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FBI Investigating Oklahoma Beheading; Suspect Jailed in Graham Disappearance; Alleged Cop Killer Eludes Police; U.S. Doing Bashar a Favor in Hitting ISIS; 800 Flights Cancelled in Chicago after Bizarre Event; Officer Wishes She Had Killed Alton Nolan; George Clooney, Amal Alamuddin Marry in Venice
Aired September 27, 2014 - 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: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hello everyone, I'm Deborah Feyerick. We are tracking a dramatic and disturbing story this hour out of the Oklahoma where a man is accused of beheading one of his co-workers and severely injuring another. Police say Alton Nolen will be charged with first degree murder and assault and battery with a deadly weapon and he may also face federal charges. The FBI has been called into investigate Nolen's background. Police say he had been trying to convert his co-workers to Islam. We learned today that Nolen woke up from sedation Friday afternoon after being shot by an off-duty sheriff's deputy. He was interviewed by police and he could be released from the hospital early next week. CNN's Nick Valencia has more. Nick.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police have released some details about the suspect in this week's beheading in Moore, Oklahoma. But we are beginning to learn more about him from his Facebook page.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALENCIA (voice-over): Police say this is the Facebook page of the man suspected of beheading a co-worker in Moore, Oklahoma. The images and messages on the page of Alton Nolen that goes by an alias here appear to support Islamic radicals and ridicule Christianity. In recent posts, Nolen writes about judgment day and criticizes the United States and Israel. The post -- some more disturbing than others. It was on Thursday that police say Nolen brought horror to his work place. He had just been fired from his job that day only to return shortly afterward with a knife.
SGT. JEREMY LEWIS, MOORE, OKLAHOMA POLICE: He encountered the first victim and began assaulting her with the knife. He did kill Colleen and did sever her head.
VALENCIA: According to police the suspect began attacking a second woman who he was shot and stopped by an armed company executive. Mark Vaughan, son of the company's founder, is also reserved sheriff's deputy. Officials say it was his actions that prevented more deaths.
LEWIS: It could have gotten a lot worse. This guy definitely was not going to stop. He didn't stop until he was shot.
VALENCIA: The barbaric nature of the crime had lead some residents and others to speculate the act could be tied to something larger and was perhaps influenced by Muslim extremists. Adding to the theory, police say that in recent weeks, Nolen had tried to convert his co- workers to Islam. But in a statement to CNN, Oklahoma's governor warned not to jump to conclusions before the investigation is complete. The FBI is assisting local police.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALENCIA: Nolen has a lengthy criminal history according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections including briefly leading police on a manhunt. The state trooper who had a physical altercation with Nolen four years ago says, after she found out what he is accused of doing she wished she would have killed him when she had the chance. Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
FEYERICK: And while he may be released from the hospital he will likely be held until formal charges against him are filed.
Let's bring in our panel, on the phone, psychotherapist Robi Ludwig and CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes. Robby, let's start with you. First of all, does this man's behavior paint the picture of somebody who simply snapped or was there a continuum that could have been identifiable and perhaps diagnosable?
ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: You know, it's really hard to tell at this point. I mean, certainly his rantings on Facebook suggest he liked aligning himself with a more radical Islamic groups and perhaps that inspired him in some way to behave in this copy cat like fashion. But when I hear about this man's profile it sounds like he was a violent, ill man who somehow came across this radicalized version of Islam, adopted it as his own and started acting in a very crazy fashion. The danger is, you know, these radicalized Islamists may not care who they adopt as these lone rangers. So, that is where the danger comes in here.
FEYERICK: Yes. And Tom, you know, what is interesting to me and I want to address this question first. Look, we have been hearing about lone wolf attacks for weeks now. It is surprising to me that either nobody came across this particular Facebook page or that, in fact, his co-workers didn't think that this behavior was strange or off balance or off putting. So, if we can't stop somebody so vocal on Facebook, what does that say about whether, in fact, there is enough sort of eyes on the problem?
TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Deb, it says exactly what you are saying that there is not an ability to put enough eyes on the problem. You can't expect the FBI or the police to read people's minds. So, a guy like this who has already been violent on many occasions prior to this one starts putting this kind of garbage on his Facebook page and this is America. You have first amendment rights. People put this stuff all the time and authorities don't know, do they mean it, are they going to do something with that? Are they going to cross the line and commit murder on behalf of these beliefs? And that is the difficulty.
Right now, yes, the FBI is looking at whether there is a way to prove that he intended this as an act of terrorism or is he just a garden variety psycho path who has been on this path for a long time and now it just, you know, he has chosen to erupt and cut somebody's head off.
FEYERICK: Which is, you know, when we look at this, you look at the acts that are just so clearly insane. Robi, when you think about this, are there signs that his co-workers could have seen that maybe this man needed to be looked at more closely?
LUDWIG: Listen, I am sure this man was behaving in a very bizarre and odd way. And I think what we need to remind everyone out there if you see something say something, be on the safe side. If you think somebody is behaving in a slightly odd fashion report it to your boss. Report it to your co-workers. Let the authorities decide whether there is something to be worried about or not. And it sounds like they were concerned about this guy. They fired him as a result of his behaving oddly on the job and that rage could have contributed to what we ultimately saw in the crime of the beheading.
FEYERICK: And so, Tom, last question to you, you said that potentially this could be looked at within the spectrum of terrorism. What threshold would have to be met by federal investigators to say, look, this was something much more, this was done in the name of ISIS, this was done as opposed to something that was simply just insane?
FUENTES: Right. If you commit murder, you know, it's a terrorist act if the motive is more than just killing somebody. It is because it is on behalf of a religious belief, you know, political belief, some other belief system like that motivates the person to commit murder and that is why they did it. That is very difficult to prove in spite of the fact that he has had this stuff on his Facebook page. They will be trying to talk to somebody that knew him to see if he has made any indication that he wants to commit jihad, that he is going to show somebody that he intends to do this on behalf of the extremist ideology as opposed to just, you know, his murderous ways.
FEYERICK: And it's interesting, looking at the Facebook page there are other people that he was friends with. And you really have to wonder whether, in fact, they perhaps could have either predicted this or forewarned of it and reached out to get him the help he needed and perhaps prevent this catastrophe for this poor family.
All right. Tom Fuentes, Robi Ludwig, thank you so much. We appreciate you stopping by.
And coming up, I'm going to be speaking to an officer who tried to arrest Alton Nolen back in 2010. She was hurt when he escaped. She's going to join in about 20 minutes. Hear what she has to say.
Well, former Ohio Congressman Jay Traficant has passed away. He was critically injured Tuesday in a tractor accident on his Ohio farm. Police say, Traficant who was running a small 1943 tractor when he lost control causing the tractor to roll over him. Traficant represented Ohio's 17th Congressional district for 17 years, he was convicted of charges of bribery, racketeering and tax evasion in 2002. Traficant was 73-years-old.
And for much more on the colorful life of this Congressional legend, go to CNN.com.
In Virginia, police have the suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham but her fate remains a mystery. Where is she? They want to know where she is. They want to badly solve this crime.
And then, another mystery in Pennsylvania. A fierce manhunt for a missing man, a suspected killer, cop killer who police believe may have been plotting for a very long time.
(COMMERCIA BREAK)
FEYERICK: We are following two very different missing person's stories tonight.
CNN's Alexandra Field is in Pennsylvania with the latest on the manhunt for an alleged cop killer. And CNN's Jean Casarez is in Charlottesville, Virginia where authorities are looking for University of Virginia student Hannah Graham.
Jean, police say that Jesse Matthew was last seen leaving a restaurant bar with Hannah Graham about two weeks ago. Matthew was arrested while camping on a beach in Texas. He is now in custody back in Virginia. First of all, what do we know about the search for Hannah Graham? Are authorities any closer to finding her?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, the search has really been underway today. I want to tell you Deb that the University of Virginia-Kent State football game is going on right now. And they were passing out orange ribbons for everybody to wear at the game as a symbol of hope to find Hannah.
