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State of the Race with Kasie Hunt
Officials Held New Conference on Mass Shootings in Maine; Governor: 18 People Killed in Maine Mass Shootings; Murder Warrants Issued for Suspect in Mass Shooting; Officials Brief Media after Maine Mass Shooting; Manhunt for Suspect in Maine Mass Shooting; 18 Killed in Maine Mass Shooting, 13 Injured. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired October 26, 2023 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
COL. WILLIAM G. ROSS, MAINE STATE POLICE: Lewiston Police Department, federal, state, county and other local municipalities are involved in a
coordinated search at this moment for this individual. So it's the ongoing investigation. And this is a search to apprehend this person both happened
simultaneously. I can't stress this enough.
This is an ongoing investigation in the early stages. More information will come out in conjunction with the Attorney General's office as the lead
prosecutor. We can't share all of our information right now. And I'm sure you understand that.
I'm going to give out two numbers that go to a tip line 911 is also appropriate for this. But if anyone can call these two numbers, this would
go to the State Police tip line, area code 207 213 9526 207 509 9002. And we'll be sending something out later that has that information in it if you
weren't able to grab that now.
Again, this is a very fluid situation. We have a lot of resources, as Chief St. Pierre had mentioned earlier, that are on the ground, in a coordinated
effort to apprehend this individual. We've notified the Department of Education and they have determined what they're going to do with the
schools.
A lot of schools, area schools were shut down today, based on our conversation with them again as more information comes in will provide it
to you. Thank you for your time. This is a very difficult time for I think the community of Lewiston difficult time for obviously the victim's
families as it's a tough time for law enforcement.
It was a rough night, last night. But we're committed to bringing, you know whoever's responsible this to justice. And again, we are currently looking
for Mr. Card right now, some of what we'd like to apprehend. Thank you.
MICHAEL SAUSCHUCK, COMMISSIONER OF MAINE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Thank you, Colonel in FBI Special Agent in Jodi Cohen, if you could join me,
please.
JODI COHEN, FBI: Thank you. My name is Jodi Cohen. I'm the Special Agent in Charge of FBI Boston division, which covers the state of Maine. Our hearts
go out to everyone who is impacted as a result of this senseless violence. The FBI is working hand in hand with our law enforcement partners.
Our evidence returns team is here processing very extensive scenes, we are providing investigative and technical support, as well as our victim
specialists are working with those affected by this tragedy. As this very active investigation continues to unfold, we're asking the public to stay
vigilant.
And come forward with any information that you might have that you feel is helpful to our investigators. My pledge is that the FBI will carry out this
investigative case with rigor. We will work day and night alongside our law enforcement partners to get the answers to the questions this community
deserves.
We thank the public for your continued cooperation and patience as we continue to work this very active investigation. Thank you.
SAUSCHUCK: Appreciate that. And I would say that the reality here from a resource standpoint is that when we've asked for anything, the answer has
been yes period, tactical teams, Evidence Response Teams, full blown investigative units, detective units that have come from multiple States,
whether it's the commissioners from Vermont and New Hampshire reaching out to me directly Massachusetts saying what do you need, Mike?
What can we do for the State of Maine? So we are now prepared to try to take a few questions. And keep in mind again, that we may not be able to
answer as in depth as you would like, and we don't plan on taking a great deal of questions. I think follow up press events will allow for that, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one has really talked about this stop. So someone's talking about that. But the other thing here is there are reports that this
individual had mental health issues that he made threats to shoot up the National Guard. So clearly, there were some signs here and he was on
someone's radar. The question becomes, why doesn't possession of the swiping? Certainly, why wasn't -- ?
SAUSCHUCK: Yes, I think those are all valid questions, and certainly questions that we are looking into now, but not questions that we can
answer today. Considering that this occurred last night, there's still an active search for the suspect in question. So I appreciate those questions,
but not something we're going to be able to answer right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is --
SAUSCHUCK: It is certainly one of those things that we want to follow up on all aspects --
[11:05:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why --
SAUSCHUCK: Go ahead and right here, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- ages have who has died -- are 18 and --
SAUSCHUCK: I'm not sure we have that information with us today. We wanted to break it down by gender because that's something we had readily
available. We did not break this down into age ranges at all. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- backgrounds suspected person adventurous because I've noticed the language is very clear person of interest, not suspect. So why
is that terminology? And what can you tell us -- ?
