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Shanna Cox is Interviewed about the Shooting in Maine; Manhunt Continues in Maine; IDF and Hezbollah Exchange Fire. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 26, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:31:46]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

Right now we are waiting for an update from police in Maine on the manhunt for a mass shooter. We will bring that to you live when it starts in the next hour. It is scheduled to start around 10:30, so stick with us.

But this morning we are also hearing from a man who was inside that bowling alley when the shooting started. He says that he hid inside one of the bowling machine until it was over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANDON, WITNESSED BOWLING ALLEY SHOOTING: Well we were inside, just a normal night of bowling, and out of nowhere he just came in and there was a loud pop. I thought it was a balloon. I had my back turned to the door. And as soon as I turned and saw that it was not a balloon, he was holding a weapon, I just booked it down the lane and I slid basically into where the pins are and climbed up in the machine, and was on top of the machines for about 10 minutes until the cops got there. I don't know how to explain it. You know, I don't think you're supposed to see that in real life.

Over ten. At least I knew they were shots. And then when I got on top of the bowling machine, it was a lot of ruckus back there. So, I don't really know from that. But heard the first one, . it was probably 15 feet behind me. I mean he was close, very close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just one voice and what they lived through last night.

Joining us right now is Shanna Cox. She's the president of the Lewiston Auburn Chamber of Commerce in Maine.

Shanna, thank you very much for coming on with me this morning.

How are you doing? You live right kind of in the middle of all of this. How are you doing?

SHANNA COX, PRESIDENT, LEWISTON AUBURN METRO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Yes, thank you. Thank you for asking and thank you for having me on.

I - I live two miles in either direction from both of the locations that were effected last night. Directly between the two major health care centers in our community. The sirens and helicopters were nonstop throughout most of the evening. And you can still hear them this morning. I'm doing as well as can be expected.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

How did you hear about all of this? When -- how did you first hear about all of this last night? How -- when it started to unfold.

COX: Yes. Like so many in this community, I have - I have four children, teenagers, who -- some of whom are still at home. And I heard about this like so many others through direct outreach from those who had been impacted or responding to the impacts. The message was quick and clear and it was simply, go home, stay home, and lock yourself in.

My child was at a sporting event at the local high school. So, there was a lot of frantic activity from myself and so many others in the early moments where you collected your loved ones, you brought them home, you notified your family that you were safe, and you checked on your staff, your colleagues and the people that you care about.

It was hard between 7:00 and 7:45. There was just an immediate response that was necessary.

BOLDUAN: I mean and this is hitting you on so many levels, right? I mean you are -- you have - you have a big position in the community. You are a parent. I mean I can -- the kind of heart pounding, stomach in your throat feeling when one of your - when one of your babies is not at home when all of this unfolds. It's the thing of nightmares.

COX: Yes. That's exactly it.

BOLDUAN: And you also -- as we were hearing from a lot of folks, this is a small community.

[09:35:03]

So you all -- you know first responders and you know people who are impacted in this.

COX: Yes. My - my closest friend's husband is a police officer with the Lewiston Police Department. He got home about two hours ago this morning. There's first responders responding from across our county, across our state, from New Hampshire and beyond. The going joke in Maine is that Maine is the biggest small town you'll ever live in. We're all very close-knit. This community is close-knit. We're a resilient community that's overcome tragedy before. I have faith in our ability to respond smart and strong to what we're going through now. But it's challenging when the lockdown order is still in place and

it's not resolved. There's a -- I'm receiving an outcry of support and willingness to buy coffee and buy pizzas and support first responders and health care workers and cover funeral costs. And it's really challenging when - when it's hard to activate all of those systems when you're still actively locked down. Businesses are closed and folks are remaining at home.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Do you know anyone -- any of the people who were injured or killed?

COX: They haven't released the list. And it's really hard to know that. It feels unlikely that we - that I wouldn't know somebody who had been affected by last night. Particularly because most counts are, you know, between dead and injured, we're looking at 70 individuals locally and we are a small town that are closely connected.

There's a reunification center in Auburn that I've been directing people. My most immediate circle is accounted for. My staff, their family, my family, my closest contacts. But it's a - it's a tragedy that you - you are wondering when you will understand the extent of it. And I think that's the only way I can describe it. I think many of us, my - my kids included, are wondering who they know. Both of these locations last night are family locations. There was family activity at the bowling alley. The likeliness of this having a direct impact for so many here is so real.

