Hello, our breaking News Coverage continues of the urgent manhunt under way in the state of maine for the suspect accused of killing at least 18 people at a Bowling Alley and at a restaurant. As many of the victims injured fight for their lives tonight for the past three hours the fbi has been outside of robered card, the suspects, home, shouting commands. The home has already been searched today. But apparently there was some activity that was noticed that prompted those teams to return. Now at this very moment, its still not clear if anyone was inside of that home or what the activity was aimed at. But what we do know is that suspect is an Army Reservist who knows survive willal techniques. We also know that survival techniques. His home is on hundreds of acres of land and woods. Im about to speak live with the lewiston mayor on everything that transpired right now for his community. But first, want to get straight to the ground with Brian Todd Outside of robert cards home in maine. Quite a few last few hours of activity. You were there for so much of it. They were surrounding this home tonight with Armored Vehicles and drones on the scene. Walk us through what is happening right now and what led us to this point. Right. We can tell you that avs now, all the Law Enforcement assets that were here have been extracted. A Law Enforcement officer came up to us and said this is no longer a scene. But we can tell you, as youve been explaining over the last couple minutes, it really was a scene for three hours. Starting at 7 00 p. M. Eastern time when Law Enforcement assets just flooded the zone here and surrounded robert cards home behind me. There were a lot of tactical vehicles, Armored Vehicles, personnel, air assets like drones and other things. They had a kaicanine team. They came up to our cameras here at this position and said, youve got to cut your Camera Lights off. The Camera Lights are creating a danger for Law Enforcement. At that point we, of course, cut our lights off. And we filmed for the next 2 1 2 hours in complete darkness. We did get pretty good view of everything that was going on. At one point after we had turned our lights off and they surrounded the house, they moved a tactical vehicle close to the house. Then they moved a spotlight on to the house. At that point, they began kind of a oneway dialogue. And we were told later on it was unknown if the suspect was in the house or not. But they began a one hufway dialogue. An officer was saying come out with your hands up. We dont want anyone else to get hurt. Please come out and follow our instructions. Walk to the front of the truck. Indicating there was a truck in the driveway. Even spoke on a personal level saying we know this could be intimidating to you. We really just dont want anyone to get hurt. Please come out and talk us to. That was a oneway dialogue. There was no indication there was anyone on the other end conversing with them. But they did move around a lot. They positioned their, again, their drones, spotlights all around the house, seemingly looking for something. We did get the impression when there was dialogue going on this was possibly a standoff. It turns off it was very likely not a standoff. They extracted from here. It is the second time they showed up to day. A couple of hours before they came in with this latest influx, they had other Law Enforcement personnel here woho kind of approached the house using flash bags and calling out fbi come out. They did that. Then processes the scene there. Then they left and came back. And they kind of did what i just described. So kind of a dramatic night out here. And what they got out of it, we dont know. We dont know if they got some information. Maybe they got an indication that he was not there or something else. It was a pretty tense couple of hours. Very much sounds like it. Brian todd, stay with us. Will well stay close with you as this night goes on. Now i want to bring in cnns senior Law Enforcement analyst andrew mccabe. Andrew, let me play for you and for our audience actually just what bryian is talking about, te audio what is happening out sued of that home today. Is. I need you to come out. Now, andy, i want to break this down a little bit. Lets start with what we heard there. Some of this i imagine, is boiler plate. But what caught my ear was hearing brian say, they were kind of it kind of got more personal. This might be intimidating. Please, you know, come out. Sure. How do you interpret that as a Law Enforcement officer . Theres been a shift of Entry Tactics in Law Enforcement in the last few years. Back when i was on the s. W. A. T. Team in new york, things were much more we were much more inclined to use dynamic entry. Flash bangs, you rush in quickly. Try to overwhelm the occupants of the space and take everybody into custody quickly. Now they try to mitigate as much risk as possible. What youll see, what we saw here tonight, what you often see outside of residences where theyre trying to arrest someone who is thought to be large and dangerous, a large team pulls up, loudspeakers, large vehicles, they call people out of the residence. There is no rush. If you dont believe there is any hostages inside, there is no people whose lives are at risk, you have the luxury of time. And thats what way saw tonight in this second approach by the fbi. Are they looking into the home . Are they trying to see signs of movement . We see reporting that they have other means to believe that something was in that home. Its odd to have had them at the home an hour or two before executing some dynamic entry and then come back and later and do it much p more slowly. Nevertheless, on the second run, while they were calling him out, you saw very aggressive use of spotlights lighting up the residence. Trying to take a look into windows, using drones to facilitate that