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Ice Storm Blankets Midwest; Taking Down a Shooter; Drunk & Not Ashamed: Young Women on Facebook
Aired December 11, 2007 - 09:00 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. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Heidi Collins.
Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Tuesday morning, December 11th.
Here's what's on the rundown.
Ice snaps trees and cuts power to thousands of people across the plains. Travel today slow and dangerous. And the storm isn't done yet.
A former CIA officer speaks out on CNN last hour. He confirms the practice of waterboarding terror suspects to make them talk.
Drunk and on worldwide display. College women post their own humiliating pictures on the Web.
Fun redefined -- in the NEWSROOM.
Breaking news this hour. Dozens of people are dead after terror attacks in northern Africa. A pair of car bombs explode just minutes apart, killing at least 47 people in the capital of Algeria today. United Nations officials say at least one staffer is dead, a dozen more people are missing. The massive explosion sheared off the fronts of at least two agency buildings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON REDMOND, UNITED NATIONS SPOKESMAN: This car bomb went off in the street between two U.N. buildings. So it certainly does appear that the U.N. was targeted in this. It comes with the territory, but it becomes increasingly difficult for our field workers to do the kind of work that needs to be done to help people in a humanitarian neutral way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the blast. In April, a wing of al Qaeda boasted of a bomb attack in downtown Algiers. Thirty-three people died in that blast.
Back in this country now, millions of people in the Midwest are waking up to the sound of car wheels spinning and tree branches snapping. A heavy coat of ice and snow reaching all the way from Oklahoma to Illinois. For many, that means no heat, no lights, no school and no way to get around.
At least 18 people have died in the storm. Mostly in accidents on frozen roads. In Oklahoma, the biggest power outage ever, 500,000 customers in the dark.
CNN's meteorologists are very busy this morning. Bonnie Schneider is tracking the storm and Jacqui Jeras is right in the middle of it.
Let's go ahead and get out to Jacqui in Kansas City, Missouri, now.
Good morning to you, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, good morning, Heidi.
Just a miserable morning here. the freezing rain started about 7:00 last night and has been pretty persistent ever since, but it kind of comes in waves. Right now it's very light, but about 20 minutes ago it was coming down very heavy, and it's accumulated about a quarter of an inch to a half of an inch on top of everything.
Take a look at this pine tree. Can you see how thick that ice is coasted upon the branches? And the weight of this ice is now bringing down some of these limbs.
Look at how this tree limb is just resting right on top of that pillar there. That's probably the one thing that's preventing it from breaking.
The sidewalks are completely coated. Look at this ice down here. It's kind of starting to get a little bit slushy when we kick at it. But the biggest trouble is not on the roadways. The roads are just wet right now, and people are actually able to get along because temperatures have been hovering right at that 32 degree mark, but you can't get to your car and you can't get out of your car to the building because it's so extremely slick right now.
There are thousands of people without power here in Kansas City, about 20,000 people is what we're estimating at this time. And then also, trying to travel from the airports very difficult. It's open, and they say some flights are coming in and out, but more than 100 flights have been canceled.
Just up the interstate, I-29, up a piece in St. Joe, Missouri, at least three-quarters of an inch of ice has accumulated there. Thousands of people without power. Power lines down, tree lines down, and reports of burning trees because those power lines fell on top of that.
And it continues to come down, Heidi. This ice storm warning for the Kansas City metro area until midnight tonight. So things are just going to get worse throughout the day today.
COLLINS: Boy, it sure sounds like it. All right.
CNN's Jacqui Jeras.
We will come back to you, Jacqui, and check on the situation in just a little while. Thank you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Today on Capitol Hill, CIA chief Michael Hayden goes behind closed doors to face angry senators. Lawmakers want to know about the CIA's decision to destroy the videotaped interrogations of two terror suspects.
That happened in 2005. Hayden was not the head of the CIA at the time, but he is defending the move. And he says Congress knew about it. Some lawmakers deny that.
The destroyed tapes apparently showed what the administration has called "harsh interrogation techniques."
