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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Suspect in Arizona Shootings Captured; Hillary's Poll Numbers; Museum Terror. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired March 18, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: They got him.

I'm Brianna Keilar. And this is THE LEAD.

The national lead. He shot up at least four separate scenes, leaving six victims in this bloody rampage. A community had been told to stay inside. Now that police have him in custody, how long before we learn why he killed?

And the world lead, a holiday turned lethal. Tourists from Europe and elsewhere fired upon in a museum, gunmen on the loose right now in a country where 3,000 people have already pledged their lives to ISIS. Is the terror group behind this latest attack?

Plus, the politics lead. They call her husband the comeback kid, but you might want to call her secretary shake it off. Our new CNN poll would make you think that Hillary Clinton's e-mail controversy never even happened.

Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Brianna Keilar. Jake Tapper is off.

And we begin today with breaking news in our national lead. Police just collared a gunman that they were scrambling around Mesa to get. This is in Arizona. This has been going on as we speak, trying to nab him before he could kill again and they managed to.

Mesa police, SWAT teams from Phoenix, officers from Tempe and Scottsdale, the FBI, the ATF, all of them pitching in to catch this man who left a bloody trail across that town.

I want to get right now to CNN's Paul Vercammen.

Paul, police briefed the media less than an hour ago, but we are getting some brand-new information in just in the last few minutes. What can you tell us?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly right, Brianna.

This desperate manhunt is over, according to the Mesa Police Association. They just tweeted out that they have arrested the suspect from today's shootings near Dobson and 8th. We were watching on the monitor the aerials and the body language of officers. They seem now to be relaxed after they searched frantically to try to find this man involved in this rampage that left one dead and five injured at several locations spread throughout the Mesa, Arizona, area -- Brianna.

KEILAR: And, Paul, you have this really intricate timeline that police laid out. We are talking multiple locations, really a spree here. Tell us and kind of retrace for us just what happened this morning.

VERCAMMEN: Let's begin around 8:40 this morning at this Tri-City motel in the city of Mesa. From what we understand, it starts here at the motel. There are three people shot in the motel and around the motel, and one of them is a male. And he dies at the scene.

Also, two women from that motel are transported to the local hospital. The next stop, as you see there, Bistro 13, that is actually part of the East Valley Institute of Technology. It's a school, a trade school, and one of the components of it is the culinary aspect. Well, at this Bistro 13, apparently another shooting, that victim able to go across the street for help, and then a carjacking. He takes a Honda Accord there and it belonging to a teacher apparently, and takes off.

We then have a home invasion not far away at an apartment complex and someone's shot there, then yet another victim found outside a different complex. He was shot, in critical condition. So the suspect clearly skipping along, rampaging through these parts of Tempe, Arizona. We should say Mesa, Arizona. Tempe is nearby. We also had Arizona state officials confirm that they said that the suspect was captured after this rampage -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Paul, thanks for all of those details in this fast-moving story.

I want to go live now to a business owner there in Mesa who witnessed the mayhem following one of the shootings.

Vinny Carbone, thanks so much for joining us on the phone right now.

Tell us sort of what you heard, what you saw. I know you heard someone yelling for help and you ran outside. What happened after that?

VINNY CARBONE, WITNESS: Well, I saw the guy. All the chefs were outside the restaurant, which is pretty unlikely at that early in the morning.

The guy was out there yelling for help. And I really didn't think anything. I mean, I was just pretty much observing watching what happened and then I saw two other police cars coming down the street as I was on the phone. And I walked around the corner about a block away and at that hotel, one of the hotels over there, I did see a lady that was pretty -- wounded pretty bad with a gunshot to her stomach. And that's pretty much what I saw.

[16:05:03] KEILAR: OK, Vinny, stick with us.

I just want to describe to people what we are seeing right now. These are live pictures coming into us from Mesa from our Phoenix affiliate, KNXV. There was a man who appeared to be handcuffed wearing all white. Looked like he had some sort of hat on, and police were leading him out and putting him in a truck, it appears.

And I will get Tom Fuentes' input on this in just a minute.

But, Vinny, tell us a little bit more about sort of what you heard and what people were saying. I know that you spoke to someone at the hotel where the first shooting took place. What did they tell you?

