demonize people you know directly.

But that's the problem with these sort of situational ethics and hypocrisy and playing to the cheap seats, when you're identifying a group as the other, which he is doing.

And look, this is a high degree of complexity as a civil society. This is about forming a more perfect union. And, you know, for Caitlyn Jenner to be educating people in real time about, for example, the difference between gender identity and sexuality, that may be a complex concept for some folks, but it's incumbent on our leaders to help us and not simply play to our lowest common denominators and trying to divide people, which is what Mike Huckabee is doing with than attempt at the laugh line.

BURNETT: Yes, as Dr. Drew said, people confusing gender and sexual orientation when we need our leaders to help us not confuse those things.

Thanks so much to both of you. I appreciate your time.

OUTFRONT next, breaking news: startling new forensic evidence in the D.C. mansion murders. Tonight, it might break open the case. We have the breaking report next.

And an American tourist killed by a lion at a big cat park. It's the third attack in the park in just four months. Who's at fault, the tourists or the park?

(COMMERICAL BREAK) [19:38:56] BURNETT: Breaking news: a major break in the D.C.

mansion murders tonight. Officials tell CNN blood from at least one of the victims has been found on the prime suspect, Daron Wint. Wint is accused of torturing and killing a wealthy Washington family last month.

Pamela Brown is OUTFRONT live in Washington breaking this news.

And, Pamela, what are you hearing about this big break?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have learned, Erin, that traces of blood were found on Daron Wint's shoes following his arrest a couple weeks ago. According to law enforcement officials I spoke with and to be colleague, Evan Perez.

So, forensic analysis recovered traces of blood from one of the victims but sources would not say which of the victims of the four victims in that home, the Savopoulos family, the couple and their son Philip and their housekeeper, which one of the victims the blood belonged to.

But I think it's a big piece of evidence in the case, along with the fact that D.C. police have said Daron Wint's DNA was found on a piece of pizza crust inside the home -- Erin.

BURNETT: And, Pamela, I know you spoke with Wint's former attorney, who has since met with Daron Wint.

[19:40:03] And what did he tell you about the conversation and obviously, this news is pretty damning for him?

BROWN: In the wake of all this, Erin, the attorney, who met with Daron Wint behind bars for a couple hours, said that Daron Wint maintained his innocence. He said through his attorney he would never kill anyone. He has a 14-year-old daughter. He said he would never kill anyone, especially a child.

In fact, his attorney said he had really nice things to say about Savopoulos, one of the victims here. We have reported that Daron Wint worked for Savopoulos' company, American Iron Works, more than ten years ago. So, apparently, Daron Wint was praising him, and also was saying this must have been an inside job, someone who currently worked for the company, not him -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Pam, thank you very much. Of course, we do know at one point, Daron Wint was charged with showing up outside of American Iron Works with a machete, pled to a lesser charge of open container.

OUTFRONT next, an American woman killed by a lion at a wildlife park. That park, though, is open for business as usual today. What happened and who is to blame?

And Jeanne Moos asked who's at fault for making San Andreas so utterly unbelievable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:45:22] BURNETT: An American woman fatally mauled by a lion in South Africa believed to be in her 20s. This is the third big cat attack in just four months at the wildlife park, and just a day after, the park is open. Business as usual. You can go. Lions can come over to your car.

Diana Magnay is OUTFRONT for us in Johannesburg tonight.

And, Diana, how did this happen?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erin, this really is the stuff of nightmares. A trip to one of South Africa's top tourist destinations, Johannesburg's famous lion park, gone horribly wrong for one American tourist.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep your arms inside --

MAGNAY (voice-over): Lions rush to feed on a horse's leg, chained to a tree, so the tourists can watch.

This just hours after a 22-year-old American woman was mauled to death by a white lioness in this park. Diplomatic plates, a U.S. embassy vehicle heads to the scene. The American was riding in this Hyundai SUV driven by a South African tour guide.

