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Review Panel Assembled for Virginia Tech Massacre; Columbine Anniversary; From Heartbreak to Hope

Aired April 20, 2007 - 10:59   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming in to the NEWSROOM on Friday morning, April 20th.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Thirty-two people, the wrong place at the wrong time. Today, a day to mourn the Virginia Tech shooting victims. Church services nationwide. A moment of silence in one hour.

HARRIS: This week's horror documented by CNN's Special Investigations Unit. Our Soledad O'Brien joins us to preview her special, "Massacre at Virginia Tech".

COLLINS: Wildfires spreading today in south Georgia. Eighteen homes lost, a thousand people may need to evacuate soon. A developing story we're watching here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A week of terror and grief. Today, a day of mourning. The spotlight shifting from the gunman who launched the massacre at Virginia Tech to his many victims. Across the country, churches will hold vigils and services. Across Virginia, a moment of silence.

CNN's Brianna Keilar is on campus this morning.

Brianna, you have some new information from a law enforcement source regarding Cho's rampage?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. A law enforcement official tells CNN that Cho Seung-Hui filed -- pardon me, fired more than 100 shots during his rampage at Virginia Tech on Monday, that he reloaded his weapons many times, and that he shot most of his 32 victims more than three times each.

That law enforcement official also telling CNN that the FBI is helping Virginia State police analyze those videos that Cho sent to NBC News. That includes analyzing them for any sense if he had help shooting them, although at this point the evidence suggests he didn't have any help. And Heidi, this comes as we have learned some of the names of the people who are going to be taking part in a review panel to look at how university officials and law enforcement officials responded to this massacre, the events leading up to it, during and after these shootings. We understand it's going to be headed up by the former head of the Virginia State Police -- that's Colonel Gerald Massengill -- and also a name you'll recognize, Tom Ridge, former governor of Pennsylvania, also former and first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. They will be joined by experts in law enforcement, mental health and higher education to take a look at exactly the university and police's role in this ordeal as it played out.

Of course, Heidi, you know, this comes as some criticism we're hearing of law enforcement and university officials about why didn't they shut down the campus after that first shooting and why they didn't alert students of that first shooting more quickly -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Right. And interesting and good to know there's a mental health official that's going to be serving on that panel as well. I know you'll be following that for us, Brianna.

Also, we also know that today is a very special day to remember the victims in all of this. What are students and alumni doing today?

KEILAR: Well, you know, every day this week, of course, has been a day of mourning, but today is officially a day of mourning, declared by Governor Kaine. And he's asking for people all across Virginia to acknowledge those 32 victims of this shooting with a moment of silence at noon Eastern today. But it's stretching far beyond Virginia.

You know, a lot of states are planning to have moments of silence at noon, or a vigil, or maybe bell tolls. And today is also being called Hokie Hope Day. This organized by alumni here from Virginia Tech. A lot of people you're going to be seeing wearing the official colors of Virginia Tech, orange and maroon, in a show of solidarity with those students and the people who are just coping with this tragedy -- Heidi.

COLLINS: CNN's Brianna Keilar on the campus of Virginia Tech for us.

Brianna, thank you.

HARRIS: And also this morning, a message from the father of murdered Virginia Tech student Mary Read. He is pleading with the media to shun the hate-filled rantings left behind by the killer. Instead, he wants the news coverage to celebrate the lives of the victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER READ, SHOOTING VICTIM'S FATHER: I can tell you without any question that we're united in one sentiment. And I want to make a direct personal plea to all the major media -- broadcast, print, it doesn't matter -- for the love of god and our children, please stop replaying and replaying that audio and video that you're playing. It's a second assault on us. It's a second assault on our children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Mary Read was a freshman. She was killed in Norris Hall while attending French class.

COLLINS: Still coping with the horrifying massacre at Virginia Tech, the nation today marks the eighth anniversary of another mass killing, the Columbine High School murders. The survivors mourning with the people of Virginia now. And some offering advice on how to heal.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Rachel Scott was eating lunch in the cafeteria at Columbine High School on this day eight years ago when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold launched their bloody shooting rampage. Rachel was the first person killed.

