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New Day

Orlando Police Defend Their Tactics in Club Attack; FBI & DOJ Reverse Decision to Delete ISIS Reference; Britain Votes Thursday on E.U. Membership. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 21, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:46] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So the man accused of trying to take a police officer's gun Saturday at a Donald Trump rally in Vegas apparently wanted to kill the presumptive GOP nominee. That is according to a new criminal complaint.

Police say 19-year-old Michael Sanford told them he'd be planning to kill Trump for about a year. Stanford is British and reportedly has been living in the U.S. illegally.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. The biggest verdict yet in the Freddie Gray case in Baltimore set to come down this Thursday morning. That is when the judge says he will read his verdict in Caesar Goodson's trial. Remember, he is the only police officer facing murder charges. Prosecutors claim Goodson drove a police van erratically with Freddie Gray in the back, handcuff, shackled in the back, without a seat belt, causing Gray to die from a broken neck.

CUOMO: All right. Here is the video that has gone viral and for good reason. This bouncy castle. You know, birthday parties, you see them all the time. You want to go in, you can't.

BALDWIN: That a castle in a house?

CUOMO: That's exactly what it is. A castle, it's good.

So they put it there and it flies away again. Another one, you see it like this.

BALDWIN: No kids.

CUOMO: No kids inside. Very important, very important.

But look how high this thing went, and look at what's around it. We'll play some of this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

CUOMO: Stuck in the power lines. This was in Upstate New York. The house eventually landed on those wires there, so no one inside, as BB said, that's important to remember, nobody inside, nobody hurt.

But we keep hearing these stories, and we did a little digging a while ago into this. And so, why does this happen? Why does this happen?

BALDWIN: Because people aren't holding them down? That's it?

CUOMO: It's all about the service, the company, the people, if it's not privately done by the family --

BALDWIN: They're just not doing it.

CUOMO: You've got to do it the right way. And if you don't --

BALDWIN: I think there would be some bleeps in my video if I saw that myself.

CUOMO: God forbid if you had kids in it. You know, luckily, that's not the way it goes.

BALDWIN: Thank goodness. So there's that.

Also, Orlando, transcripts from a 911 call made by the Orlando nightclub killer released to the public by the FBI. But the bureau, the Department of Justice, they're under fire for certain details they had originally held back. We'll talk about those transcripts and their significance ahead here on NEW DAY.

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[07:37:19] CUOMO: Orlando police are on the defensive, and they're speaking out about the tactics they used to end the standoff with that gunman inside the gay nightclub, 49 people losing their lives. This as the FBI and Justice Departments are facing criticism over initially redacting the transcripts of calls between the gunman and police. And it's what they took out and why they took it out that's creating such controversy.

So, let's bring in correspondent, Boris Sanchez, live in Orlando with details.

Good morning.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

As you can see behind me, the street outside of the Pulse nightclub has been at least partially reopened. There's still a pretty heavy police presence here. Investigators still on the scene.

We've learned that later today, they're going to be joined by Attorney General Loretta Lynch who's going to be meeting with the families affected by the shootings. She's also going to meet with prosecutors to go over evidence in this case, evidence that as you said yesterday was at the center of a political controversy because of details that the FBI redacted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): About a half hour into his shooting spree inside Pulse nightclub, the killer calls 911. In a 50-second phone call he says, quote, "I'm in Orlando and I did the shootings."

RON HOPPER, FBI ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: He did so in a chilling, calm, and deliberate manner.

SANCHEZ: When asked his name, he replies, "My name is I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State." Baghdadi and ISIS both omitted by the FBI in its initial release of the transcript.

HOPPER: Part of the redacting is meant to not give credence to individuals who have done terrorist acts in the past. We're not going to propagate their rhetoric, their violent rhetoric.

SANCHEZ: But Republican leaders like House Speakers Paul Ryan accuse the Obama administration of minimizing the threat and the unredacted version. By 2:48, the first hostage negotiations begin, over a span of three phone calls, lasting 28 minutes, the killer calls himself an Islamic soldier and demands that America stop bombing Syria and Iraq. He claims the vehicle outside had some bombs, telling negotiators, "I'm going to ignite if they try to do anything stupid."

After questions about tactics, Orlando police continue to defend their actions during the three-hour standoff.

CHIEF JOHN MINA, ORLANDO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Our officers were within the club within minutes, exchanged gunfire with the suspect, forced him to stop shooting and retreat into the bathroom.

SANCHEZ: Two hours into the standoff, police pull an air conditioner out of a dressing room window, rescuing eight hostages. Shortly after, rescued survivors say the killer had threatened to put suicide vests on four hostages.

[06:40:00] And just after 5:00 a.m., SWAT teams breached the building. Shots are fired and a minute later, the killer is dead.

It remains unclear if any of the hostages were hit by friendly fire.

MINA: Those killings are on the suspect and on the suspect alone, in my mind. All that will be investigated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: All right. Boris Sanchez, thank you very much.

Let's stay on what's happening in Orlando. Joining me now, CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez, and Phillip Mudd, CNN counterterrorism analyst and former CIA counterterror official.

