Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) hold a press briefing in Lewiston, Maine, as the manhunt for the suspect in a deadly mass shooting continues.
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00:00 [INAUDIBLE]
00:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:20 >> Good evening.
00:29 >> We're good.
00:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:33 >> Good evening.
00:35 I'm Carl Schley, Mayor of Lewiston.
00:37 In the wake of the tragic and horrifying incident that occurred in Lewiston,
00:42 our hearts are heavy with grief.
00:44 And we extend our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families.
00:48 This is a time for action, solidarity, and support.
00:53 Please take note, the shelter in place order issued by the Lewiston Police
00:57 Department remains in effect.
01:00 Please stay at home and be safe.
01:03 The city of Lewiston is grateful for the support and
01:06 support from state authorities, the community, and of course, our elected officials.
01:12 Speaking tonight will be US Senator Susan Collins,
01:16 US Representative Jared Golden, and Steve Littleson,
01:20 President and CEO of Central Maine Medical Center.
01:23 And now Senator Collins.
01:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]
01:28 >> Thank you, Mayor.
01:30 Today is a dark day for the state of Maine.
01:35 As the mayor said, our hearts are heavy with grief.
01:41 This heinous attack, which has robbed the lives of at least 18 mayors and
01:49 injured so many more, is the worst mass shooting that
01:55 the state of Maine has ever experienced and could ever imagine.
02:02 Today, I looked out my window in Washington and
02:07 I saw that the flags had been lowered.
02:12 And I realized that it had been done to honor the victims of this horrific attack.
02:22 I'm grateful for the leadership of Lewiston Police Chief St.
02:28 John and for the bravery of the hundreds of state, local, and
02:34 federal law enforcement officers who are leading the search for the killer.
02:41 I'm also very grateful for all of the hospital employees who
02:47 came back to work to take care of the victims.
02:53 And for our first responders, whose bravery was so evident.
02:59 Last night, the President called me.
03:04 He stepped out at the state dinner with the Australian Prime Minister
03:10 to offer any help that the federal government could provide the city of
03:16 Lewiston, Andrews-Gutman County, and the state of Maine.
03:21 I also, at midnight, talked to Governor Mills,
03:26 who has been a pillar of strength for our state.
03:31 Tom Perez, who was a special advisor to the President throughout the night,
03:38 texted me back and forth, what you need.
03:43 And I would tell him based on conversations that I had,
03:48 I coordinated the federal response.
03:52 This morning, Secretary of Homeland Security, Mayorkas,
03:57 called and offered help from his department.
04:02 The Attorney General also called, along with Maine's own U.S.
04:08 Attorney, to offer their help.
04:12 Right before I came into this building, I had a call from the Deputy Director
04:19 of the FBI, who told me that there are 80 FBI agents on site,
04:26 participating in the search for the killer.
04:31 Eighty.
04:33 That doesn't include other people from the Marshal's Office, from the ATF,
04:39 the DEA, and the Department of Homeland Security, and the Coast Guard.
04:46 This has been a concerted effort at the state, local, and federal level,
04:53 and everyone is determined to bring the killer to justice.
05:01 To the families of those who have been injured or killed,
05:07 I know that no words can fully ease the shock, the pain,
05:14 and the justifiable anger that you are feeling.
05:19 My hope is that you will feel the solace and strength in knowing that you are
05:27 in the hearts of the people of Maine and of people throughout our nation.
05:35 Thank you.
05:38 I'd now like to introduce the Congressman Jared Golden, who represents this area of Maine.
05:50 Thank you, Senator. Thank you, Mayor Chalene, as well.
05:56 My name is Congressman Jared Golden. I'm from the town of Lewiston.
06:00 I represent Maine's 2nd Congressional District.
06:03 Some of you may not recognize me because Congress has been so crazy lately.
06:07 I haven't gotten a haircut in months.
06:12 Sometimes things happen that bring your worst nightmares to life.
06:17 Yesterday, this is what happened in Lewiston.
06:20 At a time like this, a leader is forced to grapple with things that are far greater than his or herself.
06:25 Humility is called for as accountability is sought by the victims of a tragedy such as this one.