A former CIA agent says it took only seconds to break the silence of an al Qaeda mastermind. And he believes the information that Abu Zubaydah gave up saved lives. They came through a controversial technique, waterboarding, which makes prisoners think they are about to drown. Earlier, the former agent spoke to John Roberts on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, you've actually had this procedure performed on you as part of a training exercise?
JOHN KIRIAKOU, FMR. CIA AGENT: In training. We tried it on each other just to see what it was like.
ROBERTS: And?
KIRIAKOU: I only lasted five seconds. It's entirely unpleasant.
ROBERTS: What happens to the body when you're undergoing this process?
KIRIAKOU: It almost seizes up. It's so -- you're so full of tension that you just tense up. Your muscles tighten up and it's very uncomfortable.
ROBERTS: So this was performed on Abu Zubaydah, to the best of your knowledge?
KIRIAKOU: Yes.
ROBERTS: How long did he last?
KIRIAKOU: It's my understanding he lasted 30 or 35 seconds, which was quite remarkable. ROBERTS: So he had been resisting all of this time, then within 30 to 35 seconds, he suddenly folded up and said I'll give you anything you want?
KIRIAKOU: The next day he told his interrogator that Allah had visited him in his cell during the night and told him to cooperate because it would make it easier on the other brothers who had been captured.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The former agent says he believes waterboarding is torture and should not be used by American interrogators. Now, he says, for one thing, the U.S. has become more successful on its war on terror and such extreme measures are no longer needed.
We are learning much more this morning now about the gunman in those fatal Colorado shootings. Matthew Murray identified now as the lone shooter at a megachurch and youth missionary center. He killed four people, and there probably would have been many more if not for one security guard.
CNN's Jim Acosta has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Cool under fire, Jeanne Assam says she never flinched as she took down a killer inside the New Life Church.
JEANNE ASSAM, CHURCH SECURITY GUARD: I saw him coming through the doors, and I took cover. And I waited for him to get closer. And I came out of cover and I identified myself and engaged him and took him down.
ACOSTA: An armed volunteer security guard at the church, Assam had never fired a shot before. But church leaders say her steady hand saved lives when she stopped 24-year-old shooter Matthew Murray.
According to police, Murray had a high-powered rifle and a thousand rounds of ammunition as he tried to storm the sanctuary's hallways, just as several thousand parishioners were leaving Sunday services. Assam's security detail was on hand for just such an emergency.
BRADY BOYD, SR. PASTOR, NEW LIFE CHURCH: If we had not had an armed person on our campus, 50 to a hundred people could have lost their lives.
ACOSTA: Murray gunned down two teenage sisters, Stephanie and Rachael Works, and wounded the girl's father before Assam took aim.
ASSAM: I just knew I was not going to wait for him to do any further damage.
ACOSTA: Police say one of the weapons found on Murray after he was shot has been positively linked to an earlier deadly shooting at this missionary training center in nearby Arvada.
SGT. Jeff JENSEN, COLORADO SPRINGS POLICE: There is a forensics -- a positive forensics match between forensics evidence recovered from their scene, as well as evidence that was recovered from our scene.
ACOSTA: The mission says Murray had trained there but was asked to leave because of his strange behavior. According to others at the mission, he told people he was hearing voices. Later in the evening, the gunman's uncle read a brief statement expressing the family's sorrow.
PASTOR PHIL ABEYTA, UNCLE OF COLORADO SHOOTER: Our family cannot express the magnitude of our grief for the victims and families of this tragedy. On behalf of our family and our son, we ask for forgiveness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: CNN's Jim Acosta is joining us now in Colorado Springs.
Jim, what's coming out online now about Matthew Murray today?
ACOSTA: Well, Heidi, police in Colorado are now said to be investigating this online manifesto, what appears to be an online manifesto, that was posted by Matthew Murray in between these two shootings. And that online manifesto, according to "The Denver Post," appears to follow word for word what Columbine killer Eric Harris left before that school massacre.
And we understand that authorities did conduct a search of the Murray home late Sunday night. It's unclear whether or not a computer was seized, but it's believed to be one of the top items that investigators are looking for at this point. They want to make sure this, indeed, was something that he had put online.
