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John McCain Expected to Travel to Texas to Accept Endorsement of George H.W. Bush; Gunfire at Northern Illinois University; Satellite Heading to Earth with Potentially Deadly Load of Fuel
Aired February 15, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
Yes, good morning on this Friday. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Heidi Collins.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is Friday, February 15th, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM and here is what is on the rundown.
Who opened fire at Northern Illinois University and, the big question, why? We fill in the blanks with our correspondent, eyewitnesses and live briefings.
HARRIS: Six people dead at NIU, each has a family and a story. We will take a look.
NGUYEN: Plus, the House gets out of town with a key intelligence law about to expire. What does it mean for you and the war on terror? Well, our guests will tell us right here in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: We are standing by, just moments away from a statement by President Bush after meeting with GOP leaders this morning about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. We understand the president will also make some comments about the shooting at Northern Illinois University. Let's listen to the president.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ...Northern Illinois University. I've told the president that a lot of folks today will be praying for the families of the victims and for the Northern Illinois University community. Obviously, a tragic situation on that campus, and I asked our fellow citizens to offer their blessings, blessings of comfort and blessings of strength.
We also discussed a serious problem facing our country and that is, the fact that House leaders blocked a good piece of legislation that would give our intelligence community the tools they need to protect America from a terrorist attack.
American citizens must understand -- clearly understand, that there's still a threat on the homeland. There's still an enemy, which would like to do us harm and that we've got to give our professionals the tools they need to be able to figure out what the enemy is up to so that we can stop it.
The Senate passed a good bipartisan bill that makes sure intelligence community has the tools necessary to protect America from this real threat, and I want to thank you all, and thank you, Democrats in the United States Senate who worked closely with Mitch and John to get a strong piece of legislation with a 68-vote majority out of the Senate.
This bill comes to the House of Representatives, and it was blocked, and by blocking this piece of legislation, our country is more endangered of an attack. By not giving the professionals the tools they need, it's going to be a lot harder to do the job we need to build a safer America, people saying, oh, it doesn't matter if this law isn't -- been renewed. It does matter. It matters for a variety of reasons.
It matters because the intelligence officials won't have tools necessary to get as much information as we possibly can to protect you. And it matters because these telephone companies, that work collaboratively with us to protect the American people, are afraid they're going to get sued.
And the American people don't understand, these lawsuits make it harder for us to convince people to help protect you. And so by blocking this good piece of legislation, you know, our professionals tell me that they don't have all the tools they need to do their job. And so now the House and Senate are off on a 12-day recess without getting the people's business done.
When they come back from that 12-day recess, the House leaders must understand that the decision they make to block good legislation has made it harder for us to protect you, the American people, and we expect them to get a good bill to my desk, which is the Senate bill, as soon as possible.
Thank you.
HARRIS: The president making several comments there, obviously, about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. We will dissect that a little bit later, but the president also asking more pertinent at this hour, at the top of this news cast, the president asking that the country pray for the families of the victims of the shooting rampage, really, at Northern Illinois University. It is our top story. A killer's rampage on an American campus. The death toll grows at Northern Illinois University.
Here are the latest developments at this hour. The gunman shot 21 people. Six of them have died. The gunman is also dead after shooting himself. He has not yet been identified, but NIU says he was a former graduate student.
We're expecting more details this morning. One of the major questions, why? The school has scheduled a new conference next hour. The hospital will follow at noon Eastern. We will carry both live.
CNN crews have fanned out to bring you all the angles of this developing story. Don Lemon is on the NIU campus, Ed Lavandera is at the hospital where victims were taken, and Brianna Keilar is on the campus of Virginia Tech. She will look at the tragic lessons learned from that school's shooting spree just 10 months ago.
NGUYEN: But first, to the scene of the crime, Northern Illinois University, and CNN's Don Lemon was dispatched there yesterday, just after we learned of the shootings. He joins us from the campus.
Don, what more are we hearing about the person who did this? Have you been able to find any answers?
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know who he is and they know his name, Betty, but they're not releasing it until they do some further testing of his body, making sure that everyone in this case is notified. Again, as you said, he is a 27-year-old former student, by all accounts, a good student, at one point got the dean's award for his work in sociology, which adds to the mystery about why he would do something like this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice over): The carnage started just after 3:00. About 100 students were in a lecture hall for a geology class when witnesses say a man dressed in black came out from behind the curtain onstage and opened fire with a shotgun.
