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EARLY START

Were Attack Warning Signs Missed?; Obama Embraces Victims, Pleads for Gun Control; McCain Blames Obama for Orlando Attack; Trump Blasts Obama & Clinton in Texas; CIA Director: ISIS Terror Capabilities Intact; Senate to Vote on Four Gun-Control Bills; British Parliament Member Gunned Down. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 17, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:31:03] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: New information on the Orlando club massacre. The gunman texting with his wife during the attack. What did she know? Plus, were warning signs missed? What one gun store owner saying he told the FBI before the shooting.

President Obama embracing victims and their families in Orlando, demanding stricter gun safety. But will anything change?

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

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell in Orlando. Thank you for being with us this morning.

The breaking news: new information about the massacre. Were warning signs about the gunman missed? Of course, that question is being asked and hopefully answered soon as President Obama travels to Orlando to offer his support and to help the traumatize city recover.

We are learning that Omar Mateen texting with his wife during the attack, asking her if she had seen the news. The FBI is still investigating what the wife, Noor Salman, may have known about her husband's deadly plans. But Orlando's federal prosecutor says it is still too early to say if she or anyone else will face charges.

We're also learning more this morning about Mateen's visit to a Florida gun shop where he tried to buy military-grade body armor, something the store doesn't sell. Well, store employees say they reported the suspicious inquiry to the FBI.

But joining me now, with the very latest, CNN's Polo Sandoval.

Polo, let's start with Noor Salman. What have you learned?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, yesterday, we told you that it was very likely that her husband was using a phone in the middle of that massacre to Facebook and now, there's new information suggesting that he was likely using it also to contact her in the middle of that massacre.

I want to take you back to June 12th, about 4:00 a.m. Four hours into the shots were fired not far from where I'm standing. Investigators believed that the gunman texted his wife, Noor Salman, asking if she was seeing the news. Again, this all playing out during the shooting amid the carnage when investigators believe that she tried to contact him and even text him I love you.

So, the question is how much did she know leading up to that telephone conversation and, of course, the texting as well? Now police are fairly confident that there was a point when he stopped responding during that confrontation with police. But, of course, the question what investigators hope to answer is how much did she know? She has told the FBI that she was aware that her husband planned to carry out some form of attack.

Now, did she know it would be this attack, the one that happened this past weekend? That is yet to be determined. A grand jury will have to decide if she will be facing any charges. So, that's something that we're looking out for.

Also, some new information coming south of our location. As investigators now continue to dig deep. They are now telling us that there is another gun shop that is coming into the picture. A worker, employee at a gun shop in Jensen Beach, just south of where the gunman lived with his wife is reporting that he initially reached out to the FBI in the weeks leading up to the shooting reporting several suspicious individuals purchasing police equipment.

Investigators actually looked into that and later determined it was several foreign police officers. It was not suspicious activity. But then as they were closing that case, another interesting turn as an employee at that gun shop? Jensen Beach told investigators there was another individual who is trying to purchase level three body armor. Eventually employees at the shop did not sell it, but FBI is still getting involved.

I want you to listen to what that employee at that store told my colleague Drew Griffin about that encounter several weeks before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBBIE ABELL, CO-OWNER OF LOTUS GUNWORKS: Our salesman got concerned about it and just informed him we do not have this body armor. At this time, he pulled away and got on to the cell phone.

[04:35:02] When he was on the cell phone, he had a conversation in a foreign language. That was more concerning.

Then he came back and he was requesting ammo. So he wanted bulk ammo only. At that time, he declined any business and left the store. We had no link, no contact. We didn't know he was. But we did contact authorities and let them know we just had a suspicious person that was in here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Despite that being red flagged, that encounter being red flagged, it didn't really lead to a whole lot of information, including license plate information or any surveillance video of this individual, that it was believed to be the gun man himself. But what this does do, Victor, it does speak to a certain level of alertness. People in the gun shop, they noticed something, they saw something, so they said something.

