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School Rampage; Gerri's Top Tips

Aired October 11, 2007 - 10:00   ET

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


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown.

Cleveland school shooting. Where were the metal detectors? The security guards? Parents want to know. We will talk with a dad live this hour.

COLLINS: Are U.S. Marines coming out of Iraq and heading to Afghanistan? We'll tell you why the military is kicking around the idea.

HARRIS: SUVs putting through the wringer. Are you sitting pretty or a sitting duck. Side impact crash tests this Thursday, October 11th. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Public schools are closed this morning in Cleveland, Ohio, one day after a 14-year-old student opened fire. He is the lone fatality, but today questions about what set him off. CNN's Susan Roesgen has been working on this story for us. She joins us now live from Cleveland.

Susan, good morning to you.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

I'd like to follow up on the interview that you just had a few moments ago with the mayor of Cleveland and the CEO of public schools here. I talked to both of them and followed up on Tony's question about this petition about why weren't there more security guards than the one that was supposed to be at the front desk yesterday and where were the permanent metal detectors. Both the mayor and the CEO of public schools told me that they have heard about this petition but actually neither one has actually seen a petition. And you can't respond to a petition, they say, unless you've actually seen it.

Also I want to point out that right now federal agents are trying to trace the two guns that Asa Coon had with him. The 14-year-old had two guns. A 22 caliber revolver, a 38 caliber. Where did those guns come from initially? That's what federal agents are looking for. And also today we're starting to hear about those 911 calls. You know, in this age of cell phones, every student has got a cell phone. And the 911 system was just flooded with calls even while the shooting was still going on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911: Cleveland police, may I help you?

STUDENT: Yes. There's a student with a gun at Success Tech Academy.

911: OK. Where's the student at?

STUDENT: He's in the building.

911: OK. Do you know where at in the building?

STUDENT: No, I ran out the school.

911: Was he threatening somebody with it?

STUDENT: He shot it.

911: He shot the gun?

STUDENT: Yes.

911: How many shots did he fire?

STUDENT: How many shots did he fire? Two or three?

911: Can you tell me what he looked like? Did you see him?

STUDENT: Uh, he's like, 5'5", white.

911: White male, about 5'5"?

STUDENT: Yes.

911: Do you know what he was wearing or anything?

STUDENT: What did Asa have on?

I really didn't see it. I think he had on a white shirt -- school dress code.

911: Do you know his name?

STUDENT: His name is Asa. Asa Coon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROESGEN: We also want to show you some new video that we've received. Now this is surveillance video taken by a television station by the security camera at the television station's parking lot, which is right across the street from this school. This is not surveillance video of yesterday's shooting. This is video from Monday of the fight in which Asa Coon was involved. The fight that may have led to his bringing the guns back to school on Wednesday.

It's hard to make out. It's really kind of difficult to see what's happening here. But this is new video, again taken from a television station security camera just across the street from the school.

Also want to mention again, both Heidi and Tony to you, that we are expecting perhaps to see later what the police are now going over, which is those actual security camera videotapes from within the school itself. The police talked about that last night. They say that they're very glad they have those videotapes so that they say they will be able to actually plot the path of Asa Coon as he was shooting.

Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. I think that those are the ones that everyone is really hoping to get a look at. Hopefully the quality, you know, might be a little bit better.

All right, CNN's Susan Roesgen coming to us live from Cleveland.

Susan, thank you.

HARRIS: And we are learning more this morning about the shooting victims. Two of them are teachers. Both men. Police say a 42-year- old, identified as history teacher Michael Grassie, underwent surgery. He's in said to be in stable condition. A 57-year-old math teacher David Kachadgurian was treated for a minor gunshot wound to the back. Two students were also hit by gunfire. A 15-year-old identified as Michael Peek and 17-year-old Darnell Rodgers was shot in the elbow. He was treated and released. Another student, a 15-year-old girl, hurt her knee when she fell and was trampled by other students.

