Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20150827

Boyfriend and anchor at the same tv station right here on the lead. Our politicians lead, trust but verify, the donald trump version imposing an inspection regime that allows complete unfettered access to welcome to the lead. Our National Lead now, silenced during a news broadcast normally means something went wrong. Never more so than today. The moment of silence this morning at wbdj does not even begin to express the sorrow at that station and in that commute, not to mention the entire community. Alison parker and adam ward remembered this morning after a crazed former coworker murdered them. They were interviewing vicki gardner. Today the hospital upgraded her condition to good. That is wonderful news. Police are trying to piece together the big question why . Why did two people have to die over one mans twisted views . Brian todd is digging into that question. He joins us live. Brian, we just learned a lot from the stations general manager. Tell es what he had to say. Reporter john, very dram nick new details laid out by mr. Marks, the troubled history that Vester Flanagan had, and he worked here for less than a year. According to jeff marks, it was just a few months into his tenure when signs of trouble started occurring. This is a timeline that jeff marks laid out just a few moments ago. In january 2013, he accused one of the news photographers here of making trouble to him by questioning a decision to go on private property in pursuit of a story. At that point in a meeting with a manager and hr, he raised some concerns with hr of perceived unfairness, and those accusations or concerns were immediately investigated and found to be without merit. Shortly after that, he confronted an anchor in the hallway, an anchor who was assigned by a producer to review one of the his stories, and he was not happy about that. At that Point Management made the determination that it was the appropriate time to separate him from the company. On february 1st of 2013, two news managers and the hr manager notified flanagan of the decision to determine nate his employment. He reacted angrily, telling them they would have to call the police, because his was going to make a stink and it was going to be in the headlines. The hr rep called 911. Employees had been notified to give flanagan space to clean out his desk. Once at his desk, flanagan attempted to reach the corporate ceo, without success. At that point the Police Arrived and escorted him from the building. On the way out, he handed a wooden cross to the news director, who was at that time dan dennison, and he said, youll need this. He also made a derogatory comment to adam ward, the news photographer, who we lost yesterday as he left. Jeff marks also said that during certain pertain at wbdj, Vester Flanagan was basically ordered to undergo some treatment in the Employee Assistance program, is what they called it. They specified that that program could be for a number of things. It could be for mental health, for some emotional problems, for financial problems, or other problems, but they made it very clear they ordered flanagan to undergo treatment because of his anger issues and because of hi behavior. They said he did comply with that order, but not enough progress was seen and he was terminated in february of 2013, john. Brian, you also spoke to an employee who had some kind of runin with flanagan . Thats right, i spoke with ryan fuqua, who was a photographers here and worked with Vester Flanagan for a number of months. He said he was always kind of on gej when he worked with flanagan, that he was quick to anger. He laid out one instances where they were doing a live report in the 6 00 p. M. Hour of a newscast, and something went wrong and flanagan became so angry he threw down his material and walked off into the woods for 20 minutes, and didnt come back. Thats the kind of behavior he got used to with Vester Flanagan. And apparently the kind of behave that a lot of people witnessed there. These murders have been so hard in the tightknit news families. They were not just coworkers, but friends, the loss so deeply felt by the employees. They put the morning show on again today. Well have some isolated storms returning for the upcoming weekend into next week, as temperatures getting back to right around 90 degrees. I just miss them so much today. I do, too. Were in this together. Alison parker, she talked about getting married, her boyfriend and anchor, chris hurst joins me now. Thank you so much for being with us. Its so hard to hear, i know, your colleagues mourn the loss of alison like you are right now. Weve been watching you over the last 24 hours with such a mixture of sympathy and awe, awe that you can keep talking about this. You say its easy to keep talking about alison, because you love talking about her, as you face the second night alone. Is it getting harder . Its getting harder, its getting harder all the time. Hearing leo and kim. I miss her so much and yet being such professionals to still go on the air is is inspiring to me. I have been able to be strong as so many people have said, whatever that means, and alison gave me a strength i never even knew existed. She thought that i was one of the strongest people she had ever known. Her parents are incredibly strong, and they have given me strength, and we have we have supported each other during this time. But it is growing ever more difficult. The more information that comes out is making this harder to cope with and understand, not easier. Its making it a lot harder. Are you paying attention to the information . You know, so many people are looking at the investigation now and asking why. Im trying go ahead. Im trying not to. I wish that