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Tragic Air Show in South Carolina; Virginia Tech Student Shares Story of Survival
Aired April 22, 2007 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: A cell phone camera captures the moment an air show turned into a fiery tragedy, sending a Blue Angels jet and its pilot crashing to earth. The tape may hold the answers to why this flight went so terribly wrong.
Nasty storms sweeping across parts of the nation, dumping large hail like this on Texas. We'll show you more of the damage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I kind of sat there for a minute and it hurt. And I was - I sat there for a minute and I did try to keep really still and...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And a Virginia Tech student shares her amazing story of survival, playing dead while the shooter went on a rampage in her class.
All this from the CNN NEWSROOM.
And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. We just got in some amazing video from that tragic air show in South Carolina. You're going to see this video only right here on CNN. What you're really about to see is the Blue Angels pilot, Kevin Davis. He's marching to his F-18 fighter jet for the Saturday air show. We now know it was his last air show.
Here it is.
See the precision with which he gets onto the plane. This was shot by Gary Dipasquale, this video. He called us just about an hour ago to tell us he had it. So we turned it around for you.
You know, to look at this, it's as beautiful as it is haunting at the same time. Lieutenant Commander Kevin Davis taking off with his fellow Blue Angels there. As you know now, he did not land safely. And here's some other pictures that we're going to be sharing with you. Again, pictures you're only going to see right here on CNN.
Let's go ahead and flip to those, Claude, if we possibly can. It's the final seconds of Kevin Davis' flight, captured by i-reporter Theresa Richardson. We'll see it there. Davis in the number six plane coming from the other side of the screen somehow fails to join the mid air formation, suddenly plunges behind the tree line. Davis' F-18 crashed into this Beaufort neighborhood, throwing jet parts into homes and cars. Now we brought you the story as it happened. Davis was killed and eight people on the ground were also hurt.
Let's do this. Joining me now is a former Blue Angels pilot. He's the current mayor, by the way, of Pensacola, Florida. John Fogg is his name.
Mr. Mayor, thanks so much for joining us, sir.
JOHN FOGG, FMR. BLUE ANGELS PILOT: Rick, I'm delighted to be here. I'm sad for the occasion, though.
SANCHEZ: Oh, I can only imagine. Are you in front of a television set right now?
FOGG: I sure am.
SANCHEZ: All right, let's roll this video. And I want you - I want to see if you can break it down for us. Go ahead, Claude, if you would. Roll this video. We're going to show it's now an actual time. And you'll see what it looks like as the plane goes from the right of your screen, those at home watching it. And then it tries to make that turn just above the tree line.
It's a quick turn. Now we're going to show it to you again. This time, we're going to show it to you in slow motion. Obviously, it's going to come from this side in case you didn't see it. And then you're going to see the roll right in here as you see the plane. Now you're going to see it there. See right there? That quick roll.
I'm asking, Mr. Mayor, because you have experience. You're a jet fighter pilot yourself. Is there anything different, anything peculiar that you see about that?
FOGG: I've reviewed this video several times on your Web site. This has actually better quality than I was able to get there. I'm a trained air craft mishap investigator or was when I was on active duty in the Marine Corps. I don't see any obvious clues as to what may have gone wrong in this particular situation.
There's a couple of - well, there's several potential scenarios. You see that he's really pulling a high G load right there.
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
FOGG: And the potential exists because the Blue Angels don't fly with anti G suits for a blackout situation.
SANCHEZ: And then the G force, by the way just to interrupt you, is going to come in probably right there. Stop. Right there, right there. Just as he made that turn right there, right?
FOGG: Well, he's not - there's a delay on the video. Right there in my screen... SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
FOGG: ...you can see, he's really pulling hard. And the possibility exists, and I don't know - I think you talked about the blackout...
SANCHEZ: Exactly. Talked out with Miles O'Brien last night.
FOGG: Yes. What can happen. And you begin to lose peripheral vision and then you appear to - it looks like you're looking through a tunnel. And then you can black out entirely. And what happens is that you're not aware of that. I've been in that situation before. Blacked out, in fact, when I was with the Blue Angels.
