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Alligator Snatches Boy at Disney Resort; Friends Remember Couple Killed in Attack; ISIS-Inspired Attack Kills 2 in France. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 15, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Wiley from Fish and Wildlife for more perspective.

NICK WILEY, FLORIDA FISH & WILDLIFE CONSERVATION: Well, thank you and we appreciate orange county sheriff's department and how you responded in our partnership and, first, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and we do want to keep hope and we want to continue doing everything possible, state and county government, working to find this young child, and we are going to do everything we can to support them and also support our partners here at Disney.

REPORTER: What can you tell us about the last time there was report of a gator in the --

WILEY: We don't have details on the latest report. We know that, we work very closely with Disney to remove nuisance alligators readily as their observed and recorded. So we have a very good, close, working relationship with them in that regard.

REPORTER: How often do you do that?

WILEY: You know, it's hard to say. It's still early and we're really focused on trying to find that little boy.

(CROSSTALK)

REPORTER: What about the signs -- talking about --

REPORTER: -- in general.

WILEY: It's not common at all. Rare for people to be attacked by alligators. It's very rare in Florida or anywhere where you find alligators.

REPORTER: How's the family holding up?

REPORTER: And from the (INAUDIBLE) was the boy allowed to be in the water? (INAUDIBLE)

WILEY: I'm really not familiar with what the rules are in that regard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sign says, no swimming. The only alert is no swimming. No other sign that alerts for anything else other than no swimming.

REPORTER: So why is there a lifeguard?

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) is that against the rules?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was on the edge of the water. No swimming. My understanding, he was not swimming.

REPORTER: How likely was the gator was anywhere near or do they generally travel --

WILEY: We have alligators in all freshwater across Florida. You could encounter an alligator -- they move around. They move around. So it's really hard to say that one would be there at in particular amount of time.

REPORTER: There's a sign for no swimming. How often does that occur?

WILEY: I'm not familiar with the parameters for swimming or not swimming in that area. Again, we're still focused on trying to find that young boy.

REPORTER: How likely is it you'll be able to find this gator anywhere near here, or the child?

WILEY: I'm optimistic we'll find -- we'll have some success, but it may take some time.

(CROSSTALK)

REPORTER: -- attacked recently, the people (INAUDIBLE)

WILEY: I think it's too early to get into those kind of speculations about what may have happened. We still just need to focus on trying to find the child.

REPORTER: And you are saying that you're hopeful, obviously, everyone hopes this turns out -- (INAUDIBLE) the sheriff last night was talking about realistic issues, though. Realistically, this is not looking good. Am I correct? This many hours afterwards?

UIDENTIFIED MALE: You're asking a fourth quarter question in the first quarter. Right now, it's very embryonic early searches of this. So, at this particular point in time, we're not focused on what's the outcome going to be. Right now, all we're doing is we're searching hopefully for a little boy to bring a family some comfort.

So, we're not talking about what may happen down the road. We're focusing on the here, the now, the today. That's where we are today. We're not going any further than that.

(CROSSTALK)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Listening to a press conference there with fish and wildlife authorities as well as the sheriff there. They don't have much information at this -- CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: No. They're trying to keep hope -- look, a

great disposition to have. I'm sure people are managing the expectations of this family, but there's just no good news that can come out of this.

CAMEROTA: We want to bring in Jeff Corwin. He's animal expert and host of ABC's "Ocean Mystery's".

Jeff, what a sickening story to wake up to. The idea this family was -- they were on the edge of this lagoon. It was a lagoon at their hotel. It was a man-made lagoon. How surprising is it that there was an alligator in there?

JEFF CORWIN, HOST, ABC'S OCEAN MYSTERIES: Oh, my goodness. This is just absolutely gut-wrenching, and it is surprising that so close to a highly regulated area that this could happen.

But keep in mind, that today there are many, many millions of alligators in Florida. The Walt Disney complex is gigantic. It consists of thousands of acres. A lot of that is remote, inaccessible brush, swamps and rivulets. So, it's not impossible for a large gator or even a medium sized gator to be under the radar screen and sort of find its way into the scenario.

What really surprises me is I'm hearing that this alligator was under six feet. It is very rare for an alligator just a couple of meters in length to attack a human being, but a child is very small.

CUOMO: So, also, Jeff, help people understand what this father was up against. This, you know, is -- you put it any way you want. If you're a parent, this is one of those scenarios where you wonder what you'd do if you were ever in the situation. Once this alligator gets ahold of the child, what are you up against in trying to get it back?

