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911 Calls Released in Omaha Mall Shooting; Oprah Prepares to Campaign For Barack Obama
Aired December 07, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The tapes are long gone, but they're bigger than ever, top secret CIA recordings of al Qaeda suspects being interrogated in 2007. Man in Congress didn't even have a clue.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Is there anything Oprah cannot do? Well, we will find out soon when Barack Obama unleashes his not-so-campaign weapon on campaign rallies in three states. Our Candy Crowley joins us from Des Moines with a preview on that.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Some calls were panicky and confused, others downright calm under the circumstances, 911 tapes from inside the mall in Omaha, Nebraska, where a gunman killed eight people on Wednesday. One thing comes through the confusion loud and clear, the sound of gunshots.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 DISPATCHER: Nine-one-one. What's your emergency?
(GUNSHOTS)
911 DISPATCHER: Hello? Nine-one-one.
(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh. It looks like -- it looks like the gun is laying over by customer service. There's an officer there now. I wonder if he...
911 DISPATCHER: Customer service on the third level?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Correct. It looks like he might have killed himself.
911 DISPATCHER: OK. Do you see him laying by a gun?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see him laying by that gun with blood (INAUDIBLE)
(END AUDIO CLIP) LEMON: Six employees of the Von Maur department store were killed, along with two customers. Two others are still in the hospital. Police still don't know why the gunman picked that state.
And new surveillance photos just out and just in to CNN of that gunman, 19-year-old Robert Hawkins going into the Von Maur department store. This one right here is when he first entered without a gun. And then there's one with him entering there with a gun later, and then also one of him holding the gun upward in the shoot position, very disturbing photographs.
And, to get more perspective on this, we're going to turn to Sergeant Teresa Negron of the Omaha Police Department. She's here to tell us about that.
Why did you guys release these photographs, first of all, Sergeant?
SERGEANT TERESA NEGRON, OMAHA POLICE DEPARTMENT: We realized that everyone wants to know, aside from us explaining the details of how the gunman entered Von Maur, the pictures also tell a story.
LEMON: Yes. There's one here where he's just entering. And what I'm being told, and you can me if I'm wrong, is that the first one is him entering. Did he enter first sort of to check things out before coming back with a gun?
NEGRON: Well, the information that the detectives have been able to compile indicate that he came into the store through those south doors and was only there briefly, and the photo that depicts where you can see the front of his shirt is that photograph.
He exits the store, and, approximately six minutes later, he reenters through the same doors, and immediately goes to the elevators that are to the right. And then he rides the elevators up to the third floor and exits, then opens fire, which you have a photo of him with the gun to the ready.
LEMON: Yes. We see the gun to the ready. And I believe right behind him, are those the elevator doors?
NEGRON: I don't recall what's behind him in that photograph, but enough to say that he did exit those elevators.
LEMON: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Yes, I see that right there. The gun at the ready, my goodness, is this the gun at the ready? And we don't know at this point if he's just holding it there or he's actually taking aim.
NEGRON: Honestly, I can tell you, the information we have been able to compile is, when he exited the elevators, he began to open fire.
LEMON: He began to open fire.
These are taken from the mall, from the department store, from the Von Maur store, these photographs. Are you choosing which photographs to release in all, or are these the only ones?
NEGRON: Well, we are attempting to compile that surveillance video. Apparently, there are very numerous layers of video that we're trying to go through.
so far, we have been able to pull those three pictures off of the video.
LEMON: Sergeant, how much -- I know these are disturbing to see, as we have said numerous times here. But how much has this helped you? I would imagine it would in the investigation, in trying to figure out exactly what happened here.
NEGRON: Sure. Any time you have video that depicts what occurred, it helps us recreate the incident.
LEMON: This camera, a stationary camera, or is there a camera that does a 360 or that was movable, where you could turn it? And did you happen to see anything other than the shooter here?
NEGRON: Honestly, I don't know specifically what the video surveillance system is like in Von Maur.
LEMON: Yes.
Sergeant, I'm not going to keep you any longer, because I think you have explained everything that we have here, releasing those photos, you said, so you can get it out, so that folks can see sort of into the shooting and exactly what happened.
