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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

New Information on Chattanooga Gunman; Terrorism Concerns Heightened; Aurora Theater Shooter Found Guilty on All Counts; Amazon's Prime Day. Aired 5:30-6p ET

Aired July 17, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:30:56] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning, new information on the gunman who murdered four marines in Chattanooga, Tennessee from his upbringing to time spent overseas.

Complete coverage on our big story of the morning begins right now.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans, 31 minutes passed the hour. John Berman has the morning off folks.

Our breaking news this morning.

FBI and ATF investigators in Chattanooga, Tennessee, they're working Thursday at shooting rampage. They are combing through two crime scenes.

One, where official say a 24-year-old Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, sprayed bullets at a military recruiting station.

The second crime scene, a naval insulation seven miles away where official say, he shot and killed four marines and injured at least three other people before being killed by officers.

Now, we have new details this morning on the shooting, new details developing overnight.

Law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation, told CNN, Abdulazeez was armed with an AK-47 style weapon. He was carrying 30 round clips.

One source tell CNN, the gunman was able to keep police at bay for, "sometime a heroine gunfight" "heroine gunfight" with the amount of ammunition he had. The federal investigation really just getting underway now.

CNN's Victor Blackwell is in Chattanooga. He has the latest for us.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine investigators at both scenes worked late into the night trying to collect the physical evidence. But of course the most difficult part of this investigation is answering that single question, why? Why 24-year-old Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez would first start out by peppering a military recruitment center with bullets injuring one, and then drives seven miles to a Naval Reserve Center and killed four marines. But after an interaction with police, Abdulazeez himself died.

Here's what we know about the investigation. The Feds have taken over. FBI, the ATF, leading this investigation. One special agent telling CNN that they have not determined yet if what happened here was an act of domestic or international terrorism or if it was just a criminal act. But they say that they will treat this as a terrorism investigation until it's determined that it is not.

Now, what do we know about Abdulazeez?

Well, he was born in Kuwait. He was a Jordanian citizen. But most recently, he was a naturalized U.S. citizen.

A former wrestling coach posed him humble and smart.

So as this investigation continues, Christine, they too would like an answer to the question, why?

Back to you.

ROMANS: Victor Blackwell, thank you for that in Chattanooga. High school classmates of Mohammad Abdulazeez stunned.

And they recalled him as popular, a good student who was well-liked and who fit in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was kind. He was funny. He always had a witty comment. He, you know, like to laugh. But he's really smart even though he was kind of like joke derby. He didn't let it affect his grades at all.

I distinctly remembered in the 6th grade, we took Bible History together and in middle school. And he is one of the highest grades in the class. He just -- he was a good guy. He just -- we wouldn't think that he would do something like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That classmate also remembers his yearbook quote. Get a look of this, "My name causes national secularity alerts. What does yours do?" She says it was typical of him. It was only a joke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's ironic, now morbidly so. But at that time, we didn't think anything of it. We thought it was just a joke, you know, stab it, you know, being named Mohammad Abdulazeez and living in his house, you know, that that's not something that is really going unnoticed.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: We also know now that Abdulazeez was an athlete. In addition to high school wrestling, he also competed in the local mixed martial arts circuit. After high school, he earned an engineering degree from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga.

We also know the gunman's family was religious, very religious. Friends of Abdulazeez say, the women in the family wore traditional Muslim garb.

And his mixed martial coach says, he was told Abdulazeez had to had move back -- he had moved back to the Middle East for a time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[05:35:05] ALMIR DIZDAREVIC, SHOOTER'S FORMER MIXED MARTIAL ARTS COACH: I know that he moved out of country about two year or two ago. He went back home and he stayed overseas.

And I asked his dad about where's Mohammad, I haven't seen him in a while and stuff, he said "he moved back home." But I saw him a couple of times when I visited.

Now, I'm not the one to speculate about what happened overseas in a certain different environments, I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where was he overseas and when was he...

DIZDAREVIC: You would have to ask his family about that. I mean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you say he went overseas for two years?