Gentlemen, good morning.

And before we talk about the specifics from that call, Evan, let me just turn to you, and talk to me a little bit about your reporting, about what you've learned about the shooter at a gun range. How he was apparently using this weapon just weeks before he murdered all those people. And about the potential loophole in the fact that he had a firearm after his job changed.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke. In the weeks before the shooting, the shooter practiced with the SIG Sauer rifle. This is the rifle that he used to kill many of those people in the Orlando Pulse nightclub.

And one of the things that the staff noticed was that at least a period of time that he was practicing, he was shooting from the hip. And that's not allowed. A lot of gun ranges will stop you from doing that. It's not safe. The proper way is to shoot while aiming from the shoulder. And so, they scolded him.

And after the shooting, they were able to find the video and turn it over to the FBI, which is now reviewing it. As far as the firearm, we know that there was a third firearm that he had with him. This was in his car, and it belonged to the company that employed him, G4S in Ft. Pierce.

They say even though he had been moved from an armed guard position to an unarmed position, they didn't take away his firearm, partly because, they say, at any time, even unarmed guards may be called to do armed duty. That's the reason why they say he kept it.

BALDWIN: That's new information on the shooter and this gun. But this 911 call, so we know a couple of calls were made to 911 and then the police negotiators jumped in as well and there was some back and forth on that.

But let me just read a piece of his call. Keep in mind, what I'm about to read for you, some pieces were redacted. He calls 911, dispatcher, "Emergency, 911, this is being recorded." He says, "In the name of God, the merciful, the beneficent" -- he's speaking in Arabic. This dispatcher says, "What?" He says, "Praise to be to God and prayers as well as peace upon the prophet of God. I let you know, I'm in Orlando and I did the shootings."

The dispatcher, "What's your name?" His response, "My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi of the Islamic State." It goes on just a bit. You can read on your screen.

You know, House Speaker Paul Ryan comes out and says it's preposterous the fact the head of ISIS name was redacted by the FBI and the word "ISIS" was redacted by the FBI. I mean, we heard last week, Phil Mudd, you know, Comey, the head of the FBI, had already said all of this. So why hold it back yesterday?

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: There's a couple of things going on here. Someone who's spent about 30 years in Washington, I think you have to live in Washington to understand this, because both sides are a bit unrealistic. As you're saying, before the redacted transcript was released, we knew he had pledged allegiance to ISIS and ISIS had already talked about the attack.

So, it wasn't like --

BALDWIN: It was already out there. MUDD: That's exactly right. So, I think the Department of Justice,

and I served there, over-thought this. I understand why they did this, the story's out. You might as well release the transcript.

On the other side, I think what they did was, at least on the surface, was justifiable. They made a good faith effort to do something they thought would limit propaganda for ISIS.

I thought calling this preposterous by the other side, by the speaker, was ridiculous. It was a good faith effort, changed it later in the day. No big deal. Move on to something more significant. Like what happened here, like grieving for the families, like dealing with the weapons bills in the Congress. This is a Washington story.

BALDWIN: OK. Let's move on, since that's sort of moot now. I just want to get to both of you.

Evan, what is -- you know, everything that we don't know, what is your number one question still on the investigation?

PEREZ: Well, really, the thing that is not answered in this transcript that was released ISIS the motive. I mean, we know that he says he's pledging allegiance to ISIS, but there's still all these unanswered questions about his mental state. We know that there are people who have come forward, who have said that they saw him on gay dating apps. There is -- what's remarkable or what's missing in here --

BALDWIN: No mention of the LBGT community.

PEREZ: Right. Any mention of the LBGT community, any mention that he hates gays. So, we were looking for that, because we thought that perhaps that might be answered in these transcripts. It's not in there.

So, the FBI frankly is still digging to make sure they fully understand what's happening here. And of course, you know, the bottom of all of this is, is the fact that these things are irrational. So, we're trying to apply rational thought to something that by its nature is not.

BALDWIN: All right. Evan Perez, thank you, sir.

[06:45:00] Phil Mudd, thank you, as always.

Chris Cuomo, to you.

CUOMO: All right. Over the pond is a big decision to be made in Britain. What are they going to do? Are they going to leave the European Union? It's just two days before the big Brexit vote. And there's a big debate set for tonight. We're going to give you a live report from London, because what happens in that vote will matter back here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CUOMO: All right. Just two days until the British people have to decide if they want to remain in the European Union or break away. Now, this decision is going to have big affects across the globe.

So, let's bring in CNN international correspondent, Phil Black, live in London with the latest.

What is the state of play, my friend?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, it is still so very close. The polls are still so tight, it is really too close to call. As you say, just two days of campaigning left. So in that context, tonight's final television debate is potentially quite crucial. It's going to be before an audience of 6,000 people at Wembley Arena in London, it could get a little rowdy, and both sides are going to be looking to a clear result, score some clear points.

What we've been seeing in the final days are both sides doubling down on their key messages. For those who want to stay with the E.U., led by the Prime Minister David Cameron, they are talking about this being a lifelong decision, one with potentially disastrous consequences for the British economy.

