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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Two Gunmen Shot Outside Cartoon Contest in Dallas; Keynote Speaker Was on Al Qaeda Hit List; First Night Without Curfew in Baltimore; GOP Candidates Join Crowded 2016 Field. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 04, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, law enforcement officials here in the Dallas suburb of Garland, Texas, say that the shooting erupted just about ten minutes before the art Mohammed exhibit and cartoon contest was supposed to be wrapping up. It's not exactly known if the organizers of this event were the ones that were being targeted.

[05:30:01] But that is clearly the suspicion that law enforcement is operating under.

This is an event that had been in the works for sometime. It had gotten a great deal of publicity, and because of that, there was also a great deal of law enforcement present surrounding this event. In fact, we were told in the back of the building, there was a SWAT team on stand by just in case anything violent like this was to erupt.

But we're told by law enforcement that the whole event lasted or the whole shooting took place in less than about 15 seconds. That there were two men who drove up to the civic center here in Garland, Texas, in the dark colored sedan, jumped out, started shooting. They were able to wound a Garland independent school district officer. That officer was released from the hospital. He will be OK. But those two suspects were gunned down in the parking lot of the civic center here in Garland, Texas.

Law enforcement officials say they do not know the identities of these suspects, but, obviously, FBI investigators are on the scene, beginning the process of trying to figure out what the motive here was. This was an event that was highly controversial. The organizers described it as a free speech event. But those critics of these organizers which also included a keynote speech by a right wing Dutch politician who has been on the target list of Islamic groups around the world. They say that this was nothing more than an anti-Islam event.

So, a great deal of controversy surrounding all of this and many law enforcement officials here in Garland had worried about, John, has taken place.

John, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE) JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Ed Lavandera on the scene in Garland. Now authorities were concerned that the gunmen's car may have explosives inside, so what the FBI did, they did a controlled detonation of an electromagnetic pulse device. That happened around midnight and the goal there was to disable any possible explosive that might be in the car.

As Ed mentioned, those attending the contest to draw cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, they say it was not anti-Muslim; they claim it was pro-free speech. Even so, local police say they had officers and a SWAT team just in case, clearly, they thought there was at least a possibility of trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE HARN, GARLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT: We prepared for something like this simply because there were additional officers that were hired for this event by the school district. We had talked with them in preparing for this event in case something like this happened.

DORRIE O'BRIEN, ATTENDED EVENT: It is a pro-freedom of speech. Why would anybody have to describe it as anti-Islam? It's pro-freedom. That's what we're here for. We are freedom protectors.

JEFFERY MYERS, ATTENDED EVENT: This event was not anti-Koran. This event was not in any way disparaging of Muslims or the Koran, or Mohammed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And the keynote speaker for the event was a controversial right wing Dutch politican named Geert Wilders. After the shooting, he tweeted his thanks to police. He said, "Thank god the heroes of SWAT team prevented the worst." The mayor of Garland, Texas, told CNN that most of the people at tehe event were from out of state.

Many residents of Garland were unhappy of the event going to their hometown to begin with. CNN's political commentator, Ben Ferguson, he is from the area and he talked to CNN this morning.

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BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, there's the many people in the community that did not want this event anywhere close to their homes. I mean, this area is an area that is -- I'm literally right now probably 12 miles away from it. You have a Walmart, you have a Sam's Club, you have grocery stores, you have houses. It's close to a school. This is a convention center for the community on a much smaller scale than major city's convention center. So this is more of a mom and dads come together, have little events, art shows, galleries, and basketball games. This is a true community and the mass majority of the people in that community very conservative, by the way, community as well. They did not want this.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: Now this attack comes on the heels of similar attacks in France and Copenhagen. Now, we do not know exactly who did the shooting here in Texas, but we do know that the attacks in Europe did have terror connections.

We are joined now by CNN's senior international Nic Robertson to put us in the international context here, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Geert Wilders, who was attending that event in Texas, he is on an al Qaeda hit list. In January, it was somebody else, a cartoonist was on the al Qaeda hit list, who was killed in Paris at the Charlie Hebdo attack, the satirical magazine in Paris where two brothers burst in with automatic weapons, killed 11 people, targeting the cartoonists there at the magazine who had depicted the Prophet Muhammad. They were later discovered to have connections to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula; that's al Qaeda in Yemen.

