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Police: Cop Shooter Suspect's Rifle Found; White House Raises Security After Two Incidents; Wife, Friends Plead For ISIS Hostage; Cops Seek Last Person Seen With Hannah Graham

Aired September 22, 2014 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, vanished.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, POLICE OFFICER: Jessie Matthew was the last person she was seen with.

COSTELLO: Breaking overnight, the search for missing UVA student Heather Graham intensifies. Gone for nine days as her parents --

JOHN GRAHAM, HEATHER GRAHAM'S FATHER: My name is John graham --

COSTELLO: -- make a plea for help.

GRAHAM: We need to find out what happened to Hannah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Also, White House jumper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a failure here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Two major security breaks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE PETER KING (R), ARIZONA: This is absolute inexcusable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Why was the White House front door unlocked? Why weren't the dogs launched? New concerns and new questions about the Secret Service.

And climate march.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are at a pivotal turning point.

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COSTELLO: Hundreds of thousands taking to the streets as the United Nations begins to debate environmental action.

This morning, new protests aimed at Wall Street. Let's talk live at the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Officials say they are closing in on a suspected cop killer and Rambo- type survivalist who's been hiding in the Pocono Mountains.

After ten days on the run, some 400 law enforcement officers have stepped up their manhunt for the skilled marksman who may have spent months preparing for a violent showdown with police.

Alexandra Field joins me now with the latest. So they've located this guy?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, they aren't saying they have located him yet. What they are saying is that they feel very confident that they are close in on him, that they are moving in on him. They said they've narrowed down their search area to a few square miles and that they've got a good idea of his location, basically, within that few square miles.

They have not put eyes on him, at least they haven't said yet if they have put eyes on him. What they have told us is that there have been some reported sightings. They aren't able to say if those sightings are credible.

We do know, though, that they found some evidence that leads them to believe they are close on his trail. An AK-47 and some ammunition, which police say Eric Frein has recently left in the woods.

Not clear if he left it for law enforcement to see or if he somehow just managed to leave it behind and didn't at all intend for officers to see it. Again, they continue to express confidence that after a ten day long manhunt they feel that they are close to their suspect.

So what's the difficulty here? Well, Carol, as we've been telling you, we've been making our way through this area that they've been searching. It is a really heavily wooded area, a lot of places to sort of conceal yourself. It's tough terrain for law enforcement to navigate.

They've had to come to a fuller understanding of what it looks like out there. Frankly, this is Eric Frein's backyard. He grew up in this area, his family home is close by so he has had the edge on them in knowing these woods.

It's something that law enforcement says, though, they are gaining ground on. They're much more familiar than they were when they started the search.

COSTELLO: Yes, and we are talking about the suspect, Eric Frein. Of course, he's wanted for ambushing a state trooper and killing him. Are people being told to stay in their homes at this point?

FIELD: You know, there was a shelter in place order that was in effect here for two days. That order has been lifted. At the same time that police lifted the order, they also made it clear to people that they hadn't yet apprehended the suspect. Frankly that made a lot of people nervous and confused.

We spoke to people who said they didn't understand why they were able to leave their homes now. But what police told us is that this is a balancing act. They've got to try to balance the public safety and security needs with the fact that people do need to go on living their lives.

So what needs to be said, though, is that they are advising caution. People have to be vigilant. People are being told "don't go wander off into the woods." It's not a smart thing to do, it's not a safe thing to do.

You need to be vigilant, lock your doors, be aware of what's going on, on your property if you see a shed door open, a garage door open then you need to notify authorities of that.

The school district here taking a stronger step, though, they have canceled school now for a fourth day. They've been conferring with authorities, trying to make a plan on a day to day basis and with a suspect on the loose who is considered armed and dangerous they felt the prudent thing right now is just keep those kids home.

COSTELLO: All right, Alexandra Field, we'll check back with you, thanks so much.

The U.S. Secret Service is ratcheting up security measures at the White House this morning after a pair of incidents raised new concerns about its vulnerability.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, go back, everybody into the park. Right now, into the park.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So this was the scarier of the two incidents that took place on Friday when a man scaled the White House fence, dashed across the lawn and actually made it through front door of the White House.

The man's name is Omar Gonzalez. He's described as an Iraqi war veteran who was apparently suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He was unharmed. He's due in court this morning and, by the way, he did have a three-inch-long knife in his pocket.

With me now, Evy Poumpouras, a Secret Service agent who served three presidents from the year 2000 until last year. Welcome, Evie.

EVY POUMPOURAS, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Hello, Carol.

COSTELLO: So people are looking at this man. The man got into the White House. How could this happen?

