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CNN NEWSROOM

Search Continues for Missing Student; White House Security Breach

Aired September 22, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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


DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Top of the hour. I'm Don Lemon.

Just into CNN, Charlottesville police issued a second search warrant at the home of Jesse Matthew, a person that police are interested in speaking to in the case of missing University of Virginia student, Hannah Graham. Police issued a wanted-poster for Matthew. He is charged with two counts of reckless driving.

Police say Matthew willingly went to the police station this weekend, walking through the front door and asking for a lawyer. After he left, police say they saw him get into his car and then he drove off so fast and so dangerously they say that they were forced to back off.

And for the first time, the parents of Hannah Graham are now speaking publicly about this, begging anyone with information to come forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN GRAHAM, FATHER OF HANNAH GRAHAM: I think that the reason that Hannah has such marvelous support is that this is every parent's worst nightmare. I'm certain that everybody in this room and those watching knows that what happened to Hannah could happen to their child.

We need to find out what happened to Hannah and make sure that it doesn't happen to anybody else. You have all, I'm sure, read about Hannah.

You would have read that Hannah is a second-year student at the university of Virginia. A skier. A musician. Softball player. She likes to help people. She's interested in a career in helping others.

And just as a little example, last spring break instead of hanging around on the beach like other students may have done, she spent a week in Tuscaloosa rebuilding houses and helping the recovery from the devastating tornado. That's Hannah. That's one Hannah. But Hannah is also our little girl. She's our only daughter. She's James' little sister.

She's also the oldest granddaughter both of my own parents and of Sue's parents. She's actually my parents' only granddaughter and she's enormously precious to us all. And while you think of what we're going through, think about grandparents as well. They are literally an ocean away and they're not knowing what happened to their little girl, their little granddaughter and they're unable to help and it's awful for them.

Now, somebody knows what happened to Hannah. We don't know who that is, but somebody knows what happened to Hannah. And others may be watching and they may know something about what happened to Hannah, and they may not even know that they know something about what happened to Hannah.

What do we know? We know Hannah was downtown early Saturday morning. We know Hannah was distinctively dressed. Did you see Hannah? Did anybody see Hannah? Did you see Hannah? Did you see Hannah? Who saw Hannah? Somebody did. Please, please, please, if you have anything, however insignificant you think it may be, call the police tip line with anything that just might help us to bring Hannah home.

When I returned home from bringing Hannah back to Charlottesville for the beginning of term last month, I found that she had left this little guy behind. This is Hannah's favorite white rabbit, B.B. He was given to Hannah by one of my friends when she was less than a week old. B.B. helped out in Tuscaloosa.

And he was Hannah's constant guardian, companion, friend and guardian angel, until last month, when she chose to return to Charlottesville without him, constant companion, that is, except for about six months when Hannah was 3 years old, when he was lost at nursery. We found B.B. and we brought him home to Hannah and to us.

All we want to do now is to bring Hannah home safely and I appeal to anyone who knows anything, please, please, please help us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Eighteen-year-old Hannah last seen September 13 in an area of Charlottesville known as the Downtown Mall.

Using surveillance video and witness statements, authorities tracked Graham where she was believed to be seen walking with Matthew. But at a news conference during which Hannah Graham's parents spoke, the Charlottesville police chief did not mince words. And Jesse Matthew was the last seen person -- the last person seen with Hannah Graham.

And police need to talk to him right now.

I want to bring in quickly our Athena Jones here. Athena is live in Charlottesville for us.

We just heard the new information about a second search warrant and a wanted poster. These are not in connection with Hannah being missing. Right? This is because they want him to come in because of those two warrants for, is it reckless driving or what have you?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Don.

It's sort of connected here. You mentioned that second search warrant being conducted on Jesse Matthew's home and this wanted poster. The police have also issued another photograph of Matthew. This is all an attempt to put pressure on Matthew to come forward and talk to them. But let me tell you about those reckless driving charges. If you look at the wanted poster, it says wanted for two counts of reckless driving. But if you look more deep into the details of the paragraph, below the pictures, it talks about how the police want to talk to him about the disappearance of Hannah Graham because they say they believe that Matthew was the last person seen with Graham in the early morning hours of September 13, when she disappeared.

And so what happened with those reckless driving charges is that Matthew showed up voluntarily at the police department over the weekend on Saturday afternoon and asked for a lawyer. He was provided with a lawyer, spoke with that lawyer and then left.

At this point, he was under overt police surveillance, so he was clearly being monitored by police. After leaving the police station, at one point, he began driving so dangerously and at such high rates of speed that the police had to stop their pursuit of him.