[05:35:01] If you look at the attack in Copenhagen, a lone gunman there attacks an event where Lars Vilks, who is also on that same al Qaeda hit list because he is a cartoonist who's depicted the Prophet Muhammad. He's Swedish, he was attending that event. The lone gunman turns up there with an automatic weapon, sprays the cafe where this freedom of speech event is going on there in Copenhagen. The reason why only one person was killed there, and the death toll could have been far higher, Lars Vilks had both Swedish and Danish security teams with him. They returned fire. The gunman fled away, later that day killing a guard outside a synagogue in the central of Copenhagen where a Bat mitzvah was taking place.

So that gunman, again, later discovered to have radical Islamist connections. He'd pledged allegiance online to Baghdadi, the head of ISIS. John.

BERMAN: Tell me about this guy who was the keynote speaker, this Dutch politician, Geert Wilders. He is controversial, no?

ROBERTSON: He is controversial. He's known for having quick one liners that are known to rile radical Islamists in the past. He has been particularly outspoken on issues about Islam, that he sees the need to be in the public domain explaining his views of some of the things that are written inside the Koran, and this is what's made him a target in the past for al Qaeda or at least putting him on a target list. I mean, he's controversial in Europe that at one time he was even banned, back in 2008 or so, banned from coming to the U.K. He was later able to get that overturned.

But this is someone who's really associated in the European context with, if you will, expressing his views, using his freedom of speech, that has drawn a very negative reaction from parts of the Muslim community. John.

BERMAN: Nic, as far as you know, has there been any online chatter, any international groups, anyone commenting on this apparent attack in Texas that would in any way connect it to international terror? ROBERTSON: Look, what I'm going say here, we absolutely have to

caveat. Because we've had no -- there was no credible warning that we are aware of so far coming from any radical group that this was about to take place. However, and this is not surprising because we see this with radical groups all over the world, and particularly ISIS, ISIS has tried to claim that these men involved in this incident in Texas had pledged allegiance to ISIS in the same way the gunmen had in Copenhagen.

There is no way at the moment of knowing if that is true. The reason that there appear to be truth and validity behind the connection in Copenhagen was that a pledge of allegiance was found after the gunmen's death prior to those attacks. He was killed in a shootout with police later that day. So at the moment, there is nothing credible, but already we're seeing ISIS, in their own sort of radical inspired way, trying to take credit for it. John.

BERMAN: No doubt. And, again ,the identities of the gunmen unknown right now. The investigation into what they had been up to up until this point just beginning. Nic Robertson for us in London. Thanks so much, Nic.

The streets of Baltimore, everyone waking up in that city this morning after no curfew for the first time in a about week. That as we learn new information about the police officers charged in connection with the death of Freddie Gray. That's next.

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BERMAN: New this morning, the first morning after the first night without a curfew since the violence broke out in Baltimore one week ago. The mayor there, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, lifted the curfew that she imposed following the riots last Monday. The unrest -- and you're seeing pictures now that are a week old of that unrest -- it all stemmed from the death of Freddie Gray, who was seriously injured when he was in police custody. The mayor said National Guard will spend several days winding down their operations in that city, and she joined in celebrating the reopening of the shopping mall that was closed following Monday's looting.

For the latest, let's turn to CNN's Rene Marsh. Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a difference outside of city hall. You don't see the National Guard this morning and you do not see a large presence when it comes to police officers. Last night was the first night in the city of Baltimore where there was no curfew and there were no problems.

Now, you talked a bit about the National Guard. We know that the drawdown is happening this week. The governor saying it will take 72 hours before it is complete because they brought in some 4,000 people.