Her brother Craig was in the school library and watched the killers shoot two students next to him. Eight years after Columbine, Craig Scott can offer the wisdom only a survivor and witness can share.

CRAIG SCOTT, BROTHER OF RACHEL SCOTT: I dealt with a lot of anger from Columbine. I hated the two shooters for a while. And I would challenge to not to continue to hold on to and embrace the anger, but take that and actually I would challenge to forgive.

LAVANDERA: To do that, Craig and his father Darrell started a school program called Rachel's Challenge. They tour the country talking about school violence. This is their way of celebrating Rachel's life. But to reach this point, Darrell Scott had to deal with other emotions first.

DARRELL SCOTT, RACHEL SCOTT'S FATHER: I expected Rachel to walk into the room for days. I would wake up, and within that split second remember that she's no longer here, and then it was like a surreal type of a thing.

LAVANDERA: Virginia Tech families are dealing with the pain of loss in a public, high-profile way, but Craig Scott says there is good that can come from that.

C. SCOTT: It brings on some different good things. Some good things are that there's a lot of people now that are aware of your pain and want to -- want to help.

LAVANDERA: Craig and Darrell Scott have found that talking about Rachel has been the best way to heal.

D. SCOTT: That's the best advice I could give, is to celebrate the lives of the ones you lost, because what we focus on is what we become. And if we focus on bitterness and anger, it destroys us.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Classes won't be held today at Columbine High School, cancelled, just like they are every April 20th. It's a day of reflection. And the one piece of advice that the people here have for the people of Virginia is that they should not stop talking about what happened.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Littleton, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Eight victims of the Virginia Tech shootings are still in the hospital today, and some enjoyed a serenade outside their windows last night. Take a listen.

The Hokies marching band played the school's fight song -- how about that -- outside one of the three hospitals caring for the wounded. Patients came to the windows, as you saw there just a moment ago. Some snapped photos, others just savored the moment and -- and the music.

COLLINS: Good for them.

From the despair on Virginia Tech's campus, to finding hope after the heartbreak. Joining us from Washington to talk about that is CNN contributor Bill Bennett. He's the host of the radio show "Morning in America".

Hi there, Bill. Thanks for being with us.

BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks, Heidi.

COLLINS: We have you today because we know that you've just come out with a new book, "America: The Last Best Hope". It's Volume II.

And you know, it has been tough. I was there. I looked in the eyes of some of these kids who -- it's going to take them some time to find hope. How do they get passed this? How do they move on and yet remember it forever?

BENNETT: Well, it's an American story. There are a lot of dark moments in American history. But as G.K. Chesterton said when he visited here, he said, "The sky is often black, but then the stars do come out."

Ronald Reagan used to say, there's the shadow, and then there's the light. And we can see some of the light.

First of all, there's light in a lot of these kids, what you just showed, Heidi. You know, that kid with the camera out the window, the band playing.

COLLINS: I know. It was great.

BENNETT: The irrepressibility of the young. And so we're seeing that.

Also, what stories do we focus on? You know, in my book, I tell the story of American history. It's a story that has darkness, that has atrocity, that has embarrassment, as things that should never have happened. But it also has a ton of light, a ton of stars, real stars, and most important, hope.

Look at the stories that come out of this, the stories of personal heroism. Liviu Librescu, you know, rescued by the allies and repays the debt, this 76-year-old Romanian professor, by blocking the door and saving the lives of those kids. There's a story that encourages hope.

Another professor, Professor Granata, up on the third floor, came down to the second floor to help. You know, I have to say, conservatives, when they hear the word "professor" these days, they think to hear of Ward Churchill, you know, this guy out in Colorado who was ranting and raving. There are other kinds of professors, and we just saw a couple of them.

COLLINS: There sure are.

BENNETT: How about Lucinda Roy, that English professor, who, you know, saw there was a problem, tried to help, tried to do things?