COLLINS: We also want to take a closer look at the 14-year-old gunman. Police say Asa Coon was arrested for hitting his mother when he was 12. Police had been to his home before for incidents that involved weapons. Students say Coon was troubled.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROF. JACK LEVIN, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY, CRIMINOLOGY: There are always missed signals. The problem is that they only become clear after the fact. Hindsight is 20/20. And after somebody shoots a number of people, everybody all of a sudden is a psychologist and recognizing all the warning signs.

Now the problem is that these warning signs beforehand apply to so many youngsters. Many of these shooters hate school or they like Marilyn Manson or they use Gothic clothing. They're rebellious. The best predictor we have is previous violence. And in this case, Asa definitely had that in his background.

But my point is this. We ought to be intervening early in the life of a child because he's troubled, not because he's troublesome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Coon was under suspension for fighting. He and a classmate reportedly argued over the existence of God. Reports also say Coon made threats against the school and his classmates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEVIN: There's a culture of silence. And we've seen it in almost every one of these school shootings in the suburbs. Now we see it in the inner city. We see youngsters who hear threats in the hallway, do nothing about it. And I'll tell you why. Because it's not cool. Because you just don't snitch on a peer. Even if you think there will be a murder, you simply do not rat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Jack Levin, a professor at Northwestern University, will be joining us here on the program. He's got a lot of interesting things to say. So we'll be talking with him shortly.

HARRIS: Shock, disbelief, fear. Witnesses to the school shooting in Cleveland recall what they saw and what they did. Here's one account from student Michael Brown. He spoke by phone on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BROWN, AT SCHOOL DURING SHOOTING: And we know he came up to our floor. In fact, no one took him seriously but me. Everyone was laughing still. They thought it was funny. They didn't actually believe it was going on. They were playing with their cell phones and laughing and talking.

I found out something was going wrong when they said that someone was shooting. So we got on the floor and I got up underneath the desk. I hid myself with a briefcase and then I called my mother and I told her I loved her and that someone was shooting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Once again, we are expecting to learn more about the school shooting later this morning. Cleveland officials have scheduled a news conference for 11:30 a.m. Eastern. And in just a couple of minutes, we will get the thoughts of a professor of sociology and criminology, what he takes away from yesterday's shooting that could be helpful to all of us.

COLLINS: New now this morning, a voluntary withdrawal just out for cold medicine for young children. The Consumer Health Care Products Association lists 14 medicines on its website. The umbrella health care group notes the medicines are safe when used correctly, but says there have been rare patterns of misuse leading to overdoses in infants. The voluntary withdrawal does not affect medicines intended for children age two and older. So for a complete list of the medicines being voluntarily recalled, you can check out this website. It's www.chpainfo.org.

HARRIS: Also new this morning, a deadly attack on the main U.S. military base near Baghdad. Officials reporting today two coalition soldiers dead, 40 people wounded. Strikes such as this overnight rocket or a mortar attack on Camp Victory are not unusual but rarely are casualties so high.

COLLINS: A new war proposal this morning. The head of the Marine Corps wants his troops pulled out of Iraq so they can lead U.S. combat forces in Afghanistan. A senior U.S. military official stresses to CNN, this is only a suggestion from Marine Commandant General James Conway. The official says discussions are still in the very early stages.

HARRIS: It is worth noting this, this morning. The Senate vote authorizing President Bush to use force in Iraq, it happened five years ago today. Senators voting 77-23. The resolution gave President Bush authority to attack if Saddam Hussein refused to give up weapons of mass destruction. That vote coming just hours after the House approved an identical resolution. The president praised Congress at the time, declaring America speaks with one voice.

COLLINS: A new airport scanner tested today. It's got a big fancy name. The Millimeter Wave Passenger Imaging Technology. Basically it's a radio wave scanner. Step inside, bodabing (ph), bodabam (ph), you're done in about two seconds. Don't head for the gate, though. It takes a minute or two to review those scans and make sure the passenger isn't carrying anything illegal. Testing starts in Phoenix today. Airports in L.A. and New York are next.

HARRIS: And still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM this morning, described as a trouble teen. Were warning signs overlooked. We will talk with a criminology about the Cleveland school rampage.

