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Maryland Mall Shooting Examined; Lindsey Graham Says He Cannot Support Trump. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 06, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Investigating the shootings today. Badge and credentials, he was subsequently place on administrative leave. They said they're now working with the Prince George's County Police to assist in this investigation. We know, Wolf, that the people -- the authorities investigating the shootings today now believe that he could be responsible for these shootings in Montgomery County. They are looking for him. And they believe they know who they're looking for and now they're trying to track him down to arrest him.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Prince George's County also outside of Washington, DC. They identified this individual, 62-year-old Eulalio Tordil as the suspect in the murder of his estranged wife 44-year-old Gladys Tordil outside of a High School in Beltsville, Maryland, that's right outside of Washington, DC on Thursday. And then they suspect, Evan just to be precise that this individual was also responsible for the shootings at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, Maryland in prestigious mall outside of Washington DC as well as shopping -- as well as a supermarket also outside of Washington DC in Montgomery County. Giant Food as it's called.

PEREZ: That's right, Wolf. They're -- that's what they suspect. They believed that he could be connected to these shootings.

BLITZER: Those are not 100 percent sure.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Then all of the three incidents -- that he is responsible for all three?

PEREZ: Right. But this is not something, obviously that, you know, they must have some evidence in order for them to say at the press conference just about an hour ago that they believe they know the person of interest and that they were trying to track that down. One reason for that I believe, I've been talking to people in law enforcement is that there is something that they recovered at scene today. Perhaps witness' statement that leads them to believe it was the same suspect from yesterday.

BLITZER: I want to get some thoughts from our Law Enforcement Analyst, Tom Fuentes. This is very disturbing. A Federal Law Enforcement Officer now implicated in these shootings.

TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Will that's true, Wolf. But unfortunately, even officers can run into stresses from marital problems and other financial problems. And in this case, apparently, he had a domestic issue with his ex-wife and as a result of the violence with her, they took away his gun and put him on administrative leave which is required by law to do that. So, I think that's created the problem here where they know he's armed, knows how to use a weapon, may even be wearing body armor.

They also knew that he had rented a car with Pennsylvania license plates and that's possibly how they connected him and the shootings today that maybe somebody saw a similar vehicle with Pennsylvania license plates in the parking lot at this mall and at the other strip mall where the two different shooting incidents took place this morning.

BLITZER: Very quickly, Art. The Federal Protective Service, I suspect a lot of our viewers here in the United States and around the world are not familiar with the Federal Protective Service. Tell us about that?

ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Federal Protective Service is a uniformed service. At one point, it used to work for government service administration and then during the shift when they created Department Of Homeland Security, they actually moved FPS, what they called -- commonly known as under the Department of Homeland Security and they protect federal buildings all around the country. They're fairly large force. A lot of them are contract guards that work for the Federal Protective Service. Some of them are trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

And it's obvious is a very, very sad situation that brings together some personal issues and domestic issues. And one of the biggest things that tend to put law enforcement officers over the edge is loss status among peers and specifically talking about the fact that, you know, he was put on suspension and his weapons were taken away.

I would not be surprised if at some point, they locate this individual and possibly could have, you know, done himself in through suicide or self-inflicted gunshot wound. But obviously we haven't reached that point yet but that could very well be the outcome of this situation.

BLITZER: Evidence. Clearly, a shooter, someone who has killed is on the loose right now. And we're talking about Montgomery County, that's right outside of Washington, DC, not just Bethesda but now we're being told by the way that all students and staff at all Montgomery County public schools whether in Bethesda, Silver Spring, Rockville, Chevy Chase, all the areas pretty well known to our viewers, all of the students and staff are, "sheltering" in place at the request of the police as they investigate multiple shooting scenes across the area. That's obviously out of an abundance of caution right now.

PEREZ: Right. Exactly Wolf. And really one of the things that's really remarkable about these three incidents and certainly at least two of them, in the case of the shooting yesterday, the shooter decides if he's going to shoot a person who comes to the aid of someone else. You often hear that in instances happens like this and people don't come to the aid of another person who's clearly in distress and both the case yesterday and the case this morning at the mall, two people came to the aid of someone who was being attacked. And those people were shot. Same with the one that happened yesterday that killed this man's spouse. It really shows you that he has no respect. It's not just shooting people who he knows or he is trying to target, but also people that he has no idea who they are.

[13:35:29] BLITZER: Clearly, a trained Federal Law Enforcement officer now on the, loose. That's the person of interest. That's the person they're looking for in connection with these shootings right now.

We're going to stay on top of the breaking news update our viewers as we get more information. But there's other political breaking news we're following here at CNN. You can now add, get this, South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham to the list of Republicans who will not, repeat, not back Donald Trump by the party's presumptive presidential nominee.

