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The Lead with Jake Tapper

1 Officer Killed, 1 Wounded, Attacker Dead at U.S. Capitol. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired April 02, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:03]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: We're going to continue the coverage with my colleague Jake Tapper. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me the last two hours.

Special coverage continues on THE LEAD with Jake Tapper which starts now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

And we start with breaking news in our national lead. For the second time in just three months, the flags at the U.S. Capitol are being lowered to half staff because of an attack on the Capitol, one that resulted in the loss of a police officer's life. One Capitol police officer is dead, another is injured after police say a man rammed his car into them this afternoon before crashing into a barricade just outside the U.S. Capitol.

Police say the man then got out of his car with a knife and ran at officers who shot and killed him.

The Washington, D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee says this does not appear to be terrorism-related, and the head of Capitol police says the suspect was not known to them prior to this incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ACTING CHIEF YOGANANDA PITTMAN, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: At approximately 1:02 hours this afternoon, a suspect entered what we refer to as the north barricade of the Capitol. The suspect rammed his car into two of our officers and then hit the north barricade barrier. At such time, the suspect exited the vehicle with a knife in hand. Our officers then engaged that suspect. He did not respond to verbal commands. The suspect did start lunging toward U.S. Capitol police officers at which time U.S. Capitol police officers fired upon the suspect.

At this time, the suspect has been pronounced deceased. Two U.S. Capitol police officers were transported to two different hospitals, and it is with a very, very heavy heart that I announce one of our officers has succumbed to his injuries. I just ask that the public continue to keep U.S. Capitol police and their families in -- in your prayers.

This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol police after the events of January 6th and now the events that have occurred here today. So, I ask that you keep our U.S. Capitol police family in your thoughts and prayers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I would remind you that one officer was killed and two others committed suicide after the January 6th event.

The area where this happened would have been fenced off just a few weeks ago in the aftermath of the January 6th insurrection.

Police officials have not released any names yet, we should note. The suspect's name, the injured officer's name or the officer who was killed. Regarding the latter, police said they still had yet to notify his or her next of kin.

CNN's Whitney Wild is near the scene where the car remains smashed against the barrier.

Whitney, what's the latest that you're hearing and you're learning?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've learned now is basically what we had heard from police a little bit ago which is, again, that one of those officers lost his life in this just another horrific attack here at the Capitol, and I think you pointed out something that's really important. Three officers from this department have died since January 6th. That is -- that number is something that some departments don't see in a year, in a decade, and so this department remains embattled. This is going to be just one more in a series of traumatic incidents that this department has had to go through and is learning how to heal.

If you just look over my shoulder behind me, just behind the special operations vehicle is the actual suspect vehicle. We didn't get a good look at the make and mold, but what I can tell you, Jake, it looked like it was a sedan. It looked like from my vantage point a four-day navy blue sedan.

We don't know where this vehicle came in from, who the driver was. We don't know the motivation.

Metropolitan Police Chief Contee does not believe -- as you had mentioned, he doesn't believe this is a terrorist threat and doesn't believe there's an ongoing threat to the community at this point and importantly, he doesn't believe that this person was known to law enforcement prior to this incident. And I think that's important because a lot of the conversation up on Capitol Hill has been about the intelligence flow, how to change the intelligence flow to get a better handle on threats.

This case, again, Chief Contee saying that it does not appear at this point that this person was known to law enforcement, but a fluid situation. It only happened hours ago, so we'll certainly learn more as the situation unfolds and we learn when was actually behind the wheel -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Thank you so much.

CNN's Pete Muntean is outside George University Hospital for us where a source tells us one of the officers was taking following the incident.

Pete, tell us more.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jake, what a sad moment here. Just a few moments ago when it appeared that had a procession for that fallen officer left G.W. Hospital here and went southbound on 23rd Street.

If you're familiar with Washington, we're not too far away from Dupont Circle. Police car after police car, police on motorcycles, Secret Service, Capitol police, Metropolitan Washington police, all a part of that procession as it left here, a really sad moment, almost not a dry eye here.

There were hospital employees lined up on the paddock here just outside of the emergency room, and it did appear that this spot also maybe became a bit of this part of crime investigation. There was a Capitol police car in the front bay here in front of the emergency room where MPD detectives were taking out photos. They were inspecting it. They were trying to make sure there was something clearly going on there.

We're not able to say for certain exactly what just yet, but there was a procession here not all that long ago, and we are told that that slain officer was brought to George Washington University Hospital where I am right now.

TAPPER: Really, really tough time for the Metropolitan and Capitol Police Departments.