COLLINS: Well, she took him on, on her own.

BENNETT: Yes.

COLLINS: She knew that she couldn't do any more than she had done by way of making him leave the university, of course. But she said, you know, "I felt that I should have been the one to instruct him one on one."

BENNETT: That's right. That's right.

Now, what stories we tell and what we come out of this is being determined right now. So I just hope -- I mean, I've said to all the media, including my own show, and I say it to CNN, and I said it last night on FOX, you know, tell the stories, the good stories, too.

I talk about Lieutenant Cally, you know, in Vietnam in 1968. And that was a terrible thing what Cally was doing. But there was another guy, a guy named Hugh Thompson who came in with his helicopter and got between Cally and the people Cally was going to kill, the villagers.

Tell that story, too. Tell the whole story.

If you focus on failure, if you focus on the dark side, you'll have more of the dark side. If you focus on the right side, the upside, you'll get more of that, I believe.

COLLINS: But Bill, how do we protect those stories? How do we make sure that that's how history will -- will remember this? Especially in direct conflict of that, the video that's come out, the messages from the shooter himself.

BENNETT: Well, you know, it's funny. You're right, it's hard. And there's a tendency in our age, because it's the age of, you know, showing everything. It's the Tarantino, you know, movie culture. It's a focus on the dark side because people think that sells.

Columbine, the university, we all remember Eric and what's his name...

COLLINS: Dylan Klebold.

BENNETT: Dylan. But what about Cassie Bernall? Do you remember that little girl?

COLLINS: I do. I do.

BENNETT: Yes. A lot of people don't. You know?

She said -- they said to her, renounce being a Christian, say I'm not a Christian and we'll spare you. And she wouldn't do it. The story of martyrdom, really. That's a tremendous story.

How do you do it? You fight for it. You write a book. That's what I did.

You fight for space on the show. You have an opportunity to tell the positive stories, the good stories.

COLLINS: No question about it.

And, you know, there's something else that you have to offer us here. And that is, after serving as secretary of Education under the Reagan administration, of course, there's a much bigger issue here by way of education and these university systems across the country.

What do we do for these kids to help prevent something like this? The mental health aspect? I mean, there's so much more to talk about here.

BENNETT: You know, one of the people I keep thinking about, Heidi, is Ryan Clark, that African-American from Atlanta, 23 years old, triple major...

COLLINS: Yes.

BENNETT: ... one of the first killed here. He's a critical person. He is the guy between the university administration and those students.

COLLINS: No question.

BENNETT: Give him more -- give him more equipment. Give him more to go on. Give him more authority. Give him more leverage. Let him make more calls about kids and kids who need help. Heed him more. I've been in that situation. I was a proctor at Harvard, '69, '70. There were kids who were taking drugs, there were kids who were selling drugs.

Some of the resident advisers didn't care about it. Others cared a great deal. Those are very important people, as important as your counselors or as your police officers.

They're the first line of defense. They're your alert system. I think pay more attention, pay more attention to that.

But right now, with these kids, hold them close, love them, get them back into class, get them back into their work. Get them off obsessing about this. Get the media -- we're part of it -- but get them out of there. Get the circus media tent out of Blacksburg.

COLLINS: Absolutely.

BENNETT: And let them go back to their lives.

COLLINS: Yes. I think we're starting to see some of that now.

BENNETT: Yes, at last.

COLLINS: We do know, Bill, that they're supposed to be going back to school on Monday. Commencement is going to take place on the day that it was scheduled for, on May 11th. So hopefully all positive signs.

BENNETT: Great.

COLLINS: Bill Bennett, so appreciate you being here. Thanks a lot.

BENNETT: Thanks, Heidi. Like your orange -- burnt orange, right?

COLLINS: Yes.

BENNETT: I've got my burgundy tie, too.

COLLINS: All right. Good for you. Thanks so much, Bill.

HARRIS: Ad the mental health of the Virginia Tech shooter. There had been questions for quite some time. So, why was he on campus and not in a treatment center?

