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Who Was the Chattanooga Gunman?; Motive Unknown in Chattanooga Shootings; Security Stepped Up at Federal Facilities; Movie Theater Gunman Found Guilty of Murder. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired July 17, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

[05:58:58] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A harrowing standoff shootout.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was one shot after another. Just unloading.

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

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My body shuddered. I just felt so much relief. We're very happy that this monster will never see the light of day.

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

AUTUMN VEATCH, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: It was light. And then it was all trees, and then it was all fire. I was just so positive I was going to die.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about your presidential run. Who do you consider your biggest rival?

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think there is one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, July 17, 6 a.m. 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 feds digging through clues to figure out why this happened. CAMEROTA: Investigators focusing on his social media posts and

computers for possible terror ties, and authorities telling CNN, as Chris just said, that he was not on their radar, and that's what worries them the most.

We have this story covered the way only CNN can. Let's begin with Boris Sanchez. He is live in Chattanooga. What have you learned for us?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

What you just mentioned, the most striking detail in this case, this shooter not on any terror watch list or database. His friends called him an all-American guy, an athlete, someone who is an engineering student, not someone with a clear motive to do something so extreme.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL KILLIAN, U.S. ATTORNEY: As far as we know, at this juncture, there are no safety concerns for the general public.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): In a press conference overnight, the Department of Justice and FBI reassuring the public they believe 24- year-old Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez acted alone in his shooting rampage Thursday morning. Abdulazeez carrying out the deadly attack on the final day of Ramadan, who officials are still investigating his possible motive.

ED REINHOLD, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: At this point, we don't have anything that directly ties him to an international terrorist organization.

SANCHEZ: Targeting U.S. military personnel, Abdulazeez first headed towards Chattanooga, Tennessee's military recruitment center, driving by and shooting out the window.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was one shot, and then it was just endless shots, one after another, just unloading.

SANCHEZ: Then the gunman headed seven miles away to a Navy operational support center, where he rammed into the front gate. According to law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation, it was a harrowing gunfight, because Abdulazeez had so much ammunition. Another source says he was strapped with several weapons, including an AK-47-style gun and packed 30-round magazines. In the end, he killed four Marines and wounded three others before police shot and killed him.

SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: Our nation mourns the loss, the senseless loss of four of our nation's heroes.

SANCHEZ: Asking her face be blurred for her safety, an unidentified relative of the gunman tells affiliate KPRC the family can't even process what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were shocked like everybody else in this nation.

SANCHEZ: Abdulazeez is described as a devoted Muslim and a trained mixed martial artist. You can see him here fighting in a video from 2009.

ALMIR DIZDAREVIC, KNEW GUNMAN: Every time he talked to me, shook my hand. He was smiling. He was courteous. He was polite, never raised his voice.

SANCHEZ: A friend and former MMA coach saw the shooter about a month ago. He says Abdulazeez recently traveled to either Jordan or Yemen for a period of time in the past two years. He was supposedly teaching children wrestling.

DIZDAREVIC: And I asked his dad about it, "Where's Mohammad?" I hadn't seen him in a while. And he said he moved back home. But I saw him a couple of times when he visited.

SANCHEZ: This as Abdulazeez's high school yearbook photo surfaces along with a quote, now laden with the heavy weight of his actions: "My name causes national security alerts. What does yours do?"

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: One friend described him, again, as a devout Muslim, not an overly religious one. Investigators will look at whether or not that may have changed in the past few months. As for that yearbook quote, one friend says he was joking -- Chris.

CUOMO: Thank you for that part of the story.

A terrorism task force led by the FBI now investigating this gunman for more on what authorities know and which directions they're going. We have CNN justice correspondent Pamela Brown with that. Pamela, what do we know so far?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, at this point, it's being treated as a terrorism investigation by the FBI. Authorities are still trying to determine an exact motive, what caused a 24-year-old Mohammad Abdulazeez to open fire at these two military facilities?

Here's what we know. He's 24 years old. He lived in the area. In fact, he was a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, graduated in 2012 with a degree in engineering.

He's not on any U.S. databases, any U.S. terrorist databases. He wasn't on the FBI's radar, we're being told by officials. In fact, the only run-in with the law that we're aware of was a DUI arrest back in April.

Now, we've learned that he was born in Kuwait. He's a Jordanian citizen. In fact, a wrestling coach we spoke with, who has known Mohammad Abdulazeez since he was a teenager, said that he traveled to the Middle East a couple of years ago. He wasn't exactly sure where, but he said it was either Jordan or Yemen. Again, he entered the United States with a Jordanian passport.

