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Shelter in Place Expanded; IDF and Hezbollah Exchange Fire; Cindy McCain is Interviewed about the Humanitarian Crisis; Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) is Interviewed about Gun Violence. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 26, 2023 - 08:30   ET

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

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MIKE BROWN, SACRAMENTO KINGS COACH: I don't -- I don't know. I don't even - I don't even know what to say. That is -- that is absolutely disgusting. And it's sad. And it's sad that we sit here and watch this happen time after time after time after time and nobody does anything about it.

I don't even want to talk basketball. I'm sorry. I - I just - like, we played a game. It was fun. Obviously, we won. But, I mean, there is -- if - if we can't do anything to fix this, it's over. It's over. It's over for our country for this to happen time after time.

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: You hear the exasperation in his voice. That was Sacramento Kings basketball coach Mike Brown addressing the shooting - the mass shooting in Maine last night.

And, Phil, it's -- how many NBA coaches have been talking about this for how long? Doc Rivers, Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr. They don't want to talk about basketball, they want to talk about why this keeps happening.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Which I don't think is that different from a lot of people in the country.

HARLOW: A chorus (ph).

MATTINGLY: They're point (ph), people are exhausted and tired. And the real question of, is this just - it's what I just asked Congressman Johnson.

HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE).

MATTINGLY: Is this -- is this the reality? People say no and say, it sure seems like it sometimes, which is frustrating and frustrating and in this case extraordinary tragic. HARLOW: Yes, we're going to talk to Senator Chris Coons ahead. Obviously, he was one of the leads on the bipartisan gun bill that did pass last year. We'll get to that soon.

But there is new information into CNN. We've learned that a shelter in place advisory has expanded to the neighboring town of Bowdoin, Maine. Schools are closed there today and an urgent manhunt is underway for that gunman behind mass shootings at two locations in Lewiston, Maine, last night.

There will be a news conference two hours from now, 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, from state police.

Evan Perez joins us live from Washington, D.C.

Evan, you're getting a lot of information in terms of - it's certainly not just local authorities. There are -- the feds are there.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And I think one reason that you see that -- the response, Poppy, is that -- because the longer this goes, the more hours that this suspect, this person is at large, the greater the distance that these searchers have to cover. And that's why you see additional shelter-in-place orders going into those towns that are a little further away from Lewiston. It's not clear where this suspect has gone. And that's the reason why you now see dozens of agents coming from the U.S. Marshals, from ATF, from the FBI.

One of the things we heard this morning is the FBI has sent dozens of people in there, not only SWAT teams who are going to respond to wherever there might be sightings, but also evidence collection teams. Obviously, this is an area with police that don't deal with scenes like this. I mean not many places deal with scenes like this. And so even the basic things like the police work of evidence collection is something that the FBI is helping to assist both the state place and the Lewiston Police Department there.

We know that they've also brought in victims assistance people who will help the victims who witnessed this horrific scene. But also to try to get a little bit of information from them. One of the big questions at this hour is why did this suspect go to these two locations? What happened? Was there something that brought this suspect to these two locations to carry out this shooting? At this hour, though, everybody is trying to figure out where this suspect is.

Phil and Poppy.

HARLOW: Evan, thank you so much for that reporting. We'll get back to you soon.

And this is new video just into CNN. It showing people, some of them holding hands. Look at that. They are evacuating the bowling alley after the mass shooting there in Maine. The very latest ahead on that.

MATTINGLY: We're also closely watching what the Middle East - what's happening in the Middle East as the U.S. calls for a humanitarian pause to allow desperately needed food, water, medicine and other essentials to reach Gaza. Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme, joins us to discuss.

Stay with us.

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MATTINGLY: Well, we continue to follow the breaking news out of Maine where an urgent manhunt is underway for a shooter who opened fire at two locations in Lewiston.

But we want to turn now to the border of Israel's - to Israel's northern border, where Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire across the border over the course of several weeks.