POUMPOURAS: So they're going to look at this and investigate it. The first thing you look at is did anybody make a mistake or drop the ball. That's the most obvious. Was everybody at their post where they were supposed to be?

The second thing that I think is much more likely is that some of those assets on the north grounds were very likely relocated temporarily to the south grounds because only a couple of minutes before we had the president's hilo on the south ground go to Camp David.

So as a result you're going to concentrate the majority of your tactical support around the individual you're protecting and I think here we had the perfect storm. Person jumps over the fence. Canines aren't there to take the person down because what do we usually see? Canine comes in, takes that person down.

COSTELLO: Still, they had this man in their sights, some Secret Service agents on the grounds of the White House. They had -- and there was 20 seconds where he was running across the lawn. Is that enough time to decide to stop him, to open fire, to do something?

POUMPOURAS: OK, there's two things you should do at that point. The first thing you should do is canine. The second thing you do is go after the person. To shoot, no, unless you can clearly see the person is armed or wearing a suicide vest, you don't want to take a shot because here we go, look at what we're looking at.

COSTELLO: I have been asking people on Twitter and Facebook and a lot of them are saying what if he did have a suicide vest on? You can't see that. It was dark.

POUMPOURAS: Yes, but, again, you can't use lethal force because then if they use lethal force the man was shot and killed we'd be talking about brutality, legal force, how can they shoot somebody? They should have better tactics.

At the end of the day, he should have not got on the the door. Did they get him? Yes. Are there multiple security layers that are in place? Yes. It's not that you jump the fences and you're in.

Now ideally what very likely also happened is once they're notified, that doorway where he enters, that's full of personnel. And the tactical response --

COSTELLO: So why wasn't the door locked? Because I lock my door when I leave.

POUMPOURAS: OK, that's your house. This is a public venue. That front door has a lot of movement in and out and actually I've traveled all over the world and gone to other White Houses, nobody has their front door locked. Buckingham Palace doesn't have the front door locked. That's the way it works. You want to prevent this? You need a better fence. That thing is eight feet tall.

COSTELLO: Some of it was built in 1818.

POUMPOURAS: So for aesthetic reasons, money, budget, all that, that fence is junk. Put a better fence. That minimizes everything, that's deterrence. You want more canine. You want to make sure you're not relocating assets and leaving a vulnerability somewhere else.

COSTELLO: OK, I just want to ask you about this because there have been a number of questionable incidents involving Secret Service agents. In April, 2012, a dozen agents got tipsy, brought prostitutes back to their hotel rooms before the president's arrival for an economic summit.

In March of 2014, three Secret Service agents got drunk during a trip to protect the president, they were placed on administrative leave. I forgot the incident in 2009 when the -- people busted into a White House party and now this incident. What is up with the Secret Service management wise? You worked under the two directors?

POUMPOURAS: I did. And I worked under the White House security, I was around for the Colombia and all that. Colombia thing, the agents' behavior, that's unacceptable. Even as a woman I don't want to work in that environment where my colleagues are behaving that way.

That is one incident, that's something where you deal with the culture, personnel, and people. As far as security goes with this breach that we have, I think it's going to come back to budget and resources and them understanding where you should allocate manpower.

At the end of the day, a lot of this stuff comes down to money. It comes down to having all the personnel that you need in the right places and not sacrificing taking -- from Peter to pay Paul. That sort of thing.

COSTELLO: Evy, thanks for your insight. We appreciate it as always. Evy Poumpouras, thank you.

In Great Britain, a sombre measure of desperation. Friends and family of an ISIS hostage issue an emotional plea, even though it's aimed at a group that revels in its own cruelty and heartlessness.

To the rest of the world, it's a reminder that English cab driver, Alan Henning is much more than a pawn in a grotesque war against the west. He was simply trying to help Syrian civilians who were trapped by war.

CNN's Karl Penhaul in London with more. Good morning.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Certainly Alan Henning is human being with a family who sacrifice a lot of his own time to do good for Syria. He is not a bargaining chip to be traded for political demand. That's the message that his friends and family were trying to put across when I went up to his hometown in Northern England this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've spoke to the family and they're all OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this the first time you've been away from them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is hard.

PENHAUL (voice-over): Taxi driver, Alan Henning on a mercy mission to Syria. That was Christmas day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have some presents from other members of the convoy didn't you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I got a nice t-shirt, some after-shaver and some chocolates and some biscuits.

PENHAUL: Father of two, Henning was the only non-Muslim on the British aid convoy. Fellow volunteer, Dr. Shameela Islam-Zulfigar and her family drove with him.