Here's the statement just released by Senator Graham. Let me read it to you. It says, "He cannot, in good conscience support Donald Trump because I do not believe he is a reliable Republican conservative nor has he displayed the judgment and temperament to serve as Commander in Chief." Very strong words from Lindsey Graham.

I want to bring in Matea Gold, the National Political Reporter for the "Washington Post" and CNN Political Director David Chalian is with us as well. Senator Graham, one of those 17 Republican candidates didn't work out for him and then backed Jeb Bush and reluctantly, Ted Cruz saying the party needed to defeat Donald Trump. So, is this a surprise, Matea?

MATEA GOLD, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST: It's not a huge surprise obviously. Senator Graham was very outspoken about how he felt about Donald Trump even before he came this close to clinching the nomination. But I think it underscores what we see happening in the party right now which is just remarkable. There's a real kind of cleaving happening in deciding which people are falling one side or the other. There are the incredibly strong feelings now either you are going to get onboard the Trump campaign or your not. And we'll see Republicans having some incredibly difficult hard arguments with one another and soul-searching conversations about what they're going to do in the run-up to the November elections.

BLITZER: And it follows the very dramatic announcement yesterday, David Chalian from the House Speaker Paul Ryan saying, it's pretty amazing when you think about it, he's the speaker of the House of Representatives, the highest ranking elected Republican in the country, second in line to the presidency. He's not yet ready to support Donald Trump either.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That's right. And we're seeing different grades here, gradations across the Republican Party. Paul Ryan said, he's not ready to do that right now. But he left open the possibility that Donald Trump could sort of bring him along if he were to bring the party together. We've heard from, you know, the President Bush 43, not going to comment or participate in the election or go to the convention. It is not a surprise that Lindsey Graham would say, hey I cannot vote for Donald Trump but step back and think about that for a moment, Wolf. This is a sitting long time Republican United States Senator who's just announced that he is refusing to vote for, announcing publicly that he's not going to vote for his party's presidential nominee. Even though, we saw anybody paying attention the last year, from last July when Donald Trump went to South Carolina and gave out Lindsey Graham his cellphone number and demeaned him as a loser who couldn't get above one percent in the polls. He -- anybody following the race, this entire time could see this coming and yet, it's still quite a big deal to hear a sitting senator publicly say, three days after their nominee wrapped it up that they can't cast their vote for him. So it points to, again, the work that Donald Trump has ahead of him.

Now, Donald Trump would rightly point to, hey, I don't have that much work. I have all these voters that came with me during this nomination season and that is true. I don't think the voters this year are all that receptive to who's endorsing or who's not endorsing.

But you can't win a national election in this country as one of the major party nominees without making sure that you bring your own side together. And Donald Trump has proven he can win over independents. He is going to bring some Democrats to his side. There's no doubt about that. We will see that in November. But he also must tend to his home turf. And this is just an example, I think, of just what a big task that's going to be for him from now to the convention and maybe beyond.

BLITZER: Guys stand by because we're going to continue to follow this story. Important note to our viewer, Dana Bash has an interview with the Republican Senator, the Former Republican Presidential Candidate, Lindsey Graham. That's coming up in the next hour right here on CNN. You're going to want to hear specifically his concerns about Donald Trump.

[13:39:57] Also right now, this manhunt is under way for a law enforcement officer, you're looking at live pictures coming in, believed to be involved in three deadly shootings in the DC area over the last 24 hours. This is the individual, the suspect are now on the -- at large here on the Wishington DC area. A Federal Law Enforcement Officer, well trained, well armed, presumably, on the loose right now is suspected in the shootings. We're going to update you on what's going on after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:44:57] BLITZER: We're following the breaking news out of the Suburban Washington DC, Montgomery County, specifically where police say a string of shootings have left two people dead and they say the strings of those shootings are connected. We're awaiting a news conference from the police, Montgomery County Police supposed to start momentarily. The suspect has been identified as Eulalio Tordil. Tordil is a US Law Enforcement Officer, works for the Federal Protection Service but has been on administrative leave since March.

Tordil is on the run right now, he could be traveling in the car you're seeing there on the screen. Police believe, Tordil shot and killed his wife outside of a high school yesterday. They also believe this behind today's shooting outside of Montgomery Mall in Suburban Washington, DC as well as the Giant Food, a big supermarket, nearby schools.

All students and staff have been told right now in all Montgomery County Schools in Chevy Chase Bethesda, Rockville, Silver Spring, all of Montgomery County outside of Washington, DC. All of the students and staff have been told to shelter in place out of an abundance of caution.

There is a shooter on the loose in Montgomery County. And we're going to let you know, as soon as we learn more information. And then once again, police are expected on the news conference momentarily. In the meantime I want to bring in Susan Spiwek. She is the General Manager at a restaurant in Bethesda, Maryland. Susan, I understand you're at the mall. Tell us what you have seen and what you're seeing now?