This is what law enforcement wants you to do. Not just here, but, of course, throughout the country as the investigation moves into day six. Of course, we can't forget about the community, victor, many people getting ready to bury their loved ones. It's a community that is still grieving and searching for answers -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Funerals starting this morning in a few hours. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

President Obama and Vice President Biden spent most of the day here in Orlando. As he has after previous mass shootings, the president consoled victims and survivors' families, offering support to a grief- stricken city. The president and vice president laid roses at memorials to the victims, met with survivors and family members, medical and emergency personnel and with the staff of Pulse nightclub. But, afterwards, the president said he could offer them few if any promises of change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So today, once again, as has been true too many times before, I held and hugged grieving family members and parents and they asked why does this keep happening? And they pleaded that we do more to stop the carnage. They don't care about the politics. Neither do I.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: President Obama's visit offering some comfort to a city deep in mourning today. As this mother you are about to meet whose son died in the massacre told CNN's Don Lemon, sympathy, even from the president, that only goes so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORLISS TOMLINSON, MOTHER OF VICTIM SHANE TOMLINSON: He came and I said thank you for coming and being compassionate to the community. Really, what can you really say? You know? His words are not going to make me feel better and it's definitely not bringing back me my son. So, I was just happy that he was showing compassion.

But you sit there and you hear people talking, but you don't know what they are saying because your -- my mind's focused on when I get home, I got to start making funeral arrangements. I'm worried about what church and this. You know, my nightmare hasn't even begun yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Joining me now to talk about how the city is coping and aftermath of the attack, Paul Brinkmann. He is a senior business reporter at "The Orlando Sentinel." Paul, first, how was the president received here?

PAUL BRINKMANN, SENIOR BUSINESS REPORTER, THE ORLANDO SENTINEL: We saw crowds lining up along the streets. There were not a lot of public venues where the public could come and listen to him or interact with him. There might be an event like that at some point.

BLACKWELL: City sponsored or larger event where the president would speak?

BRINKMANN: There was some talk about that before he came that he might actually go to Amway Center, the arena here. That didn't happen. We're not really -- I don't think we have good information on why that didn't happen. But, you know, Mayor Teresa Jacobs said his being here was huge to show recognition of what the community's going through.

BLACKWELL: And stand in solidarity with the people here.

BRINKMANN: Yes. Somebody made a comment to us that they felt safe while he was here which I thought was interesting. That the community has been traumatized and in shock and that having the commander in chief here with the large security presence that he had, I guess made people feel like for the time he was here, that they were safe.

BLACKWELL: So, still, I guess a palpable feeling of some fear and some threat here?

BRINKMANN: There is and there's a good reason for that. The government has warned that during the month of Ramadan, people should be vigilant.

[04:40:05] That is apparently the month when people -- some people take n the jihad mentality.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And we know there has been that call from the spokesperson from is in Ramadan in past years, to ramp up the attacks. Let's talk about Pulse nightclub. We are about a block away from it. Any plans to reopen a Pulse nightclub even if it's not in that spot?

BRINKMANN: Yes. They want to. The owner wants to. The owner, by all accounts, is still very much in shock. She has given some public statements, but it has been very limited.

The statement is that they do want to reopen Pulse in some form. But they are not sure what form that would take. They are not sure whether the building is structurally sound. There would be a lot of questions whether the scene of 49 deaths like that would be appropriate place for a nightclub anymore.

But what is pretty certain is there will be a memorial there. You know, officials, local officials expressed support for that and said they would support that. They are supposedly getting support from around the world for that. Money, construction services, sculpture.

BLACKWELL: There are some people who are of the mind to say we are going to go on with our lives and we're going to continue to have a great time in this space. There are others who say, 49 people died here, have a bit of reverence. So I guess that conversation continues.

BRINKMANN: Right.

BLACKWELL: Paul Brinkmann with "The Orlando Sentinel", thank you so much.

