Manhunt in California; Suspect in Manhunt has Military Past; Teenager Found Handcuffed in Home; Benghazi in the Spotlight Again
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Police officers at this hour are themselves in need of protection. We are not being given a lot of details right now on exactly where they are looking for this man. But make no mistake he has a history, not only in law enforcement but in military, and it is very difficult to find someone when he knows the tricks of the trade. This is no ordinary manhunt. Right now, the L.A. cops at their peak. Our Paul Vercammen has been watching this story and he's been following just what we can get in terms of the public information on this. Paul, where do we stand right now with how they're trying to track this man?</s>PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, basically, it is an all out manhunt for a man that they believe is extremely dangerous, who they believe is now involved in three, separate shooting incidents. If you just look over my right shoulder, you can see how serious they are, police in the background there with their fingers on their trigger guards, guns pointed in the air. This is just one of a couple areas that have been sealed of in downtown Riverside. Let me tell you what happened in Riverside at about 1:30 this morning. Police told us that two officers on routine patrol, Riverside police officers, were ambushed by the suspect, Dorner. Now, separate from that, earlier this evening, in Corona, California or earlier last evening, I should say, an LAPD officer on patrol, apparently leaving the freeway -- this is according to the LAPD -- was shot, grazed in the head. If you look at the manifesto from Dorner, we can call this a hit list of LAPD officers who he was upset with. Basically, it is believed that he is now trying to exact a measure of revenge against all of the people who somehow angered him, and in reading the manifesto, he alluded to being fired. And he said terminating me for telling the truth about a Caucasian officer kicking a mentally-ill person is disgusting -- a mentally-ill man. A lot of other clues in that manifesto, as well. He was talking about some of his military background, and he said that, "You are aware that I was always the top shot and the highest scorer and expert in rifle qualifications in every unit." And then he goes on to say, "I will utilize every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordnance and survival training." So, he has a Navy, a military background, does Dorner. Bone chilling at the end, he said in this manifesto, he say that -- in this manifesto -- that he would exact revenge on the family members of these officers he's upset with. And he has said, "I have the strength and the benefits of being unpredictable." So, right now, an all-out manhunt for Dorner here in about nine California counties. They're trying to basically locate him, and they are very frustrated because they told us when we arrived here they just don't know if he's going to come after any of the officers now on scene. Back to you.</s>BANFIELD: Oh, Paul, the threats are unbelievable. And just to see those officers almost like sitting ducks out there, nine counties. Paul, stand by, if you will, for a moment. Our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon also has some remarkable information about this suspect's past in the military. Barbara, this man knows how to use a rifle. He has been awarded for his marksmanship.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Ashleigh. The U.S. Navy quickly assembling what records it has on this man, and telling us he was a navy reservist. In fact, just until a few days ago, he separated from the naval service. We don't know when the last time is he showed up, but he has shooting expertise. Let's go through it. According to Navy records, he has been awarded the rifle-marksman ribbon and the pistol-expert medal. An official, military official, tells us that these are awarded for achieving a certain level of shooting accuracy at various distances. Let's be very clear. The man is not a Navy commando. He's not a Navy SEAL. He held a number of jobs as a reservist in Navy security operations. In fact, he went to Iraq, we are told, and had a job providing military security on Iraqi oil platforms. To have that job, it is most likely, we're told, he did receive some advanced weapons training. You'll remember back in those days, those oil platforms, a lot of concern about small boat attacks, sniper attacks, that sort of thing. So, he clearly has a certain level, a very worrisome level of weapons expertise. The police know this. They know what they're dealing with. What he has on-hand now in terms of weapons, of course, is the major concern. Ashleigh?</s>BANFIELD: And, Barbara, I'm reading here his last day of affiliation with the Navy as a reservist was just February 1st of this year. We're talking about -- and my -- what's astounding here ...</s>STARR: Let me just talk about that for a minute.</s>BANFIELD: I was just going to say he's got eight awards and -- you know, eight different awards, including the ones you mentioned. But any idea about his mental illness or his mental health or anything that the military might have on him?</s>STARR: Well, let me talk about that for a second. We asked about that because it was astounding, when you look at the record -- you and I are looking at the same document -- February 1st, 2013 is listed -- February 1st -- as his last day of service in the reservists. What they're trying to figure out right now is did he -- was he on some sort of, if you will, leave, vacation time, separation? Had he basically stopped serving as a reservist some weeks or months before that, and this was simply the day he was officially taken off the rolls? We're trying to figure that out right now. The military's trying to obviously figure that out right now. I think it's very safe to assume the military trying to share whatever information they are able to with law enforcement out in California. And, of course, if you look at the pictures that Paul is showing out in Riverside County, this is all my hometown. The freeways, the distances there, he can get on the freeway, disappear pretty quick. It's going to be tough to catch this guy.