Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Brooke Baldwin 20150717

A Navy Operation center where he opened fire. The gunman eventually killed in that fire fight. Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez was a chattanooga grad and a trained mixed mixed martial artist and devout muslim. His radicalization not obvious to those who knew him. His demeanor there was absolutely nothing on him that would show me that he was upset about something. And i know that he moved out of the country a year or two ago. He went back home and stayed overseas. I asked his dad, where is mohammad . He said he moved back home. I saw him a couple of times when he visited. Now, im not the one to speculate but what happens overseas in certain different environments i dont know. He seemed like the allamerican kid. You know never loud never boisterous, never got out of line a hard worker. He seemed to enjoy the training and got along with everybody. I want to bring in cnn justice reporter evan perez. He joins me now from washington. Evan what are you hearing about the possible motive here . That is still the big mystery, it seems. Its still the question of why, why did he carry out this attack . As you just played the sound for that friend he made reference to a trip to jordan to the place where his family came from. And we know that that is part of what the fbi is focusing on pamela. You know that the travel is definitely something that people feel might help explain perhaps what changed in this young mans life what changed that caused him to turn to carry out this attack yesterday. We know the jordanian government now says that he did travel there last year. He made several trips in the last few years there. He was born in kuwait and traveled with the jordanian passport, although the jordanian government said that he does not have jordanian citizenship. In the end, he and his family became naturalized u. S. Citizens. So now the focus, as congressman mccaul says is to try to figure out if there are any links with established terrorist groups. Its not yet known whether there are any links to isis or terrorist groups and as has begun to emerge from his blog post is perhaps this is a young man who came up with his own brand of perhaps radicalization. So thats again, part of this investigation. The second part of this which is also interesting that the fbi is looking at is the weapons, the firearms that he had in his possession. The fbi says that one reason why they are not releasing a lot of information about it is because they are trying to put together they believe someone assisted him in obtaining these weapons and perhaps might be facing criminal charges down the road. Yeah because we heard he had multiple weapons including an ak47. Evan perez, thank you so much. I want to go to victor blackwell. Hes at one of the scenes of the shootings. You have new information. Is that right, victor . Reporter thats right, pamela. Federal sources involved with this investigation tell me that what were going to hear today is the transition from one part of the investigation to the next. For the last 26 hours or so since this all started, as the investigation began, what youve seen behind me is a large area of this Shopping Center this strip mall blocked off as the investigation continues. We saw a lot of the fbi evidence Response Teams here collecting evidence. That has now ramped down and what im told from the source is that the footprint across the city will get smaller as the investigation moves from in part this physical onscene investigation to primarily the intelligence investigation, to find out why. Of course part of why were going to see all of these branches together all of these divisions together is to show its a show of force. Its a cohesive nature that these officials want to project as this investigation continues, not just the local investigators who are cooperating with the national the federal investigators but the state level as well that has played some role here. The Tennessee Bureau of investigation. Well see together talking about how this moves from the current phase to the next. And we just got the fourminute warning, victor so stand by. We hope to hear from officials soon there on the ground. While we await for the press conference to start im going to bring in our panel cnns alexandra field, special agent Jonathan Gilliam and Karen Greenberg. Also former new york fbi assistant director bill gavin. And ron hosco, my friend former assistant director of the fbis criminal investigation here. We have quite the panel and we dont have enough time in these four minutes, unfortunately. Jonathan im going to start with you. What do you hope to hear in this press conference . What are you looking for . Im humbled that you started with me. I would hope first and foremost, clarity. Yesterday left everybody confused. The other thing i definitely want to hear is that what are they actually looking at. Are they looking at isis specifically as a group . Are they looking at somebody radicalized through fundamental islam . We need to start using that language because this is a fact. We do know that if theres one thing in any of these individuals correspondence that he was pushing towards islam and thats one of the things that motivated him, we know that he is a fundamental muslim who was radicalized. We know that all of these different organizations belong to one ideology. We need to start looking at that first and then differentiate between which group. We know this is being looked at, treated as a terrorism organization. Ron, as we said you were in the Criminal Division in the fbi. Pretty early on they labeled