look in windows and entry and potential entry. Did they enter . It was not clear. We couldnt see from the footage an actual entry. They were certainly there long enough to do it. After the calling out portion ceased, the lights turned down. They went back to a cover of darkness. There was a prolonged period where they could have entered the residence. Mayor, thank you so much for being with us tonight. Your community, i know, is in an extraordinary amount of pain because of what transpired. I think a lot of people in lewiston and the surrounding communities want to understand whats going on here. Is there anything you can tell us about why police ended up back at this suspects home tonight . And is there a remaining risk for the community in that area . Thank you. No. I cannot answer that question. I would need to refer you to Maine State Police for that. I can not comment on the investigation. Here in lewiston there is still a shelter in place order in effect. I urge residents to stay inside. Is that shelter in place order because there is perhaps a belief that there is a risk that remains right now to the Lewiston Community . The police have this order in effect. Yes, just to cover all bases and keep the residents safe. It is certainly best to stay home at this time. So we are also learning that there are search warrants executed at a number of residences in the area. Do you have any sense whether those are precautionary or Police Following up on specific tips . Once again, i cannot answer the question. I have to refer you to the police. Do you i want to turn now just to the victims here. There are many of them. Many of them still hospitalized and, of course, the families of those who were lost. Do you personally know any of the victims who were aekt iffed by this . This is such a Small Community that you are the mayor of. Yes. You know, the senseless tragedy last night has really affected our community. And certainly my heart goes out to the victims and their families. Not all i dont believe any names have been released. Some Family Members have disclosed some victims who were friends or family. It does not appear that i know any of them at this time. But once again, the names have not been released. So, yeah, i cant know for sure. And have all the Family Members been notified by this hour . I would like to think so. That is a question for Maine State Police. The last weve been told is that there have been 18 killed. Do you know the number that are injured and who are still hospitalized tonight . I believe that 18 were killed and 13 injured. A number of those are still in the hospital. I know that some were able to be, you know, they were treated and released. But it is unclear at this time exactly how many are in the hospital. How are your hospitals doing right now . Do they have the resources that they need to deal with this kind of Mass Casualty Event . Absolutely. We have two wonderful hospitals in town, Maine Medical Center and st. Marys medical center. I was speaking with the president of central Maine Medical Center earlier this evening and they have done a wonderful job to rise to the occasion, treat the wounded and, you know, help ensure a great outcome. Earlier today, the Auburn City C city councillor, he said, sadly, he learned that his son was one of the victims. He said it took 14 hours to find out that his son joey walker had been killed. Do you have any sense of why it took so long for that family to learn about the loss of their son . And the other families as well . Why did this process take so long to identify the victims . Yes. I cannot speak to the specifics of the case. But i do know that in a large crime scene, it can take some time to gather all the evidence, determine identity of victims. And, yes, it can, you know, just the nature of what happened, it can take some time. And it is certainly unfortunate. About it know that the Maine State Police and the Lewiston Police department were certainly, you know, working extremely hard to not only investigate this crime but get word out to families as quickly as possible. There was a time line that was put out earlier by officials. There was a lot of information provided there about the sequence of events at the two crime scenes. One thing that was not included was the Response Time by police. Do you have any more information about how quickly police were able to get to the scene of either of these shootings . I do not have exact specifics. I do understand that the police were on the scene extremely fast, almost immediately. All right, mayor. Thank you very much, again for joining us. The our hearts go out you to and your entire community as you deal with this heartbreaking tragedy. Thank you so much. Thank you. And there is more Breaking News tonight. The pentagon now says that the u. S. Is conducting air strikes in syria targeting iranian facilities. I want to go straight to the pentagon where we have more about this operation. We just got a statement from defense secretary lloyd austin. The u. S. Carried out strikes targeting two facilities use bid irans Islamic Revolutionary guard corps and affiliated groups. Iranianbacked militias in iraq and syria. The this follows a series of attacks on u. S. Forces in syria and iraq over the last nine or ten days. There were at least a dozen attacks in iraq and four attacks in syria. Following those attacks on u. S. Forces in which 21 u. S. Service members suffered minor injuries, and one u. S. Contractor killed as the result of a false alarm. They carried out the strikes in eastern syria. The groups or militias blamed them for carrying out these attacks. Its interesting how he described the strikes. He said they were selfdefense in nature. He also described them as narrowly tailored strikes in selfdefense, intended solely to protect and defend u. S. Personnel in iraq and syria. Its