BOLDUAN: The wait is just as bad as any news.

COX: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Just not knowing. You hear that so often. And I'm so sorry that this is happening to you, your kids, your community.

COX: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for coming on. Please stay in close touch. We're going to learn more at 10:30. And we'll reach back out.

Thank you so much, Shanna.

COX: Thank you. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

Rahel.

SOLOMON: And the police are telling people to stay inside and stay indoors as the manhunt for the suspected gunman continues. We continue to follow the very latest on this mass shooting in Maine.

Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:14] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RYAN MCGEE, LISBON, MAINE POLICE: We have our federal partners, our state partners, local PDs, it's not just Lisbon here. You'll see a lot of people in different uniforms. I can say it, last night there was police agencies from all across the state responded to assist with everything going on. Obviously, it's very tragic what went on next door in Lewiston. But the biggest thing I just want to get out to everyone that I can say right now is, if you see something in Lisbon that is suspicious, I want you to call and explain to the dispatcher. You know, go on to the main public safety site, you can - you can read the press release. There's a lot of information in that. And with that, if you see anything, please give us a call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And that was the police chief in Lisbon, Maine, a couple towns over from Lewiston, where those shootings took place. Police there joining the manhunt for the mass shooter who is still at large at this hour.

We want to continue the conversation now and bring in CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller.

John, you know, even in the police chief's background you could see how wooded that area was. As police try to prepare for this investigation and this search, I mean, how are they going to contend with that challenge?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, they've got a large group of SWAT teams from different agencies up there. Their training is extremely similar. They're going to basically take that and put it into grids and do a search.

In many ways it's very similar to what we were talking about just a couple of months ago with the search for Cavalcante -

SOLOMON: Cavalcante.

MILLER: In Pennsylvania where you have a dense wooded area. But its interesting. You know, his escape route takes him down a road into the woods. It stops at a trail head and a boat launch. So, you know, this is an individual who has 20 years of military service, extensive training, reportedly an Army Ranger. That would mean he's not going to take the trail. He's going to go into the woods. Or it may mean that he's not going to take the trail at all or go into the woods. He may have had a boat. He's also a fisherman. Where he would go into the waters, cross to another place that's not in the perimeter.

So, that's why they're operating that intelligence cell and they're cataloging all of these calls and they're talking to people who know him and trying to figure out who he would turn to. And right now, given the outcomes of these confrontations where they are making an arrest of somebody after an active shooter incident, you know, there are three outcomes that are common. One is self-inflicted gunshot wound by the shooter. The other is, surrender to police. We've seen that too. And the other is, the confrontation where they either refuse to drop the weapon or open fire, and we've seen that also.

In this case, if it is a confrontation in the street, his actions are going to decide the outcome there.

[09:45:06]

But if it's in a structure, they're going to have, you know, trained negotiators who are sitting in that intel cell right now trying to learn everything about him. What was his military experience? Where did he serve? What was his encounter with police that ended up with him seeking a mental health intervention over the summer where he claimed to be hearing voices and talking about shooting at a military installation. They're going to want to learn all that because if he's inside somewhere and you can communicate with him and slow down the incident, you can broker a conversation that may lead to a safer outcome.

BOLDUAN: I want to pull up some of the surveillance photos that police released about this. These are from the bowling alley that we're going to show of the person of interest as he's considered right now. We're going to pull them up and show them. This is as he is entering that bowling alley.

He's a firearms instructor. He has military training. What do you see in these photographs about him, the gun, his posture, what he's wearing? What do you see, John?

MILLER: Well, I mean, what you see, with the weapon itself is, he's got an AR-15 rifle. It's not how it came out of the box. It's been customized. He has the tactical sling, but he also has an optical sight.

Now, that optical sight can be the kind of thing a hunter would use where you look at it and there's crosshairs and you can shoot something from a distance.

BOLDUAN: Right.

MILLER: Or it can be what he experienced in the military, which is an optical sight with a laser dot, where, when you look through that sight, where that dot is, that's where your bullet's going to go. Either way, he's got extensive training and experience there. And you can tell by his posture and that he's looking over that sight that he's assessing targets.