CORWIN: Chris, when human beings often find themselves, hopefully rarely find themselves in this situation, what kicks in is the autonomic fight and flight complex. Essentially, the inner animal comes out and you will get in there and fight that creature off. And it is not impossible to manage an alligator five or six feet, but you have to know what you're doing.

And alligators are incredibly determined predators. They're pound per pound square inch of pressure, Chris, in their jaws is many thousands of pounds. So it is almost impossible to physically open up an alligator's jaw once it's exercised and closed down the abductor muscle. So, it is incredibly strong animal and once it goes into predatory mode, it's really hard to manage. I can't imagine the terror on these people's minds trying to manage this.

CAMEROTA: Jeff, we just heard the authorities there at Fish and Wildlife saying they were hopeful they would find the boy. Obviously, they were not saying they would find him alive but they said that they were hopeful and they are still searching. And what do you think the chances are that they will find the boy?

CORWIN: I think the chances are good that they will find remains of this -- this terrible tragedy, and this poor child. They're on site. They know where this happened.

But again, children are very, very small. This is a 2-year-old child. You're talking about a human being weighing 15, 20 pounds. It is not impossible there are other gators in this area.

As the Fish and Wildlife officer mentioned, oftentimes an area is where you have human beings and known alligators that will often remove those alligators when they become big enough to pose as a threat. Clearly, this did not happen.

And a lot of times in Florida, people becoming too comfortable. They see the baby alligator which they go down to the fishing hole. They field the ducks, feed the alligator. The alligators becomes very familiar, in the past, this is how tragedies happen. Not to say that happened here.

CUOMO: Well, in deference to the miraculous, the sheriff did say that this is still search and rescue. So, let's see what happens with that. No reason to speculate. It only goes in a bad direction.

But let's look at the situation of why this happened. OK. It says, no swimming. This is a place where you can hang out there. I've been on vacation at the Grand Floridian. People go from all over the world.

Says no swimming but there's a lifeguard. Why? Legally they probably know, foreseeable, people will ignore the sign, go on the water anyway, so Disney's figured out to have a lifeguard there.

But, Jeff, should people say, no alligators? Is that the situation you would expect?

CORWIN: Well, I would imagine, Chris, that in this situation so close, I believe to the Grand Floridian Hotel, I think in a situation like this, they probably managed this lagoon. I also believe -- correct me if I'm wrong, that this is a man-made lagoon. This is a man-made aquatic structure.

So, I think they were on this and had not seen anything that posed as a significant threat. Also, it is not impossible for alligators to be in ambush predators. They often wait at the edge of the waterline with their bodies, a 12,-foot alligators can be completely submerged with only about three inches of its eyes above the water and will sit and wait and ambush their predator, and drag it to watery grave.

And that is often how these animals will get raccoons, deer, birds. And in this case, this child was not swimming in the water. It could be very well how he was tragically dispatched.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh. Jeff Corwin, thank you very much for giving us all of your expertise with this unfolding disaster that obviously we will bring all the developments to the viewers.

Thank you so much, Jeff.

CUOMO: Hearts go out to these parents. Young parents from Nebraska. They got a little girl and a little boy and now just waiting like everybody else.

CAMEROTA: Back to the story that we have been here days covering, and that is the attack that happened at the Pulse nightclub behind us. We're learning so much more about the victims, including this couple whose love inspired everyone. They sound like a remarkable couple. Now they will be buried together.

We're going to tell their heartbreaking yet inspiring story. It was told to us exclusively by ten of their best friends. That's coming up, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:43:50] CAMEROTA: It is hard to get your mind around the enormity of the loss here at the Pulse nightclub that you see behind me. Forty-nine separate lives lost. And we've bee learning about the special details of each one of those lives.

Now, two of the victims seemed to be best known for their love of each other. I sat town for an exclusive interview with ten friends of Christopher Drew Leinonen, known at Drew, and Juan Ramon Guerrero. The friends told us about how that love between them inspired all of them.

But their story starts with the terror and chaos at the nightclub.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: How many of you were in the club that night? OK. What happened, Brandon?

BRANDON WOLF, SURVIVED ORLANDO MASSACRE: I think we were ready to leave. It was about time to close, but their favorite thing to do is dance. And Eric and I had to go to the bathroom so we let them know we would go to the bathroom and be right back.

