Transcripts For CNNW Anderson Cooper 360 20140923 : comparem

Transcripts For CNNW Anderson Cooper 360 20140923

Were keeping them honest tonight. We begin with breaking news. New details about the harm that this man might have been capable of. For starters, Omar Gonzalez did more than jump the fence at the white house. He made it through the front door of the white house. He was armed and had a troubling recent past that Authorities Say suggested he may have intended to harm the president. A whole lot of questions. More from jim acosta. Reporter investigators say they found 800 round of ammunition inside the car of alleged white house intruder 42yearold Omar Gonzalez friday night. In less than 20 seconds he jumped the fence that runs along pennsylvania avenue and raced inside the north portico entrance to the white house. He was armed with a small knife. Relatives say hes an iraq war veteran with posttraumatic stress disorder. In Court Prosecutors say gonzalez has had runins with Law Enforcement before. In july arrested in virginia with a sniper rifle and a map circling the white house. In august he was stopped Walking Around the white house with a hatchet. He entered the white house roughly five minutes after the president and the first family left for camp david. Government will work together. Reporter in a meeting with colon powell, the president said he still has confidence in the people protecting him. I appreciate it, guys. The secret service does a great job. Reporter still, in light of the critical security lapse, the president received frequent updates on the status of the investigation over the weekend. His family lives in the white house. Hes obviously concerned by the incident that occurred on friday evening. Reporter some key questions at the heart of the internal secret service review, where were the trained security dogs in the white house k9 unit . They werent deployed. And why was that north portico door unlocked . A policy that changed immediately. Secret service has changed the procedures for insuring that the entrance to the white house is secure. Reporter with so many visitors to this tourist hot spot, a Law Enforcement source tells cnn the secret service is considering random bag checks of pedestrians around the white house. With isis threatening to raise its flag over the white house in this recent image thats under investigation of somebody holding a cell phone showing an isis flag on pennsylvania avenue, members of Congress Want answers. Its just a matter of the secret service upping their game to make sure that they can maintain that every detail matters. Reporte jim, you mentioned the security dogs, the unlocked doors. What about security snipers . Do we know if at any time they had him in their sights. A cam thats running that shows this man climbing up the white house steps, you do see a secret Service Agent with his gun drawn pointing at him. They did also have snipers on the roof at that time according to our crew on the scene here friday night. I talked to a Law Enforcement official about this as to why nobody took a shot at this intruder, they simply dont just shoot every person that jumps over the white house fence. It does happen with some frequency, and they dont want to shoot every person that comes over, for obvious reasons. The person might be disturbed. Might not be somebody who is posing a danger to the president. As for the k9 dogs, i talked to one Law Enforcement official who said its just, quote, inexcusable, that those dogs werent deployed. Thats a key security lapse theyre looking at. Something thats common that we all do, people who live in big cities, we lock our front door. Thats something they were not doing friday night. Because people come and go out of that north portico door behind me all the time, it was sort of something that they did on a regular basis. They left it unlocked so people could come and go. Tonight that door is locked, anderson. Its going to be locked from now on. Congressional candidate knows what its liked in that fence. He used to be secret Service Agent. His brother still is. The ammunition in the intruders car, the hatchets that he had previously been caught outside the white house with a hatchet. Previously had a machete in the car as well. And previously hed been caught with a shotgun and a map with the white house circled and some masonic temple circled. The fact that this guy had been arrested in the past, charged with possession of a shotgun, sniper rifle, how bad of a security lapse is this . Well, anderson, unfortunately, theres no putting lipstick on this one. This is a really catastrophic security lapse. And i want to be clear on this. It wasnt just one or two seemed security measures that failed, uniformed officers, the dogs that you mentioned, but there are a lot of unseen mechanisms that failed as well. Thats why so many active and retired agents that ive spoken to are so disturbed about how this happened. Can you walk us through what should have happened that didnt happen . I know there are unseen measures and you dont want to discuss those and thats fair enough, but what should have happened that we know of . Well, the dog should have been deployed. We have belgian malinois. We dont use german shepherds. The dogs are specifically trained to knock those targets down. Anderson, if youve ever seen some of these training videos of malinois or the Police Attack where the dogs hit the man in the chest, its like getting hit by a man on a motorcycle. Its almost impossible to stay up. Why the dog wasnt deployed i think is the question that i hope an exhaustive analysis will get to the bottom of that. But that to me is puzzling. As a handler and the handler ultimately has to deploy the dog. Obviously the dog doesnt walk the grounds by himself. But why the handler chose in this case not to has just about everybody puzzled. Whats terrifying about this is had this guy had a suicide vest on with exploezive, he could have gone in the white house and blown up the portico. Exactly. You just said it. This is frightening because you dont know he