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Friends Shocked By Killing Spree; Bombing At NATO Base In Kandahar; North Korean Satellite May Be Unstable; Fight For Small Islands Escalates; Nurse In Royal Hoax Hanged Herself; Australian Media Watchdog Opens Probe; Google Maps For iPhones Are Back; 12-12-12 Concert For Sandy Relief; Ban On Loud TV Ads Starts Today; American Airlines Changing Fare System; Lawmakers Brawl In Ukraine; Syria Denies Firing Scud Missiles; John McAfee Back In The U.S.

Aired December 13, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: -- so ugly. The state's High School Athletic Association is looking at the possibility of a mercy rule for future games. One sports talk show host says the winning team should have taken its foot of the pedal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE STAYSNIAK, 1070 THE FAN SPORTS TALK HOST: We have people who called in and verified they were pressing in to the third quarter. You were winning 39-0, 69-1 at halftime. What are you do something statement made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Everybody can't get a trophy or medal. I mean, come on. The athletic director of the losing team says he holds no ill will toward the winners. There you go. That's a good attitude. And that is a look at sports.

The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now. Happening now in the NEWSROOM, new details on the shopping mall killer and the holiday shoppers doomed simply by crossing his path. The victims' stories and gunman's rage just ahead. Plus this --

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. Have you missed Google Maps on your iPhone? Well, miss no more. Apple does an about-face and Google says told you. The stories coming up.

LEMON: On the run, to immigration detention and now South Beach. The story of John McAfee takes another bizarre twist.

And the crowd at Madison Square Garden was rocking last night all in the name of charity. We're going to bring you the concert for the victims of Superstorm Sandy in the NEWSROOM, which starts right now.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Carol is off today. This morning, there are new details on the man behind the shooting rampage in Oregon and the tragic aftermath of his rage. And we now know more about his victims. This is 54-year-old Cindy Ann Yuille. She was a hospice nurse and her family says she was everybody's friend. The "Oregonian" says she leaves behind a 23-year- old daughter and a 13-year-old stepson.

Steve Forsyth also had two children and loved to coach kids' sports. Friends say the 45-year-old businessman had a zest for life, a wicked sense of humor and never said a bad word about anyone.

Kristina Shevchenco is in stable, but serious condition with bullet fragments in her lung and her liver. Doctors say the 15-year-old will recover but faces more surgery.

And this is the man would unleashed the carnage, 22-year-old Jacob Roberts. Shocked friends say he was kind and upbeat and studying to become a firefighter.

CNN's Dan Simon is now in Happy Valley, Oregon with the very latest for us. What do you know, Dan?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Don. Roberts' name surfaced less than 24 hours ago. At this point, we don't really have a motive. Investigators say they found no violent history, no criminal history, but if you look a little deeper, perhaps there is some hints about his emotional well-being.

For instance, if you look on his Facebook page, you notice that he posted a picture from a famous graffiti artist, which says follow your dreams with the word canceled stamped over it.

Also there are reports that he was telling people that he inherited a bunch of money and was planning to move to Hawaii. Apparently that's not grounded in any truth whatsoever.

But you know, you talk to all the people who knew him and they say this just doesn't sound like Jacob Roberts. And so at this point, it's just a real mystery, Don.

We're also getting some more details in terms of the chronology in terms of how this occurred. We're told that Roberts entered the second floor of the Macy's store, started firing actually in the food court area.

And then within a minute, within one minute, police swarmed to the scene and when Roberts felt like he was cornered, he went to the first floor, that and he where he shot himself.

Meantime, we're also hearing from some of his friends. I want you to listen now to someone who knew Roberts from high school. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD BUNTING, COUNSELLING DEPARTMENT, OREGON CITY HIGH SCHOOL: He was a counseling aid with us. Kids would sometimes be assigned to be our assistant and he helped us with some of the work in the counseling office. I found him to be a very polite young man, soft spoken, nice smile and just really surprised that somebody with his personality would end up doing something like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Well, Don, the shopping mall remains closed obviously a tough blow for these merchants during the middle of the holiday shopping season. Still don't know when it will reopen. Back to you.

LEMON: Tough time for everyone there. Thank you very much, Dan Simon.

