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Fort Hood Shooting Spree Kills 13; Interview with One Victim's Family; Double-Digit Unemployment; Open Enrollment; Tropical Depression Ida; Pakistani Police Officer Refusing to Quit

Aired November 06, 2009 - 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: Yes, good morning, John and Kiran. Here's what we're working on today.

U.S. soldiers attacked on American soil, and the suspect, one of their own. We'll tell you what we know at this point about the victims in this crime and also the very latest on the investigation.

And to this story, double-digit territory now and double digits that you don't want. The jobless rate jumps to heights not seen in a quarter of a century. We'll get you the very latest.

And as the House nears a health care reform vote, we profile one man's fight for fairness.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. JOHN ROSSI, DEPUTY COMMANDING GENERAL, FORT HOOD: Today on Fort Hood, we'll observe a day of mourning and remember in our thoughts and prayers the victims of this incident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Here is the latest on what we know on the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. Another victim died overnight, pushing the death toll to 13 now. Thirty people were wounded in the attack.

The suspected gunman is an army psychiatrist, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. He was shot four times and despite initial reports is alive this morning. He's hospitalized in stable condition.

The motive for the shootings is not clear, of course, at this point. What we do know, though, Hasan was apparently set to deploy soon and was not happy about it. He had earlier voiced anger about the wars both in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Soldiers who witnessed the shooting said the gunman shouted in Arabic, "God is great," before opening fire. That's according to the base commander.

We have an awful lot of ground to cover this morning. I want to begin with CNN's David Mattingly. He's been gathering as much information as possible and joins us now from outside the gates of Fort Hood.

David, good morning to you.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Major Hasan is laying in a military hospital bed under guard this morning. He has four gunshot wounds, he's on a ventilator, and that's a dramatic change from what he was doing just 24 hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): This exclusive video appears to show the suspected shooter just hours before he allegedly opened fire on a room full of U.S. soldiers. The store owner identified Major Nidal Hasan as a regular at this convenience store and the 39-year-old psychiatrist appears to be calm, even smiling as he buys his morning coffee.

Just seven hours later, the army says he made his way here, to the Family Readiness Center, and armed with two handguns, including a semiautomatic, shot and killed 13 people, wounded 30, and plunged the world's largest military post into chaos.

The army has said little more about the man or his motive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've asked for assistance from federal agencies to make sure we have this investigation right.

MATTINGLY: But we've learned that Hasan might have been known to authorities for some time. Six months ago, federal law enforcement officials reportedly came across an Internet posting signed with Hasan's name discussing suicide bombings and other threats.

We've also learned that Hasan was apparently unhappy about his upcoming deployment, telling a cousin he was mortified by the idea.

Military records reveal a career that spanned more than a decade. Born in Virginia of Jordanian descent, Hasan graduated from Virginia Tech in 1997 with a degree in biochemistry. He received his first deployment to the army that same year.

Six years later, he began work at the Walter Reed Medical Center, pursuing a career in psychiatry and counseling scores of soldiers with posttraumatic stress. Hasan received at least three medals during this time and neighbors near Walter Reed remembered him as easygoing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because he seemed so calm and, you know, he was never upset with anything.

MATTINGLY: But there are also reports that Hasan received a bad performance review at Walter Reed and was forced to undergo counseling and increased supervision. His family has also said he was harassed by other soldiers for being Muslim, a frustration that they say caused him to rethink his career in the military.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Those complaints, his family says, dating back all the way to 9/11 - Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. David, I want to talk a minute, if we could, about some of the first responders. Already, we have heard the commander of Fort Hood talking about how incredibly proud he is of some of the work that they did, and specifically, this woman who was -- basically shot back at Hasan. We are learning about her condition this morning as well.

MATTINGLY: That's right. That officer, Kimberly Munley, she is a civilian police officer assigned to the Post Police Department here at Fort Hood. She responded to the call many about three minutes after the shooting started. She's credited with being responsible for exchanging gunfire with the shooter, wounding him, and herself being wounded in the process.

Now this is just a reminder, that none of the soldiers in this building were carrying firearms when this shooting rampage began. They were virtually defenseless.

COLLINS: Right.

MATTINGLY: It wasn't until she got there with her partner, started returning fire, that this incident was brought to a close.

