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Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Shot Himself in Front of NFL Coaches; Professor Fights with the Attacker, Let the Students Escape; Supporters of President Morsi Demonstrate Outside High Court; Pac-Man in Space; Washington's Oscars: the Kennedy Center Honors

Aired December 02, 2012 - 17:00   ET

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

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick in for Fredericka Whitfield who is in maternity leave with her new boy and her little girl, twins.

It is the top of the hour. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. And if you are just running of, here are our top stories.

An emotional day for the Kansas City Chiefs, the team played their NFL game and won, despite the tragic loss of a team member. Linebacker Jovan Belcher allegedly shot his girlfriend yesterday and then drove to the team practice facility where he killed himself, pulling the trigger while his coach and general manager watched in disbelief. Belcher and his girlfriend recently celebrated the birth of their 3- months-old daughter.

Ed Lavendera is in Kansas City, Missouri right now.

And, Ed, this has been a tough day for the coach, a tough day for the players. What did they say after the game?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know this team, despite having faced this tragedy just a day before this game, was scheduled it went on as planned here in Kansas City. A very subdued feeling inside the stadium throughout the game, this was clearly not a typical NFL football game. So, a much different mood in Kansas City, known for having very vivacious and excitable fans. So, today's mood in the stadium a forth cry from what you normally hear on a Sunday. But a short while ago, despite to all of this that the team was dealing with the Kansas City Chiefs football team did win its football game here today.

Just a little while ago, the head coach of the football team and the players talked about what it's been like in the last 34 hours dealing with this horrific news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMEO CRENNEL, KANSAS CITY CHIEF'S COACH: It's tough when circumstance happen, you can't undo them. And so, you have to rely on each, rely on your family and friends and rely on your faith. And that's what the team tried to do today and we were able to do that and try to work our way through the tragedy. And knowing that it's not over today, it still will go on tomorrow, the next day, and the next day, but life is going to go on as well and we have to work through it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was very emotional. But you saw brothers stick together, coaches stick together and everybody stayed strong and this is a great team win.

LAVANDERA: Do you think the tragedy had something to do with your team playing better today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, honestly, if we can erase yesterday, you know, that would be a great blessing. But I think the team, if that wouldn't have happened, would have come out here and played hard, but that gives us the extra oomph, you know, on what is going on here and let's get the job done, not taking no for an answer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: You know, before the game started today, the Kansas City Chiefs held a moment of silence for victims of domestic violence, a clear attempt by the team to also make sure that Jovan Belcher's girlfriend was squarely remembered today as well - Deborah.

FEYERICK: And Ed, did the coaches say anything about providing psychological counseling for their players? I mean, if Jovan Belcher showed no signs of anything wrong. Isn't it their concern that maybe others are having a hard time, that they are not willing to step forward and acknowledge? Are there - looks will there be counseling of some sort?

LAVANDERA: You know, that is one of the things I think people will be taking a much closer look at it and the details is to what he was going through and the weeks leading up to this the shooting in this horrific story is still starting to unfold. And we have had very few clues as to what exactly the couple was dealing with or what Belcher was dealing with. So, we will continue to look into that as well. And obviously, that is something that I'm sure that the team and the league will probably be taking a closer look as well.

And what's interesting is, that over the next couple of days, usually the NFL, Monday and Tuesday are days off for the players, it will be interesting to see what happens with the Kansas City Chiefs and its players here in the next couple of days, will they go back home and have a weekend off like as they would normally do or will they come together, you know. We'll have to watch that closely as well.

FEYERICK: Yes, absolutely. And clearly, we can't forget about that 3-month-old daughter, their little girl there.

All right Ed Lavendera for us there in Kansas City. Thanks so much.

Well, in Wyoming, a teacher at Casper College may have saved the lives of several of his students. James Krumm, a computer science teacher was in the classroom Friday, when man burst in, shooting him in the head with a hunting bow. Krumm tackled the man, giving students time to escape. More shocking, well, the identity of the attacker. It was the teacher's own son. And before the 25-year-old Christopher Krumm had fatally stabbed his dad's girlfriend at the couple's home and his son immediately - ultimately established file the death of before fatally stabbing himself.