COLLINS: Also, the picket signs come down. Chrysler workers are building car this is morning after a quickie stick. What's in the new deal?

HARRIS: Crash testers do a bang-up job on SUVs. The safe rides down the road in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And tie your shoes, fix your hair, the voters are watching. And some of them are getting personal. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A young teen with a gun on a rampage at a Cleveland school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said if he would shoot up the school, he'd let me and some other dude he knew go and all that, but I didn't think he actually meant it. I thought he was just kidding around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The shooter's troubled past. We try to fill in the pieces of the puzzle on the Cleveland school shooting. HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

A symbol of hatred. An African-American professor apparently targeted. Police still searching for answers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Described as a troubled teen who threatened violence. Were warning signs overlooked in the Cleveland school shootings? What could have been done to prevent the rampage? Jack Levin is a criminologist and a professor of sociology and criminology at Northeastern University. He is with us from Detam (ph), Massachusetts, to talk more about it.

Professor, good to talk to you.

JACK LEVIN, CRIMINOLOGIST: Thank you.

HARRIS: Well, let's -- you know what, let me start with a sound bite from you last night we played just a couple moments ago in the show. And it comes from Anderson Cooper's show, "Anderson Cooper 360" last night. Where you're talking about the culture of silence in schools. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEVIN: There's a culture of silence. And we've seen it in almost every one of these school shootings in the suburbs. Now we see it in the inner city. We see youngsters who hear threats in the hallway, do nothing about it. And I'll tell you why. Because it's not cool. Because you just don't snitch on a peer. Even if you think there will be a murder, you simply do not rat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Just -- I just am amazed by that. I want you to expand on it. We know that it is absolutely true, that kids don't want to be labeled as snitches. But, please, expand on -- help us understand that culture and what's happening with these kids in these schools.

LEVIN: Well, it's not something that we just see in schools. We see it throughout communities across the country where police attempt to gain the cooperation of young people after someone has been killed. For example, in a drive-by shooting, and nobody comes forward.

So, you know, we've seen, until Columbine, the same kind of attitudes in suburban areas, small towns, rural areas across the country. There was a culture of silence in the suburban schools. You know, in order to break it, we needed something like Columbine. That's sad to say, you know, but 13 people lost their lives. And then youngsters in school decided finally to inform when they heard a threat in the hallway. But this culture of silence is still in the inner cities.

HARRIS: Well, you know what I'm getting at, doctor. I want you to help us turn the corner on this. What do we need to do? What do we need to say?

LEVIN: There are things that we can do. And, you know, the two things that we should do through the schools, one, we need more anti- bullying programs that are very effective. And there, by the way, are many of these anti-bullying programs in suburban schools. It's very rare to see this kind of school shooting happen in an inner city school. So maybe now we'll turn our attention to these schools and stop talking about metal detectors so much.

The second thing is that we have to get into the student culture. In inner cities, in the suburbs, in rural areas, we've got to make sure that we can break the back of that culture of silence so that youngsters will come forward and inform when they hear a threat in the hallway.

HARRIS: Well, sure. And, doctor, until we get the programs in place, you're not against more metal detectors and wands, are you?

LEVIN: Well, you know, it's such a simple minded idea. Sure, metal detectors make people feel safer, but think about this for a moment.

HARRIS: Sure.

LEVIN: A youngster is not that stupid. You know, if they really want to get their guns in the school, they can get it through a restroom window or the back door or they can wait until the students file out the front door and shoot them down like ducks in a gallery or they can get them on the school bus or on the playground. I think we've got to stop looking at this simple-minded way of responding to these acts of violence in our schools.

HARRIS: Then talk to us about the intervention piece of this. Do we have to be more aggressive in intervening when we sense, have an idea that we might have a troubled child?

LEVIN: You know, we wait too late. We wait until a youngster like Asa or Cho at Virginia Tech has murderous intentions, has got his gun ready, and wants to kill a lot of people. We should be intervening many years earlier. Not in order to stop a murder, although that will happen. We should do it in order to improve the quality of life of a child that we see is being bullied on an everyday basis, humiliated, ridiculed by his peers. That's the time to get involved, and that's when warning signs work.