SAUSCHUCK: Yes, I think we use person and interest last night, for half of the room that was here for that press event. As the colonel had mentioned,
there is now arrest warrants for murder for this particular individual, Mr. Card. So he is viewed as a suspect. And there's a full court press by all
of our partners to bring him into custody. And what was the second piece of that question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- concerns about his own mental health -- have been permitted, according to -- for mental health facility for weeks, how can
some of the kids that profiles still be in possession of semi-automatic --
SAUSCHUCK: Well, I do think that the statutes around firearms in the possession of those are pretty complex. I know that we will be reviewing
that information as we move forward. But that's not an answer that we're prepared to give today, because that leads to motive.
You're talking about behavioral health issues and how that impacts this situation. I would expect to hear back from us on that in the future right
here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Can you tell us anything about what's leaving you with leaving that part -- ?
SAUSCHUCK: Yes, sure. So we have law enforcement assets that are deployed over a number of communities doing follow ups on a number of different
things. So as you can imagine, there's a great deal of search warrants that we're following up on, we do have partners that helicopters from the New
Hampshire State Police, that copter was here last night to assist us as well.
So whether we have tactical elements out, or we're searching an area, some of those air assets would be very, very valuable for us. So that's what
they're doing -- . We're not going to speak to what brings us to a specific community one way or the other. Yes, -- right here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- why are people encouraged to do? Is their DNA tested for family members who may have these loved ones like, what is that?
SAUSCHUCK: Yes, so we did have a family reunification Center opened last night, we do have behavioral health liaisons that are fully engaged to work
with families, and work with loved ones, and work with victims, for that matter that may be in the hospital and seeking treatment.
So those things are actively occurring. We're dealing with each one of those situations separately. So do we need DNA on that? Are we just waiting
to find a loved one? Some kind of family member that we can make a notification, I think that varies across the board.
We're going to take two more questions -- , right here -- . I think we're always concerned around voter that you see a triggering event. That's a
motive for us. Again, that's not something we're prepared to discuss today. But I do appreciate the question. It's clearly something that's important.
One additional, follow up from you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- appreciate --
SAUSCHUCK: I think that does speak to motive. So I appreciate the follow up, but not something we're going to be prepared to answer today. I have
one more question right here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- wants to shoot today? Can you say his card is still a mistake?
SAUSCHUCK: Well, we're actively searching for him. If I knew the answers to those questions, and this would be a different press conference, I would
assume. So, we don't know his location. And I'll leave it at that. And we are working with the Attorney General's Office reference to that murder
homicide.
So with that in mind, we're done taking questions for now. So we're going to actually take off at this point. Thank you very much for being here. I
appreciate you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you everybody. Thank you.
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST, STATE OF THE RACE: All right. Welcome back to CNN. You have been watching a press conference in Lewiston, Maine from officials
there in the wake of last night's tragic shooting at a restaurant and a bowling alley. They did provide updated information for us they say 16
people have been confirmed dead in the wake of this shooting.
13 people have been injured. They are working on figuring out the identification for some of these people. So we could see some adjustments
there. We heard from the Governor of Maine who said that she spoke twice to President Biden once to the Vice President Kamala Harris and to numerous
administration officials in the wake of this tragedy.
She spoke personally saying she raised her children in the community of Lewiston, which we now know is a tight knit community.
[11:10:00]
We also heard from the FBI in Boston they have responsibility for Maine. We also heard from the Maine State Police. And we now know that Robert Card
has been named as a suspect. There is a warrant for his arrest for murder. He previously had been identified as a person of interest.
His car was found near a boat launch that went both near the woods and near the boat launch. And we did hear the public safety officer in Maine there
acknowledge they currently do not know where he is. So let's bring in our expert panel today we have retired U.S. Army General CNN Military Analyst,
James "Spider" Marks.
CNN Senior Justice Correspondent, Evan Perez and Molly Ball, Senior Political Correspondent for "The Wall Street Journal", and, Evan, I want to
start with you since you are expert on all of these things. And I know you've been reporting on this throughout the morning, what stood out to you
from what we just heard?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the fact remains that now we know he is a suspect, right. And that's something that the law
enforcement was being very careful with, initially, which is to call him a person of interest. And they've issued a murderer, a warrant for murder,
for the death of the people who at least they've identified.
And what this clarifies is that they know a lot more perhaps than they did last night when they first did an initial briefing. And they've been doing
a lot of work. They've been trying to figure out a lot more about the suspect what he's been doing the last few days, the last few weeks, where
he's been, who he's talked to.
The type of things that he associated threats that reportedly were associated with him, he apparently, according to some of the intelligence
shared by law enforcement officials in the last few hours. He made a threat to a military installation there in Maine near where this shooting
occurred.
It's very unusual to have a situation where we have not only two shooting scenes, right, where we have multiple people have killed it, you know, for
shooter to go from one location, go to another location. And then make his getaway apparently knows enough about the area that he is evaded arrest.