SANCHEZ: But these guys train, and train, and train, and train.
FOGG: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: Would you not think that it would be very unlikely for something like this to happen?
FOGG: I think it's extremely unlikely that that's a potential cause.
SANCHEZ: But you still consider it plausible?
FOGG: Well, it's one of the possibilities. Beaufort, South Carolina is a coastal community. My wife and I were stationed there for many years. And in fact, Blue Angel air shows have been interrupted because of bird strikes that have occurred in the past there. So bird strike is a possibility. Some other kind of mechanical failure could be a possibility, although there's nothing on the video that would indicate that there's an obvious problem with an engine or structural failure of any kind.
SANCHEZ: Well, I tell you, you've really added some perspective to this. We thank you. You're an expert. We're not. That's why we call on you. And it's very kind of you, Mr. Mayor, to be there the night before us. John Fogg from the city of Pensacola.
FOGG: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Well, we've been doing some homework on the Blue Angels ourselves. Who are they? Why do they do what they do? Why were they formed to begin with? Here's what we found out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Fifty-one years, that's how long the Navy's elite aerial demonstration team has been thrilling air show crowds around the world. Looping, rolling, roaring in formation, inches apart, just over the heads of 15 million thrilled air show fans a year.
Remarkably, though, given the difficulty and danger of the stunts, Blue Angels crashes are relatively few. Before today's crash in South Carolina, the last Blue Angel fatal accident happened almost eight years ago, during a training flight in Georgia.
The last fatal crash during an air show, 1985. 22 years ago. All of these thrills, these risky maneuvers, these deaths defying stunts, they have one main purpose, recruiting. Air shows bring people. Lots of people. Young people to watch the Navy's coolest pilots flying the coolest jets, in hopes of a rush on recruiting offices, keeping the Navy's name out there and equating it with cool and exciting. That doesn't hurt either.
And now the story of a man. Tonight, the U.S. Navy, the Blue Angels and the town of Pittsfield, Massachusetts all are remembering the career of a Navy man and fighter pilot, Lieutenant Commander Kevin Davis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE MCGILL TEICHERT, FAMILY FRIENDS: Kevin was a special boy.
TOM MCGILL, FAMILY FRIENDS: He certainly was. I'm sure it's a great sense of loss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This was Commander Davis' first year as a demonstration pilot with the Blue Angels. He was 32-years old.
She was the first person shot by the Virginia Tech shooter. And tonight, police say they believe that she may hold the link to understanding his madness. So they're combing through Emily Hilscher's cell phone and computer records.
And here's what else we know about this case tonight. Cho fired as many as 225 times. Several of his victims were shot in the head. An autopsy now reports or confirms, we should say that he also shot himself in the head.
Well, tonight, students are returning to the Virginia Tech campus with a lesson that they never wanted to learn. Here is CNN's Brianna Keilar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM PACE, PASTOR: We are going to be recovering from this for a long time.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pastor Jim Pace of Virginia Tech's New Life Christian Fellowship is trying to help students heal.
PACE: There's just no playbook for this thing. There's just -- you just don't have a plan for what you do when a massacre happens.
KEILAR: So he turns to prayer.
PACE: Give us the strength to forgive Cho for the thing that he did. God, I ask you to be with the families of those that have died, including Cho's family.
KEILAR: And he adds a dose of levity, taking a question from the audience about the school's trademark dance.
PACE: The first question, and I think it was a very profound question, and that is, will they be doing the hokie pokey in heaven? And I would answer, yes, it's heaven. Of course, it wouldn't be heaven without it. OK? So that's the first one.
KEILAR: In this congregation, hundreds of students and alumnae, each with a sad story.
KATIE PEPIOT, STUDENT: She's so silly, she's just crazy, but she had the biggest heart. And yes...
KEILAR: Katie's Pepiot's friend, Nicole White, died at the hands of Cho, Seung-Hui, so her message for his family might surprise you.