COLLINS: Yes, understood. All right. David Mattingly, continuing to follow this story very closely for us, live from Fort Hood this morning. David, thank you.

Again, want to take a moment this morning to try and focus more on the victims in this tragic event at Fort Hood. We actually right now have on the phone with us the father of one of the wounded soldiers. He's calling in from Post Falls, Idaho.

George Stratton, can you hear me OK?

GEORGE STRATTON, SON WOUNDED AT FORT HOOD SHOOTING: Yes, I can hear you.

COLLINS: What can you tell me, sir, about your son?

STRATTON: Well, I can tell you that he's alive and he's doing good so that's probably the best news of all. But I don't know mentally how he is, you know? He's been pretty well sedated since the incident happened, but...

COLLINS: We should say that your son's name is also George Stratton, George Stratton III. He's 18 years old.

STRATTON: Yes. He just turned 18 in July, actually. When he joined the service, he was only 17. We had to, you know, sign for him to go in, but that's what he wanted to do and it did -- you know, did wonders for him. He loved it. And I'm certain his superiors appreciated him, too.

He took it serious and I think it really grew him up, you know, the good things that he got from it were actually pretty amazing. COLLINS: What did he have to say to you about what went on?

STRATTON: Well, when I -- I actually asked him what went on, you know, I asked him if the guy that -- because if the guy -- at that point in time, we didn't know and the news didn't really know. So I asked him if the guy that shot him was another service member and he said he was in uniform, is what he said, and he had a handgun.

So -- but as far as the events that happened and, you know, this is him -- he was sedated at the time, but what he said was a man walked -- the suspect walked through the door, came into the room that they were in, in the Readiness Center, and he said he walked -- sounded like he walked around behind him and went behind a desk and, you know, George wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing.

And then all of a sudden, said about 15 rounds went off really quick and he just said it was ear shattering. He couldn't hear anything and he dropped down to take cover and then he said he peeked up from behind wherever his cover position was and the guy happened to be standing right in front of him and he said he was five feet away from me, Dad, and he shot me right in the shoulder.

And I'm thinking he's pretty lucky, because it sounded like this guy knew what he was doing, so I don't know if he moved or flinched or whatever.

COLLINS: Sure.

STRATTON: But thank God, whatever it was, because it could have been a lot worse. And then he went down and from after that, he just -- from what he described, it sounded like for an 18-year-old boy from Idaho, he saw, you know, quite a bit of action and said he saw people dying and dead and it was pretty horrible for him, I know that.

COLLINS: Well, none of us can begin to imagine what your son saw and what the rest of the victims went through, but I know that the rest of the country is certainly appreciating today everything that they have offered, already, to the service of their country and our thoughts and prayers are absolutely with your son and the rest of the victims.

George, let me ask you, will you be going to Fort Hood soon to be with your son?

STRATTON: Yes. Well, we definitely want to go down to Texas, but I'm also waiting to hear, you know, if we'll be able to because -- you know, because of the circumstances of the situation. I'm sure the army wants to talk to everybody and...

COLLINS: Yes.

STRATTON: ... I don't know when they're going to make him available. But as soon as I find that out, we probably would. I mean, the only other thing that I could comment about it is, is that I hope that they take a really good look at these boys, you know, especially the ones that have never been down range and make sure that, you know, they're going to be able to mentally handle it.

Because I think seeing the action...

COLLINS: Yes.

STRATTON: ... that these guys saw, they should really look and decide whether they should send these -- deploy these guys now or not. You know the ones that were involved in this shooting because they could have PTSD. So I mean, I don't know how he is mentally, but I -- you know, I'm hoping for the best. He's a pretty strong kid, so I think he'll be all right.

COLLINS: Understand that there are already counselors, of course, and psychiatry that there is on post and that already we have heard from the commander on the base, General Cone, saying that absolutely that mental health counseling will be very much available and emphasized for these soldiers who were there and experienced all this.

George Stratton, certainly do appreciate your time this morning. The father of George Stratton III who is now in the hospital and has been wounded in these tragic events.

Thank you so much. Our thoughts are with your son this morning.

Yesterday's attack raises troubling issues for the military on many levels, from on-post security to the emotional strain of wartime.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is with us now to take a closer look at all of this.