this as a terrorist investigation. That doesnt necessarily mean that he they have determined that he was acting with a terrorist group. Thats right. They have long looked at this as terrorism first until proven otherwise. You have the joint Terrorism Task force, the collection of talent both at the federal, state and local level and all of the fbi field offices. And its a prudent way to go. It clarifies the way forward, certainly there are elements that are in our face right now that strongly suggest trichl based on what we heard based on isis their encouragement and propaganda. That seems a very logical starting place. What jumps out to you with this particular case . I agree with all of the comments from both jonathan and ron. The other thing that i look at is there had to be some trigger mechanism here that brought hundreds of fbi personnel assets to the scene as rapidly as they did. And theres something telling about the fact that the director went to the white house. That very seldom ever happens. That seems to me that theres a little bit of a missing piece here and maybe its not missing to the investigators at this point and they should well know that its not necessary that they concern themselves with informing us about it either. I think its going to be very important, as jonathan says, to kind of cotidify to clarify that this is really important. They may be able to get to some of the problems some of the things that he did do. When he was in high school he did that martial arts. If you look at any of the training films of isis or isil thats part of their regiment. Who knows if that is attached or not attached. I dont know. I think that this thing is starting to unravel at this particular point in time and i think that all of the information will become known. Its a very active investigation and theres a lot of people mourning as this investigation continues. Alexandra, youre learning more about the victims and their loved ones and the community as well. What can you tell us . The grief is being directed at these four marines killed together at this marine and Naval Reserve center and we have the faces now to the names. We he learned about Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Sullivan he did two tours overseas. Hes being honored in his homestate of massachusetts in springfield. We have learned about Lance Corporal skip wells, the youngest of the four victims here. This young man graduated from High School Just three years ago, pursued his dream and became part of this ugly chapter of this countrys history. He spent some time with his mother recently visiting disney world and saying he died doing what he loved in the service of his country. Were certain that thats the way that all four of these marines would want to be remembered. There was sergeant holmquist, also a twotour marine real veteran marines here. He did a Great Service to his country and were learning about Staff Sergeant wyatt. His wife posted on facebook a picture of him and his children the children holding the american flag. They are Young Children learning the story of their fathers service and learning about what happened to him and the three men alongside him. There was also a sailor who was injured during the attacks. He was shot three times according to his grandmother. This is randall smith. Recovering today. Alexandra, thank you. Lets listen in on the press conference. Thats the u. S. Attorney in chattanooga. Good afternoon. Thank you for coming. Im joined here today by the sheriff, the mayor, the District Attorney locally and other statewide Homeland Security officials. First of all, my heartfelt condolences to the four marines who were killed yesterday. Im joined on the stage by captain jason balser of the United States marine corps. Next to him, chief Fred Fletcher chief of police of Chattanooga Police Department Next to him, steve jarado special agent in charge of the alcohol firearms and explosives. Next to him ed reinhold fbi for the Eastern District of tennessee. I am bill killian, the United States attorney for the district of tennessee. We wanted to relay to you details and be as transparent as we can be and what the law allows us to be. The active shooter situation is being treated as a terrorism investigation. It is being led by the fbis joint Terrorism Task force and we will continue to investigate it as an act of terrorism until the proof shows us otherwise. We will let the facts and the evidence lead us where it may. The department of justice, the fbi, our local, state and federal partners are putting all the resources necessary towards this effort. We will not leave any stone unturned for the victims of this heinous and cowardly act. I can tell you that we have one common goal. That is to protect the safety and the National Security of our citizens and our people in this country. Chattanooga police chief is here and he will detail some unquestionable acts of bravery and heroism exhibited by the Chattanooga Police department and the active shooter situation they found themselves. Steve jarado will detail the assets and resources of atf toward the investigation and ed reinhold will detail what he can of the joint Terrorism Task forceled investigation, the resources and personnel of the fbi and what they have dedicated to this. At that point, we will answer any questions that you have if we can answer them and i want to thank you in advance for understanding that we cant answer all questions. And are prohibited from actually answering some. First of all, i want to recognize captain jason balser with the United States marine corps. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. We thank the Law Enforcement for their response yesterday and the community for their heartfelt support. We will continue to assist the federal and chattanooga authorities in their investigation. Most importantly, our thoughts, prayers and support are with the families of our four deceased marines and with the wounded servicemen and Police Officer. We remain committed to being a part of the communities from which our marines come and to ensuring balance between the safety of our marines and remaining accessible to the nation. Thank you. My heart and the heart of the Chattanooga Police department go out to the marine corps and the families and their victims. For myself and the Chattanooga Police department we offer our condolensces and we say semper fi. The bravery of the Chattanooga Police officers today, so please indulge me. Yesterday, Chattanooga Police officers stood ready to place themselves between harm and the Community Just like they do every day. When the call came out of a gunman Police Officers immediately responded and began searching for this cowardly and brutal person. Yesterday was a breathtaking example of that every day courage, that every day bravery that can all too often be taken for granted. Immediately after reports of gunfire, officers began searching and located the gunman driving down the highway. Chattanooga Police Officers immediately began following and chasing that vehicle between the first and second locations. Eventually officers encountered the suspect at the second location. That suspect soon made his intent his cowardly Homicidal Intent clear. Officers of Chattanooga Police department did not hesitate. They engaged that person that gunman immediately aggressively with the sole intent of making sure that he harmed as few Community Members as possible. That assailant, that gunman struck one Police Officer with gunfire. As he went down his teammates, who were responding equally as aggressively came to his aid. They put their hands on him, dragged him from under the gunfire andre to ensure that he was safe and the gunman remained engaged. Officers continued to return fire and engage the suspect, even as officers from around the city began responding. Members of my executive staff rushed out of the Police Headquarters to the scene while the incident was unfolding. Officers sitting at home threw on their uniforms rushed out the door came to aid their community and aid their fellow officers. As ive had a chance to talk to the officers as we debrief them they recount their training their mentorship, but, most importantly, their commitment to serve the community. They are all thankful for each other and the service to this community. Officers stand willing to risk their own lives for others. They did the day before yesterday, they did yesterday with breathtaking clarity, and they do today and tomorrow. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Chattanooga Police officers prevented loss of life yesterday. Chattanooga Police Officers prove themselves in every sense of the word heroes. They are my heroes. I have never been prouder to be a Police Officer than i was yesterday and today. I am extremely proud to be a Chattanooga Police officer. Chattanooga Police Officers stand ready day and night to face down evil to face down violence and do it on behalf of their beloved chattanooga. On behalf of them we thank you for the privilege to serve. Thank you. Good afternoon. On behalf of the men and women of atf, id like to express my sincere condolences to the United States marine corps. As regarding atf, as it pertains to what weve been doing, atf has had resulted relayed to the investigative team. Atf has provided investigative and intelligent resources to augment the investigation. Several agents from our Birmingham Office from our Knoxville Office from my Nashville Office have responded as well as our Intelligence Research specialists are here and present and working in a collaborative effort with all of our partners here on the stage today. So we are committed to work as a team and to be here and we will bear no expense in making sure we solve this case for the american people. Thank you. Good afternoon. Welcome back. First, on behalf of the fbi and director of the fbi and all of the men and women who serve in the fbi and our Law Enforcement officers i want to extend our deepest sympathy to not only the marine corps but to the loved ones. Its difficult to find the words to express how sorry we are at your loss. Now id like to provide you with a quick update since our last press conference late yesterday evening. This matter continues to be investigated as an act of terrorism by the fbis knoxville joint Terrorism Task force along with the Chattanooga Police department and our other federal, state and local partners. Because the investigation is still in its early stages it would be premature to speculate on exactly why the shooter did what he did. However, we are conducting a thorough investigation to determine whether this person acted alone, was inspired or directed and will exhaust all efforts in determining why or how this terrible act happened. Because this is an ongoing investigation, we are somewhat limited in what we can discuss but i can tell you that as i speak right now, personnel from the fbi, atf, hsi, troopers from the tennessee Highway Patrol Chattanooga Police officers and Hamilton County Sheriff Deputies along with other Law Enforcement throughout the state of tennessee and throughout this nation are covering leads that are coming in to our command center. Some of those agents are part of our evidence Response Teams who are highly trained in crime scene processing. They