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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Alligator Snatches Boy At Disney Resort; Orlando Gunman's Wife Says He Spoke of Jihad; New Details On Shooter's Personal Life; Orlando Clubgoers' Stories Of Survival; Obama And Clinton Slam Trump's Anti-Muslim Rhetoric; Trump Lashes Out At Clinton And Obama Calling Democratic Rivals "Weak And Ineffective" On Terrorism. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired June 15, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:31:00] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Our breaking news this morning, an alligator attacks a 2-year-old boy, drags him into the water at a popular Disney resort. An intense search happening right now. We are live.

Did the Orlando club killer's wife know anything about his plan? What she told the FBI, as his ex-wife reveals new details about what she calls the gunman's secret double life.

Welcome back to EARLY START this morning. I'm Christine Romans in New York.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman, live in Orlando this morning. We have breaking news happening not far from here at Walt Disney World. A 2-year-old boy was attacked by an alligator, dragged into the water. The parents tried to stop this all from happening but to no avail, and that child is still missing.

They've been searching for hours at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort right now. You can see these pictures of this search which is so difficult in the dark in these overnight hours.

CNN's Martin Savidge joins us now live with the latest -- Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, the crews have been working all night long. The sheriff says that at one point he had as many as 50 different officers that were either on the water on the water's edge. On top of that, they've been using all kinds of technology, from helicopters using those sun gun bright lights to try to illuminate the search scene.

They've also had firefighters on the water's edge using infrared cameras. They're using sonar to try to search below the water. They do have a dive team standing by. Whether that team has gone into the water, it's still a potentially dangerous situation. They've also brought in an alligator trapper.

Anything that can be done is being done as they try to recover this 2- year-old child. But you have to say that after so much time and the way that this child was taken by the alligator, according to witnesses, snatched off the shore even though the child was only standing in maybe a few inches of water, the prognosis is not looking good.

The sheriff has said in his 35 years never has he seen anything like that in this kind of a place and the longer it goes on, the more dim the hopes are. We expect to get an update in just a short while, and daylight will do a lot to help this recovery effort move forward -- John.

BERMAN: It will be light in a just a few minutes, Martin. They'll be able to get that search underway with even greater force. Martin Savidge for us not far from Disney World, where that search goes on this morning. Thanks, Martin.

We do have more breaking news at this hour. I'm standing outside the Orlando Regional Medical Center right now. This is where 27 patients still remain under care. They were injured in the attack at the Pulse nightclub, not far from here. Six patients, behind me right now, are still in critical condition.

That, as we are getting new details in the investigation into the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Three nights ago the gunman murdered 49 people and injured 53 others inside the Pulse nightclub. Now officials this morning are focused on whether anyone else knew about this planned attack.

A law enforcement official tells CNN that the shooter had told his wife he wanted to carry out a Jihadist attack. The wife also told authorities that she and her husband visited the Pulse nightclub and Disney Springs earlier this month. Now, investigators think these visits were to case the locations as possible targets.

The wife told the FBI she tried to talk her husband out of doing anything violent and she says she did not know about his specific plan to attack the nightclub. CNN asked the gunman's father whether he thought his son's wife might have been involved.

[05:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we just ask one question related to news that's broken? It is that Noor Salman is cooperating and that she has told police -- the FBI -- that she personally went on a trip to Orlando and brought your son to that club.

SEDDIQUE MATEEN, ORLANDO GUNMAN'S FATHER: I don't know anything. I wait until they talk to her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you fear she could be charged with a crime?

MATEEN: I don't know. I can't say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think that your daughter in law here helped your son commit this crime? MATEEN: I don't think so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is she an accomplice?

MATEEN: I -- I -- we'll wait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The FBI says it does not believe that the wife was a co- conspirator in this but investigators are looking into whether she knew about his plans and failed to call police. Knowledge of a crime and not reporting, is in of itself, a crime.

There's also information this morning about the gunman's personal life. Investigators are looking at reports that he visited gay chat rooms, used gay hook-up apps, and actually patronized the very club that he ended up attacking. His ex-wife has revealed new details about their relationship to CNN.