i couldnt, but im a journalist. I have a public presence, and i have been trying to keep the people bhor concerned about alisons family informed about how theyre doing, and about the Scholarship Opportunities that have already been set up in her name at James Madison university and the Patrick Henry Community College here in her hometown of henry county. So when i go on twitter, you start to see things that you maybe didnt want to see. You scroll through the mentions on your twitter feed to find some source of strength from the people sending you condolences and warm wishes, and then of course you get the ones that are not that, and and apprise you of news you did not want to see. And the images you didnt want to see. These are images, chris, i think no one wanted to see. I know youre a public person and youre trying to be strong i think for the community, but i think everyone knows you just lost the love of your life. I think everyone knows you have to take a moment to grieve and take care of yourself. I think Everyone Wants you to take care of yourself. No, youre right, john. Youre absolutely right. Our two families have decided that this is the way that we have gone about grieving so far. It has been somewhat cathartic. This is the arena that alison was most comfortable in, and i am most comfortable in, and her father who has been a politician and is running for office again. Were communicators. We like to talk. We like to have conversations. We didnt want to be quiet now, because being quiet would have been so unnatural to alison and so unnatural to us. We do love her so much, and there are so many photos and memories that i have of her in the nine months that we were together. I just i want people to know that she was loved by many, many people in this area, and many people started their day with her. They got off to a good start for their day with her. For me, my day always ended on a fine note, when i was able to kid her goodbye when she went off to work, when i came home from the 11 00 news. That must have been the most special kiss over the 24hour period of a day, and indeed those nine months. Youve called them the best nine months of your life, of both of your lives. How did she make them so great . No doubt. She we did things, you know . I think so many times in my life i have taken relationships for granted. I was just talking to a good friend of mine who i had not connected with in a couple years just because facebook almost does that job for us now. And you live vicariously through that, check in and keep tabs. You know what people are doing, but you dont talk to them. Alison was different. She was on facebook all the time, shared pictures and videos with everyone, but we did things. More so i have done more in the nine months i spent with her than i had doing in years prior, whether this was to go hiking, to museums, weddings, to ball games, to spending time with her family and going out and doing things that she loved, which were to celebrate the arts. To go to shakespeare plays, and to go to musicals. We didnt have much time during the week to be together, so we made sure that our weekends were jampacked full of things to do, and thats what gives me this book full of memories. Ive been showing it every single time. I cant let it out of my sight anymore, and, you know, john, ive never had anyone who has wanted to create pictures like this for me. We did things together and documented it. Because we werible to do that, i now have this forever, and and if it wasnt for her, i wouldnt have any of these pictures, i never would have taken these pictures with any other girl except her. She brought it out of me. And i hope and the only thing i can do to keep her legacy alive every day is that no matter who comes into my life in the future and who is in my life now, celebrate it, enjoy it, document it, and share it. Thats what she taught me. It is so important to do. It is so important to do. And she brought it youve me. Chris, all i can say is that you were so lucky to have had her, and she i was. She is so lucky to have you. Just you describing the love, my heart breaks for you that this all happened, but at the same time thank god you have that book to carry with you for the rest of your life. I know. You guys lived big. I know. And i think youll always have that, but that makes what is happening today so much harder as well. I now youve been saving up for an engagement ring. Been there too, brother. Its not easy. Youve been talking about plans for the future. Talk to me about that for a second. We had just begun to start saving. I have no money down on an engagement ring. We have no money down on a house. We moved in together at the beginning of the month, just started reducing our expenses. We had just decided to get rid of cable and go with another streaming service. We were paring down our, she was watching our thermostat like a hawk. Is sounds like youre making sacrifice, but theres no sacrifice when youre doing it for a bigger cause. No, no, i loved it. I loved it. I loved every single moment of it, because what we had i think is a relationship that is pure and one that is is focused on effort. We were working on something. We had not yet begun to start saving, we were comparing or budget, setting a budget, and we were going to execute it and save money, and we were going to get a house and a ring. And we we were not able to really even start that process. And i can tell you that, you know what . You need to do that process, anyway, no matter if you have someone in your life or you dont have someone in your life. You need to start now doing the things that you need to do in order to do the things that you want to do. And with alison, we did both. We worked hard at our relationship, and we