Pete Muntean, thank you so much.

CNN's Evan Perez has been talking to his sources.

Evan, what are you learning? Obviously, the investigation is just in the preliminary phase as of right now.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Jake, and one of the things that is notable that we're told is that this suspect managed to -- despite all the security there and despite all the precautions managed to be able to stab one of these officers, managed to get close enough to be able to stab one of these officers and -- and it appears that one of these officers was so badly injured that they were taken by -- by police cruiser to the hospital. That gives you a sense that they couldn't even -- they didn't even wait for the ambulance to be able to get there.

The other two people who were injured, one of the police officer, the other, the suspect, were taken by EMS to the hospital, but in the case of the officer they managed -- they put him in a cruiser and took him to the hospital. That appears to be the cruiser that Pete Muntean was talking about.

And at this point, Jake, as the chief of police, acting chief of the Metropolitan police said, they don't believe that there's anything that indicates a terrorist nexus, but it is still something, I'm told by law enforcement, that they are still looking into. They are at this point getting search warrants. They will look through the person's home to try to see whether there's anything there that indicates a motivation.

It's still something -- still very early, as you said, in this investigation and, again, one of the things that they want to make sure is they want to understand mental health issues, whether there's any connection with any terrorist group. All of those things are still being investigated at this point.

TAPPER: Yeah, Evan, some viewers are wondering how could it not be terrorism when somebody is attacking the Capitol.

PEREZ: Right.

TAPPER: And one of the things that people like you and I know who have lived in this town for a long time know sometimes there's definitely a political agenda for somebody who is committing violence.

PEREZ: Right.

TAPPER: Whether it's religious violence or political violence, whatever, and sometimes Washington, D.C., whether the White House and people trying to hop the fence or people attacking the Capitol, there was an incident a few years ago with a woman ramming her car into a barrier, I recall.

PEREZ: Right.

TAPPER: Sometimes because this is the nation's capital and these are high-profile buildings and high-profile individuals in those buildings, they attract people who are suffering from serious problems.

PEREZ: Exactly and, frankly, Jake, because of what we saw and what happened on January 6th, one of the things I've heard repeatedly from law enforcement people is that the concern was that -- that because people out there could see what a bunch of people were able to do, get in through these barriers and take it over, that it would embolden, it would give -- it would serve as some sort of trigger for people to try to do something on their own.

And that goes from terrorist groups that are well known to people who are just sitting at home and maybe suffering some of their own issues to try to do something like this. Again, that's one of the -- that's a part of this investigation at this point to understand whether that's the case. But it is a top concern.

It doesn't matter what you do to harden the exterior of the place. There's also going to be a race that someone will be able to breach something like that. And as you see, you know, a barrier is right there. They weren't able to get through, but they were able to take the life of at least one officer.

TAPPER: And, Evan, do we know -- the officer who was killed, do we know if that was because of the -- of the car ramming into him or her, or do we know if it had to do with the stabbing event?

[16:10:15]

PEREZ: With the stabbing, right. It is not clear to me, Jake. Again, this is the question we're asking and there's a lot of conflicting reports that's emerging at this point.

But, yeah, that is one of the questions I have. We don't know whether the officers that were struck by the vehicle before getting to the barrier or whether that's the reason for the officer's death or whether it's the stabbing, But it tells you, it is indicative I think of this urgency of the situation, that officers did not wait.

Look, I live in that neighborhood. So, I heard -- we heard a helicopter go towards there. And, you know, clearly they are rushing, everything that they could, the assets that they could to try to get people out. And they didn't even wait for that. They got him in the cruiser and took him to the hospital, which appears the George Washington Hospital, the closest hospital they could get to by car. And so, they didn't wait for the EMS. They took him by cruiser.

TAPPER: All right. Evan Perez, thanks so much. And we'll come back to you when we learn more. Appreciate it.

CNN's Jessica Dean was actually inside the Capitol when all of this unfolded. She covers Capitol Hill for us.

Jessica, tell us what the situation is like now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, Jake, the lockdown has been lifted so we can now come inside and outside. But when this all began earlier today, I was sitting in my office, it's in this building, the Senate side of the Capitol right here behind us.

And we heard an announcement blare over the loudspeaker. We have a clip of it. I'll let you all listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ANNOUNCEMENT: I repeat, due to external security threat, no entry or exit is permitted at this time in any building of the Capitol complex. You may move throughout the building. But stay away from exterior windows and doors.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

DEAN: And that was the moment we now that we were in lockdown, of course, telling us to stay from doors and windows. And what is important to notice is the Senate and the House are both on recess right now. And Fridays are sometimes slow days here anyway.