Now while that was going on, they had professional searchers searching the rural areas today. Even by helicopter. And the city of Charlottesville is ten square miles. But the county here is over 740 square miles, a very vast area in there, grass lands, farm lands, forest lands and even mountains. But the police chief here in Charlottesville, he wants everybody to search for this, even making a call the other day for professionals. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHEF TIMOTHY LONGO, CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE: If you are a realtor that serves the greater Charlottesville Albemarle region and you know that you are responsible for the sale of a piece of property that is vacant, we want to ask you to go back to that property and inspect it.
SABINA HARVEY, REALTOR: All of us have these vacant listings and I don't have any farm properties. But still there is some corners around here that someone could hide something so I came up and just did a look around. You know, we are all just trying to find her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And that is so true. You know I met a lady today that has children and she was out searching herself just because she wants to find Hannah and it is apparent she wants to help the other parents. I do want to tell you, that the police chief believes that Hannah is within this county, all 740 square miles. He doesn't necessarily believe she is outside of the county or between here and Galveston. Why? We don't really know but he believed this is the area to search for.
FEYERICK: What do you think they could ultimately charge Matthew with? Clearly they were going to be holding him. But until they find Hannah Graham, it is unclear whether the charges could be more than they would be right now.
CASAREZ: Or have the forensics come in. Right?
FEYERICK: Right.
CASAREZ: You know, this is the jail right here. This is the county jail. He is being held. It is a no bail hold on him. He is in segregation, protective custody all by himself for his protection and other inmates protection. And currently, the charge is abduction with intent to defile. Very unusual charge. What that is kidnapping with the intent to do a sexual act. Well, that is a felony and its decades in prison. But the question is, will the charges be upgraded? Forensics could lead to the upgrading of those charges, finding Hannah could lead to upgrading of those charges. So, that is what we have to look, wait and watch to see if that happens -- Deb.
FEYERICK: Yes. No question in the area where Hannah Graham disappeared, it's also an area where other women have disappeared. And I know investigators now are looking at those cold cases. Jean Casarez, thank you so much.
And we switch to Alexandra Field, she is in Pennsylvania where the manhunt continues for suspected cop killer Eric Frein. Alexandra, 1,000 officers out there. Frein still has not been found. But why are police so confident that he is in that area?
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Deb, look, it has been more than a week-and-a-half actually since law enforcement decided to come and focus their search right here. And they have been saying that they are really confident that Frein is here in this area. And that is because a law enforcement source tells CNN that Frein came to the woods, he made a phone call, he called his parents house. The phone rang just one time before he hung up. That was long enough to trace him here. And again, that was more than a week-and-a-half ago. But police are telling us that they continue to see signs that he is out here. There have been several sightings and Pennsylvania State police are telling us about a few things that they've noticed that lead them to believe that the suspect is well within their search are. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: We have found evidence that there has been tampering with some structures in the area, some abandoned, some vacant. And it is yet to be determined whether those items that we have located belong to him or someone else. (END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: Police tell us they picked up a number of different items that they do believe belong to Frein including an AK 47 but they say, they still consider the suspect to be armed and dangerous, Deb, he's believed to have a rifle with him and on top of that, they are warning all the officers who were a part of this search to be aware of the possibility of bobby traps because they say that Frein had been experimenting with homemade explosives, really a difficult and a dangerous training for them potentially.
FEYERICK: You know, a police say that he really does appear to be targeting law enforcement, that he was planning this. We are seeing all these pictures of him, and honestly what looks to be some sort of military garb. What kind of information is that giving police officers who are out there looking for him either about his training or his level of skill?