HARRIS: Doctor, we have got to get a handle on this bullying piece. That is the piece of this that we just absolutely have to work through and put the programs in place that, you know, make a difference.

Doctor, great to see you. Thanks for your time.

LEVIN: Thank you.

HARRIS: And, once again, we are expecting to learn more about the school shooting lighter this morning. Cleveland officials have scheduled a news conference for 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. And you will, of course, see it live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And still ahead in the NEWSROOM, two deals done, one to go. The UAW's second short strike in less than a month is over. Now the auto workers union turns its attention to Ford.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Gerri Willis.

Heating bills are on the rise. Coming up, your guide to saving money now. "Top Tips" are next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to go ahead and check that big board now. Hey, it looks pretty good, 14,146 or so. Dow Jones Industrial averages are up by about 67 points. Nasdaq is also up by 14 points. So that's what we like to hear, positive, positive there. We'll bring you all the latest on our business stories, including what happened with the UAW strike because it was a short one.

In fact, everybody's back to work. A walkout at Chrysler lasted just six hours. The company and the United Auto Workers union reached a tentative four-year deal. That contract reportedly addresses the major sticking point of retiree health care.

It still has to be approved, but the tentative agreement comes as workers ratify their new contract with GM. That deal was reached two weeks ago following a two-day strike there. The UAW now moves on to Ford. Those negotiations could prove a little trickier. Ford lost $12.6 billion last year. It may want deeper concessions than GM and Chrysler.

HARRIS: OK. Heating your home will cost you about 10 percent more this winter? Whoa. Whoa. So what is the federal government going to do? What can we do? Probably the federal government is not going to do much at all. One way to trim some costs . ..

WILLIS: That's a good bet.

HARRIS: Yes. Insulate. Here with "Top Tips," CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis.

And, Gerri, I'm looking through your tips here and you're speaking a language here in the first one that I don't get. What is this R-value?

WILLIS: But you're going to get it. It's not that hard.

HARRIS: Oh, it's not. OK.

WILLIS: It's not. R-value is simply a measure of how well insulation keeps heat inside your home. The higher the R-value, the warmer your house. Now R-values vary by geographic locations. So you need to know want you should buy for your house. You want to go to the federal government's website, the Department of Energy's website at simplyinsulate.com to figure out the R-value for your neighborhood. HARRIS: OK. It also seems that you need to figure all of that out before you -- where are you in terms of your insulation before you move forward.

WILLIS: That's right. You know, before insulating your attic, you'll want to know how much R-value you already have. An easy way to do that is to measure the thickness of the current insulation and multiply that number by three. You got that?

HARRIS: Got you. I'm with you.

WILLIS: It's really simple. It's a rough approximation of the kind of R-value that's in your attic. And then you can add the insulation you need to meet the requirement in your area. Simple math.

HARRIS: All right. I'm glad I got the notes in front of me here.

WILLIS: You can go to the website too.

HARRIS: All right.

How many choices out there when it comes to choosing insulation?

WILLIS: Well, if you have an unfinished attic walls that are free of obstructions, like pipes or switch boxes, you may want to consider getting bats or rolls of insulation. Fiberglass is cheap at less than 40 cents a foot, but there have been health concerns raised about this materials. Consider using cellulose insulation. It's still relatively cheep and made largely of recycled materials. So you're going green and doing good.

HARRIS: That's great.

WILLIS: If your attic has a lot of obstruction that would interfere with rolling out bats, like you're seeing here, you may spray the insulation material into your ceiling. Spray foam insulation seals better than either fiberglass or cellulose. It is expensive, though. If you're looking to blow in insulation to your walls, call a professional contractor. Tony, I've got to tell you that I did just that this week.

HARRIS: Oh, good, good.

WILLIS: It is -- I'm here to tell you, it is expensive.

HARRIS: OK. And what should we be thinking about in terms of insulation and fire hazard. Insulation, fire risk.