Now, Baltimore Police Department, they gave an update yesterday. They say that since all of the protests and rallies began, some 486 people were arrested. They also say 113 officers were injured. As far as economic impact goes, when you look at the looting and rioting that was happening early last week, the governor said some 200 businesses were lost as a result of all of the rioting. Many of those businesses were minority-owned and many of them did not have insurance. So even as the tide begins to shift here in the City of Baltimore, many business owners still feeling that impact, the economic impact. John.

BERMAN: That will take a long time to recover from that. Our thanks to Rene in Baltimore.

Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". Alisyn Camerota joins us now. Hey, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Hey John, great to see you. So of course we will be following that breaking news, two gunmen killed after opening fire outside an event in Texas that featured cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. We will look at what officials know about the gunmen, plus we'll talk to a CNN producer who was inside that event, as well as Pamela Geller, the controversial organizer of the event.

Also, Chris Cuomo is reporting on the ground for us in Baltimore. So now that those six officers are charged in connection with Freddie Gray's death, how solid is the case against them? We have an exclusive interview with the Baltimore State's Attorney who leveled the charges. All that when Chris and I see you at the top of the hour. See you then.

BERMAN: Thanks so much, Alisyn. Great to see you.

The race for president, it is intensifying this morning. The field getting larger -- a lot larger today. A new candidate declared overnight. Another candidate about to declare in a few hours. We'll break it all down next.

[05:45:05]

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BERMAN: Just love the music. The Republican presidential field is going to double this week. A whole bunch of candidates jumping in -- Carly Fiorina, Dr. Ben Carson, they will announce their candidacies this morning. Former Arkansas governor and former presidential candidate himself Mike Huckabee will follow suit tomorrow in his hometown in Arkansas. Yes, he still believes in a place called Hope.

So what will all these official candidates mean to the field? Let's bring in CNN politics and money reporter M.J. Lee.

Great to have you here with us on EARLY START, your EARLY START debut. Before we start, Dr. Ben Carson is scheduled to make his formal announcement this morning. He sort of tipped his hand and essentially announced already in an interview with an affiliate overnight. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. BEN CARSON (R), 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I'm willing to be a part of the equation and therefore I am announcing my candidacy for President of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Of course, the campaign said he didn't announce it right there. He's going to announce it later this morning. Where does he fit in this crowded field?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICS & FINANCE REPORTER: Carson is kind of an interesting candidate; he's an outside candidate for sure. He was this legendary neurosurgeon and has a very interesting life story.

[05:50:02] He's going to be probably the only African-American candidate in the Republican field. Look, I think the big question for Carson is what is the slice of the Republican population that really is captured by Carson? If you want a woman to take on Hillary Clinton, you've got Carly Fiorina. If you're interested in a Christian conservative, you've got someone like Huckabee or Rick Santorum. So what is Carson's appeal to a slice of the Republican population and what is the thing that will propel him to actually be a serious candidate?

BERMAN: I think he's going, leaning heavily on the outsider, not a career politician. That man -- there's something really interesting, and our heart goes out to Dr. Carson. His mother is really, really sick and he's having to cancel his events scheduled after the announcement.

LEE: That's right. He was supposed to be in Iowa for a couple of events today, but we found out that he'll really just be doing the announcement in Detroit and then going to see his mother in Dallas.

BERMAN: Of course, that mother key to his own personal narrative. He was raised in Detroit. The mother apparently told him he couldn't watch any TV, got him off the streets, made him write weekly book reports that apparently she could hardly even read, just to get him through. He does have a remarkable personal story.

Carly Fiorina, Carly Fiorina, this former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, the former California Senate candidate. She too getting in the race today. She barely registers on any polls. Nevertheless, her role could be significant as the only woman in the field.

LEE: Absolutely. I mean, already she has really fashioned herself as the Republican woman who is willing to take on Hillary Clinton. And she has come out and explicitly said if I enter the race, Hillary Clinton will no longer be able to play the gender card. She will have to speak about her record as Secretary of State and as senator and I am going to be her counterpart in the Republican field.

I think one other thing to watch out for with Carly Fiorina, is her time as CEO of Hewlett Packard. I've done some reporting on her time as CEO of the company and there are former colleagues who really frankly think that it's outrageous that she is running for president because --

BERMAN: Well, it didn't end well for her there.

