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Erin Burnett Outfront

Suspect Killed After Chase Near Capitol; Tourist Recounts Capitol Shooting; Interview with Jeb Hensarling; Interview with Senator Casey

Aired October 03, 2013 - 19:00   ET

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

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, breaking news. The shooting on Capitol Hill, a high-speed car chase, ending with a deadly shootout. A minute by minute breakdown of exactly what happened in Washington this afternoon. And the latest from the government shutdown. Last night's meeting at the White House went nowhere. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tells CNN what it's going to take to get a deal done with him and the Democrats. And the latest from this violent confrontation between a motorist and a group of bikers. The wife of the SUV driver speaking out says it was a life threatening situation, but the bikers tell a different story. Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett. We have breaking news. I want to begin the car chase and shooting on Capitol Hill today. It was a frightening scene in Washington. A woman tried on ram her car through a White House check point. That's how it began. Let's show you what happened. This video shows the scene actually unfolding.

As you can see, the car stops by a bare indicated at the capitol building. Police have all their women's drawn. You can see they are looking in that car, at that driver, but the driver somehow managed to escape as police opened fire. You are going to hear this later in the shots.

They opened fire at that point, but she still continued driving. It was a woman. It's a high-speed chase that ended on Capitol Hill. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier has just brief reporters on the suspect who is being identified as a 34-year-old African-American woman from Connecticut.

Now we also know that the woman had a small child who was identified by D.C. police as a 1-year-old child. Multiple sources tell CNN that the woman at this point does appear to have been unarmed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CATHY LANIER, WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE: The suspect in the vehicle, we do know was struck by gun fire and at this point has been pronounced. So the suspect has been pronounced at this point. The child is approximately a year old and is in good condition and in protective custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right, the incident which happened in the midst of the third day of a government shutdown sent senators and staffers running. The capitol was placed on lockdown. What was the motive? OUTFRONT tonight, Brian Todd on Capitol Hill. Brian, there are so many questions this. It was shocking, out of the blue. No one really knew what to do. And at this point, do you know anything about the possible motive or what caused this?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erin, police are not saying anything about a possible motive. They're not really giving a whole lot of information about the suspect. You mentioned the 34-year-old African-American woman from Connecticut. She was driving a black Infinity with Connecticut plates. She was pro announced dead as you heard the police chief say just a short time ago.

That confrontation was a few blocks from me on Second Avenue and Maryland Avenue northeast, just a few blocks from here where this culminated in a high-speed chase that as you said, started near the White House. At least two police barricades were at least approached by her vehicle during all of this.

And then she was pronounced dead after the shoot-out with police, after the police shot her vehicle a few blocks away from here. Police Chief Cathy Lanier was asked at one point whether this could have been some kind of an accident. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANIER: All the information we have right now is this does not appear to be in any way an accident. This was a lengthy pursuit. There were multiple vehicles rammed, officers struck, and two security perimeters that were attempted to be breached. So it does not appear in any way this was an accident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: And those two officers that were struck were injured, but we're told they are doing well. One is a U.S. Secret Service police officer, one is a Capitol Hill Police officer, but they are in good condition tonight -- Erin.

BURNETT: And this obviously took place in a secure area. You know, one thing, and we'll be playing the video again and freezing it for our viewers so they can really make up their own minds about what happened. But it is amazing when you look at this. It was very slow at one point sort of like going around a circle again and again. And then it picked up speed and it became a high-speed chase. It seemed it happened in a very secure area. The barricades did their job, right?

TODD: That is what police are saying, Erin, that the security apparatus on Capitol Hill and near the White House did its job and functioned as it should have. You're right. These two of the most secure areas in the entire country. Right near White House, at 15th and in the streets northwest where she approached, according to police, some kind of a security barricade. Struck and it struck an officer as she sped away.

She comes right over here at high speed, being chased by police to this area right behind me on the west side of the capitol where again there are police barricades and police all over the place. Two of the most secure locations in the entire world certainly in this city. And at least two locations, she struck barricades.

One of the police officers' cars also may have struck a barricade, we're told. So barricades played a pretty significant role in this series of events, a very frightening series of events, very fluid when playing out, that's what prompted the lockdown on Capitol Hill.