FIELD: Look, we have been talking a lot to Pennsylvania State police officers who are leading this investigation. And they haven't wanted to speculate on a motive for the shooting which took place at the state police barracks two weeks ago, that's what started this manhunt for Eric Frein. But what they have continued to say is that they believe that he is targeting a law enforcement officials as you pointed out. They've said that civilians don't seem to be the target of this and they are now pulling out evidence that he may have been preparing for some kind of confrontation with law enforcement officers for years.
They say that they have been searching a hard drive and that the hard drive shows them that he had done some extensive preparation doing detailed research on everything from law enforcement techniques to police manhunts, to skills for survival. And another thing Deb is, police are telling us that they found snipers out here which they believe belong to Frein. And they say that that is a tactic that may have read about, it's used by snipers and it allows someone to stay stationary for long periods of time.
FEYERICK: All right. Alexandra Field, thank you so much. We appreciate that. Obviously, the big fear that he may try to lure them into some sort of a larger trap. Thanks so much. We appreciate your reporting.
And nearly 800 flights were cancelled today in Chicago in the wake of a bizarre security incident. We're learning more about the suspect. Firefighters found a man trying to cut his own throat causing some to ask, do airports -- employee screening test.
(COMMERCIA BREAK)
FEYERICK: Terrorists have been trying to conceal explosives inside clothing for years. Now it is possible for the fabric itself to be turned into a bomb.
CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson watched a frightening demonstration of how a t-shirt laced with chemicals could bring down an airliner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Four, three, two, one!
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No ordinary explosion, a clothing bomb.
(on camera): So that is a t-shirt dipped in explosives that is just bloat and dried, blown up and that would bring down a plane.
(voice-over): Explosives expert Sidney Alford made it.
(on camera): That was flat. That's much thicker than a plane. That would blow through.
SIDNEY ALFORD, EXPLOSIVE EXPERT: It certainly would.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): He is showing me bomb making technology security experts say al Qaeda plans to use and the current security screening would have trouble detecting.
ALFORD: A bomb of this size as I showed you containing explosives in that quantity going off with approximately that violence would certainly do a great deal of harm to the fuselage.
ROBERTSON (on camera): This is where the t-shirt bomb was sitting on the still plate, thick still plate, imagine if that was the skin of an aircraft. Then aluminum, it would have blown a hole right through it.
(voice-over): For years al Qaeda's top bomb maker Ibrahim al-Asiri has been aspiring to this, blow up a plane. He has made several sophisticated devices including the under pants bomb targeting a plane landing in Detroit Christmas Day 2009. American sources fear a clothing bomb is al Qaeda's next logical evolution.
ALFORD: Yes. I would not be at all surprised if someone was posting -- to the United States and from Europe wearing something like what I was preparing.
ROBERTSON: Alford shows us a little of how it might be done leaving out some key details.
(on camera): How easy is it for an al Qaeda bomb maker to do what you are doing here in your lab?
ALFORD: Well, if he has done a bit of chemistry it shall be very easy.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Within an hour we test the impregnated t- shirt material.
(on camera): And that is or could be a t-shirt somebody wore on a plane?
ALFORD: Yes, indeed. ROBERTSON (voice-over): Not just explosive but a fire hazard, too.
(on camera): So somebody wearing a t-shirt on a plane hard to put out.
ALFORD: You would not be able to get to him in time to put it out.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Back in the query another test.
ALFORD: Just going to check something.
Four, three, two, one!
ROBERTSON: Shrapnel rips rock from the walls. We take a look.
(on camera): It's impacted here, doesn't it?
ALFORD: It was here.
ROBERTSON: It's here.
(voice-over): Alford as ever understated.
ALFORD: It is not a nice thing to happen to an airplane.
Nice Robertson, CNN Aquari (ph) in the English Countryside.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Well, is the war against ISIS helping one of the Middle East's most vicious dictators? Syria's president may be watching these air strike with other happiness. Is there a way to fight ISIS that doesn't help Syrian's President Bashar al Assad? That's next.
