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Virginia Tech Victims Remembered; Interview With Deepak Chopra; Warning Signs Missed in Virginia Tech Massacre?; Democrats Speak to President Bush About Iraq Funding

Aired April 18, 2007 - 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. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

One man's courageous last act, another's disturbing last look. Paula Zahn joins us here in the NEWSROOM with personal stories from Virginia Tech's worst day.

LEMON: And, plus, a search for meaning is never easy, but how can you find it after such a stunning and senseless attack? Deepak Chopra joins us live with more on regaining your spiritual balance.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is the top of the hour, and we're learning much more about the Virginia Tech massacre and the gunman and the victims today.

WHITFIELD: Police reveal that gunman Cho Seung-Hui was temporarily hospitalized for mental illness back in 2005. Earlier, police investigated him in at least two campus stalking incidents.

LEMON: And he bought a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol, one of two guns used in that rampage, from an out-of-state dealer. But he had to pick it up from a Virginia pawn broker. That was per state law.

WHITFIELD: And professor Liviu Librescu is being remembered in a funeral service this afternoon in New York City. The Holocaust survivor died trying to protect his students from the gunman.

Also, we're learning names of additional victims.

The gunman left a horrific legacy. Now we're learning more about his disturbing past and the weapons police say he used to commit the worst shooting massacre in modern U.S. history.

CNN's Brianna Keilar is on the Virginia Tech drill field. And she has the very latest -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fred.

Actually, we have moved over to the Alumni Center, where we're preparing for a news conference coming up soon, hopefully to get some more answers. But we did learn earlier today that Cho Seung-Hui was committed to a mental health facility in December of 2005, the last academic year after two incidents, the first in late November of 2005. He was contacting a female student by phone and in person. She got police involved, because she didn't want to have anything to do with Cho. She refused to press charges, just telling police that she found the contact to be annoying.

Then, a little more than two weeks later, December 13, 2005, Cho was texting another female student. Again, Virginia Tech police got involved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WENDELL FLINCHUM, VIRGINIA TECH POLICE CHIEF: Officers followed up the next morning and spoke with Cho concerning this matter. Later that day, our department received a call from an acquaintance of Cho's who was concerned that Cho might be suicidal.

Officers again met with Cho and talked with him at length. Out of concern for Cho, officers asked him to speak to a counselor. He went voluntarily to the police department. Based on that interaction with the counselor, a temporary detention was obtained, and Cho was taken to a mental health facility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: An important thing to note here, Virginia Tech police say they believe Cho was voluntarily committed. That's important, because, if you do take a look at the firearms purchase test, there is one question on there that asks if you have ever been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility. If you have been, that raises a red flag during that application for purchasing a firearm. And, presumably, you wouldn't be able to do so.

Now, another question being raised from all of this, those two young women who Cho was contacting, who in turn contacted police, were they among the victims? Virginia Tech police say, no, they were not.

Meanwhile, here on campus, still, students very shocked, but they are beginning the grieving process. One of the ways they are coping today, Fred, is through prayer. There was a prayer service earlier today there on the drill field, really the heart of the Virginia Tech campus, a lot of people standing around in circles holding hands, praying together out loud, some just taking a moment to reach out to each other in silence and just support each other -- support each other -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And, Brianna, some students who say they knew Cho as best they could are also talking a little bit more about what they observed about him.

KEILAR: That's right. We're learning a lot from people who actually lived with Cho, former roommates and suite mates, even a suite mate who, as of Monday, was living in the same suite as Cho. Now, you know that authorities have described Cho as a loner. Really, that is what we're hearing from these students as well, including Karan Grewal. He told CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" that he saw Cho just hours before the first shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN MORNING")

KARAN GREWAL, CHO'S FORMER SUITE MATE: Scenarios go through my head, because I saw him that morning, and I thought, what if I would have said something to him throughout the semester that would have made him angry at me?

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow.

GREWAL: And, you know, we never lock our doors in our suites. It's always open for anybody to come in. And, even when I went back to the room, I was up until 6: 30 in the morning, finishing my assignment, and the door was wide open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Gary Tuchman interviewed a former roommate and suite mate from the last academic year who -- they lived with Cho. And he learned some very disturbing things from them, Fred.

