>> our continuing coverage of the mass shooting in washington continues right now on cnn with anderson cooper. [ music playing ] . >> erin, thanks, good evening, everyone. what a day it has been in washington, d.c. tonight there is breaking news, new details behind today's mass killing and late word tonight that the fbi has now concluded he was the only shooter. there with is a lot of moving parts of this story. the mass murders took place at a washington navy yard at the headquarters and naval sea systems command. it is a few miles from the white house and a few miles, too, from the medstar washington hospital center where three seriously wounded people are recovering tonight. the shooter has been identified, as you know, as aaron alexis.

a private contractor and former navy reservist with a troubled military career and two gun-related brushes with the law. how he was able to become a contractor is unclear and one question we are learning tonight. we are learning almost by the minute, his recent movements, what friends and acquaintances thought of him. tonight we are learning as well about the heros who save lives and how minute by minute this tragedy unfolded. randi kaye takes us through this terrible moment. >> reporter: 8:20 a.m. inside building 197, shots fired. it's the middle of the morning commute and suddenly everyone inside the washington navy ship yard is on high alert. >> as he came around the corner, he aimed his gun at us. he fired at least two or three shots. we ran down the stairs to get out of the building. >> he was far enough down the hall, we could see his face. he raised high and hit high on the wall at us just as we were

trying to leave. >> reporter: metropolitan police, u.s. marshals and the fbi immediately respond to the scene. they have no idea how many shooters are involved in the attack or how many victims are down. by mid-morning, departing flights at reagan national airport are grounded. at least eight schools near the navy yard shut down. then word one suspect is dead. but are there more shooters out there? >> the big concern for us right now is, is that we potentially have two other shooters that we have not located at this point. >> reporter: helicopters search for the other potential suspects. meanwhile, employees continue to file out of building 197, recounting what they zay saw. this navy officer saw a man right in front of him get shot in the head. >> he walked up and told me that he heard that there was a shooter in our building and we were just standing here maybe 3 feet away having a conversation.

then we heard two more gunshots and he went down and that's when i ran. >> around 11:30, news on some of the victims. >> we have a gentleman who is in, who has multiple gunshot wounds to his legs. his injuries involve bones and the blood vessels of his lower legs. we have another individual who was shot in the shoulder and we have a third individual who just arrived who had a gunshot wound to the head and to the hand. >> reporter: minutes later, confirmation of the first victim's death. >> a man in his 60s with a gunshot wound to the head received cpr en route to the hospital. he was pronounced dead upon arrival to george washington due to his injuries. which were unfortunately not survivable. >> reporter: hours after the shooting, one suspect is clear, but police are still looking for another. he's described as a black male around 40 to 50-years-old, about 180 pounds and he's carrying a

long gun. about four hours after the shooting, the president addresses the nation. >> we do know that several people have been shot and some have been killed. so we are confronting yet another mass shooting and today it happened on a military installation in our nation's capitol. >> reporter: by late afternoon, the news is even more grim. at least 13 fatalities, including the suspected shooter. >> we are continuing to try to asser tain how serious this situation is. >> reporter: soon after 4:00 p.m., the dead suspect is identified through fingerprints and i.d. as alexis. they rule out any other shooter. randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> and the fbi would like your help in getting a better understanding of who aaron

alexis is. if you know anything call 1-800-call-fbi. already, though, in just the last few hours, we have been learning a lot. correspondent john king is on that angle. so we do have new details about this guy. what do we know? >> we do. all of our correspondents, evan perez, susan candyiotty have been doing reporting. when you piece together what is happening, it is chilling how this ban the in such a matter of fact way. the suspect had an i.d.ch drove up to the gate, showed his i.d.. >> it was a legally valid id i. >> reporter: it was a legally valid i.d., he was working for hooul hewlett packard, drove onto the navy yard this way. parked his car, then allegedly walked into the building. again, the questions remain how did he walk into the building with an ar-15, a glock, it is supposed tosh a fortress, one of the most secure facilities in washington, d.c. it was just the idea to get in