had so much fun in it. We had so much fun. We had a blast every single day. Chris, could i ask you to stick around for just a minute . I want to take a quick break, but i have so much more that i want to talk about. I want to talk about what you are going to put in that book Going Forward. Independent to talk about your colleagues at wdbj, and how youre going to work through this with them and talk about the community, so please stick around. Well be right back. What super poligrip does for me is it keeps the food out. Before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. Just a few dabs is clinically proven to seal out more food particles. Super poligrip is part of my life now. Im why . Because its red lobsters crabfest. And theres so much crab, so many ways. And with dishes like this luscious crab lovers dream or savory snow crab bake. Im just Getting Started so hurry in and get crackin Rheumatoid Arthritis like me. And youre talking to a rheumatologist about a biologic, this is humira. This is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. This is humira helping me reach for more. Doctors have been prescribing humira for more than 10 years. Humira works for many adults. It targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contrubutes to ra symptoms. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Talk to your doctor and visit humira. Com this is humira at work. Welcome back to the lead. Im john berman in for jake tapper today. Were joined by chris hurst, Alison Parkers boyfriend. Chris is talking about alison, because he wants to talk about alison, because that is the best way i think for you, chris, to get thus these next days. We are so happy to hear your thoughts and your memories about this wonderful, wonderful person. So thanks again for being with us. I want to ask you about your colleagues at wdbj. Watching what they have done today and yesterday has been remarkable. The moment of silence this morning, putting on, those doing the weather in roanoke when you look at this guy who cares whats in the sky on a day like today, but people need to know. I wonder what theyre all going through at the station. We have another case of Office Violence and Workplace Violence and wdbj7 is not unique, a closeknit family. Ours was special, and you know from your experience in Television News and many people outside know how different shifts are different minifamilies, whether its first shift, third shift, overnight. You grow to have a bond with your specific shift. And for Kimberly Mcbroom and lee on Hurst Brenner to do what they have done the past two days are remarkable, but they are broken. All of the behind the scenes staff, the production staff, the editors, photographers, we are broken. Our station is on the other hand by a great Ownership Group out of south bend, indiana, and they jumped at the chance to have our sister station from wichita, kansas, come and help us out, because we needed the help. I i think i probably could have gone back and done the news, but what whats the point . And theyve got plenty of people to cover it, and i think my platform as a broadcaster and journalist is to share alisons story, because i know her story. I know her story without attribution, i know it to be true, and i have shared it with the station and trying to share it with as many different people as possible, so that everyone knows about the shining light that she was. And adam was, too. They were a adam ive been watching these clips of adam, and, you know, i do the same work you do. Ive been looking at them like thats the kind of guy i would love to be on assignment with. I would love to go out for a day or two or three days and work on a story with adam. He just seems like so much fun. Its a grind, right . What we do is tough. Adam always came in with a great attitude and worked well with alison. When they did those morning live show hits, you know, they would do anything from what they were doing at the lake this week, celebrating is the anniversary of the manmade lake, to dressing each other up for a ballet promotion for an upcoming show, to going to wrestling coming to down having the wrestling crew of new day come. They just had a ball together. Every single day was different for adam and melissa. They thrived on it, and they enjoyed it. And they were able to meet everybody from the community because of their position as the morning reporter and the morning photographer. They were more well known, i would say, that is much pretty anyone else in our area, because they got to meet everybody, and immediate something new every single day. New day, i have learn from talking to friends, you know, posted pictures that they took with alison and adam on the individual twitter pages, the wrestling stars, and those are the kinds of people that she would meet all the way down to your average joan thats just trying to promote a tomato festival that was in montgomery county, virginia. Alison played along when they wanted a tomato throwing contest at a guy throwing rotten tomatoes. That was the last clip she showed me that they enjoyed doing. There are no small tomato festivals. Chris, i want to play you some sound now from alisons father whos been talking to cnn. He talked about the role he now wants to play Going Forward as an advocate. Let me play that. I know that the nra, their position is going to be i can hear it now. Theyre going to say, gee, if they were carrying, this never would have happened. Ive got news for you. If alison or adam had been carrying an ak47 strapped around their waist, it wouldnt have made any difference. They couldnt have seen this thing coming. I dont want to hear that argument from the nra, and you know thats going to happen. Im asking your thoughts in general. If you want