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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Shooting at Florida State University; Obama to Announce Immigration Overhaul; Snowstorm Cripples Buffalo; Jets & Bills Snowed Out Sunday?

Aired November 20, 2014 - 05:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Our breaking news this morning, a gunman opening fire in the Florida State University's library. Three people wounded. What we are learning this morning, very the latest.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman is off this morning. It is Thursday, November 20th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

We're following breaking news for you. Gunshots ringing out inside Florida State University's main library. A witness says she heard two shots, and more, as students rushed out of the building crying just after midnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXANDRA LAUREN, WITNESS: When we were on the first floor, we heard two shots. While we were being moved up the stairwells, we were on the third floor, heard from outside, about five or six rifle shots go off, rapid fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The unidentified gunman was shot and killed by campus police after refusing to drop his weapon and after firing on those officers. Three patients with gunshot wounds are being treated at a local hospital. We do not know their conditions just yet.

Joining us on the phone right now is Perry Kostidakis. He is the sports editor of the Florida State University newspaper, "The FSU".

Perry, bring us up to speed. You have been covering this story, this breaking news story on campus. We know the gunman is dead. What are authorities telling you about the condition of the three wounded victims?

PERRY KOSTIDAKIS, FSU (via telephone): We know for sure that one of the victims is in critical condition. We heard another is stable and as for the third, we have not heard too much. We have not been given an update. We confirmed from the hospital two were admitted. There is speculation as to the severity of the third's condition, but nothing confirmed. And that's about it.

Let's talk about what would have been the scene in that library, the main library on campus. Wednesday night into Thursday morning, 12:30 a.m. It's finals. Everyone is preparing for or taking finals.

What would have been the scene inside there? A crowded library you expect?

KOSTIDAKIS: Definitely a crowded library. The first and second floors specifically are more social floors where there is a bit more talking encouraged. There's more study groups in that area. Especially on a Wednesday night around that time, hundreds of students could have been in the area.

ROMANS: What do we know about the location inside the library where this took place? Are police -- are witnesses telling you where this was? Was it on the first floor, the second floor? What exactly happened?

KOSTIDAKIS: We haven't heard specifically which floor or confirmed that as well. We do know that the gunman was on a floor. He took some shots. Police were on the scene instantly. They told him to drop his weapon. He did not comply. That's why he was shot himself. After that, police got on the intercom and begin announcing to the students in the area that there was a gunman in the area and lock the doors and be prepared.

ROMANS: There was an emergency alert that went out almost immediately. I know authorities said they have a system in place where they can immediately press a button and all of the students are warned to take shelter. This happened at 12:30 in the morning and by now, it's 5:00 a.m. in the East. It seems as though the dangerous situation is over.

What do you make of the police and FSU response to all of this?

KOSTIDAKIS: I think especially given some of the criticism that TPD and FSUPD have I the past, they reacted very well. We got alerts sent to our phones and e-mail alerts instantly. They made us to containment situation before. It could have been a lot worse based on how many people were there, and somebody can move around the library. I definitely think, students don't feel safe necessarily because it did happen, but by how it was handled.

ROMANS: So, we know that there's going to be a press conference in the next hour. So, we're going to learn more. At this point, no one is saying whether this gunman is a student, correct?

KOSTIDAKIS: Yes. We have not confirmed anything like that.

ROMANS: All right. Perry Kostidakis in Tallahassee, Florida, the sports editor of the "FSU" there. Thank you for that reporting and that insight. And we'll check in with hopefully again later on this morning as we get more information about just what happened there.

The dangerous situation has now ended. But you have three people in hospital and dead gunman. So, we'll continue to following that breaking story at Florida State.

Meantime, an explosive battle over immigration is about to erupt on Capitol Hill. President Obama preparing to reveal his plan for overhauling the immigration system. He's going to do that in primetime tonight. He is expected to rewrite the rules for deportation. He is expected to rewrite the rules for deportation. This will affect more than 3 millions undocumented immigrants. He's going to do it all without Congress.