And that's unusual, because a lot of these, you know, having covered so many of these scenes, unfortunately, and they're so common in this country.
HUNT: Yes.
PEREZ: Usually we know the script, right? These people carry out the shootings. They tend to want a confrontation with law enforcement. And then
they either end it themselves, or they get killed by the responding officers. In this case, you have a person who is on the run, and he knows
the area, he is also well trained.
He's a firearms expert, plus, you know, 20 years or so of military experience. So that tells us that this person has other plans. And the
question is how to prevent other people from dying, before you can bring him into customers?
HUNT: So shelter in place voters across the region. General Marks, can you help us understand a little bit more about that what this man would know
from having received from being a firearms instructor in the U.S. Army and knowing a little bit more now about his army background?
MAJOR GENERAL JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, look, he's been in the military for almost 20 years, he signed up
ostensibly after he completed high school, let's just kind of go there. He signed up after 9/11 I would assume he wanted to deploy to be a part of a
solution.
HUNT: 2002 it was right after 9/11.
MARKS: Yes, exactly. And over the course of 20 years, he never deployed, yet he advanced through the ranks of being a reserve soldier, which means I
can assume he's still active on the reserve list. He made it up to E-7, that's no easy task.
HUNT: So E-7 for people those aren't familiar with a higher rank.
MARKS: -- my apologies, Sergeant First Class, the awards that he's received for his service, or not significant. So in my mind, I mean, I can't get
into a psychology here. But clearly, this guy is amazingly outraged. Something is deeply seated. And that has, what the causality of that is, I
don't know.
But here's an individual who signed up probably wanted to go to combat over 20 years America has been at war, he did not get the nod to go to combat
and then what are the other underlying circumstances that would bring him to this level of outrage? I don't know.
HUNT: Right. Yes, no, I actually had that same question. When I say it's you know, knowing having many friends who've served in the military, it's
almost difficult to have not been deployed during that period.
MARKS: Absolutely. And he's been recognized, but he's not been recognized at a level that you would anticipate a Sergeant First Class. I mean, that's
a significant noncommissioned officer level. He's got lots of leadership skills, lots of responsibilities. Maybe he's not been acknowledged or
recognized sufficiently in his own mind.
HUNT: And very interesting, Molly Ball. This, obviously, you know, a complicated and evolving conversation. We know it was an -- assault style
weapon that he used. We also know that there was a period where he was intercepted in New York State by police.
And was apparently telling them and this according to our John Miller, that he was hearing voices there was a threat to potentially shoot up the
military base. He was associated with in Maine and so he was held up for observation or ultimately released from that.
[11:15:00]
But of course, we don't know yet how or when this weapon was obtained. But we do know that Maine does not have a strong what they call Red Flag Law
that would potentially allow for this man to not be allowed to possess a weapon in the wake of his interactions with law enforcement on this
question. How do you see that conversation going forward?
MOLLY BALL, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR "WALL STREET JOURNAL": I think we can expect to hear more calls for all sorts of new types of gun
control, gun restrictions. And, sadly, it is it is a sort of well- choreographed play at this point, because these mass shootings are so common that we see the same types of policies being proposed and running
into the same types of structural and partisan obstacles.
I think, you know, because the House has been in disarray. There's been nothing happening on Capitol Hill for the last few weeks. But we can now
expect, you know, the new Speaker to be asked about this, as he already has. You heard the Governor and others saying that they've spoken with the
President and Vice President.
As you mentioned, I think we can expect to hear renewed calls for an assault weapons ban, which the President has repeatedly called for in the
past, as well as things like a Red Flag Law. And in a larger sense, I think it reminds people of the sense of lack of control and crime and disorder
and fear that is out there in the country.
I think for so many reasons people feel like the world is on fire, and it may not be safe to even walk out of your house and situations like that
just exacerbate that sentiment.
HUNT: No, it has been an incredibly unsettling few weeks already and then to wake up to all of this. And, Evan, I mean, to that point, let's talk a
little bit about this massive manhunt because, you know, I have to say all I could think about when I was up early this morning, kind of, you know, on
the air talking about the story.
Thinking about all the families that were asleep in their homes waking up to this and realizing, you know, no, we're keeping the kids home from
school today, because there is someone on the loose, that the authorities don't know where he is. And what let's look at what we learned a little bit
from the press conference here.
They said they have air assets up in New Hampshire State Police helicopter. They call those assets very critical to the search. We had as that press
conference was going on the Canada Border Services Agency put out an alert saying that there might be someone who is armed and dangerous.
Of course, this relatively close to the Canadian border, but they really have no clue where he is right now. Or if they do, they're not telling us.