to talk about guns, talk about guns. I dont want to force you to talk about guns, but what do you want your role to be, the medias role to be, societys role to be Going Forward . What do you want us to take from this . And how do you want us to treat this . I support andy as now a second father and someone that i love and he loves me back. He is very passionate about trying to make alisons life not be in vain. Me merely celebrating her life and sharing her life i dont think achieves that goal. There seems to be some action that is taken out of an event like this, out of an event like sandy hook, like charleston, aurora, colorado, lie chattanooga, and like in louisiana as well. Where these things just dont occur anymore. As a journalist, i dont really feel comfortable sharing any personal views that i have on that issue, but i do think that we need to have a substantive conversation on what is going on in america that is allowing evil to continue to crop up over love . Is it because we are in the media . And the attacker knew this was going to get a lot of play, and here we are again another Mushroom Cloud of coverage . I think the media could have an Even Stronger effect to be positive if we can use this as a conversation in figuring out why we are allowing hailed to creep into peoples hearts instead of fosters love. I think that is a question that cannot be answered easily, but john, it can be answered. It can be answered when we are able to identify individuals who are becoming hateful through maybe even no fault of their own. Im not saying that anyone caused it, but through no fault of their own, and we need to ask why this is happening, and we need to keep the conversation going we dont want to keep it going because its tiresome and we just wait for another one to happen, and we say, this is a huge issue, and then forget about it until another one happens. If we dont forget, i think the incidents will lessen. I believe that. Chris, thank you for helping us not forget. Please go fill that book. Fill that book for alison, and fill that book for you. Thanks for being with us, and hang in there. I have many, many more pictures that have yet to be printed out we took together. This book will be filled, i will be on to the next book. John, thank you for your time. Everyone please remember alison and adam as the warming, heartwarming people. I hope that they are loved by many, many more now. Chris hurst, thank you so much. All right. Our Investigative Team has been digging into the killers history. Were just learn some stunning new details about several web sites he owned and what police found in his car after he shot himself. Thats next. When youre not confident your companys data is secure, the possibility of a breach can quickly become the only thing you think about. Thats where at t can help. At at t we monitor our Network Traffic so we can see things others cant. Mitigating risks across your business. Leaving you free to focus on what matters most. We stop arthritis pain, so you dont have to stop. Because you believe in go. Onward. Todays the day. Carpe diem. Tylenol® 8hr arthritis pain has two layers of pain relief. The first is fast. The second lasts all day. We give you your day back. What you do with it is up to you. Tylenol®. No sixth graders ever sat with but your jansport backpack is permission to park it wherever you please. Hey. Thats that new gear feeling. This week, these folders just one cent. Office depot officemax. Gear up for school. Gear up for great. When heartburn comes creeping up on you. Fight back with relief so smooth and fast. Tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue. And neutralizes stomach acid at the source. Tumtumtumtumtums smoothies, only from tums. Welcome back to the lead. Im john berman in for jake tapper. Continues with our top story, new details painting a disturbing picture of the gunman who took the lives of Alison Parker and adam ward while they were doing an interview live on air. Vicki gardner is doing better today in the hospital. Employment records, complaints and lawsuits show the gunman was often aggressive, often combative. And Senior Investigative correspondent drew griffin looking into all of this. What do we know, drew . Just another disturbing twist. This is between tv jobs, when he registered at least seven domain names, 2007 and 2008. He was soliciting for attractive and muscular men to model for live webcams, records obtained by cnn show that flanagans name, in vallejo, california address, were included in the registration for these. We dont know how much money or if he made any money off these sites. The sites were set up during this period of time against when he lived in california, and according to his linked in that in profile. We also know that he wrote on a basketball blog, soliciting for male models, asks for atrackedive and muscular guys with need bodies. These sites arent active anymore, it appears, and this was back in 2008. Keep in mind he started working at the roanoke station in 2012. John . Drew, what about the details of what the police found in his car. He had a lot of stuff in there that raises eyebrows. Stuff that we knew would probably be found in there. The glock pistol, the phone, other things, but also this, john. Handwritten typed notes, a todo list, 17 stamped letters, and a briefcase that contained three license plates, a wig, a shawl, umbrella, and sun glasses. He also had a black hat seemingly indicating this may have been some kind of a disguise or a plan that he could basically get out of there. He also know from the search warrant that was returned, that the investigators identified flanagan as the suspect not in the tweets we all saw, but based on a text message he sent to a friend, making reference to