She was photographing a group of lions through the open window, witnesses say, and didn't notice the lioness come around the side of the car.

A source tells CNN there were four eyewitnesses in other cars who were honking at the SUV to try to warn them. They say the lioness still sitting, put her paws up on the window frame and fatally clawed the woman in the passenger seat.

(on camera): There are signs all around the lion park which instruct drivers to keep their windows closed at all times, and we're hearing from a source that also one of these leaflets was found in the vehicle itself. This is one of the leaflets that the park hands out to drivers.

And it clearly states, please be aware that wild animals by nature are dangerous. Keep your windows closed, and doors locked, at all times.

(voice-over): That's because lions are clearly inquisitive and ingenious, as this video shows posted in 2014. A lion opening a car door with its teeth in a South African game reserve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh! I didn't know they could do that.

MAGNAY: The lion park, which has been a tourist destination for celebrities like John Legend and Shakira, has had incidents with lions and humans before -- three in the past four months. In March, a lion bit an Australian tourist in the leg. He admitted he had his window down.

But this is the first fatality where a lion has actually come through an open window. The park says it is reviewing its practices, but these incidents are few and far between.

SCOTT SIMPSON, LION PARK ASST. MANAGER OF OPERATIONS: And up until now, it has been absolutely adequate. And if people follow the rules, it's a flawless system. But, unfortunately, it's when people don't follow the rules and as you said, we night need to look at it in the future just, if we need to make changes.

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MAGNAY: Erin, the driver remains hospitalized. As for the lioness, she's been moved to a separate part of the park, away from the public. There are no plans to euthanize her -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Diana, thank you very much, from Johannesburg tonight.

Joining me now, a wildlife biologist, Jeff Corwin, host of "The Jeff Corwin Experience" on Animal Planet.

Jeff, you just heard the man from the lion park telling OUTFRONT, look, they're not taking responsibility for the fatal lion attack. And we actually spoke to a director of operations there. He told us, quote, "If the rules had been followed, this wouldn't have happened." The rules being doors locked, window up.

Do you agree?

JEFF CORWIN, WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST: I do agree. These are wild animals. They're very powerful. They are the top predator in Africa.

And you have to remember that these animals are not living in a truly wild state. They have been raised by human beings. They're conditioned to be fed by human beings, so that sort of natural defense mode to pull back from the presence of human beings isn't there.

So, it seems from what I have heard from this place, that if you follow the rules and you keep your doors locked and your windows up, your risk of harm is pretty low.

BURNETT: Now, there have been three attacks at this park in just the past few months. I just want to play again the video for you of the lion opening the car door. This is at another park, but I mean, just to show you how ingenious these animals can be, right? She comes over and opens the door.

Now, that door was not locked. Just to show people, they're incredibly fast, incredibly smart. And you point out, they're used to humans.

Do they now view these cars as essentially a meal ticket in a park like this where they're raised with humans?

CORWIN: Well, I think these lions view human beings as a meal ticket. Their total survival is dependent on people. Every day, they see people that deliver them fresh meat to eat, all their husbandry, all their sanitary stuff is maintained and security by human beings.

[19:50:05] So, they don't have any fear of human beings. So, for them, something like a car is just a toy. But what it shows you, Erin, is how quickly that can happen, how quickly things can go wrong.

BURNETT: So, you know, when we look at the attacks before, in March, a lion attacks an Australian tourist through a window at this park, and he said look, blamed himself, the window was down. He posted gruesome pictures of the wounds on his legs. What is that attracts lions to the open car windows?

CORWIN: Well, you have to imagine, if the window was closed, there is no stimulation, there is no sound. The lion would see itself in the reflection. There are no smells.

But when the window comes down and arms are dangling out, that's a natural enticement for that lion to approach. They are by nature very curious creatures. Now, it has smells, it has sounds, maybe there's food in the automobile, all these things increasing an opportunity for disaster like to unfold.