Sergeant Teresa Negron from the Omaha Police Department, we appreciate you joining us.
NEGRON: No problem. You guys have a good day.
LEMON: Yes. You, too. And our best to everyone there in Nebraska.
NEGRON: Thank you.
LEMON: Well, three stunned friends of Robert Hawkins wondered whether he would have shot them, too. One also has a possible explanation for why he picked the store he did to open fire.
A CNN exclusive, that's coming up at 3:30 Eastern.
PHILLIPS: Janet Jorgensen was one of the six employees killed. She was 67 years old with three children and nine grandchildren, and had worked at the store 14 years. A grandson spoke today for the family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RYAN HUSK, GRANDSON OF SHOOTING VICTIM: It's going to be really hard, because grandma and grandpa were the definition of true love. They were the epitome of true love.
They had been married for 50 years and really showed and brought the family together. This situation is obviously going to bring us tighter, but one thing that grandpa and grandma have always instilled in us that is family is the most important thing.
We have always had family get-togethers, and have taught us never to take anything for granted. Grandma knew that we loved her. It's just difficult, obviously, with the timing, graduations and weddings. And we're just going to miss everything about her, because she was the most loving, caring person in our lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A friend of the family adds that Jorgensen had helped her husband through cancer and cared for her 94-year-old mother in the past year.
Check out CNN.com to read more about the victims of yesterday's shootings. They're all described as innocent people going about their daily lives. That story has been the most popular on the Web site today. You can also share your memories of the victims by sending us an I-Report.
It might be America's least funniest home videos, but we will never know. The CIA recorded its interrogation of two top terror suspects in 2002 and three years later destroyed those tapes. That's straight from the CIA director.
Some members of Congress and the 9/11 Commission say they have kept it in the dark, and they want answers.
Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, joins us now with more -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, these revelations, Kyra, have raised serious questions about whether the CIA should have provided these tapes to Congress, to the courts, or even the September 11 Commission.
With the story about the break yesterday in "The New York Times," CIA Director Michael Hayden released a letter that he sent to employees of the CIA, which he says was to prevent the facts from being misinterpreted.
In that, he defends the decision to destroy these tapes. He says the agency did so only after it was determined they were no longer of intelligence value and not relevant to any internal, legislative or judicial inquiries.
At least one person on the tape is Abu Zubaydah, captured in March of 2002. Until questioning, Zubaydah became defiant and evasive, CIA Director Hayden writes. He says, he had more information that could save innocent lives, but he stopped talking.
Now, government officials confirm to CNN separately that Zubaydah was subjected to water--boarding, but we don't know if that was on any of the tapes that were withheld. The tapes were intended to be an internal check, said Hayden, and were destroyed after it was determined they showed that the interrogations were done properly.
Here's what he wrote. He said: "Were they ever to leak, they would permit identification of your CIA colleagues who had served in the program, exposing them and their families to retaliation from al Qaeda and its sympathizers."
Now, that explanation has sparked outrage from some members of Congress, especially the agency's critics on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: That is not a credible defense. We know that it is possible, in fact easy, to cover the identity and faces of those who were involved in any videotape. Something more was involved here.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: It's a pathetic excuse. They would have to burn every document at the CIA that has the identity of an agent on it, under that theory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, the CIA insists there was no cover-up, that the tapes were handled by the book, and that the proper people were informed on Capitol Hill. But, as you can imagine, Kyra, even that now is all in dispute.
PHILLIPS: But, Jamie, is that standard operating procedure, to destroy tapes like that?
MCINTYRE: Well, there was no standard operating procedure, because these were procedures that were developed specifically for these high-value detainees.
And the institution of videotaping procedures was something that was not a standard procedure. And then you can see that they stopped using that procedure after 2002, so, clearly, it wasn't a standard procedure.
PHILLIPS: Jamie McIntyre from the Pentagon -- thanks, Jamie.
LEMON: Well, here's a lesson for anybody running for public office. If you want to draw a crowd, invite Oprah.
Barack Obama did, and now he's moving a rally in South Carolina on Sunday to the University of South Carolina's 80,000-seat football stadium. It originally was scheduled for the school's 18,000-seat indoor coliseum. Apparently, Oprah caused a run on the tickets there.
