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Colorado Church Shootings; Oprah and Barack; CIA Videotape Destruction

Aired December 09, 2007 - 16:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN HOST: Thanks for joining us for this edition of "Your Money." You can catch Christine later today at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on "Lou Dobbs this week."
CHRISTINE, CNN HOST: And you can see Ali every weekday morning on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you back here next week.

VELSHI: Saturday at 1:00 and Sunday at 3:00. See you then.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. This breaking news that we're following right now in the NEWSROOM. Rocky Mountain manhunt. Two shootings at two separate places of worship in Colorado. We are live with the latest. We're following these two separate shootings. One taking place just a short while ago in Colorado Springs where we understand a shooting took place right outside the New Life Church. This taking place just about 90 minutes away from a shooting that took place earlier today where two people were killed and two others were wounded. That taking place at a training center for a youth missionary center. And so to try and bring us up to date on these two separate shootings and whether indeed they are in any way related, let's go now to our affiliate reporter Rhonda Scholting. She is in Arvada, Colorado, with the very latest. Rhonda?

RHONDA SCHOLTING, AFFILIATE REPORTER: Fredricka, preliminary reports show that these two shootings could possibly, and I caution you, could possibly be related. We have some information from Colorado Springs that the shooter in these two incidents seemed to be perhaps the same description. But that description is very vague. A 20-year-old white male wearing a dark jacket and a dark hat. That is what we heard from here in Arvada and also what we are now hearing from Colorado Springs. What we know in Colorado Springs right now is apparently four people were shot outside the New Life Church.

For anyone familiar with Colorado Springs, that particular church is in the northern part of the city, not far off of interstate 25. It is a very large church. In fact, it was founded by Pastor Ted Haggard who recently left the church after being tied to a gay prostitute. We believe that one of the people who was wounded, potentially his wounds are life threatening but we do not know any more at this particular time. Again, they think perhaps that the two shootings could be related but we caution you at this point in time that we are not sure because, again, the description of the suspect here in Arvada and the one in Colorado Springs is very, very vague.

Right here in Arvada, we're expecting to hear in about an hour from police investigators where they'll be holding a press conference here at city hall. This is where police this morning brought the folks that survived the shooting here in Arvada. The 45 survivors who were able to get out in time, they were trying to find any clues they can perhaps to find out exactly why this happened. Four people were shot here in Arvada, two have since died. Those two that we believe to be dead are Tiffany Johnson. She was 26 years old from Minnesota and Philip Crouse, 24 years old from Hawaii. Dan Griebenow, 24 years old from South Dakota. He was shot in the neck and Charlie Blanch, a 22- year-old from Minnesota, was shot in the leg. Both Charlie and Dan are in Denver area hospitals.

From what we know, the youth of the mission folks were apparently having a holiday party, a Christmas party last night. That is perhaps why this particular suspect was drawn to the building. It sits in a neighborhood that doesn't have a lot of streetlights, relatively dark except perhaps for the noise and music and perhaps light coming from that Christmas party. From what we know, perhaps this person was looking for shelter. We have someone who talked about that a bit earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was looking for a place to stay and as they were talking with him, that's when the shooting started. And I'm not sure...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLTING: Again, we do not know if the shooting here in Arvada early this morning and the one that just recently occurred in Colorado Springs are connected. But as we said, the preliminary but very vague description of the suspect in both cases seems to be somewhat similar. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so Rhonda, why does it seem that there is this vague description when I thought if he was trying to seek shelter at this dormitory, there was actually an exchange of words between this gunman and some of the people in the dorm. Why do they feel they couldn't get a good look at him?

SCHOLTING: Well, I think the people that did talk to him face-to-face did get a good look at him. I'm only referring to perhaps what we're getting out of police today. They have been somewhat vague in the description they gave out earlier today. A description they were putting out to the public saying, you know, be on the lookout for this guy. But we have not had any updates since probably about four hours ago from police here as to whether or not that description is more distinct.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rhonda Scholting, thank you so much there from Arvada, Colorado. And of course, when we get more information on these two shootings, if indeed they are related, we'll be able to bring that to you.