COLLINS: So no one has actually seen that as of yet?
ACOSTA: Not as of yet. I think that it's been reasonably confirmed by authorities, at least the authorities that have spoken with "The Denver Post," a local CNN affiliate here in Denver, that seems to say at this point that they do believe, at least on the surface, that this is some sort of online manifesto posted by Matthew Murray.
It hasn't been a hundred percent verified by the authorities. They haven't come out and spoken about this at a press conference. There should be another one later today where we hope to hear more about this.
But if this is the case -- and once again, what we're looking at -- if perhaps he was posting messages before this manifesto, then perhaps there might have been a chance for authorities to see this coming before all of this unfolded. And a lot of this falls on the shoulders of people who are using these online sites. Apparently, he was leaving this message on some sort of online site dedicated to people who were disaffected with the fundamentalist movement. And if people who are using these sites see these types of messages, at some point it's going to be almost a responsibility of people who use those sites to report these kind of messages to the authorities, because it seems like we're seeing this time and again with these school shootings, with shootings in public places like this one.
COLLINS: Yes. And boy, that is going to be especially tough for that Columbine community in Colorado.
All right. CNN's Jim Acosta reporting live this morning...
ACOSTA: Absolutely.
COLLINS: ... from Colorado Springs.
Thank you, Jim.
Teenage sisters Stephanie and Rachael Works were killed at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs. At the Youth With a Mission center, two other people died, Phillip Crouse (ph) and Tiffany Johnson (ph). Their parents told our Larry King how they found out about the shootings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM JOHNSON, FATHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: I heard of it about 2:00, 2:30 in the morning Minnesota time from my wife, and she was being transported to the hospital, talking to the ambulance driver and telling -- apparently telling the description of the assailant. And at the hospital, she passed away.
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Did she talk to you while in the ambulance?
JOHNSON: She did not.
GENE CROUSE, FATHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: My daughter called me from Warren, Pennsylvania, and said that -- she asked me where I was, and I said I'm located at the church right now. And she said that my son Phillip (ph) had been shot and killed. And the initial shock was that this couldn't possibly be correct. I mean, I knew he was in Arvada, Colorado, at Youth With a Mission. That is certainly not a war zone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Then a bit later, a harrowing experience. One of the victims now talking about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This shooter was really calm, at least when he was shooting at me. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Hailed as a hero for taking a bullet -- hear more from him and the security guard who took out the shooter just a little bit later right here in the NEWSROOM.
And next, posing drunk, then posting the pictures. Young women without shame, but at a risk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Who is the Christmas Grinch? A church nativity scene stolen the second time in two years. That story coming your way in just a few minutes.
But first, wild nights plastered on Facebook. Thousands of young women drinking proudly and risking it all.
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Dancing drunk. Sloppy drunk. Falling down drunk. And apparently not embarrassed.
There are nearly 5,000 photos like these on a Facebook group for young women who like to get not just tipsy, but plastered. It's called "30 Reasons Girls Should Call it a Night." And here is what is really amazing -- a lot of these young women post these photos themselves, often with full names and colleges attached.
We decided to blur their faces since we can't be sure everyone is of legal age. The group has more than 172,000 members from around the globe. The young women pictured here seem to be celebrating binge drinking, seemingly enjoying the attention it brings them but ignoring the very real dangers -- alcohol poisoning, date rape, and an increased risk of becoming an alcoholic.
"We know how to get drunk and have a good time" is the caption on this video. "Hammered!" is the caption here. "Wow! Party! I just got drunk and fell out of a car."
Wrapping oneself around a toilet, puking, peeing in a waterfall? Apparently nothing is too embarrassing.
Curious, I instant-messaged one of the group's moderators, this woman. "Why would you post a picture of yourself wrapped around a toilet?" I asked her. "I think it's just something fun to do," she answered. "Everyone's been there at some point. You need to be able to laugh at yourself."
And what about the future? She says she hopes employers will see past these photos. Apparently a lot of other young women are hoping the same thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now, when we pointed out to some of these women, you know, a future employer can see these, they said, oh, yeah, you're right. And one woman we talked to, she even took down her photos after we spoke with her.