CARBONE: Well, she just said that a couple people got shot over there. What she told me was two, and she was just leaving the hotel and she was on foot when I was at the corner.

And she just said that they got maybe one of the employees or something, and someone just went on a rampage. And, you know, that's just what I know. and that's what I seen. But, actually over here, it looks like it's dying down. And people are starting to leave, maybe because they caught the guy. You know more than I do.

But that's just what's going on here, but a lot of activity, lot of detectives, lot of stuff like that, you know, in the area, and a lot of the streets were closed down.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly. And it seems that they still remain that way as they are putting a suspect in custody.

Vinny, thanks so much for telling us what you saw.

I want to go now to the vice mayor of Mesa, Arizona, Dennis Kavanaugh joining us on the phone as well.

Can you tell us a little bit, Dennis, about what you know to have happened and really where we are at this point, as it appears a suspect has been apprehended and I imagine authorities presume with this, the danger is now over?

DENNIS KAVANAUGH, VICE MAYOR OF MESA, ARIZONA: We have had a very serious situation going on here since about 8:30 Arizona time. And, obviously, we have had multiple victims of shootings. One person has passed away.

Our thoughts go out to those victims and their families. What we do have now, though, is that you do have a person who has been detained in custody. And so that is certainly a very positive outcome for a challenging morning for us today.

KEILAR: What led authorities to this part of town and can you tell us about the apprehension of this suspect?

KAVANAUGH: Well, actually, I don't know a whole lot at this point.

What we do know is the accident -- the incident initially started at a motel, where several victims were shot and one killed. The suspect then took off across the street, going into a carjacking attempt, and potentially kind of traveling around in an area that's very -- fairly close, within one or two miles -- one or two miles of the original shooting.

And what happened, on the positive side, is that police were very quickly able to set up a very strict perimeter in the neighborhood area, warning residents to stay in. And then we began really searching from house to house. And that paid off, because, ultimately, I believe that certainly the person that is detained right now, I believe, surrendered to police without incident.

KEILAR: OK. And that is good news right there. All right, Vice Mayor Dennis Kavanaugh from Mesa, Arizona, thank you so much for talking with us.

I want to bring in CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes now. He's a former FBI assistant director.

And, Tom, this has been happening over the last several hours, I guess you could say, brought in, surrendering. How difficult is it for authorities? You saw sort of everyone on deck here doing this, but how difficult is this for them to get this guy?

TOM FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it would be difficult to take him peacefully, you would think, after this tremendous rampage with shootings at four or five different locations, including killing at least one person, that he might not have wanted to be captured alive.

So that would always be in the mind of the authorities. As this played out in local media over the past four or five hours, people would have been alert, and if they saw someone meeting his unique description, his age, race, tattoos, clothing, plus weapons, if they saw him going into a particular neighborhood or group of apartments, and alerted the police to that, at least they had somewhere to set up a perimeter and start their apartment-to-apartment or house-to-house search.

KEILAR: And we're looking at these pictures from our affiliate KNXV. That unmarked truck is actually a police vehicle and that is where we believe the suspect is.

All right, Tom, thanks so much. We will keep following this if we get more information. Thank you.

[16:10:03] In our world lead, a really terrifying scene at a museum just filled with Western tourists. After gunmen opened fire, 17 tourists and two others are dead. But three gunmen are still on the run. As law enforcement pores over the evidence, there are new concerns ISIS could be behind the attack.

That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Jake Tapper.

Topping our world lead: the manhunt going on right now for three gunmen after 19 people were killed -- that includes 17 tourists, three of them Italians, two Colombians and at least one Spaniard -- by terrorists lying in wait at a museum in Tunisia.

Just after noon local time, eight people stepped off a bus and they were instantly met by a wall of gunfire. According to Tunisian officials, the attackers who wore military uniforms, then took hostages, security forces staging a rescue after that. They freed some who were trapped inside. Those able to escape held hands while sprinting to safety.

This is the deadliest terror attack on tourists since another bloody day in Tunisia back in 2002, when al Qaeda suicide

[16:15:01] bombers blew up a fuel tanker outside of a synagogue there.

I want to get now to Barbara Starr. She is live at the Pentagon.

And, Barbara, as of right now, there's no terror group saying that it's behind the attack. You have the State Department refusing to point fingers at any one band of extremist extremists but there are loud whispers whether this is ISIS. Also, could be another group but ISIS, certainly a possibility.

