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CNN NEWSROOM

U.S. Capitol on Lockdown. Aired 15-15:30p ET

Aired March 28, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:03]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: From D.C. Metropolitan Police spokeswoman Alice Kim: "We are aware of reports of shots fired and to shelter in place. We're working with the Capitol Hill Police Department to investigate the situation."

If you're just joining us, this is what we know. It is not a lot of information.

Manu Raju, who works tirelessly for us on Capitol Hill, has been reporting this lockdown. Congress is on recess.

As we have been saying, Manu, there is a visitors center. It's been a few years since I have been in there right there. Is it in the Capitol Building? Where is that?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's located actually right in between the House and the Senate.

Now, anybody can enter in and out of there. You still have to go through your metal detectors and your security screening. But that is a place where tourists can go. Tourists can still go into the House and the Senate buildings. But typically now when you go through your tours, if you're a general member of the public, you do have to first enter into that Capitol visitors center complex.

That's a building, a complex that was built after actually 9/11 and also to help with the security of the complex. But we don't know how serious this is. Oftentimes, the police does act out of an abundance of caution. Oftentimes, the Capitol does go on lockdown in certain instances if there's suspicious package or they're not quite sure what to make of a situation.

Here, though, what we do know is that shots have been fired. The extent of the -- whether there are any injured or victims, we don't know any of that yet. But, clearly, given the security situation in the Capitol, the police really does everything it can to show an abundance of caution, make sure that nobody else gets injured.

And right now, they're urging folks to stay indoors, if they are in the Capitol and around the area. Probably a good idea to stay away from the area too. As you just mentioned, Brooke, the White House also being on lockdown. And it's not a far stretch from Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Capitol to the White House. Clearly, that's where it looks like police are investigating right now this incident of shooting at the Capitol visitors center complex.

BALDWIN: We're looking at some video. Obviously, White House on left-hand side. You were looking at some video from -- that was the first images we were seeing from the scene, law enforcement rolling up.

Here we go. I don't know if this is somebody's cell phone video who happened to be in the area. But these are the first few images here around that Capitol Building, folks running obviously in the opposite direction, as there are reports, as Manu has been discussing, reports, according to eternal e-mails, of shots being fired.

I have Art Roderick with me as well, former U.S. Marshal.

But, Manu, let me ask you one other question. I was just handed this e-mail that went out within the Senate saying gunshots have been reported in the CVC of the U.S. Capitol Building.

CVC, do you know what that is?

RAJU: Yes, that's the Capitol Visitors Center. That's shorthand for that. Clearly, it's happened on Capitol grounds.

Whether it was actually in the Capitol Visitors Center, in actually the halls of the Capitol Visitors Center or just outside, it's not entirely clear from this notice. But it appears that that is one reason why Capitol Police have been dispatched on this. You're showing video right there of D.C. Police, too, Metro Police, so clearly it's a serious situation, something that the police are investigating right now.

But, yes, this happened on Capitol grounds, the Capitol Visitors Center, that major complex right in between the House and the Senate, where we see thousands of tourists going through there week after week after week as they explore the nation's capital. And of course this is a big tourist season as well, so cherry blossoms are in full bloom. A lot of folks are in town.

(CROSSTALK)

RAJU: So, clearly, even if members of Congress are not around, there are a lot of tourists visiting, touring the Capitol day by day, particularly on a day like today.

BALDWIN: All right, if you're just joining us, again, breaking news here, the White House, U.S. Capitol on lockdown in the wake of apparently reports that shots have been fired, according to this Senate memo, in the Capitol Visitors Center, which Manu was pointing sees thousands of visitors each and every year.

This is between the House just Senate buildings.

Art Roderick, to you, former U.S. Marshal.

As we're seeing, you know, not only Metropolitan Police, D.C. Police, Capitol Hill Police, what's happening right now? ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, I mean, you have all

law enforcement agencies responding.

And I have been to that area on several different times. And if this did occur inside the CVC area, then there's really very little, if any vehicular traffic that comes up any of those roads around there. The Capitol Police have gone ahead and established posts at various streets which do block off a lot of the access to a lot of the buildings there.