DIZDAREVIC: A year or two ago when he actually went back. I think after he graduate, you have to see yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Went back where?

DIZDAREVIC: At Jordan, Yemen I don't know. I'm not sure which one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Also we're learning that investigators are looking into a blog that seems to belong to Mohammad Abdulazeez.

Although CNN cannot independently confirm that's the case. The blog consist of just two religious fables, one that alludes to being rewarded in the afterlife for devotion. And another, the familiar story of The Blind Men and the Elephant used to make a point about those who has view of Islam as too narrow.

Thursday the attack heightening terrorism concerns around the country. Authorities say, they've no reason to believe there is any further danger connected to the Tennessee attack. But even so security is being tightened at sensitive locations in New York and federal facilities around the country.

For the very latest on the federal government response is Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine, President Obama vowed the FBI will conduct a poractant thorough investigation of the shootings down in Tennessee that left four Marines dead just as he returned from a trip to Oklahoma, the president rushed into the oval office for a statement of the country about the attack.

He said he received a briefing from FBI Director James Comey. At this point the president said it appears this was the work of a lone gunman. But that's too early to say what the motive was behind these shootings.

He added even a contact with the Pentagon to make sure all facilities run by the Defense Department are being vigilant as investigators sort out what happened. And the president express his sympathies to the families of the fallen Marines.

Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My main message right now is obviously the deepest sympathies of the American people to the four Marines that have been killed.

It is a heartbreaking circumstance for these individuals who served our country with great valor to be killed in this fashion. And, you know, although the families are still in the process of being contacted. I want them to know that I speak for the American people in expressing our deepest condolences and knowing that they have their full -- they have our full support as they try to overcome the grief that's involved here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The president express that because this was an attack on a military facility, he wants his administration to have all the information necessary to make an assessment about any motives.

In the meantime, he is asking the entire country to pray for the Marines and their families. Christine?

ROMANS: All right thank you so much for that Jim.

This morning investigators, is trying to figure out if the gunman have been radicalized and if this was a lone wolf terrorism.

We're breaking that down, live after the break.

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[05:41:56] ROMANS: This morning federal investigators are so firmly avoiding any comment on the gunman's -- the Chattanooga gunman's motive. But with Abdulazeez is dead -- Mohammad Abdulazeez is dead, that has to be the central question in this investigation. Joining us to talk about that, in other aspects of this troubling case, Will Geddes, Managing Director of International Corporate Protection. Thanks for rejoining us, Mr. Geddes.

First of all, what do you think investigators are looking at right away? They want to see if this guy was radicalized in the last couple of years or so, because when you talk to people who knew him, they use words like popular, well-adjusted, fit-in, normal Tennessee guy.

WILL GEDDES, SECURITY EXPERT: Yeah. Well, I think as we've said before, Christine, you know, this seems to be a fairly common theme and passion with a lot of these perpetuators.

That not really that easy to detect within their own local communities and are in all intents and purposes looking quite normal.

Having said that, obviously, one is got to look at what is motivating someone to carry out such a horrific on attack.

And it would certainly appear and why the authorities are saying that they're approaching this very much from a terrorist perspective rather than a criminal perspective, is that it was a criminal attack. And then potentially, it could have been on an acrimonious that would have been probably more likely just one target.

But it was too very specific target, both military. It was certainly pretty meditative by the fact that he'd had a vehicle, he'd a quite a weapon, and a considerable amounts of ammunition.

ROMANS: Yeah. A considerable amount of ammunition, you talked about that vehicle that he rented. It was a silver Mustang.

And he went from one location where he sprayed bullets to another where he killed four Marines.

And by all accounts, sources closely, investigation telling us he had quite a harrowing standoff with police down to the bitter end before he was shot and killed.

There was a DUI incident earlier this year. He had driving under influence arrest. He was due in court this month. What is that tell us about this suspect and what might even going on in his personal life?

GEDDES: Well, I didn't think we can necessarily put too much importance necessary or plays too much importance necessary on a DUI. Regrettably, a lot of people are certainly, you know, can't commit DUIs and that doesn't necessarily mean that they going to on and perpetrate an act like this.