And Oprah also plans to join Obama for weekend events in New Hampshire and also in Iowa, a little star power in the heartland with just 27 days to go until the Iowa caucuses.
Our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, is in Des Moines.
And, Candy, is Oprah really going to make a difference with the Iowa voters? Do you think so?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, probably not in the way that most people think. And that is, Oprah Winfrey says, I'm for Barack Obama, and a voter says, oh, if Oprah Winfrey is for him, I am, too.
But there are certainly things that are indirect that can be helpful. First of all, and mainly, she can bring in people who then listen to him. They come to see her, but they also listen to him. The other thing that's huge is free media. You can imagine how many cameras are going to show up for an Oprah Winfrey event with Barack Obama.
So, you get a lot of those things. You also get -- the Obama campaign, they have really used this as kind of a recruiting, organizing tool. When they gave out tickets for this, they started with their precinct captains, and said, here, you can hand these out.
The precinct captains could take however many he or she wanted, and hand them out. So, you hand them out to people who haven't decided yet, and you bring them in to listen to Barack Obama. They also handed them out to people who agreed to go to a caucus seminar. And then later, when they were open to the public, a person had to walk into a Obama campaign headquarters, give out their name and address, and then they got a ticket.
So, it's become this organizing tool. So, there are lots of ways, Don, that this can help Obama, but not that sort of direct way. Nobody really believes, not even the campaign, that people are going to vote for Barack Obama because Oprah Winfrey likes him.
LEMON: OK. Now, I want to know this Candy -- 18,000-seat indoor coliseum is where it was originally. And then it's moving to 80,000 seats. Any chance that they are going to fill these 80,000 seats? How much of it do you think will be filled?
CROWLEY: Well, I don't think so.
I think, when we were listening to the reporting from Peter Hamby, one of our reporters down there in South Carolina, he said, they expect to fill the field, but maybe not all of the seats. So, it will be interesting.
I mean, it's, as you might be able to tell, freezing here in Iowa, but they're expecting 8,000 to 8,500 up in Cedar Rapids. They're expecting thousands here in Des Moines. So, they're going to draw pretty big crowd.
LEMON: Yes. CROWLEY: And it comes at a really good time for Obama. We're very close to the caucuses. And there's some evidence that he's picking up steam.
LEMON: Yes. And it's going to be a lot warmer in South Carolina than it is where you are, Candy Crowley. All right, thank you very much for that.
CROWLEY: Sure.
LEMON: Want the most up-to-the minute political news available anywhere? CNNPolitics.com is your one-stop shop, CNNPolitics.com, the Internet's premier destination for political news.
PHILLIPS: Imagine your monthly mortgage equalling three weeks worth of paychecks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Where do you get that extra money?
ED ANDERSON, HOMEOWNER: Again, I have to work as much overtime as I can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Why so many mortgage holders are giving the proposed rate freeze a chilly reception.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Three Sixteen Eastern time. Here's three of the stories we're working on the CNN NEWSROOM right now.
Barry Bonds says it's not so. Baseball's home run king pleads not guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice charges linked to steroids. He's free on half a million dollars bond.
Forty-six stories above New York City, a scaffold collapses. One window washer is dead. Another one has life-threatening injuries.
And a major defeat for prosecutors investigating the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway. A judge in Aruba has ordered the release of the only suspect still in custody, Joran van der Sloot.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
LEMON: Too little, too late, with too many restrictions -- that's what critics say of President Bush's plan to reduce the record amount of home foreclosures.
Mr. Bush admits his plan won't help everyone.
And CNN's Chris Lawrence found one such homeowner on the edge. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than a million homeowners are asking the same questions as Ed Anderson.
ED ANDERSON, HOMEOWNER: Am I going to lose the home? Will I be going into foreclosure?
LAWRENCE: He bought his home in suburban Maryland at the height of the housing boom in 2005. His mortgage payment was $2,200.
What is it now?
ANDERSON: $3,400. It's unreal.
LAWRENCE: Where do you get that extra money?
ANDERSON: Again, I have to work as much overtime as I can.
