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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Orlando Club Massacre: Stories of Survival; Shooter's Father, Ex-Wife Speak Out; Trump Renews Call for Ban on Muslims. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 14, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:32:02] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We went to the hospital, which thankfully --

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Stunning new stories of survival from the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, 49 dead, 53 injured. How the killer planned his attack, his online radicalization, and why he chose that particular gay club in Orlando. Patrons telling CNN they had seen him there before, many times.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman, live in Orlando.

We welcome our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. We are just a few blocks away from the Pulse nightclub where the investigation is still very much going on.

And there are breaking new details in that investigation, how the gunman planned and carried out his attack that killed 49 people and injured 53. Regular patrons of the Pulse nightclub tell CNN and the Orlando sentinel that they had seen the gunman there several times before, over a period of years. Now, it's unclear whether he was casing a target for years, maybe, that seems unlikely, or if he was there for personal reasons.

The people in Orlando are in deep mourning. There was a vigil, a very, very moving vigil overnight to honor the victims and the 49 people who died on everyone's mind as they should be this morning.

President Obama will be here in the city on Thursday to pay his respects to the victims' families and to stand in solidarity with this community.

The investigation is exposing new details of the attack, including new information on the shooter's planning, preparation and whereabouts in the hours before. Let's get the latest on this. I'm joined by CNN's Boris Sanchez.

Boris, what are you learning this morning?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, really, what we're getting is a clear picture that this was a calculated, premeditated attack. First up, we know that he bought these weapons that he used in the attack two weeks ago. It was a SIG Sauer AR-15 assault-style rifle. He also had with him a .9 millimeter Glock and a 38 caliber handgun in the car. It was discovered after all of this unfolded.

You mentioned, he had been to this club before, perhaps dozens of times before. For personal reasons or casing the place we don't know. But it's clear he knew the layout of the place.

That we heard from officials yesterday that he retreated when they initially went in with those additional officers to try and stop him. It is telling, because he knew where to go. He knew where to hide.

We're also hearing from a source that he was very, very familiar with jihadist propaganda. One official saying that he, quote, "consumed a hell of a lot" of it online, ISIS beheading videos and that sort of thing.

So, you see where the influence is coming from. You see he was very familiar with what he was doing. We also know that he had prior firearms training, some with these specific weapons that he used.

So, this is, as we get this picture, we're realizing that this was something that he had in mind perhaps for some time.

[04:35:01] We also know from survivors that his demeanor during the attack was unsettling. Listen to what they said. Yes.

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ORLANDO NIGHTCLUB SURVIVOR: I know friends that actually, their bodies were dead as well. It's just a senseless act of violence. A true face of evil.

ORLANDO NIGHTCLUB SURVIVOR: We were in a stall. I was in a stall, the handicap part. So you have the first part of the bathroom, which is the entrance, and the urinals, the sink, and then you have the big handicap, and that's where I was at. Then we started hearing pop, pop, pop, pop. And me and my best friend went inside the stall.

ORLANDO NIGHTCLUB SURVIVOR: Once he shot him, he laughed.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The gunman laughed?

ORLANDO NIGHTCLUB SURVIVOR: Yes. And that's something that's imprinted in my head for the rest of my life. I've literally been in the hospital for two days trying to sleep. And one of the first things I hear when I close my eyes, guns, bullets hitting the floor and just that laugh. It's like a villain in a movie.

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SANCHEZ: So it's not just the influences that we're learning about. We're learning about the planning and his demeanor. All of this says that this wasn't some spur-of-the-moment thing. This was calculated and obviously brutal.

BERMAN: And also, this word out, in the hours before he came here to carry out this attack, he was at Disney or at Disney Springs.

SANCHEZ: Right. It's known as Disney Springs. It's a place where I'm familiar with. I went there many times when I was young with my family. It's a place that's essentially marketed to families -- restaurants, concert venues, places where families can go and have a good time.