Also, on his yearbook, we have this quote that says, "My name causes national security alerts. What does yours do?"

Not only this, but we have found a blog that he wrote very recently. In his blog, he talks about his Muslim faith, religious teachings. He says here -- this is just part of what he says in the blog just days before the shooting: "Don't be fooled by your desires. This life is short and bitter. And the opportunity to submit to Allah may pass you by. Take his word as your light and code, and do not let other prisoners, whether they are so-called scholars or even your family members, to divert you to the truth."

[06:05:06] But important to note here, as far as we can see, there is nothing violent or indicating violence in the blog. The FBI is investigating this, trying to verify whether or not this blog did, indeed, belong to him.

But I can tell you that this is exactly what authorities have been worried about. Someone who wasn't on their radar launching what is a relatively unsophisticated attack here.

Back to you.

CAMEROTA: That is the most -- one of the most troubling elements of the investigation. Pamela, thanks so much.

Officials stepping up security now at federal facilities across the country. Very little released at this point about the four U.S. Marines killed.

CNN's senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns is live in Washington with more. But we just have learned one or two details. Tell us, John [SIC].

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, starting at the top, this case continues to be treated in Washington as an act of terror until terrorism is ruled out. The Department of Homeland Security says it is enhancing the security posture at certain government facilities out of an abundance of caution.

We obviously don't know the motive, as Pam just said. The target seems to have been military installations. And while authorities on the ground in Chattanooga made it clear they did not have anything that connects the shooter to international terror, the gunman not being on any terrorism watch list, for example. They do know, or at least believe, he allegedly traveled to the Middle East, may have stayed there for some time over the last few years.

They also know Abdulazeez was a Muslim, that the attack occurred at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and that this has been a summer of threats and responses to concerns, including at some government facilities, just raising all the concerns.

The official reaction from Washington, D.C., has been measured. The president of the United States extending his condolences to the families of the victims. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is a heartbreaking circumstance for these individuals, who have served our country with great valor, to be -- to be killed in this fashion. I speak for the American people in expressing our deepest condolences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Now, we know very little about these victims, almost nothing. Three of the four as yet unidentified. We do now have the name of one of the individuals who was killed. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Sullivan, 40 years old. That's about all we know.

Three people injured in the Chattanooga shootings, of course, and we continue to keep our eyes on that.

Alisyn and Chris, back to you.

CUOMO: All right. Joe, thank you very much.

We also know that these four people served for their country. They went into the most dangerous parts of the world. Some were injured in that fight. They came home to continue their duty. They were unarmed, and they wound up being taken for all the wrong reasons.

So let's figure out which way the investigation goes right now. We have CNN national security analyst and former homeland security assistant secretary Juliette Kayyem.

Let's stay with the Marines for a second. There is a lot of curiosity about, "Well, why weren't they able to fight back?" They're unarmed and unarmed for a reason. Explain.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Part of it is just tradition. That, you know, for most of the country's history, you fight wars abroad. And if you are military in our communities, you're actually working with the community. You know, you work in shopping malls, trying to recruit people. You're out and about. Think about the National Guard, for example.

So part of it is that we also have a legal tradition of sort of separating more abroad and more -- and domestic use of troops. And that's just a complicated legal history. So there's a tradition there. So it's not like people weren't thinking, oh, why aren't -- we're not going to arm them because we want them to be unsafe. There's actually a long history to that.

CUOMO: And do you think, now, there will be some kind of re- evaluation, if these types of places are targets?

KAYYEM: I mean, this is sort of the quintessential soft target, because it also has a symbolic meaning. So it's sort of like an amusement park or a movie theater. It is a place where our military is working, but they're completely vulnerable. So that is -- I think that we will be rethinking it. I'm sure

the Pentagon is rethinking what is what we -- in wartime, we call it force protection. We're going to have to think about force protection domestically now.

CUOMO: Common sense tells you that these were obvious targets.

KAYYEM: Yes.

CUOMO: He went to these places specifically. However, if he went there because he knew people are unarmed, we do not know.

Now, how are they going to look at this guy? The point of curiosity now is he wasn't on anybody's list. And that's a big concern. So what do you do?

KAYYEM: Yes, that is a big concern, because in most of these sort of cases, we -- you know, people look back and they go, "Oh, we were investigating him two years ago or a year ago."