LAWRENCE: It's not enough to make up that much money. Anderson is a few months behind and facing foreclosure. He got an interest- only adjustable rate mortgage at 6.6 percent. It's already shot up to 11 percent with a potential to soar past 13 percent. A freeze could keep his rate from going any higher, and maybe allow him to refinance closer to his original payment.
(on camera): Could you save your home?
ANDERSON: Yes, definitely. I mean, that's what I initially was able to afford. But currently it's just impossible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That was Chris Lawrence reporting.
President Bush says the rate freeze is not a bailout for bankers, lenders, or real estate speculators, but what about people like Ed Anderson?
CNN's John Roberts got Anderson's thoughts on a rate freeze.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN MORNING")
ANDERSON: I actually feel that the plan actually should be revisited for people that actually have been impacted by this. This is really troublesome, and it can actually cause a lot of people to lose their homes, so I really am disheartened about it.
JOHN ROBERTS, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING": Yes. This plan is only going to help people who are about to be affected because it doesn't kick in until mortgage rates go up for those people in 2008. Tell us why you don't qualify.
ANDERSON: Well, I actually won't qualify because what I understand is that, if you are only 60 days behind in your mortgage, this will help you. Therefore, by someone like myself, being three or more months behind in the mortgage, this actually will not help. So I think the plan really should be revisited, because basically, for anyone that actually goes into foreclosure, it's at least three months or longer, in most cases.
ROBERTS: Right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Still unanswered, what happens after the five-year freeze -- people with adjustable-rate mortgages could again face higher payments.
Live to New York now and the New York Stock Exchange.
You're watching CNN. Next, we will have it for you. There it is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BUSINESS REPORT)
PHILLIPS: He coined the term the greatest generation. Now legendary TV news anchor Tom Brokaw is taking a look at another tumultuous time in American history in his new book, "Boom!: Voices of the Sixties."
Our Fredricka Whitfield talked to Brokaw about his success on the page.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you realize were going to become a historian?
TOM BROKAW, AUTHOR, "BOOM!: VOICES OF THE SIXTIES: No.
I think all journalists are historian -- you know that great line, it's the first rough draft of history. And I'm always a little surprised when people say, well, you have become a historian, Tom.
And even, like Michael Beschloss -- he is a friend of mine -- he is a great American historian of some standing. And he said, well, you have become a historian.
I'm a popular historian. I'm not an academic historian.
WHITFIELD: But you're writing these books and you're getting people interested. A, to know that you coined the greatest generation.
BROKAW: I love that.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Yes. That has to feel amazing, very gratifying, and to know you have made Americans and everyone else pay attention to an incredibly important generation of people who did exactly what you talk about, the sacrifices.
BROKAW: I think that's the work of a journalist. I think that that is what we should do on a daily basis, is that -- I really believe the material that we deal with is the oxygen of a free society. That's information that you collect in a factual fashion, get it organized in an engaging way, so the country can absorb it, and then act on it as they wish to.
And part of that role is to look back and say, this is what we can learn from another time. I hope this book, "Boom!" -- one of the things I have been saying is, the children of boomers, I hope they buy it, take it home and say to their parents, OK, where were you? What did you do? The good, bad and indifferent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, you don't want to Fredricka's complete interview with Tom Brokaw. He even talks about his days as a weekend hippie. That's tomorrow in the NEWSROOM, starting at noon Eastern.
LEMON: Three stunned friends of Robert Hawkins, the Omaha mall shooter, wonder whether he would have shot them, too. One also has a possible explanation for why he picked the store he did to open fire -- a CNN exclusive coming up at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Some calls are panicky and confused, others seem downright calm under the circumstances -- 911 tapes from Omaha take you inside the mall where a gunman killed eight people. One thing comes through that confusion loud and clear -- the sounds of the gunshots.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 DISPATCHER: 911, what's your emergency?
911 DISPATCHER: Hello, 911.
911 DISPATCHER: 911, what's your emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is someone with a gun shooting people in Von Maur at Westroads.
911 DISPATCHER: OK. We're on our way out there. Have you seen anybody that was shot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
911 DISPATCHER: We're on our way out there. Did anybody see the person shooting?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a bunch of people who were shot.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, six employees of the Von Maur department store were killed, along with two customers. Two others are still in the hospital. Police still don't know why the teenage gunman picked that store as his target.
