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Secret Service Director Under Fire; Virginia Disappearances

Aired September 30, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me. You're watching CNN.

Just into us now, two Secret Service agents who helped arrest an intruder at the White House were actually off-duty. You will hear much more about that new nugget in just a moment. That information, by the way, coming out after the director of the Secret Service, Julia Pierson, faced a grilling for two serious lapses at the White House, that White House intruder two Fridays ago, a so-called fence jumper, and a White House shooter in November of 2011.

Director Pierson admitted to the House Oversight Committee that a White House intruder with a knife, follow the red dots with me, got all the way to the East Room, where the president has given multiple major public statements. Pierson was also questioned about a story "The Washington Post" broke wide open this past Sunday about that 2011 case.

This man, Oscar Ortega-Hernandez, shot multiple times at the White House. And it took multiple days for the Secret Service to realize bullets had hit the White House where Sasha, the president's youngest daughter, was home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Is that true? Did a housekeeper find evidence of the shooting and your agents did not?

JULIA PIERSON, DIRECTOR, SECRET SERVICE: The housekeeper was able to locate fragments of glass on the Truman Balcony, which is not an area that is frequented by security personnel.

GOWDY: I didn't ask you about who was frequent. I asked you -- there was a spontaneous conclusion that shots were fired. There were officers who believed they smelled gunpowder. There were -- your officers drew their weapons, Director. That's how seriously they took it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right.

So joining me now, Joe Johns there live at the White House.

So, Joe, tell me about these off-duty, I don't know if they were agents or actually the officers protecting the actual building in front of what you're speaking and this intruder.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Right.

The information we have gotten from Ted Barrett, our Senate producer on Capitol Hill, he's been told by a member of Congress who is actually in a closed-door briefing that there were, in fact, two Secret Service agents who had just gone off-duty. They were downstairs, heard a commotion, went upstairs and assisted other members of the Secret Service in making the arrest.

So that fills in a little bit more of the picture than we had when we started this day, especially because the White House briefing just ended here with Josh Earnest, the press secretary. And he was not able to confirm the fact that even one Secret Service agent off-duty actually participated in the arrest.

Just a little bit more information there on what happened when this fence jumper was taken into custody, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, here we have this week, thanks to "The Washington Post" reporting on what happened in 2011 and those bullets hitting the White House, and now this fence jumper who got all the way into the residence. How is the president responding to all of this and the testimony today?

JOHNS: Well, I can tell you the White House is responding by saying they do have full confidence in the Secret Service, as well as full confidence in the director of the Secret Service, even though she certainly took some hits in that hearing on Capitol Hill today.

They do say they believe that she took responsibility for what has happened. She's promised that it will not happen again. She did not give as much information as a lot of people would like to have. But her excuse was that there is an ongoing investigation, and after they find out the extent of the problem, they will start working towards some solutions, Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right. Joe Johns, thank you, sir.

Also following some breaking news in this battle against ISIS, a potentially major move in this war. We have asked the question before, the world has asked the question, the president of the United States has asked the question, where is Turkey? Why hasn't Turkey with ISIS poised right there at its southern border, why hasn't Turkey, a powerful member of NATO, really joined this fight?

Well, within the past two hours, we have received word from Turkey's prime minister that the government is submitting a motion to parliament to -- quote, unquote -- "extend its scope of potential action against ISIS."

Let me just read those words for you again here. Turkey's government now looking to extend its scope of potential action against ISIS. Keep in mind, Turkey has ISIS knocking at the door of that border town Kobani and the town's residents say they fear for their lives at the prospect of ISIS breaking through. Also keep in mind Turkey joining the coalition could change the

picture as well, especially if Turkey sends in ground troops.

So, this could be a really huge development here.

With me now from Turkey, CNN's Phil Black, and from Washington, Lieutenant General Dave Barno, former commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan.

Phil, first to you. Just tell me about the situation right now in and around Kobani. I understand it's a very fluid situation. And is what's happening now really forcing Turkey's hand as far as involvement?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the situation in Kobani is still pretty dire, Brooke, for the Kurdish fighters that are still there trying to hold off against that ISIS attack.

We have seen some coalition airstrikes in that region in the last 24 hours. And it would appear that that has made some difference to the dynamic in them and the momentum of the fighting on the ground, the Kurdish fighters taking back some territory. But they still believe that unless more airstrikes come and unless they do receive some assistance, then, yes, that city will eventually fall.

And those that remain, well, their fate is anything but certain. Now, this latest piece of legislation that you're talking about, what it will do, it will expand Turkey's ability to take action in Syria. It already has the ability to do so against Syrian government forces. There's already legislation authorizing that.