With me now with the latest on that and all aspects of the investigation this morning, CNN's Nick Valencia. Good morning, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Just who was Omar Mateen, the man responsible for the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history? There are claims this morning that Mateen was gay. The FBI says that they are interviewing people who claim that they met Mateen online on gay hook-up apps. This, as his ex-wife tells CNN that she would not be surprised if her ex-husband was leading a double life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SITORA YUSUFIY, EX-WIFE OF ORLANDO SHOOTER: He did have a different side of him that he could not open up to his father about. The fact that he liked to go to nightclubs. The fact that he loved to drink. These were not things that were welcome in his family structure at all, and especially any indication of homosexuality.

In the Islam religion homosexuality is not that tolerated. And especially when somebody's a political figure as prominent as his father was, it is especially really looked down upon and disgraced and could shame the entire family.

It doesn't surprise me that he might be gay. I mean, it doesn't surprise me that he was leading two totally different lives and was in such deep conflict within himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Investigators are looking into those claims. They are also pouring over items that they seized from the home. Things like laptops, cell phones -- other electronics that could hopefully glean more information about Mateen's life.

They're also focusing in on his widow. Just what did she know? When did she know it? She told investigators that she knew her husband wanted to carry out Jihadist-style attacks but she denies knowing the specifics, especially the specifics here about wanting to carry out an attack at the Pulse nightclub. She is cooperating with authorities.

There's also information this morning, John, that this may be been in the works for weeks. He was casing out the Pulse nightclub as well as other locations around Orlando -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Nick Valencia for us here in Orlando. Thanks a lot, Nick.

A lot to discuss right now. I'm joined by Cedric Leighton. Cedric's a military analyst and also been involved in investigations for the military in the past. Thanks so much, Cedric, for being with us.

Colonel, you know we heard right there from Nick that investigators are looking into the wife right now. How much did she know? She says she knew the husband wanted to carry out Jihadist attacks but did not have specific knowledge of the attacks that took place. Finding out how much she knew, that will be crucial, yes?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST, FORMER MEMBER, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: That's absolutely right, John, and what really is important here is not only how much she knew, did she know of the intentions. And also, when she knew it. It's one thing to know something months in advance. It's quite another thing to know something a few minutes before it actually happens.

So those are the kinds of things that the FBI and other law enforcement officials are going to be asking her and others that are associated with the Mateen family. This is going to be a very crucial case because it really points to the fact that the FBI has a lot on its plate. It shows how much data the FBI really has to sift through between those things that are important and those things that are trivial.

And it's really the challenge of finding out who's going to be committing a crime and who is actually just full of talk and no action, and that's going to be the critical piece here. What the procedures were and when those procedures were actually implemented, as far as the FBI is concerned.

BERMAN: Yes, indeed. Don't forget, the FBI spoke to this man twice in 2013, once in 2014. They could not establish that there was any imminent danger of this man doing anything and he, in fact, came off the FBI watch list at that point.

[05:40:00] Cedric, we're also learning new information about what took place inside the nightclub during those just absolutely horrific three hours. The fact that this man, among other things, seemed to be obsessed with shooting dead bodies. That's just diabolical and barbaric, but something we did see, by the way, in Paris in the Bataclan attack and other places there.

We're also learning about some of the things she shouted. Witnesses say he was doing this to stop the United States from bombing his country. Presumably, he was talking about Afghanistan, where his parents are from. Perhaps that gives some sense of at least part of the motivation.

LEIGHTON: It could point to the motivation, that's right, John. One of the key things that's interesting about this, from a purely analytical standpoint, is the fact that Omar Mateen seems to have had a really mixed up understanding of what organizations he was affiliated with.

If the types of assertions that were given to his co-workers are to be believed, and if those co-workers' testimonies are to be believed, he pointed to the fact that he was a member of Hezbollah -- was affiliated with Hezbollah. He was affiliated at one point with al Qaeda and then with ISIS, which of course he mentioned in the 911 call that he made during the attack.

Those are three very different organizations and they have different adherence, they have different philosophies. And the fact that he brought all of that out really shows that he was more interested in the actual act of committing violence than really finding an underpinning for that violence.

