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Eric Frein Arrested Yesterday; Standoff Between State of Maine, Nurse Continues; Suspect in Hannah Graham's Death Arraigned on Unrelated Charges; Man Attacks D.C. Police Officer with an Axe

Aired October 31, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

We do begin with breaking news and a community feeling great relief this morning as a 48-day nightmare ends and an accused cop killer makes his first appearance in court in Pennsylvania. It was a routine sweep through the woods that led to the arrest of Eric Frein yesterday outside of an abandoned airport in the Pocono Mountains.

You can hear people calling him "Coward" as he walked into the courthouse this morning. Last hour, Frein made that initial appearance in court. He looked thin, as you saw, he has a cut on his nose. He's now charged with a laundry list of crimes including first degree murder and his arrest was filled with links to the slain state trooper he's now accused of killing.

I'm joined now by Miguel Marquez. He's outside the courthouse in Pennsylvania, HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson is with me, too, as is Horace - as is Matthew Horace, a former ATF special agent and senior vice president and chief security officer for FJC security service. But I'd like to go out to Pennsylvania first and check in with Miguel, because it was quite the scene inside the courthouse this morning. Tell us about it, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Inside and out. I truly have never seen anything like it. I've covered a lot of trials in -- over the last few years. This is a guy - it was about a ten-minute hearing. Mr. Frein was brought in. He looked thin and he looked pale, but as the judge addressed him, his voice was strong, he said "Yes, I do, no, I don't." He was respectful. He didn't seem to be insane or acting odd in any way other than he was incredibly sober this morning. He did have a cut or abrasions on the left side of his forehead, a cut to the left side of his nose and his left cheek appeared to be bruised and possibly swollen. Police saying a short time ago that whatever he was going through in the woods up until the time he was caught was what led to those injuries on him. They said that he gave up without even struggling.

I think you're looking at pictures now, this extraordinary scene here at Pike County courthouse where Mr. Frein was brought out the front doors, held there for the press to see and then walked around. They are very concerned about him succumbing to someone trying to harm him or kill him. He is -- he has really angered people in this community. There must have been 30 police officers, sheriff's deputies and state troopers in that courthouse alone. When he came out the front door there were SWAT teams that fanned out around the building before he came out, but they want the world to know that this is over, that they have this individual and they will be prosecuting him to the fullest. Carol?

COSTELLO: All right, Matthew, I want to ask you about that perp walk, because police didn't have to do that. They could have sneaked him in the courtroom, and they could have saved themselves some trauma, but they didn't do that. Why?

MATTHEW HORACE, FORMER ATF AGENT: Well, there are a lot of reasons why they could have, but I can tell you that over the past several weeks there have been questions about the amount of money that was being spent on the investigation, how many resources were being placed by then by the ATF, the FBI, the United States Marshal Service. Now the public knows that everyone is a lot safer because Mr. Frein is in custody.

COSTELLO: And I would assume that there were state police officers in attendance walking -- watching Frein walk into the courthouse. Because we heard people call out "coward." We heard applause as he went into the courthouse, applause as he went back into the police car to be taken back to the jailhouse. So emotionally tell me how police officers are feeling.

HORACE: Well, they're feeling a small victory right now that Mr. Frein has been caught. This was a senseless, heinous execution of a law enforcement officer and I think that the federal government, the state of Pennsylvania, and everyone involved has made it very clear that you cannot execute law enforcement officers and go uncaptured. With the resources that were brought into play in this case, he was not going to evade the long arm of the law.

COSTELLO: I think in the news conference they said it cost $10 million to apprehend this guy. He was on the run for 48 days. At times there were a thousand police officers combing the woods for him and eventually they were able to corner him. What happens next, Joey?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know what, and you want calm in that community, so it's money well spent. And apparently a Halloween parade that was canceled is back on again which is very - a very good thing for the community. But what will happen now, Carol, is what we saw what's a preliminary arraignment, where you're brought in front of the magistrate and at that time, conditions are set on your detention. He's not going anywhere, he's in custody. And the next stage there will be what's called a preliminary hearing. At that time prosecutors will put forth just a bare bones allegations in order to ensure that his arrest was proper and there's probable cause to believe that a crime was committed, he did it. Following that preliminary hearing, there's a formal arraignment where he enters a plea of not guilty and after that entrance of plea of not guilty the beat goes on, discovery, the exchange of information with the defense attorneys and then the matter moves to trial. COSTELLO: Back out to Pennsylvania now for another question for

Miguel Marquez. Miguel, was any of Frein's family in court today? Because his parents at one point were speaking out.