What this will do will update the situation on the ground to include ISIS, which is obviously vital, because as we're talking about, ISIS now controls and is occupying a vast chunk of Syrian territory right along the Turkish border, Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right, Phil, stay with me.

And, General, let me bring you in. Here's the if. If Turkey and, as Phil pointed out, they have already the power to do so, but if Turkey decides they were to send in ground forces, how would that change the balance in this fight against ISIS?

LT. GEN. DAVID BARNO (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, it could have a huge effect on the fight.

I think one of the things we don't appreciate sometimes is that airpower in this particular region is going to have periodic effects. It's there two or three or four or six times a day. But ground forces are there all the time. And to push back ISIS, we have seen this in Iraq, we're going to see the same thing in Syria, it's going to require ground troops, not Americans necessarily, but it's going to be have to be very capable forces on the ground, supported by airpower to push them back.

BALDWIN: I want to -- Phil, let me talk to you, actually both of you. I was just talking to Bobby Ghosh this past hour, very knowledgeable about this region, and he was telling me about some reporting, that there's this ISIS advancement upon the shrine.

It's a Turkish shrine, but it sits actually in Syria and how this is significant, because this could actually be an excuse or at least maybe even a justification for Turks, for Turkish military to get involved, Phil. What do you know about that?

BLACK: Yes, this is a Turkish shrine in the middle of Syria that is considered to be Turkish territory guarded by Turkish forces. And there's a feeling that ISIS is moving pretty close to it. And there's been a lot of talk in Turkey about whether or not is action against that particular shrine and the soldiers guarding it could be cause for war.

To be honest, here in Turkey, there is the view among many that the cause for war is already pretty well-established. But this is something that is potentially yet another hot spot for the Turkish government to be dealing with shortly.

BALDWIN: We know, General, that Turkey and President Erdogan certainly have been criticized. They haven't joined this coalition. Here you have this major NATO nation. But here you have they're possibly sending in these troops to Syria.

You mentioned exactly what their role would be. But what about their role geographically as a nation as far as stemming the flow of foreign fighters in and out of Syria?

BARNO: Well, clearly, we are very worried about that. The Turks are worried about that. Their borders have been relatively porous to these foreign fighters that are leaving Syria and potentially heading for Western Europe and maybe some eventually on to the United States. We're not sure about that.

But Turkey has got to do a lot more on their border to control this particular threat. But I think this is a whole different dimension here, whether they get involved militarily, especially if they go into Syria. That's a huge threshold event if Turkey decides to do that.

There's a big vote, as was noted, up in front of the Turkish Parliament today, Both to potentially authorize intervention, but also to authorize the use of Turkish bases, I believe, for other forces to attack ISIS and perhaps Iraq and Syria.

BALDWIN: OK. Lieutenant General Barno and Phil Black there along the border there in Turkey, I appreciate both of you very much.

Coming up here on CNN, police say the suspect in Hannah Graham's disappearance -- remember, she's that sophomore in the University of Virginia -- that her case may be linked to another area case. Coming up next, we will talk to a family member who may understand precisely what the Graham family is going through.

Plus, charges filed against the man accused of beheading his co-worker and the district attorney discusses whether he will seek the death penalty. We're also learning much more about what the suspect was saying during the actual attack. Nancy Grace weighs in on the case next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Prosecutors in Oklahoma say they will probably pursue the death penalty against a 30-year-old man accused of beheading a female coworker and attacking another yet woman.

Alton Nolen was charged today with first-degree murder and attempted murder. He allegedly went after this 54-year-old former co-worker after losing his job at this food processing plant and then beheaded her. He apparently tried to behead a second woman, but did not succeed. She is in the hospital. She's in stable condition.

So joining me now, HLN's Nancy Grace.

Nancy, we're learning a little bit about this guy, Nolen. He was a recent convert to Islam. He changed his name. Do you think that will be relevant in the case?

NANCY GRACE, HOST, "NANCY GRACE": Well, let's start under the umbrella of the fact that under the law the state does not have to prove motive when it comes to murder or any other felony crime.

The state is not required to be able to crawl into the mind of a defendant and figure out or make sense of it all. However, practically speaking, a jury will want to hear motive. Now, we know that he had just changed his name to Jah'Keem Yisrael.

We know that he was trying to convert co-workers to Islam. We know that he had been attending a mosque where he actually got in trouble and the worshipers there thought he was odd. He got in trouble for placing his prayer book on the ground.

He also has Islam, Arabic tattooed on his stomach.