They told him that Cho had an imaginary girlfriend, that he would randomly take photos of them, which is something we have also heard from classmates. And they were aware of the stalking incidents that took place last year. Also, they told Gary that Cho would play a Collective Soul song over and over again, dozens of times, just ad nauseum.

And, like everyone else has said about Cho, his former roommate and suite mate told Gary he didn't talk much to them, that they rarely heard him utter a word -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks, Brianna, lots of weird details.

But, clearly, a lot of folks just weren't sure what to do with a lot of these observations or their experiences with Cho.

Thanks so much -- Don.

LEMON: And, two days after the tragedy, five more victims' names have been released.

Matt Gwaltney was a second-year grad student from Chester, Virginia. He was studying civil and environmental engineering, but loved to squeeze in some basketball and softball in his free time.

Freshman Rachael Hill was an only child interested in biology. She was a high school volleyball star and an accomplished piano player. Friends and school officials say she was deeply religious.

Jarrett Lane was a senior about to graduate, a civil engineering major, was his high school valedictorian, and a four-sport athlete back in Narrows, Virginia. He turned 22 last month.

Henry Lee's family emigrated from China when he was in elementary school. Unable to speak English when he arrived, Henry became a citizen in 1999. He was a freshman studying computer engineering.

Partahi Lumbantoruan was a graduate student from Indonesia.

Michael Pohle of Flemington, New Jersey, liked to play lacrosse, was majoring in biological sciences, and worked as a bartender in town to earn some extra money.

Julia Pryde was a graduate student from Middletown, New Jersey.

And Waleed Shaalan (ph) came to Virginia Tech from Egypt. He studied civil engineering.

And Leslie Sherman was a sophomore. She was interested in history and international studies.

WHITFIELD: Well, he survived the Holocaust, escaped Romania's communist rule. But it is Liviu Librescu's final act that made many to say that his final act is what defines him.

The 76-year-old professor blocked the door of his classroom as a gunman tried to get inside.

CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff joins us now from Brooklyn with more on the funeral services that are now under way for Librescu -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

Fredricka, the funeral service has been completed for quite some time. In fact, it was very, very brief, only five minutes long. A rabbi said a memorial prayer. A local assemblyman made some comments. And then the casket was brought outside. Dozens and dozens of people from the Orthodox Jewish community of Borough Park followed the casket outside, none whom knew professor Librescu, but all of whom wanted to honor him.

The reason that the funeral was actually held here, the funeral home here arranges for burials in Israel. So, the body was brought up here and it is going to be flown to Israel this evening.

As you said, the professor died a hero, literally barricading the door, telling his students to jump out of the second floor, get out of window. All the students survived. And, of course, the professor himself was fatally shot.

His wife, Marlena, told me that this was his style.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARLENA LIBRESCU, WIFE OF LIVIU LIBRESCU: Very typical. He was fighting for everyone to -- to go -- to -- to be very good, to have a job to, find a job. He was always, always helping how he could. But he was not able to help himself.

CHERNOFF: He had no fear of death?

LIBRESCU: I don't know. I think, at the last moment, he had, when this crazy student entered in his room and...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Professor Liviu Librescu, a survivor of the Holocaust, a brilliant professor of engineering, his body is going to be flown this evening to Israel and be buried in Ra'anana, Israel, just north of Tel Aviv -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: A brilliant man, even in death. Thanks so much, Allan Chernoff.

LEMON: Well, some of the wounded students are expected to be released from the hospital soon. And, today, they got a visit from Virginia Governor Tom Kaine.

CNN's John Zarrella joins us now from the hospital with more on that -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Hi, Don.

That's right. Govern Kaine came here this morning, about 10:30 or so, and spent a good 30 to 45 minutes visiting with the families and with all eight of the students here, the four young men and four young women who are still here at Montgomery Regional Hospital.

And, when he came out, Governor Kaine said he was incredibly touched and incredibly moved by their spirit to recover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: The students are generally doing pretty well. Most of them were sitting in bed, smiling. A couple of them had walked for the first time today.

Their parents and family have come. These are students from Virginia, but also from -- a number from Pennsylvania and Maryland who are here, families who had come a long way. But they're just very, very thankful that their children are alive and are recovering.