Here is the president explaining what he is doing and why he is doing it in his post on his Facebook page.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So what I'm going to be laying out is the things that I can do with my lawful authority as president to make the system work better, even as I continue to work with Congress and encourage them to get a bipartisan comprehensive bill that can solve the entire problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Now, the president's decision to bypass Congress by executive authority has Republicans in an uproar.

Let's get more on the plan and the reaction. Our White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski has that for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.

Right now, we know tonight, the president will take this momentous executive action on immigration. It could affect at least 3 million people, possibly up to 5 million.

What this would do, it is not a path to citizenship. It would be temporary and renewable. It will give people two things, the right to stay in America without being deported and the right to work here.

According to sources, it would likely affect the parents of children who are already American citizens or have a legal basis to stay here, provided that those parents have been in America for a period of years. We don't know exactly what the parameters are.

It is also likely this would expand the same kind of allowances that were granted by President Obama in 2012 to people who were brought to America illegally as children, also known as DREAMers. But the sources say this would likely not extend to the parents of those DREAMers.

So, that has led to groups that President Obama's action is not going far enough, and then, on the other hand, you have fiercely angry Republicans who have called President Obama "Emperor Obama" and then threatened everything, from lawsuits, to defunding parts of the budget that would allow this executive action to work, even impeachment. The White House, though, says it is confident that this executive action has a strong legal foundation and that it will be fully implemented -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Michelle Kosinski, thanks for that.

Now, the White House has released this photo of the president working on his speech for tonight. The president addresses the nation at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. You could see it live right here on CNN.

Now to Buffalo where they are buried beneath six feet of snow, and there's more on the way today, folks. This epic lake-effect storm has killed already seven people. Another two feet of snow could be on the ground by tomorrow.

The Governor Andrew Cuomo declaring a state of emergency for a region that is simply overwhelmed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: We are bringing in hundreds of pieces of equipment from all throughout the state. We've asked neighboring states for equipment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Just look at the scene in the buffalo suburbs. Emergency crews cannot get through the mountains of snow to reach the abandoned cars. For those who managed to get out of their homes, there is a lot of shoveling to do. They are not going anywhere anytime soon because plows are nowhere in sight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BRYON BROWN, BUFFALO, NY (via telephone): At this point, there is so much snow, it is hard to plow. So, we're not plowing it. We are actually hauling it out, lifting it with high lifts, putting it in payloaders and actually removing it from South Buffalo. At this point, probably over 300 truckloads of snow have been removed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: There is so much snow on the ground, the sheer weight of it is buckling homes.

Listen to this woman describe what happened in her house at the height of the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISSY HAZARD, TRAPPED INSIDE HOME: It was absolutely a pressure from the snow. Some of it also came down from the roof and when it did, it blew the doors right across my living room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Blew the doors right in. So much snow.

I want to go live to Buffalo this morning. I want to bring in our meteorologist Jennifer Gray.

When you look at the snowfall totals, it is almost like a misprint. I can't believe how much snow is there and more coming.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You are exactly right. They are seeing totals they get for the entire year. You are seeing it in a 24-to-48 hour period. You are exactly right.

People from here are saying we have never seen anything like this. People lived here their entire lives through the blizzard of '77. When we drove in about an hour and a half ago, you could see absolutely nothing. Visibility was zero. That's what these lake- effect showers can do.

Right now, the snow has let up just a little bit, but it is still very cold and very windy. So we're going to get a lot of blowing snow as well.

Look at these dump trucks. You remember him talking about how they are putting it -- bulldozers. Putting it in the dump trucks. This is a staging area. The guys are slowly trickling in. They will get in the bulldozers and start to take the snow and haul it off again for today.