with all those firearms. according to all our source accounts, walked in the building, over the atrium where the cafeteria area is and started opening fire. >> do we know much about his own background? >> his own background, this will raise questions. he was a contractor. he had the i.d. to be on the base. he did work for hewlett packard. why was he here on this day? we were told he was staying at a hotel near here. when you go back to his history, that's what raises questions. i am holding a police report from seattle in 2004. >> he had two run-ins with the law. >> one before he joined the military. seattle in 2004. they said he had issue, confrontation with construction workers. he told police they mocked him at one point. he was arrested for shooting out their tires. he used a handgun. that was in seattle. >> that was seattle, 2004. >> seattle in 2004. >> he doesn't join the military until 2007. >> 2007 he joins the navy. in 2010, he has a run-in with

the police again. his neighbor below him says he shot through the floor of their apartment. he says he was cleaning a gun. there was an accident. >> that is reported to police. then he is discharge theed from the navy, in late 2010 and out in 2011. in part, we are told, because of discipline issues, including potentially this gun issue. remember a gun incident in seattle in 2004. another one in fort worth in 2010. he is discharged. yet, he is somehow with these two gun incidents in his record allowed to get a job as a government director and allowed access to a sensitive military. some say he had grievances as a contractor, pay issues. >> that is rumored. to your other point the d.c. police, some people reported other people running away in odd directions. >> all day long there were reports of two other people. those have basically been. >> one has been officially ruled out. the fbi is saying they understand for sensitivity purposes. of course, you want to be extra

careful, dc police, some witnesses say seem to be acting strange. they thought he maybe had a firearm. but all of the federal law enforcement agencies at this point are fairly seven. in fact, they say they are certain. he's the lone shooter. >> if you are watching the coverage throughout the day. there are earlier reports that perhaps he had used somebody else's i.d. to get on the base, or susan candiotti, another person's i.d. was found near the shooter, but they have ruled out that person. >> ruled out any connection there, whether the person dropped an i.d. is a question that would have to be asked. that was originally a question of whether he had a fake i.d. or stolen i.d. to get on the base. our reporting is he drove up to the gate, showed his i.d.. >> at this point are they lackilac looking for that one person of interest? >> the d.c. wants to check that box. there was an african-american guy wearing a grey khaki military style uniform.

when you have witnesses saying you thought he was behaving. you want to check it out. in piecing the people who survived, the federal law enforcement agencies who now have the lead say of course, you want to check that out to be extra careful. but they are overwhelmingly concerned this is a lone shooter. >> in a kigs six where you had multiple witnesses, people who experienced different things, law enforcement at this point have to go through and interview all of those people. that's where you get some of these conflicting reports, where i saw another person with a handgun, somebody was described as a military figure, caucasian, that person again has also been ruled out. >> the first person, there was a white person who was on the list, an african-american gentleman on the list. the white person they have interviewed and cleared him of involvement. again the d.c. police department says they want to follow up all of these potential leads. the fbi which has taken the leads, which is based on what you are talking aboutch everybody was taken in, they all gave witness statements. they are concerned this is a lone shooter.

>> do we know at this point how many shots he was able to get off or is that being assessed? >> that is being assessed. they do believe most of the gunshots were fired from the ar-15, most of the shooting was down aiming down from up above and during the chase. the first police were on the scene relatively quickly. other police came in. there was a bit of a run and chaos in the building. you will hear from eyewitnesses as that played out. again, you hear conflicting information, some people see things, some people hear things. some are running, there is echos likely when gunshots are involved. that's why you have a meticulous piece. >> there is no doubt a number of under surveillance cameras. law enforcement are going through that. this is very much an active crime scene. >> when he got out of the car and walked into the building, one would assume there are cameras on the installation. one having access to the bases that allow you to park your car, get out walking into a building carrying three deadly fire arms.

>> we will be back on again at 10:00 a live ac-360 later. as we have been reporting, aaron alexis did most of his reporting. ed joins us from texas. what have you been hearing? you have been digging into fort worth, interviewing people who knew the shooter. what have you learned? >> reporter: well, anderson, the world of aaron alexis seems to swirl around this place the happy bowl thai restaurant. this is a place where he apparently spent some time and was actually roommates with the owner over the course of the last three years. they separated or they moved, aaron alexis moved out about five months ago. the owner of the restaurant was married and then any alexis from what his friend have been telling us is that he has been trying to find work to better himself. the news that he is the shooter, the alleged shooter in this massacre has stunned his friends who have seen him here at this

restaurant for so many years and the owner of the restaurant say it took him hours today to finally come to the realization that it was his friend that might very well be responsible for this attack. . >> well, i mean, you know, for me, he loved. we have been good friends. you know, he was never angry to me. always, are you okay? are you going to do this? i don't know. it might be like he might get mad sometimes. he might be angry sometime. >> reporter: but you didn't sense 18 deep anger about anything? >> no, like some of the guys ask me that, why he could have been, he didn't want to get up. that's the reason why he, i mean, i asked him, why don't you quit the job, man? you are going to be a good, you know, are you going to have good -- you know, go to school for free, stuff like that. just keep on doing.