You know, the -- some interesting stories, a young lady who -- really anxious to get out, because she's maid of honor in her sister's wedding on Saturday, a young man who was prominently featured in some of the early coverage in photos of -- a young guy who was shot in the femoral artery, knew enough, from being an Eagle Scout, to put his finger in the artery and then tie it off with electrical tape. Doctors say that probably saved his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: You know, Governor Kaine said that he was incredibly touched by what they had gone through and how far they have come in such a short period of time.

And, again, there are eight of them here. Five of them are in the intensive care unit. Three of them are in the orthopedics unit. And they are all doing much, much better. One of the things that Governor Kaine said that really touched him was the fact that all of the students that he talked to and their families wanted to express their deepest sympathies and let the families of those who died know that they were thinking about them and had them in their prayers -- Don.

LEMON: Certainly some good news in all of this, that they are getting better.

Let's talk a bit more, John, about the governor. What did he have to say about this review board?

ZARRELLA: That's correct.

The governor said that there is actually an independent review board, a panel, that is being established that's going to be headed up by a former colonel, head of the Virginia State Police here, and that the panel was actually inspired by Virginia Tech. And they are the ones that came to the governor and said, hey, we want to do this. And the governor said, yes, that's a good idea. I think we should do it as well.

And they're going to look into, among other things, that two-hour gap between the times of the first shootings at A.J. and the time of the second shootings over at Norris, that two-hour gap, and what was going on, you know, what the police were doing.

And the governor said that we all have the benefit of hindsight now, but, in the heat of the moment, what happened in that two-hour period, as one investigation was going on into the original shooting, and then what happened two hours later, they want to try and piece all that together.

And they believe that, once they are able to do all that, that they will have a clearer picture and understanding of what happened. And perhaps it will give the families of those wounded and those who died a little sense of closure -- Don.

LEMON: CNN's John Zarrella -- thank you so much, John.

WHITFIELD: So, he left South Korea long ago, but his crime is cutting his countrymen deeply.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I just want to the apologize to the American people," says this man, "as a Korean, that our reputation is ruined."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM: more on South Korea's collective guilt. LEMON: At a loss for words after 32 lives lost -- ahead in the NEWSROOM, Deepak Chopra addresses a question many people are asking: Why do bad things happen to good people?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Fifteen minutes now after the hour, here's a look at some of the other stories we're working on this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.

There has been a wave of insurgent bombings today in Baghdad. At least 170 people have been killed and 230 hurt.

Here in the U.S., the Supreme Court has upheld a federal ban on a type of late-term abortion. The 5-4 decision marks the first time the court has heard a major abortion case in six years.

And, in Tennessee, the minister's wife accused of killing her husband testified today that she doesn't remember picking up a shotgun or pointing it at him. She also said she did not pull the trigger, but she heard a boom when the gun was fired.

LEMON: Why does this gunman choose to kill so many? And could anything or anyone have stopped him? We may never know the answers to any of that, but, as President Bush said yesterday, there will be healing.

Joining us now from New York, Deepak Chopra. He's a leader in the field of mind/body medicine.

And I want to start off by asking you the same thing that my partner, Fredricka, asked Franklin Graham when she interviewed him just a short time ago. Where was God in all of this?

DEEPAK CHOPRA, AUTHOR, "THE BOOK OF SECRETS": Well, God is not a person out there in the sky overlooking human affairs. God is a field of consciousness that is set up for maximum diversity.

And that includes the divine and diabolical, the sacred and the profane. The deeper question to ask is, how did that collective matrix of thought lead to a situation where people feel alienated, where people feel humiliated, where people feel enraged? And why do we have systems that allow its -- make it so easy for these people who are full of rage to go buy a gun and go on a spree like that and a massacre like that?

LEMON: You're saying a collective matrix of thought. And you're talking about all of us worldwide, worldwide?

CHOPRA: All of us. All of us.

LEMON: And, again, not to blame the students or any people who were killed in all of this...

(CROSSTALK)

CHOPRA: Not at all.

LEMON: But you think that this collective matrix of thought is really why we have predicaments like this?