COLLINS: Well, good for you. I mean, never mind public office or something.
COHEN: Right. Forget about that. Right.
COLLINS: I think they just do it, again -- you know, what do I know, but it's cool, it's cool to look at those pictures and see how drunk you are, I guess.
COHEN: It's cool. It's fun. And to share it with your friends, that's the big part of it.
COLLINS: Yes. I was drunker than you.
COHEN: Right. There you go.
COLLINS: All right. So there is some new science, is there not, though, about young people and judgment issues that they are showing, whether it be good or bad?
COHEN: Right. The scientists used to think that the brain was fully formed by the time you reached around 20. And what they've realized now is it's more like 25, that those judgment centers are still being formed. And so when you say, oh, they are sort of young and stupid, they really are kind of young and stupid.
It's not necessarily their fault. The brain is still being formed.
COLLINS: Can I get a copy of that? Because as a parent, I would like to hang on to that information a little bit later in life.
COHEN: OK, for your son.
COLLINS: Yes.
All right. Elizabeth Cohen, it's interesting. Thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
COLLINS: Helping out dad. Donations are pouring in for a father raising triplets by himself.
You may remember this story. Last week, we told you about an Arizona man whose wife died during childbirth. Andrue Smith is a construction worker worried about bringing up his three baby boys.
They are so cute, aren't they? But now he is getting some help, everything from diapers to money for daycare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDRUE SMITH, TRIPLETS' FATHER: It's a huge comfort, and it puts my mind and heart at ease to get all of this support that I'm getting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: If you would like to help out the triplets' dad, you can do that. Just email -- or pardon me -- you can mail a check to this address, a regular check to Debra L. Smith Family Memorial Fund, c/o of Wells Fargo Bank. That's 2825 N. Campbell Avenue, Tucson, Arizona, 85719.
And if you didn't get all that, I am quite sure we will have it in the broadcast once again a little bit later on.
So, got debt? Find out how today's move by the Fed will affect you coming up right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Time to talk about this now, if you haven't already been talking about it this morning, pocketbook issue. The Fed poised for a possible rate cut.
So what does it all mean for your wallet? That is the question we always want the answer to, so we're bringing in the expert. Ali Velshi, he's got all the answers.
Ali, what's the deal?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You are too kind.
We are expecting a Fed rate cut this afternoon at 2:15.
COLLINS: Right.
VELSHI: About every six weeks or so the Federal Reserve, a particular committee, which is all the head honchos, sit around and decide whether or not they are going to do anything with interest rates, and that meeting is coming today. If they do cut rates, as expected, it will be the third time this year that they have done so.
Now, here is what happens if they cut rates. It's as if your credit card company cut rates.
Money becomes cheaper to borrow for everybody. So businesses take the fact that they can borrow money for less and they hire more people, they expand their facilities. People save on lower rates because your home equity lines of credit and some of your credit cards and maybe some auto loans get cheaper.
And you can either save that money that you're not paying in interest, or you can do what Americans like to do and spend more.
COLLINS: Spend it.
VELSHI: Particularly as we are in the holiday shopping season.
So, generally speaking, a rate cut is thought of, Heidi, as a good thing. There are some, you know, possible negatives to it, but that is what most people will see.
COLLINS: OK. Well, there might be some questions out there, Ali, as to why they didn't just do one big cut.
VELSHI: Yes.
COLLINS: I mean, there's three cuts in a row here. Economically, does that make a difference or a different impact?
VELSHI: Yes, a big difference. It's a really good question.
Take a look at where we are right now. Our rate is at 4.5 percent. That's the Fed rate.
Now, for most people, that means the way it relates to you is in your prime rate. The prime rate is always three percentage points higher than the Fed rate, so it's 7.5. So, let's say they cut a quarter of a percentage point later. Your prime rate will go down to 7.25.
It takes a long time economically for a Fed rate cut to benefit the economy. Some people say 12 to 18 months. So, what the Fed likes to do is try it, see what is going on. Try it, see what is going on.