You will see in that area you have got several congressional and Senate office buildings that are around that same area. Of course, the CVC's right in the middle of the Capitol there. And it's kind of like the focal point. So you will have you will have the Capitol Police basically managing the scenario with assistance from all other law enforcement agencies that will show it, be it NPD or any of the federal law enforcement agencies that are in the area there.

[15:05:10]

BALDWIN: Art, I want to keep you on the phone, but let me bring in another voice.

Kevin Liptak is CNN White House producer, and Kevin joining me now on the phone.

We know the White House is on lockdown as well. Tell me what you know, Kevin.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Right. That's right.

I'm in the basement of the White House now. Maybe about 10 minutes ago, uniformed officers with the Secret Service asked all of the reporters, all of the cameramen and all of the guests who were out on the White House North Lawn to come inside.

They have cleared Pennsylvania Ave. That's the pedestrian walkway just outside of the North Lawn gates, where you often see tourists gathering for photos of the White House.

I should say this is a very typical response when there's any security incident happening on Capitol Hill or at any other federal building. The Secret Service likes to take every precaution that they can as the situation develops and as they learn more about what's going on.

It's a very busy day here at the White House. We have the Easter egg roll going on, on the South Lawn. They were estimating 35,000 people were going to come through the gates for that. But at this point, there's no indication whatsoever of any security breach here.

This is just the Secret Service taking every precaution that they can as they try and learn more about what's happening up on Capitol Hill.

BALDWIN: So this is all clearly a response and out of an abundance of caution that they have grabbed all of the guests and members of the media, and you all are now inside or in the basement there of the White House, clearing, as Kevin points out, Pennsylvania Avenue, just because of what's happening just down the road on Capitol Hill.

Again, if you're just joining us, we have learned the White House and the U.S. Capitol are both on lockdown. According to memos and internal e-mails within the U.S. Senate, gunshots have been reported in the CVC, which is the Capitol Visitors Center of the U.S. Capitol Building, requiring staff and visitors in all buildings, all buildings of the U.S. Capitol complex, to shelter in place immediately.

Manu Raju, back to you. Can you talk to me a little bit about how huge or perhaps not that Capitol visitors complex is?

RAJU: It is gigantic. Actually, since this facility was created, actually a lot of major meetings take place there. Members of Congress actually gather there behind close doors because they have created such huge auditoriums for them to gather and to meet.

They have moved actually -- a lot of the press galleries also take place there, press conferences as well. And also just there are just so many tourists because that is meant as the main area for tourists to gather. This is one of the biggest, most -- biggest tourist attraction in all of D.C. Far more tourists come through the Capitol than are allowed to come through the White House.

Any time there is a security breach like this, it's a very scary situation because you have so many, I mean, just so many tourists and so many different people coming from all over the world to see this majestic building.

As we were saying earlier, even if, you know, this situation happened when members of Congress may not be in town, there are a lot of folks who were in town. And that creates a pretty scary situation. We don't really have any additional information than what we originally had, other than we know that of course that Capitol Police are investigating these shots.

It happened in the CVC complex, and the Senate and the House are both in lockdown. They're asking folks not to walk around the Capitol. But no matter what happens here, we know that gunshots were fired and that there are definitely folks lingering around and that's what the visitors center is.

Folks are just in the hallway and checking out this building. It's a very serious situation. And clear the police are either acting out of an abundance of caution or try to figure out and trying to get to the person who actually fired these shots. So we will see exactly what happens. But no matter which way you look at it, Brooke, it's serious, given how many people just go through those Capitol Visitors Center complex doors each day.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Of course, especially on the end of a busy tourism week, Easter weekend, beautiful right now in Washington, D.C.

Manu, with your knowledge of this Capitol visitors complex and with your knowledge just sort of the Capitol grounds, I mean, listen, you have press credentials. And still you go through metal detectors to enter certain buildings and that kind of thing. If you are just a member of the public or a tourist and you want to go inside of the Capitol Building whatsoever, are there few entrances to do that? How many are there, do you know?