CHOPRA: It's the psychosis of the collective mind that thinks in terms of separation, alienation, humiliation, and rage. It's our collective shadow that projects as evil out there.

And, so, we begin with ourselves. We say, how can I add to the compassion in the world, to the love in the world? How can I participate in forgiveness? How can I bring healing to a personal relationship? And, if enough of us do that, and that reaches a critical mass in the world, that collective matrix of thought, then perhaps we will project a different world.

LEMON: If enough people are operating in that level, then...

CHOPRA: That's right.

LEMON: ... I guess, if you act, if you want something, you have to be it and it will cause other people to act that way.

CHOPRA: Yes. Being, feeling, thinking and doing in that order.

LEMON: Yes.

CHOPRA: So, start with the being.

LEMON: OK. So, what now?

Let's deal with what happened.

CHOPRA: I think...

LEMON: And you have this young man who obviously, according to his classmates and people who have dealt with him, had some very bad -- exhibited some very bad behavior, was isolating himself, was depressed.

So, then how, then, someone else, do you deal with someone outside of yourself, do you go to that person and say, you know what, you need help? What do you in that instance?

CHOPRA: Well, see, there are two components in this particular case.

There is evidence that this young man was mentally unstable. In fact, he had hospitalized for that and seen for that. So, that was something that one has to be more alert to, mental instability. And, therefore, there's a role for security and vigilance around these issues of mental instability, because mentally unstable people can be extremely dangerous and sometimes it's totally beyond their control.

But, aside from that -- and, you know, increasing security and vigilance can also increase fear-based behavior. So, we don't want to go in that direction either.

LEMON: Right.

CHOPRA: So, you have to say, at the same time as we are being more vigilant, how can we increase our listening? How can we start to ask questions like, what are we observing? What are we feeling? Are there needs here that haven't been met? And how do we fulfill these needs?

And recognizing from, you know, the great insights of people like Abraham Maslow that love and a sense of belonging are really almost as important as food and water and air.

LEMON: And, Deepak, we only have a few seconds. But, if you have an overarching advice that you would give to people who are dealing with this situation to the students of loved ones, of families, what would say to them?

(CROSSTALK)

CHOPRA: The first advice is, there's no room for guilt. The only thing we can ask ourselves now is, how can we begin the process of healing?

And healing is nothing other than the return of the memory of wholeness. How can we embrace everyone in our personal lives and say to them, what are you feeling at this moment? How can I help you feel more safe?

LEMON: Engaging.

CHOPRA: And, in that collective safety, in that collective sharing, there is compassion. And, when there's compassion, there's love. When there's love, there's healing.

LEMON: Deepak Chopra, thank you.

CHOPRA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Living with Cho Seung-Hui.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY, FORMER SUITE MATE OF CHO SEUNG-HUI: When I heard that she had had a -- it was the boyfriend, I was kind of thinking it wasn't Seung, because I had never seen him with a girl, or anyone else, for that matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Cho Seung-Hui's strange behavior, say a lot of people. His roommates speak out. That's straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Well, he was the ultimate survivor, and, this time, he made the ultimate sacrifice. Virginia Tech engineering professor Liviu Librescu stayed behind to block the door, as many of his students jumped from classroom windows to safety.

They made it, and, unfortunately, he did not. The 76-year-old survived the Holocaust. He died on Holocaust Remembrance Day. A funeral is being held right now in Brooklyn. And the rescuer will be buried in Israel.

CNN's Paula Zahn spoke to a family friend about the man being hailed as a hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": What makes his heroics all the more staggering is the fact that he himself was a Holocaust survivor. How did that shape who he was?

NITZA KATS, FAMILY FRIEND: Well, he was not afraid of anything anymore. After what he went through himself.

ZAHN (voice-over): His son in Israel says his father's passion for academic studies is what drove him to teach every day.

ARIE LIBRESCU, LIVIU LIBRESCU'S SON: That's what woke him up in the morning, and teaching and doing research. That was his food. That was the food to his soul.

ZAHN (on camera): How do you want him to be remembered?

KATS: Just remembering his unselfishness, what he did for the others.

LIBRESCU: He loved his work and discoveries. And he literally gave his life for what he loved.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And Paula joins us now live.