LEE: It did not end well for her. And, look, the other thing is she obviously has never held public office. She tried to run for Senate in 2010, failed. So really does she bring the experience and does she have the gravitas be a top contender? We don't know yet.

BERMAN: All right, Mike Huckabee, he's jumping in tomorrow. He's holding his announcement in his hometown of Hope, Arkansas, which trivia buffs out there will also know is Bill Clinton's hometown. Now, Huckabee is interesting. Look, Huckabee ran in 2008 and he won in Iowa. He won seven states. This is a guy with a track record in Republican presidential politics. Yet he's been a talk show host now for a few years.

LEE: He hasn't run since 2008, you're totally right. And when he did run in 2008, as you mentioned, he won the Iowa caucuses, but he was not able to raise the money that he really needed to raise. He did not have sort of the national apparatus that is necessary to be a top contender.

But the thing he has going for him is that he has a very strong following among the Christian conservatives. So will that be enough to propel him to the top this time? He will have to raise a lot of money and he will have to build a strong operation.

BERMAN: He's also leads the field generally in likeability. The poll -- people, when you poll him, they say they actually like Mike Huckabee whether or not they agree with him. Whether or not he capitalize that over a few months will be interesting to see.

M.J. Lee, great to have you here with us on EARLY START.

LEE: Thank you.

BERMAN: Thanks so much.

We're going to get an EARLY START on Your Money next.

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[05:56:52] BERMAN: Time for an EARLY START on your money. Cristina Alesci here with that.

CRISTINA AELSCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: We are green, green. Futures are higher right now. That's after the Dow gained 183 points on Friday. That pop helped stem a loss for the week. Today, investors will be watching earnings from a host of companies, including Comcast and Tyson. But the real action will likely come later this week when economic releases will be spotting the tape.

Let's switch gears a bit. Floyd Mayweather wasn't the only winner on Saturday night. These wagers placed in Nevada reached up to $80 million. That's double any previous boxing match. The bets weren't just on who would win, but how many rounds the fight would go and whether there would be a knockout.

Here's another fun story. "Avengers: Age of Ultron", the big winner at the box office this weekend. But the sequel missed breaking the record for the largest box office opening set by the series' first film, "The Avengers". "Ultron" pulled in over $187 million, and a third movie is already in the works and expected to be released in 2018.

BERMAN: Big investment though, not cheap for them to make.

ALESCI: No. It was a good bet by Disney.

BERMAN: All right, Cristina Alesci, thanks so much.

Two gunmen killed after they opened fire at a contest to draw cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. We have breaking news out of Dallas when "NEW DAY" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to stop this right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two suspects have been shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Possibly have explosives on them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Quick shots. Police started running everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The keynote speaker at the event was placed on an al Qaeda hit list.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Demonstrations turn more into celebrations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The city's mayor lifting the week long 10:00 p.m. curfew.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Public servants should not violate the law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These officers did nothing wrong.

CARSON: I'm announcing my candidacy for president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 2016 race for the White House getting a little more crowded.

CARLY FIORINA, FMR CEO, HEWLETT-PACKARD: I bring a different perspective to the table.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to NEW DAY. It's Monday, May 4th, 6:00 in the East. Chris Cuomo is live in Baltimore with the latest developments in the Freddie Gray case, and Michaela Pereira is off today.

So we start with breaking news for you. Two men killed by police in a Dallas suburb after opening fire outside an event featuring cartoon drawings of the Prophet Muhammad and controversial speeches on Islam. Among the hundreds in attendance, the fiery director of a well known anti-Islam group and a Dutch politician who had been placed on an al Qaeda hit list. The FBI investigating this morning who were the shooters and what was their motive.

CNN has team coverage on this, beginning with CNN's Ed Lavandera on the scene for us in Garland, Texas. What do we know, Ed?

LAVANDERA: Good morning, Alisyn. Well, the event here last night was just starting to wrap up when police say two men drove up and started firing.

[06:00:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just need everybody to remain calm, be kind of orderly. I'm going to take you into the auditorium a little further away from the front of this building.