MARQUEZ: It was not clear that they were in court. I didn't see anybody from Eric Frein's family, but it appeared that there may be members of either Corporal Dixon's family or trooper Douglas's family who were brought up prior to us entering the courtroom. It's a fairly small courtroom, but I think big for probably here, but it was almost full to capacity. Also, some interesting stuff coming out of the affidavit they just handed out, just the amount of ammunition, water, supplies that he had on him when they found him. Carol?

COSTELLO: And, Joey, what more evidence do they need to gather?

JACKSON: As much as they possibly can. Because when you go before the jury, what you want is a compelling case if you're the prosecutor. And so far they've been able, Carol, to amass a lot of that compelling information again, including the information they found in his SUV, which had his license in it in addition to ballistic evidence that connected him to that particular crime. We've talked already about what was amounted to a confession, really where his journal indicated that he took the shot and the officer dropped, just in chilling detail. And in addition to that, you certainly would suspect that they got information from him today, whether they've spoken with him or not remains an open question. I don't know what he said that may have further incriminated himself, but the rule of thumb, you get everything and anything you need if you're the prosecutor to put on a case that is beyond a reasonable doubt, it's used.

COSTELLO: All right, and then I just want to talk a little bit, Matthew, about how Frein was captured. So he's at this - this abandoned hangar at this airport, right? And he just drops to his knees and gives up.

HORACE: Well, you know, often times when suspects are on the run for some length of time -- and this has been a couple of months now -- at the end of the day, they're almost satisfied that they're finally caught and the hunt is over. In this case, you had the very best resources of the ATF, the FBI, the United States Marshal Service. There was no way that he was going to evade capture for too much longer with the resources that they bring to the table. I'm very excited. I'm sure the public is very happy that this coward has been caught and is finally going to face justice.

COSTELLO: No, I know, you know, you call him a coward. You expected him to fight back. He had - he had -- I guess there were guns found near him. He didn't have them, like, physically in his hands but they were nearby. You would have expected him maybe to kind of fight back.

JACKSON: That's probably why, though, Carol. If the guns were within his arm's reach you would certainly suspect that he may have used them. But fortunately, they weren't so close to him that he tried to go out in a blaze of glory.

HORACE: Well, remember, it's also likely that he began this run from justice with more things that he had on him than when we finally caught him. So along the way you get tired of carrying guns and ammunition, looking for food, trying to survive. So for as much as we say he was a survivalist, he's now in the hands of the law.

COSTELLO: And that's a good thing. Now, Miguel.

JACKSON: Amen to that.

COSTELLO: Yeah, amen to that. That's for sure. Miguel Marquez, I understand you have some new nuggets of information for us?

MARQUEZ: One critical piece that appears to be coming together is that law enforcement source tells us that the casings that they found at different locations where Frein operated as well as the bullets that they found, a fairly rare manufacture of those bullets is now out of business match the - or are consistent with the 308 caliber sniper rifle and scope that he was using. They have not matched the ballistics yet, but the rifle and the casings that they're already finding are similar in nature and they appear to be for one in the same weapon.

COSTELLO: All right, Miguel Marquez, many thanks to you. Many thanks to Joey Jackson and Matthew Horace as well. I'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any idea why he did that and you have to say? What you - you still don't know why he did this.

LT. COL. GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLIE: I have characterized his actions in the past as pure evil and I would stand by that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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COSTELLO: Now to the tense standoff between the nurse Kaci Hickox and the state of Maine that's left a whole community on edge. Despite a defiant bike ride and her refusal to follow a 21-day Ebola quarantine, health officials say they still have not reached common ground and while Maine's governor is threatening to use his full power to make sure Hickox stays put, her friends say she doesn't pose a threat.

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ROGER OMELAS, KACI HICKOX BEST FRIEND: She's not going to do anything to harm herself or others or put anybody else in danger.

BRANDON KRAUSSE, FRIEND OF KACI HICKOX: She's a purely passionate person and this is about doing the right thing for those considering doing something like this and providing aid around the world or those returning. And she brings this passion and this fervor to everything that she does.

TED WILBUR, BOYFRIEND OF KACI HICKOX: We went biking that way. We did not go into town, we did not go into the grocery store, we are not trying to get anyone sick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right, let's bring in CNN's Jean Casarez. She's in Fort Kent, Maine this morning, outside of the home where Hickox is staying. Tell us more, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me tell you, we have not seen a sighting of Kaci Hickox today at all. Yesterday about this time she was returning from her bike ride, but nothing today. Now, what do we know? Well, here's what we know. We know the governor of the state is in a very heated reelection period right now, election being next Tuesday.