That professor's story is amazing. And, tonight, Paula, you're going to focus on another victim, the last person to see the shooter alive. Can you tell us about that one?

ZAHN: Well, we're going to have an interview with the parents of Colin Goddard (ph), who, as you just said, is believed to be the very last of his victims to have seen him alive.

In fact, by the time he was shot three times by Cho, Cho had already fired 20 rounds into the classroom. And his parents will describe how he pretended to be dead, Colin Goddard (ph), and, then, at one point, he heard two piercing sounds. And then, of course, Cho fell to the ground.

So, as you can imagine, at this point of the process, as they're watching their son recuperate from surgery, it's very painful to tell his story. But he is believed to be the last of his victims to have seen Cho alive.

LEMON: Yes. And it's probably, Paula, very painful just to listen to the students and all of the people who witnessed all of this.

Tell us more about what you're learning there on the campus about the warning signs that Cho might have given.

ZAHN: Well, we have all learned a lot more details. At first, we had heard that the head of the English department was very concerned about Cho's writings, and, in fact, pulled him out of an English class, so she could tutor him one on one.

We found out today that a woman claimed to have been stalked by him. We also know he went through the mental health system, voluntarily admitting himself to a program. So, I think what I found as I traveled across campus today is a variety of opinions from students about all these red flags that were exposed.

And some students say, you know what? Give me a break. We're not going to sit here and point fingers at the administration for letting this kid fall through no safety net available here.

But others are increasingly angry, and say look, when we came to campus, our parents and we expected that we would be able to study in a safe environment. And they knew this kid had a track record of mental health problems and was not stable. And look what happened.

So, as you can imagine, the sensitivities run very, very deep here.

LEMON: Yes.

ZAHN: And we will explore all of that with -- with students and faculty members tonight.

LEMON: Yes. And, Paula, you send your kids off to school, and this is the last thing you expect to happen to them. Our hearts go out to everyone there, Paula.

ZAHN: No. Well, and...

LEMON: Go ahead.

ZAHN: That's what the kids were saying, basically. No one ever could have predicted, even in spite of his history, that it would lead to this massacre.

LEMON: Yes.

Paula Zahn, thank you so much.

Paula will be anchoring her show tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. Thanks again, Paula.

WHITFIELD: And, Don, now this story out of Iraq: an unusual consequence coming from a string of bombings that have taken place that have resulted in 180 people dying today.

The Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has now ordered the arrest of a top Iraqi army officer, after the string of bombings. In a written statement, the prime minister said the decision was made because of -- quote -- "the weakness of security measures" put in place to protect civilians in al-Sadriyah. This is the central Baghdad area where the majority of the deaths have taken place after a string of bombings taking place today, 180 people killed -- pretty remarkable.

Meantime, some interesting movement on Wall Street today, in an encouraging sort of way.

Susan Lisovicz is there on Wall Street.

And, so, we're now seeing that some folks are celebrating the Dow's all-time high. At least very encouraging news within the past month, isn't it?

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

LEMON: All right, Susan, it's Don Lemon here. Yes, we're going to have to get to the White House. We're going to go take a look at Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, they're speaking now.

SEN. HARRY REID, (D-NV) MAJORITY LEADER: ...all it was but with a few variations but mainly that. We are in a position where we believe we're doing the right thing for the people of this country, majority of the Congress and the military. The president, with the legislation that we have, that he will soon get, does more for the military than what he sent us. We believe he must search his soul, his conscience and find out what is the right thing for the American people.

I believe signing this bill will do that. It gives the troops more than he's asked for. It leaves the troops there for a considerable period of time with some goals and benchmarks that have been called for by the American people, of course, the Iraq study group, of course, and many, many military.

So, I would hope that he would do what I believe is the right thing for the country and sign the bill.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr. Leader. I concur with the view of the distinguished majority leader that this was a productive meeting with the president. He took the time to hear our views and shared his with us.

We came here in the spirit of hope, recognizing that this is a historic opportunity for the executive branch, for the president and the Congress to work together to wind down this war and to ensure the security of our country and the stability of the region. We came in the spirit of hope that the president would take yes for an answer.