RAJU: There are several.

There are a quite a few you can go in. When you go into the Capitol Visitors Center, sometimes you can actually enter through the Senate side of the building if you're with a staff member or if you're with a member of Congress. You can actually enter through the Senate or the House and enter into the basement into the visitors center itself.

[15:10:13]

Or you can actually enter the building from outside of the Capitol Visitors Center complex. There's several from each side in which you can get into. But typically, if you're just a regular person who doesn't have a staff member to go along with or a member of Congress to go with, you have to actually enter from the outside.

That means you still have to go through a metal detector and go through all those proper precautions. Really, you rarely ever see folks skipping a metal detector. That's not actually possible if you're a general member of the public. The only time you will see that is if you're a member of Congress. You can, of course, skip those lines and sometimes aides travel along with them and skip the lines, even though they're actually not supposed to do that, Brooke.

But typically this is, you know, a very, very secure process and any time that there's a problem, police will act rather expeditiously. So clearly something happened here that forced police to respond and that's one reason why folks are in a lockdown right now.

We don't know whether this gunman is loose or what or if someone has been caught. But we know that they're investigating the situation, which is why they're asking folks not to move around that area.

BALDWIN: Manu, thank you so much. Invaluable information from someone who is on the Capitol grounds each and every day.

Art Roderick is still with us. Art Roderick is a former U.S. Marshal. Just sort of talking about the angle of law enforcement responding, Capitol Hill Police, D.C. Metropolitan Police.

What's protocol here in this type of situation if indeed shots were fired in a public area?

RODERICK: I mean, the shelter in place alarm obviously went out, so I can tell you there's a lot of nervous people in the buildings there.

I actually got a couple texts from some friends of mine that worked in the Senate and House building, so they're just waiting for the all- clear. But, I mean, you have got some of the most experienced law enforcement agencies right there in Washington, D.C., to handle this situation. The Capitol Police are excellent at handling these type of active

shooter calls and also any type of turn at the Capitol. And, again, that area is fairly secure around there. I'm kind of a little bit surprised that somebody's in there with a handgun in that area because there are Capitol Police all over that whole Capitol complex area.

BALDWIN: OK. Art, forgive me. I was getting some information in my ear. Thank you so much and stay with me.

I'm just getting some new information here, as we're talking both about the White House and we're talking about Capitol Hill. Let's be crystal clear now. These are two separate incidents, two separate incidents. We have been reporting, you know, the White House on lockdown. We were talking to our White House producer a moment ago, who's now in the basement.

Staffers, guests, press, asked to step off the North Lawn area, Pennsylvania Avenue cleared. That was because, according to what I'm now getting, someone tried to jump the White House fence. That is now all clear.

What is totally separate -- and this is why we're totally focused on the Capitol -- is these reports from the Senate that gunshots were reported in the Capitol Visitors Center. That is in the Capitol -- around the Capitol Building area between the House and the Senate. That is what receives thousands of visitors each and every year.

Listen, it's D.C., it's cherry blossom time. It's gorgeous. It's been Easter weekend and there was the Easter egg roll today where 35,000 people were expected at the White House, so just imagine how many folks are around Washington.

And with that, and as you're seeing, I see that's our first ambulance on screen. Some of the images in the wake of this.

Dana Bash is with me.

Dana Bash, I hear you're with me. I'm not quite sure where you are in Washington, if you are in Washington.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I am in Washington, Brooke. I'm in the Washington bureau. I'm not on Capitol Hill. But I am with you.

BALDWIN: OK, so when we talk about -- Manu's been amazing in talking about this Capitol visitors complex and these reports from this e-mail I'm seeing to staffers within the Senate to shelter in place, stay away from doors and windows because of reports of shots fired.

Can you just -- give me the lay the land of the U.S. Capitol Building and this Capitol visitors complex.