I'm joined by Nick Valencia. You have been following this story. You spoke to neighbors and did the neighbors tell you whether in fact, the teacher and his girlfriend, whether they were concerned, whether they had any fears, whether there are security issues?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's the question right now is what happened to lead a son to kill his father. I spoke to a neighbor who lived directly across the street from Heidi Arnold and Jim Krumm. She said she met them once last summer. That they largely kept to themselves. But there were no red flags about any of this that potentially could have happened. In fact, in a press conference with police, they also said there weren't any red flags.

But this could have been much, much worse. I think, you know, three people are dead; six students were in the computer science classroom at the time of this incident. And in fact, in that police press conference, the local police chief praised the action of Professor Jim Krumm and called him courageous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WALSH, POLICE CHIEF, CASPER, WYOMING: The suspect stepped into the classroom where Professor Krumm was getting ready to begin the day, fired one arrow and struck the professor in the head. Professor Krumm got up after being knocked down from the blow from the arrow. And even though mortally wounded, he fought the suspect off. The students in the room were all able to escape during these altercations because of the courage of the professor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: And I just want to read this statement really quick from Casper College that we got a little while ago. "Jim Krumm and Heidi Arnold were important parts of the campus community and their loss will leave a big hole in our lives." That's from Casper College.

FEYERICK: You know, what is so incredible is that, you know, he was the teacher was able to do this when he was mortally wounded. But have police said whether they got any sort of 911 calls stating from this teacher saying that there was a problem, or anything that would suggests or even note, was there suggestion that noted and left behind.

VALENCIA: You know, we put in a call to Casper police and there are a lot of unanswered questions now about the relationship between the father and the son. We just don't know what happened. What we do know that is, there reports that this 25-year-old son Chris Krumm traveled over 2,000 miles from Connecticut to Wyoming. He had been staying in the local hotel according to local reports in the area. At some point he snapped and something led to him showing up at this father's college, at this community college with 5,000 students, entering that classroom and mortally wounding his father with a cross bow.

FEYERICK: Yes, remarkable. Pretty dramatic way to go. All right, Nick Valencia. Thank you so much, we appreciate your reporting on this.

A series of suicide car bombings leaves five people dead in eastern Afghanistan today. Insurgents disguised as coalition forces attacked, a joint U.S. - Afghan based in three different locations. So far, no reports of any U.S. casualties. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks.

And just in time to start running around to get your Christmas shopping done, the price of gas is dropping. That's right. It is going down. AAA says the average price for regular gasoline is now $3.39 a gallon. That's the tenth weekly drop in a row and it that seems like a bargain, remember it was 3.28 a gallon just a year ago.

Thirty days and counting in the country's potential fall off the fiscal cliff. Avoiding it will depend now on what the president and congressional leaders do or don't do. If they do nothing, everyone's taxes go up and automatic spending cuts will take effect. No imminent deal is in sight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: If they are going to force higher rates on virtually all Americans, because they're unwilling to let tax rates go up on two percent of Americans, then that's a choice we're going to have to make.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I would say we're nowhere. Period. We're nowhere. We have put a serious offer on the table by putting revenues up there to try to get this question resolved. But the White House has responded with virtually nothing. They have actually asked for more revenue than they have been asking for the whole entire time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: In other words not quite a good place to be, but one thing both sides agree on is the government needs to raise more money. How much and how they do it, well, there are two of the many sticking points.

And protests send a constitutional crisis, what is next for Egypt. We'll dig deeper into the struggle for power between conservative Islamists and liberal secularists.

And later, Brad Pitt talks to CNN about his future with Angelina Jolie.

Also, a dog and his owner, reunited after seven years apart. We will show you how it happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FEYERICK: Well in Egypt, supports of President Mohammed Morsi demonstrated outside the high court. The judges say they're suspending all sessions until they can work without quote "psychological or physical pressures." This will postponed the court's ruling on the legitimacy of the body drawing up the new constitution. But not all Egyptians are pleased with the new constitution, many, protesting against the president.

So why is there so much animosity over the president and what is going on there? Well, CNN international anchor Ralitsa Vassileva joins me now.

Ralitsa, you know, I read one thing by a politician who said something seriously wrong has happened in Egypt with all these going on. Why are so many people so angry right now?

RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, how this constitution, this draft was passed in very hasty way, the president assuming extraordinary powers, some call him a pharaoh saying that even Mubarak didn't have such powers to make all his decisions beyond any judicial review. To do this, they passed this against the wishes of the secular opposition, a lot of these people who were on the panel writing this constitution, boycotted it, they opposed it because they said it didn't reflect their views.

So this was passed in this hasty way assuming these extraordinary powers, and what Morsi was saying, he actually assumed these powers to make sure that his constitution is passed, that the judges in the high constitutional court refused to go to work this morning because they were afraid.

FEYERICK: They're striking.

VASSILEVA: Yes. They said that basically he said he did this to preempt them from making this ruling on the assembly withdrawn the constitution.

FEYERICK: Which is so incredible, because I think a lot of people - I mean, you seen how this is happening and it's happening in such a way that there doesn't seem to be any sort of democratic organization at all, even though the constitution will be put forward to the people, is President Morsi counting on the fact that those who elected him will vote in favor of the constitution, that he's got just enough votes to pass it through?

VASSILEVA: Obviously he seems to think that, But we don't know what is going to happen. We know that a big protest is again planned by the anti-Morsi camp for Tuesday. We know that the judges who were supposed to oversee this referendum in two weeks have said they're boycotting. They're not going to oversee it. So we don't know what's going to happen, there will be more turmoil. But what's interesting here is that it's pitting the revolutionaries, those young people, the liberals, the secularists who are out there on the streets who shed their blood to contribute to the ousting of Mubarak, now they're sort of joining forces. They find themselves on the same side as Mubarak loyalists because both camps are opposed to this constitution. They have concerned that it opens the way for a possible theocracy in Egypt that had brings the country closer to Sharia law.

Women are concern about their rights because it says that they are equal. That what the constitution says and in this preamble. However, it does emphasize their role as mothers and that is what women think, some women think, of course not all women, Morsi has a lot of supporters, we must say that. But some women who are secular think that that is the way that they can be denied that rights. It is about the fine print. And what another government, Islamist government will do with this constitution.

FEYERICK: I think that what so scaring. We saw the demonstration in Tahrir square a year ago. And you know, now, we are seeing similar demonstrations. How many times can you demonstrate until you really get real democracy?

All right, Ralitsa Vassileva. Thank you so much and we always look forward to seeing you when we travel at CNN international. Thank you. Appreciate your time.

VASSILEVA: Pleasure.

FEYERICK: OK, well, we are going to turn to Israel now, the Palestinians just won a historic vote at the United Nations. It's a vote that raises their status and could be a possible step forward official state hood. Now, Israel says it may be ready to go thousands of new housing units in territories that they occupy.

Earlier, I spoke with Daniel Ayalon, Israel's deputy ministry of foreign affairs. And I started by asking him why build now?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL AYALON, ISRAEL'S DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Our buildings is not only from our right, which is their natural as it is our homeland, But it is also very important for our strategic and security reasons. We're talking about a country which is nine miles wide. You know, this occupies less than one-third of one percent of the Middle East where the Arabs have 99.7 percent. So, I think it is a right to make sure that we have secured and defensible borders, especially in light of all of the animosity and the hatred that the Palestinians and other extremists say in the Islamic world are throwing at us.

But let me tell you one thing, Deborah, is Israel has always been ready for a compromise for peace, for concessions. And wherever we build, it's in areas that for certain will stay in any future agreement within Israeli territories.

FEYERICK: When you call this strategic, effectively the settlements that would separate the west bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem from Jerusalem, this would buffer or the settlement effectively would impede any sort of two states, wouldn't they?

AYALON: Not necessarily, Deborah. You have to see, they're claiming, the Palestinians, the West Bank and Gaza, there's no continuity whatsoever between Gaza and the West Bank. They're talking maybe about some kind of passages, so things can be addressed to this issue of continuity and certainly this is not any impediment to peace and negotiations. The real impediment is the lack of understanding by the Palestinians that they also have to compromise.

FEYERICK: The Palestinian authority recognizes Israel's right to exist, whereas Hamas does not. So why not make every effort to come to some port of solution or negotiation that is reasonable with somebody that it least seems to be a more willing partner than Hamas which arguably is gaining great strength in the region.

AYALON: When we have tried for four years, this government and previous governments have tried, with the Fatah and with Mr. Abu Mazen (ph). Mr. Abu Mazen (ph) in 2008 received the most generous offer from former prime minister (INAUDIBLE) and he just refused it and didn't have the decency to have a counter proposal.