BURNETT: All right, certainly, thank you very much, Brian Todd. Of course, we'll get into the details of how many shots were fired and why. I want to bring in Jennifer Arnold now on Capitol Hill when the chase and shooting happened.

Jennifer, thank you for taking the time. I mean, you were there I know on a vacation you've had planned with your husband and your daughters, young daughters, 13 and 8. What did you see when this happened? We've been talking about this Infinity car and the high- speed chase. What did you see?

JENNIFER ARNOLD, SHOOTING WITNESS (via telephone): Well, Erin, thank you for having us. We were just coming down Pennsylvania Avenue. We had been on a -- he had pulled into the circle behind the capitol. We were getting off and paying the gentleman, and we saw the black car going really fast and turning the corner where a lot of police officers were chasing and my daughter commented, wow, they're going really fast.

And my husband said, yes, somebody is in trouble. And so a few seconds later, we heard the gunfire and then we could smell the smoke from it, and my husband screamed for to us get down on the ground. And it was frightening because we weren't sure what was going on.

He was on the ground and my daughters and I jumped behind a brick fencing area. There were bushes and we were on the ground and the cab gentleman was with us. The next thing we know, we hear the car coming back and the police chase coming back toward us and then there were all the police officers and federal agents. And they had enormous weapons. They look like automatic rifles or something. It was a very scary situation. They were telling to us get down and be quiet.

BURNETT: I'm sure it must have been so scary for you especially being there with your children. Do you have any sense -- we're trying to understand here from gathering together facts of what happened with the weapons. How many shots did you hear fired?

ARNOLD: You know, it was probably about five or six. I'm not exactly sure, but it sounded like about five or six.

BURNETT: About five or six. And how fast do you think the car was going? We were talking about this is one of the most secure areas in the country. You were there visiting the capitol. How fast do you think it was going from your view?

ARNOLD: I'm not sure. My husband is online with us, too. I don't know, Tim, what do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, in that area there, even 40 or 50 miles an hour is pretty fast because there are curves there. I would say she was going at least 40 or 50.

BURNETT: Wow, that is fast as we're watching right now with this video going around the circle there. Those would be pretty tight turns at that kind of a speed. Well, thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate it. We all do. And we're glad you're back safe in your hotel with your daughters.

Still to come, we have more of the breaking news coverage of the deadly shooting in Washington. There are some serious questions with what happened today and we are learning more about the woman at the center of today's violence. And we'll go to, well, the place she was from.

We have video of the chase and shooting from multiple angles. We'll go frame by frame and pause it, for example, there, surrounded by police. How did this play out? That's OUTFRONT next.

Plus, Twitter filing its IPO today despite the shutdown. People said it would be in jeopardy. No, we have the details.

And a 19-year-old woman, who had a sexual relationship with a 14- year-old, makes a dale with prosecutors. It probably won't appear on her permanent record. We've got the story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Back to our breaking news tonight, the car chase that started at the White House ended with a fatal shooting on Capitol Hill. The events unfolded quickly in Washington. Here is the minute by minute of what happened in this nation's capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT (voice-over): Shortly after 2:00 p.m., a woman in a black Infinity sedan attempts to pass a security barrier about a block from the White House. She exchanges words with police. They ask her to get out of the car. As she tries to leave the scene, she hits a police car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The driver slammed into reverse, slammed into a cruiser, did a 180, took off.

BURNETT: The Secret Service pursues the woman and she leads them on a multi-block high-speed chase toward Capitol Hill, running red lights along the way. A U.S. Capitol police officer is injured near First and Constitution Avenue. The veteran officer has to be air lifted from the scene. FBI and Capitol police catch up with the woman near the Hart Senate Office Building. At that time, the police opened fire killing the woman. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard gunshots and we saw a car drive by with bullet holes in it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We could smell the gun powder so we knew it's very close.

BURNETT: Police remove a 1-year-old child from the woman's car. The child is in good condition. As the chase unfolds, House and Senate proceedings are suspended. The United States Capitol in lockdown. People standing near the scene are rushed indoors. At 2:55 p.m., the lockdown lifted. Later, it is announced the officer injured during the chase is doing well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I join the majority leader in expressing our gratitude to the capitol police.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: We are learning about the suspect who led police on that chase. Deb Feyrick is in Brooklyn. Why, Brooklyn, well, we understand that's where the suspect has significant connections. So Deb, what can you tell us? I know you had to rush out there because you just got this information about why Brooklyn is so significant. What have you found out?