BASH: Well, the Capitol visitors complex, as Manu was just explaining to you quite well, is -- most of it is underneath the Capitol. The entrance is outside kind of, if you're looking at the map there, more towards where the Supreme Court is. But most of the actual complex is underneath the Capitol. And this

took years and years and tens of millions of dollars to build. I'm just -- by way of kind of history here, on 9/11, I was coming on to the Capitol grounds and at that point, I could drive right on to the Capitol grounds.

Reporters and others who kind of had badges, we could get up very, very close to the Capitol, even with our cars. That is no longer, not just because of 9/11, but also because the CVC, as you mentioned, the visitors center, was built and finished.

[15:15:14]

And so it is really just a maze. I have covered the Capitol for a very long time. The halls of the actual Capitol, I have pretty much got down. Underneath, I get lost every time I go down there. It is remarkable, because it has, as Manu was saying, not just places for visitors to go, which are really beautiful, but also a lot of work space for senators, for staff.

A lot of the secure rooms are down there. And so it is just a huge, huge complex in the visitors center and so -- but I also want to echo what Manu said. I wasn't covering the Capitol, but I was here in Washington at the time when the two Capitol Police officers got shot. I believe it was 1998-ish.

And at that time, they were shot in the line of duty. They were doing their job. And those two men from there on to today, I mean, we get to know these officers quite well, those of us who cover the Capitol, because we see them every day. They protect the Capitol. They protect us.

And they are incredibly vigilant and, you know, incredibly, incredibly talented. And so just like Manu said, it is a very, very secure place. And we don't have all of the details of what happened, but you can bet that the minute something did happen, the Capitol Police were all over it, all over it.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: In the case of a lockdown, Dana, when, you know, we're told looking at this e-mail, staffers, close, lock, stay away from external doors and windows, shelter in place immediately, what is it like?

BASH: I have been on the Capitol grounds when there's been a shelter in place, and, you know, it's scary, especially, again, as somebody who lived through 9/11. I was on the Capitol grounds on that day and you have these -- you know, that's where your mind goes immediately even if it's a false alarm, not obviously necessarily of that kind of magnitude, but to that, oh, my gosh, that's right, I'm working in the Capitol, I'm working in a place that is a high target building.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: So, that's certainly one thing that goes through your mind, but it is unfortunately now I wouldn't say commonplace, but it is a lot more common than it used to be to get these notices and to have these instructions not to move, not to leave.

I remember one of the times there was a shelter in place, I was doing an interview with Harry Reid, then Senate majority leader, and that was the time that, you remember, there was a woman who drove from the White House all the way to the Capitol. She was -- she had a child in her car. She was unfortunately shot.

BALDWIN: That happened during the show. I remember, a couple years ago.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Exactly. And that happened kind of down the hill right out the window from where we were and there was a shelter in place at that time.

It does happen. And it is procedure. And I have to tell you, it wasn't like this. There was no procedure on 9/11, anything close to this. And it is because of that horrific incident, not just in this building, but in other buildings around the city, around the country, that there are very, very specific procedures in place when there is some kind of danger like this.

BALDWIN: Yes. I can't knowledge being inside, you know, during a lockdown, out of an abundance of caution. Unfortunately, some of these staffers and folks, members of Congress, although they are on recess, they are more or less used to having to take precautions, to your point, they have been through this before.

Dana Bash, you're invaluable. Don't go too far.

I have just been handed some new information here. We were reporting a moment ago the White House had been on lockdown earlier. Again, that was totally unrelated to the pictures that are playing out on your screen. Apparently, there was someone who tried to jump the White House fence. That person was caught. That is totally clear.

And we're told the U.S. Supreme Court is no longer on lockdown as well.

Gloria Borger -- I'm being told Manu Raju, let me bring you back in.

You have got some information for me. What do you have?

RAJU: Yes. Well, hey, Brooke.

I was just speaking with actually our congressional producer Ted Barrett, who's in the halls of the Capitol right now. And he said there are dozens of police cars and fire trucks and other rescue vehicles around the Supreme Court side of the Capitol Visitors Center.