When this government of Prime Minister Netanyahu came into power, Mr. Netanyahu gave his very last speech of a two-state solution we froze buildings for ten months in order to have some good will gesture. And again, the Palestinians didn't come to the table and found for pretexts to attack us politically and legally. This is not the way to move forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: That Was Daniel Ayalon, Israel's deputy minister of foreign affairs.

Well, they are real life heroes, people like this one, who helps poor people around the world. We will get you ready for tonight's hero awards.

And an amazing reunion proves you should never, ever get up, a dog and his owner reunited after seven years apart.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, coming up in just a few hours, you will want to be here with us here on CNN, for CNN Heroes, an all star tribute. That is where we are going to find out who the heroes of this year will be.

Nischelle Turner in Los Angeles for the awards.

So, first of all, Nischelle, are you going to be working the red carpet or are you just going to be, you know, inside and hanging out with all the celebrities?

NISCHELLE TURNER, HLN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Lady, I have never not stopped working since Friday down here on the red carpet. I will be posted right up there at the very front of that red carpet talking to all of the wonderful Hollywood celebrities and the past year hero honorees and this year's hero honorees. It is going to be a wonderful, wonderful event. So yes, I'm going to be working very hard.

Now, listen. This is what happens when we have live TV. I have somebody that's trying to photo bomb my live shot, that's right over my shoulder here. One of our favorite CNN heroes from last year, come on over here Derreck, How are you?

Derreck, I'm going to tell on you, you were almost late.

DERRECK KAYONGO, 2011 TOP TEN CNN HERO: I know. I was almost late. And the traffic, you got to do something about it.

TURNER: You know what? I'm going to believe you on that one. But Derreck is here because he was one of our top ten CNN heroes last year, and if you saw the show, no one can forget Derreck. You were so excited. It was my first hero CNN live. And you brought a smile to everyone's face there, you were so honored and so touched, but you do so much with your global soap project. And just talk about what it meant to be honored as one of CNN's top heroes.

KAYONGO: You know, one of the things that you come out of this planning is that you realize how passion that people are about their work. We don't do this because we want to be recognized as heroes. You give because you really care about your mission. But when you actually step on stage and notice that the incredible power and synergy that's coming out from the audience and from the world around the world and around the world is looking at you, including your mother and father, it is ecstatic, it's wonderful. We had a great time and we have seen so much support coming from everybody, we really enjoyed it.

TURNER: Right. And Deb, just to give you a reminder about what Derreck does, you know. It was just him recognizing way back when he was staying in a hotel and thought people throw away the soap that's not really used. So, he decided there are people around the world that don't have the benefit of just a good bar of soap to keep themselves clean. So, what he does, get involve, re-processed soap that hotels barely used and send it all around the country, helping people bit by bit. That's what CNN Heroes all about. That is what we are going to do again tonight.

FEYERICK: Wow. It is just amazing. And you know what, that is it, you know. Just who would think that something like soap could actually change someone's live.

All right, Nischelle Turner - we just look forward to catch more of the year a little later on and of course, be sure everyone there to catch CNN heroes preshow special, sharing the spotlight tonight at 8:00 eastern, and then at 9:00, the main event, CNN Heroes, an all star tribute, it all happened with us right here with tonight on CNN.

Well, the story I'm about to tell you truly warmed my heart, it's about a dog and how he waited seven long years before finally being reunited with his owner.

Adam Owen, CNN's affiliate WRAL has the story of this puppy's miraculous journey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, guys. Hi, baby.

ADAM OWENS, CNN AFFILIATE, WRAL (voice-over): In here, you can spend a long time waiting. Seconds from minutes collecting into days and weeks and it can get easy to give up on ever finding his way home.

Just last month, the dog came into the Shafonda Davis' animal shelter in Durham. He had waited longer than most.

SHAFONDA DAVIS, DIRECTOR, APS SHELTER: He was favoring one of his legs and our veterinarian thought maybe he had been in a previous accident.

OWENS: The dog was scanned for a microchip, a device placed under the skin that helps to identify animals like this one.

DAVIS: There's his number.