Now, time for presidential politics. Battle of the big names, part two. For second straight days, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are playing their star cards. Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton are on the campaign trail, both in South Carolina. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is in Columbia where the Oprah-bama team is rallying supporters there. Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. You can call it Obalooza or Opralooza if you want or Obama mania, but clearly the excitement was contagious here. They got a record-breaking audience, about 29,000 was the official count inside of the stadium. The big question, of course, is whether or not this is going to translate into votes for Barack Obama. Oprah was very clear about her position on this, even taking on the main issue against Senator Hillary Clinton. That, of course, being experience, saying do not be fooled by the idea that more experience in Washington translates into a good leader. And we heard Oprah also talk about that this was really stepping out of her normal role, using her star power, simply to push forward an agenda that she thought was inspirational and she said this is really history making. It's the first time that she has endorsed a presidential candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: I believe that Barack Obama will bring a sense of statesmanship to the White House. I believe that Barack Obama will lead with a sense of strength and conviction with honor and compassion and with an unyielding focus on what we all can make together of our national future. I've never done this before, but this is what I also know. If you keep on doing the same thing, the same way, all the time, you get the same results.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Fred, part of Oprah's real star power, if you will, is that she speaks to 9 million viewers a day, 75% of those viewers are women. So that is the big group that they are going after. Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton, we see that Senator Clinton as well, she has her own star power, woman power if you will. She is with her daughter as well as her mother there now on the campaign trail. You mentioned before that Bill Clinton here in South Carolina earlier, speaking at a church, trying to rally folks. I should also let you know as well this was really a kind of ground breaking operational event. They had everybody with their cell phones essentially given a list here of four people to call, all simultaneously, to see if they were Barack's supporters, to see if they could come out, if they can convince them, get their address and phone number. More than 15,000 people participated in this simultaneous call. They had a guy from the Guinness World Book of Records to certify that they had broken a record here. So, this is a very sophisticated operation tool as what all of the people in this audience. They have their addresses, their telephones, as well as their names here. They're going to try to follow up because they are still trying to convince those unconvinced, undecided voters, Fred, to vote for him. Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that is remarkable. So, even if you weren't there, you will count, or you potentially could count with those phone calls. MALVEAUX: Even if you weren't there, you were given a call. And they've got your name, they got your number and they're going to follow up. And you know, the big question here, of course, is celebrity endorsements don't usually translate into votes. So, this really is going to be a kind of new experience if this works for them.

WHITFIELD: A true test. All right. Suzanne Malveaux from Columbia, South Carolina. Thank you.

Well, South Carolina native's son John Edwards is up north in another critical state. He is in New Hampshire. Edwards has a lot of ground to make up there before the state's primary on January 8th. He's running third in the most recent state polls and yesterday Edwards was asked if celebrity endorsements like Oprah Winfrey's support for Barack Obama really helps on election day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Any presidential candidate has the right to bring somebody out who supports them. There's nothing wrong with that. But I don't believe voters decide who to vote for based on what a Hollywood star, television star is telling them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, Edwards has his own share of celebrity endorsements, including Bonnie Ray and actor Harry Bellefonte.

And we're not done with politics. CNN's congressional correspondent Dana Bash will have a live report for you from Miami on tonight's first even Spanish language republican presidential debate. And now let's check in with weather because it's pretty blustery out there. This is Southern California. Clouds have been working all day to clear snow from mountain roads. Up to 15 inches fell in the San Gabriel mountains. The ice and snow briefly closed the grapevine section of interstate 5 north of L.A. and a wintry storm has much of Oklahoma in its grip. The slow=moving storm is dropping sleet and freezing rain there. Dozens of counties under severe weather warnings, watches or advisories. And a layer of ice on the tree limbs and the power lines is expected to cause a few problems and guess how. And motorists are advised to use extreme caution as well.

Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras in the severe weather center. And boy, you have your hands full once again, a whole lot of snow in a lot of places.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN, METEOROLGOIST: Yes. Ice will be a huge concern today, Fredricka. It's already accumulated more than a half of an inch in some parts of Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas and south central parts of Missouri. Everywhere here where you see that dark purple is where we have ice storm warnings and then freezing rains advisory in the lighter purple color. And we have numerous reports of power lines down and tree limbs down in parts of Oklahoma. Miami, Oklahoma, that town is almost entirely without power because the freezing rain has accumulated to about half an inch. So incredibly hazardous travel in this part of the country today. And this stuff can really sneak up on you. Some of the spots as you can see are just kind of seeing this occasionally and so you don't think it's going to be all that bad because you've seen a little here and there. Well, it adds up and it only takes maybe a quarter of an inch to start bringing those tree limbs down and bringing those power lines down. And remember that bridges and overpasses in particular tend to freeze up first. So, travel really not recommended here today. And here's a lot of that pink, and one of the problems going on here is that the rate this is coming down as been extremely heavy, as much as a quarter of an inch per hour. And this area right here from Oklahoma down towards Hascal, is of great concern, because there have been some thunderstorms mixed in here and so that comes down really heavy, freezes on contact and you could have a good 1/8th of an inch of ice on the ground just like that.

Here's what's going on across parts of Missouri from Springfield down towards Tulsa, extreme icing beginning here. We could see as much as three quarters of an inch before all is said and done. Things not looking too terrible up here yet in Illinois and Indiana, but we could see maybe a tenth or two-tenths of an inch. More than an hour of delay going into Chicago O'Hare because of low clouds and some of the wintry weather pulling in there. We should see some improvement with Chicago by the way after sundown and that moisture riding way ahead of this system, starting to pull into parts of Pennsylvania and upstate New York and even New York City will likely see some light freezing rain. And look at this, this really helps tells the story, Fredricka. From 39 at Dallas to 79 in Shreveport. That warm air overrides that cold layer and where those two come together, that's where we get the ice.

WHITFIELD: Oh, nasty combination. All right. Thank so much, Jacqui.

And of course straight ahead, we're continuing to follow the developments out of Colorado. These two different shootings that has taken place in two separate places of worships, miles apart and hours apart. We'll give you the update as we get it.

Meantime, having trouble getting into the holiday spirits? Well, it is Dr. Phil to the rescue, along with his wife, Robin. He and his wife are hosting a Christmas in Washington tonight, but he spoke to me first about why this concert and this season are so special.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the CIA and the Justice Department have already launched a joint inquiry into the destroyed CIA videotapes but now a democratic presidential candidate says that's not enough. He wants an independent probe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Ed. And straight ahead as well, a storm named Katrina versus the unshakeable spirit of this 100-year-old Louisiana woman. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Back to our top story. Two separate shootings at two different places of worship in Colorado. The latest one taking place in Colorado Springs outside the New Life Church. Jen Dehaan of our affiliate KRDO is in Colorado Springs and brings us the very latest. Is the gunman still at large?

JEN DEHAAN, KRDO, CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): From what we can tell, we have not been able to actually speak to police due to the on-going investigation. It sounds as if the scene is still very chaotic. However, what we have gathered from listening to scanner traffic is that they are actively searching for two separate suspects. We also have a source in the area telling one of our news channel 13 reporters that this may in fact be connected to last night's shooting at an Arvada mission. So again, we have not been able to confirm this due to the ongoing situation. We do have crews on the way to the scene. But from what we can gather from this traffic, from listening to the scanners is that they are actively searching for two suspects, that there may be multiple victims, not a specific number, but multiple victims and that there are also people still inside the New Life Church. From what I heard one scanner traffic, there are two girls on their cell phones that are hiding beneath the main stage of the church. Again, this is everything we're just listening to unfolding. But it's, to listen to it, it's frightening. It really is.

WHITFIELD: OK. So this is information that you're hearing on the scanner, Jen, but police are not necessarily confirming. Because often times you listen to scanner material, it doesn't mean that all this information is firmed up. Sometimes there is a lot of guess work going on.

DEHAAN: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: So it's unclear whether police are saying for certain that whether there are people inside this church still and the locations of these people and whether the gunman is just one or if indeed there are more than one.