DR. SHAMEELA ISLAM-ZULFIGAR, AID WORKER: He really wanted to make sure that he was counted as somebody that got up and did something, not just made a simple donation and sat in the comfort of their own home.

PENHAUL: Members of the 50 vehicle convey affectionately nicknamed him Gadget.

ZULFIGAR: Uncle Gadget as my children called him and he traveled with us on several conveys, has a love for all things technical. And he really was -- is the guy that fixes everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go. Five is through, we're behind eight.

PENHAUL: The convoy was taking ambulances to help Syrian citizens caught in war. Henning dedicated his vehicle to a British doctor purportedly murdered by the Syrian regime a week earlier.

ZULFIGAR: To save the life of one means to save the whole of mankind and one of my favorite quotes. It was a quote that Allan was helping to put on the side the ambulance.

PENHAUL: At the Turkey-Syria border, Henning volunteered to cross over into the battle zone with a 10-person advance party. They recorded their cautious progress, greeting refugees as they went. Moments after that video was taken, Dr. Shameela received a desperate call.

ZULFIGAR: We received a phone call about half an hour later. It was a very distressed person on the other side saying that Gadget had been taken after armed gunmen are taken him.

We just thought it was just a temporary measure -- with him being a non-Muslim and being visibly English, that they would just question him further and then they would let him go?

PENHAUL: But as ISIS and rival rebel factions clashed, that didn't happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just dropped a bomb here. Not far away from us. As can you see, it is very, very close to us.

PENHAUL: The convoy advance team recorded this explosion as it fled back to the border. Back in Henning's home town in Northern England, well-wishers have yellow tied around lamp post and on street signs. None of his neighbors on his street are talking, all are hoping. And now with ISIS threatening to execute Henning, there is a sense that time is short.

ZULFIGAR: Really difficult. I'm just dreading, we know that the deadline is coming up. We know that we have a very small -- the time is running out.

PENHAUL: But nobody is giving up.

ZULFIGAR: I have a message for ISIS. As your sister in Islam, I would implore you and beg of you, please spare the life of this innocent man.

PENHAUL: I asked her how we should think of Henning in his hour of need.

ZULFIGAR: Just that smile and his concern and care for everyone around him and his beautiful, beautiful golden heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PENHAUL: Now there has been a groundswell of public appeals by British Muslims and also non-Muslims calling for Alan Henning's release. We do know, though, of course, that U.S. journalist, Steven Sotloff, his mother also made a very public appeal shortly before he was beheaded. The big question now -- is ISIS really listening -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Karl Penhaul, many thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, she has been missing for more than a week. Now the parents of a missing college student are making an emotional plea in the hopes that someone will help find her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The last person seen with missing University of Virginia student, Hannah Graham is wanted by police this morning on unrelated charges. His name is Jesse Matthews. He's the man seen in this surveillance video.

He is now accused of reckless driving after leaving the Charlottesville Police Station over the weekend. Charlottesville police chief tells CNN Matthew came there to ask for an attorney.

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CHIEF TIMOTHY LONG, CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE: After Mr. Matthew left the police station, he went to another location in Albermarle County and that's where he was observed by state police and federal officials getting into a car and speeding off.

And we haven't heard from him since and as you've indicated there are two arrest warrants charging him with reckless driving. We hope to hear from him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now from Charlottesville with more. So what do we know about this Jesse Matthew person?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I was able to confirm that he does work at the University of Virginia Hospital, the medical center. He is an orderly is what I was told by police and I have heard from people that know him that he's gone to school in this area.

He's lived here for a long time and that everybody loves him. That he's a very nice person, a quiet person, someone that would help Hannah not hurt Hannah. But nonetheless he is the primary focus of this investigation and what police are telling me is that they hope to get the forensic results of the search that they did on his car.

Police tell me that they spent hours combing his car forensically and all of that is being analyzed at the state crime lab. Now, Carol, they are going to want to find Hannah Graham's DNA in that car because we know it's Jesse's car, but it's not a crime to be in somebody's car.

It's not a crime to ride in someone's car so they're going to have to try to find something to show that a crime has been committed in that vehicle, something to that note.

Now, we also know that they've gotten so many tips in this area and so investigators and searchers from the Department of Emergency Management are going to take those tips that they believe are the most credible and they are going to broaden out the investigation today.

COSTELLO: Hannah's parents, we heard them speak out yesterday. Let's listen to this plea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM: Somebody knows what happened to Hannah. We don't know who that is, but somebody knows what happened to Hannah. All we want to do now is to bring Hannah home safely. And I appeal to anybody who knows anything, please, please help us. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Police are echoing what John Graham said. He said "somebody knows something out there, if only they would come forward." Are they having any luck, Jean?