It was eerily quiet, Jake, when I went out to look around and see what's going on. You could hear a pin drop. But, clearly, something serious was possibly going on.

I came down to the first floor. I heard radios going from the U.S. Capitol police and that's when we started to piece together a little bit of what was going on. You know, a lot of people, though, weren't here, weren't working here. A lot of sources I was checking in was working from home, because it's recess and because it's Friday.

But we looked right over and could see the scene behind us, I was standing with some dap toll I was and they weren't sure precisely what has happening. But as so many others have noted, they have suffered such great loss this year, and I walk through that door sometimes through that day, to go in and they are there to protect us. And they take that very, very seriously. And so, they had very heavy hearts.

There were certainly just this cloud of heaviness and sadness that is wafting through the building right now. You know, you walked by right now to come out, I walked by Capitol police officers, members of the National Guard, and you can tell them their hearts are incredibly heavy as all of ours are. And, you know, Jake, they have done a lot since January 6th to try to stem this, to try to protect against anything happening like this. They have increased and changed the way that they process information, to monitor threats.

Of course, they did put up the fencing and have the National Guard here after that. That fencing just came -- a lot of that fencing just came down in the last couple of weeks, and it was noticeable here how much more open it felt.

Where this goes from here is the big question right now on Capitol Hill frankly, Jake. The question is will more fencing go back up? Does the posture change? These are some of the questions that are being asked, people are talking about that when I'm asking them kind of what comes next.

But overall, Jake, just incredibly heavy hearts here. Just a devastating day.

TAPPER: Yeah, no, a horrible day and as you note for the U.S. Capitol police they lost Officer Brian Sicknick because of the January 6 insurrection. They lost another officer who died by suicide in the days after that because of the trauma and now they have lost a third officer. This is within three months for a relatively small police force, really horrific, and they do so much to keep members of Congress and their staffs and journalists and the public safe for any danger. Just a horrible day.

Thank you so much.

Let's go to CNN's Lauren Fox who is also on the Hill.

Lauren, how are lawmakers reacting to this incident? A lot of them had real post-traumatic stress after the January 6th insurrection where several of them were very credibly fearing for their lives, fearing violence against them. How are -- how are you -- they reacting today?

[16:15:01]

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I've been texting with several members, some of whom were in the House chamber on January 6th, you know, to talk a little bit about what do you feel like watching all of these events unfolding on Capitol Hill, and, you know, one source told me that this was just depressing, that this was upsetting what they were seeing at the Capitol given what this complex has been through, what this community has been through over the last several months.

And, you know, we are getting some more formal reaction from lawmakers, many of whom are on this congressional recess over the last week and they'll continue to be next week.

But I want to read one tweet from the Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, he said: I'm heartbroken for the officer killed today defending our Capitol and for his family. I'm praying for the officer injured and for his family. We are in their debt. We thank the Capitol police, National Guard and first responders for all they do to protect the Capitol and those inside.

And, of course, these outpourings are coming from across the aisle as well. I want to read another tweet from Liz Cheney, the Republican conference chairwoman. She says, quote: Our deepest condolences to the family of Capitol police officer who was killed defending our Capitol. U.S. Capitol Police put their lives on the line to protect us and our republic. They deserve our unwavering support.

And Jessica brought up such an important point, Jake. These Capitol police officers are really part of this complex in so many ways. You know, when you go in and out of this building, you say hi to them. You go through security. You -- you sort of build a rapport and a relationship with them. Obviously, this force has been through so much over the last several months and, of course, this incident today.

But also fact that many of them were on the front lines on January 6th. Many of them fighting not just for minutes but for hours for their lives and for this building and for this place and what it represents on January 6th. So, obviously, everyone's hearts pouring out to the officer who passed away and their family. It's just a horrendously sad day, Jake.

TAPPER: A very sad day. Thank you so much.

Let's discuss what's going on with our law enforcement experts. First of all, let me start with you, Juliette Kayyem, if I can. The FBI says they are responding to this incident to provide support to the Capitol police but D.C. police are taking the lead and investigating. That's the Metropolitan Police Department or MPD.

What do you think MPD is doing right now? What clues are they going to be looking for? And they obviously will they be looking for? The suspect is dead so they know who did it.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Right.

TAPPER: Where do you go from there?

KAYYEM: Yeah, this may be confusing to the public because they said we don't know what the motive is but we don't think it's terrorism. Basically what that means is that they will announce relatively soon who the suspect is. They would know who he is because they -- they had him. He was dead.

