Transcripts For CNNW EarlyStart 20130917

0 >> i have seen this woman perform and she is totally connected to her audience. "early start" continues right now. i heard three shots. pow, pow, pow. 30 seconds later, i heard four more shots. it was just crazy. >> 13 people dead after a mass shooting at the washington navy yard. we are breaking down exactly what happened, who the gunman was, and new information this morning about all of the victims there as well. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman live at the washington navy yard. it is tuesday, september 17th. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. here in washington this morning, people are waking up to flags at half-staff. schools are reopened. people going back to business. but not at all business as usual. not after what happened here behind me at the washington navy yard and these blocks just past here. it's the oldest naval installation in the united states based on land. some 3,000 people work there. and there are so many questions this morning about what happened less than 24 hours ago. how did a man get inside? how did a man have the weapons he had and carry out the shootings that he did? and also why? these questions may never be answered but one answer we do have right now is that 12 innocent people are dead this morning. today, people are still reliving the horror that happened here. >> reporter: chaos and fear in the nation's capital, after a gunman opened fire at the heavily secured navy yard on monday morning in washington. less than three miles from the white house and two miles from the capital. >> multiple people down. >> reporter: the death toll, at least 13 killed and at least eight more injured. the rampage now appearing to be the work of a lone gunman identified by the fbi as 34-year-old aaron alexis, an i.t. contractor and former navy reservist. alexis died in a gun battle with police inside the complex. the frightening events unfolding minutes-by-minute. 8:20 a.m., frantic calls began pouring into 911 moments after shots were fired. >> just standing here maybe three feet away and having a conversation and we heard two more gunshots and he went down and that is when i ran. >> the gunman entered building 197 of the navy yard with an active military contractor i.d. and security clearance. the fbi says alexis began firing from a fourth floor balcony on to office workers in an atrium down below. >> we have a third individual arrived with a gunshot into the head and into the hand. >> reporter: within minutes, metropolitan police and the fbi swarmed the area. >> we have an officer down. >> reporter: by 9:33, ambulances and helicopters descended on the scene, rushing victims to local hospitals. schools near the navy yard locked down. the senate side of the capitol closed, and air traffic at reagan national airport grounded so it would no interfere with the choppers. >> everybody saying, go. emergency now, exit, go, go, go. >> reporter: before 10:00 a.m., president obama was briefed in the oval office. three hours after the shooting spree began, law enforcement officials confirmed the gunman was shot and killed. president obama lamenting yet another mass shooting. >> these are men and women going to work doing their job protecting all of us. >> reporter: monday's rampage of the navy yard is the deadliest shooting on a military installation in the u.s. since the ft. hood massacre in 2009. that killed 13 and injured 30 others. throughout the afternoon and night, thousands of employees were allowed to leave their offices on the base throughout the night. many spending hours hiding and waiting for the carnage to end. a live picture right now of the u.s. capitol. president obama has ordered flags in half-staff in honor of the victims. i do want to clear up one thing. one of the things that added to the drama, to the horror yesterday was the report from officials here that they were on the hunt for a second, possibly a third suspect here. possibly two more gunmen. that appears to be over at this point. now they are saying just this one lone gunman acting by himself. this morning, we are finding out the names of some of the victims. they were all civilians or contractors working for the military here at the washington navy yard. these are the names we know right now. michael arnold, 59. sylvia frasier, 53. kathy gaarde, age 52 and john roger johnson 73 and frank kohler and kenneth proctor and vishnu pandit, age 61. our hearts go out to all of their families. these people weren't doing anything yesterday but their jobs, going to work just like they did every day. as for the gunman, this is what we know this morning. he was 34 years old. a defense contractor. a former navy reservist and did lead a life full of contradictions. pamela brown is here following that part of the story. good morning. >> good morning. that's right. pictures emerging who this gunman was, aaron alexis, but we don't know how he was able to carry out this shooting and why we have learned he was an employee of a company called the experts. a subcontractor of hewlett-packard that refreshed computer equipment for the navy corps. we spoke with some of his family and friends and they say she are shocked that he was capable of doing something like this. >> reporter: law enforcement officials say 34-year-old i.t. subcontractor aaron alexis entered navy yard building 197 legally with a valid military issued i.d. and an intent to kill. armed with an ar-15 and semiautomatic lock and a rifle, his motive is unknown. >> we are looking to learn everything we can about his recent movement and his contact and as an associate. >> reporter: pictures of a complicated man at times quiet and polite and spoke several languages and worshipped at this buddhist semple. >> it is incredible this is all happening because he was a good-natured guy. it seemed like he wanted to get more out of life. >> reporter: other times, he could be explosively angry. >> he might be a little angry at times, but i don't believe -- i don't believe it. >> reporter: alexis was born in queens, new york, joined the navy as a reservist in may of 2007. according to pentagon officials, he was discharged in january 2011 following a, quote, pattern of misconduct. while it's unclear what that misconduct was, he did have several run-ins with the law. he was arrested in seattle in 2004 for shooting out the tires of another man's vehicle described in the police report as an anger-fueled blackout. his father said his son was suffering ptsd after helping post-911 rescue efforts at ground zero. in 2008, cited and briefly jailed for disturbing the peace in georgia. and arrested again in 2010 for discharging a gun in