He was there according to officials on Saturday night, just hours before the attack. They figured that out using cell phone tower data, and they were able to figure out that he was there likely alone. And the next step in this is trying to communicate to people who were there at the time that may have seen him to figure out what his demeanor was like and perhaps get a clearer picture of his mental state before all of this happened.

BERMAN: Still a huge investigation right now. They're following a whole bunch of leads.

All right. Boris Sanchez, thanks for being here. Appreciate it.

The killer's family members are cooperating with the investigation. They are offering information about his actions in the days and weeks before the attack. And we're learning more about the claims that he had visited Pulse many times. Some patrons tell CNN that he had been coming here for as long as three years before the massacre, as often as a couple of times a month.

New details also about the gunman's radicalization. Some information came from the Oval Office Monday as the president said it was his belief based on the evidence that the attack was home-grown terrorism. He said there's no evidence that a foreign terror group had directed the gunman's actions. But one official tell CNN, as you heard Boris say, that the gunman consumed, quote, "a hell of a lot of jihadist propaganda online".

Let's get more now on this investigation with CNN's Pam Brown -- Pamela Brown.

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John and Christine.

We've learned that investigators have been talking with the wife of the gunman, and she has been giving helpful insight into where the gunman visited. The places he went to prior to the attack, and investigators are using that information to piece together a timeline of his movements, leading up to that mass shooting. According to "The Orlando Sentinel", four patrons who were regular at

this club said that they had recognized him and that he had gone multiple times prior to that shooting. So investigators are trying to figure out whether he was doing operational, preoperational surveillance or if there was another reason why he was at that club.

According to the FBI director, James Comey, he had been consuming propaganda online from terrorist groups, and that is in part why he was radicalized. In fact, my sources tell me that he was taking in a lot of ISIS propaganda, including propaganda from other terrorist groups.

Back in 2013, the FBI looked into him based on some comments he made to co-workers that he had associations with Hezbollah, and his family was associated with al Qaeda. At the time, the FBI looked into it and interviewed him twice, and he said he did make those comments but he did it because he was being taunted by his co-workers for being Muslim.

Ultimately, the FBI closed that investigation. He was taken off a watch list at that time the FBI interviewed him again the next year. But he was not the subject of that investigation and found that he didn't have any terrorist ties then. Still a lot to learn, more than 100 leads have been looked so far, and the investigation still very active -- John and Christine.

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BERMAN: All right. Pamela Brown, thanks so much.

Now, not only have Pulse regulars told CNN and other media outlets that the killer visited Pulse several times before. Several witnesses also say they chatted with the killer on gay dating apps like Grindr and Jack'd. So, an obvious question to those who knew this man, was he gay or was he leading a secret gay life?

CNN's Erin Burnett asked that question to his ex-wife.

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[04:40:02] SITORA YUSUFIY, EX-WIFE OF ORLANDO SHOOTER: He very much enjoyed going to clubs and the nightlife, and there were a lot of pictures of him. So, you know, I feel like it's a side of him or a part of him that he lived, but probably didn't want everybody to know about.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think he was gay?

YUSUFIY: I don't know. He never personally, or, you know, physically made any indication while we were together.

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BERMAN: All right. The killer's father is condemning what he calls his son's act of terror. Seddique Mateen told CNN's Don Lemon that he never saw any signs that his son was radicalized or a terrorist, nor that he had any mental health problems. The father says his religion does not approve homosexuality but he claims he himself does not condone discrimination and believes it is for God to judge.

Seddique Mateen told Don Lemon he will never forgive his son.

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SEDDIQUE MATEEN, ORLANDO GUNMAN'S FATHER: I was sad and I was upset. And I am, I am really speechless what he did. And I don't forgive him as a father.

Those -- 50 people are my family, the 52 people got injured, they are my family. And I care for them. I am very sad for them. They lost their loved ones, beside I lost him.