Just a short time ago, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle outside the gates of Kandahar Air Base. The defense secretary, Leon Panetta, had been there, but left hours earlier.

It's not clear if the attack was tied to his visit. Several coalition soldiers were wounded along with as many as ten civilians. Erin Burnett traveling with the Secretary Panetta, she spoke with him earlier and we'll tell you about that later -- have that later on in the hour for you.

There are signs this morning that the North Korean satellite launched aboard that controversial long range rocket, it may not be stable. A U.S. official tells CNN that Pyongyang may not have full control of the satellite and it could potentially fall back to earth in several months.

A fight over a small cluster of uninhabited islands between Japan and China escalated this morning. Japan sent eight fighter jets after a Chinese plane was seen near the islands, but the plane was gone by the time they got there.

China says the plane was patrolling and continues to claim the islands. The islands have been in Japanese control for years and Japan bought the privately owned islands back in September.

Want to go now to London where we're learning new details about that royal prank call that began as a joke and ended in tragedy. Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who took the call, was found hanging by her colleagues in her hospital living quarters.

This is according to a coroner's court, which says Saldanha used a scarf. Dan Rivers joins me now from London. Dan, this is such a tragic story. Three notes have been found, two at the scene, one with the nurse's belongings and an inquest has been opened. So where do we stand in this investigation?

DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In Britain, they hold what's called an inquest for an unexplained or sudden death and this certainly falls into that category. The more that's come out though, the more this does point to suicide, although the coroner has not reached that verdict formally yet.

But as you say, she was found hanging from a scarf from a door of a wardrobe in her nurse's accommodation. Three notes were found near her or in her possessions. It all points to the idea that she took her life, but they whether go through the formalities of checking this out thoroughly to ensure that is what happened.

There was also some other detail, police man saying that she had some injuries to her wrists. And he added that at this time, there are no suspicious circumstances. So certainly that seems to be the direction in which this is going.

LEMON: OK, so that's there in London. Let's go to Australia now. There is news out of London, Dan, concerning the radio station involved in that prank call. What you can you tell us about that?

RIVERS: Yes, I mean, the station that did the call is now in serious trouble in Australia. Not only has it been the subject of 250,000 complaints for members of the public in Australia to the broadcast regulator there, but the regulator itself is now looking at the license for that radio station.

So the entire future of that station is now being weighed up as to whether it should continue in its current form. It's been in trouble in the past. There was an infamous incident a few years ago where it put a 14-year-old girl on the air in a lie detector test with her mother there and asked her if she'd been having sex as a teenager.

And then there was this kind of horrendous moment when she admitted that she'd been raped. That again called into question the kind of standards of management there and the judgment really, not only of the presenters, that was two different presenters, but those at the top of that station and whether things need to change.

LEMON: It sounds awful. Dan Rivers, thank you.

It has been three months since Apple ditched Google Maps and now they're back. You can now buy Google Maps on iTunes again and it is seen as a big win for Google. Alison Kosik joins me now from the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison, so I've been using my iPhone to try to find places lately and --

KOSIK: Have you run into walls?

LEMON: This does not make sense. I know I should not turn right or left here. It has been big problems with Apple maps. This adds to the bad PR, right?

KOSIK: You know, it could at the very least for Google, it gives Google a chance to say, Apple, told you we were good. But you know, Apple could also turn this thing around, this goof, and say, you know what, we're not the best, we can't do everything perfectly, but as Apple, we're willing to do what's best for the customer.

And you remember what happened, when this whole outrage thing happened. Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized. He actually apologized for its map app just weeks after the app was introduced. It was a real disaster because this thing was just not ready for prime time.

Cook went out and said Apple fell short of its commitment to users. Even ran into such problems that police in Australia said the Apple map put some people 40 miles away from their destination in the middle of nowhere. So now it comes to today, though.

We have this Google option again. So as of last night, Google Maps are now available for download on the iTunes apps store. This is a free app. You don't have to buy it and I'm telling you, I'm seeing a lot of excitement about it on social media.

So what this thing does is it features turn by turn navigation, live traffic information and public transportation directions all of which were missing or a huge problem on Apple's new maps app.