ZACH SEWARD, STUDENT: I turned and I ran for the door. On my way out I heard a couple more shots go off. I wasn't sure if one of them was going to hit me in the back.
LEMON: Witnesses say the shooting was rapid fire and indiscriminate. Some say as many as 30 rounds. The chaos quickly spread outside, where students panicked and ran for cover.
ROSIE MORONI, STUDENT: As soon as I heard people screaming and running, they came out running, called 911, he has a gun and I just took off.
LEMON: Minutes after the shooting started at 3:03, police were already on the scene and inside the lecture hall. At 3:07, a campus lockdown was declared and alerts were sent out through e-mail, voice- mail and the local media. At 3:20, a more specific alert goes out warning that a gunman is on campus. Students and staff are told to stay put. Forty minutes later, at 4:00, the gunman is reported to be dead. Authorities say he killed himself soon after the shooting began.
CHIEF DONALD GRADY, NIU POLICE: We anticipate that this thing started and ended within a matter of seconds.
LEMON: And at 4:14, an hour and 15 minutes after the first shot, campus police declared the scene secure and the threat over.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And we're told by campus officials that thousands of people go in and out of this auditorium every day. This Cole auditorium, in and out of that area, about 100 students in the classroom at the time. They see, they're in their normal class, someone walk through a door with a shotgun and two other weapons, a Glock and another smaller caliber handgun, and then the chaos ensued.
One of those students inside of the classroom is joining me now. His name is George Gaynor, and George, you were in the back. Step over just a little bit closer to me. You were in the back of the classroom at the time. You got direct look right at this gunman?
GEORGE GAYNOR, NIU STUDENT: That's correct.
LEMON: Tell me, tell me what happened. What did you see? Did you look into his eyes?
GAYNOR: I couldn't see his eyes from where I was sitting. But when I looked up, and I saw him enter the room, he just walked in. No expression on this face, but it seemed like he had intentions to what he was going to do, and I didn't know what to think when it happened.
LEMON: I've spoken to some folks about the sound. They said they could hear him, when he cocked that rifle, the clicking of that, and then the boom of the explosions from shooting off that rifle. What did you hear when that all happened?
GAYNOR: It's -- as soon as I saw that, heard -- saw the gun fire and heard that boom, I was just in shock at what was going on and I feared for my life.
LEMON: Some people didn't think it was real in the beginning. They thought it was stamped. But you -- did you think that? Or you thought it was very real? You knew right away?
GAYNOR: When he first walked in, I didn't understand what was going on. I didn't understand if this was real or what was happening until the gun actually went off. And everyone just started screaming.
LEMON: Yes. Did you see anyone get shot or did you run?
GAYNOR: After that shot was fired I didn't turn to look to see if anyone was hurt. I just got out of there as fast as I could to protect my own life.
LEMON: Yes. What were guys saying to the other students? Have you spoken to other students there? Did you guys just kind of scatter or...
GAYNOR: There's a lot of scattering and the people I was running down the sidewalk with came away from the hall. We were just asking ourselves, is this for real? Did this really just happen? And we're just all trying to piece this together, and everyone was calling 911, hoping, trying to get hold of the police. And we thank them for their prompt response to this.
LEMON: Several of the students I've spoken to today, this morning say they didn't get any sleep all night. They're living on coffee and caffeine and adrenaline. They couldn't -- as a matter of fact, they couldn't go to sleep because it's all in their head right now. GAYNOR: Yes. It's been very difficult for myself just trying to get any sleep. As soon as I close my eyes trying to get to sleep, all I hear is that gun blast. It just keeps recurring.
LEMON: Did you know any of the people who were hurt or who died in this?
GAYNOR: Unfortunately I did not know anybody personally, but I do feel very bad for them and I just send my thoughts and prayers and for them.
LEMON: Yes. All right. George Gaynor, thank you and we're glad that you could join us and we know that -- what you're going through. I asked one of the other students if they would feel safe again going to school here. Do you feel safe?
GAYNOR: I still feel relatively safe, yes, and based on the police response at this incident, I do feel that we have adequate security at this campus.
LEMON: OK.
GAYNOR: This is just a nice - isolated incident that just went very bad.
LEMON: Well, George, thank you very much for that.
And then coming up in -- at 10:00 Eastern, 9:00 local time here, we're expecting a briefing, Betty, from school officials, including the president whom he interviewed earlier live on "AMERICAN MORNING." And he said that he was pleased with the response but, obviously, not pleased with what happened on this campus yesterday.