That's where those reckless driving charges come from. And it also explains why police don't know where Matthew is right now. I spoke earlier this morning with police Chief Longo and they said they don't know where he is and they just want to talk to him and they want information from him. They are hoping they get an opportunity to talk to him again. These new pictures, this wanted poster, that is all part of that -- Don.

LEMON: It's interesting because why would they let him go in the first place? As I spoke to Sunny Hostin and Mark Geragos just a little bit earlier here on CNN, Athena, they said, well, they let him go probably because they could not hold him, they didn't have enough evidence, and these news charges, these reckless driving charges is to arrest him legitimately so they can hold him and look for new information.

But there's also information about a text message. Besides the surveillance video, there was a text message sent about 1:00 a.m. to a friend saying that she was lost. What's the new information, if any, on that?

JONES: No new information so far.

I asked the police chief this morning for more about where her cell phone might be, any other details that they can provide. They're not sharing too much about that right now. But I can tell you that the police had earlier searched of course Matthew's car and also they have conducted an earlier search on his home, and so they are waiting for the forensic evidence, the test results to come back.

They were hoping to get that information back this afternoon, but now police Chief Longo tells me that hopefully by Tuesday afternoon -- and of course that evidence is going to be very, very important in this case, that along with the video evidence we have seen. They're still looking for any other video cameras they may have missed along this mall area.

And so those are some of the things they are looking into. The police chief told me they have 15, 18 investigators on this case right now and help from the FBI and not just the police department here in Charlottesville, so a lot of attention on this case, as you can see -- Don.

LEMON: Athena Jones will be following it for us in Charlottesville. Thank you very much, Athena Jones.

I need to tell you about some new information, two scares in 24 hours at the national's capital, prompting the Secret Service to boost security around the White House. A 42-year-old Iraq war veteran armed with a knife walked right into the front door of the executive mansion just minutes after the first family left the grounds.

And breaking now, disturbing new details on this man.

Straight to CNN's Jim Acosta our senior White House correspondent.

Jim, what do you have?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Don, these details are coming from our Justice Department producer who just left a hearing that Omar Gonzalez, the alleged fence jumper, had in federal court in just the last several minutes.

According to our Justice Department producer who was inside that courtroom, prosecutors say that Omar Gonzalez had been stopped, he had had a few run-ins with law enforcement over the last couple of months, Don. On July 19, he was apparently arrested in Wythe County, Virginia, and charged with possession of a sawed-off shotgun and sniper rifle and also in his car at that time, according to police, a map with the White House and Masonic Temple in Alexandria. That's a landmark to our viewers who aren't familiar with that in nearby Alexandria, Virginia.

Those two sites were circled on this map and that map was tucked into a Bible, according to this readout we're getting from this court proceeding. And then in August, Don, prosecutors say Gonzalez was stopped while walking along the south fence of the White House. He had a hatchet in his rear waistband.

At that time, he was not arrested. But he did allow police to search his vehicle which was nearby. Police found some camping gear and two dogs, but no ammunition or weapons. But, Don, on September 19, on the evening of the incident, Gonzalez did allow Secret Service officers to search his vehicle.

And according to federal prosecutors who said this in court a few moments ago, more than 800 rounds of ammunition were found in his car, along with two hatchets and a machete, along with a knife that the Secret Service they found in his pocket after he made his way inside the White House. For viewers our who are just hearing this for the first time, all of this happened on Friday night four or five minutes after the president and first family left the White House for Camp David.

This man, Omar Gonzalez, apparently hopped over the White House fence on the north side of the White House and within about 20 seconds raced inside the White House through the North Portico entrance, which was unlocked.

All of this has prompted a Secret Service review of procedures that go on here at the White House when it comes to protecting the president and the first family. And within the last 15 or 20 minutes, Don, the president himself was asked whether he had confidence in the Secret Service and he was in a meeting with former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and here's what President Obama had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And so in addition to the symbolic act of signing onto this declaration, this also gives us an opportunity to collaborate and learn more about some of the great work that's being done out there and figuring out how government, private sector, nonprofits can all work together to achieve the same goal.

So thank you very much for your outstanding work all of you. I will now affix my name to this. There you go. Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys.

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: Secret Service does a great job. I'm grateful for the sacrifices they make on my behalf and on my family's behalf.

All right? Thank you very much, everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So you heard the president saying that the Secret Service does a great job and he appreciates the sacrifices they make protecting him and his family.

Don, we can tell our viewers that an internal review is now being carried out to look at the Secret Service practices out here at the White House. You know, one thing that they are looking at is why the canine dogs were not deployed. These are trained security dogs. Why were those dogs not deployed when Gonzalez was racing across the White House North Lawn?