Right now, there's just no evidence that he was on anyone's list, whether federal, state or local. He had one DUI, sort of irrelevant for purposes of this investigation.

So he is just -- we're going to focus everything on what he was doing, I think in particular, the last 18 months. Because he seems to have gone somewhat dark. People talking about him and where he -- what he was doing and where he was working. And so they'll look at his social media presence; where, of course, he traveled; and who he was with abroad.

[06:10:07] Now, this is somewhat similar to the Boston Marathon investigation. Remember, they said, "Oh, he went abroad, and therefore, this is international terrorism." But actually, in the end, it was just sort of self-radicalized brother who then convinced his brother to help him with the Boston Marathon. That may be what we have.

CUOMO: The good news: a couple different sources in your community say that they'll find the footprint very quickly.

KAYYEM: Very quickly.

CUOMO: So they'll know if there's anyone else or anything else for them to be concerned about.

They say the weapons are also relevant here, not in terms of the raging debate in America about guns, but that tracking that may also be helpful because...

KAYYEM: How did he get them? And who bought them? Where did he get the money? If it's the kind of arsenal that we suspect, it is -- and they're keeping kind of quiet on the weaponry. Those are expensive. Did he -- and then who helped him get them?

So there's going to be -- there's going to be arrests in this case related to the acquisition of his weapons, if it was illegal. There's no question about it. They will go after the arms deal -- the arms sellers.

CUOMO: Now, we keep having situations of lone wolf. We keep coming up with new labels to describe the violence. What does it tell you about how we are progressing in terms of what the threat is and how we evaluate threat?

KAYYEM: Well, the threat is a lot what we see today, which is someone who is either on some radar screen but not sort of causing a lot of attention or someone who's never been on any list. And...

CUOMO: I'm saying it that way because, just by the way, there is no proof or any indication or no suggestion from any sources that this is someone who is very ill or disturbed, and they're going to -- so move it away from terrorism. They said terrorism very early on.

KAYYEM: Right, exactly. And it will be -- it should be investigated as a terrorism case. And then, if it's not, then we'll say that. But absolutely.

Look, there's so many pieces of evidence to suggest that this is terrorism. The FBI is saying now that it is a terrorism investigation. And that's important so we can figure out, you know, sort of who might be the next terrorist or culprit.

But I just -- as I always said to you, I don't like the term "lone wolf." Because it makes it seem like they're animals. And, you know, if we just separate them, we'll be fine.

These are men and sometimes women who are in our societies who are being radicalized either by the Internet or international sources and that their communities, their families and everyone around them needs to engage law enforcement to stop these things from happening.

CUOMO: Words matter.

KAYYEM: Yes.

CUOMO: This type of heinous violence does qualify you for the pejorative of an animal. That's what you have to be to do this. But the point is that you want to see who else was helping along the way. That's what "why" means. "Why" doesn't mean what the motive was. It was clear that, if this was terrorism, this was misplaced on a jihadi horrible violence. But the good news is, authorities say, and you echo, they'll find answers very quickly.

KAYYEM: They will. And I think in the next week, I would suspect there will be either other people brought in or at least some closure of the investigation. And that's important.

But, look, this is a new world threat. And these kinds of cases are going to happen, unfortunately, more often than we would like. And the fact that it was in a place that we wouldn't anticipate -- not New York, not Boston and not Los Angeles -- suggests how pervasive the threat is right now. CUOMO: Sources are also telling us that it's not about just

people anymore. The Internet is more than enough.

KAYYEM: Yes. And...

CUOMO: And you have to know what he was looking at, not just who. But Juliette, thank you very much. As we get the pieces to the puzzle, we'll come back to you.

Coming up on NEW DAY, we're going to talk to the governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam, and get his perspective on which way this is going and what it means for his state. OK? And also, we're going to have Chattanooga mayor, Andy Berke, who will join us in the 8 a.m. hour. Same situation for him, as well. Little bit closer to home in terms of the people he's trying to take care of -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Chris, it seems like we talk about this all too often.

And now another masked shooter, this one brought to justice. A Colorado jury finding James Holmes guilty on all counts in the 2012 movie theater massacre that left 12 people dead and 70 injured. Jurors rejecting the defense claim that Holmes was insane when he opened fire.

CNN's Ana Cabrera is live in Centennial, Colorado, with more.

Good morning, Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Alisyn.