There are a lot of people who say they will cut another full percentage point between now and spring. But if you do it all at once, it can have too much of an effect. So that is why the Fed does it slowly, to try and see what the effect is and then make a decision at the next Fed meeting, which is why, by the way, when the rate cut comes out the thing we pay attention to is the statement that the Fed issues, because we parse it and we see...
COLLINS: Yes.
VELSHI: ... are they saying that they're going to do this again? What happens next time?
COLLINS: Yes, because we also have absolutely no patience whatsoever.
VELSHI: That's exactly right.
COLLINS: Yes.
VELSHI: We like to know what at all is right now. Well, I'll tell you this much, your interest rates on most things are getting lower.
If you're trying to get a mortgage, even a fixed rate mortgage, it's less than 6 percent now for a 30-year fixed mortgage. So, for those people out there who are saying I'm in a adjustable rate mortgage, what is going to happen? You know, less than 6 percent is worth thinking about locking in and not having to worry about this.
COLLINS: Absolutely.
VELSHI: Yes.
COLLINS: All right. Ali Velshi, we will be checking in with you again a little bit later on.
Thank you.
VELSHI: My pleasure.
COLLINS: Glazed and dazed from Oklahoma to Illinois. A mean ice storm has you struggling for traction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Fighting terrorism. Meet a police officer with an incredible skill. He's also blind. His story still ahead.
Opening bell for you this morning. It is a Tuesday morning. Big meeting coming up with the fed announcing whether or not there will be another interest rate cut happening about 2:15 today. Right now, though, when we look at those numbers. Yesterday, pretty good day, pretty good close, up 101 points. Resting at 13,727. So, today, we will see likely a flat open, but what kind of a predictor am I? Nothing. So, we will watch those numbers for you and we will be talking about that possible fed cut rate in just a few more minutes.
Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is off today. Among our top stories this hour.
Breaking news. Dozens of people are dead after terror attacks in Northern Africa. A pair of car bombs exploded minutes apart. Hospital sources in capital of Algeria say at least 62 people are dead. United Nations officials say at least one staffer is dead. A dozen more are still missing. The massive explosion sheared off the fronts of at least two agency buildings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON REDMOND, UNITED NATIONS SPOKESMAN: This car bomb went off in the street between the two U.N. buildings so, it certainly does appear that the U.N. was targeted in this. It comes with the territory but it becomes increasingly difficult for our field workers to do the kind of work that needs to be done to people in a humanitarian neutral way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So, far no group has claimed responsibility for the blasts. Back in April, a wing of al Qaeda boasted of a bomb attack in downtown Algiers. 33 people died in that blast.
Also, in the news this hour. A step forward. That's what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls the recent U.S. intelligence report that says his country stopped trying to make nuclear weapons four years ago. In sharp contrast to how he has talked in the past about the U.S., President Ahmadinejad said more steps by the U.S. could lead to better relations.
On another topic, Mr. Ahmadinejad said today he will visit Iraq although he did not say when. CNN's Aneesh Raman attended today's news conference and he will join us from Tehran, just a few minutes right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The Midwest spending another day in the grip of a major winter storm. Snow and ice reaching from Oklahoma to Illinois. 19 deaths now blamed on the storm. Most of them in Oklahoma and mostly in accidents on frozen roads. The president's guard has just declared a state of emergency for Oklahoma, making the state eligible for federal aid now. 500,000 lost electricity in Oklahoma, in the states biggest power outage ever, could be more than a week, in fact, until they get it back on. Bonnie Schneider is joining us from the severe weather center. Bonnie, boy, about a week without power. Can you imagine?
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Race for the White House. Our new national poll shows leads aren't safe. CNN's Bill Schneider now, Part Of The Best Political Team On Television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Big shake-up in the Republican race. Last month, Rudy Giuliani was the clear front- runner. Fred Thompson second and John McCain third. Now the race, Mike Huckabee is breathing down Giuliani's neck. A statistical dead heat. Huckabee's support has more than doubled in the last month. Mitt Romney is now running third. He, too, has picked up support. Looks like his speech on faith and politics, just before this poll was taken, earned him some points. But, not with evangelicals where Romney is still running fifth.