</s>BANFIELD: Multiple counties now under this kind of surveillance and watch, and they are at the ready. Barbara, stand by, if you will. I also want to bring in Steve Kardian, who is on the phone from Valhalla, New York. He's a former police detective and also criminal investigator. Listen, Steve, you heard how we introduced what kind of a suspect we're dealing with here. He's a former Navy lieutenant. Barbara Starr has reported that he did military security on Iraqi oil platforms. He's got the rifle-marksmanship ribbon and he's a former LAPD officer. This is one hell of a manhunt.</s>STEVE KARDIAN, FORMER POLICE DETECTIVE: Yes, it is, Ashleigh. And the most dangerous thing about this man is his mindset. He knows what law enforcement's plan is. He knows their game plan. He knows their tactics. He knows their strengths and their weaknesses. So, he'll know when to strike. And with that marksmanship ability, he could take out police officers from hundreds of yards away. And this is like a chess game, only with deadly consequences.</s>BANFIELD: But doesn't this go both ways? Yes, he knows their tactics, but they also -- they know his, as well.</s>KARDIAN: Yeah. There is no human being more dangerous than a police officer that has military background, that has weaponry -- the experience in weaponry that he has. It's very difficult because they're hunting him, but he's also hunting them. And they'll never know where he's going to show up, so he has that advantage over law enforcement in uniform.</s>BANFIELD: In the "code of blue," isn't this considered the ultimate betrayal? I mean, it goes without saying, but take me inside the force in terms of the level of betrayal that this is.</s>KARDIAN: We rely on each other. We're brothers and sisters in blue. We depend on one another every day, every minute we wear that uniform, so this is the ultimate act of betrayal, a police officer, a former police officer, turning against his own. There is no more dangerous person on earth that would kill like this, police officers, one of his own at the time. So, he's one of the most dangerous individuals right now in the United States.</s>BANFIELD: We're just looking at these live pictures -- I hope at the same time you can see them in Riverside, California -- of officers who are literally at the ready with their weapons. And you can see them every so often, literally turning 360. I can only imagine no matter where they are in the nine counties where officers are now sitting ducks because he's opened this manifesto to anyone in the uniform at work or at play, how do they prosecute their work? And how do they protect their lives at the same time?</s>KARDIAN: They've got to be highly diligent, highly alert. They've got to be aware of everything, so they're going to be super vigilant. They can't drop their guard for a minute. They have to approach every single call, every single stop sign that they stop at as a potential threat. And it could be a deadly threat.</s>BANFIELD: All right, Steve Kardian, if you wouldn't mind standing by. We're going to keep our eyes on this story and update it throughout the hour, as well as that manhunt in Riverside, California and elsewhere around the L.A.-area continues for Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33-years-old, ex-military, ex-cop and vowing in a manifesto to kill anyone in an LAPD uniform and their families. Unbelievable. Also another story that we're following today, a community in shock after a 17-year-old boy is found handcuffed in the basement of his own family's home. And get this. Police say he had been there for months. We're going to hear about his ordeal coming up in a live report from Kansas City, Missouri. Benghazi in the spotlight again. Right now, a Senate panel on the Pentagon's response to the attack on U.S. facilities there. The senators also asking questions about an internal review following that attack. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta responded to criticism regarding the response time.</s>LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We were not dealing with a prolonged or continuous assault, which could have been brought to an end by a U.S. military response. Very simply, although we had forces deployed to the region, time, distance, the lack of an adequate warning, events that moved very quickly on the ground prevented a more immediate response.</s>BANFIELD: After a lunch today, President Obama's pick for CIA director is going to have to answer for the death-by-drone overseas. John Brennan is going to go before the Senate intelligence committee after four years as the president's counterterrorism aide during which he championed the use of drones or unmanned aircraft to take out perceived threats to the homeland, even perceived threats who may be U.S. citizens. The White House agreed only yesterday to give some lawmakers a 50- page, legal rationale written out by the Justice Department in 2010 outlining their policy on U.S. citizens abroad who are threats to us and the right to take them out. We're going to talk more about drones and the law in our legal segment later this hour, specifically how it relates to you here at home. And speaking of drones, you know that they can and do fire missiles, but they are mainly armed with cameras. What you're seeing right now is footage that came supposedly from a U.S. drone that ultimately went down in Iran 14 months ago. Iran is now saying that some of the newly decoded video is from Afghanistan. None of this has been verified.