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Manhunt Underway For "Person Of Interest" In Maine Mass Shootings; IDF Conducts Raid On Gaza With Tanks Before Withdrawing; Auburn, Maine Mayor Joins CNN This Morning. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 26, 2023 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WMTW REPORTER: We're here in Lisbon Falls along the Route 196 corridor where they have actually just closed down the road. They're setting up a detour. And this is right in front of Lisbon High School where a lot of police presence have been gathered facing their search here in the Lisbon-Lisbon Falls area. There's three tactical teams down there by the high school -- that's where their base is -- and they're running all the way down to the Androscoggin River here.

I spoke with one police officer who says that they're likely going to be setting up a road closure on the other side of this search down the road towards Lewiston. We saw a public works truck head that way after setting up this barricade here but cars are still coming from that direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: And at the start of this hour, you heard our Shimon Prokupecz talking with Lisbon's police chief Ryan McGee. CNN has crews across Maine right now and we'll have updates throughout the morning.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Another major story, of course, we're following. Israel says they have conducted a targeted raid with tanks inside of northern Gaza before withdrawing. You can see in this video it was (UNAUDIBLE) by the IDF armored vehicles. That includes a bulldozer, which Israel says is part of preparations for the next stages of combat.

MATTINGLY: And these new satellite images show the significant destruction across Gaza. On the left, an image from October 10. On the right, just 11 days later.

This all comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke yesterday about the plans for the ground incursion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are raining down hellfire on Hamas. We have already eliminated thousands of terrorists, and this is only the beginning. At the same time, we are preparing for a ground incursion. I will not detail when, how, or how many, or the overall consideration that we are taking into account, most of which are unknown to the public. And this is how it needs to be in order to safeguard the lives of our soldiers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Let's get straight to Erin Burnett, joining us live from Jerusalem. There's been so much talk, Erin, about when the widescale ground incursion will occur. But last night, I believe, there was a pretty significant operation in north Gaza. What do we know about that?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT": Phil, you're right. It was, in fact, the biggest and the deepest ground assault on Gaza since this war began and perhaps, in the past 10 years. So while, of course, Israel is saying it was targeted and they had very specific goals with it -- they said they took out numerous terrorists without elaborating any further on the numbers -- the reality of it is this is extremely significant.

There were tanks involved, bulldozers involved. We can see all that from the footage that the IDF provided. That is the footage that we have. Reporters were not on the scene to be able to actually see this. But it is very significant.

It also comes as Israel has actually increased the number of people that it says were kidnapped in the October 7 attack, saying that number is now up to 224. This is as they identify more bodies but also as they get more intelligence from what's going on inside Gaza, which was a goal of this assault.

But I think, Phil, you put your finger on it exactly. They're trying to say that it is targeted to show restraint internationally. But for the domestic audience here, they are showing that they are going in in a big, visible way -- in an extremely significant way.

And those before and after images show you and emphasize that while we focus on a ground assault and what comes next in these next stages that we clearly started to see last night, the reality of it is Gaza has been decimated, specifically northern Gaza, although there are strikes, of course -- all the Gaza Strip. But those before and after images show what happens after what has been a devastating already 20- day war.

HARLOW: And Erin -- I mean, I know you've been talking to doctors on the ground. The necessity of fuel to keep people alive is critical. And the U.N. has said look, they are almost out of those fuel resources in Gaza. Israel still will not allow them in. They think Hamas is going to take the fuel.

What are you hearing about these growing calls for --

BURNETT: Yeah.

HARLOW: Secretary Blinken called for a humanitarian pause. BURNETT: Yeah, there's huge calls for that. Of course, Hamas says they want that. Israel is absolutely not moving on this issue. They say that Hamas has the fuel. They have not provided evidence to prove that those fuel tanks are full as they insist that they are, but that's where they stand on this right now.

The U.N., as you say, is -- says that they are not rationing fuel. They say that their situation there is paralyzed but they are rationing fuel.

I spoke to one man who works for the Red Cross. He's out there desperately trying to provide assistance and also says that they are hours away from true devastation. But his own wife is giving birth this week to a child and will have to do so in a hospital that will lack antibiotics and morphine.

You talk about people injured in the strikes and what that means in this hospital, but also the mundane realities of daily life that people need medical care for are not there.

Another doctor telling me, Poppy and Phil, one toilet for 800 people. You can imagine the lines. You can imagine the filth. You can imagine the disease. And that is an American doctor near the Rafah border in the best conditions that exist in Gaza, and that should give everyone some perspective on how dire it is there.