I think where the investigators really or probably be focusing their attentions will be again how he went about sourcing overseas, the tools that he was going to use for these attacks, the vehicle, the weapon, the ammunition. They'll also be looking intrinsically at this visit overseas, which...

ROMANS: Right.

GEDDES: ... you know, his coach has mentioned that he undertook. And I think also they'll be looking as we've mentioned before in his distal footprint.

This is an individual that was very much what we would call a slipper by all intents and purposes. No one picks up on anything, nobody reported anything and then literally these attacks take place.

ROMANS: You know, I ask about the DUI now because, you know, it's some -- it shows potentially a some kind of breakdown in his personal life. It shows potentially something obviously dramatic going on in his life. He was due in court.

[05:45:00] And in other lone-wolf cases we have seen where break up with the girlfriend or getting kicked out of college or some sort of minor arrest.

It's something that has caused them to unravel. Will they look at that? I mean, you think of James Holmes, you know, and kicked out of his graduate program and problems with the girlfriend.

Dylan Roof, he'd had some arrest. These are lone-wolves with the different kinds of motives. But still they show an unraveling of their lives.

GEDDES: You know, you make a very good point, Christine. I think, yes, it's got to be uncertainly in all the instances you've mentioned already. There were number of contributing pause that brought about -- if you like this melt-down in the individual.

And again this is where the investigations will be looking at. They'll be looking at whether there was a persistent alcoholic problem with the individual or even substance abuse. They'll be looking at whether the perpetrator was normal in their social circle for recreationally taking substances.

And again whether, I know, even down to post-mortem on the perpetrator's body in the autopsy, they'll be looking to see whether there were any factors that were also playing a pause in motivating that individual that day.

ROMANS: You know, Will so much of the focus should be on the victims. Obviously, you know, these four families are grieving so badly today. But always in the first moments after a lone-wolf event like this which is what was looked -- this is being investigated as.

People look -- try to search for the why. It's just human nature to try to search for the why, so it doesn't happen again. But the list of these events just keeps pilling up.

GEDDES: Yeah, absolutely and this is typical cowardice in terrorism. You know, you have service men and women who have been out, who have been on tour, who've been in conflict zones, have come back to the domestic home. They should ideally be feeling safe within those environments. No doubts the authorities and certainly those military establishments will be looking at sudden recruitment officers, looking at the protection of those individuals. You know, we've seen recruitment stations being jolted before.

The U.S. services station in Time Square in New York for example, with the small IED back in 2008. So it's not to say that they can't be necessarily talked it again. But you need to equip these service personnel that even in a peaceful or what should be dimmed the peaceful environments, they have the ability to protect themselves from individuals like this.

ROMANS: Yeah, Will thank you so much for your insight this morning really, really helpful. And I know that a lot more informations will be coming out, to bring and get a better picture of just what happened here. And a better picture of the victims in the hours and days to come, thank you sir.

I want to take a look what's coming up on NEW DAY, Chris Cuomo, joined us now.

Hi, Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST, "NEW DAY": I'm listening to your conversion that we are going to follow up with answers that are coming in now. This is a difficult case to investigate because this shooter was not really on anybody's radar. What is that mean in terms of how they approach this? We'll have people who've been in the business of solving any types of cases.

Tell us the victims in this particular shooting create another sense of sensitivity for us. They are not armed, our fighting men and women, when they're in the recruitment centers part because of tradition part, because of the law.

We are going to talk to people about whether or not, sad to say is it time change that.

We're also going to have a big interview with Chris Christie. This is a very pivotal time for the New Jersey governor. Yes, the election is a long way off, Christine. But this is the time that he has to make some real moves and what does he think about Trump? What does he think about his chances of staying? And Alisyn Camerota gives him all the right questions.

ROMANS: Well, Trump is now -- people saying that Trump is the plain spoken, the plain talker, that was always Christie's -- Christie's advantage, so how is he going to react to that?

All right, Chris, thank you so much. We can't wait to watch that, thanks.