WILLIS: Well, if you have a flue or recessed attic light, you want to keep materials two inches away from it. Make sure that any lights in your attic have the letters IC, which stands for insulation contact. If insulation materials are too close to light or heat sources, they can overheat and then you can get a fire.

And just want to remind you, we've got "Open House" coming up this weekend.

HARRIS: Beautiful. Beautiful.

WILLIS: The very latest on the mortgage meltdown and what is being done to cure the problems.

Plus, getting into the spirit of wine without spending too much money. I know you're going to be watching, Tony.

HARRIS: I'll watch anyway, but I'll definitely make sure I set the clock for that one. All right, Gerri, great to see you. Thank you.

WILLIS: Thank you, Tony.

COLLINS: A 14-year-old opens fire at his high school. Who was he? And what pushed him over the edge?

Also, parents say they asked for more security. Concerns before the Cleveland school rampage. We'll talk with the head of the student/parent organization.

And an attack on U.S. military headquarters in Iraq. Bloodshed at what's known as Camp Victory.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Good morning once again, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

TONY HARRIS: CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Want to get you some breaking news quickly that we are receiving here in the CNN NEWSROOM from India. Don't have much at this point, but certainly want to report what we do have. And that is apparently, there has been a bomb attack near one of India's most revered Islamic shrines. It's in the northern state of Rajasthan. We are learning this and we have confirmed all of that.

What we have not confirmed is fatalities and casualties. Some reports are saying that at least one person was killed in this attack. We will continue to work on that and check our sources there, whether or not we can confirm it is yet to come. We'll stay on top of it and bring you the very latest just as soon as possible.

HARRIS: And one hour from now, we may learn more about the shooting rampage at a Cleveland high school, maybe less than an hour. The 14-year-old shooter is dead, his motives are unknown. Fellow students say he was troubled and combative, but Asa Coon's neighbors remember him with some sympathy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good person. Never -- I don't know why he did what he did. Couldn't tell you. Pushed too far, that's all I could think of. You get pushed and pushed and pushed, and sometimes you go over the edge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe, why'd he do this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I ain't justifying nothing. I ain't saying he did the right thing. But I'm saying, he got pushed for a long time and asked them people to help, help, help, help, and nobody helped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: CNN's Susan Roesgen is in Cleveland this morning.

And Susie, for a moment, I'm just thinking about the week you've had so far. We were talking on Sunday about the horrible situation in Crandon, Wisconsin, and now here you are in Cleveland, and in both of those cases, we're talking about young people as the shooters, young people as the victims, and in both of those cases, the shooters seem to be responding to some slight, some insult, and certainly in the Cleveland case, it appears some bullying.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, that's true, Tony, but of course, we have to remember that in the Crandon, Wisconsin shooting, this was a deputy who may have used his own service rifle to attack those people at the party.

In this case, what federal agents want to know is what everyone wants to know, which is how did this 14-year-old get those two guns? Where did they come from? 22 caliber, 38 caliber. What's a 14-year- old doing with those kinds of guns? Where did they come from?

I can tell you a little bit more about this school, Tony. To get into this school, to be accepted, Asa Coon had to fill out an application. He had to write an essay. He had to get a recommendation from a middle school teacher. So, there was at least something good, some good qualities that people saw in this child to get him into this school to begin with. This was a specialty school, a magnet school, a school that focused on business and technology.

So, somebody believed in Asa Coon to even get him into the school, but I've also talked to the head of the parent/teacher organization who you're going to speak to in just a minute. He actually met Asa Coon and he sort of filled in some details for us. He said this was a student who was a goth, that means, you know, head to toe black, dark clothing. He listened to a different kind of music. He was picked on by the other students. So certainly, you could say this was an angry student, but again, that's one thing, to have an angry student.

The broader question, the bigger question here is, OK, how did an angry student get two guns and get them into this school?

HARRIS: And then, the next question is what do you do when you have a child who is displaying in those ways? At what point do you intervene? Plenty (ph) questions, more questions than answers at this point.