NGUYEN: Yes. We should learn more during that new conference. Of course, we'll bring that to you live.
But Don, let me ask you this very quickly. Are you hearing anything on the ground...
LEMON: Yes.
NGUYEN: ...as to why? That's the big question. Was there a note left? Did the shooter have in kind of a history?
LEMON: And you know what, Betty? You'd remember, you and I were sitting on the anchor desk when the Virginia Tech shooting happen and started hearing about this Seung Cho Hui and about, you know, some of the signs he exhibited and some of the videotapes that he had left behind.
But this particular person, nothing. Everyone -- as a matter of fact, one of the school officials said it if there was a list -- if we had a list of people who might do something like this, that this person would be at the bottom of that list. Good student, was awarded by the university. No criminal history. So at this point, no one knows why. NGUYEN: Yes. And in fact, he's a former student as well. And big question is why did he come back on campus?
LEMON: Yes.
NGUYEN: All right. Don Lemon, we will be talking with you shortly. Thank you, Don.
And we are expecting to learn much more about the shooter and the victims throughout the morning. The school has scheduled a new conference for 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific. A briefing by hospital workers, that will follow. That's at noon Eastern, and we will carry both live right here on CNN.
HARRIS: One was just 19, another in her 30s. We have learned the names of four of the people killed in the Northern Illinois University shooting. And let me apologize ahead of time. We don't have firm pronouncers on these names, will do the best we can.
They are identified as 20-year-old Daniel Parmenter of Westchester, Illinois, Catalina Garcia, 20 years old, of Cicero, Illinois, Ryanne Mace, 19, of Carpentersville, Illinois, and 32-year- old Julianna Gehant of Meriden, Illinois.
We don't have the names of the other two people killed just yet. We should learn more about the wounded during a hospital new conference in about three hours. Several victims are in critical condition this morning.
Ed Lavandera is at the community hospital there in Dekalb.
And Ed, what are you hearing from the doctors who treated the victims?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we just spoke with the director of the emergency room who was on duty yesterday afternoon when the first calls of this shooting came in to the hospital, and he said within moments, a code alert disaster had gone out to the hospital. Some close to some two dozen surgeons, physicians, radiologists and all types of medical staff descending on the emergency room to help out in this situation.
In the end, there were about six students that remain in critical condition. They had to be quickly taken, stabilized and quickly taken away from this hospital so their treatment could continue throughout the night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MICHAEL KULISZ, KISHWAUKEE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL: We mobilized the trauma pod, which would be Rockford. We sent two -- patients to two facilities in Rockford as well as these two here, which is Good Samaritan Hospital. So everybody was on a higher level so they knew that they were going to receive that many patients.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LAVANDERA: So there were six of seven of those students that had to be taken away here -- out of here from this hospital so that they can continue their critical, intensive care that they needed in other area hospitals. So throughout the region it has been a busy night. Doctors working throughout the night to try to save these students' lives and they say they continue to work on them.
There are some good news in some other cases. Several other students are in fair and good condition and several others, as well, have been released -- Tony?
HARRIS: OK. And Ed, you know, very quickly, we're still working through pronouncers on the names of the victims. I'm just sort of curious about the name of that hospital because I'm sure we'll be mentioning it a lot over the next few days. Is it Kishwaukee Community Hospital there?
LAVANDERA: Kishwaukee Community Hospital. You're right.
HARRIS: OK. Ed Lavandera for us. Appreciate it. Thank you.
NGUYEN: A return to Virginia Tech. Did the tragedy in Blacksburg help save lives in Illinois?
Live from the Virginia Tech campus as our coverage of the campus rampage continues in just a moment.
ANNOUNCER: CNN NEWSROOM brought to you by...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Covering the angles, uncovering the details, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: Northern Illinois University beefed up security and updated its alert system right after last year's massacre at Virginia Tech.
And our Brianna Keilar live from the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg.
Brianna, I want to ask you this: have other schools learned a lot from Virginia Tech's tragedy? What exactly have they learned?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, no doubt they have learned a lot, Betty, and perhaps first and foremost, really to use campus alert systems liberally and quickly in any sort of shooting occurrence. But something else that was learned looking at what happened here in April with Virginia Tech, was just how Virginia Tech really got their school, their student community to pull together in the wake of the shooting.