was a rather big individual. Suicide vest could have done some significant damage. And anderson, he could have gotten in there with even that knife and taken a hostage. You know, were thinking worst case scenario, but even lesser degrees of threat are a serious problem. If youre in there with a blade to someones throat, whoever it may be, i mean, youve got a very, very serious problem on your hands. I think some people would be surprised that he wasnt shot. I guess its it is up to the secret service both uniformed and nonuniformed and sniper to make a judgment call about whether that person is wearing some sort of explosive device or a backpack explosive device . Im glad you brought that up because this is an important point and i got this question a lot today. You notice theres a guy to the door to the left in the video youre playing now that has his gun drawn. Theyre subject to the same escalation and use of force guidelines that every other federal agent and Law Enforcement officer in the country are. They dont have any special powers. They cannot shoot unless theres an imminent threat to themselves or others. That didnt seem to be the case. I know it sounds kind of crazy to some listening, there was nothing in his hands, he wasnt vocalizing a threat. There wasnt anything on prints of his garments of any explosive vest or any weapon underneath his clothing. And theyre trained to look for that stuff. Youre right. You cant shoot a trespasser. You cant. Its amazing, a lot of internal reviews going on. Appreciate you being with us. As if things werent already more than a little tense, we also got new information that makes the white house breach even more frightening. Word that some of those hundred or so americans that went to syria to fight have now come home. Although none is believed to have trained with isis thats known, the terror group last night called on any sympathetic american to carry out lone wolf attacks in this country including on civilians. Jim sciutto has been monitoring developments. So a hundred or so americans. They may not necessarily be linked to isis itself but there are plenty of other groups and bad actors inside syria that they could be connected to. You have al nusra, as well as other groups on the range of extremist to moderate because this 100 figure not only does it include fighters who have gone to syria but american fighters who have tried to go there, so lets be clear on that. But the fact that they have come home is worrisome. And this gets at the very core of the fear of u. S. Officials, and that is what happens when these many hundreds of foreign fighters including both americans and europeans, when they come home, do they attempt to carry out violence here . And this shows you that there is a path back. Remember, not just the americans theyre concerned about. Theyre also concerned about europeans because they have visafree travel to the u. S. They can get back here on their passports as well. How confident are officials that they know who these people are, where they are . Cnn spoke to jay johnson today, the secretary of homeland security. Wolf blitzer spoke to him. He described it as saying he has confidence that they know who these fighters are. And that confidence means that they have, for some of them, probably a full list of identification, details, names, serial numbers, et cetera. They may have contacts for them, i. D. S, et cetera. Doesnt mean they know exactly who everyone is and where they are but they have good confidence that they know who they are and they can track them. Thats not a foolproof process. There are a lot of guys to track. And they move around a lot. This is a free country. Big job for intelligence to keep tabs on them. Isis is now being very explicit in calling for lone wolf style attacks against the United States and others. This latest call of many disturbing calls and videos from isis is particularly so because it calls on isis supporters to really carry out violence in any way they can imagine. It says make americans and europeans and french and others who are taking part in particular in the military campaign against isis, make them so that they dont feel safe in their homes. It says take any opportunity. Proceed up vehicles on roads. Carry out beheadings, attack people in their homes, take their children, really saying do whatever you can. Dont wait for orders from home base. Dont wait for a plan. Carry out violence in any way you can. We got a sample of that with this plot that was foiled in australia last week. These werent veterans of fighting in syria with isis. These are just supporters there who have apparently devolved a plot to carry out beheadings in the streets in australia. This the kind of thing theyre worried about in many ways just as they are concerned about attacks against fighters. Theses are people not on anybodys radar. You look at nidal hasan, the ft. Hood shooter was ideologically motivated, had watched videos and tried to reach out to anwar al awlaki. Or the boston bombers as well, one who did travel to areas in the middle east, but not his brother and they were inspired, they read inspire magazine and got instructions on how to build a build. Coming up next, more breaking news in the search for Hannah Graham and the growing focus on a man she was seen with the night she vanished. Well show you the Surveillance Video. Police say theyre closing in. Also that alleged cop killer in the pennsylvania woods. They believe theyre closing in. What could be a key discovery in the manhunt. 