Those in favor of Britain leaving the E.U., the Brexit camp, they say this is all about controlling immigration, returning sovereignty to Britain.

[06:50:00] You really can't overestimate the strength of political feeling in this country at the moment, especially after that tragedy last week. The shooting death of the MP Jo Cox, who favors sticking with the E.U., knifed and shot by a man who was said to be calling out, "This is for Britain."

It's a highly emotional time, because so much is at stake. It's not just a general election. It's about the direction of the country for decades to come.

Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: All right. Phil, we'll watch it on Thursday. Thank you very much in London.

Coming up next here, a new concern about lone wolf attacks in the wake of the Orlando shooting. Similar concerns around the world, as well. We'll preview tonight's CNN special report on the Paris terror attacks, next.

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CUOMO: All right. Law enforcement officials are facing the very real threat of lone wolves following terror attacks in Orlando and San Bernardino. And to be honest, we're all facing that threat, right, because these are attacks on people, not institutions.

So, what have we learned and how do we apply it going forward?

Let's discuss with CNN terrorism analyst and editor in chief of "The CTC Sentinel", Paul Cruickshank.

Paul, always good to see you.

The threat here is frustrating and frightening to the civilian population. The lone wolf, Orlando, San Bernardino, people who are citizens, not on any lists, not with open cases, who find enthusiasm in the ugliest of ideas and then take action in a place where they can get guns.

[06:55:08] How do you stop that?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Very difficult, because if these individuals are not in some conspiracy, they don't have organizational links to a terrorist group overseas, they're not communicating with a terrorist group overseas, there are fewer pointers for the FBI in terms of stopping these plots. There are some pointers in some of these cases.

Obviously in the Omar Mateen case, there were several pointers, because he was investigated in 2013 and 2014. And so, there was a feeling that he could, perhaps, be somebody that had become radicalized. But in other cases, there have been really no points at all, like we saw with San Bernardino and some other examples in the United States, when these people were really just not on the radar screen at all.

CUOMO: Now, Paul, one of the reasons that I have you here this morning is tonight, the documentary that you're the point man in for us will air, "Terror in Paris". And although it is focused on what happened there, it's about the themes, the problems, the concerns, the investigative challenges that come out of these types of attacks, as made manifest in Paris and now here in Orlando.

Here's a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUICKSHANK: Twenty minutes after they first arrived a to the Bataclan concert hall, there are two local police who got a call that something was going on, that there was violence inside, that they needed to go there as quickly as possible.

CUOMO (voice-over): Armed only with handguns, the two police officers enter the venue.

CRUICKSHANK: And when these two police first come in, they engage in a firefight with one of the hostage takers, Sami Amimul (ph). They managed to kill him. As he falls to the ground and rolls on the floor, he blows himself up with his suicide vest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember the terrorist blowing himself up, the sound of the explosion, you know? A ringing in your ears.

CUOMO (on camera): You heard the guy explode his belt?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes, yes. CUOMO (voice-over): The officers are forced to retreat and wait for

help. The attackers move to a more secure position, deep inside the building.

CRUICKSHANK: At that point, the attackers, the two surviving hostage takers, take a dozen or so hostages into a corridor, an L-shaped corridor, as described by eyewitnesses, where they barricade themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Now, Paul, we never like to relive the worst circumstances, unless we can learn. When you were side by side with me in Paris, so much of the discussion was about what had happened in that nightclub, that dynamic, the insurgency by the police, the timing. And then we see in Orlando, a very similar outcome. And there had always been the idea that -- well, they'll do it different the next time. They'll go right in, they won't wait for somebody like this.

What do you learn from one event to the next?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, I think the lesson learned from both of the Paris attacks and the Orlando attacks is that these powerful weapons can result in just a horrific number of casualties -- in Paris that night, over a hundred people killed, in Orlando, almost 50 people being killed. These terrorist groups and their supporters are moving away from bombs and moving towards launching attacks with high-powered weapons.

In Europe, it's possible for these terrorist recruits to get those weapons on the black market. Sometimes, for as little as a thousand euro, about a thousand dollars more or less. In the United States, much easier to get the guns, because you can legally get the guns in many cases, very, very powerful weapons.

So, while there are fewer radicals in the United States, they have much easier access to guns. And the concern moving forward is we'll have more of these shoot-outs, more of these hostage situations in the United States. The FBI right now investigating about a thousand people, a thousand different cases linked to radical extremism in the United States, concern that some of those people or people not on the radar screen may try to do what the Orlando shooter did.

CUOMO: And, Paul, as you know, with the FBI, a lot of them aren't open cases. So they don't have the authority at the agency to stop gun purchases. It's a complicated situation. We don't know if we'll get any progress.

Paul, thank you very much.

I must direct you to watch this tonight. Boy, this CNN special report, "Terror in Paris". It is really a comprehensive look at why things happen there the way they did through the eyes of the people who understand this problem the best. So, tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, CNN, "Terror in Paris". There's a lot of news this morning. There's is a big headline out of

the Trump campaign. There's a new poll to tell you about. Let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I'm really proud of him, but we're going to go ain't will of a different route.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Family intervention.