DEHAAN: Correct. Again, this is what we're hearing. We have been, you know, attempting to communicate with police on this. But they are obviously very engaged in the situation at the time. They have not been able to firm up any information. We have sources on the scene, as I said before, that are, it sounds as if they are hiding. They are inside the church still. We're taking calls here at the station from people who are on the scene, who are at this church and are witnessing this. So we're trying to get all the information we can gathered and trying to confirm exactly what is going on up at New Life Church.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jen Dehaan, thanks so much. We'll keep in touch with you and of course, if we get any more information on the developments of that shooting place in Colorado Springs, we will do so. Meantime, let's go to Arvada where the first shooting of the day, at least in this Colorado area, took place. That taking place outside a youth missionary center where apparently initial reports indicate that this person went to the dormitory there seeking shelter, was told that he wouldn't be allowed to stay there and then simply opened fire according to earlier reports. Rhonda Scholting is there in Arvada. And so, Rhonda, last we spoke about 19 minutes ago, they were still looking for the gunman. Are your sources saying in any way that these are indeed connected, these two shootings?

SCHOLTING: We have not specifically heard from police here at this moment, Fredricka, but we do understand that at least as we said earlier, the description of the suspect in both cases seemed to be relatively the same. Although the description, again, is relatively vague. At the top of the hour, we're expecting to hear from police investigators here in Arvada. Hopefully they will have a lot more details on what the suspect looked like and maybe more some more details on specifically what happened here and why. What we know at this point is that shortly after midnight this morning here in Arvada, a gunman walked into the missionary center. He shot four people, two of them since died. Tiffany Johnson, a 26-year-old from Minnesota and Philip Crouse a 24-year-old from Hawaii, we understand are the two students that perished. Dan Griebenow, now a 24-year-old from South Dakota, was shot in the neck, and Charlie Blanch, 22 from Minnesota, was shot in the leg. Both Charlie and Dan are being treated in local hospitals.

Well, from what we do understand, it was shortly after midnight, or right around midnight this morning when this gunman walked into the center. We understand that the missionary center was having some kind of Christmas party and this man may have been drawn in there by maybe the lights and maybe by the music and maybe by the conversation of the people there. The neighborhood where this happened is a relatively quiet neighborhood. It's relatively dark in that corner of the neighborhood, not a lot of street lights there. So he may have been drawn there by the music and the people obviously having a good time. We don't know what the conversation was that passed between the people who greeted him. We understand he may have come in through the back door. But obviously something was wrong, something happened. We have talked to some people today that said he was looking for shelter there. He may have been a transient and that apparently he was told he could not stay there that night. That is when the shooting broke out.

WHITFIELD: Rhonda Scholting in Arvada there. So, two people are dead at that place of the shooting and two others still nursing critical injuries. Thanks so much. Rhonda Scholting in Arvada, Colorado.

We're going to continue to follow the developments there out of Colorado as the information there comes in.

Meantime, turning to the topic of global warming, we go to Norway. That's where former Vice President Al Gore will get the Nobel peace prize tomorrow for his work in drawing attention to the problem of global warming. Our Miles O'Brian is braving the cold there as well in Oslo. But you don't look cold at all.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: I'm bundled up here, Fred. Definitely, it's a little chilly here. It's about 4 degrees above freezing here in Oslo. Not thinking too much about global warming just at this moment. This is the tail end. It's a little after 10:00 p.m. here and it's the tail end of day one of the three-day I'm calling it the Gore-oh-nation. Al Gore and Tipper are here. They came here today before yesterday going from event to event, from interview to interview, from photo op to photo op, it's just jam packed. They arrived at the airport, took the train in, like I did. A little tip to the green notion that is at the heart of this Nobel peace prize this year. Today, met with reporters and also met with the Minister of the Environment, and the Foreign Minister for Norway. Let's not forget, Norway is a huge oil and gas producer. There are some people who are critical that Norway could do a little more to reduce its emissions. Gore said he liked the spirit of the conversation but would not elaborate. I'm sure there might a few somewhat awkward moments there. Mr. Gore also talking about how grassroots efforts are changing the way people think about global warming in the U.S., cities, states even corporate leaders demanding regulations to curb emissions. He says that mission is not getting through to President Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GORE, NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER: This has not yet resulted in changes at the White House. It has resulted in changes in the U.S. House of Representatives and I predict will soon in the U.S. Senate. But more than any of that, the American people and people in other countries, as the truth of this climate crisis begins to be more widely known, are going to demand that political leaders take action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The former vice president sharing the award with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. That Fred, as you know, is the U.N.-created group of scientists that is sort of synthesizing all the best information they can about climate change. The head of that, Rajendra K. Pachauri, was asked if technology is the solution, which is almost a direct quote from President Bush, saying technology is the way to go. He said technology alone won't do it, there has to be changes in regulations in order for climate change to turn a corner. And he says if the amount of carbon dioxide doesn't peak before 2015, we're headed for big trouble. Fred.