CNN's Jim Sciutto is live at a staging post where Israeli troops are preparing for further attacks from Hezbollah.

Jim, what are you seeing on the ground there?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Phil, if you want a sense of the level of alert up here in the north for the possibility of a second front in this war, you get it here. This is Metula, in northern Israel, normally a bustling town of young families and older people, students. It's empty. It's under mandatory evacuation. It has been since the day after the October 7th attacks. One reason for that is it's surrounded on three sides by Lebanon, over here just to the north, and over here as well. And the soldiers tell me they're under constant lookout for sniper fire, rocket fire, as well as the possibility of ground incursions.

It was just a few miles from here several days ago where a Hezbollah unit actually crossed the border. They were engaged by the IDF and killed.

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But they say they were probing attacks similar to that most days. That is the level of the alert here.

And when you speak to soldiers here, most of them reservists, called up since October 7th, they feel like they are fighting for the safety of their country now. One of them said to me, it feels like a second war of independence for Israel, harkening back to 1948.

They are watching. They are waiting. And this is really a buffer zone in the north because they fear that what they saw in the south in Gaza, they may see soon again in the north from Lebanon and from Hezbollah.

Phil.

MATTINGLY: Yes, extraordinarily intense moments.

Jim Sciutto, thanks so much. HARLOW: Look at these new satellite images. They show the significance

of the destruction across Gaza. On left, that image is from October the 10th. On the right, that is just 11 days later. And you see so much flattened.

People are desperate, desperate to get out of Gaza. Humanitarian aid is not getting in fast enough and not nearly enough. The United States now calling for a humanitarian pause to allow that desperately needed aid, food, water, medicine, other essentials into Gaza. An American doctor who is trapped in Gaza sent CNN this voice message yesterday describing what it is like in southern Gaza.

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DR. BARBARA ZIND, AMERICAN DOCTOR STRANDED IN SOUTHERN GAZA: Each person gets one piece of pita bread. When we first arrived, they had one can per two people of canned meat. And now it's four people. So they are getting some food but very little.

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HARLOW: Joining us now is the executive director of the World Food Programme, Cindy McCain. She just returned from spending time on the ground there in the Middle East.

Ambassador McCain, thank you very much for being with us.

"The New York Times" this morning citing the Red Crescent says that of the 20 aid trucks that were supposed to go in through that Rafah crossing yesterday, only eight made it in. What can be done to change that? And, by the way, 20 is not nearly enough.

CINDY MCCAIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Oh, 20, you might as well not do anything. We need to have a full access corridor that goes in, that is sustained and safe. And, I mean, a lot of trucks, because they -- we're talking about a million plus people that don't have any access to food now. Hunger is upon us. Starvation is upon us. It is utterly necessary that we get in there so that we can take food, medicine, water, as you just described. And we need it now. We need it desperately.

HARLOW: For some perspective, I know WFP has said about 500 trucks of humanitarian aid per day were going into Gaza before the crisis. Five hundred compared to eight overnight. Are we in a window of just days where people, including children, may starve to death?

MCCAIN: Yes, we are in that window because we can't get in, we can't - we obviously can't get food to people who desperately need it. And the stores and the things that were left on the ground prior, you know, as the war hit are running out. And as - and we've all heard the stories about fuel and water, of course.

So, this is the kind of thing that is an absolute catastrophe happening. And the world community really needs to pay attention to this. We have got to get in there so we can help these people so they don't die. HARLOW: Can you explain, Cindy, what is holding it up besides those

barriers that we've seen Egypt removing and putting back? There has been reporting, "The Times" citing an Egyptian unnamed official, who had said that the IDF is inspecting trucks because, obviously, they're concerned that things could be smuggled in for Hamas. That part of what's holding it up?

MCCAIN: I think it's a combination of things. That's certainly part of it. I also think that there are some difficulties on the Egyptian side. We're relying on looking to our leaders to make sure that we can get the message straight and get us in there.