It has been 11 and a half weeks of testimony, hundreds of witnesses, thousands of pieces of evidence. And now the verdict: guilty on all charges. That prompted tears and hugs inside that packed courtroom, full of victims' family members and survivors. This was the verdict they had been waiting to hear for years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We, the jury, find the defendant, James Eagan Holmes, guilty of murder in the first degree.

CABRERA (voice-over): The reading of the verdict lasting more than an hour on Thursday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Count 20.

Count 78.

Count 165.

CABRERA: Though James Holmes had already sealed his fate three years ago when he massacred a crowded theater in Aurora, Colorado.

It was a swift decision on the jury's part, taking them just over 12 hours to deliberate, finding the 27-year-old guilty on all 165 charges. TOM TEVES, FATHER OF VICTIM ALEX TEVES: This isn't about a thing

who indiscriminately kills. And if you look at it, it would kill again if it was let out. Thank God, the jury saw that, and they saw it pretty quick. It's about these people and all these people who were hurt.

[06:15:10] CABRERA: Staring stone-faced, Holmes displayed no emotion as the judge read the verdicts.

JENSEN YOUNG, GIRLFRIEND OF VICTIM JONATHAN BURK: It's just good. It's just closure. It's finally over. I mean, justice for John, and maybe I can really start making sure I put this behind us.

CABRERA: For the victims' loved ones, relief that the jury did not buy the defense team's insanity strategy.

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

CABRERA: Instead, it was key evidence like his planning notebook, booby-trapped apartment, and this sanity evaluation that convinced the jury guilty.

DR. REID: At that time, did you have any doubt that you would end up killing a lot of people?

JAMES HOLMES, CONVICTED MASS MURDERER: No.

CABRERA: Now this same jury must decide Holmes' sentence.

MARCUS WEAVER, SHOOTING SURVIVOR: Will it ever be over? It's hard to say. Some move forward. Others, you know. But at the same time, we'll never forget what happened in the wee hours of July 20 at the hands of the shooter. That's the painful part.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: So now the trial moves into a sentencing phase. That could take a whole other month. It will be like a mini-trial. And the same 12 jurors -- nine women and three men -- will decide whether Holmes should be locked up for life or be put to death -- Chris.

CUOMO: And we'll follow that. Ana, thank you very much.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to ratify the nuclear deal with Iran on Monday. Now, that timing is relevant and being harshly criticized by Senate leaders, since Congress has yet to weigh in on the agreement. President Obama will meet with the Saudi foreign minister at the White House today. The Saudis obviously have security concerns with the deal, as well.

CAMEROTA: On to presidential politics. Five presidential hopefuls from both parties flocking to New Hampshire, even though the primary is more than six months away. Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Scott Walker all campaigning across the state Thursday. Walker taking a swipe at Clinton, saying she left the world more, quote, "messed up" than it was before she became secretary of state.

CUOMO: Could President Obama have ended up in the big house rather than the White House? Yes. That's from the president himself. In a sobering assessment after visiting six inmates at a federal prison in Oklahoma, he says the support he got from family made all the difference. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These are -- these are young people who made mistakes that aren't that different than the mistakes I made and the mistakes that a lot of you guys make. The difference is they did not have the kinds of support structures, the second chances, the resources that would allow them to survive those mistakes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: The trip to El Reno federal prison marked the first time a sitting U.S. president ever visited a federal lock-up.

All right. So, the question now is as disgusting as it is familiar. Was this gunman inspired by ISIS or radical Islam? The why of the situation. We're going to examine whether warnings about lone- wolf attacks during Ramadan are enough to make that assessment.

CAMEROTA: And Chris Christie holding nothing back. So what will surprise you is what he said about immigration and some other topics. We hit all the hot-button issues in this one-on-one interview. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Would you have any pathway to citizenship for those 12 million who are here?

Who do you consider your biggest rival?

How much do you think the Bridgegate scandal, as it's called, has hurt you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:22:16] CAMEROTA: This morning authorities investigating the deadly shooting at two Tennessee military centers as an act of terrorism. There is no record, though, of the shooter being on any terror watch list. So what does that tell us?

Joining us is CNN global affairs analyst and managing editor of "Quartz," Bobby Ghosh.

Bobby, what does it tell you that he apparently was unknown to authorities? BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, it tells us that

the databases, as large as they are, cannot possibly be comprehensive. This is the sort of lone wolf that everyone has always feared, which is somebody who flies beneath the radar, unbeknownst to anybody living among people and seemingly perfectly normal, perfectly well-adjusted, and then suddenly, bang.