What can you tell us?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, no claims of responsibility yet and the U.S. embassy in Tunis moved very quickly, warning Americans in the country to stay away from that part of the capital. But there are indeed a lot of suspicions about who may have been behind this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): It happened without warning. Gunmen attacking parliament and museum buildings in Tunisia's capital. People desperately escaping led to safety by security forces. At least 19 people, most of them tourists, killed, and 22 hurt. Two attackers were also killed.

Concern this attack is at the hands of ISIS adherents, opening a new front for their violence in North Africa. Tunisian militants have pledged loyalty to ISIS and threatened attacks.

CHRISTOPHER CHIVVIS, RAND CORPORATION: It appears likely that this was an attack by the Islamic State. But we have to remember that there are also other possibilities. It could have been Ansar al- Sharia in Tunisia, which is a local group. It could have been al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

STARR: The U.S. at one time held up Tunisia as a place where the Arab Spring blossomed. JEN PSAKI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Certainly, we'll be

continuing to engage with authorities there and our counterparts there to discuss what this means moving forward.

STARR: The security situation has deteriorated across North Africa. In Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, ISIS utterly brutal, slaughtering Egyptian laborers in Libya earlier this year. Just days ago, the U.S. defense secretary warning ISIS has now moved far beyond strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

ASH CARTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are seeing it. We are seeing it throughout North Africa.

STARR: Out of the 20,000 foreigners that have joined the fight in Iraq and Syria, a British think tank says up to 3,000 of them are from Tunisia, the largest number from any country.

CHIVVIS: A significant number of those foreign fighters have returned from Iraq and Syria or from fighting in Libya for the Islamic State to Tunisia. This clearly presents a very significant security problem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Now, whoever was behind all of this certainly would have understood that there were a number of international tourists in this area of the capital, and in fact, there were a number of cruise ships in ports and thousands of tourists were quickly ordered back to those ships -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, big tourist destination, one of these spots to go to, this museum there in Tunis.

Barbara Starr live for us at the Pentagon, thank you.

I want to get some analysis on this terror attack in Tunisia. Let's bring in Republican Congressman Mike McCaul. He's the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. He is live on the -- on Capitol Hill for us.

Mr. Chairman, thanks so much for being with us.

And we are just learning now it seems that seven Polish nationals were killed in this attack. What can you tell us or what are you learning about who may be behind this?

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX), CHAIRMAN, HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Well, I think there are three groups possibly behind it. Ansar al Sharia, the same terrorist group that hit Benghazi. These guys were in Tunisia.

As it was reported, 3,000 Tunisians have traveled to Iraq and Syria to join the fight with ISIS, so the foreign fighter aspect from the ISIS threat is a very real possibility. A.Q. in the Maghreb will be the third choice. Most likely Ansar al Sharia or an ISIS plot behind it. It's a Western target. It is -- you know, Tunisia has been -- it

was the birthplace of the Arab Spring, really the beacon of hope for democracy in the region, the only one. I think that's why they are trying to bring down Tunisia, first looking at their parliament to hit that, and then Western tourists at the museum.

KEILAR: Even if it is this sort of birthplace of -- it is the birthplace of the Arab Spring, a place of promise certainly and it's a country that is trying to figure out how it balances security with democracy right now.

But you also have this very real statistic that Tunisia has the most number, the biggest number of people who are going to fight with ISIS.

[16:20:02] Why is that? What is driving Tunisians to Syria and Iraq?

MCCAUL: Well, a lot of northern Africans are going to the region, to Iraq and Syria, to join the fight which is making northern Africa a very dangerous place. We are seeing really I think Northern Africa is falling now, not just to al Qaeda affiliates but now to ISIS. We are seeing more and more al Qaeda affiliates pledging their allegiance now to ISIS. This is a very disturbing development, particularly against Tunisia, which has been a beacon of hope in the region and it shows you how it's spreading like a wildfire now in Northern Africa as well as the Middle East. I think that's our greatest concern with this latest development.

KEILAR: Chairman McCaul, I was speaking earlier as this was happening before the gunmen, these two gunmen had been killed, I was talking to a journalist who is based there in Tunis. And she said that there was actually a report recently that came out that there was an ISIS training camp just 40 kilometers away from the Tunisian border.