i don't want to get up early, man, i don't want a career. and he quit. >> reporter: so, anderson, that's interesting, telling his friends in fort worth he quit the navy because he didn't want to get up early. according to department defense officials, alexis was actually discharged for quote a pattern of misconduct. so a mixed image that we're starting to emerge here in fort worth of what we are able to dig up, anderson. >> you also found alexis was a member of a buddhist temple, is that correct? >> reporter: this was one of the interesting things, the owner of this restaurant emigrated here several years ago. he says it was aaron alexis two befriended him and helped him through the immigrant process an had questions about the american culture and do business how alexis would help him out. they became friends at a buddhist temple down the road. the owner says aaron alexis loved asian culture. he was fluent in the thai language, was helping other people and people he befriended here at the restaurant. he learned the thai language.

everything of the owner and several other persons we spoke to say everything around aaron alexis was an image of peacefulness, which is obviously a kind of a hard thing to mix with the other reports of gun violence we are hearing in the fort worth area and in seattle as well. >> yeah, it doesn't add up at this point. but again, we are learning more and more by the minute, ed, thank you, we will continue to check in with you. a reminder, no matter how small, call 1-800-call-fbi. if you cross paths with him or can shed any light on what made him take the fbi. i want to turn next to another fort worth acquaintance, a guy named bud kennedy, who met him at that restaurant the happy bowl restaurant. thank you for being with us. you visit restaurants as a part of your job as a dlumist for the fort star telegram. the shooter apparently waited on you at the restaurant. what did you think of him? >> i write about news, but i

also write about food here in fort worth. the happy bowl is one of the best thai restaurants. when he came over, i thought, this doesn't seem like a regular thai restaurant guy. he was -- i have been saying he seemed like somebody who might be more of a librarian than a thai restaurant server. he was very po lierkts soft spoken. this was two years ago. he didn't seem to know the thai dishes as well. at the time he was learning how to be a partner of the restaurant or run the restaurant. i think he might have still been in the reserves at the time. he was showing interest in the thai culture, helping out his friend here at happy bowl. >> so this was back in what 2011, is that correct? >> this was 2011, 2012 and he waited on me. he served a lot of our other staff members. one of our copy editors is a regular here, came here all the time. said he was a part of the family. >> that he loved seeing

everybody's children. the customers here have been asking, he's been gone from here about six to nine months. the customers have been asking, when is aaron coming back? when is aaron coming back? they miss him very much in white settlement, texas. >> well, now, what we are learning about his personal time, if he was discharged from the military at the end of 2010, 2011. this would have been, he would have been an employee at this restaurant after that. did he ever seem, i mean, like he could by a gressive? did anything seem off about him at all? >> the customers here say they never saw any anger or any kind of hostility at all. he seemed very soft spoken to me. i am told that once there was a customer who needed to be ejected. the other than tried to eject him. aaron came in and helped. nothing at all that was a sign of any hostility. he was very quiet and friendly going to everyone here. >> and any word about his personal life, any information

about the kind of life he led outside the restaurant? >> you know, i think people here knew he was learning thai and showing an interest. i don't think people here knew much about his private life. he was friend with the folks here. he was a regular face here. the customers who come here all the time, you know, treated him like family. i don't think people knew much about him privately. there was the one gun arrest as you know here in fort worth. the gun went off through the ceiling of his apartment into an apartment above, while he was cleaning it, in texas. >> that sounds like something that could happen. the people, you could understand, you know, a misfire like that. so i don't think people take something like that very seriously. we are here about a mile from naval air station forth worth. so there are a lot of defense community here. defense contractors arrive by lockheed martin. we are used to seeing people coming into this community and immigrant-owned restaurants here. he seemed to be a part of the white settlement community.

>> it's shock, obviously, for everyone that knew him. i appreciate what you do know. we are trying to piece together as much as we can at this late hour. if you can follow us at-and-erson cooper. coming up next, more on what we are learning tonight, what people saw, heard and did when the shots rang out. .

