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CNN Live Event/Special
Maryland Senators Address Killings
Aired October 09, 2002 - 09:36 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go right away to Rockville, Maryland. Again, the briefing we anticipated an hour ago is getting underway at this point.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
DOUGLAS DUNCAN, MONTGOMERY COUNTY EXECUTIVE: We talked about the state and the regional cooperation we are seeing. at an unprecedented level. And I am very happy that we have the two United States senators from Maryland, Sen. Paul Sarbanes, Senator Barbara Mikulski here as well, because the federal presence in this case has been nothing short of extraordinary. We've had support from every appropriate federal agency since word of these shootings first came about. They have been here with us from the beginning, and they are still with us here today. And then, remember, just two nights ago we formalized that relationship with the federal government when we got confirmation that the shooting in Prince George's County was connected to the shootings here in Montgomery and the District and Virginia.
So I want to welcome Senator Sarbanes, welcome Senator Mikulski, thank them for their concern, thank them for their conversations with me over the last few days. It's been a source of strength for me.
And I'd now like to ask Senator Sarbanes to say a few words -- Senator.
SEN. PAUL SARBANES (D), MARYLAND: Well, thank you very much, Doug.
First of all, I want to express my very deep sympathy and condolences to the families of all of those who have been struck down. In fact, I know that Doug Duncan will be leaving this press conference to attend a funeral this morning. We're not going to be able to do that because of work on the Hill, but it was a grievous blow that was struck to these families, and our hearts -- our hearts go out to all of them.
Secondly, I want to commend County Executive Duncan and Chief Moose for the incredible discipline they're trying to bring to this investigation. We've been very anxious to work closely with them to ensure that all of the federal assets are available and both Mike Bouchard, the ATF special agent in charge in Maryland, and Gary Ball (ph), the FBI agent in charge, are both here with us this morning. But they've been here right from the beginning. This arrangement was formalized, though, when Chief Moose made a request to Attorney General Ashcroft under a federal statute for the direct involvement of the federal agencies and they've -- and they're here and doing all they can to support Chief Moose in his investigation. This will mean also that the lab facilities of both the ATF and the FBI will be available. And I understand they've assigned some other crack teams to those lab investigations.
But both Senator Mikulski and I wanted to come this morning, one, to underscore our very strong support for the investigative effort, to assure ourselves, although we had every assurance before we got here, of the close cooperation on the part of the federal government with the state and local government in this effort, and to lend our support in every way we can to County Executive Duncan as he deals with this challenge that's confronting this community.
Thank you.
DUNCAN: Now, I'd like to introduce Senator Barbara Mikulski.
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 9, 2002 - 09:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go right away to Rockville, Maryland. Again, the briefing we anticipated an hour ago is getting underway at this point.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
DOUGLAS DUNCAN, MONTGOMERY COUNTY EXECUTIVE: We talked about the state and the regional cooperation we are seeing. at an unprecedented level. And I am very happy that we have the two United States senators from Maryland, Sen. Paul Sarbanes, Senator Barbara Mikulski here as well, because the federal presence in this case has been nothing short of extraordinary. We've had support from every appropriate federal agency since word of these shootings first came about. They have been here with us from the beginning, and they are still with us here today. And then, remember, just two nights ago we formalized that relationship with the federal government when we got confirmation that the shooting in Prince George's County was connected to the shootings here in Montgomery and the District and Virginia.
So I want to welcome Senator Sarbanes, welcome Senator Mikulski, thank them for their concern, thank them for their conversations with me over the last few days. It's been a source of strength for me.
And I'd now like to ask Senator Sarbanes to say a few words -- Senator.
SEN. PAUL SARBANES (D), MARYLAND: Well, thank you very much, Doug.
First of all, I want to express my very deep sympathy and condolences to the families of all of those who have been struck down. In fact, I know that Doug Duncan will be leaving this press conference to attend a funeral this morning. We're not going to be able to do that because of work on the Hill, but it was a grievous blow that was struck to these families, and our hearts -- our hearts go out to all of them.
Secondly, I want to commend County Executive Duncan and Chief Moose for the incredible discipline they're trying to bring to this investigation. We've been very anxious to work closely with them to ensure that all of the federal assets are available and both Mike Bouchard, the ATF special agent in charge in Maryland, and Gary Ball (ph), the FBI agent in charge, are both here with us this morning. But they've been here right from the beginning. This arrangement was formalized, though, when Chief Moose made a request to Attorney General Ashcroft under a federal statute for the direct involvement of the federal agencies and they've -- and they're here and doing all they can to support Chief Moose in his investigation. This will mean also that the lab facilities of both the ATF and the FBI will be available. And I understand they've assigned some other crack teams to those lab investigations.
But both Senator Mikulski and I wanted to come this morning, one, to underscore our very strong support for the investigative effort, to assure ourselves, although we had every assurance before we got here, of the close cooperation on the part of the federal government with the state and local government in this effort, and to lend our support in every way we can to County Executive Duncan as he deals with this challenge that's confronting this community.
Thank you.
DUNCAN: Now, I'd like to introduce Senator Barbara Mikulski.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