And just to give you an idea of how much of a demand there is for this, right now it's the number one free app on iTunes, talking about Google Map. So it's already a success just hours on iTunes. They couldn't wait to get their hands on it. You're downloading, aren't you?

LEMON: I really am because I was really ticked off at that other one. I was like this does not work. I wanted to throw my iPhone out of the window. I'm serious. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Near San Diego, a helicopter makes a hard landing at Navy Base Coronado, all four crew members were taken to the hospital to be checked out. The cause of the hard landing now under investigation.

It was a star-studded night at New York's Madison Square Garden, an amazing gathering of musicians all sharing the stage for a worthy cause, the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief.

Very nice, New Jersey favorite Bon Jovi brought the house down with a classic hit and they weren't the only local acts. Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen showing support for Sandy victims.

Plus a special performance by Paul McCartney playing front man for members of Nirvana. There are estimates the concert reached 12 billion people, raised $30 million, in ticket and other sales. Proceeds will benefit Superstorm Sandy relief efforts. Good for them. Great night.

You may complain about the political gridlock in Washington, but look at this brawl involving Ukrainian lawmakers. Look at it and get this, all the fighting perfectly legal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Checking your top stories right now. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie admits that he's more than a little overweight. But during an interview with ABC, he shot back at his critics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are people who say that you couldn't be president because you're so heavy. What do you say to that?

GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: That's ridiculous. People watched me for the last number of weeks in Hurricane Sandy doing 18- hour days so I really think that will be a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, Christie may not be thinking about the presidency anytime soon. He said last month that he would seek a second term as governor.

Notice anything different about your TV? Starting today, broadcasters and pay TV providers are no longer allowed to air TV commercials that are excessively loud.

I can hear the cheers around country. Congress passed what's known as the Calm Act back in 2010. Federal Communications Commission says loud commercials have been a leading source of complaints.

American Airlines going to start charging you differently when you buy a plane ticket. It says it's offering lower fairs and flexibility by bundling options like check bag fees, priority boarding and avoiding change fees.

Some critics say the new options are actually more restrictive and could end up costing passengers more for the same service.

If you thought our Congress was dysfunctional, take a look at Ukraine's parliament, will you? Take a good gander at this. Imagine this going on in Washington, a huge fight broke out between different parties.

This is the first session of the new parliament, the first one. Lawmakers were shoving and punching, some climbed over desks. One person, get this, are you listening, one person's ear was torn off -- or was torn. And get this according to Ukrainian law, they can't be punished, so scenes like there are not uncommon.

This morning we're following new developments out of Syria. Just minutes ago, an official with the embattled regime denied that the government's military has fired scud missiles against rebel forces.

That comes an one U.S. official confirms to CNN that four such missiles were picked up by military satellite. The concern both for Washington and the world is that the scuds could be loaded with chemical weapons and unleashed on the citizens.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Beirut following these latest developments for us. What do you know, Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As you say, they have denied categorically that scud missiles were used. They're point to go longer range missiles. Scud is a nickname for that in some ways.

The "New York Times" citing U.S. officials and in fact these four to six missiles fired recently were in fact aimed at a base in the north of the country, which has been recently overrun by rebels.

A key facility and perhaps that's the regime trying to flatten it in a scorched earth policy, Don. But very worrying for those who see as perhaps the end of the Assad regime comes nearer, they may be resorting to the more can deadly brutal and heavy weapons.

LEMON: So can you tell us more, Nick, about the Russian diplomat who said Bashar Al-Assad is losing more and more control of Syria? What does that many and how significant is that coming from Russia?

WALSH: It's pretty enormous for those in Damascus certainly. Russia has been a political stalwart ally for political and diplomatic months over the past revolts 21 months long now. The point man of the Middle East, deputy foreign minister, saying he thinks unfortunately rebel victory is in fact possible.

Suggesting that we're seeing the trend moving entirely increasing in rebel direction, that's a big deal because in the past ten days to a week, we've seen the Russians reassess that position, get involved with the meetings with the U.S., have lower level politicians saying the government isn't up to its job.

And Putin, the Russian president, be very friendly with Turkish leaders, trying to make sure that relationship hasn't been permanently damaged. And now today we're seeing the first clear time that Russia thinks Assad is over.