Well, in just days, the Senate is set to vote on new gun control measures. What are they and will they pass? We'll try to get that answer, next.

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[04:45:59] ROMANS: Senator John McCain is attempting to clarify his comments blaming President Obama for the terrorist attack in Orlando. The Arizona senator now claims he misspoke when he said the president was, quote, "directly responsible for the mass shooting there."

Listen to his original remarks.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Barack Obama is directly responsible for it because when he pulled everybody out of Iraq, al Qaeda went to Syria, became ISIS, and ISIS is what it is today, thanks to Barack Obama's failures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Now, that comment triggered outrage among Democrats. McCain then released a statement claiming he meant to say the president's policies led to the terrorist attack in Orlando.

Donald Trump is also targeting the president and Hillary Clinton for their gun control and gun advocacy in the wake of the Orlando shooting. He told thousands of supporters at a rally in Texas he will protect their Second Amendment rights if he becomes president. He is predicting a big win in the Lone Star State come November.

We get more this morning from CNN's Sara Murray.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

Donald Trump spent a majority of his time here in Dallas, Texas, running through his greatest hits of primary victories. He did manage to fit in swipes against Hillary Clinton as well as President Obama. Saying the president has been too focused on gun control measures in the wake of the Orlando massacre.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just watched President Obama -- (BOOS)

TRUMP: And he does it a lot, he does it a lot. We have one after another. We have tragedy after tragedy. And it's a tough -- it's a tough situation. But he's largely, to a large extent, he's blaming guns and --

(BOOS)

TRUMP: And I'm going to save your Second Amendment, folks. I'm going to you're your Second Amendment, totally.

(CHEERS)

TRUMP: And Hillary wants to abolish the Second Amendment. Remember that.

(BOOS)

TRUMP: Now, more sophisticated than that, but the end result will be she will abolish the Second Amendment. Just remember that. Just remember that. OK? Just remember that. She's now trying to come back a little bit. She can't come back because Bernie's over there and others are over there and actually Bernie is better on that issue than she is from our standpoint.

MURRAY: Now, of course, Hillary Clinton has never said she would abolish the Second Amendment. But that's the kind of message that could resonate here in deep red Texas. This is not a traditional campaign rally stop for Republican presidential candidates. It's a pretty safe bet the Republican will win the state come November.

But it is a reliable cash cow. That is what Trump will be doing here and that's what they'll be doing as well on Friday, is hitting up a couple of fund-raisers in the area. One source tells me that between three different fundraising events, they're hoping to raise north of $6 million.

Back to you, guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Sara Murray in Dallas, thanks, Sara.

On Monday, the Senate will vote on new bills, two from Democrats, two from Republicans. It will make it harder for some people to buy firearms. The bills proposed various ways to bar terror suspects from buying guns.

But as CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski tells us, not them are likely to pass.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Victor and Christine. Well, it's gone to the point that we hear the White House almost every day to take action on this issue, especially now, obviously. So, the good news at this point is there is a desire out there on both sides of the aisle to come up with something, to possibly tweak something in the law. There's talk of making changes, maybe it's making it harder for people who are on a terror watch list to get hands on weapons, maybe it's more narrow. Maybe it's people who are on a no-fly list. There is also talk of compromise out there.

The problem is as these bills are being proposed in the Senate right now, on both sides of the aisle, they are at the stage where they are dueling bills. There are votes scheduled this coming week.

[04:50:03] But at this point, it doesn't look like they will pass. Not any of them. The problem is even though some Democrats and Republicans have a desire to change something, they are really stalemated on how to make those changes and how broad those changes will be. So, until there is not just talk of compromise, but real action on compromise and that could still happen, it doesn't look like there will be any real changes at least not in the very near future -- Victor and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Michelle Kosinski, thank you, Michelle.