LEMON: Well, friends of the shooter still can't believe he did. They wonder whether Robert Hawkins would have shot them, too, had they been in Von Maur that day. They also have an idea of why he picked the store he did.
Here's CNN's Dan Simon with the exclusive story from Omaha.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can tell you that we are getting a fuller picture today in terms of the personality of the shooter, Robert Hawkins. I spoke to three young women who were part of the same group home program for troubled teenagers.
And what they are telling us is that the Robert Hawkins they knew is not the guy who was capable of going into this mall behind me and start shooting at people. They described him as somebody who had a good personality, somebody who had a good sense of humor, someone who had a lot of friends -- not a loner type, the type of person you normally associate with these kinds of shootings.
Let's take a look at some of what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SYDNEY GOODMAN, FRIEND OF HAWKINS: It's unbelievable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
GOODMAN: It still hasn't fully set in that that was Robby.
SARAH RAMMAHA, FRIEND OF HAWKINS: Yes. Every time I think about it, it just kind of gives me the shock again. You get the shock factor when you see it on the news. And I'm like -- I still can't believe it.
JANAE JONES, FRIEND OF HAWKINS: I kind of wonder if like -- if any of us were there that day, if he would have shot us, too, or not.
RAMMAHA: I wonder, too. You never know, because at that point, I mean you have to be pretty -- just out of your mind to do that, so...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
GOODMAN: It was like beyond logic. You know, he wasn't thinking about what he was doing.
JONES: In Robby's eyes, it was because the people at Von Maur -- he probably thought they were better off than him, because it's kind of, you know, a lot of stuff there's expensive and, you know, people who make more money than him would be shopping there and I think that he, you know, just thought they were better off than he was and didn't want it to be that way. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: And that young woman, Janae Jones, was responding specifically to my question about why Robert Hawkins may have targeted the Von Maur mall here at the Westroads Shopping Mall.
You know, Don, oftentimes when you have these kinds of shootings, you know, you talk to friends and they talk about warning signs. But, you know, when you listen to these three young women who knew Robert Hawkins quite well, they say there were no warning signs. So we really don't have much of an understanding in terms of what may have set this young man off -- Don.
LEMON: And, Dan, I've got to ask you -- I know that you're from that area. Just going back and speaking to the folks there that you grew up with, what's the reaction to this? How is the community doing?
SIMON: Well, this is tough for the Omaha community. And, you know, I thought about how I was going to answer this. You know, this may come off sounding corny, Don, but, you know, Omaha -- to a lot of people -- sort of represents the best of America. You know, they have great public schools here, affordable housing, not much crime and to have this, you know, splashed across the front pages of every newspaper in the country, you know, is very difficult for this community to handle.
But I can tell you that they're starting to bounce back. The Westroads Shopping Mall, behind me, is going to be open tomorrow. As you can imagine, on a Friday afternoon, this place would be packed right now. It would be tough to find a parking spot. It's going to be open tomorrow and, of course, there are going to be some memorial services beginning this week and we know that, in some cases, thousands of people are expected to attend.
LEMON: And make sure you check out CNN.com to read more about the victims of Wednesday's shootings. They're all described as innocent people going about their daily lives. The story has been the most popular on the site today. And you can also share your memories of the victims by sending us an I-Report.
PHILLIPS: Not guilty -- that was Barry Bonds' plea to five federal perjury and obstruction charges today. Prosecutors allege that baseball's home run king repeatedly lied under oath when he testified that he never knowingly took performance enhancing drugs. They claim to have blood tests and mountains of evidence to back up their case.
Lawyers for Bonds claim otherwise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN RUBY, BONDS' ATTORNEY: For today, Barry Bonds is innocent. He has trust and faith in the justice system. He will defend these charges and we're confident of a good outcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Bonds' next court day is February 7th. He's free on a $500,000 bond.