They are not daunting him, but they are making it clear his days are perhaps numbered. And that will have huge ramifications on those inside the Syrian regime worried themselves, seeing themselves surrounded in Damascus by rebels. But now hearing their main allies publicly saying they could be going -- Don.

LEMON: Nick Paton Walsh, Beirut. Thank you, Nick.

And now we want to show you some dramatic video obtained exclusively by CNN. It's coming out of the conflict in Syria. Here it is. It shows a young rebel fighter, look at that, just 17 years old, crawling on his belly through a hail of bullets to rescue a woman who had been shot.

The video was given to CNN's Arwa Damon while she was reporting in Aleppo, Syria. He moves to the crossfire carefully, fastens a rope around the woman's body and pulls her out of harm's way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I said to myself if I die, it's God's will that I die next to this woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Despite the young man's brave efforts, the woman later died from her wounds. In an interview, the young fighter said, quote, "I'm not a hero. I'm just like anyone else." What a long strange trip it has been for tech pioneer John McAfee from Belize to Guatemala and now his latest stop is Miami. Why there? We'll talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The story of John McAfee has taken another bizarre turn. The software company founder who has been on the run in Belize and has been in immigration detention in Guatemala, he showed up in Miami. And he spoke to reporters outside a South Beach Hotel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCAFEE, FOUNDER, MCAFEE INC.: In my mind is calm. Why do you ask?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you've just arrived. You were just released from a Guatemalan detention facility for murdering your neighbor.

MCAFEE: I don't think anybody thinks I murdered my neighbor except you, the press.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, CNN's John Zarrella has been following the story and he is in Miami this morning -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Software security founder, John McAfee turns up in Miami last night down on South Beach and still insisting that he had nothing to do with the November murder down in Belize of his next door neighbor, Gregory Faull.

Now McAfee ended up back in Miami after he was deported from Guatemala. The saga began back in November as I said when his neighbor and he got in an argument over his dogs, over McAfee's dogs.

Two days after the altercation over the dogs, McAfee's neighbor, Gregory Faull, is found dead. Authorities in Belize wanted to question him, but instead McAfee went into hiding. He was on the run.

A few weeks later, he surfaces in Guatemala City saying that he wanted asylum in Guatemala. Guatemalan authorities refused him asylum and they ended up deporting him last night back to the United States.

He ends up in Miami and is on South Beach. He continues to insist he had nothing to do with the murder of his neighbor. He continues to insist that authorities in Belize were out to get him because he didn't pay a bribe to a politician.

So that's why McAfee says he was on the run and wouldn't stay in Belize and he says he's glad to be back here now in Miami and in the United States. The question is will authorities here want to talk to him.

Probably so because the man who was killed in Belize, his neighbor, is a U.S. businessman and the FBI would have jurisdiction over the murders of U.S. citizens in other countries.

So it's very likely that McAfee will at the very least have to talk with federal authorities about what he knows about his neighbor's killing. John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

LEMON: John, thanks. In a controversial move, a dead Marine will not be awarded the Medal of Honor. Some say he was already brain dead when he landed on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is time to check your top stories here on CNN. Friends of Jacob Roberts say the image of the gunman doesn't jive with the young man they knew. Authorities say the 22-year-old wore a hockey-like face mask into an Oregon mall and opened fire on holiday shoppers. He killed two people and then himself. A third shooting victim remains in serious condition.

Just hours after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta wrapped up his visit in Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan, insurgents struck. A suicide bomber detonated a vehicle outside the gates of the NATO base. It's not clear if the attack was tied to Panetta's visit. Several coalition soldiers were wounded along with as many as ten civilians.

And in money news, first time claims of unemployment benefits fell last week to 343,000. That's similar to levels before Superstorm Sandy, which led claims to surge last month.

In North Korea, a rocket launch is sparking international concerns. But inside North Korea, there may also be worries as a U.S. official tells CNN the country may not have full control of the satellite.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins me now. Barbara, good morning. This launch is viewed by some as a success for North Korea after years of failed attempts, but the White House is warning, quote, "There will be consequences." So what are the potential next steps on both sides?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, what they're talking about really is a continuation at this point of the track they've been on, going to the United Nation --