[07:35:04]

Back to you.

MATTINGLY: On day 20. Erin Burnett live for us in Jerusalem. Thank you.

HARLOW: Yeah. We'll get back to Erin soon.

Right now, police are searching for the suspect who sources say killed at least 16 people in two mass shootings in Maine last night. We'll take you to the ground in Lisbon. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL)

MATTINGLY: We are continuing to follow the breaking news out of Maine. A significant and urgent manhunt underway for a mass shooter who sources say killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens more last night. Maine officials say hundreds of police officers -- state, local, and federal -- are now working across the state to locate the gunman. People who live in and around the Lewiston area are being told to shelter in place.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is in Lisbon, Maine right now where he just spoke to the chief of police as he was patrolling the neighborhood. We showed that live. I also believe you just spoke to a resident as well. What's the latest from the ground, Shimon?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, look, there's a lot of concern here, Phil, certainly. The neighbors here are calling 911. If they're hearing something suspicious they're calling 911. Police responding with long guns as they go through the area looking to make sure that the person they're looking for is not there.

[07:40:07]

But, Phil, I wanted to show you this area here. I'm over here because this is where we're told that the car was found -- the person of interest -- his car. This is where the car was found and it's really close to where we were earlier where police were doing that searching and where they've been searching. We just saw police driving by at a rapid rate. And then there's also a helicopter now in the air as they are certainly, it seems -- as now that there is daylight that there is --

And the search is becoming more intense and I think as this day goes on that's only going to increase because they really don't have any idea where he is now. But this is where he dropped his car and then where he is now is a mystery. And that's why there's so much concern around this area.

Take a listen to my conversation with one of the residents here as he talked about his concerns.

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CORY, LISBON, MAINE RESIDENT: It's just -- nerves are rattled right now. I'm keeping an eye on the woods because I know those woods down there -- they go -- run right back here. And I've got my daughter inside. I'm --

PROKUPECZ: Your daughter? How old is your daughter?

CORY: She's 10 years old. And my oldest daughter, she works at the Walmart DC, too, and I had to message her to find out if she's OK. And it's very unnerving right now.

PROKUPECZ: Seeing those officers with those long guns walking through --

CORY: That actually made me feel better. Seeing the cops coming around here -- that makes me feel a million times better. And in a situation like this, I wish I had a firearm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: And that's exactly why police are out here searching. They want to address the concerns that the residents here have.

What's making this so difficult is this area -- just the way that way -- it's a heavily wooded area, you see, surrounded by some water here. And even on this side here, guys, I will show you on the other side here. Bob, turn around.

You see it's all wooded. This is an entirely wooded area. There are homes up and down these streets that are kind of in these woods. And then there are homes kind of where we were before on property where there are multiple homes surrounded by woods. There's a lot, a lot of woods and that's what's, I think, complicating a lot of the search.

I mean, there just really is nothing for law enforcement to go on right now. They say they have some intelligence. They have information and they're trying to center their search around that. But I think at this point, it's very clear to everyone here that they have no idea where this person is. And I think as this day goes on we're likely to see the search increase -- the intensity of it increase.

Schools here are shut. They're urging people to stay home. There's a shelter-in-place. It's voluntary, obviously. They're not forcing people but they're telling people to stay home.

They're telling people not to go to work. We are seeing people out driving. We saw some people walking dogs earlier.

So you can certainly feel the tension in the air here and I think as this day goes on we'll see more of that.

MATTINGLY: Yeah, and as the sun has come up and as you're demonstrating, the scale of the undertaking for those law enforcement officials that's currently underway becomes a lot more clear.

Shimon Prokupecz, we'll be coming back to you shortly. Thank you.

PROKUPECZ: Yeah.

HARLOW: OK, let's get straight to CNN senior law enforcement analyst Andy McCabe. Also, CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem.

Juliette, I want to start with you. For people who don't know, you were also the assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. Evan Perez, our colleague, reporting DHS has people on the ground there. FBI and ATF has people on the ground there.

A couple of things we know. The car was moved, right? Where they found that car connected to him -- it's not there anymore. We know he's got a rifle -- at least one assault-style rifle and is highly trained in guns. And police are on foot looking for him right now.

What challenges do they face?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (via Webex by Cisco): So, you're going to assume at this stage now that he had an exit or hiding strategy. This was -- he's trained. He knows how to do this. He knows how to use guns. He knows how to kill lots of people in multiple places.