PEPIOT: His family didn't tell him to go do this. Like this is a choice that this person has made. And I think for us not to love his family is just a huge error. I think we need to be there for them. And I know it hurts to think about forgiveness so soon. And I don't know that people are ready to talk about forgiveness quite yet.
KEILAR: Not everyone here is as close to this tragedy as Katie, but they're all struggling to move in the same direction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forgiveness, while it may take time and it may not happen overnight, to be walking down that path is the path that we need to be walking down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Romans 12:21 said, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And Brianna Keilar is joining us now from Blacksburg, Virginia. One of my producers tells us, Brianna, telling me just a little while ago that you were surprised by some of the people who were there, who had come a long way to join those folks there at Virginia Tech.
KEILAR: That's right, a few special guests at this service today, Rick. Three students who survived the Columbine massacre. And they came just to send a message to students here at Virginia Tech that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I spoke with one girl who was 14 when she did survive that massacre. She exited the library right before Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold came into it there at Columbine High School. And she said when you're going through this, it's as if you're in this very dark spot and you don't see a way out. And she said that she and her friends were there to show students that there is a way out and they will be able to move on and move forward from this, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Wow. And who would know better? Brianna Keilar, we thank you for that report. Well, right now in schools all over America, people are wondering if there's a - somehow a Virginia Tech shooter in their own circles. You may even be thinking it yourself tonight, that guy who never talks to anybody, the one who keeps to himself, is he about to snap?
Well, students and staff at Georgia's Kennasaw State University shared their thoughts with us about this. Here they are in their own words, by the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIDIA HANEVOLD, JUNIOR, KENNESAW STATE UNIV.: You know, I've got piercings, I've got tattoos. I'm not your typical student. I would hope that people can recognize the difference between me and somebody who just gives you that feeling.
ROBERT MATTOX, DIR. COUNSELING CTR., KENNESAW STATE UNIV.: I think one of the things that has been talked about with this particular student at Virginia Tech is that he was introverted, very withdrawn, and he did not communicate with other people even when prompted. That doesn't always necessarily mean that an individual is going to do the types of things that the Virginia Tech student did.
PHILLIP JUSTMAN, FRESHMAN, KENNESAW STATE UNIV.: It might go to the extent where you come across a Korean friend who's introverted. And all of a sudden, he's going to be a threat and people have to watch him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think for a while, the fallout from this is going to be that everyone who is quiet, everyone who is shy or withdrawn is going to be scrutinized.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Psychologists, by the way, say that the two don't necessarily connect.
Finally, this is such an odd twist of fate, that it bears mentioning. So we will mention it. This Virginia Tech freshman, his name is Jeff Soriano, he walked out of Norris Hall just moments before Cho started shooting everyone. He was so shaken by it all, that Soriano went to home, left the area, went to Norfolk, where he was killed in a car accident over the weekend.
Coming up, a student who was trapped inside the Virginia Tech classroom when the gunfire began.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard him reloading once or twice, and a scream and some moans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Well, she explains that she got out by playing dead. Also, take a look at this. Hail, the size of baseballs. Some of you might be seeing a lot more of this in your backyard. We'll tell you where. And then this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't recall. I don't recall...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You might call it less than total recall. Much less. Is Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on his way out? It's all ahead, right here. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We've moved over to B control now. What we want to try and do in here is bring you up to date on some of the pictures that we've been getting in from all over the country. And let's go ahead. Claude, if we can, start with this.
This is bad weather. It's all the way - listen from Texas to the Dakotas. Can you believe that? That's golf ball sized to baseball sized hail. This is in Texas, where this is coming in from. Goodness, gracious. Tornado flattens a small panhandled town of Cactus. 50 people still unaccounted for, but authorities think they probably evacuated before the storm. Let's certainly hope so.
Then this. Let's move to this video. Astronaut ripped space suit. It's part of the glove. It's outside the International Space Station when it happened. Nobody knew this happened, by the way, until he got back. There was actually a tear. I think you might be able to see it in one of these pictures. It's a tear that went undetected until the astronaut returned from NASA. There it is right there. See it? See the little tear right there?