So, Barbara, first off, tell us the latest that you're hearing on the military's investigation. They're going to be working in conjunction with other organizations to get more information in all of this, obviously.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Right, Heidi. Our understanding this morning is it is the army's criminal investigative division, the CID, that is leading the investigation, but certainly in cooperation with the FBI and other federal civilian law enforcement authorities.

Dozens of agents now on the ground at Fort Hood looking at this entire situation, combing through the records, trying to determine what went on and were there any, you know, signals or missed signals about Major Hasan and his activities, no...

COLLINS: Hey, Barbara, quickly, how unusual is that, working with the FBI? I think people are aware that -- of course, that the military has their own court system, has their own attorneys and so forth. Can you speak to that, just a bit?

STARR: Well, this is really quite an extraordinary situation, Heidi. The base is huge, 50,000 people. Multiple victims here, dozens of victims. So while the military has a very considerable investigative capability, as General Cone said yesterday, they wanted to call in federal law enforcement authorities and make sure that they got it right -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, understood. And I know that you, personally, have spent time at Fort Hood actually in this building where it all took place yourself. Tell us a little bit more about the facility there, if you could.

STARR: Sure. This is a building, as everyone has explained, where soldiers process in and out going to and from the war where they do all the paperwork that they need to do. I want to go back to what Mr. Stratton, whose son is a victim, just said a couple of moments ago. Because that is what you find at Fort Hood.

Young soldiers, 18, 19 years old, on their very first tours of duty.

COLLINS: Right.

STARR: Just -- for the first time being away from home. And those veterans who may be doing their third, fourth, or fifth tours of duty. This is a post where there is a wide range of military experience. This is a post like many army installations that has paid a very heavy price for the war.

Numerous fatalities, killed in action, combat stress has been an issue, suicides have been an issue, but let's be very clear, Heidi, those are the people who are the victims of this crime. This has nothing to do with the crime that we know of at the moment. It is the...

COLLINS: That's right.

STARR: It is this post that has gone to such considerable lengths to -- pardon me, to offer mental health counseling to troops when they come back from the war and maybe troubled or troops who feel they're troubled and want to get that type of counseling -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, and it's a great point to be making and we'll continue to talk more about that as we go on this morning.

Barbara, we're going to talk with you again next hour as well. And again, mentioning the size of this fort, it's immense. We did some research and it's bigger than New York City. It's bigger than Chicago, it's bigger than Philadelphia. A lot of people there processing in and out. So there'll be many different things to be looking at in all of this.

We sure do appreciate your time right now, Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent this morning.

And of course, we'll continue to follow the story. The very latest on the victims and the investigation all morning long. We've got other big stories to tell you about too this morning. I want to get to some of them now.

Health care reform plan, as you know, close to a final vote in the House. And also, new jobless numbers out this morning. The rate rising to a level not seen in a very long time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Final touches are being put on a Democratic health care reform bill as House leaders push towards a possible floor vote tomorrow. Debate on the proposal is likely today. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are finalizing language in the proposal to bar federal funding of abortion.

And in a matter of concern to the Hispanic caucus, House leaders say there likely won't be any ban against illegal immigrants using their own money to buy insurance in a proposed new marketplace.

House Republicans continuing their fight against the Democratic measure. GOP leaders held a rally on Capitol Hill yesterday along with Tea Party Movement protesters. The speaker said the legislation translates to a full-blown government takeover of the health care system.

A new CNN poll suggests most Americans want Congress to keep working on health care reform bills, but those respondents disagree on how the work should continue. A quarter of those polled believe the health care bills should pass with few changes. A third said the legislation needs major changes. Another quarter of the respondents say lawmakers should start from scratch. Fifteen percent say Congress should just stop working on health care.

And issue number one, still the economy. The CNN Opinion Research Poll also asked Americans what they were most concerned about. The economy at 47 percent far outweighed health care and the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The economy may be showing some signs of recovery, but it is not reflected in the jobs picture. A report just out this morning showed the unemployment rate has now gone up to 10.2.

CNN's Christine Romans is in New York for us this morning to talk more about this. A little bit higher than we even expected.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And it's just a week and a day after that GDP report that showed the economy actually grew in the third quarter. We also know that companies were still shedding jobs and now we have the highest unemployment rate since August, 1983, at 10.2 percent.