ft. worth, texas, where he lived until recently and never charged in that case. one of alexis' friend in ft. worth said he was locked in a financial dispute with the company that contracted him to work for the navy. he did some civilian contract stuff or maybe government contract stuff in japan for about a month, and then he came back over here. i was excited, because i was the one that picked him up from the airport and he's like a brother, you know, to me. after that, he just didn't feel like he was getting paid the correct amount or just issues with that. >> reporter: alexis had been staying at this hotel, not far from the navy yard since last week. and a law enforcement source tells cnn alexis recently purchased one of the guns used in the shooting at a gun store in lawton, virginia. he also passed two security clearances last september and this past july before starting work at the navy yard. his violent rampage has left his family devastated. >> very hurtful. heart going out more to the victims and people who got hurt because it's more lives lost. we don't need that right now. >> reporter: government officials say at this point they do not believe this was an act of terrorism. evidence response teams will be processing multiple scenes at this hour trying to figure out how this unfolded and what the motive is. that is the big question that remains here, john. we have learned that from officials, they do believe he was a lone gunman. >> that goes back to what happened here yesterday. so much of the horror based on the fact that, at one point, d.c. officials said they were looking for two other men who may have been involved in this. one other was cleared immediately. why so much focus on the possibility of this second or third person involved? >> well, according to a law enforcement source i spoke to, there is someone in the video that officials are still trying to identify and interview at this time. at one stage they thought this person was a second suspect. now i'm told that the first one was doing something in the video that made authorities want to talk with him. and made them more curious to talk to him beyond the other people on the scene in the video. something about this person but, at this point they do not believe this person was actually involved in the shooting. >> still may be helpful for information, but not a suspect right now? >> right. >> pamela brown, thank you so much. i appreciate it. >> thank you. some of the many questions this morning about what happened here involved how did this man get into the building? just how tight is security here at military post in the united states? if a gunman like this can just walk in with a gun and start shooting if, in fact, he had the gun before he went in. one thing we do know as pamela just reported, aaron alexis had permission to be on the site and he had clearance and those who work at the navy yard say this place took security very seriously. >> you go past armed security guards. and then your credentials are computer read and there is a kiosk to go through and it either gives you a green or a red light but the green light shows your credentials are recognized as somebody who is supposed to be in that building. >> however, a federal source does tell cnn that a government audit found that the navy yard in other installations may have increased the security risk. they did this in an effort to cut costs and given convicted felons routine unauthorized access to navy facilities. ohio congress mike turner who is on the armed services committee has now asked the pentagon inspector general to give congress more information about this audit. he wrote, given the disturbing events of today, i am highly concerned that the access of controlled systems at our nation's military installations have serious security flaws. we will speak to the congressman turner in a few hours now at the "cnn newsroom." but first back to new york with zoraida sambolin with more of today's news. >> great to have you, john. coming up. >> all i now i got three kid living in this house and i got to, you know, this is all contaminated. >> the rain has stopped in colorado but just the beginning. colorado drying out this morning and the death toll is rising as rescuers finally gain access to some towns. we will have the very latest straight ahead. 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keep in mind, when we look at the south platt river this is all going down river. we have to know how much water is upstream to know how much water is expected downstream. all of the gauges have broken so they don't know how much to expect and the debris making its way down the river could clog up the natural system and making less water to move through. >> that's terrible. more people are going to be facing a mess. >> especially in nebraska. >> thank you. 18 minutes past the hour. appears lightning to blame for a plant fire in midland, texas. officials say a salt water disposal system was struck by lightning late last night and it caused several large tanks to erupt into flames. it took crews about three hours to put out that fire. the good news there, folks, no injuries have been reported. north carolina police officer who shot and killed an unarmed 24-year-old is due in court today. authorities say officer randall kerik fired 12 time at jont farrell saturday as police respond to do a suspected breaking and entering call but it wind up farrell may have only been looking for help after being in a serious car accident. arizona mother accused of killing her two children is on suicide watch behind bars. authorities say 42-year-old marilyn edge murdered her two children in a california hotel room. then tried to take her own life by crashing her car into an electrical box right outside of a store. police found propane inside of her vehicle. court documents sew edge was supposed to bring the children back to their father in georgia last week. but she never showed up. notorious home going on the auction block today. it is the mansion in miami south beach where fashion designer johnny versace was gunned down in 1997. the 65,000 square foot palace has ten bedrooms and 11 bathrooms and it includes an observatory for gazing at the stars. it has contracted celebrities around the world including david beckham and his wife victoria. bidding starts at a cool $25 million. coming up, holiday shopping time, can you believe it? it may not be a very merry christmas. money time is coming up next. we will have the latest from washington, d.c. on the massacre that left 13 dead at the navy yard. we are live with the very latest. john berman is standing by for us. 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