The legislation that we will send to his desk certainly supports the troops. It gives the president everything he asked for as the leader said, and more. So it supports the troops, it honors our commitments to our veterans, which of course, have been -- those commitments have been unfulfilled. And it holds the Iraqi government accountable. It does so in a way that also strengthens our military which is essential to the security of our country.

I believe we were able to tell the president some things about our legislation that he may or may not not have been aware of, that this is about a change of mission from combat to training, to protecting our diplomats there, to fighting terrorism in the region and to staying there to protect our interests wherever they may be threatened in the region.

It's about accountability, as I said. It gives the president all of the benchmarks that he himself proposed and all of the benchmarks regarding the Iraqi government that he has endorsed. It does so, though, with an element of accountability. We cannot give the president a blank check, but we are willing to work with him to come to agreement.

With that, I'm pleased to yield to the distinguished -- in any event, we look forward to continuing the conversation with the president. We have committed -- it is our plan, it has been our plan to pass legislation next week so the president can take it up at his earliest time and hopefully, give some hope to the American people that we understand that they want us to work together to wind down this war. Bring our troops home.

REID: Speaker, if I could say one thing.

PELOSI: Please.

REID: I've had a lot of meetings over my political career, but I can say that I was really very proud of each of us, the Democratic members, me excluded, because people gave their opinions, they gave their considered opinion what was going wrong and right with the war in Iraq. And I think we have too little of that. I think it was extremely important that the president hear from us, and he heard from us in detail. And I think he needs to hear more of conversations from people like us who don't always tell him what he wants to hear. I think we told him things today that he needed to hear.

PELOSI: With great respect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president has been very clear in saying he will not --

LEMON: OK, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid there, meeting with the president just a short time ago. Both of them saying they came with the best of intentions, they came in the spirit of hope, as Nancy Pelosi put it, and what I found very interesting, we're going to get to Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill. But Andrea, what found very interesting, he said he asked the president to search his soul today and do what's right for the troops and the American people. What can we expect out of this meeting today, Andrea?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think I could have told you what you could expect going into the meeting, Don, and that is the standoff continues, despite the polite language and very complimentary language of themselves that we heard both Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi use.

The fact of the matter is both sides are dug in here. The president said very clearly this was not going to be a negotiation. He still is threatening a veto if Democrats send him a bill next week as they say they plan to that has language in it for a deadline for U.S. troops to leave Iraq.

The fact is, that going into today's meeting, we heard the Democrats say up here on Capitol Hill with the mothers of Iraq soldiers, American soldiers rather who are serving in Iraq and Iraq war veterans standing side by side to them, that they are going to have a timeline and a deadline in that Iraq war supplemental.

LEMON: All right, Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill. Thank you so much for that report.

WHITFIELD: And Don, this just in out of Minneapolis. The Associated Press is reporting that seven buildings on the campus of the University of Minnesota have now been evacuated because of a bomb threat and in fact, all classes now in those buildings, all classes and meetings that were scheduled have been canceled for the day.

Apparently, the university is indicating that earlier this afternoon, a professor in one of the buildings in Smith Hall found a note that included a bomb threat against several of the campus buildings, seven of the campus buildings in fact there at the University of Minnesota on the Minneapolis Campus. And as a result, they have canceled all classes and meetings for the day in those buildings.

LEMON: Cho Seung-Hui's strange behavior, his roommates speak out straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Two days after the tragedy at Virginia Tech, and now quite the scare at the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. Apparently there has been a bomb scare there and it lead to the evacuation of seven buildings on campus. According to the University, a professor found a note in one of the seven buildings, which indicated there was a threat, a bomb threat against seven of those buildings. As a result, they evacuated them. All scheduled classes and meetings in those buildings have been canceled for the day.

LEMON: And now back to the Virginia Tech massacre. Who was Cho Seung-Hui? CNN's Gary Tuchman sat down with two students who roomed with him this school year. Compelling interview you will only see right here on CNN. Both asked us to only use their first names.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN, CHO SEUNG-HUI'S ROOMMATE: He wasn't friendly by any means. He was just quiet.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Was he mean?

JOHN: No. He sometimes I guess you would say rude the way you would try to have conversation with him and you couldn't get any feedback from him, like talking to a brick wall.

TUCHMAN: Did you think that was strange initially?