But look at this. This parking lot has been plowed several times. There is still about 6 inches of snow on the ground. This is the difference in something that has been plowed and something that hasn't been plowed. This is what most people's yards look like, snow as tall as I am.

And look over here at these cars, completely buried under the snow. You see this all over south of Buffalo, which is cars completely under the snow, most likely going to be this weekend before they get these cars out.

This entire parking lot, I would say, has about 50 cars in it. They all look like that. Just completely buried under the snow, Christine. It has been unreal.

We have the lake-effect snow warning in effect all the way through the wee hours of tomorrow. We're expecting snow to keep up here south of Buffalo and points south of where we are. It could pick up an additional 2 to 3 feet of snow. If that happens, we will be breaking records left and right.

It will definitely be one to remember. It already is. Unfortunately, proven deadly. That's going to be the fear for us today. We have the snow adding weight and it could possibly buckle inside people's homes. So, that's the fear moving forward, Christine.

ROMANS: Yes, and two other warnings here. You know, people who get in their cars covered with snow. They turn on the cars and the exhaust pipe is clogged and they could have carbon monoxide poisoning. People who are out there, who are trying to shovel snow and they're at rest of cardiac death.

So, two little warnings there, just to be careful. Sit it out, folks. And be careful and smart about what you're doing with all that snow.

Jennifer, thank you so much for that.

I want to get to meteorologist Indra Petersons. She's tracking the storm. She's going to bring us the latest on that front.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Nothing better than a visual. We have seen Jen standing in it several inches per hour falling on her head.

And then, there's visuals like this. There were times just a few days ago, you could look across Lake Erie from Buffalo and seeing a line of lake effect snow continue to dump inches if not feet of snow, just south of the region, just a few miles away.

This is what's been on everyone's minds. Why? What is going on? Remember, you need that across the entire lake. It has to do with the wind direction.

Now, yesterday, we saw that lake-effect snow line move farther to the north as the winds started to die down. Then, you had a breather and you have light snow make its way through. And now, that next line is making its way through again, another round of cold air, another round of lake-effect snow expected to dump another two feet of snow.

So, again, all of this has to do with the fact the lakes are not frozen yet. That's the key. The warm water of the lakes.

That is definitely warmer than the cold air above. You get instability. Cold air wants to sink. Warm air wants to rise, that causes instability. They want to flip.

And then you have the winds going all across the lakes, dumping all that snow at the end of the lakes. So, it has to do with the wind direction. We keep talking about this. You need that fetch over the entire lake.

So, the longer distance you have, the more distance you're going to get. If the wind direction goes over a shorter fetch, you're not going to be seeing as much.

This is the key when I show you this. Look at the totals. The difference here based on where you are location in the wind, 67 inches in some places. A few miles away, only several inches. This is going to be the story today, as we go again today, another two feet, record setting snow headed in Jen's direction.

ROMANS: Two feet of snow -- Indra Petersons, thank you so much for that. There is a ray of sunshine amid all that Buffalo snow. Take a look at

her. A 6-pound 2-ounce miracle named Lucy Hojnacki. Lucy's mom Bethany went into labor Tuesday morning just as the storm hit her Buffalo neighborhood.

Bethany's husband knew they were in a jam. His wife in labor, all this snow. So, when he spotted a firefighter helping a stranded motorist outside his home. He knew what he had to do.

Listen to Jared Hojnacki tell Anderson Cooper what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED HOJNACKI: He was helping a woman. So, we came together, to the woman together, and she overheard my conversation with the lieutenant which was that my wife was in labor, and said, you know, I'm a nurse, but I'm labor and delivery nurse. And the lieutenant said, you know, you're coming with us.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Wait, the stranded driver who the lieutenant was helping out when you got there, that stranded driver was a labor and delivery nurse?

HOJNACKI: Yes.

COOPER: That's amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That is amazing.

And that stranded nurse stayed with Bethany for hours until firefighters were able to evacuate her. You know, they couldn't get to a hospital because stranded cars blocked the way. They brought her to the firehouse where Lucy Grace Hojnacki came into the world at 9:31 p.m. on Tuesday night.