DEB FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, what we're learning is that federal law enforcement sources believe that her sister, the woman's sister lives in Brooklyn. And they are attempting to question her now. We've been told the woman is waiting for an attorney to be present during the questioning.

There's also been significant activity out in Stamford, Connecticut. That's where this woman lived. The police, federal agents, bomb squad, cordoned off an area around the condominium complex. Neighbors have been evacuated from the area. The bomb squad is on the scene. A robotic device is brought into the apartment.

They're executing a search warrant and being especially careful because they want to make sure that the apartment itself is safe. That is why they're being so methodical in all of this so federal law enforcement, both FBI, Secret Service and local police, all doing what they need to do. What we know is that this woman went to Washington with her 18-month-old daughter in the car with her.

Law enforcement says this woman fired no shots even though she did lead police on a high speed car chase. Police fired multiple shots at the woman, hitting her. Miraculously, it appears the child was not touched. She was removed from the car by a police officer who was there on scene. The suspect, a woman who is not officially been identified by police and by law enforcement, was led away on a gurney, but she was pronounced dead hit by those bullets -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right, well, Deb Feyerick, thank you very much for reporting there. As we find out more and more with this woman's ties to Brooklyn, tied to Stanford, Connecticut still at this point deeply unclear as to why she and that baby were in Washington, D.C. today. And what her motive was for what happened on her side of it.

Joining me now is the form he FBI assistant director and our law enforcement analyst, Tom Fuentes. Tom, thank you. Now you've heard all the latest reporting we've had and Deb obviously just with the breaking headlines of the link here in New York and also up in Connecticut. The Washington police confirmed that suspect is dead. Where does the investigation go from here? Now that she is dead, will we ever know why she did what she did?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, we may never know. That's what they're trying to learn if at all possible. So obviously it will take some time to get her records of e-mails and telephone records, who she talked to, where she worked. What her status was that way. But if they can talk to a family relative or a close friend tonight, that would give them at least a head start finding out what was her frame of mind, possibly or had she received mental health care in the past did she recently lose a job, relationship problems, any number of things could have triggered what happened today. And possibly someone close to her would know the answer.

BURNETT: So how are Capitol Police trained to respond to situations like this? When we go through and we look at this video, you know, this was, they told her to get out of the car and she did not get out of the car. Then it was a chase and a very quick shooting.

FUENTES: Right, the Capitol Police, the Metro Police, the FBI, Secret Service, all of the federal, state and local agencies in this case, work together all the time. They train together and go through a number of tactical scenarios. What if something happens at the capital, which did happen a couple years ago with two capitol officers being killed at one of the entrance check points, what if it is at the White House? What if it is during the inauguration? You have this type of tactical response training as I'm going all the time and they used it today.

BURNETT: I want to play the video and freeze on it something for you that has stood out to us. And I want to make sure you get a chance to see it too. This is a moment before the high speed part of the chase. The officers have the car completely surrounded, as you can see. They're one, two, three, four, five of them. All with their guns pointed and they're right next to the car. How did they not see a 1-year-old baby in the car?

FUENTES: Well, you don't know whether they saw the baby at that point. Usually when you approach a car outside, might get a reflection from the sunlight and not be able to see into it. She might have had darkened windows that they couldn't see through. You don't know what they knew or what they saw. They don't really have her boxed in with their police cars because she is able to bang off one car and actually drive away from it. They didn't have her completely boxed in to where she couldn't drive away. But the other concern is, is there possibly explosives in that car? Is she possibly a terrorist bent on driving that car into the white house or into the capitol? BURNETT: Is that the fear? People will say, well, look, this is horrible. At the same time, there was a baby in the car. At this point we don't know but multiple sources have said they don't believe that she had a weapon at all and obviously, this ended with her being shot. It seems, like what you're saying, that is a fair way for this to have ended given the situation.