This is an unemployment crisis, Heidi. Since the recession began, the unemployment rate has gone from 4.9 percent to 10.2 percent. Here's how the job losses stack up. It is the lowest number of job losses in more than a year. The economy shed 190,000 jobs.

You can see that that is a vast improvement, if you will, from January when companies shed 741,000 jobs but losing 190,000 jobs is not a healthy economy. It is not a situation that people are getting jobs that they're qualified for, that they need to. It is not a situation where the economy, the labor market is on the mend. Let's talk about some of the other issues I wanted to tell you about here. What are we going to do about it? We are going to extend unemployment benefits, the president's going to sign that today. That's something that's going to mitigate the pain for people who might be jobless, but it could take months and months and months before you see net positive job creation -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow. Tell us about some of the industries that were hardest hit in all of this.

ROMANS: OK, some of the usual suspects, construction lost another 62,000 jobs. This has been month after month after month. A lot of pain if you are a worker in the construction industry.

Manufacturing lost another 61,000 jobs. And retail, Heidi, this should be a good time of the year for people to get retail work. It is not. Retail loss, another 40,000 jobs. These are important sources of work for people who might be trying to even bridge a gap between two jobs.

They're just not providing the opportunity there is. However, I can tell you that more than 567,000 jobs have been created in this recession in health care. And that happened again in this month. More health care jobs. Some of these are high-tech jobs. Many of these, frankly, though are very low-skill, low-paid jobs. So they're not replacing the, quote/unquote, "good" manufacturing and construction jobs that were lost.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: Temporary health services -- temp workers are up 34,000. That shows that some companies, Heidi, are willing to dip their toe in and hire somebody, but they're only doing it temporarily. Professional services, 18,000. That's accountants. That's people who work in an office. That's maybe lawyers and those kinds of professionals. You're seeing a little bit of job creation there.

COLLINS: Yes, wow. Obviously got to go back to school for that if you want to become a lawyer or one of those things. But, obviously, we will continue to kind of give that information if we can to people if they're thinking about changing careers, maybe we can tell them where they should be focusing their time.

All right, Christine Romans, we'll continue to watch these numbers throughout the morning here and what they mean.

Meanwhile, it is open enrollment time at big companies across America. That's when you can sign up for health coverage and other benefits, of course, for next year, but all of those choices can be confusing.

Want to talk about them a little bit this morning. And our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, came down just for us to make it clearer. Because there are so many questions out there, Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: There are. You know people are really confused. They're worried, they're concerned, they don't know what to do. The very first thing you want to do when you look at this open enrollment is compare costs.

You really want to think about what is the cost of each plan, which is the cheapest for me. And another thing that is critical, and you can actually choose your plan on the basis of this, are my doctors in network? Even if you use a regular specialist, you want to make sure that your doctor is in network because this is really going to save you money at the end of the day.

COLLINS: Yes. Especially if you really like your doctor and I mean you want to stick with them.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIS: They're penalizing people for not choosing doctors that are in network. They're going to make it more expensive for you. So be sure you get the plan with your doctor, even specialists in network.

COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely. Now what about dependents? If you're claiming dependents, what's the difference? What do we need to know?

WILLIS: I should tell you really going to have to do the math on this. Look at the cost for you plus one, you plus two, you plus four. Compare each of the plan, your plan, your spouse's plan, and see what's cheaper. Remember that some companies out there are actually penalizing people for having spouses that have other kinds of coverage.

And I want to talk to you about a couple of other things here that you're going to see as well. Consumer-driven plans, it's what they call them. Don't be confused by these.

COLLINS: OK.

WILLIS: You think, hey, it sounds like a good thing. These are actually high-deductible plans that will cost you a lot of money, as much as $1,000 to $10,000. The attraction here is that they are low premiums. Your monthly costs are low, low, low. Also think about the good news here, flexible spending accounts. Those are great things. You definitely want to think about that.

That is a way of setting aside your dollars for medical spending pretax. So you save money.

COLLINS: Yes.

WILLIS: You save the taxes on that, you can use it for any kind of medical expenses, heck, even aspirin. It's a great thing to do. So we're going to be giving people more tips on this as the days go by.

COLLINS: And just as a reminder, we're talking about open enrollment here, we're not talking about the health care reform bills...

WILLIS: Correct.

COLLINS: ... that are out there and being discussed so much and expecting a vote on that tomorrow. But just want to be clear, because there's a lot of talk...