JOHN: Yes, I did. But I used to be pretty shy too, when I came to Tech. I thought maybe something is happening inside. I don't know. Just for him to be so quiet and not want to talk to people.

TUCHMAN: And Andy, did you feel the same way when you first met him? Did you think it was kind of weird?

ANDY, CHO SEUNG-HUI'S ROOMMATE: I thought he was really quiet and shy. I didn't think he was weird, initially. Some people are shyer than others.

TUCHMAN: So, when did you start noticing, Andy, that perhaps it was a little more than being a shy nice guy?

ANDY: We tried to hang out with him at first, introduced him to our friends and stuff. Weeks of this, and he never opened up. Just never talked to us, and went about his day by himself. Never saw anyone come visit him.

TUCHMAN: I mean, did you ever sit down and have a conversation with him?

ANDY: Never more than a couple words. Other than the one time when we went out. To a party, and he opened up and said he had an imaginary girlfriend.

TUCHMAN: He told you he had a imaginary girlfriend?

ANDY: Yes.

TUCHMAN: What prompted him to say that?

ANDY: We had been drinking. So I guess he decided to open up.

TUCHMAN: So he had a few beers and opened up. What did he say about an imaginary girlfriend?

ANDY: He called her was it Jelly? And she called him Spanky.

TUCHMAN: Spanky and jelly.

ANDY: Yes, and that was that. TUCHMAN: What did he say about this imaginary girlfriend?

ANDY: She was supermodel I think.

JOHN: Yes.

ANDY: Yes.

TUCHMAN: And were you guys amused by this or weirded out by it?

ANDY: More amused. You think this guy's pretty crazy.

JOHN: Yes, strange strange guy.

TUCHMAN: But then something happened that you say he started harassing women at school here, right?

JOHN: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Tell me about that, John.

JOHN: I went back to my room one night and there was a policeman in there. And apparently what had happened was he had gone up -- or had he started talking to her online first. He found where she lived, started talking to her on AIM. Then he went over there, was using the name question mark, said, "hey, I'm question mark."

That freaked the girl out.

TUCHMAN: So he was stalking her.

JOHN: Yes, he found out everything about her first.

TUCHMAN: Like he told this girl all the things he learned about her?

JOHN: I don't know if he told her that. But he thought they were playing some kind of game or something.

TUCHMAN: Did you know the girl?

JOHN: No, I --

TUCHMAN: Was she freaked out about it?

JOHN: Freaked out enough to call the police.

TUCHMAN: Did this happen with any other girls, Andy?

ANDY: There were two other instances we know of. One of our friends, he started following and bothering her and another was down the hall.

TUCHMAN: And what happened in those cases?

ANDY: The one down the hall, I got the girl's screen name and kind of told her, I IM'd her and told her this guy is messing around with you. Here's his name. You shouldn't, kind of ignore him and stay away from him.

The other time, the cops responded again and Seung became upset about that and told me he might as well kill himself. So I told the cops that and they took him away to the counseling center for a night or two.

TUCHMAN: And when he told you that he might kill himself, did you think he might be serious?

ANDY: It was more out of, I could kind of see him doing it. It was before break is what I remember. And he never went home. So he would have been there over break by himself if he was serious about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And as folks on the Virginia Tech campus try to cope with their feelings, now two days later on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis, they're dealing with a bomb scare of their own. We'll have more on that story when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: At the University of Minnesota, students and faculty have been evacuated from seven buildings on campus because of a bomb scare. Apparently a professor in one of the buildings came across a note threatening this bomb scare in seven buildings on campus. And so now, all of those students are being asked to return to their dormitories, not to congregate in the mall area. We're continuing to follow the developments there out of Minneapolis at the campus of the University of Minnesota.

LEMON: And now back to the Virginia Tech massacre. Cho Seung- Hui was just a little boy when he left South Korea. Even so, his killing spree at Virginia Tech has many Koreans feeling ashamed and disgraced. CNN's Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance has a report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): An emotional vigil, charged with regret and with sorrow. Sad Koreans are shocked that the Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui, was one of their countrymen. His killing spree has plunged this nation into an agony of shame.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's such a disgrace on our country, this woman told us. We can hardly speak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to apologize to the American people, says this man as a Korean, but our reputation is ruined.