FUENTES: I can tell you during my 36 years as a sworn law enforcement officer, you're trained not to fire at somebody if there is a possibility that a stray bullet will hit somebody that is innocent. In this case whether it is the child in the car or whether it is the tourist out on the sidewalk. Normally you wouldn't do that. However, if there is a possibility it's a terrorist act and you don't know that.

If it is a possibility she has a trunk full of explosives, which you don't know that, she could possibly kill hundreds of people. And at that point stopping her is the only thing on their mind. Do not let her proceed if at all possible. She could kill hundreds of people. And frankly, the one or two people in jeopardy have to be compared against possibly hundreds that could be killed.

BURNETT: All right, Tom Fuentes, thank you very much for the time.

Still to come month, more of our breaking news coverage of today's shooting in Washington, plus day three of the government shutdown and there is no end in sight. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid talked to CNN, talked about what needs to happen for a deal to get done. You will see that and the rebuttal from Jeb Hensarling.

And Boston bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, living now in total isolation, but not for the reason you think. The development in the Boston case tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: All right, I want to bring in Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania who is outside the capitol when the shooting started. He is OUTFRONT tonight. Senator Casey, we'll show everyone the video. You're actually in the video running into the capitol building. What was happening at that time? There you are. What was happening?

SENATOR BOB CASEY (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, at that point, Erin, the capitol police were directing us with a lot of vigor to run into the capitol to make sure that they could protect not only individual members, but also others who were on the capitol grounds, a lot of tourists there as well.

BURNETT: And do you at this point, as we final more and more out about this situation, are you satisfied that how it was handled? There are a lot of questions out there so I know it is impossible to give a definitive answer. What is your feeling now?

CASEY: First and foremost, it is a terrible tragedy. Two officers injured and you have a death as well by the suspect -- or the death of the suspect. So it is a terrible tragedy. The way the capitol police responded was comprehensive, very effective and I think it was in keeping with securing not only members of Congress but anyone who is near or on capitol grounds.

So I think the capitol police did a great job on a difficult circumstance and this is in the aftermath of the shooting at the naval yard. So they wanted to make sure everyone was safe, a lot of details yet to be learned though.

BURNETT: A lot of details are yet to be learned. And as you point out, the proximity of this to the Navy Yard shooting is obviously something that seems to be important, perhaps, in terms of the response. Senator Casey, always good to see you.

CASEY: Thanks, Erin.

Still to come, day three of the government shutdown and there is no end in sight. As the cost to the United States rises and rises. Last night's meeting with the president appears to have been a failure. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on CNN tonight. What it will take to get a deal done and Jeb Henserling will revise?

Plus, Twitter announces it is going public. Everyone said they couldn't file because of the shutdown. They did. Do you want to buy into that?

And a story we've been following since day one, the violent confrontation between a motorist and bikers caught on tape. The bikers stay motorist's version of events doesn't add up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Welcome back to the second half of OUTFRONT.

Boston marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been living in near total isolation because of fan mail. Prosecutors say the thousand or so unsolicited letters that he has received since he was taken into custody are the basis for restricting Tsarnaev's movements in prison.

Now, this may shock you but people apparently do like him. They don't want him communicating with others in prison, though. He is rarely outside his cell and he is banned from praying with other inmates. His attorneys, though, say he hasn't responded to the letters and therefore the restriction should be lifted. Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to 30 charges.

And an OUTFRONT update on Kaitlyn Hunt, the 19-year-old teenager who was charged for having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old teenager. As part of the deal with prosecutors, Hunt has pleaded no contest to five counts and will not have to register as a sex offender.

That was the key hurdle here. A prosecutor said she will be sentenced to four months in jail followed by two years of house arrest and nine months probation after that. That sounds steep. But if Hunt gets through that without violations, the case will likely be expunged after 10 years.

Well, Twitter is revealing plans tonight to raise a billion dollars in its initial public offering. This also because they had to file, this shed light on whether Twitter makes money or not. The answer is no. Twitter lost $79.9 million last year and is on track for even steeper losses this year.

#unprofitable? Maybe for now. But Twitter has been valued at $10 billion and market strategists tell us that creating a product that people will pay for and enjoy is what will make Twitter the next Google.

All right, it sounds like a state of the obvious. Sometimes it's easier said than done. They say if Twitter fails, it will be in for another Groupon, which obviously was a bomb of an IPO.