WHIFIELD: Uh-oh. That's a sizable warning. All right. Thank you so much, Miles.

Well, of course, we're going to have much more on the top story we're following here in the U.S. shootings in Colorado at two separate places of worship. And we're also going to talk to our Ed Henry in Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Top story we're following out of Colorado. Two separate shootings taking place at two different places of worship. You're looking at new images that are coming in out of Arvada, Colorado. This is the place of the first shooting taking place in the overnight hours. And what we understand is a gunman came to the dormitory at the Youth Missionary Center at a time of a Christmas party taking place saying he wanted to seek shelter. The people there at the missionary center said no, you can't stay here and this person apparently opened fire, killing two people and then wounding another. And then many hours later, in fact, just taking place within past hour and a half, about 70 miles away in Colorado Springs. We're hearing reports of four people being shot outside the New Life Church there in Colorado Springs. We don't know the condition of the four people who were shot, nor do we know whether the gunman is still being sought. But we do understand that in the Arvada situation, taking place early this morning, they are still seeking the gunman. A manhunt is underway. Police are not willing to say whether or not these two shootings taking place in Colorado, just 70 miles apart, about 90 minutes drive apart are indeed related. We're going to continue to watch the developments there out of Colorado.

Meantime, let's go to Washington. And the fall out from the destroyed CIA interrogation team. Well, apparently, it is expanding today. Were any crimes actually committed? That's what top lawmakers want to know. Senate democratic leader Joe Biden is calling for a special council investigation now. While other key members of Congress want to conduct a review themselves.

Our Ed Henry is in Washington following the developments. Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, it's interesting you're right. The calls for investigations are mounting and so is the pressure on the CIA and the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Senator Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, is now demanding Attorney General Michael Mukasey appoint a special prosecutor to find out why the CIA, in 2005, destroyed videotapes of interrogation techniques being used on terror suspects.

SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It appears as those there may be an obstruction of justice charge here and tampering with evidence and destroying evidence.

HENRY: House Republican leader John Boehner says a special council is not needed. Because Mukasey has already launched a prelimary investigation. Boehner backs that justice department probe as well as aggressive reviews by the CIA and Congress.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) MINORITY LEADER: I'm troubled by what's been revealed. When the CIA director is unaware of this, the president is unaware; I think we need to get to the bottom of what were these tapes, what happened.

HENRY: The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said a special council is not needed in part because he plans on Tuesday to haul the CIA director Michael Haden up to Capitol Hill for answers.

SEN. JAY ROCKEFEELER, (D) SELECT CMTE. ON INTELLGENCE: Were there things on those tapes that they didn't want to have seen? That didn't conform to what the attorney general would allow them to do?

HENRY: But a Senate Republican leader cautioned that while the investigations are necessary, a crime was not necessarily committed.

SENATOR JON KYL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: It may not have been a good idea, but that's different from a crime.

HENRY: Republican Chuck Hagel, a frequent critic of the president, says he doubts the official explanation, that former White House aid Harriet Miers told the CIA not to destroy the tapes. But never informed the president or other senior officials about the matter.

SEN. CHUCK HAGEL, (R) NEBRASKA: Burning tapes, destroying evidence, I don't know how deep this goes. Could there be obstruction of justice? Yes? How far does this go up in the White House?

HENRY: White House officials stand behind their account; they say the president only learned about the destruction of these tapes last week. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ed Henry, thank you so much.

We're continuing to follow the developments out of Colorado, two different shootings taking place hours apart and miles apart. We understand in Colorado Springs, the shooting took place outside the New Life Church just about an hour to an hour and a half ago. Four people were shot. It's unclear whether the search is still underway for a gunman.