LEMON: It is news football fans have been waiting and hoping to hear. Kevin Everett can walk again. After this tackle in the Buffalo Bills season opener against Denver, it wasn't clear Everett would even survive. He was paralyzed from the neck down and spent days on life support. Today, a dramatically different story. Friends say the Bills' tight end was able to leave the hospital three weeks ago and he's walking under his own power as an outpatient at a rehab center.
PHILLIPS: Radio talk show host Bernie Ward says he was doing research. But a federal indictment claims he traded in child pornography over the Internet. Yesterday in San Francisco, the former priest pleaded not guilty. Ward's attorney says he his client did not access pornographic images three years ago while doing online research for a book that he's writing. Ward hosted KGO Radio's God Talk program, among others. He's off the air for now.
LEMON: Was it shooting down a security risk or destroying evidence? A CIA videotape -- the interrogation of two alleged -- two Al Qaeda suspects in 2002 -- that's not in dispute. But in 2005, the agency destroyed the tapes and that's where some people have a problem. Top Congressional Democrats say they knew nothing about it and they've called on the Justice Department to investigate.
Human rights advocates believe the tapes show torture. The White House says President Bush knew nothing about the tapes until yesterday. The CIA director said the tapes were no longer useful and were a security risk.
PHILLIPS: Former Illinois Republican Congressman Henry Hyde was remembered today by friends, families and dozens of lawmakers from both parties. Hyde died in his sleep last week. He was 83 years old. He's perhaps best known for authoring the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal payments for abortions. He also was the Republican House manager for President Clinton's impeachment trial in the Senate. Hyde retired in January after 32 years in Congress.
LEMON: Coach Mike Harwell says carve them up. He's not talking about the other football team. He's talking about little wooden Santas. Wait until you see.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: For decades, Sally Bingham was a stay at home mom. Now she's an Episcopal priest with a specialized calling and a zeal to win converts.
Here's Ali Velshi with Life After Work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sally Bingham is a woman of the cloth, but what she preaches is one part bible and one part being green. REV. SALLY BINGHAM, GRACE CATHEDRAL: Two of my greatest passions are the environment and my Christian faith. So bringing those two things together was probably the epiphany -- when there became the opportunity to be a priest and talk about stewardship of creation from the pulpit.
VELSHI: Bingham is an Episcopal minister at the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. But 16 years ago, instead of raising environmental awareness, she was raising children.
BINGHAM: Prior to becoming a priest, I spent most of my time being a wife and mother. And it occurred to me that people who sit in the pews and profess a love of God should be the people that are protecting the creation.
VELSHI: So in 1991, at age 51, Bingham went to study at a seminary. And now she preaches her environmental sermon from the pulpit and across religious lines through her Regeneration Project. The organization helps religious groups around the country make their facilities more green.
BINGHAM: One of the really fun and exciting things about this ministry is the fact that it's interfaith, because it brings Muslims, Jews and Christians together around a table, standing in solidarity on a particular issue. And I have been completely overwhelmed by the affirmation and the growth of this ministry over the last three to five years -- utterly startling to me. But that tells me that I just happened, by the grace of God, to be in the right place at the right time.
VELSHI: Ali Velshi, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Zach Petkewicz is an everyday superhero. Zach was the Virginia Tech student who barricaded his door with a table during the massacre earlier this year. He kept the killer out -- and kept many of his classmates alive.
Actress Mira Sorvino read a letter from Zach's family accepting his award as a CNN Hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIRA SORVINO, ACTRESS: "The Virginia Tech community is a very close-knit family and we are we're still grieving for our lost family members. Zach has chosen not to participate in this live program out of respect for those who were unable to walk out of those classrooms. It is in their memory he honors."
God's blessing on all the Petkewicz family.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: And our Web site has everything you want to know about these heroes. Click onto CNN.com/heroes to read more and the blue ribbon panel that helped pick them out from and outstanding pool of selflessness. And if you missed even a second of last night's shows -- the heroes, the music, all of that good stuff, no sweat. There's going to be an encore presentation, tonight, 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
LEMON: Well, this is the time of year football season winds down and the holiday season revs up. But for one high school coach in Georgia, it all -- it kind of runs together for him.
Reporter Wes Sarginson of CNN affiliate WXIA has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
WES SARGINSON, WXIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): College coaches have noticed this defensive line is vicious. They consider it an insult if someone scores on them.