Now the blame game. Day three of the government shutdown and still no end in sight. Last night's meeting between President Obama and top congressional leaders went nowhere. So, today, each side was back where it started. Hanging out with its cronies and pointing fingers at the other.

Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill where she spoke exclusively today with the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

And, Dana, what did he tell you?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He had a lot to say, especially about the House speaker. Erin, things have gotten so personal and so rough and tumble with the two of them but also about each other's parties and their constituencies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: You have used some pretty explosive terms to talk about the so-called Tea Party. You called them Tea Party anarchist. You called them wacky. You called them the weird caucus.

I even talked on some liberals who are big supporters of yours who say, you know what, that's going too far. Are you sort of stirring the pot with language like that?

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: OK, anarchists? Why in the world would not I use that term anarchy? That's what they are. They're anarchists. They don't believe in government at any level.

That's why we have members of Congress over there today and yesterday saying, finally, we're able to close the government. What else did I call them?

BASH: The weird caucus.

REID: Oh, well, that's probably over the hill.

BASH: So, I mean, did you think -- are you pledging to tone down the rhetoric a little? REID: I'm not going to give up on anarchists. I mean, there are people writing columns about this. That's what it is. They don't believe in government. That's why they want the government closed.

This is not pitter pat to see how nice you can be, everybody. You have to explain what you're trying to say. And there's no better description I can make than saying they don't believe in government. They're anarchists just like they were at the beginning of the 20th century.

The difference is -- I can be very clear about -- this they're not blowing up buildings and they're not killing people. But they're throwing monkey wrenches into the wheels of government.

BASH: Now, you understand legislating pretty much better than anybody around here. And you know in your heart of hearts that now John Boehner is down this road, he expected the idea that Obamacare should be attached to any kind of spending bill. The government has shut down. He is so far in.

He needs something. He needs a life line in order to save face, in order to agree. You're not giving him one inch.

REID: How about my life line? We agreed to $980 billion, $70 billion less than what my caucus voted for, agreed to.

Don't talk about his life line. Talk about mine. You think that -- that was really hard to do with my caucus.

BASH: It seems as though, just in my conversations with Republicans, I heard it from the speaker himself at that private meeting at the White House with the president, that they're moving away from Obamacare, looking ahead to the debt ceiling fight, talking about -- at least on the debt ceiling, talking about trying to revive some of the things that you all are talking about.

REID: Dana, they're making that up. That didn't happen in the White House. They're that up.

BASH: So, they're not talking --

REID: No! I saw the headline in the paper. Grand bargain discussed. There wasn't a grand bargain discussed. I was there all the time. There was no staff --

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Let me get back to John Boehner. This really has become personal. Earlier today you said that he doesn't have courage. That's really tough stuff. That's really personal, and talking about John Boehner the man.

REID: Uh-huh. Well, Dana, the question that I responded to was -- don't you think that you should go on with some of the stuff that he wants? Well, we know they don't know what they want. We've had one congressman from in Indiana who says they're not showing respect. We have to get something out of this but he went on to say, I don't know what we want.

And that's John Boehner. We don't know what he wants. We met last night at the White House. I talk to him yesterday after we wrote the letter. I gave him an offer. How could he refuse it?

They've been asking to us negotiate. We agreed to negotiate. Remember, we already agreed to a $70 billion cut.

So, I said yesterday, what do you want to talk about? You want to talk about farm bill, discretionary spending? Do you want to talk about heath care? No limitations. Let's do it.

And he said, no, the only thing I want to talk about is Obamacare.

So, John Boehner -- his job is not as important as our country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now, Erin, on the debt ceiling, our producer Deirdre Walsh is confirming tonight that according to a Republican source, Boehner has said in private meetings that he would pass a measure raising the debt ceiling with Democrats and Republicans, without a majority of Republicans. That certainly is news and would be news and very different from road he's gone down now with this government shutdown.

BURNETT: All right. Dana, thank you very much. Pretty -- just an amazing interview the hear Harry Reid talking about the other side.

So, now, you heard what he had to say about the Republicans, anarchists. Let's get the view from the other side of aisle. Republican Congressman Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, joins me.