We take a look in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Catching cancer early, a critical factor for surviving the disease and the crux of a government program that provides breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income and uninsured women. That program credited with saving thousands of women's lives.

And just last hour, President Bush signed into law a measure that reauthorizes funding for the effort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths for American women. This year, an estimated 180,000 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Eleven thousand will be diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Together, these two cancers are expected to claim the lives of more than 44,000 Americans in 2007. Early detection allows early intervention. And it's the best way to increase the chance for survival.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Democrats and Republicans in Congress worked together to get the program renewed.

HARRIS: And now a daily dose of reality, and a harsh one at that. It is about exercise and your health. It is a message CNN is taking on the road.

Here's our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: All right. So here it is. We've been talking a lot about it, but this is the Fit Nation Express Air Stream (ph). We'll actually be taking this around the country to deliver the message that we've been working on for so long about fit nation, about how to make this country a fitter place.

Look, we talk about this a lot. You've heard the numbers -- 66 percent of adults are overweight or obese. It's linked to just about chronic disease out there: diabetes, heart disease, cancer, arthritis.

We talked about it, and we decided we wanted to do more than talk about, actually get on the ground, get in to the communities, and try and deliver messages that actually empower people to do something about it. Again, we're going to be going all around the nation.

We have a simple message this year, and that is that for every hour of exercise that you do, you can add two hours to your life later on. Think about that for a second. For every hour you do, you can add two hours of life later on.

So we're actually going to try to add a million hours of life to the country. That's our goal here at CNN.

We actually have a counter. You can go to cnn.com/fitnation, start pledging your hours now. We want to get that up to a million hours in the next couple of months.

We're starting here in Atlanta this weekend. We're actually going to have a live show here at Centennial Park. Lance Armstrong, our partner, he is going to be joining us for the show. We are going to travel from there to New Orleans. We're going to go to Denver. We're going to go to San Diego. We're going to go to Chicago. We're going to partner with existing events in these cities to try and deliver the message about how to be more fit.

This is our Air Stream (ph). As I mentioned, there's going to be all kinds of activities that actually come out of this Air Stream (ph), delivering the health messages.

We're going to have a cycling station. You can actually compete against Lance Armstrong's time.

But we're going to try and give you activities and specific things that actually you can embrace into your own lives to try and make you more fit. Everyone talks about, now it's time to try and do something about it.

Also, if you go to cnn.com/fitnation, you can meet our Fit Nation buddies. We have three CNN employees that we're going to actually be following along for the next few weeks to see how they do. We think their lives very much approximates yours. So we can all learn something from this.

Our Fit Nation Express Air Stream (ph), look for us around the country. We're going to have a lot of fun and we're going to make a difference.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Will do.

All right. To get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, log on to our Web site. You will find the latest medical news, a health library, and information on diet and fitness. The address, cnn.com/health.

COLLINS: I'm looking forward to getting a look at that Air Stream (ph), you know? A tour of that thing.

HARRIS: Yes. Come on now.

COLLINS: Hey, look at this. A bruising battle in Florida. The combatants, a suspected thief and a store clerk with nerves of steel.

All of it caught on tape, of course. David Ham from our affiliate WFTV has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID HAM, REPORTER, WFTV (voice over): Rolling towards the door, neither one of the two were backing down. From surveillance video, you can see Kenneth Griffin attacking this 25-year-old clerk, trying to get her out the door. But she made it clear, she's not going anywhere.

ROBIN MAYFIELD, MOUNT DORA, FLORIDA, POLICE: She's tough. She did fight back. And a lot of times, you know, people don't do that. We don't encourage it.

HAM: The alleged attacker first walked in with another man at this Mount Dora Circle K just minutes before 2:00 a.m. Tuesday, asking to buy beer. The two men walked out without paying and came back in before leaving again. As the clerk, Tara Thomas (ph), went outside to tell the two to pay up, Griffin comes back inside.

MAYFIELD: He comes back in, pushes her to the ground, proceeds to hit her in the face, grabs her by the hair.