OWENS: That microchip told shelter workers that mystery dog was named BA and it told them to call Steve's house in rolling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm like repeat that again?

DAVID: The owner lost the dog, approximately seven years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a miracle.

OWENS: The owner of the dog the house's friend Dan Kessler, now leaving in Arizona working as an assistant college swim coach. He could not believe it either.

DAN KESSLER, ASSISTANT COLLEGE SWIM COACH: Oh, my God, this is my dog.

OWEN: Kessler lost the dog years ago while working in Raleigh. He was spooked during a thunderstorm and ran away.

KESSLER: The first night, I spent outside waiting for him to come back. Did I think he would be back? I can't say yes, but I never gave up hope.

OWENS: Eventually, the dog was flown out to Arizona to be reunited with his owner. It seems all those years BA had been thinking about Kessler too.

KESSLER: You know, there's little command that he knew were me that he remembered and picked up on.

OWENS: A lot of misplaced pets come through these halls, waiting to get home.

DAVIS: All of these animals are available for adoption.

KESSLER: For Davis, BA's story is a first.

DAVIS: There was an angel watching out for this dog for seven years. That is one lucky dog. (END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And that is one great idea to have a chip in those dogs. Wow!

All right, that was WRAL reporter. Adam Owens, reporting for us.

Well, tonight, Washington D.C. gets ready for its version of the Oscars. Actor Dustin Hoffman is in the nation's capital to collect his award. We will preview the Kennedy Center or are honors, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: In Syria, at least eight rebels died today in Aleppo when they were bombed by war planes as they attacked Syrian military positions. As you can imagine, the people living in Aleppo, their lives are constantly in danger.

CNN's Arwa Damon visited a neighborhood where the gunfire is routine and it has simply become background noise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are home again, but they are cold and broke and still in danger. About a third of the families who fled this neighborhood of Aleppo have come back, only to find out that these streets are now on the front lines.

If the regime can take the city, it will cut of the main artery for opposition forces in Aleppo and re-open a route to the airport. On a nearby hill top, the neighborhood of Soliman Halabi (ph), the rebels used to control that as well but lost it a month ago.

The battle lines here are constantly fluid and snipers are a constant threat. The front line is visible just through here and we can barely make out three bodies, the rebel fighters are telling us that there are two male and one female. There were five, they managed to extract two, but they can't reach the others.

For the children here, gun fire has become background noise. This 12- year-old (INAUDIBLE) hardly notices. She says she's not afraid anymore. To start with, this little girl is also chatty, but then gets scared. Her father says she thought the rebel fighters with us were Assad's forces. Despite his efforts to reassure her, she's still anxious and with reason.

Sol Hadid (ph), he was shot in the arm at a checkpoint. The bullet was going to hit my daughter, he tells us, but I had just put my arm around her. She, just 4-years-old, blinks hard, yes, she ended up drench in her father's blood. As gun fire rings out again, her father takes away the bullet casings she's collected.

Nearby, a woman who doesn't want to be filmed takes me aside, sometimes I want to die, rather than live like this, she whispers. Arwa Damon, CNN. Aleppo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Lots trending on the web right now, including a tragic story out of Japan where police just confirmed, nine people died in a tunnel collapse about 50 miles west of Tokyo.

George H. W. Bush remains in stable condition. The 88-year-old former president is recovering at a Houston Hospital where he is being treated for a lingering cough. Doctors say it is related to bronchitis.

And we have learned that wedding bliss has a shelf life. Researchers say the blitz ends after two years, then, you have to hang on about another 18 or 20 to recapture the magic.

Well, he is everywhere lately from a new movie to channel commercials. Of course, I'm talking about Brad Pitt. We sat down to talk about his future with Angelina Jolie and he weighed on political issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD PITT, ACTOR: Now, it's resurgence in hope again and I hope there's a time where it is just more bipartisanship and sides are -- it's less about winning and people coming together and dealing with the issues.

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Wouldn't that be nice?

PITT: It's a must.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, Brad Pitt seems to be everywhere lately from Chanel commercial to a new movie. And OK, we don't mind that up. Well, he is also an activist, especially when it comes to marriage equality.

"SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's" A.J. Hammer sat down with Pitt to talk marriage and his engagement with Angelina Jolie.

HAMMER: Hey, Deb.