CAMEROTA: You're already referring to him as a lone wolf. That's something that authorities have not yet worked their way around to. But what does your gut tell you about what happened here?

GHOSH: I wouldn't call him lone wolf, yet. But this is the sort of thing that we worry about. The fact that he picked two military targets is obviously the sort of leading indicator going in. There is nothing else.

One of the depressing things about this is that this has happened often enough that authorities know immediately where to look for the fingerprints. Online, the cell-phone records. People know. His travel records. When something like this happens, authorities now know exactly where to look to find the clues. And they haven't. They've had nearly 24 hours. They have not found any clues linking him to -- with any organized group, and that is disturbing. That means that it's possible for something like this to happen with somebody who may not actually have fingerprints.

CAMEROTA: But they have found a blog...

GHOSH: Yes.

CAMEROTA: ... that they believe is connected to him. CNN hasn't confirmed that yet. But I'll just read you one portion of it. In this blog -- it was in July, this month, written.

GHOSH: Yes.

CAMEROTA: "Because Islam is a comprehensive religion, we need to know everything from its message. The more comprehensive our knowledge of it is, the better our understanding of it will be and what goes on around us."

That's innocuous.

GHOSH: Completely. The two reports that have been suggested might be connected. I read them thoroughly several times this morning. Completely ordinary posts. And in fact, quote -- if you read it in a certain light, you can take encouragement from it. This is -- this is very familiar with all religions. It says leave aside material things, focus on God, submit to God. These are -- this is normal. Islam means submission to God. And there is nothing violence in that at all.

CAMEROTA: So then how did he become -- nothing violent, so then how did he become radicalized?

GHOSH: This may not be the -- these are only the first two that we have found. There may be others to be found. And maybe it is, as the authorities say, it is possible there are other motives. We don't know yet that he is a radical or a radicalized Muslim.

The only thing that meets -- the mind immediately jumps to that conclusion, is the choice of targets. Two military targets, not one. He shot up the recruitment center, then gets in the car and drives seven miles and then goes and attacks the naval reserve center.

CAMEROTA: There is one detail about the investigation, thus far, into this shooter that jumps out at you and is different from the trajectory that we've seen of other people leading to radicalization. And that is that he was arrested for drunk driving.

[06:25:14] GHOSH: That is a little unusual. We'll find out more. Because it was not proved. He was going to appear in court later this month. That is unusual. You don't hear about -- people who go to jihad usually are required to spiritually cleanse themselves. Drinking or taking drugs -- there is some suggestion that officers smelled marijuana on him. That would be very unusual. That would, if -- if it was proved to be accurate, that would lead away a little bit from the jihadi idea.

CAMEROTA: And also not a devout Muslim.

GHOSH: And that, too. It's really hard to tell what goes on inside a person's mind, and the definitions of how devout you are can vary. Also how much you choose to show how devout you are.

Being devout is perfectly normal. Being radical is something different. I mean, that, by itself, is not dispositive. In ISIS, for instance, in Syria, we hear a lot of -- there's been a lot of reports about young fighters who go there, supposedly drawn by the message, but they know nothing about the Koran. Many of them haven't read it. Many of them quote -- you can see on their video, they're misquoting the Koran. They're -- it's clear they're stumbling over their -- the lines. That by itself is not dispositive.

CAMEROTA: What about the call to violence during Ramadan from ISIS?

GHOSH: Well, there was a spike early on in the month. And after that, it returned to a fairly normal level of violence, which is quite a lot, unfortunately. It happened on the last day of Ramadan.

But again, he didn't seem to leave any message saying that this was what he was doing. And if he was doing this in the name of a cause, you would expect him to be much more open about that. None of the -- so far, none of the eyewitnesses have said he called out the -- to God while he was doing any of this. It's a real -- it's a mystery so far.

I think the authorities will come up with -- with a sort of more complete picture in the next 48 hours or so. But so far, it's really hard. We're looking at all the places where you -- and for all the clues that you normally expect. We're not finding many. CAMEROTA: We'll see if they're able to connect the dots in the

next couple of days. Bobby Ghosh, thanks very much. Great to have you on NEW DAY.

Let's go back to Chris.

CUOMO: Another story we've been following, this young woman who survived a plane crash that killed two family members, now a teenager, speaking about the harrowing ordeal and the painful cries for help she heard from the plane. You'll hear from Autumn Veatch next.

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