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Israel Targets Militants in Gaza with Airstrikes; Big Chill Becomes a Big Thaw; Christmas Eve Massacre; Scams: A Growing Business in the Struggling Economy; Man Dressed as Santa Killed Nine People at Party; Little Girl with Cancer Ask for a Snowy Christmas
Aired December 27, 2008 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, Gaza is burning and the rest of world takes notice in fear of spreading unrest.
Christmas Eve nightmare. New leads and new warnings tonight from police in California that the killer's work is still unfinished.
Is this really December? The big chill becomes a big thaw leaving flood water in its way.
And you've heard it before. Work from home. Make thousands. Job claims and scams are growing business in the struggling economy. The news starts now.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Don Lemon.
LEMON: Good evening, everyone. The story of the man who dressed up in a Santa suit and tried to wipe out an entire family is still difficult to hear. But we have plenty of new details for you tonight including the emergency calls for help. Tonight, we try to make sense of it all with a criminal profiler, a clinical psychologist and a reporter who's been covering the story since it broke.
But first, the explosive crisis in the Middle East. Tonight, it's captured the attention of a U.N. Security Council. More on that in just a moment. But first, let's bring you up to speed on the deadly conflict.
Palestinian sources say at least 225 people have been killed in Gaza since Israeli warplanes began launching airstrikes earlier today. Those airstrikes are still on going. And Israel warns this will not be a quick military operation. Israeli official say the airstrikes are in response to dozens of recent rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel. Meantime, diplomacy to end the bloodshed in on a fast track tonight.
CNN senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth is live with us tonight from the United Nations this hour.
Richard, what can you tell us?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Don, the members of the U.N. Security Council are huddled behind closed doors. And discussing and debating the Middle East is never easy here at this international arena. We saw the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad huddling with a league of our states delegate and also with the Palestinian representative. There you see the three men.
The United States is going to look to contain any type of diplomatic action here and certainly stand behind Israel. The Palestinians, represented by Libya is the loan Arab representative on the Security Council are going to look to condemn Israel. I spoke with a Palestinian representative earlier who demanded international action against Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMB. RIYAD MANSOUR, U.N. PERMANT OBSERVER TO PALESTINE: We are against the killing and harming of civilians regardless of which side of the isle they stand, whether they are on the Palestinian side or the Israeli side. But this collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza is inhumane, is immoral and it should be stopped immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: The Israeli ambassador in a letter to the U.N. said this all started with Hamas. Those rocket attacks against Israel and that Israel had to defend itself. The U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had a phone conversation with representatives in the Saudi Arabia. The White House spokesman saying that Hamas thugs started this activity. That's the latest here. We do not know, Don, if there will be a formal meeting with speeches and fiery debate inside the hall here.
LEMON: CNN senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth. Richard, thank you very much.
Israel had signaled military action for days, but the ferocity of today's airstrikes and the high civilian death toll has taken almost everyone by shock. CNN's Paula Hancock has the very latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The injured are transported the Gaza City's hospital by any means possible. Children on their way home from school, adults, whether Hamas affiliated or not, all caught up in Israel's airstrikes. Inside the hospitals hundreds of wounded Palestinians are being treated by too few doctors with painfully eliminated equipment.
DR. MAHMOULO B. KHAZINDAR, TREATING THE INJURED: I have lost two young men simply because I could not find chest tubes to put in the chest because of pneumothorax due to injuries. And just hundreds of this people are suffering and dying simply because of shortage of medical equipment.
HANCOCKS: This is the moment Israel's air force struck Hamas installations in Gaza. Many of these buildings in the middle of residential areas, civilian casualties were inevitable. Hamas says all of its security compounds have been destroyed, many of its senior peace commanders were inside and killed when the missiles hit. It is vowing revenge. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We will not renew the count to Israel and we will not raise the white flag.
HANCOCKS: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is at pains to point out he's targeting Hamas and not the Palestinian people.
EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The citizens of Gaza are not our enemies. Hamas, Jihad, and the other terrorist organizations, are your enemies as they are our enemies. They brought disaster on you and they tried to bring disaster to the people of Israel.
HANCOCKS: Israel says the airstrikes are meant to end the rocket attacks from Palestinian militant groups in Gaza but inevitably rocket attacks are continuing in retaliation for Israel's airstrikes.
EHUD BARAK ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): I don't want to delude or deceive anyone. This will not be a short operation. The war on terrorism is an ongoing one, and we will have to stand firm in order to change the situation in the south.
HANCOCKS: The six-month truce between Israel and Palestinian militant groups expired one week ago, and reality it had started to break down two months ago but any hope of a renewal of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire today looked almost impossible.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: President Bush is spending the holiday at his Texas ranch. The climbing death toll in Gaza is the last thing he wants as he prepares to vacate the White House. It leaves a very big piece of messy unfinished business for the next president to deal with. A White House spokesman earlier this evening left no doubt who they blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORDON JOHNDROE, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: Hamas must stop launching rockets into Israel. The United States holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire. Now the ceasefire should be restored immediately. The United States is also very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and want all parties involved to work to get the people of Gaza the humanitarian supplies that they need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Boy, it is a safe bet that this crisis will be waiting for Barack Obama when he takes office next month. Right now, the president-elect is vacationing in Hawaii, and CNN's senior White House correspondent Ed Henry joins us now from Oahu via Broadband with the very latest on that.