And then they will, and they are -- they determined almost immediately was he under any watch hits, either international or domestic, so in that way, they were hat least able to make two claims. One is that there was no continuing threat and something in half an hour later, which is they reopen up the Capitol. And for someone who looks like this from afar, that was a sign at least in my mind that they feel like they have a discreet threat that is obviously been stopped.

So, now, it's -- it's now going to look like a normal, as normal one could call this investigation which is going to be, you know, who is he? You know, what did he have online, mental issues? Was he known to -- wherever he's from, was he known to individuals there or law enforcement there for certain behavior?

So, this will unfold like a normal investigation, however abnormal it seemed at the moment that it was happening because it seemed very familiar to the attack a couple months ago. So sometimes things that seemed too good to be a coincidence, right, with us is why we have to reserve judgment about anything in particular, motivation and just wait for the information to be disclosed.

TAPPER: You see the U.S. Capitol police has put out a statement with a photograph of the officer --

KAYYEM: Yes.

TAPPER: -- who was killed. His name was William Billy Evans, Officer Billy Evans. We'll put that up photograph in a second.

Phil Mudd, D.C. Police say they do not think this is terrorism related. How can that determination be made so quickly?

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: I think they are right and I can explain for a moment why. I would say that's a bit quick. Let me give you a reason why.

If this individual acted alone to determine whether it's terrorism or not you need to get inside their head. If they are acted alone, the likelihood they're communicating about motives with other people as well. To get inside your hear, I need to understand what's on their laptop, what's on their phone, and to do interviews, for example, friends, family, co-workers to understood their mindset.

Based on what I've scene of the case I would tend to agree.

[16:20:01]

But as an analyst behind the scenes, Jake, there's still a lot of work to be done. I think they're right. I wouldn't guarantee it yet.

TAPPER: I want to bring -- share the photograph I just told you moments ago. The Capitol police released a statement mourning the officer who was killed in this photograph, of Officer Billy Evans, William F. Evans.

The acting police chief saying, quote: It's with profound sadness that I share the news of the passing of Officer William "Billy" Evans from -- this afternoon from injuries he sustained following an attack at the north barricade by a lone assailant. Officer Evans had been a member of the United States Capitol Police for 18 years. He began his U.S. Capitol police service on March 7th, 2003 and was a member of the Capitol Division's First Responder Unit. Please keep Officer Evans and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

An 18-year veteran, Officer Billy Evans, that's his picture right there, killed -- I mean, there's no reason for it, killed in the line of duty today because somebody attacked the Capitol.

Let me go to Reddit Hudson, if I can right now, bring him in.

And, Reddit, as a police veteran, this is -- this is a really bad era, as I don't have to tell you, for the U.S. Capitol police, the third officer taken from them. One killed in the insurrection, one died by suicide right after the insurrection and now, Officer Billy Evans killed. What is that like for police when that happens?

REDDIT HUDSON, FORMER ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI POLICE OFFICER: Well, what it's like is for anybody else. If you all are working with someone, you've built a relationship with someone and they are your friend. You are devastated when they lose their life this way or really any other way. It really speaks to me as to why it's so critical, critical at this point, to hold people accountable, especially the people responsible for the insurrection on January the 6th.

I don't know all the details of this case yet today. I know they are still coming in, but we do know that the Capitol was previously attacked in recent weeks and months, and it is imperative that those people be prosecuted to the full extent of the law to send a message to future attackers that you will be held accountable for your actions.

I mean, I'm sure that the D.C. -- I'm sorry, the Capitol Police are devastated by this loss. It's a tragedy.

TAPPER: Yeah, just awful. CNN's Evan Perez now has some break is news on the identity of the suspect.

Evan, tell us what you're learning.

PEREZ: Well, Jake, we're told by sources, multiple sources, that the suspect's name is Noah Green. At least one of those sources says that he's 25 years old.

We know that at this time, Jake, the law enforcement, the police investigators are working to learn more about him, trying to figure out what motivation was behind this attack.

Noah Green, they right now are getting search warrants to try to search his home, talk to family members. We have teams on the way to try to get to those locations at this point, but obviously, there's still much work to be done here.

Just touching on your conversation just a minute ago with Phil, even though the police initially said that they don't believe there's any terrorism motivation at this point, they still have a lot more work to do, and one of those things, what's going to come -- what's going to come from these searches is perhaps some answers based on what they find at the suspect's home, talking to family members, what perhaps his mindset was in recent days, what perhaps drove him to -- to take this action today.

TAPPER: Let's bring back our law enforcement panel as we know the identity. Noah Green is his name. He won -- one federal source telling our team that he's 25, still obviously learning a lot more about this person.