Earlier this morning, another shooting taking place in Arvada, Colorado, that at a youth missionary center where two people were killed and two injured. The manhunt underway for the shooter involved in that. We'll continue to follow these developments here in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Breaking news we continue to follow out of Colorado. There's another church related shooting taking place there. At least four people have been shot outside a Colorado Springs House of Worship less than 90 minutes ago. This follows a deadly shooting at a Christian missionary training center outside Denver early this morning. Four people there were shot, two of them fatally. The gunman got away. We are awaiting a news conference from police in Arvada. That is the place of the early morning shooting. And that press conference is to take place in less than 30 minutes and we'll bring that to you live.

Meantime, onto Washington, D.C. again. And this time for police it's all hands on deck this weekend. If they try to put the brakes on the city's escalating murder rate. CNN's Gary Nurenburg takes a hard look at the crime figures in the nation's capital and across the nation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Police were called to this neighborhood in Woodbridge, Virginia, Sunday morning.

SGT, KIM CHINN, PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA. POLICE: They found three adults deceased and two more had been shot.

NURENBURG: The police executive research forum says violent crime in 2007 is up in some cities, down in others.

JAMES FOX, CRIMINOLOGIST: This is not an epidemic. But it could grow into one.

NURENBURG: When police said they had confessions in the murder of football player Sean Taylor, it appeared to highlight one trend --

FOX: This is 2002, the number of murders committed by black males with guns has increased by over 70 percent.

NIZAM ALI, MANAGER BEN'S CHILI BOWL: We lose so many great people here in D.C. It's horrible.

NURENBURG: Violent crime just hit home at Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington where the manager stands in front of Timothy Spicer's pictures.

ALI: He had aspirations to go further and do a lot with his life.

NURENBURG: Tim Spicer loved his car. He was murdered last month by carjackers near this subway station.

JAMES GOLO, VICTIM'S CO-WORKER: Whoever killed our boy is like he took part of us.

NURENBURG: Spicer was the city's 169th homicide of 2007, the murder rate in Washington was up 22 percent at the beginning of this weekend. D.C. police Chief Cathy Lanier ordered all of the city's police officers to patrol over the weekend and all hands on deck.

CHIEF CATHY LANIER, DC METROPOLITAN POLICE: All hands, my hands included.

NURENBURG: Lanier says the biggest driver of the rise in violent crime is guns.

LANIER: We're focusing on targeting those guns on the streets, trying to take as many as we can off the street.

NURENBURG: She says police alone are not the answer.

LANIER: Unemployment, recreation, education, just getting resources out there. There are families in need of help and help a lot of ways when they don't get the help; it leads to this cycle of crime.

NURENBURG: Fox the Northeastern criminologist says it's a simple choice.

FOX: The choices are is either pay for the programs now or the victims pay later.

NURENBURG: Gary Nurenburg, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: In Chicago, cell phone records helped with the alibi of Nailah Franklin's ex boyfriend, 31 year old Reginald Pots Jr. He was arrested yesterday on first degree murder, robbery and auto theft charges in Franklin's death. The pharmaceutical sales rep went missing in September and her body was found about a week later. Police say Franklin briefly dated Potts but accused him of threatening phone calls. Pots deny any involvement in Franklin's death.

The verdict today, guilty for Canadian pig farmer accused of being the nation's worst serial killer ever, 58-year-old Robert Pickton received a mandatory life sentence after being found guilty of six counts of second degree murder. Pickton is accused in 20 more murder cases involving drug addicts and prostitutes in an around Vancouver. Among the testimony in the case, a prosecution witness described how Pickton would strangle his victims and feed their remains to his pigs.

The wife of England's so-called canoe man may be up the creek as well. Ann Darwin was taken into custody as she arrived at the Manchester, England Airport. She's not been charged but will be questioned about fraud allegations. Her husband John is accused of faking his death in 2002 and cashing in own his life insurance policy. He turned up at a police station last week claiming amnesia.