WILLIS: Right.

COLLINS: ... about health care right now.

Gerri, thanks so much. I know you're also hosting a special edition of your own show, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE." And it's tomorrow morning. Tell us about that.

WILLIS: All right. So we will be taking your phone calls. You can call in, get your questions answered about open enrollment. I know you're worried, you're concerned, we're going to help you with that. Give you the tools, the information you need to make the right choice at 9:30 tomorrow morning right here on CNN.

E-mail me now, get at the phone line with your question, Gerri@CNN.com. We want to hear from you.

COLLINS: All right. Gerri Willis, appreciate it. Thanks so much.

And this morning, of course, we are keeping a very close eye on all of the developments out of Fort Hood this morning. Thirteen people are now dead. More than two dozen victims are still in the hospital as we speak.

We are also watching new developments in Afghanistan, where security forces are looking for two service men missing for a couple of days now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time now to take a look at our top story this morning. It is a day of mourning at Fort Hood. Thirteen people are dead, the army says 12 are soldiers, one is a civilian.

The soldier's bodies are being taken to Dover Air Force Base. They have also, understood, 28 people injured in the shooting are still in the hospital this morning. As many as half of them have had surgery for their injuries at this point.

And here's what we know about the suspected shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The latest report from the hospital said he was unconscious and on a ventilator. He was shot four times during the rampage at the army post. Hasan worked as a mental health professional, talking to troops about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hasan was about to be deployed to Afghanistan himself.

A search is happening in western Afghanistan right now for two members of the NATO-led international security force. They have been missing since Wednesday. They were on a routine re-supply mission. An IFS spokeswoman says everything is now being done, of course, to find them.

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: We, of course, will keep our eye on the developments out of Fort Hood and give you the very latest this morning. But as we wait for more developments, of course, we want to take you to the opening bell.

The Dow surged 200 points yesterday, following some upbeat economic news. But how quickly things can change, as Christine Romans told us just a little while ago. The nation's unemployment rate now 10.2 percent since the last month.

And for a look at how investors are reacting to that news, Alison Kosik is in New York for us this morning. Just heard that opening bell. What do you think is going to happen with the numbers today?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're probably, Heidi, going to have a lower open. That jump in the unemployment rate was unexpected, but it's a scary headline, but not completely surprising at this point. I mean, if you think about it, economists have been saying for months that they expect the unemployment rate to top 10 percent. This just happened to happen a little earlier, because they were predicting it would happen at the end of the year. But if we look at the positive side of this, let's look at the pace of the job losses. They are slowing a bit.

In October, we saw 190,000 job losses. As far as earlier this year, compared that to 700,000. So we are seeing some improvement there. Right now, the Dow Industrial is down about 44. Not as bad of a hit as we were expecting.

Let's talk about some earnings we got today, starting with AIG. AIG made money in the second quarter in a row. More than $450 million. This is, of course, the company that got the biggest bailout from the government, and still owes taxpayers $90 billion. AIG's core insurance business is stabilizing and the company says it's trying to sell assets to repay the government, but AIG still has a sizable portfolio of troubled assets. AIG shares right now are down about six percent.

Despite rising unemployment, Americans, though, still have some extra cash on hand to buy a cup of Joe. We got earnings report from Starbucks. Its quarterly profit surged to $150 million. More people visited the coffee house than last year, and it looks like they're spending more, too, when they get in there. Starbucks shares are up about five percent.

And, finally, the book wars. They're spreading into new territory. Wal-Mart cut prices on some new DVDs like "Star Trek" and Harry Potter to ten bucks. Within hours, Amazon.com and Target matched, Wal-Mart went down to $9.98.

All right, let's take a quick look at the numbers before I let you go, Heidi. The Dow Industrial down 60 points, the NASDAQ off by 14.

We'll see how -- what the day holds. Let's see how investors react to the unemployment number.

COLLINS: Yes, no question. All right, Alison, we'll check back with you later on.

Thank you.