Now we spoke with Larry Hincker. He works in university relations here at Virginia Tech. He was very much the public face of Virginia Tech during this tragedy back in April and he has some insight as to what NIU is going through right now. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY HINCKER, ASSOC. V.P., VIRGINIA TECH: Well, the first thing is shock and disbelief. I mean, trauma like that, you just don't expect even in light of the spate of school shootings that we've seen throughout the country and the horrendous tragedy that befell our campus last year, you just don't expect it's going to happen on your campus.
I mean, obviously, they're turned inside out. They've got an awful lot of families and shaken students that they need to deal with. The most important thing, I think, that that community needs to do right now is to come together as a community. It was this kind of sense of Hokey spirit that got us through and we're hopeful that they can find the same kind whether it's through the convocation like we had or the -- or mourning together with each other. I think that's the most important thing they need to be thinking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: In that convocation, at a time to mourn, was actually in the works the day of the shooting, April 16th, here at Virginia Tech, in place for the day after the shooting. There were also vigils, makeshift memorials, a lot of church services, and a lot of students here as well as school officials think that was really important in helping the university get through this.
But NIU may be facing a challenge that Virginia Tech did not face, and that's because NIU is very much a commuter school compared to Virginia Tech which is basically a residential campus, Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes. That's a very good point. I have to ask you, though, this, too, because Virginia Tech has a lot of information, unfortunately, from experience. Have Virginia Tech officials reached out to officials at NIU?
KEILAR: They have. Several university officials here have reached out by phone at this point. There's also a letter that is going to be going out today from President Steger here at Virginia Tech to President Peters at NIU.
But Hincker, Larry Hincker, who I talked to, pointed out that it's pretty hard to sort of get through the chatter of what happens during the first day of a tragedy like this. Just to give you sense, he said he got 350 individual requests for interviews. So he was just facing a whole bunch of these interview requests. He said it's really difficult to break through that.
He said that he really started to get advice from people who've been through something like this on day three or four. But he said, looking back, he really could have used it on day one or two, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Joining us live, Brianna Keilar, from the campus of Virginia Tech.
Thank you, Brianna. And we are expecting to learn so much more about the shooter at Northern Illinois University and, of course, the victims throughout the morning. The school has scheduled a new conference for 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific. Also a briefing by hospital workers. We'll follow that. That is at noon Eastern, and we are going to carry both live right here on CNN.
HARRIS: Also making news this morning, spy bill battle. President Bush and House Democrats locked in a standoff over a law on government eavesdropping. It expires at midnight tomorrow.
Here's the president just a few short moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: The House and Senate are sent off on a 12-day recess without getting the people's business done. And when they come back from that 12-day recess, the House leaders must understand that the decision they made to block good legislation has made it harder for us to protect you, the American people, and we expect them to get a good bill to my desk, which is the Senate bill, as soon as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Live is CNN security analyst Clark Kent Ervin in Manchester, New Hampshire. He is a former inspector general for Homeland Security.
Clark, great to see you, as always.
CLARK KENT ERVIN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: You, too, Tony.
HARRIS: Well, Clark, when the temporary law expires, the protect America act, will there be a gap in surveillance starting, say, on Sunday?
ERVIN: That really is the key question, Tony, and the answer to that -- the short answer is, no. The fact of the matter is that if a target is known or has probable cause, the government has probable cause to believe that that target is connected to al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, other well-known terror groups, the law provides that we can continue to listen to those phone calls and read those e-mails for up to a year after this law expires tomorrow.
And then with regard to new targets, even then all we have to do is just go back to the old FISA procedure. You go to a court, you get a warrant, and you can even listen to the conversation and read the e- mail before getting a warrant for up to three days. You can do it after the fact.
And so, you know, the best evidence that there won't be this huge gap in collection is that the president rejected the House leaders' request, or offer, to give a three-week extension.
HARRIS: Quickly, yes. Well, Clark...
ERVIN: Now that said, the president is right about a few things, I must say as well.
HARRIS: Well, great. We'll get to that. But let's be clear about this. All of the authorizations that are in place now to wiretap remained in place when this act expires? Correct?
ERVIN: With regard to targets that are known or suspected, if there's probable cause to believe that they're connected to al Qaeda, Hamas, well known groups.
HARRIS: And if new information is -- if new information is developed, the administration can...
ERVIN: They can go to the court.
HARRIS: And get a warrant.