BURNETT: So, Jeff, you know, we also have reported that the lioness who killed this American woman -- I mean, it is a tragedy, she's been put in another area of the park but not euthanized. Is that the right thing to do? I mean, after all, there was no mal- intent on the part of this lion.

CORWIN: The lion was doing what a lion does. They're powerful, cunning, incredibly complex predators.

They are the number one feline predator in all of Africa. Also to note about this particular lion, she had cubs and she was also breeding as well. So, who knows who that might have influenced her defensive behavior, how she protects members of her pride. And it's amongst these lions where the females do most of the work when it comes to hunting and defending their offspring.

BURNETT: It sounds like from what you're saying, I'm not trying to oversimplify, but basically if they would have followed the rules, this might not have happened. I mean, this is a tragedy, a young woman is dead. But I guess the bigger question is, should parks like this exist?

CORWIN: Well, it's incredibly tragic and we should not make light of this. And this person was only exercising her curiosity.

But the truth was, the rules are very clearly stated. In their own vehicle, there was a pamphlet. Plus, she was the South African guide, why was he letting her have her window down?

I believe that there is a great value when people can safely and wisely and respectfully connect with nature. The job I have today as a wildlife biologist on my ABC show "Ocean Mysteries", that has come about from childhood experiences as a zoo. When my dad was a cop, he would drop off me at the local park zoo. Those experiences allow me to be the scientist and educator that I am today.

So, connecting with nature and wildlife wisely and carefully can have a great benefit to protecting wild places and promoting environmental stewardship. But you need to have the respect and you got to follow the laws, whether you are at a place like this or you're in the open Savannah. These are powerful creatures and they need respect.

BURNETT: As you said, cunning and incredibly complex. Thanks so much to you, Jeff Corwin.

And next, Jeanne Moos, "San Andreas", the movie, crushed the competition and any semblance of reality on opening weekend.

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[19:57:39] BURNETT: The top grossing movie now is the earthquake blockbuster "San Andreas". But as our Jeanne Moos reports, you might not want to trust the movie's seismologist.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A tsunami bearing down on a Golden Gate Bridge, skyscrapers collapsing.

Can't fault an earthquake blockbuster for going a little overboard.

And before it falls through the cracks, CNN and the film studio are both owned by Time Warner.

How does a seismologist size up "San Andreas"?

GRAHAM KENT, DIRECTOR, NEVADA SEISMOLOGICAL LABORATORY: I would definitely give it two thumbs up. It had me on the edge of my seat.

MOOS: Graham Kent wasn't expecting much science in a film starring the Rock.

DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON, ACTOR: All right. Hold on. We got to get over it before it crashed.

MOOS: And the tsunami really had scientists rolling their eyes.

KENT: Oh, it's way too big.

MOOS: It's all a question of magnitude, 9.6, according to the movie. But the San Andreas isn't deep or long enough to generate that big of a quake. Two cities get hit.

Could you lose both cities, San Francisco and L.A.?

KENT: I think it's highly, highly, highly unlikely.

MOOS: Could the Hoover Dam collapse?

KENT: No. I think the Hoover Dam is safe. You know, we all laughed at that scene and said, there is water behind the Hoover Dam?

MOOS: That's a little dry humor about the drought.

Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones posed with the Rock at the premier and live tweeted scientific inaccuracies.

When the Rock approaches the gaping fault like, Dr. Jones tweeted, "OMG! A chasm? If the fault could open up, there'd be no friction. With no friction, there'd be no earthquake."

But there's one thing the scientists love.

The movie repeats the duck, cover and hold on mantra experts recommend.

Seismologists speak as if there is no if. It is all when there is a big one.

KENT: Oh, yes. There's no ifs.

MOOS: And if it makes people prepare, what is a little earthquake earthquakery.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, safe in New York.

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BURNETT: Did they really play that music?

All right. Be sure to set your DVR to record OUTFRONT, so you can watch up any time.

Anderson starts now.