We also know that yesterday at the end of the day he issued a release that was very specific and very vague in many ways. He said there had been hours of negotiation between his attorneys with the state of Maine along with the attorney general to try to reach a resolution so they would not have to go to court and that was not achieved. He then said that he was going to take and use the most authority he had under law and he included in that release all the most recent CDC guidelines for someone who is at some risk of exposure for Ebola. He also said this. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PAUL LEPAGE (R ) MAINE: I don't want her within three feet of anybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens if she does? Is there any legal ramifications that ...

LEPAGE: Let's put it this way, I am going to use the legal provisions to the fullest extent that the law allows me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: And, Carol, that doesn't come from the governor to just throw it out there "I don't want her within three feet." Those are part of the brand new CDC guidelines for someone who poses some risk of exposure to Ebola. They don't want someone within three feet of anyone, along with that they say you don't go to public places, you don't go to work, you don't go on commercial jetliners or public transportation, but you can go on walks and jogs and things like bicycle rides. Exactly what she did yesterday, Carol.

COSTELLO: It's unbelievable. Jean Casarez, I'm sure you'll continue following the story for us. And we appreciate that. Jean Casarez reporting live. Then there is this from New York City. As if it wasn't stress - as if it's not stressful enough treating the city's first Ebola patient, the "New York Times" is reporting the staff treating Dr. Craig Spencer at Bellevue Hospital is being shunned when seeking routine services. In one case, a nurse was asked by her long- time beautician to find someone else to cut her hair. So many Bellevue workers reported being discriminated against it prompted this tweet from New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio. He tweeted "We're New Yorkers, fear isn't an emotion we give into, especially when the facts show there's nothing to be afraid of." Stand with Bellevue."

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM", the prime suspect in the disappearance and death of Hannah Graham arraigned today in an unrelated sexual assault case from nearly a decade ago. Brian Todd is outside the courthouse.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Jesse Matthew made his first court appearance in a brutal assault case that took place in Fairfax County, Virginia, just moments ago, and there were some fireworks between the judge, his attorney, and other attorneys who may represent him in this case. I'll have that story just ahead.

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COSTELLO: A suspected serial rapist killer arraigned in court today. Jesse Matthew accused of abducting and killing UVA student Hannah Graham. But he's linked to two other cases as well. Today's court appearance was for a crime Jesse Matthew allegedly committed nearly a decade ago. Police say Matthew grabbed a 26-year-old woman from behind as she was leaving a grocery store on foot in Fairfax, Virginia, back in 2005. He then allegedly dragged her into some nearby woods and sexually assaulted her, but was scared off by a passerby. That's how she managed to escape. CNN's Brian Todd covered today's proceedings. Also joining me is criminal profiler Pat Brown. Welcome to both of you.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. Brian, first to you, what happened in court today?

TODD: Very interesting developments in court today, Carol. Jesse Matthew making his first appearance in the Fairfax County case against him, appearing in a baggy black-and-white striped prison jumpsuit via video conference before Judge Dennis Smith here. And the judge read the charges against him. He arraigned Jesse Matthew on charges of abduction, attempted capital murder, sexual assault. Then Jesse Matthew did not enter a plea. He never entered a plea in these proceedings because at the time these charges were read to him, he technically didn't have an attorney. That's where it got interesting.

Jim Camblos, his attorney for the Hannah Graham case, the attempted - the abduction he's charged with in the Hannah Graham case in Charlottesville, Virginia, asked Judge Dennis Smith to be the sole attorney representing Jesse Matthew here in Fairfax County. Well, Judge Smith was having no part of that. He said "let me tell you how things are done here in Fairfax County, Mr. Camblos," and then he proceeded to say, "I'm appointing a second attorney for you here, a public defender that will work with you, Jim Camblos, to represent Jesse Matthew here in Fairfax."

The reason? The judge wants to get this trial done quickly, he wants to get it under way quickly. He believes that if Camblos is the only attorney, that things will move too slowly, because Jim Camblos will have too many things to do in the other case in Charlottesville. He also believes that Fairfax public defenders here will know the system here better.

Well, upon hearing that news, Jim Camblos shook his head, he was visibly angry, he made a couple of other comments about procedure, and then they moved on. It does signify that from the get-go, Carol, there's going to be possibly some tension between members of the Fairfax public defense office defending him here in Fairfax County and Jim Camblos, who will also be defending him here in Fairfax County as well as in Albermarle County. That could be a problem for Mr. Matthew going forward.