ERVIN: That's right. You go to the FISA court, you get a warrant, and as I say, you can listen in before the fact, you have up to three days retroactively to get a warrant to authorize it. So there won't be this huge.
HARRIS: OK.
ERVIN: ...gap in collection as a result of the expiration of the law.
HARRIS: What does go away is the ability to compel telephone companies to play along? To reply and follow the request of the government? Correct? That goes away.
ERVIN: Well, that's basically right. That's basically right. The key sticking point here is that the Senate passed a version that gives retroactive immunity to these telecommunications company that in good faith, after 9/11, cooperated with the government and provided access to their networks.
And it's only fair, it seems to me, that the telecommunication companies get this immunity.
HARRIS: Yes.
ERVIN: They, as I say, relied on good faith and further more they might not cooperate in the future or be less likely to cooperate in the future if this immunity is not provided.
HARRIS: Now...
ERVIN: So the president's right about that.
HARRIS: Yes. So all right. So let's be clear about it. So the ability to compel telephone companies to comply with government requests, that all goes away once the act expires and the liability protections for telephone companies, those protections go away as well. Correct?
ERVIN: Well, the issue of compelling, the compulsion is a little unclear. All that can be said, really, is that it is certainly fair to think that telecommunications companies might be less willing to cooperate with the government going forward if they don't have this retroactive immunity. None of these companies has said that they won't do it if they don't get the immunity but it's only reasonable to expect that they'll be less likely to do it if they don't. And certainly, they're entitled to it, because, again...
HARRIS: Yes.
ERVIN: They did this in good faith, relying upon the government's representations after 9/11 that doing so was legal. So I'm completely in agreement that this immunity should be provided and I'm in agreement with the Senate version of the bill but it's not like there's going to be some big gap in collection tomorrow once this law expires.
HARRIS: But at the time the administration began this warrantless wiretapping program, it was illegal to do so. Correct?
ERVIN: Well, it was illegal to do so unless you went through the FISA procedures.
HARRIS: Yes.
ERVIN: Unless you went to a court, you showed probable cause, which, by the way, was fairly easy to do. Not only was there this ability to do it for up to three after the fact, but also the record of the court was about 90 percent of the time the court approved these wiretap applications. And so this is...
HARRIS: But you see the fine point I'm trying to put on this, Clark? At the time that this program began you needed a warrant, and the administration...
ERVIN: That's right.
HARRIS: And the administration started this program without warrants. Correct?
ERVIN: That's right.
HARRIS: OK.
ERVIN: And the bottom line is, the administration wants warrantless wiretaps and they want retroactive immunity...
HARRIS: There you go.
ERVIN: ...for telecommunications company and that's what the Senate version provides. The House version does not provide that, and the president is insisting on the Senate version of this bill.
HARRIS: Clark, I know you got to run. Appreciate your time this morning. Thanks, man.
ERVIN: Thank you very much, Tony. NGUYEN: Let's get you back now to our top story. The massacre there on the campus of Northern Illinois University. Many of the survivors are just in shock this morning, and one witness says the experience was horrifying and surreal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING")
STEFANIE MILLER, WITNESSED NIU SHOOTING: It's an unbelievable experience. It's something that you'd never think that would happen in this town. The support is what's gotten most of us through it.
LEMON (on camera): Yes. And I know I talked to you earlier this morning, and it's tough for you, but can you go back to 3:00 yesterday. You're in the sociology class -- geology class, and all of a sudden what happens?
MILLER: Gunman came in behind the curtain and fired from what I believe 20 to 30 shots. People screaming, people running around. From what I've heard and from what I know, most of that were shot, were shot both from when they were running to get out. It was a scene from a movie. It was -- something that you thought was staged. It was an unbelievable experience.
LEMON: You didn't believe it at first?
MILLER: No. It was -- from what went on, from what was going on, it was -- it was like it was from a movie.
LEMON: And your best friend is gone?
MILLER: Yes. She's gone.
LEMON: What do you want to say about her?
MILLER: She didn't deserve it. Nobody does. Nobody. This is something that never should have happened here. It's a quiet community. It's a local college. A lot of your, you know, Dekalb High School, local schools around the town come here. It's something that doesn't happen here. It's -- nobody deserves anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Difficult. Well, school officials say there are 162 students registered for that class and it's still unclear how many were actually in the lecture hall when that shooting took place.
HARRIS: And lots of new details emerging on the Web about the Northern Illinois University mass killing.