Meanwhile, a deadly day at Fort Hood. The base locked down after the shooting, and praise now for the quick action by first responders. We're going to talk with one of them in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We are learning more this morning about the incident from the U.S. Army this morning. They say the shooting that took place at Fort Hood lasted for about ten minutes. A total of 13 people are now dead. One of them is a civilian and the rest are soldiers. 28 people are still hospitalized this morning. They are all in stable condition now. Earlier, we heard more about the post being locked down and how that has changed as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. JOHN ROSSI, DEPUTY COMMANDING GENERAL, FORT HOOD: The post is no longer locked down. Approximately 9:00 p.m. last night. We opened the gates to allow the soldiers off and begin normal operations. However, we are operating at a heightened level of security, and will continue to do so until we determine to bring it back to normal operations. We are fully confident in the security of this installation and remain so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We want to take a moment to bring in Lt. Col. Larry Masullo. He's an emergency room physician there at Ft. Hood, and ended up treating a lot of wounded today.

Lieutenant Colonel, if you can hear me OK, tell us what happened and what you were involved with when this whole shooting spree occurred.

LT. COL. LARRY MASULLO, ACTING CHIEF, FORT HOOD EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT: Yes, ma'am. So my role as the acting chief of the Department of Emergency Medicine. Once we got the word that we're getting multiple gunshot wound victims from the SRP site, we activated our recall roster, meaning we brought in all our doctors, nurses, medics that weren't on shift at the time. The hospital activated the mass cal plan, which mobilizes resources from all throughout the hospital to come down to the emergency department.

My job was to assemble all of our trauma teams to our different critical care beds, and then coordinate real closely with our triage officer who was out front as the ambulances arrived, and his job was to, you know, assess each patient and then decide how critical they were and then pass them off to me. And then I gave them to our docs and nurses who did just the heroic things in the emergency department.

COLLINS: You yourself treated 20 soldiers.

MASULLO: We probably received over -- yes, over 20 soldiers. And, again, some of them remained in our emergency department, and we treated them and had our surgeons there and got them up to the operating room. Some of our less critically injured patients were able to send to different parts of our hospital, to our family medicine clinic, where we sent, where we call our delayed patient, to our women's health clinic, we send our minimal patients, those patients that just had some, you know, grazing wounds. And then we also had great support from our local community. We were able send patients to Scott White Hospital in Temple, Texas, and Metroplex Hospital here locally. So just a great effort by everyone.

COLLINS: Yes. You know, you train for this, a lot of soldiers there are obviously training for combat as well. I just wonder, though, the events of the way this all happened can possibly train for something like that.

How are you doing this morning?

MASULLO: Doing OK. You're right. We're all train for this. You know, the hospital does exercises. Most of the providers that were involved are combat veterans. We've been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. You know, unfortunately, I've had the experience of being through mass casualty events like this in Iraq, but, you know, you never expect to see it here at home.

COLLINS: Absolutely. So, quickly, before we let you go, that means there's a lot of mental health assessment taking place right now, making sure that the soldiers and their families are able to process this information and do it in such a way that is obviously helpful to them. I know you've got help that's coming up from San Antonio, Brooke Army Medical Center?

MASULLO: Yes, ma'am. We have a lot of behavioral health assets here at Fort Hood that have been mobilized. And, yes, Brooke Army Medical Center is sending up some assets as well. So, you know, we did our initial kind of debriefing after the incident in the emergency department and throughout the hospital. And now for the rest of the week, you know, we'll utilize those assets to help people process what happened.

COLLINS: Yes. And it's really, really important that we be thinking about that today. Lt. Col. Larry Masullo is the acting chief of the emergency department there at Fort Hood.

Thanks so much for your time and for what you've done.

MASULLO: Thank you.

COLLINS: News of the shooting at Fort Hood spread quickly among military families. Of course, the mother of an army specialist living on the bay says she started shaking when she found out about the attacks. And she says she was overcome with relief when the mother of her daughter's roommate told her both of their children were safe. The mothers couldn't hide their emotions when reflecting on the families who were not as fortunate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORMA TOMPKINS, ARMY SPECIALIST'S MOTHER: My prayers are with the families that, you know, lost loved ones. And, you know, I'm praying for them. I know that, you know, my daughter is OK there, but there's a lot of families that don't have their child tonight or their spouse or, you know, and my heart goes out to them.

BETH MILLER, ARMY SPECIALIST'S MOTHER: I'm sure the parents that won't ever have that call again will have that feeling that I would have, though. They know that their child was doing something for their country and that they're very proud of them. The hurt would still be there, but they would able to be very proud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And right now on our blog this morning, we are inviting you to write your thoughts or express your condolences to the victims of this massacre at Fort Hood. As you know, you can always go to CNN.com/Heidi. We'll share some of those condolences later on in the show.

