[John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Is someone hunting down prosecutors and killing them in Texas? A district attorney slain just months after the murder of his deputy.
[Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] The price of victory. Louisville's Kevin Ware waking up in the hospital this morning after doctors operated on a really gruesome leg fracture. His team, though, moving on to the Final Four.
[Berman:] A mandatory gun for every home? One community could make that a law later today. Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.
[Romans:] You seem so happy for a Monday. I'm Christine Romans. I'm in for Zoraida today. Monday, April 1st, 29 minutes past the hour. All right. On top of the news this morning, a double murder on a suburban in suburban community as police on, on a manhunt this morning, an entire neighborhood on edge. The district attorney and his wife found gunned down at their home in Kaufman County, about 30 miles southeast of Dallas. Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia are the latest victims in what could be a case of a serial assassin targeting public officials. Just two months ago assistant district attorney Mark Hasse was gunned down in the middle of the day, near a courthouse as he walked to work. So far, police have no suspects, no motive for these murders. George Howell is live in Kaufman, Texas, for us this morning. George, police haven't publicly linked these two cases. But, obviously, there's speculation they're connected. These two men worked together.
[George Howell, Cnn Correspondent:] Christine, good morning. That is the case. They worked together very closely, prosecuting similar cases. And we're hearing from public officials here, in this county, who say they believe that these men may have been targeted in a revenge hit. But again police are not saying that they are not linking the killings. But when you listen back to what McLelland said, he was very passionate, about finding the person who killed Hasse. This is a person who he said was a prosecutor who took pride in putting the bad guys behind bars. And he was very adamant about finding his killers. Chilling to listen to exactly how he said it just after Hasse's murder. Take a listen.
[Mike Mclelland, Kaufman County District Attorney:] I hope that the people that did this are watching, because we're very confident that we're going to find you. We're going to pull you out of whatever hole you're in, and we're going to bring you back and let the people of Kaufman County prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.
[Howell:] So when you listen to the way he said it, you know, pull you out of whatever hole you're in, even in another instance describing the person, the gunman as scum, this prosecutor didn't pull any punches Christine when taking his case to the public to find Hasse's killer.
[Romans:] George, what can you tell us about questions this morning about the white supremacist group the Aryan Brotherhood and any potential involvement there?
[Howell:] Well, to be very clear, that has been no connection, no link at this point connecting it to McLelland's death. But I do want to go back to December. We know that the Texas DPS, the Department of Public Safety here, they put out a bulletin stating that they had credible information that the Aryan Brotherhood was actively planning retaliation against law enforcement. We also know that these prosecutors in Kaufman County, that they handled some prosecutions of the Aryan Brotherhood, along with other counties, along with other D.A.s here in the state. So, that question did come up after Hasse's murder. But again, to be very clear, there's been no connection at this point with the murder of the McLellands, Christine.
[Romans:] All right. George Howell in Texas for us thanks, George.
[Berman:] We want to bring in Tom Fuentes, a former FBI assistant director, now a CNN contributor. And, Tom, good morning. Thanks for coming in. I want to start right off the bat with that question you just heard George talking about right there, the issue of the Aryan Brotherhood. There have been these reports that perhaps they may be tied up, they were cited for possibly wanting to be involved with revenge killings as recently as December. Explain to me who this group really is and what they're capable of.
[Tom Fuentes, Cnn Contributor:] Well, the group is not a direct affiliate with the Aryan Brotherhood nationwide. But they're a splinter group and basically affiliated by philosophy. These white supremacist groups basically hate the government, they hate the fact that the government basically they look at it as being too supportive of minority groups, and they hate that. They think that white people should be in charge and only white people and that anybody who is not white should not be in the U.S. not be allowed to have any type of rights other than maybe being a slave. That's how they think. And the groups like this have been in existence for a long time. The FBI has fought these groups for decades going back to the KKK, going back to the order. Other Aryan Brotherhood type groups that have existed in many different factions for a long time.
[Berman:] So, Tom, if there was this what we're told is credible information at December that this splinter group from the Aryan Brotherhood was planning some kind of revenge attacks on law officials, two questions here, do you think enough was done to protect officials in this area? And number two, I mean it's been two months since the first murder right now. You know, why don't you think there's been any progress in making any arrests?