I - I -- you know, our trucks, we've got trucks amassed at the border if we could get them in that we could literally get that much food to that - to the people that are starving. But we can't get in. And so the lack of urgency is what, in - in -- what really makes my heart pound because the sense of no urgency at all or the sense that we don't need to - to get a lot of the trucks in there just - it's - to me is very heart-wrenching.

HARLOW: And part of that lack of urgency, partly from some lawmakers, some Republican lawmakers, is the reason you're in D.C. this morning. You flew there to have those crucial meetings. There have been some Republican lawmakers, not all by any measure, who oppose this humanitarian aid to Gaza. They think it's going to get in the hands of Hamas and who also are signaling that they would oppose the broader $105 billion supplemental package.

This is a taste of what some of them have said.

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SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): Remember, when aid goes to Gaza, it's not diverted by Hamas, it's delivered to Hamas.

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SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Stop sending money into Gaza until Israel cleans it out. Even if you have good intentions. A road to hell is paved with good intentions.

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HARLOW: That was Senators Tim Scott and Tom Cotton. Have you been able to change their minds? Have you been able to change some other minds in Washington?

MCCAIN: I talked to a lot of senators and - and - and a few congressman as well on this issue, and have - and I - I believe that I've been able to make it clear and with a better understanding on their part as to exactly what's going on.

But what I would say to all members, and especially to those who are naysayers, is, if you're not -- if you don't want to send money in to help starving people, then do it for national security because this is a national security issue. So, I - I've been pleading in that direction as well and trying to make them understand what's at stake here.

HARLOW: What do you mean by that, the national security argument?

MCCAIN: Well, migration. If we're talking about migration. We have countries on - on every border there that - that simply don't want any more migrants. So, what does that mean? It becomes a national security issue.

And so it -- it's something that we - we have to - we've got to feed these people and help them at least have, you know, make sure that they don't starve to death and -- and hopefully keep them, you know, in one place as to - as to whatever -- and whatever the world's going to bring them.

But let me say this, OK?

HARLOW: Yes.

MCCAIN: WFP is good at what we do. In fact, we're great at what we do. And we help other organizations as well. So, I would plead with both - with every country involved to please let us get in there and let us get to work. We have people on ground and we're looking forward to hopefully being able to get a lot more trucks in so that we can do our job.

HARLOW: Everyone is hoping.

Thank you for your work, Ambassador Cindy McCain, very much.

MATTINGLY: Well, right now, police are urgently searching for the gunman responsible for the deadly mass shootings in Maine last night. The latest on that search, that's ahead.

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MATTINGLY: And how are they doing?

MAJOR JASON J. LEVESQUE, AUBURN, MAINE: It's (INAUDIBLE). Well, several of them aren't with us anymore. And the other folks that I knew, it's -- that were there, either as witnesses or family members of witnesses, it's obviously traumatic.

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HARLOW: That was Mayor Jason Levesque of Auburn, Maine, describing how everyone in his tight knit community knows victims of the two deadly mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, overnight. Families in mourning this morning as police search for this man, Robert Card, identified as a person of interest. As of yesterday the U.S., so far, has seen more than 560 mass shootings this year alone. And it's not even the end of the year. That's according to the Gun Violence Archive.

With us this morning, Democratic senator of Delaware, who has worked tirelessly on the issue of gun violence, Chris Coons.

Let me ask you, Senator, a question that Phil just asked Representative Dusty Johnson, and that is, is this just what Americans are going to have to accept, that this is -- could happen to them any day?

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Poppy, I certainly hope not. President Biden signed into law last year the biggest progress we've made forward on closing loopholes in the gun background check system and investing tens of billions of dollars more into community mental health.

But yesterday we took a vote on the floor of the Senate on relaxing the standards for access to guns for veterans who have been adjudicated mentally ill -- actually, I may be wrong, that may be a vote coming up today.