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. Woman everyone in the nicu all the nurses wanted to watch him when he was there 118 days. Everything that you thought was important to you changes in light of having a child that needs you every moment. I wouldnt trade him for the world. Who matters most to you says the most about you. At massmutual were owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. If youre caring for a child with special needs, our innovative special care Program Offers strategies that can help. Crime and punishment tonight. The search goes on for missing College Student Hannah Graham. It now includes a manhunt of sorts as well. Police put out a wanted poster with this mans face on it. Jesse matthew who at the moment is only wanted for reckless driver but is clearly of greater interest to authority. They believe hes the man on this surveillance cam video which graham the last person seen with her the night the university of virginia sophomore vanished more than a week ago. Now yesterday her father pleaded for help. Did you see hannah . Did anybody see hannah . Did you see hannah . Who saw hannah . Somebody did. Please, please, please, if you have anything however insignificant you think it may be, call the Police Tip Line with anything that just might help us to bring hannah home. Hannah grahams dad. A horrible place for a father to be. Joining me with the latest, cnns jean casarez. What do you know about Jesse Matthew and any connection he may have to the disappearance . Heres what ive learned. He grew up in this area, went to high school in this area, has a lot of friends in this area. Hes a patient technician at the hospital which is affiliated with the university of virginia. Why theyre interested in him, they believe he was the last person that was with hannah. Why . Because they havent heard anything else. Anderson, im right here. This is the outdoor pedestrian mall where hannah was a week ago friday night. Right at this intersection is where she and jesse allegedly walked together and if you look down that pedestrian walkway, thats the restaurant that they went into. So you can see when the police chief says there were so many people here look at all the people at this restaurant thats so close. Thats why hes asking anybody to come forward that saw them because this is a place thats just filled with people, you can imagine, on a friday night. I talked to the chief. Well play that in our 9 00 hour on 360. He said theyve got as many as a thousand tips which is certainly a good sign. I know you spoke with some family and friends of this person of interest. What did they have to say . Well, they say that jesses lawyer has told them that they cannot comment, but i spoke with someone today at the house and i said, you know, we want to hear from you because a young mans life is at stake here also. And they agreed with me. You can see the emotion within his family. The friends that ive talked to, they say that hes a really nice guy. They dont want to come on camera and talk, but they say that hes a quiet person, that hes a person that helps people, doesnt hurt people, and theyre really shocked. Clearly police are on the lookout for him. Jean, appreciate the update. Quick program note, well speak to police chief longo in our second hour. Hes quite passionate about this case. Well get the latest on this case and where it now stands. Two states to the north, authorities in northeast pennsylvania have narrowed the search area for alleged cop killer eric frein. They say hes still out in the woods, territory that he knows well and hes armed with a scope hunting rifle. Hundreds have joined the search for him. Hunters have been told to stay away. Local schools today were canceled. Alexandra field is on the scene. She joins us now. Whats the latest . Reporter eric frein has evaded capture for the last ten days. But in the last hours weve seen the search efforts intensify. There are still more officers coming from the neighboring states of new jersey and new york. Youve got a number of different agencies all working together. Their search focused in the wooded area behind me. Theyve been targeting just a few square miles near freins family home, but they say theyve been able to now shrink that search area. They say that they are confident that frein is close by and theyre optimistic that theyre going to capture him. This is based on the fact that theyve received several credible tips, they say, in the last 24 hours about reported sightings of frein. They do believe hes still armed and dangerous. Thats what they really need to take into account in this effort. Theyve had medevac choppers above and ambulances on the ground. They want to be sure when officers go in, that theyre safe, protected, that they dont have the kind of incident that prompted this man hunt. So dangerous for them to be out in the woods where this guy could be laying in wait for them. Over the Weekend Police did find items that they believe are related to frein, right . Thats right. Thats why theyve been able to sort of tell the public that theyre so confident hes in this area. An ak47 and ammunition. They believe both of those items were left following the shooting at the State Police Barracks ten days ago. Thats indicated to them that they are very much on his trail. Theyre telling people in this area that they really need to remain vigilant. There was a shelter in place order in effect while these searches have been under way. Right now that order is lifted, but people are being kept out of their homes when its necessary to block roads. Everyones being told if you can be inside your house, stay inside your house. You do not want to wander outside in the dark out into the woods tonight. The fact that 400 law officers and countless civilians have yet to locate eric frein should not surprise anyone who has spent time outdoors. He knows what kind of patience a manhunt like this requires and he knows from experience. Gary tuchman on the life and work of a tracker. Reporter there are hundreds of thousands of acres in the wilderness of the Nantahala National forest in north carolina, and places like this is where fugitives gravitate. Patrick patton knows that firsthand. To be a master tracker, you have to really enjoy the woods and it has to be in your blood. Reporter patton was the lead tracker in the ultimately successful fiveyear search for eric rudolph, the socalled atlanta olympic park bomber. He was found right in this area. Patton returns here with us to give us our own tracking lesson. Footprints have been left

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