And we're following the latest on the Chattanooga shootings all morning long, but first, the gunman in the Colorado movie massacre. He has been found guilty.

What comes next for him after the break?

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[05:52:30] ROMANS: Guilty on all accounts.

Jurors in the trial of Colorado movie theater gunman James Holmes, rejecting his insanity defense, they'll now decide whether he gets life in prison or death in the trial sentencing phase.

We get more on the verdict now from CNN's Ana Cabrera. She is in Centennial, Colorado.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the jury of nine women and three men deliberated for about 12.5 hours before returning a guilty verdict, guilty on all 165 charges including first degree murder as well as attempted murder charges.

They did not buy the defense's claim that James Holmes was insane at the time he opened fire inside that packed movie theater almost three years ago, killing 12 people and wounding 70 others.

Now the jury sat through about 11.5 weeks of testimony they heard from 250 plus witnesses including dozens of victims, college professors as well as mental health experts. And they considered thousands of pieces of evidence before reaching this verdict. It was the moment the victims' loved ones and survivors have been waiting for, for years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM SULLIVAN, FATHER OF VICTIM ALEX SULLIVAN: As soon as you heard the first, you know, guilty, we knew, you know, the dominoes were all, you know, going to fall. That was just what we needed to hear.

SANDY PHILLIPS: We're very happy that this animal, this monster will never see the light of day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Now because Holmes was found guilty, this all moves into a sentencing phase which we're told could take about another month. The prosecution has said it will push for the death penalty.

Christine?

ROMANS: All right, Ana Cabrera, thank you for that.

You can't make an omelet without paying a lot more money by egg prices are soaring, next.

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[05:57:30] ROMANS: All right, let's get an EARLY START in your money this morning.

I want to bring in CNN Money Correspondent Alison Kosik. Alison, egg prices are soaring, if you can find eggs, egg prices are soaring.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: If you can find them, good point. And we are as you said seeing egg prices still climbing. Thanks to a bird flu outbreak last winter.

Prices spiked 85 percent from May to June. That's the biggest one month jump in the history.

And customers shouldn't expect relief anytime soon.

Demand will likely pick up in the fall while supply remains low at least 10 percent of bird laying eggs were destroyed because of the flu.

Is Amazon "Prime Day" the new Black Friday? Amazon says there were 18 percent more orders place Wednesday during Prime Day than on last years Black Friday which was the biggest ever.

The company also said it got more Primes. Subscribers would've failed than any other day in its 20 year history. But even at customers paddle up they also complained a lot on social media about the lackluster deals and the quick sell outs.

I love this one, tweet saying, it's not Black Friday in July its April Fools Day.

ROMANS: Yeah, they got a lot of grief online. But they are very happy its sounds like they're happy with their selves.

KOSIK: They are.

ROMANS: Now NASA got a record yesterday, I know you'll be watching it today.

KOSIK: Yes.

ROMANS: Thanks Alison.

And we also have new information on the gunman who murdered four Marines in Tennessee.

NEW DAY picks up that story right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are treating this as an act of domestic terrorism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harrowing stand off shootout.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just in the shot, one after another just unloading.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our nation mourns senses loss of four of our nation's heroes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We the jury find the defendant James Eagan Holmes guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My body shuttered, I just felt so much relief.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're very happy that this monster will never see the light of day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The soul survivor of a deadly plane crash, speaking out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a white and then it was all trees and it was all fire. I was just so positive that I was going to die.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's talk about your presidential run. Who do you consider your biggest rival?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think there is one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday July 17th, 6:00 in the East.

The FBI says it was domestic terrorism that took four Marines from their families and injured three others in Tennessee, a terrorist who wasn't on anyone's radar.

Authorities now, beefing up security at federal facilities, the fed is digging through clues to figure out why this happened.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: investigators focusing on his social media post and computers for possible terror toss (ph).

[06:00:03] And authorities are telling CNN, as Chris just said that he was not on their radar and that's what worries them the most.

We have the story covered with only CNN.

And let's begin with Boris Sanchez he is live in Chattanooga. What have you learned Boris?