Well, that means, you know, stuff can get in. The space suit wasn't punctured. So it wasn't life-threatening at least, you know obviously, because he came back. But a lot of folks in Nassau are alarmed about this. And they're working on designing new suits now that are lighter and less bulky. And obviously, he's going to be undergoing a lot of medical tests as a result of this.
Let's take you to the ballpark now. This is baseball, Mets baseball. Well, some fan had to be arrested during the game at Shea Stadium against the Braves. Frank Martinez is now being charged with flashing a powerful flashlight, like a laser pointer at the Braves pitcher and the short stop during the game. So obviously, he's like behind home plate. So he's shining, you know, face forward at the pitcher and the short stop.
He was sitting near the Mets dugout, we're told, behind home plate when other fans said, hey, what's this guy doing? He called authorities. He's charged with interfering with a pro sporting event and reckless endangerment. Didn't know there was such a charge. The conviction carries up to a year in jail, believe it or not, and $5,000 fine. The Braves, even though they had the thing in their eyes, won the game.
Here's other stories that we're going to follow. Coming up, we're going to take you to a correspondents dinner. Sheryl Crow and Karl Rove go at it. And it gets nasty. And now both are talking about it. We're going to bring you that story. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Boy, we've got some bad news and really sad news to share with you tonight. Cancer has claimed another member of Congress. It was just last week, that Juanita Millender McDonald requested a leave of absence from Washington. She died early this morning at her home in Carson, California. The 68-year-old Democrat is the second member of Congress to die of cancer this year. Republican Representative Charles Norwood passed away in February. Millender Mcdonald was in her seventh term. She recently became chair of the Committee on House Administration.
Well, tonight, Karl Rove and Sheryl Crow, putting them in a room together. And guess what happens when you do that? Fireworks. Crow and producer Laurie David were at the White House Correspondents dinner last night. And they approached the president's political guru to discuss global warming. Apparently, it took about two seconds for the conversation to suffer freezer burn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURIE DAVID, ENVIRONMENTALIST: So we tried to have a conversation with him. And you know, it was odd because he got immediately hostile, and very combative. And you know, the conversation went downhill from there.
SHERYL CROW: I felt it was very disappointing because you want to, with leadership, you want to be able to engage, because we're all Americans here. And we all have the same concerns. And to be shut down, it was very disappointing.
DAVID: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Well, Rove, by the way, has his take on this, too. He says, Crow came over to insult me and she succeeded. The White House, as you might expect is defending their man, Karl Rove. They say their - "We greatly respect the opinions and the passion that many people have for this issue. It would be good to have some of that Hollywood energy channeled into constructive problem solving rather than baseless finger-pointing."
Hollywood may get the final say, though, by default. David Letterman put together a top 10 list of the president's funniest gaffes that were caught on tape. And of course, this is all done in jest. It's done every year. Everybody makes fun of everybody at the correspondents dinner. So they played it last night. And let me tell you -- it's worth repeating.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN: The category tonight top 10 favorite George W. Bush moments -- top 10 favorite George W. Bush moments.
(LAUGHTER)
Here we go. Number ten. Uh-oh!
Number nine.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If it feels good, do it. If you got a problem, blame somebody else.
LETTERMAN: Number eight.
BUSH: The issue of immigration stirs intense emotions. And in recent weeks, Americans have seen those emotions on display on the streets of major cities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Of course, none of that is fair. It's just not fair. Nonetheless, we're going to show you the entire top 10 list throughout this newscast. We'll bring it to you as it was shown last night at the correspondent's dinner so you can see it as well as those media elites.
Attorney General, he's the AG, of course, but will he be keeping his job after his performance last week? Also, he's a former Arkansas governor who wants to follow in his predecessor's footsteps. Mike Huckabee has the religious right on his side. Will they send him to the White House? He's live. He's going to be our Sunday spotlight tonight. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back to B control. I'm Rick Sanchez. Tonight, there is no let-up in Washington in the political pressure that is facing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. His Senate testimony this week certainly did not help his case. In fact, some top Republicans say it made things worse, much worse.