Susan Roesgen for us this morning. Susan, appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: Frantic 911 calls poured in as the Cleveland shooting rampage unfolded. Some came from students trying to escape the gunfire, others from worried parents.

This call came from a mother after her son called her on a cell phone.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: 911, what is your emergency?

BEATRICE BROWN: Yes. There is a shooting at SuccessTech Academy and my son is trapped in one of the back rooms.

911 OPERATOR: OK, ma'am, we have cars on the way over there, OK? What -- your son is trapped in a room you said?

BROWN: Yes. Yes, in a classroom.

911 OPERATOR: OK, I'm sorry, calm down, OK? Where's he calling you from?

BROWN: He's calling me from his classroom on a cell phone that only has fifteen minutes on it.

911 OPERATOR: OK -- ma'am, does anybody know who's doing the shooting there?

BROWN: No. He's in the back, but they just shot somebody in his room and he doesn't want me to come up there because he doesn't know where the shooter actually is.

911 OPERATOR: OK, you have any idea what room he's in?

BROWN: No.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

BROWN: I forgot to ask him.

911 OPERATOR: Did he say who the person was or whether he knew the person that was doing the shooting or not?

BROWN: No, but there's so much noise in the classroom, he couldn't hear me asking any questions.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COLLINS: Other calls to 911 gave authorities the description and the identity of the gunman.

No metal detector and questions about how a student got into a Cleveland school with two guns. Parents say they had petitioned for more security. Charles Blackwell is the president of the student/parent organization at SuccessTech Academy where the shootings happened. He joins us now.

Charles, thanks for being here. Tell us more about this petition. What exactly did it say? Who did do you present it to?

CHARLES BLACKWELL, SUCCESSTECH STUDENT-PARENT ORG.: When we did the position -- petition, excuse me, it was for added security into the school. We've been asking for it for the last few years, and they have systematically told us -- basically, we didn't have enough trouble in the school and our school was so small, we didn't warrant having a security person there.

COLLINS: You say they ...

BLACKWELL: There's one in the building ...

COLLINS: Pardon me, Charles, I'm sorry to interrupt. You say they said. Who exactly? This is the school board you're saying, right?

BLACKWELL: The school board and the security superintendent.

COLLINS: OK, so carry on. You had been asking for permanent security metal detectors at the entrances of the school, and they said no?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

COLLINS: It's just too small.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

COLLINS: We really don't need that at SuccessTech?

BLACKWELL: Correct.

COLLINS: What was the response from other parents when they got that news?

BLACKWELL: They were angry. They were very angry, and then, when this happened yesterday, it really made them upset to the point where, you know, they were talking about pulling their kids from the school.

It's just a sad situation. There's a security guard in the building, but he's not designated for the school. He's only designated for the administration. So, in essence, there is no security for the students.

COLLINS: In fact, in some of the information that I was reading, I believe you said that there used to be a security guard directly for the school, but then that person was taken out, and now, you're talking about him being moved to another portion of that same building. Did you see or did other parents notice any change in violence or incidents that may have happened at the school after that?

BLACKWELL: Once they pulled the security officer from our building, every year we've had, you know, a little bit more violence, a little bit more with the fighting, a little bit more arguing that we couldn't control. Kids were getting suspended that we normally didn't have problems with, and it culminated into yesterday when the fight broke out in the street and, you know, somebody from the local TV station helped break up the fight, and it just -- it's a bad situation. It's a really bad situation right now.

COLLINS: Well, it is certainly very upsetting I'm sure to everyone, but I want to get back to this petition incident where you are telling us that there was something drawn up, it was presented, and parents really did not, according to you, get the outcome that they wanted.

In fact, if you'll listen with me, Charles, to Eugene Sanders, he is the CEO of Cleveland Public Schools. We spoke with him a little bit earlier and talked with him for a moment about the security concerns. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EUGENE SANDERS, CEO, CLEVELAND SCHOOL DISTRICT: Safety and security is one of our top priorities. We talk about it all the time. We have allocations for it. Clearly, this is our -- my time and our time to reflect on what we do and how we do it.