CASAREZ: They continue to get tips, but they continue to appeal to the community also. In fact, yesterday at the press conference, the police chief went so far as to asking anybody who has large amounts of land if they see fresh tire tracks on that land, something unusual tire tracks they've never seen before to come forward to authorities.

So I asked him this morning, well, did you see mud or dirt on the tires of that vehicle? And he said "We're just not discounting anything." And that's why we're just asking anyone who has seen anything unusual to come forward.

COSTELLO: And just a couple of things that are hanging out there and I wanted to ask you about them. Hannah Graham is 18 years old, she was clearly allowed to go into bars. Are police looking into that?

CASAREZ: You know what we learned yesterday, which I think I heard for the very first time? McGrady's Pub. We keep hearing about that, that she walked to it, walked around it, never went in. I learned yesterday that they wouldn't let her in and that's why she didn't go into that bar.

Now, the Tempo Restaurant where police say she did enter with Jesse, right behind me, Jesse Matthew and Hannah went straight into that restaurant. But it's a restaurant, not a bar. Now police say that he ordered alcohol.

Did she drink alcohol? I don't think that's confirmed, but police did tell me that they do know that they left together out of the Tempo Restaurant.

COSTELLO: And I'm no-no way blaming Hannah. I'm in no way blaming her for what may or may not have happened to her, but I think that for many parents out there, they may be wondering why Hannah's friends didn't stick with her that night.

CASAREZ: She was alone. And what we've learned is that she went to dinner with friends at a restaurant and then after that went to two different events, parties, get-togethers, by people -- with people that she goes to school with, but she went to one alone and went to the second one alone.

And then left alone and was walking all around here, the downtown mall that was filled with people. And that's where police say that Jesse Matthew began to follow her.

COSTELLO: And I guess for young men and for young women, stick with your friends at night. Just stick with them because you just -- just stick with them, that's all I'm going to -- I'll leave it there. Jean Casarez, many thanks to you. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the newsroom, you're on a plane, someone gets sick, we've all been there, but with the Ebola outbreak, how sick does a passenger need to be to get booted off the flight? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In West Africa, a second contingent of U.S. troops have arrived in Liberia to help in the battle against the deadly Ebola virus. The troops will focus on training local health workers in setting up treatment facilities.

Here in the United States, the CDC is looking for ways to protect airline passengers and crew from Ebola. Among the recommendations, flight crews should stop sick people from boarding planes.

And by with the sick" they aren't talking about anyone who might be coughing. They'll be looking for symptoms that indicate a serious contagious disease. So how difficult is that?

Let's talk about that and how airlines and airports can help identify possibly contagious people. I want to bring in the former deputy administrator for the TSA, Tom Blank. Welcome, Tom.

TOM BLANK, FORMER DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, TSA: Nice to be with you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Nice to have you here. So how difficult will it be to identify those who may have Ebola?

BLANK: Well, the CDC is really exercising its partnership with DHS to leverage the assets of the cabin crews, which have been a part of homeland security and response to all kinds of threats, Ebola certainly being one since 9/11.

So what will happen is that all cabin crew is constantly undergoing training for new and emerging threats. Ebola being one. They will be trained on what the symptoms are, how the symptoms manifest themselves, so they'll be on the lookout.

Not only during flights but they'll also be evaluating passengers as they board and even as they're planing and going through the ticketing process. And note that any airline can refuse to fly someone that they deem to be too sick to fly so we're trying to mitigate the risk that Ebola presents here. And using some of our best homeland security asset, which a cabin crew to do it.

COSTELLO: I ask you that question because the symptoms of Ebola are the same symptoms you would have if you catch the flu, right?

BLANK: Well, they could be and what we do sometimes in homeland security is err on the side of abundant caution and that's what's going here. It's not out of the question that someone with the flu may be inconvenienced, but in the overall effort to mitigate the horrific effects of having Ebola come here.

The protocols are being put in place in the broader interest of homeland security. Let's remember something. These cabin crew are seeing two million people a day in the domestic system alone.

That means we're flying around the country, all these different diverse kinds of people all of them are enjoying soda or water or something so bodily fluids are present in the cabin. There are certainly risks that are presented. Not only if someone is sick, but if someone is in the early stages of being -- becoming sick as well. COSTELLO: Here's the other thing about body fluids -- and I don't mean to gross anyone out, but the CDC says flight crews should treat all bodily fluids as if they are contagious. Is that practical?

BLANK: Well, again, they have been given protocols and training. They also carry kits that are meant to respond to this.