. >> welcome back to breaking news in washington. aaron alexis worked alone according to fbi. authorities are also investigating another individual for any possible ties to the shooting arguments person of interest. all this, survivors have told their stories. here's some of them. >> we heard three shots. pow, pow, pow. 30 second later, i heard four more shots. >> when that happened, everyone said, "this is no drill, go, go, go, emergency exits now. go, go, go."

>> he walked up and told me that he heard there was a shooter in our building and we were just standing here maybe three feet away having a conversation. then we heard two more gunshots. he went down, that's when i ran. >> people were yelping to close the doors, lock the doors. we heard very loud gunshot very close by. we looked up and we saw bullet holes in the wall to the conference room that we were in about a foot down from the ceiling. >> he was far enough down the hall that we couldn't see his face but we could see him with the rifle and he raised and aimed at us and he hit fire and hit high on the wall. >> after we came outside, people were trying to get out over the wall to get out of the spaces. it was just crazy. >> the security is perfect, it almost goes without saying, tighter security may have been able to prevent this. there is a lot ewe don't know a. former navy seal who served as an aid to president obama, one of the people who carried the nuclear launch codes, nuclear football and with us retired navy commander, his ship was

bombed by al qaeda 13 years ago. i appreciate both you guys being with us. you have both been on the navy yard. this is a dumb questions. a lot of viewers don't know what the navy yard is. can you, what is it? >> it's actually a navy facility located here in washington, d.c. that is the headquarters. you have a lot of senior naval staff that lives there. the chief of naval operations, for example. plus, there are a number of naval facilities who are slowly moving onto the yard for forced protection reasons, but also that's where the naval c systems demand is. that's where our general command is. >> about 3,000 people work at the navy yard, those are the numbers i have heard. >> yes. >> how secure is it difficult to get on? ? >> it's as secure as any military base in the country. you have to show an i.d. if that matches who you are, they pretty much let you on. >> so no difference if are you a contractor or you are a member of the military, as long as you have an active, valid i.d.? >> that's right. >> any searches of vehicles,

anything like that? >> typically, they'd be random if you come into the gate and show your i.d. card, there is nothing that raises a suspicion. you will be allowed on the base. if it triggers suspicion or they are doing random checks of vehicles, at that point they would ask to you drive it to a side area, bring in dogs and other people and do a thorough check of the vehicle, with they do as a matter of routine. >> the buildings where most of the shootings took place has another layer of security. >> it does. right as you walk in the door, immediately to your left is a security area where you go and get your badge checked and in front of you are turnstyles. so, for example, if i have a badge to actually work in that building, you walk straight to the turn styles, swipe. the gate would open and you'd mr. allowed access. if i were a shooter, i would guess, the investigation is going to tell, that's where he was challenged by security and started to shoot his way into the building, taking out security and people challenging his ability to come in.

>> this isn't the sort of base someone would be walking around with an ar-15 or a long gun? >> this is a civilian institution, dod civilians, so there is not a large gun carrying presence on this base. >> so anybody with a weapon, it would draw some attention? >> a lot of attention. >> a lot of attention. >> at this point what are the biggest red flags to you? what do you want answered? some people have asked how can a guy had two incidents with police, one in 2004, one in texas not only become, well, really become a contractor so quickly after being discharged from the military? >> i this i the biggest question is going to be, how did he, what was the type of discharge he had from the military. what kind of background did he have to do with the contractor and what type of access was he being allowed to military installation. >> there is administrative discharge and a judicial one. >> correct. judicial is where have you like a bad conduct discharge for a dishonorable discharge.

administrative, you end up being discharged due to bad performance or misconduct and those run in three categories. you can have an honorable discharge, a general discharge or other than honorable discharge. >> so if there were a series of incidents, the early word we are getting there were a series of incidents leading to his discharge, you could still get an honorable disdlarnlg? >> you could. most commanding officers would be the type that say no, if you cannot perform to the highest standards that our u.s. navy or military demands used to serve our nation, then you will get another honorable discharge. you deserve that. society would serve no less. >> you know, people were there today. >> i do. as a matter of fact, it's amazing how far those go back. i had a young officer that worked for me that is now the navy captain that interviewed earlier with wolf blitzer. i had a naval academy classmate accompany me. two officers with me on board

usscole when it was attacked, both of them were on the 3rd floor, heard the shots and immediately assessed the situation and began the evacuation process to get people out to safety almost immediately. >> matt, what are you going to be looking for over the next 24 hour, 48 hours? >> i want to know if there were any signs that said he was going to do this today. so typically, in a mass shooting there are precursors to that event. whether it's a conversation with someone or a pattern of behavior. >> communicating with others. >> exactly. it would be nice to know if that's a factor in this. >> guys, thank you very much for being on. i appreciate it. thank you very much. good to talk to you. i have new information, a woman who may have unique insight into the shooter's motive. we'll be right back. when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened

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. >> welcome back. tonight police are at a hotel where aaron alexis is believed to have been staying. what have you learned? >> reporter: earlier today we got a tip from our joe johns that alexis had talked to a woman and told him he was staying at this hotel in southwest washington the residence inn by marriott. just about two miles away from the navy yard. so we came over here earlier today to check it out. actually, as we were arriving, so were a number of law enforcement vehicles, a number of washington police cars. a number of unmarked cars, at least one fbi vehicle.

our producer jan izzo and i went into the lobby and were inside talking to hotel employees who were being very categoriy. then we were asked to leave for a quote security reasons and we kamg outside. investigators, ander zorn, have been in the hotel for about two hours now and the hotel doors are locked. they are not letting anybody in there, but we are still seeing some law enforcement officials arrive and come and go, anderson. >> and very briefly, peter, the bottom line, any word on how long this guy was allegedly staying at the hotel? >> reporter: according to source that joe johns talked to, he may have been here for at least a couple of weeks, anderson. that's what we know now. we can also definitely say by our justice correspondence evan perez that this is definitely the hotel where alexis was staying. >> all right. a upcom weeks. we appreciate it. all day, we have been getting bits and pieces of information about the shooter aaron alexis. some of it coming from people at

the happy bowl restaurant in forth worth where he works as a waiter. some may be able to shed a whole lot more light on it in the the way of motive. christy, aaron alexis was going to be the best man at her wedding. christy, thank you very much for being with us. what was any alexis like? >> he was very, very helpful. he actually helped us as our restaurant was getting on its feet and business was picking up. he would help serve. he would help deliver food. a lot of the customers loved him because he now how to talk. he could talk if thai, actually. he was pretty fluent in thai. he was so helpful in helping us out however he can. he was very friendly. >> how long was he working there? was he working full time? >> well, actually, he wasn't working because that indicates that he got paid. he was volunteering. he was helping while he was doing contracting work and trying to get on his feet.

he was just helping us and, you know, whatever he got tips from deliveries, you know, he would use that money for gas and stuff. but he actually was not working full time with us. he wasn't working. he was helping us out a lot. what was your question again? i'm sorry. >> did he have another job? did he have another job at the time? any source of income other than the tips and the like? >> i did not know him before i met him a year-and-a-half ago when my husband and i started dating. i just knew that he was helping a lot at the restaurant. he was using this as an educational experience to help learn thai and to further thai. so he was thinking of moving to thailand at one point because he could speak it fluently. >> well, thai is a tough language. i tried to study it myself, i did miserably with it. i can understand why he would want real life experience working at a restaurant. do you have any sense of, was

there something in his past? i had heard some reports about a disagreement with a contractor, a feeling he didn't get paid? have you heard any of those reports? >> i just knew that there were some problems with him getting his benefits as a veteran and some problems with him not getting paid the right amount with his contract jobs, but i didn't know they were connected at all. i had no idea. i just knew there were some issues with. was that something he talked about? how did you know that? >> oh. because we talked. i worked the night 14i69. so i was with him at the house all day, every day, when he came back from japan, 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. i was the one that picked him up from the airport.

he's like a brother to me. we were excited so see each opts. i was so excited to see and hear all about how his time went. but i just, after that, he didn't feel like he was getting paid the correct amount or issues with. does any of this make sense to you? >> no, it really doesn't. i know he was a practicing buddhist. that's how he and my husband met was the buddhist temple just down the street. and he was very caring and very helpful and very nice, very friendly. people actually loved having him as a waiter and loved it when they delivered to his door. he was a great conversationalist. the customers lovered him because he could speak thai. he was very friendly. that's why we dot along so well. i saw him like my other brother t. brother i never had or something. so it's just, it's kind of