having done something stupid. So thats how police say they were first turned on to this person as a suspect, and why they put out that all points bulletin for him and the car he was driving. Drew griffin, so interesting with the license plates indicating he had some plans to get away. In our politics lead, brandnew poll numbers with good news for joe biden. Thats next. Plus another bump in the polls with donald trump, but also potential warning sign for the republican frontrunner. Having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pickup truck slams into your brand new car. One second it wasnt there and the next second. Boom, you had your first accident. Now you have to make your first claim. So you talk to your Insurance Company and. Boom, youre blindsided for a second time. They wont give you enough money to replace your brand new car. Dont those people know youre already shaken up . Liberty mutuals new car replacement will pay for the entire value of your car, plus depreciation. Call and for drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch to Liberty Mutual insurance and you could save up to 509. Call Liberty Mutual for a free quote today at see Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty mutual insurance. Welcome back to the lead. Im john berman for jake tapper today. Donald trump and Hillary Clinton both on the campaign trail, not together if thats what you were thinking. A brandnew poll shows them holding down their number one spots nationally. Hillary clinton is softening her tone on one issues, the emails at the state department, and she deployed her stronge language yet on the. Joe johns is in minneapolis with Democratic Party leaders having interesting meetings this week. Joe, what did secretary clinton day . Reporter john, there are some interesting meetings. Behind the scenes here at the Democratic National Committee Summer meetings, is superdelegate as well as dnc members are being told in private meetings, to essentially keep their powder dry, to keep an open mind, its too early to anoint a frontrunner, specifically Hillary Clinton. Thats coming from the draft biden movement, in fact. Mean whim Hillary Clinton was on the campaign trail, hitting the republicans heaard today. Im going to tell you, im going to keep going. Reporter reporter Hillary Clinton trying to turn the focus back to republicans, with a new line of attack in ohio. Extreme views about women, we expect that from some of the terrorist groups. We expect that from people who dont want to live in the modern world, but its a little hard to take coming from republicans who want to be the president of the united states. Yet they espouse outofdate and outoftouch policies. Jeb bush called her priorities totally wrong. Its a new tack from clinton when she acknowledged that her use of a private email server was troubling to many voters. Well, i know people have raised questions about my email use. I understand why. I get it. Reporter all when democra n quinn by yak poll still shows her leading the field, but down a whopping 61 of voters polled that clinton was not honest or truthworthy. Until we start having debates, our party is going to be defined and branded by questioning like what did secretary clinton know . When did she know it . And when will the fbi conclude their investigation . Thats not a formula for success in the fall. Reporter as doubts persist, theres been an increased about the. Quinn pillia found that the Vice President does better than clinton in hypothetical matchups between donald trump, jeb bush, and marco rubio. Biden mourning the lost of his son beau is gauging whether he has the emotional fuel to run, he told members of the National Democratic committee. If you were to announce to run, you have to be able to commit to all of you that i would be able to give it my whole heart and whole soul. Right now both of pretty well banged up. As the rest of the field gathers for a Party Meeting where clinton hopes to hear more of this. For a generation they have thrown a kitchen sink at the clintons, and the people of america understand the real record. Reporter as bidens deliberations continue, he met today with richard trumka, the powerful president of the aflcio, who so far has not endorsed a candidate. Interesting meet, though, joe johns, thank you so much. On the on other side of the race, donald trump blasting critics over his hair. I dont wear a toupee. Its my hair, i swear. He even invited a wont on the stage to confirm it. Yes, i believe it is. Welcome back to the lead. Im john berman. Jake tapper is off today. Time for the politics lead. What goes up in this case is not coming down Donald Trumps poll numbers. Now the republican frontrunner is explaining to the world why he thinking he is doing so well. Today in South Carolina, trump says his outsider appeal, outside washington, outside politics thats letting him leapfrog senators and governors and others in the race. Sara greenburg is in is this is this. Its one moment of absolutely no consequence that had the entire world talking. Reporter yeah, john, trump did a lot of bragging, touting his outsider image. Like you said, he had a lot of heated words for his rival, but he addressed his hair. Remember how big those pages used to be . Reporter a confident donald trump reading to the crowd. El hambre de la in other words, the man of the tomb pay. I dont ware a tomb pay. Its my hair. I swear. Come here. Come here. Up been the ante on his colorful antics, even pulling a woman on stage to defend his hairdo. Come, come. Is it mine . It is. It is. Say it, please. Yes, i believe it is. Prrp perhaps thanks to a new quinn pillia poll, trump now at 28 support, 16 points ahead of his closest exercise tore attributing his rise to widespread frustration