HAM: Behind the register, Griffin allegedly asked for cash and cigarettes. He yanked her around the counter, but he didn't have a weapon.

While the two fought, Thomas got resourceful and hit Griffin in the face with a carton of smokes. As he left, he realized his ride was gone. So he ran and was eventually caught by police.

MAYFIELD: In the end, it worked out in her favor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Man.

A driver asleep at the wheel takes out pump number five. We will show you how a quick-thinking man saves the day. Gas station crash -- hello -- in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins and Tony Harris.

COLLINS: The Virginia Tech gunman, many wondering today if he was so mentally unstable, why was he on campus? Here now CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All the signs were there. Extreme isolation, stalking, violent writings, suicidal thoughts. A judge's finding that Cho presented an imminent danger to himself. Why was he not forced into the custody of mental health professionals? CNN Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Schools and universities are really in a bind here. On the one hand, they can be sued for locking people up unnecessarily. On the other hand, they can be sued for not looking people up who go on to do damage to themselves or to other people.

FOREMAN: Many of America's 16 million college students exhibit signs of mental stress or illness. The American College Health Association found that one in ten has seriously considered suicide. And one in 100 actually tries it. Counselors say most of these students just need help. Greg Eell's counsels at Cornell.

GREG EELLS, CORNELL UNIV. STUDENT COUNSELING: If somebody is struggling and seeking help, you don't want to take their rights away. You don't want to do something that's going to keep people from seeking help and getting the help that they need.

FOREMAN: Still, victims rights advocates say the public needs help too, in dealing with the mentally ill. Eight years ago a schizophrenic man pushed 32-year-old Kendra Ann Webdale in front of a speeding train in New York, killing her.

He was off his medication. Her death led to the passage of Kendra's Law. Which allows the mentally ill be to medicated by force if necessary. Her mother, Patricia, now an advocate for mental health treatment says shootings like the one at Virginia Tech might be averted if patient privacy laws were changed.

So doctors, counselors, professors, even students could share more information about potentially dangerous individuals.

PATRICA WEBDALE, KENDRA'S LAW IMPROVEMENT PANEL: The idea is to protect the privacy of people. But sometimes we protect the privacy of the wrong people.

FOREMAN: If Cho had been deemed an imminent danger to others, not just to himself, he could have been committed. If he had been committed, he could not have legally bought those guns. But knowing the difference between the merely disturbed and the truly dangerous is key.

And often no one knows. Until it's too late.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: To most of the world Virginia Tech is now the site of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. But to students, faculty and friends, it is the epicenter of pain and healing.

CNN's Soledad O'Brien has been on campus since the day the tragedy happened. She is here in Atlanta today to talk about her one- hour documentary on the shooting. She is here now with a preview. Soledad, great to see you.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And likewise. Imagine how difficult it is for the students and the parents and the people who live in the community to have the focus of the nation looking at a site of the worst gun violence in the history of our nation. They think of it as home, this is where they live and go to school.

It is so painful, so hard for them to try to move on when the media is there every day. People literally talk about cameras being shoved in their faces. Some want to talk. Others say it's the last thing they want to do.

But when the pictures of Cho became the headline, the story, many people almost literally looked like they had been hit over the head. It was so painful and difficult for them. They also wanted to talk to say, no,, let's put the focus back on the victims and back on the people we lost.

HARRIS: Did you find some of these students actually seeking you out, wanting to come to you and say, Soledad, let me tell you about my friend?

O'BRIEN: Many times wanting to tell about their friends. Many times wanting to relive the day, the moment, we spoke to one young man.

HARRIS: Really?

O'BRIEN: Who told us he was in lockdown. He told us what it was like to suddenly have the numbers ratchet up so quickly. That's when he realized how bad it was.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINT GRIFFON, ERIN PETERSON'S FRIEND: It was crazy to me. First you hear one person dead, then seven, eight persons injured. Then ten people injured, then 17 people adjourned. Then out of nowhere, it's 22 people dead. And the next thing you know, there's 32 people dead. And I just, I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. I was like, this is not really happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: This weekend, we'll sit down with the people who will be dealing with this tragedy long after the cameras go. Long after frankly, the focus of the nation has moved on past them.