PEREZ: Right. And I think the sense that we're getting certainly from the posture of law enforcement is that they don't have a good sense of where he
is and where he could have gone in the intervening 15 or so hours since this happened. And so the role of the FBI and sort of the Marshal Service
and some of the others who've now gone up there is to try to bring some of the resources like they have.
For example, you know, one of the things that they're doing is going through electronic records, right? They can look to see what kind of
searches he's done on his phone, they can look to see where his phone has been in the period of days before this, that he, for example, leave a
vehicle somewhere that he can get away, right, because we know we found.
What they found one of his vehicles or the vehicle that was associated with him at that boat launch, but clearly he's not there, because if you see the
posture of the law enforcement in that area, they don't believe he's there. So the question is, you know, how far did he get?
Could he have gone as far as the border more likely? Maine, as we were just talking about a little bit out there is sparsely populated. It's a very big
state. There are a lot of places to hide. There are a lot of places to hide for months if you want to.
HUNT: Right and those woods very, very dense. I mean, it is country out there. All right, we're going to take a quick break before we come back
with the panel. Of course, we have been covering this incredibly tragic story. The flags at the White House lowered to half-staff right now as the
country mourns. 18 people who were killed in the shooting in Lewiston, Maine, we're going to have much more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET MILLS, MAINE GOVERNOR: Mr. Card is considered armed and dangerous. And Police advise that Maine people should not approach him under any
circumstances. I continue to strongly urge Maine people to follow the direction of state and local law enforcement amid this ever changing
situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Lewiston Maine's Police Chief also called this a tragedy beyond comprehension. You saw Maine's Governor there. She says 18 people died and
13 more were injured and last night shooting at a bowling alley and a bar. The urgent manhunt for the gunman remains very active at this hour.
Arrest warrants have been issued for murder for 40 year old Robert Card. Police now calling him a suspect not just a person of interest and they say
he should be considered armed and dangerous people in Lewiston and towns nearby being told to lock their doors and shelter in place.
Earlier my colleagues Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly asked the Mayor of Auburn, Maine whether he knew anyone personally who was affected by the
shootings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: How are they doing?
JASON LEVESQUE, AUBURN, MAINE MAYOR: Its -- 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. It was the bright spot was seeing individuals reunified with
their loved ones after not knowing for so long, but on the other side the ones that were waiting and waiting. No probably wouldn't ever be reunified.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Alright, CNN's Omar Jimenez has been in Lewiston, Maine all morning. And he joins us now. Omar, bring us up to speed on what you're seeing in
terms of the manhunt and what stood out to you from the press conference, we just heard from Maine officials?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Kasie, right off the top. What stood out is we got a lot more detail into what was what were some murky
situations or murky details I should say into what happened is so quickly just last night one we got a timeline.
So the first 911 calls as we understand came in from the bowling alley around 6:56 pm local time. And then it was around 12 minutes later that 911
calls started coming in out of this restaurant and grill that's behind me at least a block or so behind me.
[11:25:00]
And the reason that's important because that shows just how quickly this suspect as he's being called now went from place to place. I just checked
it's about a 10 minute drive between those two locations. So the timeline is pretty tight there. We also learn that this suspect, as he's now being
called Robert Card, 40 years old.
He has been charged so far with 8 counts of murder. And the reason police said that he's not charged with 18 counts is because the other 10 victims
killed to. You have not been identified. They expect the counts he's charged with to go up significantly, he still remains on the loose.
Police said this is still an active manhunt, and they still consider him armed and dangerous. Now we did not get any clarity on where even
regionally, he may be right now, even if he's still in the state. But obviously, there are a lot of resources across Maine, and also at the state
and federal levels to try and hone in on where this person might be.
We got also some specifics on how many were killed in each of these places. I just want to point out these were two places where people were gathering
to have fun. I mean, people of all ages, especially at the bowling alley. And at that bowling alley, we found out 7 were killed there.
And then over here at the bar, 8 more were killed. And then 3 others were transported to the hospital where they eventually died as well and others
injured while loved ones wait to see if there are conditions and prove. And so really, we are at the beginning of trying to process this tragedy that
took place in as we found out just a matter of less than 20 minutes here. The amount of pain that was caused here likely will be felt for quite some
time.
HUNT: Yes, just an incredible amount of damage had done with an incredibly powerful weapon in a short amount of time, Omar, before I let you go, can
you just give us a sense of what it feels like to be there in terms of the fear around the fact that this man has not been found?
JIMENEZ: Well, you know, just for example, in the town over from us and Lisbon, which is where the now suspect's vehicle was found, a police
describe getting a lot of tips in from concerned neighbors who may be noticed something that wasn't quite right.