Well, Brad Pitt is obviously one very busy guy these days, not only is he playing a mobster in the brand-new movie "Killing Them Softly" that just opened in theaters. But he's got a brand-new gig as a furniture designer. He has certainly has come a long way since that young man who came L.A. in search of success more than two decades ago.

And when I sat down with Brad, I had to show him our last interview with him that took place before he became such a big star. And I also asked him got his reaction to his endlessly mocked Chanel ad and his fight for marriage equality. You know, Brad and his finance, Angelina, had been a true force behind getting the message out about equal rights for all. And I asked Brad why he and Angelina got behind the cause in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PITT: It is one of our last issues of equality, I mean what makes this nation great is our freedoms. And the idea of equality, the true idea of equality and in that definition, there's a certain faction of our society that is not being included and that's, at that time, it's time.

HAMMER: Time to go?

PITT: Yes.

HAMMER: Time to go. And this week, a big deal, with the Supreme Court deciding whether or not they are going to hear the challenge of proposition aide California which may gay marriage, of course, illegal, what are your thoughts on that hearing on what is happening with that right now?

PITT: Well, I waited with baited breath like everyone else. It is a very interesting time.

HAMMER: It is a big deal.

PITT: Again, I think it's time has come and if we don't figure it out, certainly the next generation knows there's nothing to be frightened up. But you know, I hope so.

HAMMER: You guys, at once --

PITT: I do want to say, you know, with the election now, there's a resurgent in hope again and I hope it's a time where there's more bipartisanship and it's less about winning and people coming together and dealing with the issues.

HAMMER: Wouldn't that be nice?

PITT: It's a must. It's a must. We're in a precarious place.

HAMMER: You guys once famously said that you would hold off getting married until everybody could get married and now I know now you're engaged. You said you are doing it for the kids, which obviously everybody is excited about.

PITT: And ourselves.

HAMMER: Are they pressuring you at all to set a date? Are they getting on you about it?

PITT: Not necessarily.

HAMMER: Do you think it's something that you will make public, because obviously there's a huge interest, demand, people want to feel like they're a part of when you guys actually get married. And you want to protect your privacy to the extent that you can.

PITT: We don't know yet. We haven't gotten that far yet.

HAMMER: Obviously, it's been a huge year getting this movie out and your furniture line is very impressive as somebody that is into art and design. You can't turn on the TV without seeing your Channel ad. Brad, obviously, you know that. They got such a huge reaction. Do you get a kick out of their reaction?

PITT: I sit there and play.

HAMMER: Absolutely. I say, they got their money's worth with you, I mean, the number of times that it got played just people talking about.

PITT: You know, I'm not a part of that side of the marketing, but fair play.

HAMMER: OK, last thing, very quickly, I just want to flash you back, we're going to have a little fun. Just want you to take a quick look at this guy here.

A lot of the attraction before I came out was --

Really, is that -- I don't even recognize that guy.

HAMMER: Who's that guy?

PITT: Was this -- what year?

HAMMER: You had just gotten out of California maybe six months prior. What advice would this guy sitting on the chair cross for me give that guy right here?

PITT: I think that guy did all right and he figured it out. I don't think I need to tell him much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: Yes, Deb. I don't think anyone will argue, that guy did all right. "Killing Them Softly" is in theaters everywhere.

FEYERICK: Thank you so much, A.J. Great interview with him. And don't forget, you can catch more entertainment news on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." It airs at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, weeknights, on HLN.

Remember the video game Pac-Man? NASA says it's discovered Pac-men in space. Details just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Pack men in space. That's right. NASA has released some stunning images that look like the popular video game. Our Josh Levs is here to tell us about that and to give us a preview for tomorrow when we will be learning more information about Mars.

So, how do you this had impact?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what, maybe someday we will find out.

There's a lot of things we don't know yet. So let's get the Mars thing out at the top at the very beginning here because NASA is trying to encourage people to kind of lower the expectations game for tomorrow. That will be making an announcement about Mar's curiosity rover up there on Mars. And we are going to be learning more about what we are discovering, what NASA is discovering on Mars. And this should be some pretty impressive stuff. But NASA is saying, don't get too excited. It is just going to be some basic information, downplaying the expectations.