CNN's Don Lemon takes an in-depth look at the shooting rampage, reporting the latest details on the suspect, the victims with and the investigation. You can catch that hour-long special right here tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Other news to tell you about this morning. Double-digit unemployment now. The Labor Department says the jobless rate rose to 10.2 percent last month. That's nearly half a percentage point higher than the previous month. It's also the first time unemployment has surpassed 10 percent since 1983. Nearly 16 million Americans are now out of work.

A Texas polygamist sect member could get up to 20 years in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting an underaged girl. Prosecutors say Raymond Jessup entered into a, quote, "spiritual marriage" with the teenager. She was one of 400 children removed from a polygamist ranch in the town of El Dorado last year. The children were returned after the Texas Supreme Court ruled the state had no right to take them. Jessup is expected to be sentenced on Monday.

Cleveland police have identified a third person whose remains were found in the home of murder suspect Anthony Sowell. They say she is 31-year-old Tashana Culver, a Cleveland woman who had not been reported missing. The investigators have found the remains of at least 11 people in and around Sowell's home in the past week. Sowell served 15 years in prison for attempted rape. He's been charged now with five counts of aggravated murder.

Inmate puts choke hold on guard. More inmates rush to the scene. But instead of joining the attack, they join in a beat down of the other inmate. We'll tell you why in a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Let's take a moment to get you over to the Severe Weather Center now. Rob Marciano is standing by.

We're still talking about Ida, but not in the same form as we were before, right?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, it has decreased in intensity, but I think we're going to be talking about Ida for some days to come, probably right on into next week. And here's the latest on what is tropical depression Ida, yesterday, was a hurricane.

So we got to hurricane strength and then it made landfall across southeastern parts of Nicaragua and you can kind of see where it is right now, weakening quite a bit as it moves past the border of Honduras and about to emerge into the northwestern Caribbean and when it does that, temperatures -- water temperatures there still in the mid-80s. So it should have no problem regaining strength, at least to, say, tropical storm status.

And what it does after that, well, the National Hurricane Center has got some forecasts that bring it, well, to tropical storm status. It could bring it to hurricane status, at least some of our computer models show that.

The forecast track brings it up towards -- through Cancun and into the Gulf of Mexico early part of next week. Water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, southern gulf, right around 80 degrees. Remember, that's the benchmark, give or take a degree, of how -- where hurricanes can form and then northern gulf, less than that.

So hurricanes have struck the Florida panhandle in the month of November and so that is certainly not out of the ordinary and just keep an eye on that.

The rest of the country looking relatively quiet, kind of breezy across the northeast today. There will be some travel delays.

Gorgeous shot of Central Park, beautiful fall colors. Of course, the Empire State building -- I don't know if you saw that the other night, Heidi, lit up in Yankee blue for game six of the World Series...

COLLINS: For what? Oh, that.

MARCIANO: Oh, yes. Are they going down to Canyon of Heroes today?

COLLINS: What was that?

MARCIANO: Oh, they're having the parade today at 11:00. All right, sweet.

COLLINS: You didn't even know. What kind of a fan are you?

MARCIANO: I don't know, I wore what's as close to pinstripes as I can get today.

COLLINS: Yes, yes. All right, now hey, listen, it's great. And in fact, in less than two hours -- I could tell you a little bit more about the parade -- the 2009 World Series winner New York Yankees, Rob's favorite team, he's very dedicated to them, will ride through the streets of Manhattan in a ticker tape parade.

These are some live pictures that we're looking at right now of everybody getting ready for that. The festivities begin in the so- called Canyon of Heroes and that is where some 200 ticker-taped parades have honored astronauts, sports champions and five-star generals, which we don't have any more, only four stars.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg will present the Yankees with the keys to the city at a ceremony in City Hall Plaza. Good for them. All right.

MARCIANO: Oh, come on. Was that that painful, Heidi?

COLLINS: No, no, hey, I always say, they're my second favorite team.

MARCIANO: Ok, fair enough.

COLLINS: Right.

MARCIANO: And you know, the Phillies, they're a heck of a ball team and they were the champs last year and now it's the Yankees' turn. All's fair.