And even though police checked out those tips, and it didn't turn out to be this particular suspect, Robert Card. Police say they've been getting a lot
of calls sort of showing where people's minds are here. I also think another thing was this happened last night. And then I think conventional
wisdom or at least maybe if you're not paying too close attention.
You would assume that maybe by the morning, everything would be worked out. So it's a wake up the next day and find out that police aren't that much
closer to catching this suspect, at least as far as we know than they were last night automatically creates a little bit of an unnerving feeling.
Schools in the area are closed out of an abundance of caution at all levels. Many areas across this part of Maine are under shelter in place
orders that were that were repeated by the governor just a few moments ago. So clearly, they are just as committed to those orders today as they were
in the evening hours yesterday.
And so people are just wondering when they're going to be able to go back to living truly their normal lives without any worry, because you have to
think and I haven't talked to everybody around here just yet. But you have to think that just by going outside and going down a road you might not be
familiar with.
You may feel like you're putting yourself at risk of running into this person, especially because you have no idea where this person may be.
HUNT: Yes, it's really terrifying. All right, Omar Jimenez in Lewiston, Maine. Thanks very much, for your reporting as always. Our panel is back
with me. And we are waiting just so you are aware a press conference with the Chief Medical Officer John Alexander at Central Maine Medical Center.
So we're expecting him at that podium here in just a handful of minutes. We're going to keep an eye on that and bring it to you as soon as we get
there. General, we were talking as right before we came back on the air a little bit about this manhunt and what exactly it will take to find someone
who possesses the skills that Robert Card likely has at least been taught.
We spent a lot of time on his firearms training. But he also in the military would have learned a lot about living out in the woods for a long
time with not a lot of resources. Can you help us understand what he knows and what you were taught? I mean, when you learned how to do this?
MARKS: When you become a soldier, fundamentally, you are trained to do your job, whatever your job is, in an unfamiliar environment in a deployed
environment, what we call field skills, what are those soldier skills necessary to do what it is we want you to do functionally.
But you also have to survive in an environment where you may not be comfortable. You may not have been there before, clearly for this
individual to make it for 20 years in the military advanced as much as he did to the grade of E-7, Sergeant First Class.
[11:30:00]
He's acquired those skills over the matter of time, just through normal operations and normal efforts in his job. Plus, as an individual's lived in
Maine all his life, what you have is local familiarity, as well as the skills that he's acquired from the military.
So it's fair to say that if he has chosen to continue to run, he may have weapons stashed someplace. He may know exactly where to go, he may have
ammunition, and he knows how to survive and go about his business. However, he's described it in this very rugged terrain that he is very familiar
with.
HUNT: Right, so we're looking potentially at an eight months.
PEREZ: Yes, I mean, like, that's one of the big fears that you have here. If you don't get somebody like this in the opening hours, you know, that's
the great fear that you have. But this is a community where I get Maine is a state where gun laws, you know, are very lacks, you can, you know, people
can carry firearms without any permits.
You know, it's not a very tightly controlled state. And so one of the things when we have these incidents, you know, -- you you've heard this
debate on Capitol Hill a lot, I'm sure in the politicians is the back and forth of like, how to resolve this.
And one of the things you hear from people is, well, let's just loosen all the gun laws and there'll be more people with guns. And so someone will be
able to take care of a person like this was clearly Maine is not a place where people are restricted. And here you are a place where families are
gathered at a, at a bowling alley, I have a friend who's prom was held at that bowling alley in Lewiston.
That's the kind of place we're talking about you know. And people just being destroyed as they were doing that.
HUNT: Just awful. I'm going to just pause you there for a second; we're going to listen to the Chief Medical Officer at the Maine Medical Center.
Let's listen.
DR. JOHN ALEXANDER, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, CENTRAL MAINE MEDICAL CENTER: -- you heard from the law enforcement officials who have been very supportive
over the past half day. We had some heroic efforts by our team members last night, continuing it today. They provided expert and compassionate care.
One of the challenges with identifying patients early on was the speed with which our teams needed to act.
We had a first patient arrive at 7.24 p.m. And over the next 45 minutes, we received a total of 14 patients. Eight of those patients were admitted to
our hospital. Three of those patients are deceased. Two were discharged home and one was transferred to Maine Medical Center.
We also had one patient that was taken to St. Mary's Hospital. For the eight patients who are currently admitted, five of those are in stable
condition. Three are in critical condition. We're not going to comment at this time on the gender or the ages of those patients. Nor are we going to
comment on the nature of those injuries.
I'd like to thank also all the hospitals, health care providers, EMS agencies and air service. From Augusta to Portland, we had incredible
support throughout the night and into today. We've had an outpouring support and offers assistance. And again, very much appreciate all those
efforts.