HARRIS: Did you -- did you find there was any real anger? Are some of these young people starting to point fingers and play that blame game?

O'BRIEN: Surprisingly, no. Many of them, who we asked that very question would say, hindsight is 20/20.

They actually did not fault the administration. There were some parents that were very angry. But for the student population who had lost friends, no, they did not feel they wanted to play the blame game. That they wanted answers immediately. That was surprising to me.

HARRIS: Soledad, maybe it's just me. I'm wondering if there is a group of students there that wants to leave that campus and never return.

O'BRIEN: Another surprise. Of course, anecdotally only. We'll have to wait until the school year starts again to see how many students actually return. But not a single student said that he or she was going to pack up their bags and go.

And not a single parent. A lot of parents came, in grabbed their kids and packed them up and were taking them out. Not one parent said, listen, I'm concerned.

The answer that we got was, if it can happen here in Blacksburg, Virginia, which is, to many people, like heaven on earth, truly, no exaggeration. Then that kind of violence can happen anywhere.

HARRIS: Soledad, I can't wait to see the special. This weekend here on CNN. Great to see you.

O'BRIEN: And likewise, of course.

HARRIS: Another reminder here to join Soledad O'Brien tomorrow and Sunday night at 8:00 P.M. Eastern for our special investigation units Massacre at Virginia Tech. Right here on CNN.

COLLINS: Asleep at the wheel in West Virginia. And the fiery results. We'll show you this, more about it coming up, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

And he is one of India's most eligible bachelors. She, a former Miss World. Both Bollywood movie stars getting married today. Think Brad and Angelina, only bigger, if that's possible. You're in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Private wedding, public fascination. It's royalty of the cinematic sort. The prince and princess of Bollywood tying the knot. CNN's Satinder Bindra reports.

SATINDER BINDRA, SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: There will be the grand finale in a few hours. Former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai, and a famous movie star will wed one of India's most eligible bachelors and a movie star himself, Abhishek Bachchan. The wedding is taking place here in Mumbai. The wedding is taking place in a the bride's fathers house. He's a living legend and one of the most famous people of Indian cinema. They're describing this wedding as Bollywood's most important event this year.

SHANINI SHARMA, BOLLYWOOD ANALYST: You have the hottest star today. Okay, who's the son of the hottest actor in the industry. Getting married to the most beautiful face in the country. I mean, it's a deadly combination. It's something that will attract anybody.

BINDRA: Now, let me tell you about this couple. Abhishek Bachchan, is a hot movie star. His last movie was with Aishwarya Rai. The movie was called Guru and it's turned out to be a big hit.

Aishwarya Rai is the international face of Indian beauty. She was on the cover of Time magazine in 2003. She's been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman and endorses several products from watches to make-up.

Now as far as the media here is concerned, they are talking about every little tiny detail of this wedding, everything from who's prepared items to where the flower arrangements are coming from. From that point on, many insiders here feel that the details of the stars life will be laid bare by the media.

SHARMA: Bad thing for the stars, and good thing for the people and the media. It's always interesting. There's always a curiosity element. Everybody loves to know what the next guy is up to behind closed doors.

BINDRA: The big question here, what's going to happen to this couple after their wedding? Media critics feel that Aishwarya, who will be 34 soon, won't be acting in too many movies. But they say her brand value will go up and she'll make a lot of money doing endorsements. As for Abhishek Bachchan, the feeling here is that he'll have a successful career. Astrologers are predicting that this couple, just like in the movies, will live happily ever after.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, Mumbai.

COLLINS: Abhishek Bachchan. I don't need an astrologist to toll me he'll be just fine. He's hot.

HARRIS: Wow!

What did you say?

COLLINS: Nothing. Just some mumbling.

HARRIS: "Your World Today" coming up at the top of the hour. Stephen Frazier here with a preview. Sorry Stephen, just a little preoccupied here. My apologies, sir.

STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: We're mumbling here, too.

We go first to Virginia Tech. This has been a story of deep interest with our international audience. We'll be live for the moment of silence, the ringing of the bells. Of course, signals of mourning in any language.

Then we head off to France for the ever, ever tightening presidential race. Polls open in less than 48 hours. There are different visions of France being put forth by the candidates. Huge numbers of undecided voters. Hala Gorani and Jim Bitterman size up what this will mean for Europe and the United States, too.

Then we go back to Mumbai. It's always nice to see Satinder Bindra but we have lots of pictures of Ashwaria Rai.

HARRIS: That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about, Stephen Frazier!

Thank you, sir. See you at the top of the hour.

COLLINS: A driver hits the road, and the gas pump and a convenience store.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The car was coming at me. I saw, it everybody started screaming and I just ran and I jumped up here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: You can see the plywood behind him. The frightening crash could have been an absolute disaster, obviously. It wasn't. We'll show you, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange where the bulls are running. Can you say Dow 13000? I'll have the big numbers, next on NEWSROOM. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: Something we want to show you here, a fiery crash that could have become a catastrophe. A pickup driver in West Virginia slamming into a gas pump and then a convenience store.

Details from Christine Habrle of affiliate WCHS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE HABRLE, WCHS REPORTER (voice-over): In a split second, this knocked-out driver veers off 119, across the grass and takes out pump No. 5, causing it to explode into flames. He never slows down.

VAMSHI KESARI, WITNESS: The car was coming at me, and was I saw it, and everybody started screaming, and I just ran and I jumped up here.

HABRLE: Then, bam, the truck slams into the convenience store, narrowly missing two men and the clerk. But look at this beam. It almost hits her right in the head.

KESARI: People are screaming, running, there was fire. It was just an explosion. Everything was just crazy.

HABRLE: Amazingly, no one got hurt, except for a few scrapes.

KESARI: It was a miracle of God. It was a miracle of God.

HABRLE: Vamshi Kesari acted quickly to minimize the damage, getting a visual check on his sister, the clerk, and then racing to the back room to shut down the pump. KESARI: I just saw the pump on fire, and I knew I had to get it turned off, so it didn't go into the tanks, and the tanks explode, and we had a big mushroom cloud there.

HABRLE: The pump is secure now and doesn't pose a threat. This is the second time someone has crashed into the building. Owners aren't waiting for a third to protect themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bigger the better.

HABRLE: They're putting big boulders on the property to keep any other wayward drivers from doing harm.

Right now they're relieved this situation didn't turn out much worse.

KESARI: One second too early, one second too late, somebody could have gotten killed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Man, what pictures.

HARRIS: A day to mourn the 32 people who died at Virginia Tech. Church services around the nation and a moment of silence planned. We will fill you in, right here in the NEWSROOM.

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COLLINS: Bursts of gunfire and an explosion of terror, then heart-wrenching images of innocence lost. This week, the drama played out on the most unlikely of stages, an American college campus. The tragedy unleashed by one cruel man revealed a larger good, a sense of unity, of strength, and of resilience. Here, the rousing words of one professor at Virginia Tech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI GIOVANNI, VA TECH PROFESSOR: We are Virginia Tech. The Hokie nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hand to those who offer those hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imagination of the possibility. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears, through all the sadness. We are the Hokies! We will prevail. We will prevail. We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.

CROWD: Let's go, Hokies! Let's go, Hokies! Let's go, Hokies!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And that is exactly what I think everybody hopes either we take from this, from this week and from this horrendous experience, is that pride and that strength and courage that these kids have shown. I stood outside that coliseum when the convocation was going on. The sea of maroon and purple of those kids, and the parents and the community members going into that coliseum to fill it up and listen to Nikki Giovanni and many other speakers was really something.

HARRIS: I want the families of the victims and that entire community to be well, and soon, and I hope they have everything that they need as they move forward.

COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.

"YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next with news happening across the globe and here at home.

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