As active shooters go, you have people who have had no interest in weapons who suddenly make a plan and obtain the weapons and the ammo and go forward. This is about the worst situation you can have, with someone who already had the weapons, already had the training and then decided to do it. He's a very dangerous adversary obviously for the unarmed people he took on, but also for police who are - who are searching for him.

SOLOMON: (INAUDIBLE) -

BOLDUAN: I just noticed his cargo pants that - as he was -- MILLER: So, the cargo pants have the large side pockets.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

MILLER: If you look at the photograph, you can see the bulge in the pockets. That is probably intentional in that sort of a tactical vest that had built in pockets for spare magazines, given the number of rounds fired, the number of people hit, the number of injuries, he likely came armed with multiple magazines, as he was trained to do by the military. And that's another factor for police, which is, there's no reason to suspect he would be out of ammunition and he hasn't discarded that weapon that we know of.

BOLDUAN: Right.

SOLOMON: It's a chilling, chilling thought.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, John.

SOLOMON: John, thank you.

And still ahead, Maine police are prepared to update us on the latest on the mass shooting overnight in just about 45 minutes from now. This as a community has been turned just upside down by tragedy and now in search of answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think there's going to be very few people in this community that have not been touched by this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[09:52:38]

BOLDUAN: We want to take you to Israel now for an update.

The Israeli military says that it has carried out a targeted raid in northern Gaza overnight. This video that we're showing you was released by the IDF. The IDF saying in it you can - well, and in it you can see armored vehicles and a bulldozer. Israel says that the raid was part of preparations for the next stages of combat.

Also this. An Israeli airstrike hit a house in a refugee camp in central Gaza yesterday. Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief says that his family is among the dead, including his wife, son, daughter and grandson.

Let's go now to northern Israel. CNN's Jim Sciutto is there at the border with Lebanon.

Jim, what are you seeing there and what are you hearing?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, Kate, as Israel begins ground operations in Gaza, the great concern in this country is that there will be a reaction here in the north from Hezbollah.

I'm in Metula, in northern Israel, right now. This is the main street but it's been abandoned because this town is under mandatory evacuation. It has been since the hours, the days after October 7th. And Metula particularly venerable because it's surrounded on three sides by Lebanon, by territory controlled by Hezbollah. In fact, if you look just down the street here, at the bottom of the hill, that is Lebanon.

I've been speaking to soldiers based here now. And they're really the only occupants of Metula, along with the town's mayor. And they say there's constant threat of sniper fire, and that's why I'm laying down low here on the main street. This -- main street is - is in the line of fire. Sniper fire, rocket fire and also the threat of ground incursions. In fact, in recent days, there was a ground incursion just a few miles in this direction where Hezbollah fighters managed to get across the border before they were engaged and killed by IDF forces.

So, the concern is, when that might become bigger. When Hezbollah might attempt to apply more pressure here. And to be on the lookout for it, we hear drones flying ahead, and they're armed Israeli drones with the ability to take out any Hezbollah fighters that they spot on the other side of the border or trying to come in.

Now, when I speak to soldiers here, and I just spoke to the mayor as well, I asked them what their hope is going forward. And this is something you'll hear a lot in Israel, Kate, and that is, they don't want to wait.

[09:55:02]

They want to see Israeli forces cross the border and make this town safe again, create something of a buffer zone there. It's not clear the Israeli leadership has made that decision. But I'll say, it's a consistent message I hear from people in this part of the country, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for being there, Jim. Stay safe. We'll check back in with you.

We've got much more ahead.

We're going to take you back to Maine very soon. Minutes from now we're going to -- we expect police to offer an update on the horrible deadly mass shooting that happened yesterday evening in Maine. A manhunt underway. A person of interest they are looking for. Stay with us, please, for the very latest.

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BOLDUAN: Top of the hour. Thanks for being with us. I'm Kate Bolduan. John Berman's headed to Maine right now. Sara Sidner's on assignment in Israel. And Rahel Solomon's here with me in New York.

Minutes from now, police in Maine will be giving an update on the manhunt that is underway after the horrible mass shooting that also now has many communities in lockdown today. Last hour the Lisbon police chief, this is one of the communities impacted here, he shared this.

[10:00:03]

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RYAN MCGEE, LISBON, MAINE POLICE: We've had everything from people calling about, you know, noises in the basement.