Once again, I'd want to extend our thoughts and prayers to the families, to their loved ones and to the victims who have been impacted by this tragedy.
Thank you very much for your respect for our caregivers and for those families.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)
DR. ALEXANDER: Again, I'm not going to we're not going to comment on the nature of the injuries at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you say (Inaudible) under age 18?
DR. ALEXANDER: Again, I'm not going to comment on the ages or the gender of any of the patients at this time. Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you help with me (Inaudible)
DR. ALEXANDER: Sure. So our team, we're at level three trauma center. That means that we have in-house at all times, trained trauma surgeons, trained
anesthesiologist and an expert in emergency department staff. As I mentioned, when the first patient arrived at 7.24, we had approximately 25
team members, physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists who are already available to take care of that patient.
By the time the 14th patient came in approximately 45 minutes later, that number had ballooned to about 50 or 60 care providers. They've gone through
extensive training to be prepared for those injuries. And we're very thankful that they were there, they're prepared to help take care of the
patients that we received.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doctor, developed nations come by a new or any private vehicle --
DR. ALEXANDER: All the patients were brought in either by ambulance or by first responders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No hospitals train all the time of mass casualty most recent. How did that train prepare you and it didn't match the reality?
DR. ALEXANDER: Again, I think our team did an amazing job. They provided a high level of expertise. We're very thankful that they were able to get as
many patients into our trauma base and into our operating rooms as we were able to, they train regularly. And again, I think it showed.
. [11:35:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- who coordinated whether a patient (Inaudible)
DR. ALEXANDER: As I mentioned, and as you can tell by the timeframe, that situation unfolded very, very quickly. So, I would suggest that they just
came to us, based on the experience of the ambulance drivers and in the proximity to our facility.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)
DR. ALEXANDER: We received the patients as they came to us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, the number of people (Inaudible)
DR. ALEXANDER: We had our normal staffing available last night. And as I mentioned, when I referenced the ballooning, we had team members, we had
approximately 100 team members who were off duty come into the hospital to help ensure that we were able to care for not only the patients that we
receive from these horrible scene, but also take care of the patients that we had there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Doctor from a law enforcement perspective, we're seeing sheriff's deputies and police officers from other jurisdictions come
here to help out. Is it similar when it comes to health care? Are you seeing doctors and nurses from other towns and areas on Monday? And if so,
if that's something that is helpful, and that you'd like to see happen?
DR. ALEXANDER: You know, in, certainly in the short term, there is an outpouring of assistance that's being offered. And you don't know what
resources you need or don't need. So it is helpful, we were able to organize those resources and use them effectively.
As an example, we had ambulance services from other counties coming on site. At one point, we had approximately 10 ambulance crews standing by
outside of our trauma center to ensure that if we had patients who needed to be transferred, they could be transferred.
We received nurses and physicians from some of our area hospitals. We had a helicopter support, not only from our own life flight of Maine, but also
from Boston med flight and from Dartmouth. So the answer short, the long answer to that, or the short answer is yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doctor, what about the -- obviously, there was a large police presence outside the hospital this morning, how long do you
anticipate that to be in effect? And why exactly do you need a lot of personnel outside the hospital?
DR. ALEXANDER: So we're taking the lead from law enforcement. And they're the ones who are telling us what we need to do and how we need to do it. As
long as the city is in, what's the term that they use? Shelter in place, as long as we're in a shelter in place, then we will continue to remain in our
current status.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This kind of event happens a lot in America and a lot of hospitals like yours have to deal with situations like this. Do you have a
professional opinion about the fact that this is part of what the American medical community regularly has to respond to?
DR. ALEXANDER: It's a good question. I don't know that I have a professional opinion about having to respond to this. You know, I would
just say that it's a tragedy. And you know, I think we should do our best to respect the families, those people who have been impacted the
caregivers.
I'll just add one thing just talking about that, we do have an incredible amount of support for people who are going through a difficult time right
now. Mental health issues, any kind of stress or anxiety from not only the events that have happened, but having to witness some of it.
And so we're continuing to provide those resources, and much to the question asked earlier about other areas and other neighboring towns or
communities. We've received a lot of support from neighboring towns, communities and agencies from around the state in order to offer support
not only to the patients and families that we have, but also to our team members.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is their call to action at all for blood drive? I know people want to know how we feel right now.
DR. ALEXANDER: We for right now, we and I believe the other trauma centers in the state are very adequately supplied with blood and other supplies. I
think the one thing that I would ask for people who are at home right now is if you are in an area where you're being asked to shelter in place,
please do so and stay safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- one point early. The amount of time that elapsed from when you first got notified first patient right till the last one,
obviously, so --
DR. ALEXANDER: Sure yes, that timeframe was approximately 45 minutes. And we received 14 patients critically ill patients at that time over 45
minutes. So that happened very quickly and our teams responded exceptionally well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you all. We'll keep you posted.