Our goal is clearly, to make our schools safe, and we have done a lot of things over the last year and a half relative to that, and we'll continue to work together with the mayor and law enforcement and our community to make our schools safe. Academics is our first priority, and unfortunately, situations like this do not allow us to focus on those kinds of things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Eugene Sanders and Mayor Jackson led us to believe that they had never seen any petition, and so, therefore, there wasn't much that they could do about it.

BLACKWELL: I'm not sure who the petition went to then, because we've sent them to the school system. It went through proper channels. We've even -- they've even sent a representative from, I guess, one of the captains for their police department to the school to talk to us, and basically what came out of that is that we didn't have a need for a security person.

I mean, that came from the school system, so as far as what they did or where the petition is located, I have no clue, but I know it left SuccessTech Academy and went to them.

COLLINS: Charles, when you look back at this now and obviously, given these horrible events that happened at SuccessTech, I imagine you are getting a lot of phone calls from other parents, asking you about this very issue. BLACKWELL: Yes, I am. That day and even today, parents are very upset because there was a need, they tried to fill it, and we got shot down. There was no result for us that was positive, and now that things have escalated and we have somebody shot and one kid dead, now they want to say, oh, it's the utmost concern about our children.

Well, yes, it's a concern for the larger schools, but for this small school, it wasn't that much of a concern because they took the security person away and they left us with nothing. The security person that is there, everybody has told us, even the chief of the security department has told us, he's there for the administrative offices only. So, what security ...

COLLINS: The administrative offices that are in the same building.

Charles, what will you do now? What will you and the rest of the parents -- I mean, as the person who is in charge of the student/parent organization, what is the next move here?

BLACKWELL: Well, my plan is to, once I get back into school, try and get in touch with the parents from our school so we can have a meeting and get them to voice their opinions. If I have to, we'll sign another petition since they seem to have lost the ones that we've sent previously, and we're going to do whatever we have to do to protect our kids.

This is an excellent program. We have excellent teachers. You know, I don't want to see it dismantled, you know. People have worked too hard to get it where it's at. You know, my son is a product from this program. He's doing well. Some of the other kids that have been through this program they're in college, they're doing well. We want to see all the kids from this school go to college. That's our focus, that's our goal. We're going to make it happen, and we're going to make them accountable.

COLLINS: All right. Charles Blackwell, we certainly appreciate your time here very much. And we will stay on top of this story. Let us know, if you would, what will happen next here.

Charles is with the Success Academy student/parent organization. Thanks again, Charles.

And in fact, we are expecting to learn more about the school shooting a little bit later this morning. Cleveland officials have scheduled a news conference for 11:30 Eastern. You, of course, will see it live right here on CNN.

HARRIS: Still no suspect this morning, an Ivy League campus in shock. This noose left hanging on a professor's office door at Columbia University's Teachers College. Authorities are testing the four-foot long twine rope. They're hoping to find DNA evidence.

The office targeted with the hate symbol is used by Professor Madonna Constantine. She has written extensively on racial issues. Police believe the noose was left sometime between 8:00 and 9:15 Tuesday morning. They're investigating the incident as a hate crime. The state attorney general assigning civil rights lawyers to the case. Students gathered in protest yesterday.

We will hear from one of the organizers and a Teachers College professor in the NEWSROOM later this morning.

Let's go check the weather now. Bonnie Schneider standing by in the severe weather center for us.

Bonnie, good morning.

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COLLINS: Crash testers do a bang-up job on SUVs. The safe rides down the road, and the ones that aren't so safe, too. Coming up in the NEWSROOM.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange where Ford and GM shares are in high gear following news out of Motor City. That's next in the NEWSROOM.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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COLLINS: Want to give you a little bit more information now that we have learned about this story that we told you about just a few minutes ago coming from India today. We had told you that there was some type of blast in one of India's most revered Islamic shrines.

This is in northern state of Rajasthan. We have been able to confirm here at CNN that we know at least 18 people have been injured, possibly three dead. We are still working to confirm the actual number of fatalities in all of this. And also, believe as often times we see in stories like this, that the numbers of these casualties could go up.