Law enforcement panel, take a listen to what the Metropolitan police chief, that's the D.C. police chief said about the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PITTMAN: The suspect did exit the vehicle with a knife in hand, and at that time he started to lunge towards, run aggressively towards U.S. Capitol police officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That's -- that's the -- actually the acting Capitol police officer, not the MPD police officer, but let me ask you, Juliette Kayyem, when a suspect is running at a police officer with a knife, I believe it's -- it's protocol that they have no choice but to shoot.

KAYYEM: Right.

TAPPER: And there isn't -- this isn't the movies. You don't shoot somebody's arm?

KAYYEM: Yeah.

TAPPER: You don't shoot had a knife out of somebody's hand. You shoot the body mass which is the torso.

KAYYEM: Yes, and the acting chief did say they -- they tried de- escalation protocols.

[16:25:01]

Clearly they said, you know, get out of the car. He comes running out with a knife.

And this is one of the more interesting aspects to this as the investigation unfolds, 25-year-old male who is using a knife, and to me when I first heard that, I just thought -- you know, it's -- it's not -- not that common, especially in the United States where guns are readily accessible.

So that's going to also go into the investigation is why a knife. Let's just say, thank God a knife but that's going to be clearly one of their motivations. Did he not have access to guns? Where is he coming from?

So, they now have a person, and that is -- in a world of all bad news often, that's good news because now they can begin to determine what his motivation was. Did anybody else know and also begin to explain the kind of threat the Capitol is under. There may be different motivations more attacks on the Capitol but the cumulative effect on the Capitol police is as everyone has been saying is extreme.

And so, we need to make sure that we continue to protect the Capitol but also protect the Capitol police.

TAPPER: And, Phil Mudd, we were talking about this earlier in the show but the idea of violent acts inspiring other violent acts, even if the political motivations or religious motivations or terrorist motivations or -- or no motivation that makes any sense at all, not that any violence makes ever sense, but based in just self-destruction or illness, is that -- is that -- how serious a concern is that?

So you have the January 6th insurrection which was based on political violence. I mean, there was a clear motivation to undo the election and to stop the counting of the electors.

How big a concern is it among law enforcement than this is just going to inspire so many other people ranging from ISIS to people who don't even have a political motivation? They are just having -- they're going have a violent episode and now they are going to aim it at us.

MUDD: Look, I think there's going to be a question appropriate about what the motivation of this individual was, for example, if this individual had mental issues that are not related to politics, you might say you can't link that to January 6th. I would not agree with that, Jake.

There will be people watching this that I had, people watching this incident looking what -- at what's happened to America over recent months saying the Capitol is vulnerable. I think -- and this is me speaking for those kinds of people. I think that it is my responsibility to make my voice known. I don't agree with what's happening in America and the people who came before me, regardless of whether their motivations were clear, the people who came before me showed me that the Capitol is vulnerable.

I think this is as much about the target that is how do we think about the Capitol today versus how we might have thought of it two months ago as it is about the motivation of the individual. People will say the Capitol can be breached and I need to do something, Jake.

TAPPER: And, Reddit, let me ask you. CNN has identified the suspect who allegedly carried this out and was the killed as a result just as he injured and killed another officer. One of the things that is very different from how we cover these kinds of incidents today in 2021, versus how we covered them five years ago, ten years ago, is we tend to name the suspect or assailant and then we don't name him or her again or if we do so we do so sparingly because there was a lot of criticism, rightly so, of news media making these people famous.

And the media -- and the media evolved and learned from that, most of us did anyway at any rate, but it's still -- it still inspires people even though the fame has been taken out of it to a degree?

HUDSON: It can. It depends on the individual. To Phil's point, we don't know what the mental state of this guy was. All of that is yet to be determined.

And -- and if a person is resolved to do something like this whether they are going to be famous or not, they are likely to try to carry it out. I think the important thing is, again, since we don't know what we do know is an attack has already taken place, a major attack on the U.S. Capitol.

This is reminiscent of that although not nearly the same scale obviously, but this is potentially a continuation of the sentiments, the politics, the ideology that drove people to commit the crimes that they committed on January the 6th, and I don't think it can be ignored. It could also be something as simple as this guy wanted to end his own life and a sure way to do that is to crash into some police officers, get out of your car and run at them with a knife.

TAPPER: Right.

HUDSON: I heard that discussed earlier on the air, and that's a reality. Some people do attempt to end their lives by provoking police officers to kill them.

TAPPER: Right.

HUDSON: It's rare. It's unusual, but it's not out of the question.

[16:30:00]