The big loser? Fred Thompson. Down to fifth place. Huckabee now leads among conservatives and evangelical Republican voters. His support has nearly tripled among women. Huckabee scores well on like ability and on representing Republican values. But Giuliani is still seen as having the best chance of beating the Democrat.
RUDY GIULIANI (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every poll shows that I would be, by far, the strongest candidate against Hillary Clinton.
SCHNEIDER: And the Democrats? Shake-up there, too. Last month, Hillary Clinton was 19 points ahead of Barack Obama. Now, her lead has shrunk to ten points. Clinton is still way ahead among women, but Barack Obama has made big gains with men where he now leads Clinton. Last month, Clinton was leading Obama by 2-1 among liberals. Now, Obama is ten points ahead. Democrat sees Obama as most likeable and least like a typical politician. But when asked, who has the best chance of beating Republicans? Democrats say Clinton. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have been standing against the Republicans' George Bush and Dick Cheney and I will continue to do so and I think Democrats know that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Bill Schneider part of The Best Political Team in Television joining us now live from Des Moines, Iowa, with one of the best hats on television. Hey, there, Bill, why are Huckabee and Obama on the rise, do you think in these national polls?
SCHNEIDER: Well, clearly, both of them appeal to their party's base. Huckabee is leading among conservatives. Obama is leading among liberals but it's something more than that. They are both seen as likeable candidates and they don't talk like typical politicians. They talk a language that ordinary people can connect with and that is what a lot of Americans are looking for this year.
COLLINS: In fact, there is another poll out, too, bill. The CNN Poll that came out just this morning showing Huckabee losing to Democrats. Why?
SCHNEIDER: Why? Because he's not terribly well-known nationally. He is just becoming a figure on the national scene. The Democrats, all three of the leading Democrats, Obama, Edwards and Clinton are leading him right now. In fact, the Democrats are leading all of the Republicans because the voters want change but Huckabee is not doing particularly well against any of the Democrats simply because he is not a very well-known national figure.
COLLINS: OK. We will be watching all of it alongside you. Reporting live again for us today, Bill Schneider, from Des Moines, Iowa. Thank you, Bill.
Two big presidential debates this week to tell you about. Beginning with the Republican Iowa face-off, that's Wednesday 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. eastern live right here on CNN. And the Democratic candidates will be facing off the following day, Thursday, December 13th. Their Iowa debate also from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. eastern live right here on CNN.
COLLINS: Want the most up to the minute political news anywhere available? Cnnpolitics.com is your one stop shop. It's the Internet's premier destination for political news, cnnpolitics.com.
An assistant principal accused of massing students and even choking one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly, we don't approve the man-handling of youngsters to get them to do what needs to be done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: School dazed in the NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: So, who is the Christmas Grinch? A church nativity scene stolen for the second time in two years. We'll have the story for you just ahead.
Assistant principal with anger management issues? The school has suspended him for allegedly paper spraying students. That's reporter Karen Zatkulak from affiliate WTVC explains. There's even more on his records.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREN ZATKULAK, AFFILIATE WTVC: You send your kids to school like Brainerd High thinking administrators will keep them safe but what if an administrator is the one causing the harm? That's exactly what Assistant Principal Joshua Barber is charged with. Back in the spring of last year, administrators say he used pepper spray to break up a fight between students. Afterwards, he was told not to bring the aerosol device back to the building but in September he did. This time, witnesses say when a crowd of students wouldn't disperse, he told them to stay where they were. Then he went to his office, came back with his spray and hit dozens of students, causing irritation to eyes, nose and throats.
JIM SCALES, SUPERINTENDENT, HAMILTON COUNTY SCHOOLS: We feel like we need to have better relationship with our students than to, you know, use any kind of aerosol type sprays to control them.
ZATKULAK: As if that wasn't enough, administrators say earlier in the year, Barber choked a student who was involved in a fight. Witnesses say, the boy's veins were sticking out and he was struggling to stay conscious. They say even after the boy tapped Barber to surrender, the choking continued.
SCALES: Certainly, we don't approve the physical man-handling of youngsters to get them to do what needs to be done.