CHANCE: And the concerns are reflected by the country's leadership, sensing the public mood, even the South Korean president added his voice.

PRES. ROH MOO-HYUN, SOUTH KOREA (through translator): Our people and I are deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic events that happened in Virginia Tech. We offer our most sincere condolences to the wounded and the families of the victims as well as to the American people.

CHANCE: Their feels of collective guilt in South Korea that speak volumes says this psychology professor about how Koreans see themselves.

People in this country feel a lot of shame because of this.

WHANG SANG-MIN, YONSEI UNIV. PROFESSOR: That's right. We consider this kind of a national disgrace and kind of shame for things and we are so embarrassed on these things.

CHANCE: But that guilt and responsibility has bred fascination, too. And the search for any details, no matter how small, about the killer's Korean past.

This the school Cho attended as a child, a document recording his departure for the U.S. and of course, the home in the South Korean capital where he grew up.

(on camera): This is the dingey basement apartment in a poor area of Seoul where Cho Seung-Hui lived with his parents and sister until he was eight years old. There was not much to it. It has been cleared out now. Nobody lives here. There's one room there and just one more over here.

(voice over) And standing in it, you can easily see why Cho's parents decided to take the family to the United States for a better life.

But it was a life that would end in tragedy and for Cho Seung-Hui in shame. Matthew Chance, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And now two days after the Virginia Tech tragedy, now folks on the University of Minnesota campus out of Minneapolis are dealing with a scare of their own. Why seven buildings have been evacuated. More right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We want to get back to the Virginia Tech campus and CNN's Brianna Keilar. I understand you have new video taken the day of the shooting on campus?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, I do, Don. I'm standing here with Carl Nordeen and Martin Argobrough, the actual people who shot this video. They are students on a one-week exchange from Sweden, they were here to do a project.

Tell me a little bit, Carl, where were you guys when the shooting started and were you already rolling?

CARL NORDEEN, SWEDISH STUDENT: We were just walking past, and we weren't really rolling then. We had the cameras up.

KEILAR: Tell me what, are we seeing right now, Carl?

NORDEEN: We're seeing and from the second floor and we were trying to go home. Couldn't get back in. We ran in, of course, and then we just started rolling and then it is just when the police arrived. I think he's the first one on scene.

KEILAR: So your at McBride Hall, which is right next to Norris, there, Martin. So set the scene for me here.

MARTIN ARGOBROUGH, SWEDISH STUDENT: Well, we walked out of Norris or sorry -- McBride and really this policeman kind of forced us back into the building. That's when we went up. We started filming, and it just got worse from there basically. More policemen showed up. More guns, guns pointed at students coming out of Holden Hall. Obviously, not knowing from the police side who they were since they didn't have an identity on the shooter or the shooters because they weren't sure at that time.

We were taking it as a very serious and just exercise really at this point. We weren't really taking it -- we were laughing and cutting jokes about it. So it's very strange to think that so many people are killed just next door while we were telling jokes about this.

KEILAR: You obviously had no idea really the -- what was happening and how large an event this was. But tell me, Martin, a number of coincidences brought you here to this campus. And it's sort of one that kept you away from this scene, right?

ARGOBROUGH: I mean, we were -- the two of us were chosen out of class to go here. We were supposed to go last week and we ended up going this week, we came on Sunday evening and we just went up, walked around earlier, had some dinner and walked into random houses basically. We came to either go into Norris or to McBride. And McBride just looked nicer outside. So we went in there.

KEILAR: All right, Martin Argobrough and Carl Nordeen, thank you so much for speaking with us today -- Don.

LEMON: Brianna Keilar, thank you so much. You're looking at new video taken the day of that shooting brought to us by Brianna Keilar and those students there. Thanks, Brianna.

WHITFIELD: And we'll see more of those images in the "SITUATION ROOM" which begins at the top of the hour. Meantime, the closing bell and a wrap-up of the action on Wall Street is also straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The closing bell is just about to ring.

LEMON: Susan Lisovicz standing by with a final look at the trading day. Hi Susan. It's a record.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now let's go to the "SITUATION ROOM" and Wolf Blitzer live from Blacksburg, Virginia.

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