Now, what you can't help but by amazed by is this next thing, these Pac-Men. Let's go to that because this imagery is so amazing. Take a look there. So, Deb, I saw this popup from NASA, and they -- it was NASA that said, look, Pac-men in space. And I said, (INAUDIBLE). And they put it up on their Web site. They say Pac-Man in space.

So I have been talking with them. I said what are we seeing here in folks, this is simple. Here's what this is. This is all the way up in Saturn. Saturn has a whole bunch of different moons. And the picture that NASA gave us, just pushed those two, still. (INAUDIBLE).

So we are seeing moons near Saturn and what happens is, the yellow parts are the parts that NASA calls fluffy, and the blue parts are icy, they're cold. So what's happening is, these real powerful electrons are banging against that moon and when that happens, it turns some of that lighter stuff blue, it makes it icy, it makes it cold. As it turns, it gets blue, it gets cold. The yellow stuff turns to blue so what we're looking at looks like a Pac-Man, just pretty powerful.

FEYERICK: And were there (INAUDIBLE) though? I mean, is that the color - are they're looking to s special telescope or something?

LEVS: Yes, they are. They are using something called their infrared spectrometer, which looks at the heat levels based equivalent. But now, there is nothing doctored about it. So, those pictures, they are still pictures of what they look like, came out like that. And what is great with NASA, they discovered. They say, oh, let's look at this. What is it? Then, they start piecing it apart. And then, they sent it out.

And you know, every time we get a chance to stop and look at the universe and realized that we are hundreds of millions of miles out there as humanity learning things, absolutely incredible tonight. And, it is all in my Twitter and Facebook, joshlevscnn.

FEYERICK: OK, great. And are you going to be showing people your spectrometer?

LEVS: You know what? If NASA's watching, we wanting here, we'll have it here the next hour.

FEYERICK: That is exactly right.

OK, Josh Levs, as always. Thanks so much. All right, a former major league baseball player is under fire, we'll tell you why is in trouble with the law.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, there are the Oscars, the Tony's, the Grammys and the Emmy's and of course, there are the Kennedys. We are talking, of course, about the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. That's when politicians set aside their differences, at least for a night, to honor some America's greatest talent.

CNN's Emily Schmidt has a look at tonight's recipients.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMILY SCHMIDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Kennedy Center Honors are a bit like Washington's Oscars, red carpet out front. President and Mrs. Obama inside to greet seven very different artists.

BOB DICKINSON, LIGHTNING DIRECTOR: It's very rare to see Led Zeppelin songs being sung at the same time as David Letterman jokes are being told, but I think it's going to be a great show.

SCHMIDT: This will be Bob Dickinson's 20th Kennedy Center Honors show. He says there's imagine nick the room because there are no nominees here, no losers. All honorees have earned their place.

They include the three surviving members of British rock and roll band Led Zeppelin. This was their concert in 2007. John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant., their songs like "Stairway to Heaven" are as epic as their more than 100 million records sold in the U.S. It's one kind of electric performance.

This is another. Russian-born prima ballerina Natalia Makarova danced with the American Ballet Theater and royal ballet. She performs during the Kennedy Center Honors in 1981. Now others will perform for her.

BUDDY GUY, KENNEDY CENTER HONOREE: Chicago, thank you very much, I love you and will never leave. I'll leave but I'll be back.

SCHMIDT: Blues man, Buddy Guy, got a Chicago sendoff for his honors. He was born into a Louisiana (INAUDIBLE) family and went on to win six Grammy awards. Honoree Dustin Hoffman has said when he grew up, movie stars didn't look like he did.

More than 50 films later he has two best actor Oscars including this one for Kramer versus Kramer.

Honoree David Letterman has more than 5,000 television broadcasts under his belt. He is being recognized for finding humor in anything, even winning this honor. He talked about it on the "Late Show with David Letterman."

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": When I stopped laughing, I was very excited. I tell you, because this is great for my family. They think I'm working at a Jiffy Lube in Mexico. Well, OK, why not.

SCHMIDT: People who cover the honors say there's more than comic relief at play. It is a break for partisan politics.

NED MARTEL, "THE WASHINGTON POST": At this exact moment when we are all so tired from the election, you can see a little break in the action. I think that adds to the momentousness of the evening.

SCHMIDT: David Letterman joked on his show that Kennedy Center nominees also receive an adjustable mattress and a new car. That may have been a punch line but they do receive something else, the chance to nominate potential future honorees.