MIKE HARWELL, TUCKER HIGH COACH: All right, here we go.
SARGINSON: Coach Mike Harwell expects their best on every down and usually he gets it. He wants to hear the pads popping when the ball is snapped.
HARWELL: Just pop up. I need you to pop up. Oh, this is great.
SARGINSON: But at night in his man cave (ph) in Tucker, Coach Harwell is carving little Santa Clauses that are selling in fine arts stores from here to Chicago.
HARWELL: I had to figure it out myself. I had some friends that carved and, you know, I picked things up from them.
SARGINSON: Basswood flies off knives sharp enough to slice off a finger, as he shapes Santa's beard, nose and eyes. Each Santa is unique. In the wee hours of the morning, when the rest of the family is asleep, oftentimes Coach Harwell is still carving or painting. Sometimes his daughter Elise (ph) is watching, but usually he's so caught up in the work, he loses track of time.
HARWELL: I came home last night from football practice. We had a long practice yesterday. I got home at 8:30. I worked for three hours.
SARGINSON: In Atlanta, you can only find his work at Labaire Pottery in downtown Norcross, where the top price is $140. In Chicago at a fine arts store, he gets twice that much. As collectors find his work, the prices will go up. This year, his Santas were selected among some of the top Santa carvers in America. That was a dream of his. The other dream is being part of the staff that coaches a state IV-A champion. We'll find out if that's possible at the Dome this weekend.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LEMON: That Wes Sarginson of CNN affiliate WXIA with Coach Mike Harwell. His Tucker High School Tigers play a semifinal game tonight at the Georgia Dome. And if they win, it's on to the championship game next week and a little more time for carving.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's at that time of year when we like to do something a little extra for the people who do so much for us all year. So how much do you tip your hairstylist, your baby sitter, your producer?
Stephanie Elam has all that next, along with the closing bell from Wall Street.
LEMON: Your anchor.
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Time to check in with Mr. Wolf Blitzer.
PHILLIPS: He's standing by in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour -- hey, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, guys.
We have a lot coming up at the top of the hour, including major fallout from revelations the CIA destroyed videotapes it made showing interrogations of al Qaeda suspects. One key Democrat asking why the CIA doesn't have faith in its own security. We're live with the reaction from the White House, the campaign trail and beyond.
Barack Obama is about to get a big boost on the campaign trail this weekend with Oprah Winfrey lending her star power. But will it translate into more votes come January?
And Republican candidates for the White House get their own chance to win back voters who have sided with the Democrats lately. We're going to show you what's going on.
All of that, guys, coming up, right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
PHILLIPS: All right, Wolf, hold on a second.
Before you go...
LEMON: Yes.
PHILLIPS: You've got to see this next little tribute to you.
LEMON: Yes. And you can't go anywhere, because, you know, Wolf is like LL Cool J ladies love...
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: ...ladies love Wolf Blitzer.
(LAUGHTER) LEMON: We spoke yesterday, Wolf, with Grammy winning singer and actress Queen Latifah. Wolf, she could not stop talking about you.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEEN LATIFAH, ACTRESS: Wolf Blitzer!
PHILLIPS: Yes, it's sexy, isn't it?
(CROSSTALK)
QUEEN LATIFAH: He's got a reindeer name...
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Oh, gosh.
QUEEN LATIFAH: And one that, in a pack, would kill a reindeer.
Let's go to Wolf!
It's Woof Blitzer.
(LAUGHTER)
QUEEN LATIFAH: Donner and Cupid, you dig?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: She loves you.
BLITZER: But she obviously knows what she's talking about, Queen Latifah.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Hey...
BLITZER: Maybe she could become part of the best political team on television.
PHILLIPS: Yes, actually, she wants to be a part of the wolf pack.
LEMON: Yes. Oh, right.
PHILLIPS: She asked me personally if we would extend the invitation. What do you think?
BLITZER: That's a commitment. You know, that's -- I've got to go through her security background.
(LAUGHTER) BLITZER: I've got to check it out.
PHILLIPS: Trust me, she had a hired assassin with her, too. You should have seen this guy. He was huge.