And we went to the bathroom and that's when we heard the first shots fired. And at first we didn't know what was happening and kind of looked at each other and said, what is that? I was like, I'm not sure. It sounds like the music is broken or something.

And -- then people started piling in the bathroom.

[06:45:01] And you could smell this scent of blood and smoke and -- and then my eyes got really big and I looked and said we have to leave, we have to get out of here. And -- they wanted to stay in the bathroom, and people were kind of debating back and forth about what we should do, but I thought it was not safe. So we all grabbed hands and ran for the door as fast as we could and we didn't look for anybody, we didn't want to see anything, we just ran for the door.

ERIC BORRERO, SURVIVED ORLANDO MASSACRE: I remember being in the corner. I had a woman to the left of me crouched down. Brandon was on the other side. And -- once everything, like -- once everything stopped, and everyone started to peek out, that's when everything started again, and then we all just ran and -- just tried y to get away.

WOLF: That circle of us, trying to look around making sure everybody with us was still there. Doing a head check it wasn't until we got, maybe, like two blocks away that I turned to Eric and I said -- they're still in there. And I wanted to go back so bad. It was too late by then.

CAMEROTA: So in the chaos, you didn't know where they were? Do you remember the place that you last saw them, or what you were last doing when you were all together?

WOLF: Yes. I remember actually right before we made it to the dance floor. We were standing outside. And we were all chatting with each other, having, like, sentimental time, because when Drew has a couple drinks, he feels like getting sentimental, and he turned to me and in the last conversation we had, he said, you know, something we never do enough is tell each other that we love each other. So I just want to tell you that I love you so much.

It was almost like he knew what was going to happen, but he didn't, and I says, ah, you're being cheesy. He said, no, but I really love you, and we just hugged for a minute. I said, I love you, too, and then we went inside to dance.

CAMEROTA: Did you know or did you see that Juan was taken to the hospital?

WOLF: We didn't see him. But I had another friend who was inside the club that I'd seen that night, and I just said, you know, did you see anything? Have you seen anyone? He said, I think I saw Juan.

And I said, is he OK? And he said, I don't know. He's on a stretcher. I know he's been shot. And I said, please tell me you've seen Drew. He said, I haven't seen Drew. We just waited all night, and he didn't see anything.

CAMEROTA: Drew, correct me if I'm wrong, was one of last people, his whereabouts to be known. What was that -- for all of you, what was that like?

JP CORTES, BEST FRIEND DIED IN SHOOTING: It was frustrating. It was angering. I just don't understand why him of all people would be released last when so many people know who he is. So many people had his picture, multiple pictures, multiple accounts. It doesn't make any sense to me. Y would you leave my friend inside of a club over a day deceased and not let us know what's -- where he is? If he's in there.

We didn't know if he was one of the people comatose or being worked on. There was no word.

WOLF: I think the most difficult thing for us was seeing all of our friends from around the country at candlelight vigils leaving a space for both of them and we still have a tiny shred of hope that he might be OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uh-huh.

WOLF: And we're just holding each other for so long, just praying.

CORTES: Hours and hours and hours passed and finally one list of names of people at another hospital and one of the longest moments of my life, and it was name by name by name. No Drew, no Juan and after hearing from Brandon that he heard from his friend that Juan was taken in, we all naively thought he would survive, because we're like, OK, we know where Juan is. He's at the hospital, he's going to be OK and Juan's name was one of the first people that died.

I couldn't believe it. None of us could.

CAMEROTA: So that, that 24 hours or more when you didn't know what was up, was there a glimmer of hope? How were you processing all this all that time when you didn't know?

CHRISTOPHER GRUBE, BEST FRIEND DIED IN SHOOTING: I think one of the hardest parts about that was on social media a lot of people were speculating and even news outlets releasing their own opinions. One minute we would hear official he was among the deceased and the next minute we would hear, no. He's OK. Someone saw him. He's posted -- he's posted from his account on social media. Someone even said at one point.

WOLF: Yeah, just like roller coaster of emotion, thinking, one minute you're telling yourself, I have to come to terms that my best friend is gone.

[06:50:04] And then the next minute, you're telling yourself, but he could be there. We could hold out hope. Maybe dropped his phone. You start rationalizing it. You drive yourself absolutely crazy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: This is just an incredibly close-knit group of friends, and they described Drew, who they lost, as sort of the center of the spoke. You know, he was such a connector, and that love that the couple had, they talked about which we'll play for you coming up from an -- an hour from now what that meant, their relationship.