[11:40:00]
HUNT: All right. We have been listening to Dr. John Alexander, the Chief Medical Officer at the Maine hospital that treated the majority of these
victims. We are going to take a quick break. But when we come back we're going to talk to Congresswoman Chellie Pingree of Maine. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUNT: Welcome back. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree represents Maine's first district that is just to the south of where the shooting occurs. And she
joins us now live from Portland. Congresswoman, thank you very much for spending some time with us today. I just want to start by asking how are
you doing. How are your constituents feeling in the wake of this? Our hearts go out to them.
REP. CHELLIE PINGREE (D-ME): Yes well. I'm heartbroken like everyone else in Maine. And I think there's a lot of fear in our state right now. This is
a very unusual occurrence. We're not used to having a mass shooting in our state, we only had 29 murders in all of last year so to lose this many
people in one shooting is terrifying.
And as you know, the shooter is still on the loose. So that's a very unusual situation for our state. Not only are people in lockdown in the
towns of Lewiston, Lisbon and Auburn, where the shooting occurred and where the shooter was last seen.
But schools are closed throughout my district. Even in Portland in South Portland, Maine, businesses are closed. People are feeling very fearful. We
don't know if this is someone who escaped into the woods, if they've taken off in a car and traveled somewhere else. I know we have amazing law
enforcement on the job, but it's a very frightening day for people.
HUNT: Right. And you know we were talking with General Spider Marks about the skills that this man might have to elude law enforcement. And that I
suppose is my next question for you. We just heard from the state's governor from law enforcement officials at the state level and they did
seem to acknowledge that they don't know where he is. Have you been in touch with any officials or you or other of your colleagues in congress
received any briefings or additional information on this?
[11:45:00]
PINGREE: No, I mean, the governor gave you the most up to date information. And our public safety department and our commissioner, I mean, they are
very much on top of this. But look, we're the most forested state in the nation. We're an extremely rural state. This is somebody who knew his way
around both the territory that he was in, but also we know he has military background.
So not only is he skilled in weapons, but he is probably skilled at evading any kind of a capture. So it's a very difficult situation. We, you know, we
frankly, we lose people in the woods who go hunting. And we lose people in the woods who go hiking. We have a lot of people, we're trying to find
those people but someone who's actively trying to avoid you probably can do that for a long time.
HUNT: It's really, really remarkable situation. Let me ask you about gun laws, because that conversation, of course, is going to, it's already
started to be something that is being focused on and talked about. And in this particular case, questions about what's known as a Red Flag Law.
If it doesn't exist in Maine, the way it exists in some other places isn't as strong as it could be. I mean, should your state have a stronger Red
Flag Law? And what should you in congress be doing along those lines?
PINGREE: Well, I've been a very strong proponent of gun safety legislation as a member of congress. You know, in Maine, we have a long tradition of
owning guns. November's the start of hunting season a lot of people go hunting for deer here. A lot of people are, you know, trained to use guns.
They collect guns. It's just a long tradition in our state and people have been reluctant to support gun legislation, I think, because they're very
concerned about their rights be being interfered with. This is the first time we've dealt with a mass shooting. This is the first time where we've
seen up close and personal with an assault style military weapon, not something that's used for hunting, but what kind of damage it can do in a
short period of time.
So I think there will be a lot of conversations in our state about this. A lot of people talking about, you know, what should we be doing here? As far
as my interest in congress, I'm interested in national gun legislation, because I think sometimes it's hard to do it state by state.
I think we should have a ban on assault weapons. I think we should have a ban on high capacity magazines that make it easy for someone to shoot over
and over and over. And I think Red Flag Law should be a national thing. We have a yellow flag law in our state.
And the difference with that is that it has one more layer of protection for the person who may have their gun taken away. So there is a debate
about that. And our legislature debated between yellow and red flag laws. I personally, I am in favor of the Red Flag Laws. I'm glad we have a Yellow
Flag Law.
I don't know if in this case, because this person didn't have previous interaction with law enforcement, if that would have made a difference. But
I would have liked to have had everything we possibly could have had to keep this person from owning a gun and shooting a gun.
HUNT: Yes, it does seem like we do know that at one point he had interaction with law enforcement in New York. A threat was made around
potentially shooting at the base in Sacco, Maine, where he was connected, he was observed over mental health concerns ultimately, let go.