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BERMAN: All right. Joining me right now to discuss the investigation, Cedric Alexander, CNN law enforcement analyst and public safety director for DeKalb County in Georgia.

Cedric, thanks so much for being here.

One of these key pieces of information we're learning overnight is that this killer, he visited this club, he was at this club, came for three years, maybe a couple times a month, we don't know why.

That seems like an awful long time, and an awfully high number of visits if he was just casing the joint, if he was doing advance work. For three years? That seems hard to believe.

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, that's quite unusual to be quite honest with you. I've been in law enforcement for a very long time, and to case a place for that length of period of time is rather unusual. He may have been struggling with some of his own sexuality, and in his particular culture, if you will, and his religion that opposes a gay life, he may have been some struggle for him, but who knows.

I think over the course of the investigation we're going to learn more about Mr. Mateen and his associations and affiliations as well. But it certainly does create a great deal of pause when you think about it.

BERMAN: You know, CNN and other outlets reporting that there are people saying that they had been in contact with him or seen him on gay dating apps as well.

I want to talk a little bit about the investigation and the police action. I know this is close to home for you. You're from central Florida and you worked in this county before.

ALEXANDER: Right.

BERMAN: You know, there are a lot of questions about how police responded right now to this. It was a three-hour engagement from when they first arrived to when they busted down that door. Now, we are hearing new information about what was going on inside with this gunman in the bathroom, people cowering in terror in the bathroom. Do you think, what will be learned from how police handled this here?

ALEXANDER: It's still very early in the investigation. It is very, very early. And this is a huge crime scene. And the police response, no matter how you look at it at the end of the day, John, they saved a lot of lives. And if they could have gotten out in front of this, they would have, but unfortunately, none of us were able to get out in front of it.

But I think in all fairness to the local police in this community and I mean total fairness, we cannot forget the fact that they responded to a call, they acted immediately upon it. And we don't know what all they confronted once they got inside of that venue.

But I suspect that they did everything that they could to communicate and to save lives and unfortunately, people lost their lives.

BERMAN: We do know that they had every reason to believe, and they were told, at least they tell us that he was wearing some type of explosive vest, a suicide vest. And if that was the case it complicates whatever you do.

ALEXANDER: It complicates the situation, and I was armored with high- powered weaponry. And so, your local police here, both the sheriff's office, police department, other agencies, they have to credit them for doing a fantastic job under these situation that was put in front of them. And we all would have liked to been able to save more lives.

But unfortunately, Mr. Mateen had some plan. He had been thoughtful about it. He was methodical about it, but we have to be very thankful every day that local law enforcement was able to intervene or more lives certainly would have been lost.

BERMAN: We have about 20 seconds left. What's the one question that you have outstanding right now that you want answered?

ALEXANDER: I want to know what was his affiliation.

[04:45:02] Had he been radicalized through social media? Was it a direction from ISIL in and of itself. But regardless of what the answer to that question is, a lot of people lost their lives here.

And very importantly, as Americans in this country, we have to continue every day to carry out our freedoms. We cannot allow ourselves to be crippled by this. We have to stand together, stand with LGBT community and continue to be great Americans as we all are.

BERMAN: Every day, we have to remember the people who lost their lives in there and keep them in our minds and our hearts. And I hope that happens here as well.

Cedric Alexander, thanks so much for being with us.

ALEXANDER: Thank you. BERMAN: All right. What happened in Orlando is dominating the race

for president. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, they gave big speeches, discussing what happened here, talking about how they would approach it going forward. That's next.

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[04:50:06] ROMANS: Donald Trump is renewing his call for a ban on all Muslim immigrants in the wake of the Orlando terrorist attack. Trump claims the, quote, "politically correct responses from President Obama and Hillary Clinton are crippling the nation's ability to think and act clearly.

In a fiery and sometimes incorrect speech, the GOP's presumptive nominee warned there'll be nothing left of America if, as he says, we don't get smart fast.