Veronica de la Cruz has that as our coverage continues right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The bottom of the hour. Welcome back everyone to the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Tony Harris. BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Heidi Collins today.
Well, our top story this morning. A college campus just in shock this morning. The scene of the latest deadly shooting rampage, Northern Illinois University. Here's what we know at this hour. The gunman opened fire in a lecture hall. He shot 21 people. Six of them have died. The gunman also dead after shooting himself.
Now, he has not been identified, but the school says he was a former graduate student. The lingering question this morning is, why? There's no word yet on a motive behind the bloodshed. The school has scheduled a new conference next hour and we do expect to hear from hospital officials at noon eastern. So a lot of information coming in. Of course, we will bring it all to you live, right here on CNN.
HARRIS: And we are just learning this, in to CNN, that John McCain is expected to travel to Texas. Most likely next week, where he is to accept the endorsement of Former President George H.W. Bush. Now, we understand the campaign right now is working on some scheduling issues with the former president's office. But the goal is for the event to actually take place in Texas next week. That information, according to two Republicans sources familiar with the discussions right now.
So just to update the news in to CNN at this moment. John McCain expected to travel to Texas most likely next week to accept the endorsement of Former President George H.W. Bush.
NGUYEN: But right now, we take a closer look at the campus where the shooting happened. The school is located about 65 miles west of downtown Chicago. It's about 45 minutes southeast of Rockford, Illinois, and the main campus, covers about 755 acres. Now, the school has an enrollment of more than 25,000 students and according to the website, 91 percent of the students are from Illinois. 46 percent are male, 54 percent female. 26 percent of the students are described as ethnic minority.
HARRIS: The NIU president praises police for their quick response. He says the school has procedures in place for coping with a tragedy like this, but there's only so much that can be done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN PETERSON, NIU PRESIDENT: I was pleased that our preparation and our planning and our emergency plan worked well as far as I understand it. The police were there within minutes, and of course, it was a situation where we had a lone gunman who burst in and fired volleys of shots and then took his own life and it was over by the time the police arrived.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When I spoke to you earlier, I ask you about Virginia Tech, because many universities and colleges around the country and schools as well, high schools, elementary schools, and junior high schools looking at the response and their safety procedures on campus. Did you revamp that? If you take a look at your procedures after that happened?
PETERSON: Yes.
LEMON: Did you improve them?
PETERSON: We had good procedures and we had a committee look at the report and study and work on communications and I believe that paid off. That's really a sad thing to say, that you have to learn from an event like that, but we had, knew how we wanted to communicate, and we sort of had some messages pre-arranged, and we got out there fairly quickly.
LEMON: Let me ask you about the gunman. People are, of course, concerned about the victims and the victims families. Those people want to know about this gunman and whether or not there were any signs that he may do something like this? Did you know anything about the gunman? Obviously, he was honored by you. Everyone is reporting that. But do you know anything about his history that might have led him to this?
PETERSON: What I know right now, what I've been told, and of course, we will learn a lot in the next hours and days. He was an undergraduate here, graduating in 2006 in sociology. Had a very good academic record. Apparently, according to professors. He was a very good student. He went on to graduate. Work through 2007. And there's no indication that there was any trouble.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: President Peterson says he's overwhelmed by the way the students have come together.
NGUYEN: Well, he had a shotgun and two handguns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did not say anything. He just pumped the shotgun and fired around into the crowd.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Gunfire at Northern Illinois University. Who was the shooter? We're searching for answers throughout the day right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Our chief national correspondent, John King, is on the phone with us. And John, of course, is one of our key go-to guys in all things in this political season. John, good to talk to you. I know you have some important news about John McCain. He picked up a big endorsement from Mitt Romney yesterday and another one. He is tracking. It looks like it's a -- he's going to be able to put into his column here next week.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony. CNN has learned that as early as next week and likely next week, John McCain will travel down to Texas to pick up the endorsement of the former president of the United States, George H.W. Bush. Now, to some that's not surprising. There is a rally around McCain movement going on in the Republican Party. But they're choreographing this quite carefully, because they want the endorsement of the former president in his adopted home state of Texas.
Because some concern in the McCain campaign that Texas Republicans will think the race is over and that they won't turn out for the event. They won't turn out for the primary on March 4th and that Mike Huckabee might score quite well because there's a vocal group of social conservatives down in Texas who are not happy with John McCain.