And the top story here in the states we are following the shooting in Colorado today. Both in places of worship. We'll have much more details coming up and we hope to learn more information from the press conference that's expected in less than 30 minutes. Much more in THE NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Live pictures on the right hand side of your screen. You're seeing the location where the Arvada police are to hold a press conference because of the images you're seeing on the other side of the screen. Flip that around rather. They want to update us on a shooting that took place earlier this morning at a youth missionary center where two were killed and two others were wounded. And questions will be, of course, asked whether this shooting taking place earlier this morning in Arvada has anything to do with another shooting taking place in Colorado Springs. Just an hour and a half ago where four people were shot. The search for the gunman still underway. We'll bring you those live images and the press conference as soon as it happens.

We're going to shift gears quite a bit now. If any of you are feeling a generation gap between baby boomers and the generations that came before and after, listen up. Tom Brokaw's new book, "Boom Voices of the Sixties," may help explain a few things. I talked with him about his new book and that iconic decade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (voice over): Did you realize you were going to become a historian? TOM BROKAW, AUTHOR, "BOOM VOICES OF THE SIXTIES:" No. I think all journalists are historian, that great line it's the first rough draft of history. And I'm always a little surprised when people say you've become a historian, Tom. And even like Michael, a friend of mine, a great American historian of some standing and he said you've become a historian. I'm a popular historian, not an academic historian.

WHITFIELD: But you're writing these books and getting people interested. To know that you've coined the greatest generation, and you -- that has to feel amazing. Very gratifying. And to know that 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 what we should do on a daily basis; I really believe that the material 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 act on it.

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've been saying is that the children of boomers, I hope they buy it and take it home to their parents and say, where were you, what did you do, the good, bad and indifferent. The greatest generation really did spark an intergenerational dialogue. Every day a boomer says I didn't know my parents until I read your book. I talked to my dad for the first time in 20 years to find out what life was like in the depression or the war.

WHITFIELD: As I was reading through it, I was thinking I need to talk to my parents more about the '50s and '60s. As Americans, there was an experience, clearly, as Americans that had --

BROKAW: Your parents I don't know personally but I know about them. They were looking from overseas back here and wondering what was going on and how it would be different when they got back. So I do encourage you to have that conversation.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, I think I will. Thanks for helping to provoke that. So was there a point when you said to yourself, you know what? I have this in me that I want to write books or did it just happen?

BROKAW: No, it didn't just happen. I always wanted to write a book. Because I thought that was -- in the profession that I chose, I thought that would be kind of the ultimate achievement. And I thought it was a natural extension of my curiosity. I wrote a lot for newspapers and magazines, but I love the permanence of the book and I love the long form as opposed to what we do on television.

I wanted to spend time on something. When I wrote "The Greatest Generation" it came out, Jim held it up, a friend of mine, and he said your grandchildren and their children will take this off the shelf and know that their grand parent or their great grand parent wrote it and it will have permanence and meaning in their lives in a way that last interview you did on "Nightly News" will not. I thought that's a good way of putting it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Tom Brokaw on the book "Boom."

Of course, we're continuing to follow the top story here out of Colorado. Two separate shootings taking place. We've got new images coming in from Colorado Springs and from Arvada, the other location where the shooting took place earlier this morning. We're expecting a press conference from police momentarily and we'll bring all of that to you right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Investigations are underway for two separate shootings taking place in Colorado. You're looking at images of a shooting that took place early this morning in Arvada, Colorado, at a youth missionary center.

And then about an hour and a half ago, reports of another shooting taking place outside the New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Not long ago, one of our affiliates KKTV spoke with Lieutenant Fletcher Howard of Colorado Springs Police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. FLETCHER HOWARD, COLARDO SPRINGS POLICE: I can't control what's in people's mindsets and we don't want to speculate on what happened here today either.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Are you in contact with church officials at this time?

HOWARD: Yes, we are.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): (INAUDIBLE)

HOWARD: We have three main buildings, pretty much everything that is on lockdown is right behind us.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): At New Life Church?

HOWARD: Yes.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): What about Lockheed Marten?

HOWARD: They are on lockdown and any of the other businesses that are in the primary area that is open for business today are on lockdown.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): OK.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Did you get a first and last name?

HOWARD: First name is Fletcher, last name is Howard and I'm with the Colorado Springs Police Department and I'm a lieutenant at the police department. (UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Do you have any kind of a motive at all?

