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Interview With Carolyn McCarthy

Aired October 30, 2003 - 14:41   ET

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

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


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now I'm being told Jon Karl with some latest developments there on the Hill. Jon -- thank you -- what's the story?
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I am joined right now by somebody who has a unique perspective on this, somebody who has an office, a building -- and, Kyra, I'm hearing through my ear, that the Capitol Police are reporting both the man and woman have been located. They're not saying whether or not they've been apprehended yet. They're telling us they have been located. We'll look for more information on that.

In the meantime, I'm joined by Carolyn McCarthy, congressman from New York. Now your husband was killed in the Long Island Railroad Shooting. You got elected on a platform of gun control. Your office is in the Canon Building.

REP. CAROLYN MCCARTHY (D), NEW YORK: Yes, it is.

KARL: What's your reaction?

MCCARTHY: Well, the funny thing is, I have two students from my distract. One of the students asks me, how are things going on the gun -- reducing gun violence? Because she happened to agree with me that we should do all we can.

And then we got a call from my New York office saying, Are you guys all right? And I said, What are you talking about? You're in lockdown. What are you talking about? We put the TV on and that's how we found out there was a situation going on here in the Canon Building.

KARL: What did you do?

MCCARTHY: We (UNINTELLIGIBLE) did anybody get notification? We were watching TV to find out what to do. We called the Capitol Hill Police. They did not give us an answer. Nothing happened on my BlackBerry to give me notification.

We have what they call -- we have a system in the office, every office has it, that anytime there's a situation, it is supposed to go off and give us verbal orders on what to do. We went to automatic lockdown, meaning we closed our doors.

The next thing I know is the police are coming to our doors and saying, go to the Canon rotunda, and that's where we ended up going. KARL: Now it appears -- we're hearing that they have at least located the two individuals, but you've got some real concerns about the way this whole situation was handled, about the security here?

MCCARTHY: Well obviously, we understand there was a lot of rumors going on. I don't know if someone had a gun because that was the first thing that we heard. Now whether that is true or not -- if it is true, how did that get through security?

If they did get a gun through there, what failed? But also what failed as far as communicating to the offices on what to do?

KARL: So what was this like in terms of bringing back memories for you? Obviously this is something that's been -- you know, the whole question of gun, gun violence has been central to your political career. You wouldn't have a political career if it weren't for that. That's been really what motivated you to run for Congress in the first place. What did you think, seeing it so close to home here, again?

MCCARTHY: Well to be honest with you, my first thought was the safety of my staff. Most of them are very young. To make sure they stayed calm. That would be my first priority. I think -- all my years as a nurse has made -- basically, stay cool handle the situation, let your knees shake later after it's over.

KARL: OK. We see a whole crush behind you. I think what's happening is we're about to have a press conference. Thank you very much for joining us, Congresswoman McCarthy.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 30, 2003 - 14:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now I'm being told Jon Karl with some latest developments there on the Hill. Jon -- thank you -- what's the story?
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I am joined right now by somebody who has a unique perspective on this, somebody who has an office, a building -- and, Kyra, I'm hearing through my ear, that the Capitol Police are reporting both the man and woman have been located. They're not saying whether or not they've been apprehended yet. They're telling us they have been located. We'll look for more information on that.

In the meantime, I'm joined by Carolyn McCarthy, congressman from New York. Now your husband was killed in the Long Island Railroad Shooting. You got elected on a platform of gun control. Your office is in the Canon Building.

REP. CAROLYN MCCARTHY (D), NEW YORK: Yes, it is.

KARL: What's your reaction?

MCCARTHY: Well, the funny thing is, I have two students from my distract. One of the students asks me, how are things going on the gun -- reducing gun violence? Because she happened to agree with me that we should do all we can.

And then we got a call from my New York office saying, Are you guys all right? And I said, What are you talking about? You're in lockdown. What are you talking about? We put the TV on and that's how we found out there was a situation going on here in the Canon Building.

KARL: What did you do?

MCCARTHY: We (UNINTELLIGIBLE) did anybody get notification? We were watching TV to find out what to do. We called the Capitol Hill Police. They did not give us an answer. Nothing happened on my BlackBerry to give me notification.

We have what they call -- we have a system in the office, every office has it, that anytime there's a situation, it is supposed to go off and give us verbal orders on what to do. We went to automatic lockdown, meaning we closed our doors.

The next thing I know is the police are coming to our doors and saying, go to the Canon rotunda, and that's where we ended up going. KARL: Now it appears -- we're hearing that they have at least located the two individuals, but you've got some real concerns about the way this whole situation was handled, about the security here?

MCCARTHY: Well obviously, we understand there was a lot of rumors going on. I don't know if someone had a gun because that was the first thing that we heard. Now whether that is true or not -- if it is true, how did that get through security?

If they did get a gun through there, what failed? But also what failed as far as communicating to the offices on what to do?

KARL: So what was this like in terms of bringing back memories for you? Obviously this is something that's been -- you know, the whole question of gun, gun violence has been central to your political career. You wouldn't have a political career if it weren't for that. That's been really what motivated you to run for Congress in the first place. What did you think, seeing it so close to home here, again?

MCCARTHY: Well to be honest with you, my first thought was the safety of my staff. Most of them are very young. To make sure they stayed calm. That would be my first priority. I think -- all my years as a nurse has made -- basically, stay cool handle the situation, let your knees shake later after it's over.

KARL: OK. We see a whole crush behind you. I think what's happening is we're about to have a press conference. Thank you very much for joining us, Congresswoman McCarthy.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com