Senator Arlen Specter says that the attorney general's testimony was very, very damaging to his own credibility. Specter also says it has been damaging to the administration. He says he is not going to call for Gonzales to resign, but some of his former Republicans do want Gonzales out, including potential presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH, FMR. HOUSE SPEAKER: I think that the country will be much better served by having a team at the Justice Department and that the inability to remember the meeting in which the key decision was made is frankly disturbing. So I would hope that the president would presently have a new team at the Justice Department.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Well, Gonzales, we were told, worked for an entire week trying to bone up and get ready for this Senate Judiciary. That's why his performance for many was so surprising, especially three very specific words that he continued to use.
Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos on total recall or lack thereof.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS: It was a long day for a guy with a short memory.
ALBERTO GONZALES: Sir, I don't recall. I don't recall. I do not recall -- I don't recall remembering.
MOOS: To help Alberto Gonzales recall what he doesn't remember was this guy, keeping score, a member of the Veterans Against the War. He and a handful of protesters made themselves hard to forget during breaks in the hearing. Yelling sarcastic comments about the attorney general's legal positions.
Also keeping tabs on Gonzales' memory was "The Daily Show."
GONZALES: I can only testify as to what I recall.
Sir, I don't recall. I don't recall. I firmly believe that nothing improper occurred.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he assures you what he doesn't remember was handled properly.
MOOS: Now Gonzales didn't invent I don't recall. It's a time dishonored tradition.
RONALD REAGAN, FMR. PRESIDENT: I have to say I don't recall that at all.
BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT: I just don't recall that.
GONZALES: I recall making a decision.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When?
GONZALES: I don't recall when the decision was made. . MOOS (on camera): Ha, ha, go ahead and laugh, but I've personally made plenty of decisions that I recall making, but I don't recall when I made them, not that I recall any examples. See, right there's two I don't recalls.
(voice-over): Though that's nowhere near Gonzales' total for the day-long hearing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 74 times, I don't recall. How did you get through law school?
MOOS: How did she get into the Senate with that get-up? Free speech. As for the guy keeping score, he sure was hit on the liberal blogs. The man with the digits is making me swoon. That guy is totally hot and he can count past 50. Yes, Adam Kokish got all the way to 74 I can't recalls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was actually a lot more than that. If you include the I don't knows, and I am not aware of, it would have been probably close to 400.
MOOS: Just to refresh your memory.
GONZALES: I don't recall. I don't recall. I had forgotten.
MOOS: Maybe it would have been less work to count these.
GONZALES: I do recall.
MOOS: At least the sign is.
(MUSIC "Unforgettable in every way.")
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Alberto Gonzales's memory, it's just one of the topics that we're going to be asking presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Let's show him the good governor here. As a matter of fact, I looked and he was smiling while he was watching Jeanne Moos' piece. OK? I guess we can also call him Skinny. The former Arkansas governor's going to join us next in the NEWSROOM in our Sunday spotlight.
But first, as promised, more of David Letterman's top 10 list of President Bush's non-presidential moments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LETTERMAN: Number seven.
Number six.
BUSH: That there be a stable Iran, Iran that is capable of rejecting Iranian influence. I mean Iraq.
LETTERMAN: Number five.
BUSH: I like to fish.
LETTERMAN: Number four.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: We welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Tonight in our "Sunday Spotlight", could another Arkansas governor be president of the United States? Mike Huckabee has accepted my invitation to be in our hot seat tonight. He's considered, as you probably know, the darling of the religious right. Many believe that in a crowded field of so-called conservative pretenders, many that this guy has a legitimate shot because he's is the real deal.
Governor, we have some news that you're doing well in the straw poll in South Carolina. Welcome to you, here. And congratulations, sir.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FMR. ARKANSAS GOV., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, thank you, Rick.
We had a very good day in South Carolina and before that a very good week in New Hampshire. So, I think things are beginning to track.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, some of the bad news though is coming out of New Hampshire. We looked at some of the polls in New Hampshire. Take a look, there. You were tied for last among a bunch of Republicans. You should be doing better. I mean, considering that you come in with a real pedigree as a conservative.