HOWARD: No, sir.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): [INAUDIBLE]

HOWARD: We don't have that information until we can get a relationship between the suspect and the victims in this case.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): When can we expect more information?

HOWARD: As soon as it becomes available.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): Were there more injuries of people taken to the hospital?

HOWARD: We have some people in shock, which is to be expected. So we have medical personnel on the scene that are looking at anyone that needs help.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Lieutenant, you have not confirmed any fatalities?

HOWARD: No, sir, I have not.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): And the suspect that you have in custody, where was that person engaged or --

HOWARD: Well, at this point in time, we want to make sure, like I said earlier, we want to make sure that there's not more than one victim and one suspect. So as soon as I can get that information I'll give that to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Lieutenant Fletcher Howard of Colorado Springs Police updating reporters. Four people shot outside the New Life Church in Colorado Springs and this taking place hours after another shooting took place in Colorado about 70 miles away in Arvada. These are the images from that shooting where a gunman went to a training center at a youth missionary center and simply opened fire after he was denied access, denied access to the dormitory, which he allegedly was looking for shelter.

So the suspect in these two shootings is still being sought there in Colorado. A press conference is to take place any minute now out of Arvada police department. When that does take place, that press conference, we'll bring that to you. Much more straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, again, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in THE NEWSROOM. We continue to monitor breaking news out of Colorado. Two separate church-related shootings about 90 miles and 12 hours apart. Just over an hour ago, a gunman opened fire on worshippers at a Colorado Springs Mega Church, New Life Church. This follows a shooting overnight at a Christian missionary training center in Arvada north of Denver. Two people were killed and two others were wounded in Arvada, but four people reportedly had been shot in the Colorado Springs incident. Let's focus now what took place in Arvada. For the latest, we go to reporter Rhonda Sholting who joins us live from there. Rhonda.

RHONDA SHOLTING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka we are inside the city council chambers here in Arvada, where in just a couple of minutes we're expecting to hear from police investigators in this shooting from this morning in Arvada.

As you said, four people were shot. Two of them have since died. We have identified all four people in this case. One of them, 26-year-old Tiffani Johnson, she was from Minnesota. Also 24-year-old Phillip Krause from Hawaii. Dan Gridnir, 24 years old from South Dakota, shot in the neck. And Charlie Blanch, 22-year-old from Minnesota. He was shot in the leg. Both Dan and Charlie are currently in Denver area hospitals.

From what we know, a young man matching the description, 20 years old, a white male, wearing a dark jacket and hat, walked into this missionary dormitory around midnight this morning and he asked for shelter. From what we understand, several people said he asked if he could spend the night. He seemed to be a transient in need of help. From what we understand, he refused and that is when the shooting began.

We don't know what specifically prompted this and what kind of conversation the folks at the missionary area had with this man. But we do know, again, four people were shot, two of them have since died. Hopefully we'll hear a lot more details from Arvada police.

WHITFIELD: Just for clarification, for those that are just now joining us. It's unclear or maybe you can give us details that they're trying to piece together to see if indeed the Arvada and the Colorado Springs shootings may in any way be related?

SHOLTING: I think that's only something that we can speculate upon. Early reports from Colorado Springs were that this vague description we had of the shooter down here in Arvada and the one in Colorado Springs were somewhat similar. Now whether that will prove to be true as the investigation goes on we have yet to see.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rhonda Sholting, in Arvada. Thank you so much.

So again about within the past hour and half another shooting taking place this time in Colorado Springs. A short time ago Lt. Fletcher Howard of Colardo Springs Police spoke. .

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. FLETCHER HOWARD, COLARDO SPRINGS POLICE: I can't control what's in people's mindsets and we don't want to speculate on what happened here today either.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Are you in contact with church officials at this time?

HOWARD: Yes, we are.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): (INAUDIBLE)

HOWARD: We have three main buildings, pretty much everything that is on lockdown is right behind us.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): At New Life Church?

HOWARD: Yes.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): What about Lockheed Marten?

HOWARD: They are on lockdown and any of the other businesses that are in the primary area that is open for business today are on lockdown.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): OK.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Did you get a first and last name?

HOWARD: First name is Fletcher, last name is Howard and I'm with the Colorado Springs Police Department and I'm a lieutenant at the police department.

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