continue to meticulous low document evidence located at the crime scenes teams from knoxville, memphis and atlanta along with trajectory experts from the Fbi Laboratory are working on both scenes. Fbi agents are partnering with state and locals to run down every lead that we have received. Thus far we have covered approximately 70 leads and as our Team Continues to gather additional information, you may see or hear about other activities in the state and nation. Victim witness specialists from the United States Attorneys Office and the fbi are assisting the families of the victims. If you have any information about the alleged shooter, mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez and you havent spoken and we havent spoken to you, please call 8656027582. No amount of information is too small or insignificant. At this time well open the floor to questions. Please state your question loudly. I will ask that you please tell me what where you are coming from which news agency and, lastly if the question is not for me please indicate who the question is for. Well start right over here. Can you talk about the weapons that he had in his possession . Im not going to go into specifics about what type of weapons he had. I will tell you that he did have at least two long guns which would be considered rifles or shotguns. And he did have one handgun, that were aware of. Yes, sir . [ inaudible ]. We are continuing to explore the possibilities. Some of the weapons were purchased legally and some may not have been. Well examine that. Yes, maam . [ inaudible ]. Okay. Let me clarify your statement. And the question i need to repeat the question so everyone can hear it. I think the question is since it has been classified as an act of terrorism, is there any concern for the community . First of all, we have not declared it as an act of terrorism. We will treat it as an act of terrorism until we determine whether it was an act of terrorism or a criminal event. At this time, we dont believe anyone else is in danger in the chattanooga community. Again, we continue to explore all options as far as other individuals who may or may not be involved. However, at this point, we do not believe theres an imminent threat to anyone in the chattanooga nk i also said yesterday, dont get caught up in monickers. This is an investigation of terrorism. The investigation of terrorism are at an intense and higher level than a normal criminal investigation. And so if you investigate it as terrorism and it ends up being a simple criminal act, then youve done more extensive investigation than you feeded to. If you investigate it as a criminal act and it becomes terrorism, you may have neglected to perform some investigation. Were investigating it at the highest level and i wouldnt get caught up in monickers about whether its International Domestic and all of that. Its a terrorism investigation. [ inaudible ] the second location. Can you give us any more information, not about motive or anything like that but about what happened there . Where was he confronted . When was he confronted . Had he already shot people when he was confronted those types of details. We are still trying to figure that out. We are beginning to process that scene. We brought a lot of special equipment to process it thoroughly. We have to look at trajectory shell casings, the impact of where the rounds went. So it is our belief that he was engaged by the Chattanooga Police officers but he was a moving target and he was obviously able to kill the four marines. And wound the one sailor. Yes, sir . Cnn following up on jims question. Where was the suspect finally cornered . In the park outside that building . And where exactly where the marines slain . Inside the facility . In the parking lot outside you see the car rammed into a green fence. Can you help us with that, please . He never went outside the fence once he gained entry into the facility. He was killed inside of the fence area all of the marines were killed inside the fence as well. Im not going to go into detail where they were killed because it may or may not become part of the evidence that well use at trial. What can you tell us about the suspects [ inaudible ] . Well obviously were looking at any foreign travel that he may have performed. We do know that he has traveled outside of the United States. We have we are exploring all travel that he has done and we have asked our intelligence partners throughout the world to provide us with any information that they may have concerning his travel and or activities while overseas. [ inaudible ] . Im not going to go into great detail exactly where he has traveled in an intent not to hinder our partner overseas from conducting their portion of the investigation. Yes, maam . [ inaudible ] . We have no the question was, if you didnt hear, did the police kill the subject or did he kill himself . All indications are that he was killed by fire from the Chattanooga Police officers. We have no indication that there was any selfinflicted wounds. However, we will examine that to make sure thats the case. Yes, sir . [ inaudible ] can you talk a little bit about can you tell us whether or not he had any body armor or protective gear on his person while he engaged the Police Officers . Yes, i can tell you and the question was, was he wearing body armor . The answer to that was, no he was not wearing body armor. He was wearing what we consider a loadbearing vest. Meaning it was a vest that he was able to carry additional magazines of ammunition while he moved around on foot. Yes, maam . [ inaudible ] was the suspect wounded multiple times and where were the wounds . Again, we have not completed an autopsy on the individual. So i dont want to speculate as to when and where he was hit. Obviously there were sufficient injuries to him to eliminate the threat to the other Service Members and personnel in the area. Yes, sir . Jeremy [ inaudible ] with the atlanta constitution. To what extent was his use of social media, writing on blog something that youre looking at as part of your investigation . The question is and i know its hard with the microphone it went in and out on me. Are we exploring his use of social media . Particularly his blog writing. Blogging or whatever . Yeah. We will look at every possible aspect to include his use of social media. We obviously want to know what his thoughts were and and or who he was associating with at the time. Yes, maam . Yes. [ inaudible ] can you update us on [ inaudible ] . Because of the hippa concerns im not going to discuss the condition of any of the survivors at this time. Yes, sir . A followup question. Fox on tv news nashville. Can you talk to us about how the other victims were injured . You talked about the Police Officer that was injured. What about the other two that survived that were injured . My understanding is and correct me if i am wrong they were gunshot wounds as well . Two of the other wounded, injured . Thats our understanding, that they are gunshot wounds but until an autopsy is done sometimes that can be misleading. Yes, sir . How many Police Officers were engaged in the fire fight . At this time were not going to discuss the number of officers involved. Obviously it was a massive response by the Chattanooga Police department and let me reiterate the bravery that these officers demonstrated. It is apparent by looking at the crime scene and what we have seen so far of the crime scene, that these officers were under a tremendous amount of gunfire from this individual and yet they continued to move forward against this target and engage him and eliminate that threat saving numerous lives throughout this community. In the back with the camera . Can you talk about the type of weapons that your officers had . Were they small arps or were any of them equipped with assault weapons to attack this subject . Absolutely. All patrol officers in chattanooga are armed with a duty weapon a side arm, which is exactly like the one im wearing right now. It is a sixhour. 45 caliber and 5. 65 millimeter ar15 type or comparable patrol weapon. Can you talk about the type of fire fight that they encountered . Significant. It was clear that this gunman had every intent to encounter and to murder Police Officers if he needed to. In the back with the camera . Yes, sir. Got a question. Eric from channel 12 wbdef. About two hours ago the chairman from the Homeland Security gave a presser at Macdill Air Force base. He said that the shooter, from what he understood was inspired by isis. Are you guys con firpfirming that this was an isisinspired shooting . No, we are not con firpfirlingconfirming that. At this time we have no indication that he was directed or inspired by anyone other than himself. In the back with the white shirt . [ inaudible ] . She was not arrested. The individual escorted out of the home as a matter of precaution is handcuffed. We do that whenever we make entry into a location for officer safety. Once it was determined that the scene was secure and she was not a threat then she was un unhandcuffed and taken care of. All the way in the back with the white shirt . [ inaudible ] . Okay. The question is, looking at his emails have we determined whether hes contacted any Foreign Countries . Im not going to go into detail about what we have found or not found as far as evidence goes. That would be considered evidence. Im not in a position to answer that at this time. We are exploring all possibilities to include any contacts overseas. Ill take about two more questions. Sir, cbs news. You talk about mr. Abdulazeez traveling out of the United States. Was that within the last year or two years . And also for chief fletcher have you spoken to officer pedigo and can you tell me about his state of mind and how hes doing today . As far as travel were exploring where and went he traveled. I dont want to talk about that until our partners overseas have conducted their portion of the investigation. Chief, do you want to thank you for your concern. Ive spoken directly to all of the officers involved in this incident. I have spoken to many of the families and with families of the victims. They are all doing very very well. They have the support of their Police Department the support of their city, the support of their community and what im learning recently the support of this entire country. We thank you very much for that. They are doing very very well. Again, i applaud them for their bravery. Thank you for your question. Thank you all, everybody. That will conclude the press conference for today. Official there is in chattanooga. Learning more details about the gunman and the heroic actions by the cops. We heard one official who said no doubt cops saved lives there. Were also learning about the gunman, that he was wearing a loadbearing vest with various magazines and ammo. He had at least two long guns and one handgun, were told. Also the fbi, special agent in charge said at this point theres no indication that theres any link to isis here. He made it clear that officials are looking at every possibility right now. Another part of this investigation is the travels of this gunman. And for that i want to bring in my colleague, justice reporter evan perez. Youre learning a little bit more about his travels overseas. Is that right, evan . Thats right, pamela. The jordanian government has confirmed he did travel there last year and that is actually going to be one of the focuses of the investigation for the fbi here. They want to know who was he associating with was there anybody that perhaps would raise concerns perhaps anybody who is connected to known terrorist organizations who might have influenced what happened yesterday. Very significant from that press conference from ed reinhold the special agent in charge there in response to the speculation from the Homeland Security chairman in the house who said that he believed this was isis inspired. He said thats a possibility hes looking into but he also said at this time we have no indication that this was inspired or directed by anyone other than by this gunman. Significantly, also he mentioned that there were possible charges that might be coming from this. There might be a prosecution. And that is the part of the investigation that is focused on the weapons. As you mentioned, two long guns one handgun was what were found there and he also said, significantly, that some were purchased legally and some may not have been. So that is where the avenue for possible prosecution will come. That is a very active part of this investigation right now as well. All right. Evan perez, thank you so much. I want to bring in Karen Greenberg for some analysis on this. We heard evan talk about the fact that he went to jordan in the last year. But why would this be so critical. Why is this so key . They are trying to put together this persons life and what might have motivated him to do this and they are very careful in their use of language. They said we dont know if this was inspired by or directed by. And the real question is was this directed by anyone or was this a selfpropelled mission . And what does that mean to be inspired by . In terms of jordan they are going to want to know who he met with did he actually stay in jordan . What groups do the United States have on their radar and what avenues do they not have on their radar . The larger point here is when youre talking about what it means to be inspired by isis i think the question becomes very broad. Isis may not have to do very much to be accused of inspiring someone and this individual fits the criteria of the other cases that weve already seen in the system a year ago. How so . He fits the age group exactly, the average age is in the 20s, 26. But many are 24. Hes also somebody who radicalized later in his career. In other words, he was not necessarily radical islam early on and the growing of the beard in. In the past couple of months. In the past couple of months. He has a recent criminal charge which is something that weve been seeing in a number of cases. Hes targeted federal officials in the way that isis has called for and the way that others have responded to in this country in the isis cases. There are a number of factors that distinctguish him in this regard. 10 are naturalized citizens. An ironic way that he doesnt fit, only a handful of these 60 cases are people who have middle eastern ties and middle eastern backgrounds that are active and so this is a new not surprising but new in terms of the database. I want to bring in the Criminal Division of the fbi. Ron, weve heard him set the scene of what happened yesterday. He was wearing a loadbearing vest with magazine and ammo and two long guns and one handgun. This sounds like someone who was bent on killing people killing members of the military. Unquestionably that was his intent. He accomplished it. To the extent this is foreigninspired terrorist inspired, this is very much a victory for terrorism. And i think a very legitimate concern, weve heard it expressed by the director of the fbi, a concern that this act inspires others that others are inclined to follow and say, look, here was a victory, isis or others may claim it. Im a little surprised we havent heard a claim from isis as their victory and i think theres good reason for pause here before we line up behind representative mccaul. This could have been inspired by an aq offshoot aqap or some other piece of radical islam. And i think thats probably part of the reason why they were really choosing their words carefully in that press conference saying they dont want to jump to any conclusions. Ron, this was a relatively unsophisticated attack. We had learned that he wasnt on any terror watch list or on the if. Bis radar before. It seems hike this is what Law Enforcement has been worried about happening, the unknown. How do you stop Something Like this from happening . Very difficult to do. And weve heard public officials, Law Enforcement officials talking about it in recent weeks. We saw an example of where it can succeed in boston within the last week where a Police Captain referred the fbi to his own son. That is a tragic event when a father has to point at their son as a potential radicalized person. However, it can succeed and i think as we get deeper into this investigation, hear more from the fbi, the question we have to ask is what were the missed opportunities, which there are in so many active shooter cases. There normally are preevent indicators. Were also learning that his father was investigated by the fbi in a terrorism investigation. Were going to talk about that and more right after this quick break. Stay with us. While youre watching this im hacking your company. Grabbing your data. Stealing your customers secrets. Theres an army of us. 