I mean, how much of an issue is this that it's a porous border and how concerned are you that this sort of frontier of ISIS is spreading?

MCCAUL: Well, ISIS certainly has a presence in Tunisia and just in the last month, hundreds of these militants have been rounded up and arrested in Tunisia because the Tunisian government, they recognize they have a problem. They have really the only democracy in the region. This may have also been a response to all the arrests of these militants trying to blow back on the Tunisian government for their -- in a reprisal attack against what they did.

And so, yes, ISIS is there, al Qaeda is there, the training camps are there, but they are all throughout Northern Africa as well. That's why I have a hearing scheduled for next week to talk about this global battlefield, if you will, how ISIS is expanding beyond Iraq and Syria into northern Africa and what do we need to do to stop this threat. The threat is getting greater, not lesser, and so too when that threat is greater overseas, the external operations to the homeland and against the homeland are also greater. KEILAR: Yes, we are seeing that manifest itself today in

Tunisia.

I want to ask you about consular services that have been canceled at the U.S. diplomatic facilities inside of Saudi Arabia. We know this is due to heightened security concerns but is there a specific credible threat against U.S. facilities or personnel there in Saudi Arabia?

MCCAUL: Well, I can't get into what the specific and credible threat -- there are threat streams against American contractors. We had two American contractors that were killed by al Qaeda and possibly ISIS related groups there. They are targeting western interests, shopping malls, hotels, and they also are targeting American energy company contractors over there, in addition to the embassy employees themselves.

So, I think the State Department made the cautious correct decision to err on the side of caution and temporarily shut them down. But the idea that we are closing embassies in Saudi Arabia and we just pulled out of Yemen and shut down our embassy in Yemen, then Djibouti, even though it hasn't officially been shut down, had to limit their services because of these threat streams we see out there. That's a very disturbing trend and a real growing threat of ISIS and al Qaeda against Western interests, including our embassies.

KEILAR: Yes, happening very much in real time.

Congressman Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, thank you so much.

MCCAUL: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: When we come back, police taking no chances after death threats are made against Ambassador Caroline Kennedy in Japan. So, why hasn't security been increased at the U.S. embassy there?

Plus, how are voters reacting to Hillary Clinton's e-mail controversy? We've got some brand new CNN/ORC poll numbers on the 2016 presidential race. We'll share them with you, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:56] KEILAR: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Brianna Keilar, filling in for Jake Tapper.

In other world news, deadly threats made against America's top diplomat in Japan, Caroline Kennedy. The threats were reportedly phoned in to the U.S. embassy in Tokyo by an English-speaking man last month. This, of course, comes on the heels of a knife attack just two weeks ago on the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert.

The White House today responding to these threats. Our Jim Acosta has those details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over):

The State Department says it's taking seriously news reports out of Tokyo that Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of an American political dynasty and U.S. ambassador to Japan, was the subject of death threats.

PSAKI: We take every step possible to protect our personnel. We are working with the Japanese government to ensure that necessary security measures are in place.

ACOSTA: State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the reported phoned in threats to Kennedy and another American diplomat in Okinawa last month have not prompted security changes at the U.S. embassy in Japan.

That's despite the fact that First Lady Michelle Obama just landed in Tokyo for an overseas trip that will include a meeting with Kennedy. Former President Bill Clinton was just in Tokyo yesterday, appearing alongside Kennedy before delivering a speech on her father's legacy, which was cut short a half century ago.

The president's selection of a child of Camelot to become ambassador to Japan in 2013 was a sign of Asia's growing significance in U.S. foreign policy.

THOMAS SCHIEFFER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AUSTRALIA: The Japanese government in particular will take this very seriously. They provide the bulk of the security for an American ambassador. I am confident that the Japanese will do everything they can to protect Ambassador Kennedy.

ACOSTA: Diplomatic personnel in Asia are already on edge after the knife attack on U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, who is awaiting a security report on that incident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that they are going to get to the bottom of it and take a hard look at the tactics, techniques, procedures in place both here in Seoul and around the world.

ACOSTA: State Department security overseas is now a constant concern, considering the recent evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Yemen, the suspension of consular services in Saudi Arabia and the closing of the U.S. embassy in Djibouti.