06:32 Out of fear of this dangerous world that we live in and my determination to protect my own daughter
06:37 and life in our home and in our community, because of a false confidence that our community was above this,
06:44 and that we could be in full control among many other misjudgments,
06:49 I have opposed efforts to ban deadly weapons of war like the assault rifle used to carry out this crime.
06:56 The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure,
07:01 which is why I now call on the United States Congress to ban assault rifles
07:05 like the one used by the sick perpetrator of this mass killing in my hometown of Lewiston, Maine.
07:12 For the good of my community, I will work with any colleague to get this done in the time that I have left in Congress.
07:20 To the people of Lewiston, my constituents throughout the 2nd District,
07:25 to the families who lost loved ones,
07:28 and to those who have been harmed, I ask for forgiveness and support as I seek to commend these terrible shootings.
07:37 In the days to come, I will give everything I have to support this community's recovery.
07:43 Thank you.
07:45 And now I would like to introduce Steve Littleson, President and CEO of Central Maine Medical Center.
07:56 Good evening, everybody. I'm Steve Littleson, the CEO of Central Maine Health Care,
08:02 which includes Central Maine Medical Center here in Lewiston.
08:06 On behalf of the 3,000 professionals and team members of Central Maine Health Care,
08:10 I too would like to extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the events of last night.
08:17 I would also like to acknowledge the compassion and the expertise and the teamwork displayed
08:23 by the health care professionals in this community last night when called upon under the most extreme circumstances.
08:31 Just to give you the numbers as we have them now, I know there's been some confusion,
08:37 but we'd like to take the opportunity to just let you know what we dealt with and what we have currently in our hospital.
08:44 All but one of the patients that were taken from the scenes last night were brought to Central Maine Medical Center.
08:51 One was transported directly to St. Mary's Medical Center here in Lewiston.
08:56 Of those patients, two were treated in discharge.
08:59 One of those patients was transferred from Central Maine Medical Center to Maine Medical Center in Portland.
09:06 Three patients, unfortunately, passed away in St. Maine--Central Maine Medical Center last night.
09:13 Of those, eight remain now, and we have five patients who are in stable condition,
09:19 and three who are in critical condition in our critical care unit.
09:23 Just to give you a sense of the scope of what we dealt with within a relatively short period of time,
09:28 last night within about 45 minutes to an hour, we had six fully staffed and running operating rooms
09:36 at Central Maine Medical Center caring for the wounded and the victims.
09:41 The professionals that were operating simultaneously in those six operating rooms
09:46 included orthopedic surgeons, general trauma surgeons, urologists, vascular surgeons,
09:52 as well as anesthesiologists and support personnel.
09:57 I would like to also express our appreciation for all the support that we received
10:03 and continue to receive even through today, first from the city of Lewiston,
10:09 secondly from law enforcement--we still have a law enforcement presence on campus at Central Maine Medical Center--
10:15 and the other area hospitals that came to our support.
10:19 We needed blood transferred to Central Maine Medical Center very quickly,
10:23 and two of the hospitals--Maine General and St. Mary's--accommodated us.
10:27 Maine Med in Portland stood by and was ready to accept patients, and as you know,
10:33 they did accept one of the patients that we transferred to them.
10:38 And also the various community partners that came to aid and support us last night,
10:43 including emergency response personnel, personnel from Life Flight of Maine, and others.
10:51 As one of the counselors said to me before we walked in tonight,
10:54 you know, often people underestimate our capabilities here to care for people locally.
11:00 I think last night we proved that by working together we can do just that
11:03 under the most trying circumstances.
11:05 Thank you.
11:08 We'll take a few questions.
11:14 Senator Collins, if you could move to the microphone.
11:17 Senator, you just heard from Representative Jared Coleman that he has changed his mind
11:25 under the self-drug ban. Will you do the same?
11:28 Well, first of all, let me say that I think it is more important that we ban very high-capacity magazines.
11:40 I think that would have more input and more effectiveness.
11:47 We had an assault weapon ban, which I supported, that was in effect for 10 years.
11:55 It applied to, I believe, 17 or 19 styles of weapons.