You're really seeing a huge response from law enforcement agencies to investigate what's happening here. We don't know exactly whether a gunman has been -- if they have caught the gunman, or if they're investigating, if this person is on the loose or what, which is one really why there's a lockdown. We know they're investigating this, this shooting. We know there's a huge amount of police cars and fire trucks right on that First Street side of the Capitol, where it sort of borders the Supreme Court and where, as Dana was mentioned, one of the main entrances to enter the Capitol Visitors Center.

[15:20:10]

But as Ted was just telling me, that police are very calm. They're urging folks to be calm. But he was saying that folks inside the Capitol are very nervous about what's happening, given the situation. Yes, there have been lockdowns in the past. Oftentimes, police do respond to incidents of a suspicious package, but this is different.

You don't see this level of response as often and you clearly don't see a gunshot happening on Capitol grounds or in the Capitol Visitors Center itself, so very serious situation. Police are taking it very seriously. And as Ted was mentioning, there's dozens of police cars all around the area. You're seeing some of the pictures there because they're trying to investigate and figure out exactly what's going on.

BALDWIN: Thank you, Manu, and thank you, Ted Barrett, for making that phone call to give us a better perspective of what's happening.

Law enforcement urging folks within -- on Capitol grounds to be calm. Can understand why nerves would be frayed especially when you're looking out the window and you're seeing these pictures play out.

Gloria Borger is another voice I would love to bring in. You know her from talking politics in Washington.

And so, Gloria, as we were talking about this particular -- the First Street side, as Manu was pointing out, where you are really seeing this law enforcement activity, this is right on the Supreme Court side. Tell me about the buildings all around that area.

BORGER: Right. Well, you can't -- first of all, Brooke, this city is really full of tourists right now. You know, this is spring break. Congress may not be in session. But there are lots of people.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: It's cherry blossom season. We ourselves Have house guests who are planning to go to the Capitol later this week, right? So this is a time when people are in town and they want to go visit the Capitol.

As Dana was pointing out earlier, there was a tragic shooting in 1998 of two Capitol Hill police officers. That's really why we have a visitors center, so there is yet another barrier before you get into the Capitol where people can be checked before they head in there.

I was a congressional correspondent for "Newsweek" for 10 years and I remember roaming around the Capitol freely, barely a metal detector. Maybe one or two. I used to park my car right in front of the Capitol where there was press parking. BALDWIN: Wow. My, how times have changed.

BORGER: Yes. Yes, right. And now, of course, we have barrier after barrier after barrier.

And I think it's particularly troubling now, when this is such a high peak of a tourist season and I can only imagine that the visitors center at this time of day on a beautiful day was pretty packed. And so people have to go through that visitors center before they before they get into the Capitol.

And, you know, the Capitol, as Dana was pointing out, is like a labyrinth. And so it's hard to keep track of everyone. There is a huge presence of Capitol Hill Police officers everywhere. They're well-trained. And they're friendly. And they know how to deal with crowds. And they know how to deal with this kind of a situation, unfortunately.

They have all kinds of things all the time like suspicious packages, as Manu was pointing out. So I'm sure they're getting it under control. But particularly if you're not from Washington and you're not used to hearing this kind of thing, which we do all too much, I can imagine that for tourists it would be hugely troubling, disturbing and frightening.

And Also if you work in the Capitol and you're on lockdown in your office, it would have the same effect, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Gloria, stay with me.

I'm just getting a little bit of new information. We're learning from D.C. Metropolitan Police that the Capitol is still on lockdown, but this is what they're considering an isolated incident at the Capitol. They're saying no active threat to the public.

Tom Fuentes, former assistant director of the FBI, sir, what does that mean?

TOM FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think, Brooke, is means that they don't have a shooter on the loose they're aware of. They don't think there's more than one or a larger group involved that's going to conduct other attacks on other buildings.

I think that from that standpoint, they feel it's isolated to the Capitol grounds and that if there was a shooting and if there was a shooter that came in there into that premises, the visitors center, that that person's been neutralized and contained at least to the extent that they think that one individual was involved and now they're trying to verify that no one else is involved and it's not a simultaneous larger-scale attack.

BALDWIN: Let's hope you are spot on with regard to if there even in this potential gunman, be neutralized.