But first, according to the USDA it takes almost a quarter of a million dollars to raise a child and that's just for the basics. It can overwhelm these finances. But this week's CNN hero Bridget Cutler is taking away some of that burden.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIDGET CUTLER, CNN HERO: I love being a mom. It's the most rewarding thing I've ever experienced. On the flipside, the financial burden of having a child is just tremendous. So many people have such an abundance and so many others strive to afford even the basics.
All right, who wants to water?
I remember reading an article and it was about a mother who decided to give her child up for adoption because she couldn't stand to hear her crying from hunger.
Here's Decklan's (ph) baby book.
I just thought that no mother should ever be faced with that choice. And that's when I decided I need to do something. I started to collect excess baby gear and that was when Moms Helping
Moms was born.
Boys clothes are up to the right. Girls clothes are to the left.
We have drives at our storage space. We like to call them shopping days, because they are essentially shopping. They're just not paying anything for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is really cool.
CUTLER: They're awesome.
I have been out of work for about ten months. Clothes, diapers and wipes, they are a constant expense.
Just take one more.
It was hard to afford the things I needed for my kids without an income.
Thank God.
The things that I got today will allow me to put that money towards my rent or my bills.
Every child deserves a fair start. And if what we are doing helps bridge the gap between people from different back grounds even in a small way then it is definitely worth all the hard work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: The fight against the rampaging group ISIS is more than 50- countries strong. In just the past day, Denmark joined. So did Belgium. The United Kingdom is in. These two war planes did not drop bombs in Iraq. But they were armed. They flew recon missions looking for targets. The defense ministry says they are ready to strike. And now they are authorized to do so by the British parliament. The French air force is making bombing runs. And U.S. war planes are taking off and landing around the clock onboard a U.S. aircraft carrier stationed in the Persian Gulf. Between yesterday and today, the U.S.-led coalition launched 10 separate air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq. Western leaders say that while the most dramatic advances by ISIS have been stopped, it could be years before the militant group is degraded to the point that it is no longer a threat and perhaps no longer relevant.
The White House did not ask Syria's permission to hit ISIS. Damascus, Syria, didn't give it. It doesn't mean Syrian President Bashar al Assad wasn't thrilled to see the bombs falling on those militants. His forces have been fighting extremists for years without a lot of success. That has made a lot of his supporters upset. So is the U.S. doing President Assad a favor by destroying one of his biggest enemies? Retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona is a CNN military analyst;
and also joining us, Michael Weiss, a columnist for "Foreign Policy" magazine.
Michael, when you look at the spin that both sides are putting on this, the Syrian government is saying, hey, the U.S. and their partners are now fighting side by side with our generals. Are they helping Assad?
MICHAEL WEISS, COLUMNIST, FOREIGN POLICY MAGAZINE: My fear is that we are objectively helping him. We have said quite starkly we are not coordinating with him and didn't ask his permission, and nor did he give it. In the last week or so, officials have come out, including the Syrian ambassadors to the United Nations, saying we thought Obama's speech was great and, yes, this is -- we are effectively now a partner in counterterrorism with the United States.
The other problem is we are coordinating with the Iraq government, which is almost entirely controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Assad's number-one ally in the region.
(CROSSTALK)
WEISS: So I mean, the day the bombs started falling in Syria, Iraq's national security adviser met with Assad in Damascus and there was some coordination directly and some chatter about what was going on. And Assad said, we will help with all international counterterrorism measures. So, yes, I think there is kind of a de facto alliance.
FEYERICK: Good point.
So, Colonel, here is the issue. You have a multi-sided civil war. You have ISIS, the secular rebels, the extremist Islamic rebels, and the Free Syrian Army. There are so many people who are fighting this. Are the insurgents pretty upset right now that the U.S., whether they admit it or not, are essentially helping Assad wipe out one of his greatest enemies?
LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It depends on which group, because if you are the Free Syrian Army, you don't have a problem with us taking on ISIS because you are fighting a group that they have been fighting. If you are the Islamic front, you probably don't have a problem with it. So nobody likes ISIS. ISIS is kind of this one group everybody would like to get rid of for different reasons, because it allows them a better playing field, than they hope to swoop in and fill that power vacuum for themselves. I don't think anybody is going to lament the demise of ISIS.