[Fuentes:] Well, you can't say there hasn't been progress. We don't know completely what going on behind the scenes. But, the issue here is that a number of counties and jurisdictions were involved in a major task force to address the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, and indictments were returned back in 2012, in November and December, charging a number of people. So, in the first murder of assistant district attorney Hasse, why was he singled out? You have all these county prosecutors, all of the law enforcement, the police, Department of Public Safety from Texas, that have been working together on these addressing these groups for a long time. Why was he singled out first? In the second case, with district attorney McLelland, as we just heard in the tape, he challenged them and basically, you know, they fought back. So if or whoever, whoever was the killer in this case, and it may not be the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. That's the other issue. It's an obvious pick that they may have been involved but investigators can't just rely on that. And when you don't have a particular group or person claiming credit, it's going to make it very difficult for them to find out through sources, through investigation, in a number of states, including especially Texas, to link them to it. So that's the problem now. It's going to be a very, very difficult investigation if no one comes forward. And you could have people coming forward, talking to each other, bragging about it, within their community, and somebody leaks that out to law enforcement, that a particular individual is bragging about having committed these murders
[Berman:] Hey, Tom, as you point out, there's been a lot of talk about this being the Aryan brotherhood somehow involved here. But if it's not the Aryan Brotherhood, in your experience, where else do you think they shutting casting their eye right now?
[Fuentes:] Well, the problem is that if you're a prosecutor, like Mr. Hasse or Mr. McLelland, you're not making a lot of friends every day when you're having people, you know, have their liberty taken away from them. When you're prosecuting individuals, they get sent to prison, they may not believe that they should have gone to prison or that the criminal justice system was fair to them. And that the prosecutor shouldn't have done it, shouldn't have prosecuted them. They make a lot of enemies every day of the week as part of the job so do police officers and federal agents, judges, you name it. So anybody involved in the criminal justice system all the way up, as we saw in Colorado, with the director of corrections, Tom Clements, people are out there that you deal with that hate you, and if they get an opportunity, may take your life.
[Berman:] Which is why there is a lot of fear, a lot of concern in Kaufman County, Texas, right now. Tom Fuentes, former FBI assistant director. Thanks so much for joining us.
[Romans:] New developments from South Korea. The country's president warning the North that provocative action will be met with a, quote, "strong response." It comes as the U.S. deployed stealth fighter jets in the region as part of joint military exercises. New York Congressman Peter King says he's concerned that with all of these threats, the North Korean leader may be forced into doing something rash.
[Rep. Peter King , New York:] Kim Jung Un is trying to establish himself, he's trying to be the tough guy. He's 28, 29 years old, and he keeps going further and further out. I don't know if he can get himself back in. So, my concern would be that he may feel to save face he has to launch some sort of attack on South Korea, or some base in the Pacific.
[Romans:] North Korea ratcheted up the rhetoric again this weekend, declaring it was in a state of war with the South.
[Berman:] One worker was killed, three others injured at a nuclear plant in Russellville, Arkansas, about an hour away from Little Rock. Entergy, which is the power company, says the victims were helping move part of a generator out of a building when it fell. Power officials say the accident did not happen in a radiation area and that there is just no danger to public right now.
[Romans:] So the tiny town of Nelson, Georgia, might soon compel every household in the community to own a gun. A city council vote tonight would make it a law. The councilman who proposed the measure says, look, Nelson only has one police officer and when citizens have a problem it can take a long time for help to arrive. An Atlanta suburb has had a similar law since 1982.
[Berma:] So a Viking, a race car driver and a British boy band sounds like they have a great show up there they will be among the guests at the 135th annual White House Easter egg roll later this morning. There were fears last month that the event would be canceled because of forced spending cuts. Romans whispered that so I did, too. But the eggs will be rolling at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. There will be 35,000 people from all 50 states attending. It will be a star- studded lineup. Running back Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, NASCAR's Danica Patrick and the boy band The Wanted, The Wanted will be there, all scheduled to attend. Very exciting.
[Romans:] It's unclear if they'll be making statements on forced spending cuts.
[Berman:] The Wanted actually has very firm positions on the sequester. They'll be speaking at length during the Easter egg roll no doubt. Thirty-nine minutes after the hour right now. Alone, hurt and hungry a young woman stranded on a mountain for six, six freezing nights. She shares her story of survival. That's coming up.