ZATKULAK: Superintendent Dr. Jim Scales, put Barber on suspension without pay on October 14th. But now, he wants him gone from this school for good. While Barber admits in this statement that he choked a student, he says it's better than what he wanted to do, which was, quote, "Hit him in the face with his fist." And as for the spray, he still says, quote, "Who sprayed the mace, I don't know."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WTVC tried to reach the assistant principal for comment. He did not return their phone calls.
A Christmas crime spree for the second year in a row now. A Connecticut church has been robbed. Part of their nativity scene stolen. Last year, someone took baby Jesus so the church put in a security camera and just last week, two people caught on tape stealing Mary and a sheep. That is just not right. And it happened in Florida, too. Two women also caught on tape walking into a church nativity scene in the middle of the night. You can see that tape there. Police say they made off with a flute, ram horns and other props. A flash flight to guide them, of course.
And now on to this story. A much more serious one. Fighting terrorism. Meet a police officer with an incredible skill. He is also blind.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Delay in becoming a citizen may mean a voter's dash dreams. What's behind the backlog? That ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
But first, see no evil. Can he hear it, though? A blind police officer has a sure sense about wiretaps. CNN's Paula Newton reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is the sound of a new aged cop walking his beat. Alain's career is snatched from the stories of super hero strength. He can't show his face. He works undercover as a Belgian cop, hearing what most people can't. His job is to listen and interpret every note and noise from secret wiretap evidence. He nurtured his sharp hearing, he says, because he had to for his own survival. Alain is blind.
ALAIN, WIRETAP SPECIALIST (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): When I'm in the street all of the surrounding sounds in the environment are important for me, to know when I was on the sidewalk, there was a trash collector or something else. I need to know what it is before getting to it.
NEWTON: And so, surrounding sounds that are so important for wiretap evidence. It's background noise to most, but not Alain. He can figure out the floor where an elevator has stopped just by listening to the gears. Make out most of what is being typed out on a computer just by hearing the top of the key. We put Alain to the test with recorded conversations. First, in a train station. Lots of people, he told us. They're not stopping. He guessed either an airport or a train station. Half an hour, 45 minutes it would be OK to wait.
He got this next location right away. It's a cafe. And he correctly picked up on people drinking wine nearby and a baby in the restaurant. OK. And then we'll meet to go over that, yes? And then to this conversation in a moving car. He said it was not a standard vehicle. It had to be a truck or a car with a large cab. In fact, it was a London taxi. It may all sound like trivial information but especially in wiretap evidence, it is anything but. Pieced together, it helps police track and tail a suspect's every move. Now more important than ever as wiretaps play a crucial role in counter terrorism. Belgian police say this pilot program could be a crime fighting coup for police forces around the world.
GLENN AUDENAERT, BELGIAN COUNTER TERROR CHIEF: Technology as well as an opportunity and a threat. We need to seek out the edge of technology to identify what kind of threats come to us from that or what kind of opportunities to us to develop counter-strategies.
NEWTON: Alain says he's more surprise than anyone to be one of Belgium's newly minted cop. Hopes his acoustic talent will serve the public just as it has him. Paula Newton, CNN, Brussels.
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COLLINS: A heroine experience. One of the victims now talking about it.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This shooter was really calm, at least when he was shooting at me.
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COLLINS: Hailed as a hero for taking a bullet. Hear more from him and the security guard, that is her, who took out the shooter.
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COLLINS: New details coming out about how Matthew Murray was finally stopped. A heroic act by a volunteer security guard and an equally heroic act by a witness who took a bullet to detract the shooter. He spoke exclusively with CNN'S Anderson Cooper.
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LARRY BOUBONNAIS, COLORADO SHOOTING VICTIM: I cross standing the hallway, so I ran on my left where there is a security guard had a handgun on keep yelling at me to get behind him. I said, no way, we got to do something. So, I just yelled. I said, hand me your handgun. I've been in combat. I'm going to take this guy out. I kept doing that four or five times. And he wouldn't, so I thought, the only thing -- my only option was distract the gunman and so I yelled coward and I stood out full view and called him a not nice name and it worked because that is when he raised his rifle and shot.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And there was another security guard there who also had his gun drawn but didn't fire. When you were shot, what did the gunman look like? Could you actually see his face?