FEYERICK: What is interesting also, and we were speaking about this earlier, that is, that Assad may be playing a very strategic and very political game here, knowing that by allowing ISIS to fill that vacuum that was created, that now you have a coalition that is essentially going to help him. Are we suggesting that perhaps he knew exactly what was going to happen, that this was incredibly strategic? What do you think Lieutenant Colonel? FRANCONA: It was interesting. For months, before this even came about, we noticed that ISIS was not being hit very much by the Syrian air force or ground forces. They were concentrating efforts on other groups. It was almost like he was giving ISIS a free rein because he knew ISIS was keeping the other ones in check. Assad -- and Michael and I were talking earlier. I think we were surprised at how strategic and how smart Assad has become. We knew his father had this kind of intelligence but we were very surprised he has developed into the kind of Machiavellian leader that he has.
FEYERICK: Michael, do you see it that way, as well? He was able to organize this strategically.
WEISS: We have questions. You remember, from day one, when peaceful protests started erupting in Syria, they were categorized as terrorists, this was am extremist plot hatch by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and, indeed, the United States. The idea was to essentially play the role of an arsonist and then come to everyone's rescue in the role of a firefighter. That is the sort of strategy. Remember, the Syrian intelligence services and military are trained by the Soviets, who specialized in this kind of thing. What we understand about Jihadism and the nature of terrorism in the Middle East, it is incredibly murky. To give you just one example, the Khorasan group --
FEYERICK: Right. The al Qaeda Khorasan.
WEISS: The commander of the Khorasan group was in Iran until a year ago. The Iranians say they had him under house arrest, which begs the question, why did you let him go? And how did he wind up in Syria? Again, Iran is Assad's number-one ally. There is -- without doubt in my mind, Damascus has been playing the double game. Indeed, look at how ISIS makes its money. It is selling Assad's oil back to Assad.
FEYERICK: It's remarkable. The whole thing is remarkable. You feel like you are just looking at the tip of the iceberg, that everything else going on is so deep under the ocean that we can't even really get our heads around it.
Michael Weiss, Colonel Rick Francona, thank you so much. We appreciate it.
WEISS: Thank you.
FEYERICK: And we look at now the Oklahoma man who is accused of beheading a co-worker. He had a major run-in with police years ago. You will hear from a police lieutenant who says she wishes she would have killed him. Will he face terrorism charges? Plus, new details on the attempted suicide in Chicago that ground
flights to a halt. The suspect was set to be transferred thousands of miles away from his home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Not a good day if you were flying through Chicago. Nearly 800 flights cancelled after a bizarre incident at O'Hare Airport. Firefighters reportedly found 36-year-old Brian Howard slicing his own throat with a knife. FBI says Howard left a Facebook message to a relative saying he was about to take out an FAA facility.
Aviation analyst, Mary Schiavo, joins me. Law Enforcement analyst, Tom Fuentes, also joins me.
Mary, how do you rate Chicago authority's response to this incident that one of their own would be trying to kill himself and threatening aviation?
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: The response was good in terms of trying to transfer traffic to other centers. There are 21 of them. It is not responding quickly enough. Making the transfer to keep the traffic going has been very slow and still only 30 percent to 40 percent backed up. That part isn't good. Getting the person out of the facility and containing it was, of course, good.
FEYERICK: Do you think, Mary, that these individuals should be screened more thoroughly, especially with the stress, with the life changes? Is there routine screening or regular screening?
SCHIAVO: This is the murky world. Is the person really an FAA employee or a contract employee? In this case, they were contract employees. A large percentage of the FAA workforce is compromised of contract employees. They don't have the same kind of screening. Basically, the FAA looks to the private contractor to do the screening. They look to the contractor for the supervision.