HUCKABEE: Well, the truth is, this isn't about polls yet. It's about principles. As people get to know who I am, what I stand for, and start really looking at the candidates based on their records and how consistent they are, how genuine those records tend to be, that's why I feel like we're a long way from people making up their minds.
SANCHEZ: Let's talk about what you stand for.
HUCKABEE: OK.
SANCHEZ: You're an ordained Baptist minister, Southern Baptist, we should say right?
HUCKABEE: Right.
SANCHEZ: And in 1998, you said that as president you would lead the United States to be a more Christian nation. Listen, you've gotten some backlash from some Americans who may not be Christians who say, governor, how about us?
HUCKABEE: It doesn't mean I would use any government to force more people to be Christian. If this nation were more Christian, it doesn't mean there wouldn't be room for non-Christians. It means that little kids wouldn't have the daylights beaten out of them by abusive parents. It means that you wouldn't have kids going hungry at night. It means that no child would be sleeping in the back of the car, under a bridge.
Because true Christianity cares about people who have really nothing and that's one of the reasons that, when I say that, I don't back away from it, or apologize for it, because that's what Christianity should be doing for people. SANCHEZ: But just to be clear, if you're a Muslim, if you're Jewish, if you're an atheist, they should still feel that you are their representative. Would you be able to do that by making a statement that you're there to present a Christian viewpoint?
HUCKABEE: You know, one of the things you'd find at my tenure as governor of Arkansas I did more to build bridges I did more to build bridges toward the Muslim community and the Jewish community. I spoke in synagogues. I regularly met with imams from the Muslim community. After 9/11 I called all of the Muslims together to say we're not going to allowed there to be these animosities towards them.
SANCHEZ: So, you're talking about the principles of Christianity are the ones that you would use to guide you, because you're a Christian.
HUCKABEE: Exactly. When Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and we ended up with 75,000 evacuees in our state. I told our people, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." When you see that lady get off the airplane, as an evacuee from New Orleans, ask if this were my mother, how would I want someone to treat her? This is what it means to put Christina principles into action. It does not mean you try to use the government to indoctrinate someone.
SANCHEZ: I get it. I get it, but let's move along. On V Tech now, Virginia Tech this week.
HUCKABEE: Yeah?
SANCHEZ: You're pro-gun. Do you think -- let me put you on the spot, here.
HUCKABEE: OK.
SANCHEZ: Given what happened, do you think that someone with a mental illness established, should be denied a gun permit or given a gun permit?
HUCKABEE: No. I don't think people with mental illness should. The problem is we have laws that protect people from maybe intrusion and privacy laws, we have to reexamine it.
SANCHEZ: So, you're -- but you're -- just to nail you down, you are on the record and you would say to the NRA, that's one of the limitations I that I would want put on someone trying to get a gun permit?
HUCKABEE: That's an issue though, Rick, about mental illness, not about gun control. I don't believe we ought to control people's legal right to own firearms, because that's a constitutional right. The real issue is not whether gun control would have prevented this, whether people would have better access to mental health treatment. That's the really the discussion we need to be having. This horrible, horrible tragedy that --
SANCHEZ: Let's have another discussion now. Let's talk about Iraq. Huge debate as you know, we've been talking about the surge in this country. Most Americans want us out. Now, are supporting the president on this -- still. Why?
HUCKABEE: What my position has been we have made mistakes there, and the mistakes were we didn't listen to the generals who had medals chests and blood and mud on their boots early on. We sort of said this is what we're willing to do. And we had a lot of civilians in silk ties and suits making decisions, that should have been made by the generals.
I think it's important if we're going to carry out a military operation, we ask the military experts the ones who put their lives on the line, what does it take to win it, and we follow that advice.
SANCHEZ: You don't think the people at the White House, this particular administration, listen to them. Final question, we're down to 10 seconds, sir. I apologize for it, but Gonzales -- in or out, if you were president? Given his performance this week.
HUCKABEE: After watching that wonderful piece by Jeanne Moos that ought to get an Emmy, I think he's probably going to be walking the plank.