12:02 Later, the late Senator Dianne Feinstein proposed an expansion that would have covered 157 weapons.
12:15 And it was based not on functionality, but on cosmetic features.
12:23 So there's always more that we can do.
12:28 I was a co-author of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which provided funding, for example,
12:38 for red and yellow flag laws and for mental health clinics, which I think is important as well.
12:50 So certainly, there's always more that can be done.
12:55 Senator, a decade ago, you opposed legislation that limited access to expanded stocks of firearms capacity.
13:06 Are you suggesting that you would do something different now?
13:10 I don't believe you're correct.
13:12 For example, I was the lead Republican sponsor of a bill that would ban bunk stocks,
13:21 which have the ability to turn a semi-automatic into a fully automatic machine gun.
13:29 And that legislation has not been enacted into law.
13:36 There was an attempt to do it by regulation, but it was struck down by the courts.
13:43 I still support the bunk stock legislation.
13:49 The other thing that I think we can look at is, and I advocated,
13:56 was to increase the age at which you could purchase a high-capacity rifle from 18 to 21, the way it is for an income.
14:09 Senator Collins, you mentioned that there are a lot of questions about the whereabouts of Robert Card.
14:15 You mentioned a number of agencies searching for him.
14:18 Can you offer any more details regarding the whereabouts of Card or how close we're getting to finding him?
14:26 I cannot because I don't want to jeopardize the search for him in any way.
14:34 I have talked extensively to law enforcement, and as I said just very recently with the FBI deputy director,
14:44 but I certainly don't want to jeopardize the search in any way.
14:51 Senator Collins, the yellow flag laws used in this case, you are a big advocate of them.
14:56 Do you know if they were used in this case?
14:58 I'm sorry?
14:59 The yellow flag laws used in this case.
15:04 To Maine, I don't know. That's a very good question.
15:08 You said that Maine got it right when it came to yellow flag.
15:11 Maine does have a good yellow flag.
15:13 It's true, as we are hearing, that Robert Card had mental health issues and he was, the police put him forward for evaluation.
15:22 You got it wrong.
15:24 No, I don't know whether there was a report to trigger the yellow flag law.
15:32 It's certainly on the face of the facts that we have.
15:36 It seems.
15:37 Could you let me finish, please?
15:40 It certainly seems that on the basis of the facts that we have, that the yellow flag law should have been triggered.
15:48 If in fact the suspect was hospitalized for two weeks for mental illness, that should have triggered the yellow flag law,
16:00 and he should have been separated from his weapons.
16:03 I'm sure after the fact that's going to be looked at very closely.
16:10 Obviously, that's a state issue, and I do not have knowledge of what happened in that instance.
16:18 Senator Collins, Mark Stone from Sky News. Thank you for your time.
16:21 I wonder if I could just ask you about the weapons again.
16:25 Why do you think it is that you and so many other lawmakers in America believe it is right for Americans to have the right to own such high-velocity weapons?
16:38 Well, first of all, let me say, and I'll repeat it again, that for 10 years we had a ban on certain kinds of assault weapons,
16:51 and I supported that ban, and when George W. Bush proposed that it be extended for 10 more years, I supported that effort, which did not succeed.
17:04 Later, years later, there was an attempt by former Senator Dianne Feinstein to greatly expand the number of weapons that would be covered by that ban,
17:20 and it was based not on lethality, but more on how they looked, on cosmetic features, and I did not think that that was appropriate.
17:34 We do have a Second Amendment in our country.
17:39 And that gives people the right to own a weapon that powerful, do you think?
17:44 And Maine, I would point out, has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the country and has a long heritage of responsible gun ownership.
17:58 It has also had a very low rate of violence.
18:03 What makes this crime so heinous is in a typical year, Maine might have 22 murders, and last night we almost approached the number for the entire year.
18:24 So thank you so much.
18:26 Is anyone here briefed on the investigation to tell us, we see video of the FBI?
18:30 I'm not stationed yet, but thank you so much, and I appreciate your patience with us and this new conference.
18:35 Thank you all.
18:37 Thank you.
18:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]