As I understand, he spoke with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this evening. ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good evening, Don. Earlier this evening, the incoming president did speak with Secretary Rice. He initiated the phone call. It was about an eight-minute phone call we're told by transition aids just to be briefed by the secretary of state, get the latest on the situation in Gaza.
And also a spokeswoman for Barack Obama's transition team, Brook Anderson, who handled national security issues, put out a written statement saying that the president-elect is trying to monitor world events, including the situation in Gaza, but again saying there's only one president at a time. That's a reminder that Barack Obama here in Hawaii is walking a very fine line. He doesn't want to step on President Bush. He doesn't want to give nations around the world any confusion, that maybe America is not speaking and acting with one voice during this very delicate transition process.
But I think what's happening in Gaza is a fresh reminder that while we've been focusing a lot on the financial crisis, that national security crisis still could define the presidency of Barack Obama. You just look around the Mid-East, it's not just the situation in Gaza but the broader Israeli-Palestinian peace process -- Iraq, Iran, the war in Afghanistan. There going to be a whole host of challenges that he will be inheriting on January 20th, Don.
LEMON: All right. CNN's Ed Henry. Ed, thank you very much for that.
Meantime, back here in the United States. We are learning more about a man who dressed as Santa and shot up a Christmas Eve party. Now according to investigators, Bruce Pardo was planning to fly to Canada after the shooting. Well, he never made it. And tonight, police tell us they are looking for an SUV that Pardo apparently rented. A gray Toyota Rav4 just like this one you see there in the picture.
The California license plate number is 5RYD562. Police warn the vehicle could be booby trap or contain explosives. So if you see it, just call police. Now, let's bring you up-to-date on the horrific story. Here's CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their frantic screams for help coming from the inside of this home. These are the transcripts of the 911 calls. "He's shooting. He's shooting." Two dozen people were at a Christmas party when a man dressed as Santa Claus goes on a rampage. The panic caller tells the 911 operator she knows the shooter. "His name is Bruce Pardo. He's my ex-brother-in- law. He's still shooting. He's knocking out the lights. He came in through the entrance of the door in a Santa Claus suit. I didn't see them when he shot."
Police say 45-year-old Bruce Pardo went to the Christmas party dressed as Santa because he knew it was an annual family tradition.
When an 8-year-old girl opens the door, Pardo pulls out a semiautomatic weapon and shoots her. The caller tells the operator, "My daughter's been shot in the face. She was shot in the face and she's bleeding." Police say Pardo then begins shooting at everyone in sight. Some hide under furniture. Others jump from windows to escape. Then he pulls out a canister of fuel disguised as a holiday package.
CHIEF KIM RANEY, CAVINA, CALIFORNIA POLICE: The package he had appears to be a homemade pressurized device.
GUTIERREZ: The two-store home belonging to Pardo's former in-laws is engulfed in flames. The bodies of nine people are burned so badly, they have to be identified using dental records. Pardo is also severely burned.
RANEY: He suffered third degree burns on both arms. It also appears that the Santa Claus suit that he was wearing did melt onto his body.
GUTIERREZ: Pardo flees to his brother's house but investigators discover he had an elaborate escape plan.
RANEY: Pardo did have $17,000 of cash saran wrapped to his legs or concealed inside of a girdle that he was wearing. He also had a plane ticket or an early morning flight Thursday, Christmas morning, from L.A.X. to Canada.
GUTIERREZ: He had not counted on suffering third degree burns himself. Unable to escape, Pardo fatally shoots himself in the head. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Covina, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Very sad story indeed. Tami Abdollah is a reporter with the "L.A. Times," and she joins us now tonight, live from Los Angeles. I understand, you have new details that we haven't heard yet, Tammy? Is that so?
TAMI ABDOLLAH, LOS ANGELES TIMES: Well, police were just able to confirm that actually the ticket was not to Canada. It was an Air Canada ticket from LAX that was to leave early Christmas morning and was going to connect in Minneapolis. There's going to be a lay over, and he would be going to Moline, Illinois where he would be visiting a high school friend for the holidays for about two weeks according to that friend.
LEMON: OK, going to -- so the connection to Moline, Illinois is a high school friend. And so the ticket --
ABDOLLAH: Actually -- sorry, the friend is actually in Iowa. So he was going to drive the hour and fifteen minutes to visit his friend.
LEMON: Have you spoken this to this friend in Iowa?
ABDOLLAH: Yes, I have.
LEMON: And what did the friend say?
ABDOLLAH: You know, he is very upset. He had just spoken with him the night before, a few hours before the rampage. And he said that -- they had talked about -- Pardo had seemed a little sad, but had talked about coming to see him the next day. And they were waiting for him. He and his wife were waiting for him in Iowa. They had warm clothes for him. And their six children were waiting to play math games and to talk again as they had when he visited them most recently in October.