with washington. The reason is we have a message, and the message is essentially were not going to take it anymore. Youre going to have conflicts. A sentiment boston yow siders like carson, who is now a clear number two, as jeb bush falls behind. Meanwhile, South Carolinas own senator Lindsey Graham 23409 even registering in the latest polls. Has anyone ever heard of Lindsey Graham . This guy, i mean, he is he is out of control. So a poll came out the other day, he was at zero. Reporter but along with trumps frontrunner status, warning signs. Six in ten women question whether he cares about their problems and needs. Trump tried to reassure them. I cherish women, and i wont be going around saying im not going to fund a certain program. Women under my administration will be taken care of, not like jeb bush. What he said was a disgrace. Reporter in South Carolina today, more worries that he alien yates hispanic voters. I dont believe him. I believe my son should have every right as a u. S. Citizen. Hes been against. Reporter as for those attacks today, the Bush Campaign is saying he overcompensating. Hes supported partialbirth abortion and socialized health care in the past. But what about his hair, s a sara . Thank you, sara. Erika will hit in hours, and it probably will intensify into a hurricane. Is it headed to florida . Stay with us. Flo big day . Ah, the usual. Moved some new cars. Hauled a bunch of steel. Kept the supermarket shelves stocked. Made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. Whats up for the next shift . Ah, nothing much. Just keeping the lights on. laugh nice. Doing the big things that move an economy. See you tomorrow, mac. See you tomorrow, sam. Just another day at norfolk southern. What did irans Supreme Leader get in the nuclear deal . To start with, 100 billion. They keep their Nuclear Facilities and ballistic missiles. There wont be surprise anytimeanywhere inspections. And after ten years, restrictions are lifted and iran could build a Nuclear Weapon in two months. Congress should reject a bad deal. We need a better deal. Go to ziprecruiter. Com and post your job to over one hundred of the webs leading job boards with a single click. Then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. And now you can use zip recruiter for free. Go to ziprecruiter. Com. We figure you probably dont have time to wait on hold. Thats why at xfinity were hard at work, building new apps like this one that lets you choose a time for us to call you. So instead of waiting on hold, well call you when things are just as wonderful. [phone ringing] but a little less crazy. Were doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. Because we should fit into your life. Not the other way around. Welcome back to the lead. Im john berman in for jake tapper. All eyes on Tropical Storm erika, barreling through the caribbean right now. This big system could dump up to a foot of rain. It is expected to reach hurricane status, and some models do show it potential hitting florida as soon as monday, though it is still too seen to tell for sure. Ten years ago this week Hurricane Katrina made landfall, bruising and battering the gulf coast. More than 1800 people lost their lives, thousands more left homeless and displaced, one of the worth natural disasters the u. S. Has ever seen. Today president obama traveled to new orleans to meet with residents and celebrate the resilience and rebirth there. Look, what do we expect him to say . Reporter president obama will mark the comeback of in accordance ten year after Hurricane Katrina. The president will use this opportunity to tout the citys resilience and promise the work of rebuilding the big easy will continue. Which is a major others, be prepared for the devastating effects triggered by global warning, but still this is very much a celebration of the strits new orleans has made over the last decade, something he talked about as he toured one of the neighborhoods in that city earlier today with mayor mitch landrieu. The president will also talk about this issue of income inequality, which was laid bare, garnered a lot of attention during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Getting back to the subject of climate change, john, this is something well be hearing from the president on consistently over the coming weeks. Next week he travels to alaska to see the effects of Global Warming firsthand. Hell be talking about it today, talking with the pop about it later on this year at a Climate Summit in parris. This is something that obviously democrats like to talk about, this is something that the public just has to be ready for, that Severe Weather events triggered by Global Warming can have devastating impact, so john, i was down on the gulf coast covering Hurricane Katrina when it came ashore ten years ago. I know you have covered your share of storms, but it is good to see that entire region of the country make a comeback, the entire gulf coast. Jim acosta, at the white house, this is the president s ninth trip to new orleans. But sure to tune in for a specialty report, right here at 9 00 p. M. On cnn. Thats all for the lead today. Im john berman in for jake tapper. Now its time to turn you over to wolf blitzer in the situation room. \s happening now, breaking news, getaway plan. We have new indications that he intended to escape. They find a wig, a shawl, suitable for disguises. What the killers personnel files and own frengz yesterday writings reveal about his troubled pasts, troubles with work, runins with college, new information that he owned several gay porn web sites. Unbearable grief. The father and boyfriend of Alison Parker speaks out as the Community Rallies around the colleagues of the murdered journalists. And main event, as h