clear here but austins wording that the u. S. Trying to make sure that given all the tension in the region, giving all the antiisrael andant u. S. Sentiment, the u. S. Doing what it can to make sure that this response, this retaliation for the attacks on u. S. Forces doesnt spread beyond this. And it doesnt spiral into something bigger in iraq and syria. An on going back and forth between the u. S. And these iranianbacked militias in syria. That comes clearly across in this statement from austin. Austin also says that iran tried to hide from the responsibility, even as the u. S. Called out iran for backing these groups. Ill read a short part of the statement. Iran wants to hide their hand and deny role in the attacks against our forces. Well not let them. He warns that if these attacks continue, the u. S. Will further respond and take additional meas measures we have seen a warning from the pentagon and u. S. Officials that they were expecting escalation because of the conflict in gaza and iranianbacked groups that may look to take advantagest situation. As a result of that, the u. S. Started deploying troops, 900 already there or on their way in and Additional Air defense of battery and patriot systems to try to shore up air defenses in the region. This is what they were worried about. Escalation, the u. S. , however, feeling the need to respond. President biden said or hinted strongly that a response would be coming. This year is that response. The u. S. Striking two facilities use bid irans irgs and affiliated groups. A clear desire here to make sure it doesnt escalate beyond this. Clearly though, sending a warning sign to iran and the iranianbacked groups to back off. Today the pentagon did announce the 900 troops deployed to the region with more potentially coming. Does that mean that the likelihood with all those troops now more of them in the region, the likelihood of these clash thats could potentially engafr endanger these troops increases . I wouldnt say the likelihood increases. The pentagon is very much aware of the possibility of escalation. Thats why youve seen not only the troops but also the Additional Air defenses. The u. S. Already tried to send a message to keep the eye rainian affiliated groups out of the picture. It sent in a u. S. Two u. S. Carrier strike groups, the gerald r. Ford and dwight d. Eisenhower and the baton amphibious ready group. The u. S. Aware of how hes think could spiral given the tension and focus on the on going conflict between israel and hamas in gaza, awaivere of the sensitivities around that, thats why theyre trying to deter any other actors from getting involved. They have clearly called out hezbollah and lebanon multiple times as well as sending a stark warning to the groups in iraq and syria that might try to get involved or try to target u. S. Forces. So thats the purpose there to try to prevent that from happening. But because of the links there and the tension throughout the region, the u. S. Is very well ware they cant keep this confined to zbgaza. The u. S. Response is not linked to fighting in gaza, trying to keep the back and forth between the u. S. And these iranianbacked groups as a separate situation from whats going on in israel and gaza. Thats an interesting note there. Please stay close for us. Were going to speak with general in just a moment about all that you just laid out there. Also, were following a number of stories tonight. Breaking news on the latest on that manhunt in maine that is currently unfolding. John berman is there for us live. Well speak to him next. Plus, cnn is investigating the suspects past and the possible motives that investigators are now studying and considering. This is cnns special live coverage. Wear following two major Breaking News stories tonight, the u. S. Conducting air strikes in syria against iranian proxy facilities. That comes after attacks against u. S. Interests and bases in the region. Well speak with generals in just a moment about all of that. Plus, were back to the urgent manhunt under way right now in the state of maine. Police are surrounding the home of the suspected shooter who killed 18 people in lewiston 24 hours ago. It remains unclear where this suspect is as communities Near Lewiston and in lewiston are sheltering in place overnight. Joining me now is john berman on the ground for us in lewiston. What is the situation right now where you are. Residents are told, dont leave your homes. Dont let your guard down. This manhunt continues. Yeah, im in lewiston not far from the bar which was the second location where the suspect, robert card, opened fire killing 18 people. Here in lewiston, population 40,000, there is a shelter in place order still undereffect. People have been told very directly, secure your homes. Also secure your car. There is very much of a concern that perhaps this suspect would try to approach someones vehicle armed. Take the car and then use that car to flee. Secure your homes and car. Its not just here in lewiston. Its part two of pretty big counties where there are shelter in place orders. It amounts to more than 100,000 people being told to stay home. And all over the state there are people taking precautions. There are 39 branchs of td bank were shut. L. L. Bean, that was shut today. L. L. Bean is open on christmas day. For them to shut for one, maybe two days, it tells you just how much concern there is. And you know, ten years ago i was in boston during the Boston Marathon bombing investigation when there was that shelter in place order in the city. And part of it feels similar to here. The streets are empty. Stores are closed. You cant get coffee anywhere. Everywhere is shut down. The difference here from boston and boston you would see motorcades of Police Vehicles driving by at all hours at all times. There was visible Law Enforcement activity all the ti