Best of luck. What a great story. What a great story for that little girl.

All right. Fourteen minutes past the hour. We are following breaking news this morning. A college campus on lockdown after a gunman reportedly opens fire inside a library. We've got details still coming in here. We're going to bring them all to you as we learn more.

And new fallout for Bill Cosby. NBC pulling the plug on his new sitcom amidst new allegations of rape. The very latest, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Breaking overnight: gunfire overnight on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee. The school put out an alert for a dangerous situation after midnight when shots rang out in the school's library. At least three people are being treated for gunshot wounds. Authorities confirming the unidentified gunman was shot and killed by campus police after refusing to put down his weapon.

Stay with CNN all morning for the latest developments from Florida State.

More fallout this morning from rape allegations against comedian Bill Cosby. NBC has killed an upcoming project with Cosby and TV Land has pulled reruns of "The Cosby Show." A stunning fall for the once beloved comedian who has faced allegations of sexual assault for decades now. On Tuesday, Netflix also shelved an upcoming comedy special with Cosby.

The 77-year-old entertainer continues to deny rape charges through his attorney.

When accuser says even if Cosby did apologize, it's too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOAN KARSHISH, COSBY ACCUSER: Well, I never heard any remorse in the times after each episode that we had together, each incident. And when he called after them, I heard no remorse in his voice. So, I think it would be disingenuous for him to, all of a sudden, apologize or say, I'm sorry, I was wrong. I don't think the man has it in his nature.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Cosby is scheduled to go ahead with a performance Friday night at a sold out show in Florida.

Another security scare at the White House. Officials say the Secret Service arrested an Iowa man who had an unregistered rifle and ammunition in his car. They say he approached officers on foot, at a White House gate and said, someone had told him to go there.

Agents searched his car. About a block away, they found the rifle and ammunition. He is being held for illegal weapon possessions. Other charges are also expected.

A big weekend of NFL football on tap, including an in-state battle with the Jets and the Bills. But with 220,000 tons of snow on the field in Buffalo, will they be able to play a game? Andy Scholes has the "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. All that snow, the record snow storm pummeling the northeast could cause problems for the NFL. The Buffalo Bills are scheduled to host the Jets on Sunday.

Andy Scholes has more on this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, Christine. Yes, four feet of snow has been dumped on Ralph Wilson Stadium. And they could get another three feet. That's going to make cleaning up the stadium in time for Sunday's game a difficult task. Now, the bills estimate 220,000 tons of snow needs to be removed before the game. That's a lot of snow.

So, the bills are asking for help. They are offering fans $10 an hour and free game tickets if they can come help shovel the snow. According to reports, if they cannot get the stadium ready in time, it could be postponed until Monday or Tuesday. So, we get Tuesday night football next week.

All right. The world champion San Antonio Spurs traveling to Cleveland to take on LeBron and the Cavs last night. Tony Parker to Tim Duncan, to a cutting man, Ginobili. That gives San Antonio a three-point lead. LeBron had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds, but turns it over. Spurs win 92-90. The Cavaliers are 5-5 to start the season.

Also, this next highlight maybe one of the most epic fails that we see in the NBA for a very long time Bucks, Brandon Knight gets to steal a clear path, but he misses the layup that would have won the game. The reaction from his teammates priceless.

Christine, lucky for Knight, the Bucks ending up winning the game in triple overtime.

ROMANS: Good for him.

SCHOLES: Or else he would have never lived that down.

ROMANS: Oh, the headline. Wow. That sometimes you can do it a million times. The one time you do it wrong, is the one that really matters.

All right. Thanks, Andy Scholes.

SCHOLES: All right.

ROMANS: All right. Breaking news overnight: a gunman opening fire inside a Florida State University library. We've got new information that we will bring to you, next.