BOUBONNAIS: Oh, yes. He was all in black and he was very calm and collected, just not moving his head from side-to-side, but he was just kind of checking things out. And then when I, of course, saw the rifle come up, that's when I went back for cover which I found out later was a hallow decorative pillar. And there were a lot of, I think the bullets went it, so initially I thought it was a shotgun because there we a lot of holes, but I when came out the second time, to do it all over again, that is when I saw the female security volunteer and she -- the shooter, I guess, what is his name? I just found out an hour ago. Murphy or whatever. Matt Murray.
COOPER: He fired shots and the female security guard?
BOUBONNAIS: Well, he ran diagonally. So, when I came out, he was to my left in the hallway and I couldn't see him. And she must have come through the doors. And I'm telling you right now, she was the hero, not me. It was the bravest thing I've ever seen including the 14 months in Vietnam. She was heroic. She had no cover and I heard her fire three and she kept yelling surrender the whole time and she just walked forward like she is walking to her car in the parking lot, firing the whole time.
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COLLINS: And that security guard spoke with our Larry King.
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LARRY KING, LARRY KING LIVE HOST: What was it like?
JEANNE ASSAM, SHOT CHURCH GUNMAN: Surreal.
KING: Tell me, give me the scene. Where was he? Where were you?
ASSAM: He was coming down the hallway from the tent area and I was at the opposite end and basically took cover less than halfway and then I met him. I met him at the point of confrontation and that's where it all happened.
KING: Did you say anything to him?
ASSAM: I identified myself and told him to drop the weapon and then I had to fire several times.
BRADY BOYD, PASTOR, NEW LIFE CHURCH: The real story here, to me, is the fact that the man got 60 feet inside our building. If he would of come another hundred feet, there were several hundred people standing in the main rotunda. What she did, when she heard the gunshots, we're looking at a lady that did not hesitate. When she heard gunshots, she rushed down the hallway toward the attacker. She was under arm and she had a handgun. This is a hero we're talking about; I'm sitting next to a real life heroine.
And I'm telling you, this is the bravest woman that I've ever met. She didn't flinch. She put her own life at risk. She is not on our staff. She is a volunteer. She is a worshiper at our church. This is a random senseless act, it's a real tragedy both for his family, and of course, for the family who just lost two teenage daughters at New Life and that is the tragedy in all this, Larry.
KING: Do you know the sisters?
BOYD: No. I just met -- again, I just came to the church, as you know. And had not had a chance to meet the family. Obviously, in the last 36 hours, I spent a great deal of time with them. They are wonderful people. These are people that are committed to the church. They don't bother anyone, these two daughters had been on mission trips. They were at just a really good family, a family that would be considered an all-American family that -- and that is what makes this an even greater tragedy, two bright, young women whose lives were taken while at church worshipping with their families.
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COLLINS: Again, four people were killed in those two shootings. Five others were wounded.
We want to take a look now at some of the most clicked on videos on cnn.com. Family day at Augusta Aerospace in Philadelphia. Everything relatively normal until a child starts wondering what would happen if you hit that button that says don't hit button unless in an emergency. Well, it set off a fire suppression system, which then filled the hangar with foam. Pretty cool.
Well, the mini metro to the top of a Ford tiara? And what do you get? A Double Decker Race, an attraction outside London.
Also, this guy says he has invented a better athletic cup and his willing to put his body on the line to prove it. Going up against the pitching machine to prove the effectiveness of the product he calls, here it again, The Nutty Buddy.
For more of your favorite video, just go to cnn.com/mostpopular. It's not our fault (INAUDIBLE) popular one. Of course, don't forget you can take us with you anywhere on your iPod with the CNN daily podcast. See some of the stories that will have you talking, that's for sure. The CNN NEWSROOM podcast available 24/7 right on your iPod. Good morning, once again, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Stay inform all day, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Here's what's on the rundown now. Carnage in North Africa. Car bombers target U.N. workers. Dozens of people are killed or main.
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