The other thing that they are looking -- this will sound awfully stunning to a lot of people out there, Don -- is why the North Portico entrance door was unlocked. Apparently, they keep it unlocked because people come and go all the time. That has changed. They are keeping it locked on a regular basis.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I want to stick with the breaking news just really quickly here before we go to break, because there's a lot of dates here. You mentioned you said in August that he was stopped and also again in September. Give us the two different times and what was found. What was he doing quickly? ACOSTA: Sure.

On July 19, in Wythe County, he was charged with possession of a sawed-off shotgun and a sniper rifle and in his possession at that time was a map that showed the White House and nearby the Masonic Temple in Virginia.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: And then August 25, so about a month later, he was stopped walking around the White House with a hatchet. He was stopped. They talked to him. They let him continue on.

And then on September 19, which is the day of the incident, the day he ran into the White House, police went over to -- or officers with the Secret Service went to his car and checked out his car and found 800 rounds of ammunition.

LEMON: Got you.

ACOSTA: So this paints a very disturbing picture of what this man was able to do in terms of just getting in the White House in 20 seconds and the fact that he has this kind of background I think has people very concerned inside the White House, very concerned inside the Secret Service. I talked to one federal law enforcement official who said the fact that canine dogs were not deployed was just inexcusable.

That's something that could have stopped this man before he even got in the White House.

LEMON: All right, sir, thank you very much. We will get you to stand by, because we may want to talk to you.

But also, in just moments, we will speak with a former deputy director of the Secret Service about the breach.

Plus, a massive manhunt in Pennsylvania. Police say they are closing in on the guy that they say ambushed two officers outside of a trooper barracks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So the breaking news here on CNN, we're learning now information about the man who jumped the fence at the White House, disturbing information, as a matter of fact.

I want to going to bring in now former FBI Assistant Director Tom Fuentes.

Tom, here's the information that back in July, on July 19, he was found and he had some information in his car, including a rifle and then also some information with landmarks on it and then again in August he was found with different things at the White House with a hatchet. Nothing happened there. And then the latest one on September 19, where he gets inside of the White House. He has 800 rounds of ammunition and also some other weapons, a hatchet as well. What is going on here?

TOM FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think obviously, Don, he is extremely mentally disturbed and we don't know what he was thinking. However, he may have had a number of ideas of what kind of attention he wanted to get, whether it was an attack on the White House with gunfire, whether it was run up to the front door. We just don't know all of that.

The way that fence is constructed on the north side, you can shoot through the fence. If he had pulled a gun out of a bag and quickly -- that the rails are far enough apart that you could stick the barrel through and open fire. That's a possibility. He decides to go over the eight-foot fence and sprint across the lawn to the front door and go in the front door.

I think that from what I have heard, there's a number of stories from the Secret Service as to their policies and procedures, one of which I heard is that they are supposed to rely almost exclusively on a dog to run across that lawn and intercept somebody and knock that person down and hold that person down until the handlers come up and can put handcuffs on them.

The problem is because the dog doesn't know a good guy from a bad guy under that policy and procedure, the police don't run out onto the lawn because the dog may attack them. The police are told, stay back, let the dog do it. Only, in this situation, where's the dog?

It could be because of the helicopter leaving on the other side of the building maybe they didn't have enough resources and the dog and the handlers were on the South Lawn saying goodbye to the president and the first family and left the front lawn temporarily exposed and this guy just happens to pick that moment to run across the yard.

LEMON: But when you hear the information that our Jim Acosta reported, it's disturbing to hear that this is not the first incident with this man. He's no stranger to law enforcement. What he's accused of having in his car and on his person at the time, you know, there are going to be, I'm sure, and they have already announced some changes, but there must be some major changes by way of security at the White House after this.

FUENTES: I would think so. I think they're going to obviously have to.

You can't have people running through the front door, and just locking it isn't the only answer. You just can't have that. They can't get anywhere close to the building. And they're going to have to take a hard look at that policy.

There's all kinds of other implications here with this. This is another veteran needing mental health attention. So we don't know what the story is with that, whether he had been getting attention or not getting attention, and all of the ammunition. He's a trained sniper. He's a trained killer, essentially. With all that ammunition and firepower, this could have been much worse. And the question now is going to be is how serious is the charge going to be and how long can they hold him for essentially trespassing at the White House?

LEMON: OK. We will see. That will come. The president, of course, speaking out just moments ago saying that he has every confidence in the Secret Service and saying they do a great job and he appreciates the sacrifice that they make for his family.

We're learning also more now about 100 or so Americans, Tom, believed to be actively supporting ISIS and other rebel groups fighting in Syria. A senior administration official says federal law enforcement agents are keeping tabs on Americans who may have joined ISIS and already returned to the U.S.