LEMON: I think you might want her on your security background, because she -- you know, she doesn't take any mess there.
BLITZER: And she's Queen Latifah.
PHILLIPS: That's right.
LEMON: She's Queen Latifah.
BLITZER: That's right.
LEMON: Wolf, she looks hot, too, man in person. Have you seen her in person?
BLITZER: She looks good.
LEMON: Whoo.
PHILLIPS: Well...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Really?
PHILLIPS: Wolf is the king, so it makes perfect sense to put those two together.
BLITZER: The king and the queen, that's right.
PHILLIPS: All right...
LEMON: I think we're going to start calling him LL Wolf B. like LL Cool J -- Ladies love Wolf B. There we go.
BLITZER: That's it.
PHILLIPS: All right, Wolf.
LEMON: Thanks, Wolf.
PHILLIPS: Well, we talked...
LEMON: (INAUDIBLE).
BLITZER: I've got nothing else to say.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: We didn't just talk to Queen Latifah about Wolf Blitzer, even though that's all she wanted to talk about. We talked about her new holiday movie, too. She also had a challenge for the adults in Jena, Louisiana. More of our interview Monday in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Now, the closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street.
LEMON: Stephanie Elam is standing by with a final look at the trading day, a final look at the trading week -- Stephanie.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you get Wolf blushing there?
LEMON: Oh -- Wolf, did you see him?
(LAUGHTER)
ELAM: I think I saw a little hue coming into the cheeks.
LEMON: I think he was -- we should call him Rudolph, maybe, because he turned red.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Instead of Blitzer.
ELAM: The jokes just don't end.
LEMON: Yes, they don't.
PHILLIPS: That's right.
LEMON: They don't stop.
ELAM: All right, let's talk a little bit about tipping. All right, let's say here, if you have a cleaning person, how much should you tip them?
The answer -- the cost of one visit if he or she visits weekly or biweekly. Of course, you have to up it if you see them more. Now, if it's a team that comes, a box of chocolates is good.
Now, here's one that you may think about. What about a baby sitter, like you've got a nanny that comes? One week's pay and a small gift from the child is standard there. A regular sitter -- one or two nights' pay. And a day care provider -- $25 to $70.
Exceptions -- only give a holiday tip if you've used them frequently and also if you've had an emergency. Then you want to call them, as well.
Let's look at hairstylists because...
LEMON: Hey, Stef?
ELAM: Yes?
LEMON: Before you go there, are you serious? Because I do way more than that. I do like a couple of weeks. So I've been all wrong here. PHILLIPS: It's because you're loaded.
ELAM: Like you said, you like to over tip.
LEMON: No, it's not. It's not because I'm loaded. I just...
PHILLIPS: The big daddy with the big bucks over here.
LEMON: For some reason, I do way more than that.
ELAM: I've got a -- I didn't want to say that.
LEMON: No, no, no.
ELAM: But, you know, this one is for you, though, Don...
LEMON: Why?
ELAM: Because we're taking a look at your hairstylist...
LEMON: Oh.
ELAM: And you should actually give them the normal cost of a visit that you should see them for the year. However, if you do need extra attention from your barber, like you've just recently received, then you may want to tip them a little extra so, you know, in your December visit. So you might want to keep that in mind.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: For the scalping?
I went to the LSU football game with my friends from college this weekend and I had hair. And they went home and like, you know, saw me on TV the next day and I all -- my tech (INAUDIBLE) what happened to your head? What happened to your hair? I was scalped.
ELAM: Yes. Yes, and...
LEMON: I like it, though. I don't have to do anything to it.
ELAM: It looks...
LEMON: Some people say it looks red. My hair is not red. Maybe it's my scalp showing through but it's...
ELAM: Sure, it's showing through.
LEMON: ...it is not red.
ELAM: You know, and I also have to tell you about the cleaning person. One of my producers here said when she was in college she used to work at a hotel cleaning there. And she said people would just empty out their pockets and drop like 78 cents. And it would be like thanks. That's not a tip.
PHILLIPS: That is so rude.
LEMON: Not so much.
ELAM: That's so rude, all right? Let's just keep that in mind.
LEMON: No, that's not...
PHILLIPS: That's not right.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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