But hold on. He also has Jesus Christ tattooed on his chest. He has praying hands on one arm and he has Judah on the other. He's got basically a potpourri of radicalism. So, before you want to say, oh, it's because he had converted to Islam, that's his most recent foray into spirituality. Let's get back to the brass tacks of the death penalty.

BALDWIN: Well, wouldn't that speak more to his ideology and maybe even his influence from what is happening overseas?

GRACE: Well, if you look at Facebook and his social media, you see a bizarre interest in ISIS. Not only that, he celebrates Osama bin Laden. We know that he was screaming out Arabic when he killed the first of his first two female victims. That would have been Colleen Hufford. Before he got to the second victim, who he tried to behead, Traci.

Then his boss, Vaughn, who owns the company, Mark Vaughn, takes a shot at him. That's the only thing that stopped him. BALDWIN: Back to the death penalty issue, though, Nancy. We know the

DA, Greg Mashburn, says it's highly likely he will ask for the death penalty, but he wants to consult with the victims' families first. Is that unusual?

GRACE: No, it is not unusual. In every murder case I ever tried, I always consulted with the victim's family if I could find them.

In this case, back to the issue, was Islam the reason, the motivation? Islam is not the reason for killing. The radicalization, those types of beliefs, not only in that, but in every religion that you look at, somehow get twisted and contorted, end up so far diametrically opposed to the message of love to the message of hate.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Right.

GRACE: And so it may very well be his motive in his twisted mind here.

BALDWIN: It's sick. It's absolutely sick. Nancy Grace, thank you so much. We watch you every night, HLN, 8:00 eastern. Thank you very much.

Coming up, apple pie and video games, two items the terror group ISIS is using to recruit young Westerners. Next, where they're targeting these kids and how they're using apple pie to lure people to their cause.

Next, we're talking also to the family of Alexis Murphy. she was murdered in Virginia, her remains never found. They have reached out to the family in this latest case out of Charlottesville, this UVA second-year Hannah Graham. Hear what message they would like to pass along.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: CNN has many more details here in this twist involving the suspect in this month's disappearance of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham. A law enforcement source tells us here at CNN that DNA evidence links the suspect here, Jesse Matthew, to the case of Morgan Harrington, that Virginia Tech student who disappeared back in 2009.

Harrington was 20 years of age when she disappeared after attending a Metallica concert in Charlottesville, the very same college town where Hannah Graham just recently disappeared. Some time later, Harrington's remains were found on a farm.

Jesse Matthew right now is being held in isolation in a jail in Virginia. He's currently charged with abduction with intent to defile in the Hannah Graham case. A bond hearing is set for Thursday. But there's one more potential twist to this story.

Four years ago, police linked the Morgan Harrington case to the kidnapping and sexual assault of a woman in Fairfax, Virginia. But so far, police have not connected the dots between the Graham case, the Harrington case and the assault case in Fairfax.

Cases similar to those of Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington have struck the same region of Virginia, actually, in recent years. There are at least three other missing persons cases in the area. Look at all these pictures, and not too far apart from one another; 19-year- old Dashad Smith in Charlottesville on November 20, 2012; 17-year-old Alexis Murphy disappeared after leaving her home in August of 2013. She was last seen at a gas station in Lovingston.

And then there's 19-year-old Samantha Clarke, who vanished after leaving her home in Orange, Virginia, in September of 2010.

Randi Kaye has more on two of those cases and how they may be linked to each other with a different killer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just this month, another search for Samantha Clarke in the Orange County Virginia, four years after she vanished. The 19-year old disappeared in 2010. Slipping out after midnight from her town house telling her 14-year old brother she was going out with friends. She never returned.

BARBARA TINDER, SAMANTHA'S MOTHER: She was with me all the time everywhere I went she was with me.

KAYE: Law enforcement spent hours scouring this lake. They came up empty handed.

JAMES FENWICK, ORANGE COUNTY POLICE: Even though we've been at this lake numerous times our experts in this matter have determined that the lake has not yet been 100 percent cleared.

KAYE: Samantha's cousin believes she always planned to return home.

SUSAN BURNS, SAMANTHA'S COUSIN: The only thing she took was her house key and she said that she would be back before morning.

KAYE: On Samantha's My Space page five days before she went missing a mysterious clue. He posted, I hate life. I need help. I don't know what to do.

Samantha's mother believed she knows who took her daughter, this man Randy Allen Taylor.

TINDER: Randy Taylor come and picked her up. I mean he called her six times and I mean, why would you call my daughter six times if ain't trying to leave her alone or trying to talk to her to come out of the house or kind to talk her to do something.