So, Tom, what is going on here? Can U.S. law enforcement keep track of every American who goes overseas, gets some kind of terror training and then comes back home?

FUENTES: Absolutely not.

And anybody that would say that, that sounds kind of ridiculous to me. The reason is that that you don't know what somebody is thinking. If somebody doesn't tell his friends or and it on social media that he's going to go join ISIS or any of the other many terrorist groups in the Middle East, you know, all he has to do is fly to Europe, and then there's no trail of travel from that point on, if that person drives across and takes a train, takes a bus, goes to Eastern Europe, goes to Greece, let's say, and they can be smuggled by land into Syria.

They can be smuggled on a boat by ISIS supporters and taken across the Mediterranean to Syria and there would be no record of it. That person then backtracks and comes back to the United States. And all it would show is that they flew to France or Germany or one of the countries in Europe.

It would not show the other stamps because there would be no other entries going to these countries. To say you know what everyone is thinking and you know where they went, how they got there and when they come back to me is absurd.

LEMON: Yes. Tom Fuentes, thank you for helping us on that story and of course the breaking news about what went on at the White House. Appreciate that, sir.

FUENTES: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: You're welcome.

The question now, why didn't the U.S. decide to arm rebels fighting ISIS sooner? The former secretary of defense says she blames -- or he blames, I should say, that decision on one person and that is the president, the former boss. We will discuss that.

Plus, a senator in the middle of a tough election fight shows up at a keg stand. You can't make these things up. See what happened next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: President Obama's former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is going public with criticism of his former boss. He's joining critics who say the U.S. should have armed the Syrian rebels long before now.

Let's talk about it with the co-hosts of CNN's "CROSSFIRE," S.E. Cupp on the right, Van Jones on the left.

So, first, I want everyone to hear what Leon Panetta did say last night on "60 Minutes." Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, CIA DIRECTOR: I think the president's concern -- and I understand it -- was that he had a fear that if we started providing weapons, we wouldn't know where those weapons would wind up. My view was you have to begin somewhere.

QUESTION: In retrospect now, was not arming rebels at this time a mistake?

PANETTA: I think that would have helped. And I think in part we paid a price for not doing that in what we see happening with ISIS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. So, Van Jones, President Obama overruled Leon Panetta and his then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton two years ago and he decided not to arm the Syrian rebels.

But, as we all know, the president now says we should arm those same rebels. Should the president have listened to his national security advisers the first time?

VAN JONES, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": I don't actually think so.

Nobody had a crystal ball. Let's remember now the context. You had right-wing media the whole time talking about Fast and Furious. The president had a program. Weapons got in the wrong hands. This is terrible. Can you imagine what would have happened if these so-called rebels, who, by the way, are chockful of Islamic extremists themselves, had taken some of those weapons and shot down an American plane, et cetera?

I think being prudent -- we can pretend like, of course, it all would have worked out fine. Nothing bad would have happened passing out weapons in the middle of the Syrian conflict. I think it's easy to look in hindsight and be an expert and a genius. I think president was right to be prudent. We need to look forward, not backwards.

LEMON: S.E., prudent?

S.E. CUPP, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Look, Van, Leon Panetta and no one is suggesting that we should have armed the -- the Syrian rebels earlier when they were fewer in numbers and we actually knew who there were and there were fewer Islamic extremists among them, no one making that suggestion now is saying and nothing bad would have happened. That's really a false choice.

The problem is we can look back and we can see very clearly that President Obama underestimated the dangerousness and the seriousness of ISIS and made early mistakes that could have not only prevented the deaths of 100,000, 200,000 innocent Syrians, but maybe kept ISIS from arming in the way that they did over the two years while we were looking the other way.

You don't need a crystal ball. People were saying it at the time that this would happen. So I don't think there's any way to look back and say the president shouldn't have listened to his advisers. The president did the right thing. We clearly see now the ramifications of doing the wrong thing.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Go ahead. I will let you respond, Van. Go ahead.

JONES: Well, listen, I just think this is the classic thing. We can pretend now that we know what would have happened. I will be very, very clear here.

There is a mess in Syria right now. The so-called rebels -- there's a reason that people have been concerned, that we're still in the process of trying to vet these people. We still are not clear about some of the intentions of some of these people. Are they going to use weapons to fight ISIS? Are they going to use weapons to fight Assad?

There's still a big, big process here. And I think the president -- had the president acted, the very conservatives now who criticize him and some Democrats who criticize him, had he acted and those weapons been used against Americans, he would have gotten slammed by the very same people. That's all.

(CROSSTALK)

CUPP: No, you're absolutely right, Van.