So what they're hoping is that John McCain travel to Texas. Again, I'm told that's most likely will be early next week. Get this endorsement and have Former President George H.W. Bush send a message to the Texas Republican establishment and rank and file, look, we need you to get out. This is our candidate. He will be our nominee. Though, it's another step. We mentioned Romney yesterday. Another step in the party elders rallying around John McCain.
And remember, still does have Mike Huckabee in there. So there's a concern that if Huckabee does well in any primaries, it makes McCain look a little weak.
HARRIS: That's a good point. All right, CNN's chief national correspondent, John King. John, great to talk to you, thank you.
NGUYEN: Well, the online community already is just flooding the web about the shooting at Northern Illinois University and our Veronica de la Cruz is monitoring the Internet for the latest information. Unfortunately, always when there's a shooting like this, we learn so much from online organizations like Facebook and MySpace because they're peers. People in the class, people who know these victims and the shooter come out and they start talking.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is right, Betty. And we have been keeping a close eye on those MySpace pages, the Facebook pages and we are going to share those with you coming up. But in the meantime, I wanted to show what we have received in the way of I-reports.
This first one from, Eddie Brewer, who is a student on campus. He's 23 and has been studying sociology. Eddie says that he was in the building right next to the shooting and said, and I'm quoting here, "Everyone was acting really crazy. A guy who was shot came in. They tried to pat his wounds with paper towels." He said people were coming through the hall. He was in the gurneys. The gurney that you see here. He said that he saw people bringing a gurney in, taking a body out. He saw four people being wheeled out and one looked like they were in really bad condition. Possibly shot in the back of the head.
NGUYEN: OK. So that's an I-report. But when it comes to some of these online organizations, what have you found on the web? DE LA CRUZ: Well, let's go and start with a support group from Facebook. You know, it's really interesting to see not only the students coming out to support the victims of this tragedy, but also people from around the world, Betty. We're going to take a look at this Facebook group. I want to mention, yesterday around 6:30, it only had 3,000 members. It's grown exponentially. It has more than 30,000 members.
Taking a look at the page, they're continually updating news on the shootings. There are hot line numbers that are posted. There are also discussion groups. People talking about how to prevent tragedies such as this. You know, where we stand in the way of campus security. And then this is the wall. This is the area where people post messages and here's really a poignant one posted by a student of Virginia Tech.
This was posted on behalf of the student body, faculty, families and friends of Virginia Tech and it reads -- "We know this gut- wrenching feeling you have at the pit of your stomach, and the hole in your heart that will never seem to be filled. We felt the same way, but please know that with the help and support from colleges and universities around the nation and the world, we will beat this. And that was posted by Mick Ainger. And he was a student there at Virginia Tech.
NGUYEN: Yes. You're going to see students, family, friends, people come together, and a place to express those thoughts is of course on the web. Veronica de la Cruz, thanks for joining us.
DE LA CRUZ: Of course.
HARRIS: Another story that is developing this morning. Hundreds of drivers -- can you imagine this? Stopped in their trucks, stranded. A surprise snowstorm brings traffic to a screeching halt in Southern California. An update next.
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NGUYEN: Talk about a winter whammy. Check out these pictures. Some 500 drivers just stopped on a mountain freeway in Southern California after a surprise snowstorm. Mudslides blocked another road nearby. Now, the snow, ice and strong wind, well, they made roads just impassable along a 27-mile stretch of Interstate 8. Rescuers had to go -- look at that, car to car. Taking dozens of stranded people to a fire station, even a casino for warmth. There's no major damage or injuries reported.
HARRIS: Well, I'm sort of curious. Our Reynolds Wolf was it a surprise or you are just a surprise to the folks that didn't get word that this was happening?
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Well, a satellite is headed to earth with a potentially deadly load of fuel. The navy, aiming to shoot it down. CNN space correspondent, Miles O'Brien is following this from New York. Miles, I got to ask you, doesn't that in itself pose some problems?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you would think. Wouldn't you, Betty? Actually, if you really listen to what they're talking about here, the theory is that the only thing they can do is improve the situation. That's the theory.
Now, first of all, I want to show you a picture of this satellite. This is a super secret satellite and don't blink, you might miss it. This comes off the web, spaceweather.com, is the place. It was submitted, got to see it moving there. Is it moving? Do we have the moving image of the satellite?
NGUYEN: Nothing out there at all.
O'BRIEN: You didn't take a still, did you? What's that? There we go. OK. There it is, Betty. You see it is streaking across there. This comes from Friedrich Deters of LaGrange, North Carolina.