SANCHEZ: You know, it's funny, I wouldn't be surprised if Jeanne Moos has you in one of her next reports as a result of what you just said.
HUCKABEE: She deserves the Emmy, Rick. That was great.
SANCHEZ: Mike Huckabee, we thank you, sir, for being in our "Sunday Spotlight" this week.
HUCKABEE: Thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Well, throughout tonight's show we have sprinkled in several of David Letterman's funniest presidential moments from his "Top Ten" list. This was shown last night at the Correspondent's Dinner, that's the reason we're showing it to you. Here's three through one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, THE DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW: Number three.
Number two.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Doing a better job of talking to each other. The left hand now knows what the right hand is doing.
(LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE)
LETTERMAN: And the number one favorite George W. Bush moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BUSH: We've been telling you throughout the night that we've been getting different videos, as we often do, more often lately. Now, we've got some amazing amateur video to show you that is coming out of Texas.
You're looking at a funnel cloud. This is in Randall County, just north of Amarillo. It is one of the first pictures that we've gotten of that storm that hit part of the panhandle last night. Some conflicting reports as to how much damage was done by that, by the way.
Here is another look from our affiliate KMAR. This is in Cactus, Texas, also north of Amarillo, this is the area really impacted by this. Officials say more than a dozen people were injured in the storms. And somewhere around 20,000 customers are without power tonight, as a result of this.
Jacqui Jeras has been following it all for us, putting it all together. I guess trying to give it some meaning.
So, have at it, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Real strong storm system. We had multiple super cells last night. Unfortunately, the Texas panhandled may see more severe weather tomorrow and Tuesday. The storm system that has produced those tornadoes have been causing a little severe weather across parts of Nebraska and Iowa, today. You can see those watches have just dropped off. The were all canceled early. So that's some good news here.
(WEATHER REPORT)
SANCHEZ: Just ahead, a gripping story that has people choosing sides. An American jailed, accused of raping and killing the woman that he loved. And some are protesting to keep him behind bars, and others are now trying to get him out. We'll bring it to you. I went there.
And then:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did try keep really still, and hoping he would think I was already dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Playing dead to stay alive, you will hear more from this survivor at the Virginia Tech massacre. It's an unbelievable story told in her words. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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SANCHEZ: Here is B control, we're out here on the big set now for you now. Tonight the amazing story of an American who thought he was in paradise until he was thrown in prison on rape and murder charges. I traveled to Nicaragua earlier this month to investigate this case. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice over): Eric Bowles is a handsome American young man in love with the idyllic setting of coastal Nicaragua. He'd also fallen in love with this Nicaraguan beauty, Doris Jimenez (ph). They dated and had broken up, but kept in contact. Then last November, Jimenez (ph) was found strangled.
Despite almost no evidence, Eric is charged with her murder. But witnesses tell me he wasn't there. He couldn't have done it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Spanish)
SANCHEZ (on camera): He was there in his office, you say, you saw him, he was wearing shorts.
(Voice over): At his trial, witnesses also tell the judge that he wasn't there. But there was something else going on outside that may have impacted the judge even more.
(On camera): With Eric Bowles on trial, his life hanging in the balance there, in that courtroom, the mob here on the street was getting even more tense. The message they seemed to be sending to the judge was clear, we want the gringo convicted.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: We go on, and we talk to her family, the victim. We traveled to the murder scene. We measured the distance. We pulled e- mail records. We also talked to Eric's family and we even get a court order to try and go visit Eric in prison. The entire story, the rest of the story, right here, tomorrow night on "AC 360".
Another ordeal we've been covering closely, the massacre at Virginia Tech. Tonight, one survivor speaking out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really grateful to my teacher because I know she did a lot. She did all she could to try to save us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You will hear how she lived through this nightmare by playing dead. That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM
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SANCHEZ: What a story this has been to cover. Tonight, as students prepare to head back to class at Virginia Tech, one brave survivor is sharing her amazing story with CNN. Emily Haas says that she played dead to try and stay alive, while the shooter went on a deadly rampage. Her story aired earlier this week on Paula Zahn.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR, PAULA ZAHN NOW (voice over): Emily says she and four other students were lying on the floor against the wall in the back of the classroom when two bullets grazed her in the head.