And the barbarity that you mentioned about him shooting at the dead bodies, that is something that not only was done in Paris, but is also perpetrated by ISIS and other terror groups in the Middle Eastern region and in Afghanistan, as well, but particularly ISIS.

So it seems as if he was radicalized in so many levels, not only from a philosophical standpoint, but also from the actual act, itself. He clearly viewed the propaganda machine that was out there and used the ISIS propaganda, in particular, as a means to an end in this case.

BERMAN: And don't forget, investigators are telling CNN that he consumed what they call "a hell of a lot" of Jihadist propaganda online. And so much different information coming in about this man and what, perhaps, drove him. In the end all that we need to know, in some cases, is that he was a terrorist and carried an extraordinary act of hate and left so many victims in his wake. Cedric Leighton, thanks so much for being with us.

LEIGHTON: You bet, absolutely.

BERMAN: All right, Christine, back to you in New York. I spent so much time over the last day talking to some survivors.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: Talking to so many people who had friends inside, and it's just remarkable to go places and talk to a survivor. Samuel Maldonado, who I spoke to -- he survived and his husband survived also, and he hasn't slept since the event Saturday night.

On the one hand, he's so grateful that he's OK and his husband is, and at the end just before I was saying goodbye to him I said did you know people who did not survive? And he then proceeded to just list names. He started naming people and he went on and he just didn't stop. And after 10, I said please stop, I understand. He lost a huge percentage of his friends and the people he was close to. This community here is still just rocked.

ROMANS: Grieving, and at the same time you hear gratitude from some of these survivors who are thanking hospital workers and thanking other clubgoers for their help getting out of the venue. The gratitude is what has really moved me, as well. All right, John, thank you for that.

We're going to continue on our coverage of the massacre in Orlando. Why it's dominating the presidential race. President Obama and Hillary Clinton saying Donald Trump is out to destroy American values. Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, also denouncing Trump's immigration proposals. Trump firing back, next.

[05:44:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:48:15] ROMANS: An intense search underway right now at a Disney World hotel to find the 2-year-old boy dragged into a lagoon by an alligator. Now, police say it is unlikely they will find that child alive. A family of four visiting from Nebraska.

It has been an unimaginable few days in Orlando. First, Christina Grimmie, a popular singer from the NBC talent show "THE VOICE" -- she was gunned down after her concert Friday night. She died a few hours later.

We've just learned that Sunday's nightclub shooter scouted a Disney venue ahead of his attack on the club. Police say the shooter visited the Disney entertainment and shopping complex known as Disney Springs. That was at the beginning of June during this year's "Gay Days" celebration.

So what does this mean for tourism in the area? Well, more than 63 million people visited Orlando in 2014, making it the most visited destination in the country. Fifty-two million visit the Disney World complex each year. Disney operates four theme parts and 27 resort hotels in Orlando. All this is happening just a Disney gets ready to open its highly anticipated Shanghai location half a world away, tomorrow.

All right, a political firestorm in the wake of the Orlando nightclub massacre. Donald Trump accusing President Obama and Hillary Clinton of being weak and ineffective in the fight against terrorism. The presumptive Republican nominee even insinuating the president is somehow sympathetic to Islamic extremists, as he renews his call for a ban on Muslim immigrants.

The president reacting by calling Trump dangerous, with Clinton accusing her Republican rival of trying to destroy American values. Even Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, saying that the presumptive nominee's Muslim ban is not the religious test we should have in this country, but a security test would be better.

CNN politics reporter, Eugene Scott, live from Washington this morning. Good morning again, Eugene. EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning.

ROMANS: I want to listen to a little piece of sound from Hillary Clinton, speaking in Pittsburgh yesterday -- listen.

[05:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Donald's words are especially nonsensical because the terrorist who carried out this attack wasn't born in Afghanistan, as Donald Trump said yesterday. He was born in Queens, New York, just like Donald was, himself. So, Muslim bans and immigration reforms would not have stopped him. They would not have saved a single life in Orlando.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Remarkable, really, the response yesterday. The president, Hillary Clinton, even Paul Ryan speaking yesterday that a religious test, a religious ban, not appropriate here.