NGUYEN: You got to look. It's really hard to see that.
O'BRIEN: There are whole bevy. It's like a subculture of the satellite spotters out there that had been watching this one.
NGUYEN: Miles, I have to ask you to hold on just a second. We have some breaking news that we need to bring the viewers.
HARRIS: We're just getting this in. A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation is confirming for us the name of the shooter in the Northern Illinois University slayings. As 27-year-old, former student, Steven Kazmierczak. Again, Steven Kazmierczak.
Once again, we will get more information in a news conference scheduled in just a couple of hours. So inside about that about an hour or so from now. Scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Once again, we're getting confirmed now from a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation that the shooter in the Northern Illinois University slayings -- OK. My bad. The press is scheduled for 10:00 Eastern Time.
NGUYEN: Or 10 minutes from now.
HARRIS: Great. 27-year-old student, former student, Steven Kazmierczak. And again, a press release, just a couple of minutes -- thanks, Betty, at the top of the hour.
NGUYEN: All right. In the meantime, we're going to take you back to Miles O'Brien and get the latest on this streak through the sky that you could barely see there. But it's something that the navy is thinking it may just shoot down?
O'BRIEN: Well, yes. What's in that streak is what is causing some degree of concern. About a half of ton of hydrazine. That is very toxic rocket fuel. Let's look at that pic one more time. This comes from Friedrich Deters, an amateur satellite tracker from North Carolina. That picture is on the web. And if you want to see USA 193, this super secret spy satellite before it goes down, go to the web. There's lots of places where they shall tell you about viewing opportunities. Here's some animation to show you what the navy, the military has cooked up.
An Aegis cruiser, off goes surface-to-air missile, SM-3, they call them. These are used in the missile defense program. Now, why would you want to do that, you might ask? Why make a million little pieces? Well, here's what will happen. Because of the altitude it is at, it will slow those pieces down faster, and in theory bring them down into the drink more assuredly so than it would if it remained its full size. What size is it? Well, take a look.
You know, the Hubble Space Telescope? Hubble Space Telescope is about the size of a school bus. This particular satellite weighs about 5,000 pounds. And so, if it were all intact, it would be a lot harder to predict where it might land. And that hydrazine might pose a hazard.
Let's remember this, Betty. This is of the latest version of super secret satellites. The Pentagon would prefer it not get into anybody's hands and maybe end up on eBay, and finally, this is an opportunity for the Pentagon to test out this missile defense capability, much touted capability. Of course, hitting a bus is like hitting the broad side of a barn in this business but nevertheless, will be an opportunity to test this technology.
NGUYEN: All right, Miles. Well, this has super secret information and then you hit it. You told us it will just burst into a bunch of little pieces. Possibly, someone could get their hands on this secret information.
O'BRIEN: Yes. In theory, this will all burn up though. That's the idea. Make it real small, have it burned up, into the drink, any remnants would go. That's the theory.
NGUYEN: That's the plan. We'll see how that plays out. All right, Miles O'Brien joining us live. Thank you, Miles.
HARRIS: As we go to break, just once again, law enforcement officials have identified the suspect in the Northern Illinois University slayings as 27-year-old, former student Steven Kazmierczak. More on this story on the other side of the break.
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NGUYEN: And this breaking news coming in to us in light of the shooting there at Northern Illinois University. We have learned the name of that shooter. That being 27-year-old former student. His name is Steven Kazmierczak. We're still trying to learn a lot more about exactly why he went on campus yesterday opening fire, shooting 22 people, killing 6. He also shot himself.
But, again, his name has been released today. Steven Kazmierczak, 27-year-old former student, opened fire at Northern Illinois University. And a news conference will take place in about four minutes from now. Going to give you a live look. There's the podium and you can see that they are working on the audio there. And we should be learning a lot more regarding the details of exactly how this played out yesterday, and maybe a little bit more about the shooter himself. So stay tuned for that. Of course, when that happens, CNN will bring it to you live right here.
There's much more to come. Don't go away
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Response to the shooting at Northern Illinois University was quick. The school updated security and its alert system after last year's massacre at Virginia Tech. Take a look now at the time line. The gunman opened fire at 3:00 in the afternoon, local time. Campus police were on the scene within three minutes. 20 minutes later, the alarm was sounded across campus. The message, there's a gunman on campus, stay where you are. Make yourself safe as possible.
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