COLLINS: Yes, that's true. You're such a classy winner.

Ok, Rob Marciano, we'll check back later on. Thank you.

MARCIANO: All right, see you later.

COLLINS: We're going to take a quick break right here, we'll talk in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has some tough words this morning for Afghanistan's government. He said Britain is still committed to the mission but warned if the Afghan government doesn't fix the widespread corruption in the country, they will lose international support. His speech comes just days after five more British soldiers died in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Our mission must not fail. It is not easy. The choices are not simple. There is no strategy that is without danger and risk.

But that is the responsibility of leadership of government and of our armed forces to do what is necessary however difficult to keep the British people safe. We cannot, must not and will not walk away. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: There are currently 9,000 British troops in Afghanistan.

Standing up for your country: Pakistani soldiers and civilians are under attack from militants across the country. But they aren't giving up.

CNN's Ivan Watson has more now from Islamabad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anwar Ali starts his day with a prayer. His blue uniform is never far from reach.

Anwar is a police officer, the son of a simple farmer who has spent the last 25 years on the Islamabad Police Force. When he leaves for work, his family watches from the rooftop praying that Anwar will return at the end of the day in one piece.

In the last three years militants have attacked the Pakistani police more than 300 times with suicide bombers and car bombs. Pakistan's thin blue line is under siege.

(on camera): These men are the first line of defense in Pakistan's war against the militants and many of them have paid the ultimate price. Over the last two years at least 41 police officers have been killed in attacks in Islamabad alone.

(voice-over): Any one of the cars passing through this busy checkpoint could be rigged with explosives.

(on camera): You're not afraid?

ANWAR ALI, ISLAMABAD POLICE: No, no, not at all, no.

WATSON (voice-over): "As a Muslim I believe the time of my death is written by Allah," he says. "If Allah wills it, I could die at home. But I'd rather die here protecting my people."

This man knows the risks all too well. Last summer he narrowly escaped death when a suicide bomber attacked this police station. The blast ripped through this office killing two policemen who were sitting next to Anwar. Three days later Anwar woke up in a hospital wounded but somehow alive.

Anwar is scarred from the ordeal but that hasn't stopped him from going back to work.

At the end of a shift, the police officer heads home to where the paved street of the Pakistani capital give way to muddy dirt roads. It's here that his family lives in a small three-room apartment.

ALI: And this is my two sons.

WATSON: Yes, yes.

ALI: This is my four daughters.

WATSON: They're relieved to see him home.

"The toughest moment of my life was when my father was wounded by the suicide bomber," says Anwar's 22-year-old son Dishan (ph).

Anwar's cousin Faroukh is also a cop.

(on camera): Why are they doing this?

IMRAN FAROUKH, ISLAMABAD POLICE: They want to make the peace of my country, to make my country live in every peace.

WATSON (voice-over): Pakistan's war is still far from over but Anwar's eldest son says he dreams of one day becoming a police officer just like his father.

At day's end the family enjoys a few quiet moments together knowing that in a few hours their father will once again go back out into the line of fire.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We do have an awful lot going on this morning. CNN crews are in place to bring you all of the details this morning.

Let's go ahead and check in with our correspondents now beginning with David Mattingly outside of Fort Hood this morning -- David.

MATTINGLY: Heidi, we'll have the latest in the investigation plus a name has finally been released for one of the 13 victims. We'll have that at the top of the hour.

STARR: I'm Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. From the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan to the Korean peninsula, the U.S. military reacting around the world to what has happened at Fort Hood.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Susan Lisovicz at the Yonkers, New York Employment Center. The nation's unemployment rate now stands at 10.2 percent. I'll introduce you to some of the folks trying to bring that number down one person at a time. That story in the next hour -- Heidi.

COLLINS: OK. Thanks so much, guys.

Also ahead a closer look at today's jobless numbers for you. What do they tell us about the bigger picture of the economy?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Inmates are being credited with saving a jail guard's life. Surveillance video shows the 64-year-old detention deputy being attacked by an inmate who put him in a choke hold and started strangling him. Four other inmates came to the rescue including one who used the deputy's radio to call for help. The rescuers are serving time for crimes including home invasion and attempted murder.

I want to get you back to the very latest on the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. There is a press conference going on right now. We want to take you there for the latest information. I believe it is happening right now. Let's listen.