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Welcome back to cnns special breaking news coverage. We have a panel here and something that we want to talk about is something that we learned today through officials that the shooters dad had been investigated by the fbi in a terrorism finance case. It was opened and then closed but i want to bring in bill gavin to get his thoughts on this. Bill gavin, the former assistant director of the fbis new york office. How relevant bill is that to this current investigation the fact that the shooters dad, even though he had been on the fbis radar, his dad had been for a terrorism case . His dads name came up on this terrorism case because he contributed money to some organization. It could very well on his part have been an innocent contribution that he made or a borderline case. But when the bureau looked at it and im sure that they looked at it in conjunction with Terrorism Task force and maybe some of our allies overseas they werent able to attach this to a terrorist act or relate him to terrorism and thats why he came off the grid and they closed that case. And he was cleared, we should make that point, and this happened in 2002 right after 9 11 when the fbi was questioning andeople for their activities financial activities money being sent overseas. Karen, im going to bring you back in because we were talking about this whole there are a lot of individuals that would probably like to see the charleston incident characterized as terrorism. The federal government has decided not to do that. The individuals may turn out to be the same. Certainly the charleston shooter shared with much of the isis and its something that they picked for legal reasons and strategic reasons. Traditionally, youre looking at domestic versus international, a domestic group, a hate group, somewhere in the United States or an international organization. The fbi in charge said theres no indication that he was inspired by or directed by anyone other than himself. What does that mean exactly and would you so label him a terrorist . Thats a very good question. If this was a political act that was aimed at federal officials and they find out that he is associated in any way, they may they would have if he had not been killed or if they find other individuals designate this as terrorism. But i think youre touching on something very important here which is the larger trend towards violence and lone wolves and shooters. The question is what is isis . Isis is a global gang that exploits discontent among children and 20yearolds. That is one way to describe who they are. And so the line between what isis is what it has captured the devastating. We have to take a quick break. On the other side of the break well hear from the girlfriend of one of the victims, one of the four marines that was killed yesterday. Stay with us. Well be right back. New from meow mix with real salmon chicken or tuna. The only treat cats ask for by name. [dad]i wear a dozen different hats doing small gigs,side gigs. Gig gigs. Quickbooks selfemployed helps me get ready for tax time. To separate expenses,i just swipe. Its one hat i dont mind wearing. [passenger] i work for me. And so does quickbooks. It estimates my taxes,so i know how much stays in my pocket. And thats how i own it. [announcer]stay in the flow with quickbooks selfemployed. Start your free,thirtyday trial today at joinselfemployeddotcom. One day a rider made a decision. The decision to ride on and save money. He decided to save money by switching his motorcycle insurance to geico. Theres no shame in saving money. Ride on, ride proud. Geico motorcycle great rates for great rides. Youre only young once. Unless you have a subaru. announcer the subaru xv crosstrek. Symmetrical allwheel drive plus 34 mpg. Love. Its what makes a subaru a subaru. Welcome back. A special Education Teacher in washington, d. C. Made a life changing decision when he took what he did in class sdraerveg and made it a around the clock job. Meet cnn hero richard. When i was a special ed teacher i taught carpentry. You could see the spark. They would go home at nighttime and would get erased. Tears, the anguish they would go through. I saw a real need and thats when the idea hit me. Dont let them go home. We provide residential setting for young men. During the day they learn trades. At nighttime they get their high school education. We take on a lot of tough cases from foster care to the court system. The emotional support that we give is critical. The grounds are wide open fields trees. Chickens animals. It is not a lock up. This is so it becomes a home for many of them. When they lead we try to help them find a job and place to live. The Program Saved my life in every day. Im currently enrolled in college. I feel like ive gone from the bottom to the top. He gave me the tools to build my future. I decided to come back and work with youth like other people work would me. I dont see any more kids fall through the cracks. If i can give them an opportunity to turn their life around thats my lifes work. To nominate a western in your community go to cnn. Com heroes. To watch more of my interview with the girlfriend of one of the fallen marines go to cnn. Com. The lead starts right now. Welcome to the lead. Im john berman. Our breaking news. An isis inspired attack. Thats what the chairman of the house noelds house. Congressman Michael Mccall said terror has struck america. If it can happen in chattanooga, tennessee, it can happen anywhere. In my judgment my experience this was an isis inspired attack. I believe yesterday was one those that god throught through. This investigation is goeng. Mccall sooilcited no evidence tying him to the isis. They said they knew of no isis link. Whatever the governments motivation the damage is done. Two separate military