KAYE: Taylor was once looked at by a police in Samantha's case but years later, this past May in a bizarre twist he was actually convicted in a disappearance and murder of another girl, 17-year old Alexis Murphy. Both girls were last seen along the same stretch of highway 29.

Samantha was last seen in Orange, Virginia. Alexis disappeared in Livingston, Virginia about 60 miles away.

Alexis' family thought they might find her after police found her cell phone but Alexis' body was never discovered.

TRINA MURPHY, ALEXIS' AUNT: Alexis if you're out there and you can hear us just know that you're family loves you. We will never stop until you are home. Our family circle has broken right now.

KAYE: Police have surveillance video showing Alexis at Livingston gas station in August last year. Randy Taylor was also seen on the video. He is always maintained his innocence saying that he and Alexis and another man went back to this camper to smoke marijuana, then he said Alexis and a then unidentified black man left.

Taylor's attorney also argued his client wasn't the last person to see Alexis Murphy alive that instead police shouldn't have been focused on black male mid to late 20s with cornrows driving "20-year-old burgundy Caprice with 22-inch wheels".

(on camera): Despite all the talk officials say there is no evidence linking the disappearance of Alexis Murphy to UVA student Hanna Graham. The Nelson County attorney says the black man later identified and implicated by Randy Taylor was not Jesse Matthew, the suspect in the Graham case. He also said that man had an alibi and was later cleared.

Randi Kaye, CNN New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: All right, Randi, thank you so much, but all these young women missing.

Let me just be clear again. The Alexis Murphy case has not been linked to the Graham or the Harrington cases making headlines just recently in that very same part of Virginia.

But the family of Alexis Murphy knows all too well what the other families are going through.

So joining me now is from Charlottesville, Virginia, is Trina Murphy. We just saw her in that piece. She's the great aunt of Alexis Murphy.

So, Trina, welcome. Thank you so much for taking the time.

MURPHY: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: And just seeing you a couple of years ago in the piece, we pulled it out of the archive. You said we will never stop until you're home.

Take me back to that time. Describe the emotional toll that took on your family. MURPHY: I mean, honestly, I still to this day don't think that there

are words to describe what it's like to have someone missing.

The missing phase is really horrible. It's a roller coaster of emotions. You know, one day you think, OK, this is the day we find her, and then that day comes to a close and still no resolution. So it's a very difficult place to be, you know, and we're still in that place.

BALDWIN: She's never been found.

MURPHY: No.

BALDWIN: How -- you know, we have been seeing the pictures and hearing from Chief Tim Longo there in Charlottesville talking about the Hannah Graham case and all of the community members in Charlottesville coming out and combing swathes of Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

How important, or how touching I guess was it for community members to do the same for your niece?

MURPHY: Well, I remember back then, it was just so humbling to see so many people. A lot of them, we knew, a lot of them, we had never met before in our lives. Strangers came from all over, as far as North Carolina, Tennessee, other states, just to help us look for Alexis.

And it was very humbling and very touching and I'm sure the Grahams feel the same way.

BALDWIN: I know that you and your family are close to Morgan Harrington's family, the young woman who disappeared and they later found her body, the one from Virginia Tech. And I just want you to listen to the mother. This is Jill Harrington recently talking about this new forensic link, this DNA evidence between the suspect in this Hannah Graham case and that of her own daughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL HARRINGTON, MOTHER OF MORGAN HARRINGTON: There's a suspect and possibility of a link to Morgan's murder. And I am so pleased that has happened. But it doesn't change a lot for us in some ways. You know, our bedroom is still empty upstairs. We're still not going to have the grandchildren, the wedding, those things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Just to think of that bedroom still, you know, unchanged five years later, and people talk about this notion of closure which I actually take issue with, but just the notion.

You have been in -- or your family's been in contact with the Harringtons. How does one prepare for this? It's impossible, I have to imagine.

MURPHY: It's impossible to prepare for it. And it's impossible to live through it without a lot of support and a lot of help from family and community.

And Jill and I have become very close over the last year. And I spoke to her yesterday. And, you know, her words are so profound because even if we find Alexis tomorrow, it changes some things, but it doesn't change much. You know, she's -- she still won't be with us. And you grieve what would have been. Where would she have went to college? Who would she have married? How many children would she have had?

You grieve what would have been. And that's -- you know, that's a hard place to be.

BALDWIN: I'm sorry that you and your family have had to go through this, still go through this. But I really do appreciate your strength and your time that you have taken with me today, and just raising awareness that all these young women have gone missing in the same part of Virginia.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Trina Murphy, thank you for joining me this afternoon.