SCOTT: Yes, very much so. Voters on both sides of the aisle are really looking for solutions to this issue. I think this incident in Orlando just really deeply affected everyone on various sides of the political spectrum. And everyone, I think, involved at that level knows -- at the top political level -- knows that the best way to approach the situation and to find solutions is to address the facts.

And so, there's going to be a lot of fact-checking when you have political candidates pushing back on ideas or promoting ideas that actually aren't accurate. And we saw that, not just with Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama, but also with Paul Ryan.

ROMANS: Interesting that -- I want to look at the Bloomberg poll -- general election Bloomberg poll that just came out, too -- brand new polling late yesterday. Support for the president and Hillary Clinton, 49 percent. Donald Trump, 37 percent. Gary Johnson -- that's the Libertarian candidate -- nine percent. This is from June 10th through the 13th.

Give me a sense here about how Donald Trump is trying to retake the top of the polls, at least, here? How he tried to retake momentum with this terror attack in Orlando? I mean, it really plays to his strengths, politically speaking at least. You know, plays to his strengths. He wants to appear strong and decisive about terrorism coming home.

SCOTT: Very much so. As much criticism as he has received from both sides of the aisle for this Muslim ban, that's an issue that resonates very well with his base and his supporters. And so it's not a surprise that he's leaned in on that again and was first and eager to jump out addressing this issue, or attributing it to terrorism before all the facts were out.

The challenge with that, even though that has worked well for him in the past and that's what his supporters like to hear, that's just not true right now, at least the specific fact regarding that the shooter was an immigrant. We now know that that is not true. And so he's going to have to find a way to stay on message but for it to be factual because if he does not he's going to continually be called out, not just by Hillary Clinton and the president, but by Republican leaders in his party, as well.

ROMANS: This is interesting reporting, though, that the shooter talked about the United States bombing "my country". That plays into Donald Trump's worldview here that this person was an American citizen but didn't relate to or wasn't really American.

SCOTT: Yes, this is not a new approach by Donald Trump. We've seen for years. I mean, one of the main attacks that he had against President Barack Obama was that he was not American in a traditional sense, or as American as other Americans were.

That's going to be deeply problematic moving forward as Hillary Clinton seeks to reach to immigrants. Reach out to people who have a higher view of diversity and embrace American values as a place for other people to come in.

ROMANS: All right, Eugene, nice to see you this morning.

SCOTT: You, too.

ROMANS: Thank you for getting up early for us. Interesting perspective.

SCOTT: Thank you.

ROMANS: Thanks a lot. All right, horror at Disney World. A toddler dragged into a lagoon by an alligator as his parents are standing right there. "NEW DAY" picks up the story next.

[05:54:15]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:58:20]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. We are live, again, from Orlando for you. We do have the latest on the terror attack investigation at the gay nightclub behind us. Also, whether the killer was targeting Disney World at one point. We also want to talk about what the killer's wife knew about his plans.

But, we begin with another tragedy that is unfolding here in this city at this hour.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: This is just a horrible story. There was a family on vacation at a Disney World resort. Their toddler's playing in a lagoon and the baby gets attacked by an alligator. The father winds up having to go into the water, taking on the alligator. All these people looking on, and now a search for this toddler. Just unimaginable grief in Orlando to begin with, now this.

Let's get right to Boris Sanchez, live near the Disney resort with details. Boris, what do we know about the search?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Chris. Right now officials are really just hoping for a miracle. They tell us that every moment that passes, it's less and less likely that they'll find the 2-year-old alive. It's been so many hours now that this search has been ongoing. And really this is just horrifying for this family. They're on vacation in the happiest place on earth and now they're dealing with this brutal, brutal tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: A desperate search underway at a luxury Disney resort near Orlando, by air and in the water, for a 2-year-old boy snatched and dragged away by an alligator at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort. The toddler was wading near the shore of the manmade lake with his family nearby.

CHAD WEBER, OFFICER, FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE: We're putting every effort into locating the child and trapping this alligator.