SUSAN SPIWEK, AT SCENE OF DC-AREA MALL SHOOTING: Well, what I'm seeing right now, there are one, two, three, four, five police cars. They got the whole parking lot paved off. You have several tents set up for the evidence, I guess along with the mobile investigation van, I guess. There's all kinds of caption, not letting anybody into the parking lot at all. And that's where we are right now.

BLITZER: Were you there at around 11:15 am, a local time when the shooting incident occurred?

SPIWEK: Yes. I'm I didn't see the actually shooting. I was actually on my way to the bank and just right with two outside of the window. We saw all seven cops just kind of screaming in, screaming in to the parking lot. And we saw the two people lying in the parking lot.

BLITZER: You saw the individuals lying there?

SPIWEK: Yes, kind of frightening.

BLITZER: I'm sure that was very, very frightening and since then basically, as everybody at the mall, at Montgomery Mall, this is the Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, Maryland, has everybody been told to shelter in place, stay put, or letting people leave?

SPIWEK: No, they have not said to shelter in place at all. We've got a recording from the mall that says, we are open, the mall is open. And we're cooperating with the police that there's been a shooting right outside, it's probably right outside my window.

Macy's, I believe is waiting from the corporate office. Outside has closed, and a lot of the other stores have closed. And also downstairs has closed for the safety of their guests as well as their employees and we're doing pretty much the exact same thing.

BLITZER: So the shooting incident occurred near the other Macy's outside of the mall?

SPIWEK: Yes.

BLITZER: And I guess people must have been frightened and I'm sure -- how are you doing, by the way?

SPIWEK: You know what I'm hanging in, I have people, you know, sitting in my bar just watching everything going down right now, as we overlooked the entire scene. It's really frightening, everyone were shaking. My staff that is not here, he doesn't want to come in and I think we understand it. All the news are saying, don't come to the mall. And I agree with that, I would want to be coming out there especially when the guy is still on the loose. So for the safety of our guests and for the safety of my staff we are closing.

BLITZER: All right, Susan good luck over there. Susan Spiwek joining us from Montgomery Mall, the scene of this shooting. Evan Perez, our Justice Reporter is with us. Even, tell us about this suspect, who's at large right now on a massive Manhunt is under way?

PEREZ: Wolf, his name is Eulalio Tordil. He is a Federal Protective Service Officer. That's part of the Homeland Security Department. And according to them, they put him on administrative leave after he was subject to some kind of protective order. We suspected that, that is some kind of domestic situation which incidentally is what the Prince George's County Police Department described the incident that occurred yesterday outside of a high school in Beltsville, Maryland. They said it was a domestic shooting I which Tordil's estranged wife was killed and appears according to police that someone tried to come to her aid, he shot the person first, and then killed her.

It also bears remembering here that some of this information on the other shootings is still preliminary. There were three people shot in the Montgomery -- outside the Montgomery Mall and a second -- and the second scene, a short distance away outside of Giant Foods Supermarket on Connecticut Avenue, also in Montgomery County in Bethesda, Maryland, there was another person shot in the scene at the mall. It was a similar situation where the shooter attacks someone and two people came to that person's aid. They were all shot. It appears that one of the persons, departed female is the one that now is deceased.

[13:50:14] So, the authorities say that all three of these incidents, six people shot in all, are all believed to be connected all with one suspect, Tordil who is now at large, they are trying to urgently to try to track him down, to try to arrest him.

BLITZER: The manhunt must be intense. They must really be fearful. This is a trained law enforcement officer.

Presumably has weapons, has ammunition. And he's on the run right now, presumably pretty desperate. PEREZ: That's right. The Homeland Security Department says that they

removed his service weapon but he may have other weapons obviously, if they believe he that carried out these different shootings, and exactly why they have now put all schools in Montgomery County in lockdown, Wolf because they believed that the person is armed and dangerous, and clearly not just targeting people who he knows but passers by, people who might be trying to come to the aid of someone under attack.

BLITZER: 62-year-old Eulalio Tordil, suspected in a murder of his estranged wife, 44-year-old Gladys Tordil. You see the picture that they released the Federal Protective Service that says, police that it says K-9 which is clearly means he was working with K-9 unit.

PEREZ: That's right. And the Federal Protect Service is works to protect buildings. Homeland of Security Department is responsible for doing protection of Federal Buildings all across this region, across the country actually. And the fact that he is an employee and someone who is a law enforcement officer, someone who is trained and who is sworn to protect and serve is obviously a very unusual situation and why they're desperately trying to figure out where he is to try to arrest him because obviously he has the training and obviously now has weapons at his disposal.

BLITZER: And the police have released the picture of this vehicle. They suspect he is in the vehicle right now because that vehicle was seen at this various locations?