We do have a country that is sharply divided in terms of our understanding on the limits on gun rights. It was one of President Biden's big accomplishments, along with a bipartisan group here in the Senate last year that we moved forward on closing background check loopholes and improving gun safety. But there is so much more to do.

No other advanced industrialized country has this challenge where day after day after day there are mass shootings all over our country. All of us should reflect on our willingness to commit ourselves to the safety of our children, our schools, our communities. If you can't go to a bowling alley or a movie theatre, a synagogue or a church without having to worry about an armed assault, then, frankly, we are not protecting our own people in the ways that we should.

MATTINGLY: Senator, just to kind of put a finer point on this, to Poppy's question, in the wake of the bipartisan gun law, which I think, as you noted, the most significant in decades, every Republican who co-sponsored that bill with you, almost two - they co-sponsored, not all of them, said there is no appetite for anything else, period, end of story.

COONS: Right.

MATTINGLY: Guys you work with, folks that you think highly of, there's no path here for anything else, is there?

COONS: There isn't, Phil, and that's maddening to those of us here who think there is more for us to do. And, frankly, after several weeks of chaos, the House has finally settled on a new speaker, who I look forward to getting to know but who by press accounts and from what I've been able to find online about his record is far more conservative than any recent speaker. That makes me even more concerned that we will genuinely struggle to make progress on improving gun safety for our country, for our families, for our children.

HARLOW: You say no appetite for any more gun violence prevention laws specifically. And you're right, Speaker Johnson did vote against that bipartisan bill last year that you mentioned.

But what about just mental health? Because this man spent two weeks this summer in a mental health facility.

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Do you think there's any appetite, just rite large, for more mental health aid if you don't connect it to guns?

COONS: Well, it's important, Poppy, for us to distinguish between these two fields because there are millions and millions of Americans with mental health needs that are underfunded, where they have difficulty accessing services, that have no connection whatsoever to gun violence.

HARLOW: Right.

COONS: But in this particular instance, that clearly -- that seems to, from press accounts, have been the causal factor. That's why I highlight the amendment by Senator Kennedy that's part of the mix of amendments we are going to have to vote on before we move forward on our appropriations bill. It explicitly reduces the restrictions on veterans who have been adjudicated mentally ill from being able to access guns.

For decades that's been in place. If a court rules that you are to much of a danger to yourself and others to have access to guns, that strikes me as a pretty good predictor that you should not be involved in gun ownership or gun purchases. Yet there is a significant group of Republicans here in the Senate trying to roll that back. That would be the biggest reduction in gun safety. The biggest reduction from folks who are on the background check list in decades.

So, it's alarming that we have such a deep division between our parties in the intersection of gun safety and mental health. And I think it is a bad predictor of our political direction soon.

Some of the hardest meetings I've ever been in at home in Delaware was with the parents of young children who, in their first year of school, had to do active shooter drills. Something we did not grow up with. Something that now is a daily reminder to school children that their communities, their parents, their national leadership, is not doing enough to keep them safe.

MATTINGLY: Senator Chris Coons, we appreciate your time, as always, sir. Thank you.

COONS: Thank you, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Well, just into CNN, the U.S. economy expanded at an even stronger pace last quarter, even though interest rates were at their highest level in 22 years. GDP grew at an annual 4.9 percent rate in the third quarter, according to the Commerce Department. That's well above last quarter's 2.1 percent pace and faster than expectations were fueled by strong consumer spending with factors like student loan payments resuming. Experts think the economy won't stay this strong. They've thought that often over the course of the last year.

HARLOW: They certainly have. We're going to keep a keen focus all day, of course, on this breaking

news and, of course, on the war that continues between Israel and Hamas.

MATTINGLY: And at 10:30 a.m., the governor of Maine and local police are set to hold a news conference, giving the latest details on the shootings in Lewiston, Maine, as they urgently look for a person of interest. We're going to take you there live on the ground. Our teams are spread across Maine.

Coverage will continue after this break with "CNN NEWS CENTRAL."

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