Another interesting development here this morning was that Jim Camblos requested an evaluation for sanity for Jesse Matthew. That doesn't mean he's going to enter an insanity plea, it does mean he may be moving in that direction. But the judge said right now he's not going to field that motion, he'll consider it later. But Jim Camblos did request an evaluation for sanity for Jesse Matthew.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Stay right there, Brian, I want to bring Pat in now. Investigators are trying to connect this rape case to the murders of two other women, Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington. Do all of these crimes fit the profile? The same profile?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Absolutely, Carol. But first of all, in the rape case, which was ten years ago, so we know this guy, if it is Jesse Matthew, he's been out there that long possibly committing crimes for almost a decade.

So what we have there is we had a witness, that certainly identified a guy that looks an awful lot like Jesse Matthew, and there's supposedly DNA in that case as well. So if they can get him on that, then they definitely have their man. And if that DNA is connected to the Harrington case, again, you can't argue with that. And then we have witness and video from down in Charlottesville, the Hannah Graham case, and there we have Jesse Matthew again. So isn't it interesting, that this guy is in three different places where these crimes are committed, and this is very typical of a serial rapist/serial killer, because they can be one or both.

COSTELLO: Brian, you've been digging into Matthew's background, we have pictures of him back when he was in high school. He was popular, he was a wrestler, a football player, he was very outgoing. Tell us more about that.

TODD: That's right, Carol. Friends have told us and told a gentleman we work with, Coy Barefoot is an investigative journalist in Charlottesville, have told him that Jesse Matthew was very friendly, very outgoing. He was the captain of both the wrestling and the football teams at Monticello high school just outside Charlottesville. He graduated from there in 2000. And I saw his yearbook, I talked to the principal at Monticello, he was not the principal at the time Jesse Matthew was there. But we went into the high school, we kind of visited there, we saw the yearbook, and there are quotes from Jesse Matthew all over that yearbook. He was a very popular student at the time. A very popular athlete. He was one of the best athletes in Charlottesville, Virginia, at that time. One of the best high school athletes. So he had a lot going for him at that time. He went off to college at Liberty University in Lynchburg, and then Christopher Newport University in the Tidewater area of Virginia, and as we know, at those two places, he was accused of sexual assaults, but those charges were never formally brought.

COSTELLO: Interesting. So, Pat, if Matthew is guilty, how does this sort of person fit the profile of a serial rapist/killer?

BROWN: One of the things, when you look back at high school, we have a lot of people there who probably don't recognize the traits of psychopathy. Believe me, this guy is not psychotic. So you can go try all the insanity pleas you want, but he knew exactly what he was doing. He planned things, he covered up things, he eluded -- if it's him, he eluded the police for a darn long time until he screwed up. So we're talking about somebody who is psychopathic.

But what happens in high school is people just don't recognize, especially when the guy is outgoing. They'll think he's a nice guy, he's fun. He may tell stories, he may lie a lot, he may be manipulative, he may think everything is about him. He (inaudible) bad that he does, but, hey, we like him, he's a fun guy. So it's sometimes later in life these traits become more obvious, people pay attention to them, so you don't just become a psychopath when you're 25. You are one from a very young age. People just do not recognize it. And obviously in college, these traits started showing their evil side.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Pat Brown, Brian Todd, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

In other news this morning, a man with an axe attacked a Washington, D.C. police officer early today near Catholic University. Metropolitan police say the officer was injured in the struggle, but he was not hit by this axe. However, the same cannot be said for this officer's car. Take a look at this picture. A law enforcement official gave this to us. This is where the axe hit the patrol car. Strange, right? Scary. CNN justice reporter Evan Perez joins us now with more details from Washington. Tell us more, Evan.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Carol, that's an amazing picture, isn't it? This police officer was sitting in his squad car around 3:00 in the morning in the Brookland neighborhood here in Washington, that's right near Catholic University, as you said, when this man apparently just attacked the car, as you can tell.

Now, he was sitting in the driver's seat, so that would have been just a few inches away from his head, probably. He gave chase to the suspect, he managed to have some kind of a tussle with him, but the suspect managed to get away. The officer was not injured by the axe, but police say he was injured in the scuffle with the suspect.

Now, they haven't released a description of the suspect, and they haven't said exactly what else he might have said or what his intent might have been. Obviously in light of a recent attack in New York where a suspect used a hatchet to attack four police officers, you know, there's a lot of concern as to whether or not there's copycat attacks, or perhaps as New Yorkers called it -- they called this attack in New York a terrorist attack. So, again, this is something that they're monitoring, the FBI is looking at it, just in case this develops into something more. But right now the metropolitan police and here in Washington are searching for this suspect who attacked this cop, this police officer, with no warning whatsoever.

COSTELLO: We're glad he's okay. Evan Perez reporting live from Washington this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM," it's the final countdown. Midterm elections are just around the corner, and this year's races may be tighter than ever. But will it tip the balance of power in Washington? And what will it mean for 2016? We'll talk about that next.

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