More now from CNN's Sara Murray. She's in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

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SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, John and Christine.

Well, yesterday, Hillary Clinton said it was not a day for politics, but Donald Trump had something different in mind as he showed up here in Manchester, New Hampshire to deliver a foreign policy address, he laid into not only President Obama but also Hillary Clinton.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She's in total denial. Hillary supports policies that bring the threat of radical Islam into America and allow it to grow overseas.

MURRAY: Now, Donald Trump said that an influx of immigrants under Hillary Clinton would present a danger to the U.S. He renewed his call to ban Muslims from coming here to U.S.

Now, it's an interesting policy proposal for Trump to be seizing. It's one he carried over from the primaries. But it's coming at a time when the shooter in the Orlando massacre is actually an American citizen. He was born in New York, however, he was born to parents who are from Afghanistan.

Donald Trump at one point seems to try to point that out, stumbling over his words and suggesting that the shooter was, in fact, from Afghanistan as well, something that is not the case. But all trying to build into the Trump narrative if you let immigrants in the U.S., they only become radicalize, but they also radicalize their children.

Back to you, guys.

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ROMANS: All right. Sara for us this morning.

Hillary Clinton is slamming Donald Trump for his anti-Muslim rhetoric, and she wants to know how someone being tracked by the FBI can walk into a store and buy a gun.

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HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Now, I believe weapons of war have no place on our streets.

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And we may have our disagreements about gun safety regulations, but we should all be able to agree on a few essential things. If the FBI is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you shouldn't be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked.

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ROMANS: Now, Donald Trump says she wants to abolish the Second Amendment. She says she wants smart, new gun control.

Clinton is also promising to put together a team to track lone wolf terrorists if she wins the White House.

All right. Support for the Orlando victims coming from across the country to the world. The emotional scenes, we'll bring those to you next.

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[04:57:09] BERMAN: Thousands of mourners gathered right here in downtown Orlando last night to pay tribute to the victims of the terror attack here. Lot of people in the crowd said they felt compelled to be there because of the role that the Pulse night club played in their lives. Others, others there say they just needed a hug, a shoulder to cry on, just to be around people.

Here's Jessica Schneider.

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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this park filled up with mourners tonight. It also filled up with raw emotions. And the emotions ranged from everything from people sobbing on people's shoulders to also people pledging to stay strong and to keep the love in the city despite that act of terrorism.

In fact, dozens of employees at the Pulse nightclub went up on stage. And one of them even said this, he said, "We love you. We are here for you and we are 100 percent behind you. We are not leaving. We are here to stay. We will not be defeated."

So, just an outpouring of grief as the city comes to grips with that death toll of 49, 53 injured. And this morning, there will be a press conference at the hospital. We will hear from surgeons. We'll also hear survivor stories. But overall, people in this city, pledging to stay strong.

Back to you. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right, Jessica, thanks so much.

The city coming together, really the entire world coming to the. Tributes pouring in for the victims of the shooting here at the nightclub right behind me.

I want to show you pictures right now. Thousands of people jamming the streets around the Stonewall Inn in New York's Greenwich Village, the birthplace of gay rights activism in 1969.

Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo called for Congress to pass stricter gun control laws.

There's also a tribute at Philadelphia city hall last night. About 2,000 in Philadelphia including the mayor came out to honor victims.

Hundreds turned out from an Orlando Strong candlelight vigil in San Diego last night. The mayor told mourners, "We are all Orlando tonight".

Overseas, thousands of Londoners observed a moment of silence outside a pub that was hit in a anti-gay nail bombing in 1999. And in Paris, the Eiffel Tower lit in the LGBT rainbow flag to remember the victims here.

EARLY START continues right now.

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ROMANS: New investigations into the Orlando gay club massacre, 49 people killed, 53 injured. New stories of survival, as we learn new information about the killer from his online radicalization to why he targeted that particular club. Patrons telling CNN they had seen him in that club many times before.