All right. Well, great to see you, Chairman. OK, I'll give you a chance to first of all to just respond to that. He used that word several times.

He says you're an anarchist. What do you say?

REP. JEB HENSARLING (R), TEXAS: Well, this is coming from a man, your network asked him about why shut down the National Institute of Health if you could help spare one job from cancer? And he said why would I want to do that?

Frankly, I think the interview speaks for itself. And I'm not going to dignify the comments. It's just, frankly, a very sad state of affairs that this man represents this nation as the Senate majority leader. Frankly, I hope every American managed to hear that interview.

Republicans are simply asking, you know, will you show up? Will you negotiate? Republicans put four different offers on the table. So we're not through negotiating but I think we're through negotiating with ourselves.

And the president apparently called in the congressional leadership and said I still refuse to negotiate. You just heard what Senator Reid had to say. You know, I just don't think that's acceptable to the American people. The least we can do is talk to each other about ways to get America back to work and to get us off this road to national bankruptcy that can only harm our country and our children.

And, by the way, we understand about Obamacare. We are not going to quit fighting it. But if it's going to be the law of the land, at least impose it equally on everybody.

I mean, don't give a break to big business and big labor unions and not to workers. Don't give a break to the Washington elite, the White House, the president and Congress and yet impose it on working Americans. That's what we're asking for.

BURNETT: Well, let me ask you something about that, because that to me is actually, what you said, is a little bit ironic, right? Because you want to get rid of Obamacare on the one hand, but on the other hand, you're saying, well, if you're going to do it, have it apply to more people than it currently applies to? So, which is it?

HENSARLING: Well, I don't see the irony in equal protection under the lawful, basic fairness. No, we don't believe in Obamacare. I would like to repeal it, defund it.

And, by the way, the president has already signed seven changes into law. He's granted over 1,200 waivers. There is been a delay of the out-of-pocket expenses. There's been a delay of income verification. There's been a delay of high risk pools.

The delays go on. It's not ready for primetime. But the truth of the matter is we can't do this. We can't delay Obamacare or even repair it without President Obama.

All we're asking the president is, the least you can do is get rid of these special interest provisions, the sweetheart deals. And if it is going to be the law of the land -- I don't want it to be -- but if it is, apply it equally. If you find irony --

BURNETT: Make it better. All right.

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: Well, I find irony in that you hate it but if you do it, make it bigger. But let me ask you this, because --

HENSARLING: OK, those are your words. Equal protection under the law.

BURNETT: And those are yours. All right. But let me ask you this, because the House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, his hometown newspaper, "Richmond Times Dispatch", of course, as you know well, Chairman, conservative-leaning editorial board, criticized the strategy of Republicans today.

And they wrote this, "Serve your country, not your caucus. House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who represents Virginia's 7th district, now have one job -- it does not entail placating the Tea Party caucus. To that end, they should cut deals to pass a clean continuing resolution and raise the debt ceiling with no strings attached."

Now, obviously, Chairman, as you know, many conservatives agree with this at this point. Not all but many.

Is it time to move on? Pass that clean continuing resolution and then have the discussions you want to have about Obamacare, because as you yourself point out, the president has allowed changes to Obamacare without a gun to his head. So, why not do it that way?

HENSARLING: Well, Erin, this is a much bigger conversation and a much bigger issue than just Obamacare. But I can't speak to any small business person in the fifth district of Texas who doesn't think the greatest challenge to hiring more people is Obamacare. But there are tens of millions of our fellow countrymen who are either unemployed or underemployed under Obamanomics. We have to address that.

This is a nation that is going broke rapidly, more debt in his four years than our nation's first 200. What I'm hearing is, is that we ought to just rubber stamp what the president wants to do.

Listen, I understand the voters put Democrats in charge of the White House and Senate. But it's Republicans have the House. And as my mother-in-law once said, the least do you know is show up.

Republicans have showed up to negotiate in good faith and all we're getting is the Heisman from the president and we're getting even worse from the Senate majority leader. That's -- you know, I just don't think Americans expect their leaders to refer to each other in such a fashion.

And so, we still remain ready to negotiate. But the Constitution says Congress has the power of the purse, not the power of the rubber stamp. We want to get people back to work. We want to save our children from bankruptcy.