And you know, to that point, I mean, he's been in the U.S. army, he was in the U.S. army for a long time. And he is a veteran, although he did not
ultimately deploy into combat. There was an amendment actually in the U.S. senate yesterday that would restore some rights for Veterans who lost
firearms rights after facing mental health challenges.
And both senators for Maine voted in favor of that change. Are you familiar with that? And do you think it would be a mistake to do that?
PINGREE: You know, I was just learning about that potential amendment in the United States senate today. And while I want to give all of our
Veterans the support and protection that they need, I don't think we can single them out if it comes to mental health related issues.
We all too often talk about how important it is to make sure people have the mental health support that they need and to make sure that our gun laws
are acknowledging of the issues that people have. So I would hate to see too many exemptions there.
I'm going to study up on that, because I'm just learning about the amendment that's proposed in the senate. I don't know that it'll be taken
up in the House because I don't know that we will take up any gun related legislation in this Republican House.
HUNT: Yes, I think this is attached to a broader package so entirely possible, it will become you know, something that makes its way to the
floor in one way or another, which of course, as you well know, is always the challenge.
PINGREE: Right, right.
[11:50:00]
HUNT: Congresswoman, just before I let you go, I want to go back to obviously the families that are grieving here. Officials have been
reluctant to give ages gender, in some cases of the victims. What is your understanding? I think we're all feeling a sense of dread that there might
be a number of children, young people who were injured, especially at the bowling alley.
PINGREE: Yes, we don't know more information specifically about the individuals. My understanding through the press conference and through
other things I've heard is that there are unidentified among the deceased, but it was youth night at the bowling alley.
And I think when all of us just heard that term, you know, we picture our own children and grandchildren. And the opportunities to be out, you know,
bowling have a fun evening with your family or your friends. So I think we're facing this with dread.
Both of those places where the shooting occurred, people were there to have a casual evening, whether it was a family evening or it was a corn hole
competition at the -- and grill. So you know it was a night of people being out in enjoying themselves. And time after time and we hear about these
tragic shootings.
They're in places where people deserve to feel safe, where families deserve to feel safe, where children should be safe. And my just my heart goes out
for Lewiston, and all of the family members who are affected and are finding out this information as we speak.
HUNT: All right, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, thank you very much for spending some time with us today. I really appreciate it.
PINGREE: Thank you. Thanks so much.
HUNT: All right. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with much more on the story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUNT: Welcome back. Residents in and around Lewiston, Maine still under a Shelter in Place order after 18 people were , 13 were injured and the
suspect in the shooting is still at large. Back with me is retired General James Spider Marks and CNN Senior Justice Correspondent, Evan Perez.
Evan, can you just help us understand where you are in your reporting the story, I know you and the team are working very hard to try to understand
more about the details here. And what comes next in this manhunt?
PEREZ: Well, the big concern right now at this hour, Kasie is that this shooter, the fact that he made it not only carried out one shooting, two
different locations, obviously. But he made his getaway. And now it's been about 15 hours since he did get away. And the question is, is he planning
to do another shooting and that's a big, big concern.
That's a lot of the focus of law enforcement right now. They are going to search the car where he was, where he ditched the car in that neighboring
town and where he was last seen. But beyond that, you know, they really don't have a lot of knowledge as to where he could be.
That's why there's you see so many resources being sent up from Washington, from the FBI from the Marshal Service from the ATF. Everybody is up there
because they want to try to find this person as quickly as possible, because the longer he's on the run, the greater the chance that he could
carry out another shooting. And that is the big concern at this hour.
HUNT: Of course, General Marks, can you help us understand what the U.S. military might be doing now to assist in this investigation?
MARKS: Well, I think at a minimum, what's going to happen for sure, is all of his soldiers within his unit. Remember, he's a reservist. He has an
active role. He's a sergeant first class, which means he has responsibilities within this organization.
They will bring those soldiers and they might even try to lock that unit down until they have an opportunity to have a conversation with each one of
his soldiers. To find out if there might have been some type of previous behavior that would have indicated that he would have been on the verge of
doing this.
What was the causality? Was there some behavior that was evidence early on that we might have been able to pick up on, so that we can go about the
business of trying to solve the problem and finding this individual.
[11:55:00]
Bear in mind, as we've indicated, this is a soldier with 20 years of training, he's local, he knows the terrain and he knows how to escape and
evade. That's probably what he's up to right now. He can find additional food as necessary.
He can continue if he wants, if he has the ability, if he has the motivation to continue to do what he just did. That's the tragedy. So
they've got to figure out as much about his behaviors right now as they can.
HUNT: Of course. All right, retired General James Spider Marks, Evan Perez, thank you very much, both of you for your time today. I am Kasie Hunt.
CNN's breaking news coverage is going to continue after a quick break. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:00]