confusing. i still don't know the details of what happened this morning. you i was told at 2:45 when the houston chronicle called me. i had just woken up from a nap. they're like any alexis. yeah the navy yard. so i, then i got on yahoo and it pulled up right away. so this, just, obviously, it's surreal. it doesn't make sense because being, you know, frustrated with life is one thing. but going out and taking other people with you is another thing for stuff like this. it's just, we're still trying to piece it together and we're still grieveing because he was like one of our best friend, like a brother to us and always willing to go out of his way to help us out with things. >> sure. and christy, i'm sure investigators will want to talk to you if they haven't already. i appreciate your time tonight. it is going to be some time before we know the identity of the victims. if you follow our coverage in the wake of mass shootings, you know we'd like to focus on those people whose lives are lost rather than the person who took lives. but in this case the police are, the reason we are still using the name, showing the pictures,

police are desperate for information from anybody out there. so that's why we are trying to talk it an learn as much about him as we can. we know d.c. police officer was wounded. he was admitted to the medstar washington hospital center. a number of people there. there is three people being treated. they are all expected to survive. dr. janice orlowski, she jones us now, she is the chief medical officer at the hospital. can you tell us the three survivors you currently have. how are they doing? >> sure. i'd be happy to, anderson. our d.c. police officer is out of surgery right now. -se stable. i have actually seen him. he's alert. he is talkative. he is doing very well. we have another gunshot victim who is actually in surgery. we expect her out of surgery very shortly. the third victim that we received here at medstar washington hospital center did not need surgery and she's in our hospital right now. she's recovering from a bullet

wound that she has to her hand and to her head. >> the 24 hour-year-old young woman, i understand that she called her dad after she was shot and he fought tooth and nail to get to her. >> that's what she told us as well. she was the third victim that we received at the hospital center's trauma unit and she was at the hospital center maybe for about ten minutes or so and her father came walking in and as usual, the case we walk up to the family, you know, we try to grab them right away and prepare them to enter the room. he says, you don't have to do that, i have been with her the whole time. and i asked him, i said, how is that the case? and he said, she called me after she was shot and he said, i was a maniac. i was sitting at my desk at work. the next thing i knew i was driving off to get her. he said, i got to the navy yard and i got to my daughter and he

was a father who had to get to his daughter's side. it was a very, very touching story for us and, you know, obviously, he's a very lucky man tonight because his daughter is going to do very well and it was just great to see him together. >> well, i'm not asking a lot of details, obviously, we have police officers and others. dr. janice orlowski, i appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. thank you. coming up tonight, at least a thousand people in colorado are waiting to be rescued after devastating flooding. we will take you to one of the many towns in dire straights next. doesn't like being sold to.f guo the last thing i want is to feel like someone is giving me a sales pitch, especially when it comes to my investments. you want a broker you can trust. a lot of guys at the other firms seemed more focused on selling than their clients. that's why i stopped working at my old brokerage and became a financial consultant with charles schwab.

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. >> okay. welcome back. we have more breaking news, drew what have you learned? >> anderson, i was just talking with the ceo of the company that this mr. alexis worked for. he is fully cooperateing right now with the fbi and obviously distraught. what he told me should raise questions about if security clearance that alexis was able to get at the navy yard and from him, he believes that this was either mr. alexis' first day on the job at a navy yard or he was going to start this week. he did have security cleernts. he cleared security in september

of 2012 to work on that contract in japan. it was a hewlett packard subcontract. he was also recleared then, anderson, in july of 2013, just this summer. re-cleared through the department of defense central clearing office for a secret clearance. >> that is the middle level of the 33 clearances you can get. what is disturbing based on the history we know with his run-ins with the law and his gun discharges in seattle and in texas and we also understand there is a disturbance, disturbing the peace charge in georgia, in decalb county, georgia in 2008. all of that would be outlined on a questionnaire alexis would have filled out to get this security clearance from the government. they certainly would have asked him those very questions.