Emily Schmidt, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Well, CNN NEWSROOM with Don Lemon is coming up in just a few minutes. You have talks and tons and tons of stuff going on.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: And tons and tons of -- OK, So, I will get there fast, all right? So, we are going to have a political conversation on the pending fiscal cliff and why can't we all just get along. L.Z. Granderson is going to weigh in and Ana Navarro, she (INAUDIBLE) in Florida. She is here in Atlanta. So, she is already.

Also, lots of people have seen this picture. The New York City police officer giving a homeless man boots, but I talked to our Doctor Wendy Walsh about, she is the human expert, whether we are supposed to be naughty or nice this holiday season. This is going to be interesting to hear what she has to say about it.

And the NFL players, some NFL players, are they taking Viagra death as they sports performance enhancing drugs?

FEYERICK: Yes, of course.

LEMON: And you have to see my interview the icon, legend Pat Boone. He talked about dropping out of the movie deal with Marilyn Monroe for moral reasons, much like Angus on "Two and a Half Men." Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT BOONE, ACTOR: Some time ago, I was on to contract, the 20th Century Fox, and they wanted me to make a movie with Marilyn Monroe and we were both doing very well in the box office. And I had to turn the script down and say I can't do this. I risked suspension because it was a very immoral story. And it was somewhat like "Bus Stop" written William Inch. They went and made the movie eventually with Joanne Wood (ph), I think, and Richard Beamer. But it was about a kid with an affair of an older woman, a beautiful woman, but older, couldn't go anywhere. It was immoral. And I had young fans and just said, hey, I can't do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: So he empathizes with the young man on "Two and a Half Men." He said he knows the tug of war that he is dealing with. And he actually took up for him a little bit. More of that conversation coming up.

FEYERICK: Did he ever say if he would be in a movie with Marilyn Monroe, if it was not that subject.

LEMON: I'm sure. It was a surprised that, you know, when - I'm sure, he was talking about a May-December romance. But you know, that happens all the time and it is not always immoral. Love is love is love.

FEYERICK: Love is love is love. And I love your shoes. Speaking of love, love, love, seriously, you are bringing it, my friend.

LEMON: These are velvet.

FEYERICK: That's right. Black velvet shoes. A little bit of dancing there.

All right. Well, you are going to bring it coming up at 6:00. And we are going to move on to a couple stories just before then.

LEMON: Good to see you.

FEYERICK: You too.

Bruno Mars, marijuana and unemployment have in common? Well, they are all going to be in the news this coming week. We have the details you'll need to get a head start on the days ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, now let's take a look at what's happening this week. A device on board the Curiosity Rover on Mars has been scooping up Martian soil and analyzing it. And on Monday, NASA just might reveal details about what they have found. They will share the revelations with scientists from around the world where meeting in San Francisco.

Also on Monday in Los Angeles, former major league baseball player Lenny Dykstra is facing sentencing on bankruptcy fraud and other federal charges. He pleaded guilty to three counts in July. Dykstra is already serving time for an auto theft case. He could get 20 years in prison but prosecutors have recommended he gets 30 months.

On Tuesday New York mayor Cory Booker starts living on a food stamp budget for a week. He proposed the challenge after getting in a back and forth with twitter by someone who goes by the name Twit Wit who also agreed to the challenge. Food stamp is allowing to New Jersey is about $4 a day.

On Thursday, Washington state gay marriage law takes effect as soon as it's new law that legalize marijuana for recreational use. A similar pot law goes into effect that day in Colorado.

And on Friday, we get a new jobs and unemployment report. This one will give us a good sense of how hurricane Sandy affected employment.

Well, that will do it for me. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Don Lemon.

Thanks so much everyone for tuning in. Have a great week.

And Don, looking forward to seeing your show.

LEMON: Someone you were talking about my shoes, when you are going -- someone said, don't tell her, Don, that's your Usher board uniform.

FEYERICK: Which you still have to bring in. I keep asking, where is your usher board uniform, Don?

LEMON: Thank you for being -- I was in New York last week and Deb let me use her office.

FEYERICK: I even cleaned it up for you.

LEMON: Thank you, Deb. See you soon.

FEYERICK: Take it easy.

LEMON: Always a pleasure.