And yes, we believe that if we're going to be stuck with Obamacare, apply it equally. No sweetheart deals.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Chairman Hensarling. Good to talk to you again.

And still to come, more than 100 people drowned when a boat sank off the coast of Italy. Thousands more may have died exactly the same way. We're going to go to Italy tonight. And new information about the violent confrontation between an SUV driver and a group of motorcyclists. The wife of the SUV driver speaking and say they fear for their lives. The bikers, though, are telling us a different story. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: And we're back with tonight's outer circle.

In Italy, where more than 100 people have died after a boat carrying refugees sunk off the coast of the island of Lampedusa. The island is a place where many refugees try to enter Europe. The Italian coast guard said in recent years, it has been involved in the rescue of more than 30,000 refugees around that island.

Ben Wedeman has the latest for us tonight.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erin, they were just half a mile from the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, but many of the refugees, mostly from Somalia, only made to it dry land in body bags. Their boat capsized shortly after sunrise. Many of these boats that bring refugees from North Africa to Italy are barely seaworthy.

Italian authorities fear the death toll will top 200. The coast guard was able to rescue more than 150 of the passengers. The search and rescue operation goes on through the night -- Erin.

BURNETT: Thank you, Ben.

While faced with a life-threatening situation, that's how the wife of the SUV driver is describing the dramatic attack by a pack of bikers in New York City on Sunday. Now, police are still investigating the violent confrontation which was caught on tape. Tonight authorities are releasing the photos of two new witnesses they say to the brutal assault that they want to question to find out who was responsible for what. Just minutes ago, several of the bikers held a press conference, though, to further explain their side of the story. You saw one of them on this program last night.

And OUTFRONT, Susan Candiotti has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police have now tracked down the motorcyclist who's shot this helmet cam video. They found him in this home in Bellport, New York, questioning him and taking the video as evidence.

Until now, we've only seen an edited version posted online. It cuts off moments before authorities say, Alexian Lien was pulled out of his SUV, beaten and slashed in front of his wife and 2-year-old child.

The family now issuing its first statement since the incident. "Our plan last Sunday was to celebrate our wedding anniversary by having a nice family day out with our 2-year-old daughter. Unfortunately instead, we were place in the grave danger by a mob of reckless and violent motorcyclists."

Lien's wife defended her husband's decision to peel away from the crowd surrounding their SUV, rolling over bikers in the process, critically injuring one. "My husband was forced under the circumstances to take the actions that he did in order to protect the lives of our entire family."

CNN has learned, it was Mrs. Lien who made the last of the three 911 calls the couple made as her husband was being attacked. "We would like to thank the brave citizens who risked their own safety to intervene on our behalf. They truly helped save our lives."

New video emerging today showing bikers gathering before Sunday's rally and riding on sidewalks, prompting the politicians to release it to call for more enforcement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see why you can have 500 motorcycles that are doing wheelies and that are out of control stopping traffic, totally stopping traffic in the highway or some streets, and doing whatever they want.

CANDIOTTI: One of the motorcyclists, Jerome Davis, witnessed the confrontation and told OUTFRONT they are not just some wild gang.

JEROME DAVIS, MOTORCYCLIST WHO WITNESSED CONFRONTATION: It's not a gang. We're not a gang.

BURNETT: How would you describe it?

DAVIS: As a gang?

BURNETT: Yes, I mean, instead of a gang. What's the right word, do you think?

DAVIS: Family.

BURNETT: A family?

DAVIS: Unity, friends.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: One biker has been arrested for slowing down and causing that very first collision with the SUV. His lawyer says his client is not guilty. Meantime tonight, police continue searching for more witnesses and looking through videos of the incident frame by frame for every bit of evidence -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Susan Candiotti, thank you. We'll continue covering that.

Back to our breaking story tonight, the car chase and deadly shooting on Capitol Hill, it started when a 34-year-old woman from Connecticut tried to ram her car through a White House check point and we've been showing you this video that captured it all unfolding.

This video pretty incredible, when you start to hear shots, most people's instincts, you're scared, you dropped to ground. Well, not the person who shot this. You see the car stopped near a barricade, police with the weapons drawn. The driver managing to escape.