(On camera): You were hit twice. You had to be in terrible pain at that point or were you in shock?
EMILY HASS, SURVIVOR: It was painful when it first happened. I think I was in a little bit of shock.
ZAHN: One of your fellow survivors describes playing dead. He thought that was his best hope at staying alive. But he said in his mind, he almost visualized his own death, thinking, it could be me next. What is it going to feel like? Did you think about that at all?
HAAS: I did somewhat, especially when I got hit. I felt it. I didn't know if I was hurt, if I was shot, if it was nothing. I kind of sat there for a minute and it hurt. I sat there for a minute, and I did try to keep really still and hoping he would think I was already dead.
I remember sitting there and thinking, OK, well, I'm alive so maybe I didn't get shot. Maybe I just got hurt, or maybe it's -- it's not as bad as I think. I did remember thinking, OK, I'm not dead yet.
ZAHN: How long did the shooting go on?
HAAS: I couldn't tell you if it lasted five minutes or an hour.
ZAHN (voice over): After a final series of shots, Room 211 became very quiet. Emily didn't realize the gunman had just ended his rampage by taking his own life.
(On camera): At what point did you realize Cho had killed himself in your classroom?
HAAS: I think yesterday or the day before.
ZAHN: Did you have a sense that people around you had lost their lives?
HAAS: I wasn't sure. I figured they probably were. When I did leave the room, I saw a couple people.
ZAHN (voice over): When it was all over, as many as 10 students and their teacher, Jocelyn Catour Novak (ph) were dead. Emily's mother, Laurie, credits the professor for saving her daughter's life.
LAURIE HAAS, MOTHER OF EMILY HAAS: I think her teacher was directly responsible for saving my daughter's life. I think that Emily is a special person. She's obviously very strong and very brave.
I don't know why she was spared. I don't think any of us will every know why. I think we're very grateful and we thank God everyday. We say particular prayers over and over, and over again, for the people who lost loved ones, and particularly those parents who lost their children.
HAAS: I'm really happy that some of us did survive. And I feel really lucky and I'm really grateful to my teacher because I know she did a lot. She did all she could to try to save us.
(TRUMPET PLAYS TAPS)
MALE SINGER: Just an ordinary day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is good in our country. There's good in Blacksburg, there's good in Virginia Tech. There's good all around it you just have to focus on it. Be positive.
MALE SINGER: One act of violence made the world stop and watch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people are our family. The people who have been hurt are our family. We will be there for our family. We will not leave this school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are strong and brave and innocent and unafraid.
BUSH: We hold the victims in our hearts. We lift them up in our prayers. We ask a loving God to comfort those who are suffering today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will never forget you. You are all in a higher place.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will prevail, we will prevail. We will prevail, we are Virginia Tech.
MALE SINGER: In a world filled with pain, we've got to become something great. Oh, God send your mercy this way. We are all Hokies today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Talking about people coming together, we have one final note this hour. This one has to do with you. Last Sunday night when those storms were bearing down on the Northeast, you put us over the top here by sending us I-Reports one after the other. Pictures and video of the flooding, in place that there is no way that we would have been able to get crews to get to.
This week, in the Virginia Tech situation, your I-News Reports gave the story a matched perspective with video like this one, that has now been seen by millions and millions of people all over the world.
Yesterday, as I looked for ways to describe the horrific crash of that Blue Angels jet into a neighborhood in Beaufort, South Carolina, looking for the right words -- frankly, looking for information. A guy named Fred Yelanik (ph) called and told me by phone what happened and said, Rick, I'm sending you pictures. I'm taking them right now. He sent us pictures from the scene, even before authorities arrived here.
Here's the point. We'd like to thank you for watching in bigger and bigger numbers, but really it's not about us. More and more it's become a collective effort. If ever we've seen it, it's this past week with these I-Reports that we've been receiving.
What does that mean? What it means is it's about you and we thank you. I'm Rick Sanchez. The news continues.
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