One has to assume he also had a strategy to hide out for some period of time. You're going to go on that assumption. So he is either hiding right now in a place that he already determined he would hide at where people -- I know this area. There's lots of hunting cabins. There's lots of cabins. They may not be occupied during weekdays. He may have one himself or have trespassed onto one. So he may be hanging out during the days in a place that no one -- you

simply don't have the manpower to try or go to all these places. That's why they're going out to the community saying check your property. Check if you have any identification here.

[07:45:07]

The Homeland Security front is two-fold at this stage. I mean, the federal front is just when is the (PH) FBI on motive? What compelled him to do this, if anything? Is it mental health? Is there a motivation behind it? Why this town? Why those places?

And then you have the DHS part of it, which is we always worry about copycats, so you want to communicate with other communities. But you also have the Canadian border, which is -- which is if he's in another car, he's there or he's around there. So, Canada is engaged -- the border. Someone could pass by it by foot and stuff so you're going to engage Canada as well.

MATTINGLY: Andy, when you talk about motive and how this actually all played out, two separate locations about 10 minutes apart. What does that tell you about either the planning or the intent here?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST (via Webex by Cisco): Well, it's hard to say with great clarity at this point, Phil. We know -- you know, if you look back at the -- at the shootings at the dance halls in California a couple of months ago, it almost seems at times these mass shooters who go to multiple locations -- if they're not stopped at the first location oftentimes they then are in a position that they didn't anticipate they would be in. And so, they kind of plan it on the fly as it where and end up at a -- at another spot. So that could be the case here.

It's also possible that he picked these locations for some significance to him personally or to family members -- the issues that are driving him right now and had this planned out from advance. We won't know that until law enforcement gets an opportunity to engage with him, and that may never happen, or if we come across writings or a manifesto, or social media posts, or statements or comments to other individuals who in the aftermath may be able to shed some light on exactly why he did this.

All of that is secondary to the question right now, which is where is this person. And I think each one of the law enforcement agencies that's engaged here has a unique toolkit to bring to that search.

HARLOW: Can you speak to that with all your years of experience with the FBI? Because Evan Perez reported also phone signals that they would likely be trying to track, obviously, if he's still got his phone or when he used it last. How successful can they be in that?

MCCABE: Yeah. So that's a really important part of this, Poppy. It's a very different situation than the escaped prisoner manhunt we had in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago.

In this case, this man is from this area. He had access to transportation. He probably has access to funds -- to money or credit cards, debit cards. And he likely also has a cell phone. Any one of those things can provide the tip that law enforcement needs.

So if they've identified his bank accounts, his credit cards, and those sorts of things, there's work that you can do with those companies to get alerts as to when those -- when those accounts have been accessed.

If he's using a phone that's his -- that's subscribed to him or one that we can identify that he uses -- obviously, when people use cell phones you can sometimes triangulate their location based on the signals that cell towers receive from that phone when it's being used. It's also possible to get locational data from different websites and internet services -- social media and other things -- that collect that kind of data when you're using your account.

So there's a lot of ways that, for instance, in those situations --

HARLOW: Yeah.

MCCABE: -- the FBI can be very helpful getting the sort of legal process that's necessary to establish that electronic surveillance.

MATTINGLY: Juliette, to that point and the different toolkits, we had the Lisbon police chief tell our Shimon Prokupecz his entire department had been called in. We know the officials that have come from the Boston field office on the FBI side.

What's the interplay right now between local, state, and federal?

KAYYEM: So, it's always a local event so you'll have the incident command set up locally. State Police in Maine have a huge role simply because of the highways. These are long stretches of highways where you're not going to encounter even commercial activity. Homes are isolated.

And then you'll have the interstate compacts that are going on in Massachusetts and other New England states with the FBI assisting or other federal agencies assisting at different pieces. So they know how to sort of play this out because the capacity of any individual jurisdiction at this stage or, in particular, a smaller jurisdiction is going to be spent relatively quickly. So we're really looking at the state police.

There's one other issue that's just really important right now. This is a challenge in active shooter cases and a challenge in terrorism cases.

[07:50:00]

We now have a community under lockdown. We have a college -- Bates College is under lockdown as of last night, or was under lockdown.

So we -- so if there -- if he's not found in the next couple of hours there will have to be not a law enforcement decision but essentially a political decision about are you going to tell people be vigilant, stay inside as much as you can? But people have to move around. You can't close schools indefinitely waiting to see -- you know, this could be a --

HARLOW: Yeah.

KAYYEM: -- multiday manhunt.

HARLOW: Yes.

KAYYEM: So that's the challenge right now.

HARLOW: A really important point.