We're seeing some of the first video now of this incident coming into us once again here at CNN. This was at the Sufi Shrine. We've been telling you that is India's -- one of India's, anyway, most revered Islamic shrines. It happened during Iftar, which is the breaking of fast during Ramadan.

We will continue to follow this one for you and let you know as soon as we get any more information.

HARRIS: Let's get you some consumer news now. That SUV you drive, is it as safe as you think it is? The National Institute for Highway Safety out with its side crash test results.

CNN's Greg Hunter has that.

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GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The side crash test simulates the impact of another SUV or pickup at 31 miles an hour. This Nissan Xterra on the left without air bags. On the right, with them, the dummy fared much better.

ADRIAN LUND, INSURANCE INST. FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: Having a side air bag to protect your head from whatever's coming in or to protect your chest and abdomen, can mean the difference between surviving and dying in a crash.

HUNTER: Nissan told us, "While airbag systems have been shown to help mitigate risk of injury, Nissan believes that seat belts and vehicle structure help provide the primary protection in crashes."

But even with side air bags, the institute says two SUV models rated worse than many cars in the side test. This Jeep Grand Cherokee was rated marginal because its air bag only protected the head.

LUND: You can see how the driver's seat is smushed forward.

HUNTER (on camera): Yes, like a sandwich.

LUND: Folded like a sandwich, and you know, the driver still has to fit in there. There's nothing to -- no side air bag here to protect that chest and abdomen area.

HUNTER (voice-over): Chrysler, Jeep's manufacturer, told CNN, "The 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee has performed well in a variety of internal and external test conditions, and meets or exceeds all federal motor safety standards."

The Chevrolet TrailBlazer rated marginal due to a similar problem.

LUND: Too much intrusion, and the side of the vehicle has been pushed in, and then, the driver's chest and abdomen weren't adequately padded.

HUNTER: The contrast, a smaller sedan, the 2005 Volkswagen Jetta, seen here on the right, protects the driver better than the TrailBlazer on the left. That's because it has side air bags for both head and torso, not just the head.

In a statement, the manufacturer, General Motors, said, "The Chevrolet TrailBlazer meets or exceeds all federal motor vehicle safety standards."

But there is some encouraging news. The institute says all six models performed well in the 40-mile-an-hour frontal crash tests.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Once again, that was Greg Hunter reporting for us.

Want to move on to this now. More automobile news, if you will. The UAW strike at Chrysler didn't even last one work shift.

Susan Lisovicz it at the New York Stock Exchange with the latest on the tentative agreement. That's probably pretty darn good news for both sides, I would imagine, Susan. (BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: And still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM this morning, an SUV hooked up, taken away. Inside: a surprised little boy taking a snooze. Toddler in tow in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: Podcast magic. Hey Jenny Cook (ph), Jen Warnowski (ph), are they working with us on the podcast today? I don't think so.

Let me tell you something. There is no bigger fish to fry for us, the podcast.

COLLINS: They just heard you talking about them.

HARRIS: Oh, did they?

COLLINS: Yes.

HARRIS: OK, the podcast every day 24/7. What you do is you go to CNN.com and you download the CNN NEWSROOM daily podcast, a little different, a different approach than we take to the newscast every day right here in the NEWSROOM.

So, do it today, no excuses. 24/7, CNN.com. The CNN daily news podcast, be there today, aloha.

COLLINS: Toddler towed away. A sleeping three-year-old was found inside an SUV taken to a Texas storage lot. The boy's aunt had left him inside the car while going into a business. She was questioned by police. They'll turn their findings over to prosecutors. No charges are expected to be filed against the tow truck driver who may not have known the kid was there. The child was not hurt.

HARRIS: And still to come this morning, a symbol of hatred on an elite college campus. How to explain this. What do we take from this? We will talk to a professor of social studies and education at Columbia's Teacher's College.

COLLINS: A high school shooting, several people wounded. The shooter now dead. The questions looming larger than ever. More on this shooting in Cleveland.

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