FEYERICK: Tom, according to the FBI affidavit, the suspect faced transfer to Hawaii. Do you think the suspect's bosses failed to perhaps analyze or recognize potential trouble?
TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I think they may have recognized it but that doesn't mean they thought it would take this form of such a dramatic action of trying to kill himself and sabotaging the facility. So people get transferred and fired, hired, moved, demoted all the time. And they may be disgruntled and unhappy, and all of that, but it doesn't mean they will take such a violent act in response to it.
FEYERICK: What do you think it says though -- this is somebody who wanted to harm himself, not others around him. Clearly, you don't know intent when the whole thing begins. But what does it say to you as an investigator that it was himself that he wanted to harm?
FUENTES: He had other aspects of wanting to become famous, wanting to do it such a grandiose way that would bring great attention to himself. He could have cut his own throat at home and nobody would have known. But he shuts down aviation for a day, especially in Chicago, and he's brought all of this attention on himself. T
The other question I have is, it is not that hard to cut your own throat. How did he fail at doing that? I understand he set the fire and sabotaged equipment and shut down aviation. Cutting his own throat was too big of an act for him to handle?
FEYERICK: Mary, what do airport authorities learn from this particular incident going forward? SCHIAVO: They have to learn to see the alarm bells. People did
report him coming to work in a basement facility. He was not an employee scheduled to travel with a roller board. That should have set off flags. For most FAA facilities, they are secure facilities and you need to be badgered to get in. People did notice something was amiss. On the transfers, by the way, if you are an FAA employee, you can be transferred for a demotion. They need to look into the transfer basis of this, as well. Clearly, people saw him coming to work and it looked odd.
FEYERICK: Well, people may have been inconvenienced but at least travelers, nobody was hurt.
Mary Schiavo, Tom Fuentes, thank you so much for your time this afternoon.
FUENTES: You're welcome, Deb.
SCHIAVO: Thank you.
FEYERICK: The Oklahoma man accused of beheading a co-worker is finally coming out of sedation. He is awake and talking. You will hear from an Oklahoma Highway Patrol lieutenant who dealt with this very man five years ago. She says she wishes she would have acted differently back then. Her emotional story coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: We have been following a tragic story out of Oklahoma today of a man accused of beheading one of his co-workers and severely injuring another. We are learning more about suspect, Alton Nolan, including his multiple past run-ins with police.
Lieutenant Betsy Randolph, of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, was witness to one of the run-ins four years ago. She says she wishes she would have killed him at the time. She joins me live.
Lieutenant Randolph, powerful words. What do you mean by that?
LT. BETSY RANDOLPH, OKLAHOMA HIGHWAY PATROL: Well, I was just so heartbroken when I heard yesterday and found out that the person that was alleged to have done this terrible acts and more was the same person I tangled with four years ago. I had a lot of trooper buddies that asked me, why didn't you kill this guy? At the time, I just never felt like I was -- I wasn't afraid of him. I felt like I was in control of the traffic stop. Obviously, I wasn't. I was a lot more confident in my skills than I should have been. And I just felt terrible. I feel guilt. And I don't know that that's something I'll ever be able to overcome. But I do feel guilty. And I don't know. That's all I can say. I just feel guilty about that.
FEYERICK: Lieutenant, there is no way you could have known what this man was capable of. He did come after you. You said you sort of wrestled. He broke one of your fingers. You would have been within your rights to pull the trigger, but you did not. Why didn't you? RANDOLPH: Well, you know, I stopped him for a paper tag. It looked
like he had a fake paper tag. He had a woman and a baby with him. So, you know, I thought I was dealing with a sweet little family. Began to visit with this young man, got him in my car, ran his information. He had a couple felony warrants. And, again, I had just come back to work. I had been off for almost the entire year of 2009 after fighting with somebody and had my wrist reconstructed and my elbow worked on. So I don't like to fight with people. I don't even really like to touch them. You know, so I was hoping that I would be able to just talk this guy into doing the right thing. And that just wasn't the case.