Breaking overnight. Bernie Sanders promising he will work with Hillary Clinton to defeat Donald Trump without ever quite saying his own campaign is over. In a live video stream address Thursday, Sanders made clear he is staying in the race to ensure his followers' voices are heard at the Democratic Convention. But Sanders also said he will help Clinton stop Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The major political task that together we face in the next five months is to make certain that Donald Trump is defeated and defeated badly. I personally intend to begin my role in that process in a very short period of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Sanders did not expand on how he will help Clinton, but we do know it will not be as her running mate. That's according to a Democrat familiar with Clinton's decision. A source close to Sanders said he was not expecting to be considered.

The CIA warning that the Obama administration's strategy to fight ISIS is not working. What dozens of State Department officials are now demanding, next.

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ROMANS: CIA Director John Brennan offering a sobering assessment of the two-year coalition to defeat is. Coalition forces have failed to disrupt the ability to carry out and inspire terror attacks. Brennan tells lawmakers ISIS continues to adjust its strategy to remain operational with support from a global network. He calls the radicalization of so-called lone wolf attackers an exceptionally challenging issue for the intelligence community.

More than 50 State Department officials want the Obama administration want to carry out militant strikes against the Assad regime in Syria. They have all signed an internal memo protesting U.S. policy, claiming a leadership in Syria is the only way to defeat ISIS. The memo circulated through the State Department's defense channel where officials can offer alternative views without fear of reprisal.

A member of the British parliament has been murdered in northern England. Forty-one-year-old Jo Cox shot and killed Thursday outside a library as she was leaving a meeting near the town of Leeds. She was considered a rising political star in the Labour Party. She was a fierce advocate for Syrian refugees and for the movement for Britain to stay in the European Union.

A 52-year-old suspect identified in the British news media as Thomas Mair is in custody. This killing comes amid a heated campaign over whether Britain should exit the European Union. The so-called Brexit.

Witnesses say the attacker should put Britain first, shouted "Put Britain first" as he fired on Cox. The Southern Poverty Law Center says Mair is a dedicated supporter of the National Alliance, a neo- Nazi organization based in the U.S. Police say no motive has been established.

But the campaigning for and against the referendum in the U.K. has been suspended in the wake of her death.

On to this, the cockpit voice recorder from EgyptAir flight 804 has been recovered, but damaged. The information in the black box could determine what brought the jetliner down. U.S. officials say the team from the NTSB, including a black box specialist is leaving for Cairo to assist with the investigation. The flight data recorder still has not been found.

The city of Charleston, South Carolina, remembering nine lives lost one year ago today. The first anniversary of the Mother Emanuel Church shooting will be marked by several events, including a walk of unity and a nondenominational public service. And the Mother Emanuel Church has designated Tuesday, June 21st, Acts of Amazing Grace Day. They're encouraging everyone to perform an act of kindness that day in honor of the victims and then share it on Facebook.

Scary moments tonight for rock singer Meatloaf as he collapses on stage in Canada. Cell phone videos shows the singer tosses his microphone down and he falls to the floor. Meatloaf canceled a show earlier due to illness. The singer was taken to a local hospital. Still no official word on his condition. We wish him well.

Time for an early start on your money. Good way to start the -- markets around the world this morning. Asian markets closed higher. European markets are following their lead. U.S. stock futures barely moving right now. The Dow snapping the five-day closing streak. Yesterday, gained 93 points. S&P and NASDAQ also higher.

Smith & Wesson selling more guns than ever. One of the country's largest gun makers reported more than 22 percent increase in firearms sales. Those latest numbers include sales through the end of April.

Now, it's typical for gun manufacturers to see a spike in sales again after mass shootings. Consumers fear tighter gun laws will limit their access to firearms. After the shooting in San Bernardino back in December, Smith & Wesson sales jumped 61 percent.

All right. EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)

ROMANS: Breaking news this morning. New information on the Orlando club killer's wife texting with her husband during the attack as investigators ask, were warning signs missed?

President Obama meeting with victims and their families in Orlando, calling for new gun control to prevent future tragedies.