[15:25:03]

FUENTES: Brooke, if I could add one more thing.

BALDWIN: Go ahead, Tom. Go ahead.

The reason for the lockdown in these situations, particularly at the Capitol, the FBI has uncovered in the last 15 years two separate attack plans that involve creating some kind of a disturbance, either firing, launching a drone with a bomb into the Capitol or just phoning in threats to the Capitol, so that the Capitol would be evacuated and panicked individuals, both staffers and the public, would come running out the door on to the sidewalks into the park area, where there would be terrorists waiting with automatic weapons to gun them down.

There's two separate plots where that was going to happen. So that's the strategy of do not let everybody run out of the building in a panic and create soft targets if there are terrorists out there waiting for them to come out.

BALDWIN: Tom Fuentes, thank you. stand by.

Let's go to the White House. Michelle Kosinski is our White House correspondent, who is over there right now.

Maybe some confusion earlier, but to be crystal clear, the White House being on lockdown a little while ago had zero to do with what we're covering just down the road?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, whatever the threat was here, I mean, this is all unfolding as we speak. They have lifted the lockdown.

Briefly, I would say for about 10 to 15 minutes, the Secret Service had shut down the pedestrian walkway on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. That's in front of the North Lawn. So that was closed to people coming in and out. But keep in mind, this is an extremely busy day today at the White House. This is the day of the Easter egg roll, where 35,000 people attend on a rolling basis.

So they're coming and going constantly from a different entrance. It doesn't seem like this threat affected that activity at all. Just affected the North Lawn and the pedestrian area right outside. But that has since been lifted and it appears, at least from where we stand, things are back to normal at the White House, Brooke.

BALDWIN: That's excellent news. We will take that, Michelle Kosinski. Thank you so much at the White House.

Let's head back down to Capitol Hill. As we're watching, that is still very much on lockdown, again, D.C. police saying it's an isolated incident. There is no active threat to the public.

Dana Bash, to you, my friend, who's covered Capitol Hill for eons, when we're talking about the day after Easter, we know Congress is on recess, who would be inside and milling about these different Capitol buildings?

BASH: Many more tourists than actual staffers. Many more tourists than members of Congress, because, as Manu was saying, they're on recess for spring break.

And that's the very reason why there's so many tourists there because people around the country are on spring break. And their kids are on spring break. This is the time of year where it is packed in the halls of Congress. Unclear if it's exactly like that right now, because the Senate and the House, neither is in session, but one of those times -- Brooke, you have spent some time with me on Capitol Hill.

BALDWIN: I did.

BASH: And you know that is on a regular day kind of sometimes kind of hard to get around, to move from point A to point B. Now during this time of year, it is next to impossible. You have to give yourself an extra, you know, 10 minutes or so to get from -- to where you're going because there's so many people there, because so many people are coming and wanting to see the Capitol and get a sense of how things work, which is really fabulous and it is really wonderful that they have this visitors center to help do it.

As Gloria was saying, the fact that the visitors center exists is in large part because of that shooting, because they wanted to better protect the doors where staff, where senators, where the press go in. And so again we're waiting for details, but the fact that this is so fortified at this point of entry and any other point of entry, no question, seems to have helped dramatically.

BALDWIN: Dana, thank you.

We do have some new information. Let's go back to Manu Raju with some new developments here.

Manu, what have you learned since we last talked?

RAJU: The Senate sergeant of arms is starting to tell employees of the Senate that there is one suspect in custody.

They said -- and I'm reading this e-mail that they have now sent to Senate employees. It's starting to circulate around the Capitol. They said there's a shelter in place. No further gunshots are being reported. One suspect is in custody. No further suspects appear to be at large. However, the U.S. Capitol Police -- this e-mail says the U.S. Capitol Police are continuing to investigate.

All staff and visitors in all buildings are to remain sheltered in place, so the good news being that there is a suspect who is in custody. And it does -- as we were mentioning on air earlier, it does appear to be an isolated incident.

But out of precaution, they're asking folks to stay indoors, which is why they're still -- the Capitol is still in lockdown.