PEREZ: It's not clear why they immediately focused on him but it's clear that there is something from the scenes in Montgomery Country today either at the mall or the Giant, perhaps witness statements that lead them to believe it is the same suspect. It might be this vehicle. It might be witness descriptions of the suspect. It also might be electronic evidence. As you know, they're able to check cellphones to see where someone's cellphone is.

It's remarkable that he carried out the shooting allegedly carried out the shooting yesterday in Beltsville Maryland, and Prince George's County. And 24 hours later, he's still at large. Usually people don't get away for that long in these types of situations, Wolf. But clearly, they have some reason to believe that he is connected to all three of these incidents, six people now that have been shot.

BLITZER: Tom Fuentes, our law Enforcement Analyst, the Former FBI Assistant Director. Just remind viewers who maybe watching right now, if they believe they have seen the suspect or the vehicle, what should they do?

TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, facing that person or vehicle immediately call 911. He's already shot or suspected of shooting and killing several people. And, you know, so he's obviously armed. The police have said that he might be wearing his body armor that he would have had when he worked for the Federal Protective Service. So, he could be armed and obviously he's already armed and dangerous when he committed these crimes such just a short time ago. BLITZER: How difficult will it be, Tom, to find this individual? I

assumed there's a massive manhunt underway in the greater Washington, DC area here in the District of Columbia, in the suburbs, like Montgomery Country, Prince George's Country, probably in Northern Virginia, as well whether in Arlington and Alexandria, areas like that. It's not that difficult to get around this area that you and I know very well.

FUENTES: Well, it could be difficult if he's obtained somebody else's car, either he stolen or through a car jacking. They had a description of the vehicle that he used yesterday that they believed to be rented with Pennsylvania tags. So if that's the case, they would know the license plate numbers and put that out if they believe he's still in that vehicle. But also by this time he could have switched vehicles, obtained another vehicle and be driving around and no one, you know, would really be aware of it unless they knew him personally.

BLITZER: They have to assume he's well armed. He is a trained law enforcement officer. He knows how to use weapons.

FUENTES: Well, that's true. When he was suspended or put on administrative leave by the Protective Service, they took his badge. They took his issued firearm away from him. But we don't know if he owns additional personally owned firearms and has them which he probably does. I mean obviously, he's alleged to have used firearms in the case. So we know that he has at least one other gun that was not been issued of firearm. So how many he has and how lethal, you know, we've already seen him use it now allegedly in three separate incidents.

[13:55:05] BLITZER: This is obviously Montgomery County police are involved and other law enforcement agencies presumably are getting involved, as well, right?

FUENTES: Now certainly, they would be putting up his description, name, all identifiers, as well as the vehicle descriptions would all be going out, communicated with all the departments all over the country, much less the immediate Washington metro area. So, yes all that information would be going out about him, possible known residences, where he might be stay or he could be staying with in the DC area because if he's involved in both or all three shootings then he obviously spent the night.

BLITZER: All right. Tom Fuentes, I want you to stand by, everyone, stand by in just a few minutes.

Prince George's County police right outside of Washington, DC and I'll be speaking about the string of shootings here in the Greater Washington, DC areas, as well as the manhunt under way right now for a law enforcement officer suspected of being involved in all these shootings. We'll going to bring you that, much more. Our breaking news coverage will continue right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... is that the result and reason why?

PAUL STARKS, MONTGOMERY COUNTRY, MARYLAND POLICE: I wanted to give you some updates, a little that we can't confirm right now. Unfortunately, a second victim has passed at the hospital. As an adult male victim who was at this location, was pronounced dead after attempts to keep him alive at the hospital.

This continues to be a very active investigation. We're still looking at the possibility that these shootings here and the shooting in Aspen Hill are related.

The other issue is that we are looking at whether last night's shooting in Prince George's County and these shootings were committed by the same suspect. We've put some information out to our officers. And some information has gone out to the community. We're in contact with Prince George's County officials or some of whom are on our command bus with our investigators now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How confident are you that there's a connection between the shootings and what can you tell us about anything you know about the whereabouts of this suspect?

STARKS: I'm not able to rate the confidence right now but I just wanted to confirm that we're looking at that. There's many things that are going on right now that we can't confirm because we're just not sure and for investigative and safety reasons, as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For there between the police officer, does that change how you perhaps look for this suspect given that he is maybe familiar with some of the tactics you may use? Does that change the game for you, the fact that he's a police officer?

STARKS: It sure could, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you know -- are you concerned at this hour that there may be more shootings?

STARKS: Absolutely, we're working hard to track this person but also, keeping the possibility open that they may not be related, as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are the schools on lockdown?

STARKS: Out of an abundance of caution, I believe, I don't speak for the schools. They make that decision but I believe just out of an abundance of caution they have decided to go with that decision. Again as I stated earlier, it's raining, the children --