it's very specific, anderson. they don't ask you, what sister you been convicted of. it's what have you been charged of? all charges brought against you and the outcome in the last seven years. obviously, the ceo is again providing all the information he can with the fbi, but two things we can lock at here from what he told me, number one, there were two security clearance done on mr. alexis within the last year or so and, secondly, that this may have been mr. alexis' first day on the job at that u.s. navy yard. >> that's right a startling piece of information if that is, in fact, turns out ob accurate. today was the first day. peter hamm reporting joe johns as well that he had actually been at the hotel here in washington apparently for a few weeks. that's from early reporting, it is unclear what he has been doing, how long he may have been planning this for, but it's

fascinating to hear this may have been his first day at work. again, we are trying to piece this together on a fly. we appreciate the update. joining me is a former assistant director sean henry. thanks, very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> to you, what are the big red flags here? that we are told, we just learned from herb griffin this may have been his first day at work here at the navy yard, but that he passed two security clearance within the last year or so. >> well, these things clearly don't happen in a vacuum. there is warning signs in advance, whether bouts of anger or rhetoric, angry language, people he may have talked to. writings or computer searches, those sorts of things. those are the types of things the fbi would be looking for in the coming days. >> from terms of the investigation, where at this hour would an investigation be?

>> the most important thing, really, is safety, they will look to make sure there is no collabora collaborator, they want to make sure that is not the case here. what they will do is serve search warrants at his place of residence, and will look at all types of digital media, who he knew, and what other plans he might have had. >> an investigation could take time. >> this will be an evolving % proces,

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. well, there is breaking news not only here in washington, d.c. right now, but about 1600 miles to the west, we're talking about colorado of course, 1600 square miles of flooding there, where people are left stranded with less food and water supplies. the national guard says that 2100 people were rescued by air and ground last night. that is an awful lot of people. but more than 1200 people were unaccounted for last night, maybe people who lost their cell phones and had nobody to communicate with. we have more from kyung lah.

>> the water was this high. >> reporter: oh, my god, oh, my god. what else can you say? two feet of thick mud and sewage covering the area here in limon, colorado. covering the area for days. this is where abe vasquez's 78-year-old mother barely escaped from. we tried to step from the living room, our feet slowly speaking as we spoke. do you understand standing here how people could have lost their lives? >> oh, yes, easily, thank god it didn't happen but it could have. >> reporter: is it hard looking at your mom's house? >> yeah. it is. very hard. >> reporter: the water just beginning to recede, reveals the extent of the damage to vasquez's property. cars and debris, what was linked to the house, gone.

how long did it take to build this place? >> since '89. >> reporter: and in 24 hours? >> it is gone. >> reporter: by atv, the only way to travel now, vasquez wanted to show us the rest of his town, where many residents have yet to be able to return. snapped power poles, heavy machinery, the national guard more visible than the evacuees who left here. as the two branches of the river in the middle of the town nearly swallowed it whole. if you want to understand the force of the water this used to be a bridge, a road, take a look at where the bridge is right here. right over there, there is a black bridge covered with ministries, those houses in between all flooded. and take a look at that. that is a car, completely flipped over.

in this neighborhood, explains vasquez, the flood pushed entire houses around like furniture. as we talked, kelly hunt walks up. she can see the roof of her home but can't get to the other side of the river. >> reporter: are you saying your house was picked up and moved? >> yes, oh, absolutely, our house was picked up and moved several feet. today was our first day up here since we have been evacuated. and i feel like it is worse than i thought it would be. we lost absolutely everything we own. >> it is just so terrible. kyung lah joins me from longmont, colorado, and they will try to establish the communications, right? >> reporter: you are actually right about that, we saw the number drop today, there were some 200 people pulled out of boulder. but a word of caution, the death

toll stands at seven and that could rise. >> well, let's hope not. kyung lah, appreciate the reporting. we want to remind you to help people affected by disasters like these floods, make a donation to red cross, or you can text red cross to 90999 to make a $10 donation. we'll be right back. but tracking all the action and hearing everything from our marketing partners, the media and millions of fans on social media can be a challenge. that's why we partnered with hp to build the new nascar fan and media engagement center. hp's technology helps us turn millions of tweets, posts and stories into real-time business insights that help nascar win with our fans. ♪ [ male announcer ] 1.21 gigawatts. today, that's easy. ge is revolutionizing power.

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>> that is it for this hour of 360, we'll see you an hour from now for "ac360" later. more details to come, more questions, obviously, still unanswered about what exactly happened here in washington, d.c. thank you for joining us, "piers morgan tonight" starts now. this is cnn breaking news. >> this is "piers morgan tonight," welcome to our volunteviewers around the world and the united states. breaking news, deadly shooting in the nation's capitol. at the washington navy yard, that toll includes one suspect, aaron alexis, a 34-year-old military contractor, a referist from texas, the navy said he was awarded the nio