The suspect leading police then on a high-speed chase that ended on Capitol Hill and at that point, police shot and killed the suspect.

Now, the man that shot that video joins us on the phone now. His name is Danny Farkas. He's a photo journalist with Alhurra television network.

Danny, I know you were shooting a story on the shutdown on the Capitol and then what happened? Because I think what's amazing, I want to emphasize to the viewers and they've been watching that video again and again, you know, most people's instinct is to drop, to run, to drop their camera. Yours was to point and firmly shoot.

DANNY FARKAS, PHOTOJOURNALIST, ALHURRA TV (via telephone): Well, I actually was very lucky because I was already pointing that direction. I was shooting a B roll shot with a protestor walking towards me with a sign and behind her happened I thought was a motorcade which is approaching a little faster than usual and what happened unfolded there. So I was already shooting and it just was instinct to keep shooting, obviously.

BURNETT: And to keep following. Now, what was your take away as you watch this? I mean, there is that one moment, Danny, where you looked at the barricade, right, and the police came and surrounded the car.

I mean, when you were watching that -- I mean, what did you see? I mean, how many people, how in control was this situation?

FARKAS: Well, I couldn't really tell how many people were in the car. There seemed to be two or three police cars and they were pinning the person, just like we see in the movie or a TV show where hitting her and stopping the car from moving. The police got out and drew their weapons and were shouting at her to get out, and like in the movies, she rammed them back and forth until she could get out and then she sped off, made a U-turn and sped past again.

BURNETT: And, Danny, I know -- you were going to be with earlier on the program but you were actually being questioned by police. What did they ask you?

FARKAS: They wanted to make sure what we saw since we were clearly witnessing what was going on. You know, nothing really more than that. They wanted to see the video most importantly and just make sure everything was there, that something wasn't left on the room floor, so to speak, even though there is no flooring.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Danny, thank you have much. Certainly, that is the video that has captivated everyone, and the crucial video to finding out what really happened today. Danny Farkas, as we said, the person who shot that.

OUTFRONT Next, and "IDEA", an idea hidden in plain sight that is worth many millions of dollars.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: It took three decades before a duck hunter-turned- entrepreneur asked himself why he was wearing camouflage designed for hunting deer. Well, obviously, it was a big problem. And it turns out his multimillion dollar idea was hidden in plain sight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE MALONEY, INVENTOR, MUDDY WATER CAMO: Hello, water. Don't you want water in your camouflage?

BURNETT (voice-over): Steve Maloney is an obsessed duck hunter. He spent more than 30 years wading through marshes, including his wedding day.

MALONEY: I actually went duck hunting on my wedding day, I sure did.

BURNETT: Maloney spent years searching for a camo pattern that resembled the marshes and the fields he waded through to hunt ducks, but it didn't exist. Everything was geared towards deer hunters.

So about six years ago, Maloney called up award winning wildlife photographer Stephen Kirkpatrick and asked him what he thought about creating a camo pattern of their own?

STEPHEN KIRKPATRICK, PARTNER, MUDDY WATER CAMO: I was like, duh. I mean, you know, how come I didn't think of that?

BURNETT: The two friends struck a deal, knowing they had an idea that was one of a kind, but a funny thing happened on the way to the duck hunt.

MALONEY: That looks terrible. Get back into the truck.

KIRKPATRICK: I almost cried right there. It's like the worst stuff I've ever seen. It was awful. It's past awful.

BURNETT: Licking their wounds, the guys went back to the drawing boards, and four years, 1,059 photographs, 103 pattern drafts and redrafts later, Muddy Water Camo was born.

MALONEY: Pretty much everything out there looks like cartoons, when you show somebody high definition television when they have been watching cartoons, 99.9 percent of them are going to agree it's a better image. And that's what we found.

BURNETT: Today, Muddy Water Camo is the most detailed, realistic, that bird's a goner camo on the market, distributed to over 80 retailers in 21 states. KIRKPATRICK: We've raised the standard, obviously. We raised the standard. We know we have been seen, and we're just -- we're just continuing to make a big splash.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Pretty amazing, huh? Make all that money just -- smart guy.

Thanks so much for watching.

"ANDERSON COOPER 360" starts right now.