Also I should mention the friends have a GoFundMe page they put together to pay for the funerals and for counseling and things like that. You can go right here to donate. They were hoping to get $25,000. Of course, people's generosity has already brought it up above that number.

CUOMO: Look, hearing about what made them special always helps. The frustrations that those young folks were communicating to you are very common. This is an unimaginable task for investigators. I've been at scenes like this. Watch them be processed. They were dealing with dozens and dozens of people, and just to figure out who's alive and who isn't, to identify, it's so painstaking.

We heard that attorney general say two days in they'd only identified, and communicated, with two-thirds of the families.

CAMEROTA: Of course. The waiting, we've always heard, is the hardest part.

CUOMO: Yes.

All right. So when we're dealing with what happened here in Orlando, we start to try to figure out how to make sense of it to learn going forward. So, what do we know about what our emerging propaganda tools for terrorists. Things that could attract a deranged person like the murder here in Orlando?

How does it relate to what we just saw in France? That horror has new insights on the war on terror. We'll tell you about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:29] CUOMO: Terror striking again in France. A police commander and his female partner killed in an ISIS-inspired attack. But there's more to this. The attacker claims that he was directed by is, but he also used a live streaming Facebook app in order to do this.

Now, that's new. Was he directed to do that? And what does it mean about the propaganda exploits we're now going to see from terrorists?

Let's discuss. CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem and CNN terrorist analyst Paul Cruickshank.

Juliette, none of this is new. ISIS-inspired, brazen, targeting a police officer in their home, but taking the kid hostage and wanting to film it. Wanting this to be on video, wanting this to be online and saying that may have been done by design. What does it mean to you?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It means that they want as much publicity as possible. It means that they're using new apps, new technology to make themselves known, and it means that they are going after individuals that represent public safety, law enforcement. In ways we never could imagine.

I mean, it's happened before, but the intimacy, someone who's been in national security, the intimacy of someone target you, your wife, hold your child, it's terrifying and terrifying to the rest of the public safety community.

CUOMO: Now to the community here in the U.S., Paul, this is going to sound kind of like a story that we covered here where a journalist was taken out by someone she used to work with and he was trying to put it on Facebook also, but that was about just straight madness in that -- the mind of that man. This seems to be a propaganda tool.

What do you know about its development and its effect?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Chris, this was the first- ever terrorist attack in the west where a perpetrator broadcast live from the scene of the crime. He was broadcasting live after killing those two police officers while he was with the child, holding the child hostage, and with the police just outside poised to come in. There were people watching that live feed in real time.

I think this is going to be likely the wave of the future when it comes to terrorist attacks. That terrorist groups, individuals who have been radicalized are going to exploit this new technology, these new apps, 4G, fast data networks, to record terrorist attacks in real- time. ISIS and its followers want to do this because they want to maximize the impact and because they realize by broadcasting images live, there is nothing at all authorities will be able to do to take them off the internet and prevent them coming out, because they're already out there, the followers of these people on Facebook have already managed to record it and that's exactly what ISIS did in this case, and they then broadcast and edited version.

CUOMO: Paul, also mention this terrorist before taken out mentioned Euro 2016. Obviously, that's a big, big football or soccer tournament. It's a big security consideration already, but authorities are taking that as a greater indication?

CRUICKSHANK: Yes. He said that the Euro 2016 soccer championships were going to be turned into a cemetery. There have already been indications that ISIS wants to target this event, the so-called man in the hat in Brussels airport told investigators that was the ultimate target of the Brussels and Paris terror cell, the ISIS terror cell, that they wanted to hit the championships.

Every game at Euro 2016 is watched by a global television audience of more than 150 million people. So, ISIS realized the eyes of the world are on France and want to hit this tournament.

I was talking to a senior official European counterterrorism official who said the terrorist threat is more acute against these championships than any other event in the history of international sporting events -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Paul.

Last thought here for now, Juliette. What does this do to the authorities' protocols and their mindset in dealing with potential events?

KAYYEM: Well, I think there's going to be a lot more focus on protecting identities of law enforcement, counterterrorism safety officials. We tend to do that in the United States. Don't be listed or have your address out.

I think for law enforcement, though, they have to ignore the live feed. They have to go in or not go in to maximize life and they can't be thinking about the show ISIS is trying to put on. It's a very hard thing to do, but I think given these apps and the fact as Paul said this is going to be ISIS M.O. for a while, they have to just act as if they're not live.

CUOMO: And also, it raises the issue of cooperation between corporate and government functions here.