FEYERICK: When you think about that, look, officers make split-second decisions every time they come into contact with an individual. Was there -- in retrospect, when you look back at the conversations you had with him and his demeanor, do you now think of any sort of physical change or mental change he began to undergo as you were questioning him that caused him to snap like this?
RANDOLPH: Well, I will say this. At one point, I walked around the patrol car, and he knew he was going to go to jail. And as I walked around the back of the patrol car, I took my handcuffs out and loaded them in my hand. And I wish now that I had taken my pistol out, because he was a felon, and he was going to go to jail and he knew that. But I had the handcuffs and as he opened that door and I snapped that bracelet on that wrist, he looked me in the eyes and when I told him, give me your other hand, and he wouldn't, he began to bargain, trying to get out of going to jail. For a brief moment, we looked at each other in the eyes. And it was almost as if I knew that we were fixing to tangle. But I had hemmed him up in the door right there. And I was committed to hoping to ride this thing out and end it with him just giving me his other hand and him complying. But, again, if I had -- if there had been any way to know the things that he is alleged to have done a couple of days ago, I would have killed him when I had the opportunity.
FEYERICK: Interesting. Does it change the way you now police in the future when it does come to stopping people? Hindsight is 20/20.
RANDOLPH: Well, as many times as I've tangled with folks, yeah, it does. You know, every time you -- and I made some mistakes on that traffic stop. I'll be the first to tell you. I think that when you -- when you do this line of work -- and you're right, we have the ability to take a person's liberty or their life. And we have to make those split-second decisions. Obviously, after he broke my finger, after he ran away with one of my bracelets attached to him, he kept looking over his shoulder, because he knew that I wanted to shoot him. But obviously, I couldn't shoot him in the back. But those are the kind of things -- I don't know that I'll ever be able to come to reason with the things that he's done. There is no explaining. There is no accepting what he did.
FEYERICK: If he were standing in front of you right now, very quickly, what would you tell him?
RANDOLPH: I would just tell him how -- I would ask him, how could you have done that? How could you do something like that? I told him the morning that I took him to jail -- you know, we had that 12-hour manhunt and we took him to jail the next morning. And I told him, you could have very easily been killed last night.
(CROSSTALK)
FEYERICK: So could his family.
RANDOLPH: Right.
FEYERICK: Thank you so much.
We'll be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Ladies, I hate to do it, but some terrible, disappointing news for all of you who were holding out hope that perhaps George Clooney would stay a bachelor forever. He's off the market. There he is on his way to make an honest woman out of Amal Alamuddin. He did it the only way George Clooney does anything. He did it in big-time movie-star style.
Here is CNN's Erin McLaughlin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hollywood couldn't have scripted or cast this wedding any better. George Clooney and his now-wife, Amal Alamuddin, were married, according to his publicist, in a private ceremony right here along Venice's Grand Canal. They were married in a lavish hotel. And the guest list was star-studded, including Bono and Emily Blunt and Matt Damon, Cindy Crawford, among others. The paparazzi were swarming all over the place in speed boats, hoping to catch a glimpse of the happy couple.
This was a series of really elaborate events that began on Friday. George Clooney arrived with Amal, fittingly, aboard a boat called "Amore." They were whisked away to one of his favorite hotels where the celebration began in earnest. And then last night, there was a "His and Hers" bachelor and bachelorette parties. George Clooney celebrated at one of his favorite restaurants. And then tonight, the private ceremony in which they officially became man and wife. And people here really celebrating. Couldn't be happier for the couple.
Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Venice, Italy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And, of course, we wish them incredible luck and incredible love.
We end this hour with a birth announcement. Chelsea Clinton became a new mom late last night, delivering a baby girl. She tweeted, quote, "Mark and I are full of love on gratitude as we celebrate the birth of our daughter, Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky." Grandpa Bill Clinton said Chelsea is well and glowing. Mark is bursting with pride.
That's it for us. I'm Deborah Feyerick, in New York.
"SMERCONISH" starts now.