Juliette, Andrew, thank you for all your expertise. We appreciate it.

MATTINGLY: And we are following the breaking developments as a person of interest in the deadly Maine mass shootings last night is still at large. We're going to be joined by the mayor of Auburn, Maine where residents are sheltering in place this morning. Stay with us.

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[07:55:00]

HARLOW: You're looking -- moments ago -- that is a helicopter circling above Lewiston, Maine. Obviously, they are on an urgent manhunt for this person of interest -- who carried out those two mass shootings -- by air. And also, those police officers on foot. This morning, they continue that search.

MATTINGLY: And again, police have identified 40-year-old Robert Card as a person of interest.

Neighboring towns, like Auburn, are home to reunification centers for those who were witnesses to the shootings. The town is urging all residents this morning to shelter in place as the manhunt continues.

Joining us now is the mayor of Auburn, Maine, Jason Levesque.

The town only separated from Lewiston by a river. Mr. Mayor, we appreciate your time. Our hearts go out to your entire community at this point.

What information have you been given by law enforcement given the lockdowns and the search that's underway?

MAYOR JASON J. LEVESQUE, AUBURN, MAINE (via Webex by Cisco): You know, really, information is kind of -- it's fluid. It's a fluid situation if you would. Right now, there's nothing new to report. We will be having a press conference over at the city of Lewiston just in a few hours and hopefully, more information will be released to the public at that point.

But right now, I'm encouraging everyone to shelter in place. Schools are closed. Businesses are closed. Stay home with your loved ones right now and just pray for the victims of last night's terrible tragedy.

HARLOW: Yeah. Of course, we certainly are, Mayor.

You are a five-generation resident of Auburn, and your town now is sort of a place where a lot of people are hoping in these reunification centers that they will be reunited with their loved ones.

You said something on CNN last night that was so striking. You said the silence there was really telling. Can you explain that to us?

LEVESQUE: Yeah. I think it's the silence of just not knowing, right? That's what they don't say. And I've spoken to a lot of -- a lot of eyewitnesses throughout the course of the evening and early morning. I spoke with the family members who are waiting to be reunified. And it was -- it was telling, you know? It's just there's really not much to say, and we understand that. Yeah, it was -- it's going to be with me for the rest of my life and it's really hard for me to explain that.

HARLOW: I understand, of course.

MATTINGLY: We've had several people talk about how tight knit the communities are. Do you know anybody -- have you spoken to anybody personally affected by what happened last night?

LEVESQUE: Yes, several -- several people. Several friends.

MATTINGLY: And how are they doing?

LEVESQUE: It's a -- well, several of them aren't with us anymore. And the other folks that I knew that were there either as witnesses or family members of witnesses, it's obviously traumatic. It was -- the bright spot was seeing individuals reunified with their loved ones after now knowing for so long. But on the other side, the ones that were waiting and waiting, and that probably would never be reunified.

HARLOW: Did you lose friends, Mayor?

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

HARLOW: I'm so sorry. I know those words are inadequate but I am.

You said something else last night that at the bowling alley -- you know, it was a youth night, so there were kids there as young as 12.

We heard from a little girl who got grazed by a bullet. Thank God she survived. But she asked the question everyone asks this morning, why? Why did this happen?

I just wonder if you have any other updates on children.

LEVESQUE: With regards to intent, no.

HARLOW: No, children.

LEVESQUE: Why?

HARLOW: To --

LEVESQUE: It's a question that we all want -- say again?

HARLOW: I was just asking about children and if you know anything more because apparently, there were a lot of kids there last night at the bowling alley.

LEVESQUE: There was. I don't know many specifics or exact details if you would.

I do know one teenage individual who was wounded but he's going to make a full recovery. I talked to his family last night. He's a great kid and went to high school with my son. And my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, too.

MATTINGLY: The reunifications -- there are very few bright spots in moments like this and again, we can't express our sorrow for what you personally and your entire community has been through.

Can you describe some of the reunifications as family members got back together -- got the good news in a night of terrible news?

LEVESQUE: Yeah -- no, it was. I mean, we had a -- we had grief counselors and members of the local clergy. Yeah, state police representatives with us. And everything was very well-organized, as best we could considering everything. And it was a good, secure location and it gave them the space they needed for reunification to grieve in certain situations, as well as to actually grab their loved ones, hold them, and get them home.

[08:00:10]

HARLOW: Mayor Jason Levesque, thank you -- and our hearts are with you, especially this morning.

LEVESQUE: No, thank you.

HARLOW: CNN THIS MORNING continues now.