LEMON: So he said that he seemed sad. Did he go into detail about why he seemed sad?
ABDOLLAH: No. The conversation was pretty short. From what I understand, the friend had to go to dinner with his wife, and so, they weren't able to talk as long as Pardo had wanted to.
LEMON: So you were -- let's get back to the scene that night when it happened. You have been there since the very beginning, correct?
ABDOLLAH: Yes.
LEMON: OK. And some of the family members managed to escape jumping out of windows and what have you, and then going to neighbor's homes. And as we understand from listening to the 911 tape, part of which we are going to play a little bit later on with our psychologist, just try to figure out how you recover from something like that because it was completely horrific. I'm sure you will agree.
When you got there to the scene, can you describe to us the mindset of the people there and what was happening around you?
ABDOLLAH: Well, from what I understand, and we had reporters out all over the place in Sylmar, Covina, Montrose -- and I mean, primarily, Iowa was headed over to Sylmar and Montrose after all this had happened, and as investigators were looking over things. But from what I understand, people were still trying to piece things together. They were very confused as to what had happened. They didn't really -- they'd heard a lot of noise, an explosion of some sort. But at that point, they didn't really know what had happened.
LEMON: OK. Hey, listen, we want you to stick around. But real quickly, have you been speaking to Mr. Pardo's mother, right? You spoke with her.
ABDOLLAH: Yes. I spoke with her earlier today.
LEMON: What did she say?
ABDOLLAH: She was very, very upset. She said that she's still trying to pull herself together. She'd spoken with her former daughter-in- law's son, Sal, and she said that, Sal had assured her that she was still family despite all that had happened. And she wanted to set up a fund to help support her grandchildren. Her son's -- ex-wife's children.
LEMON: All right, Tami. Stick around because we are going to go much more in-depth about this as I said. Thank you very much. We'll see you in just a little bit. You know this rampage, it maybe over, but the details -- it gets more and more bizarre. Tonight, we are taking a closer look at the Christmas Eve massacre. New details to share with you and new insight from our guest. That's coming up in just a few minutes right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Meantime, a mishmash of rough weather from coast-to-coast. Snow, rain, floods, the threat of tornadoes, we've got it all for you tonight. Our meteorologist Karen Maginnis is very busy. She will check your forecast.
Plus, we have this for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He ate the same food we ate. He was wearing, you know, some of our clothing, which is a little bit disturbing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A little bit disturbing? How about really freaky? A stranger hides out in a family's attic for a week.
Also, we want to know what's on your mind tonight. Make sure you logon to Twitter, to Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com, tell us what you're thinking. We'll get your responses on the air.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, temperatures are on the rise across a big chunk of U.S. Good news, right? Well, you better think again. Warmer weather is melting deep snow in the Chicago area and elsewhere in the Midwest and the plains as well, causing floods and the threat of floods.
And in parts of the west, it's all about snow. Winter storm warnings are in effect tonight in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and other states. And there is a clash of weather in the Kansas City area.
Check this out. A warm front that raised temperatures, collided with cold air, a mass there, sparking high winds and rare late December thunderstorms. Power was knocked out to tens of thousands of people. Tornado warnings are posted for the St. Louis area.
We turn now to our meteorologist Karen Maginnis to tell us about this very strange weather.
At the beginning of the newscast, Karen, I said is this December?
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: Just snow, snow, snow, everywhere. All right, Karen, thank you very much for that.
Seven people, all apparently family members, are dead after a fire in their Philadelphia home. They live in the basement of a three-story house, and most of the victims were found huddled together at the door. A kerosene heater may have started the fire last night. Four people escaped, but the city's top firefighters said the victims had no way out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WADE LEE, NEIGHBOR: Burned our home, literally, from light to dark within seconds. I mean, with the lights on, it was completely black. First thing it disappeared with my feet, then my legs, then I couldn't see anyone after that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Two survivors are being treated for injures.
Another story coming out of Pennsylvania that might keep you awake at night. A stranger living in your attic, eating your food, wearing your clothes, all without your knowledge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STACEY FERRANCE, RESIDENT: I went up there, and just glance over at the sidewalk. And there was a perfect footprint right there at eye level. That was it. (INAUDIBLE) got here with the dog is when he started saying, I'm coming out. I'm coming out. It's absolutely bizarre. But it's just -- I'm glad that everybody is safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Wow. 21-year-old Stanley Carter had been staying with friends next door. He apparently gained access to the home through a shared attic. During his week-long stay in the attic, he took a laptop, blanket, clothes and other items. Carter now has a more long-term living arrangement at the local jail.
We want to know what's on you mind tonight. Make sure you logon to Twitter, to Facebook, to MySpace or iReport.com. Tell us what you're thinking. We'll get your questions on the air tonight.
Also, if your job search is taking you online, you might want to watch out. There are ton of con artists and jobs scams out there that you need to know about.
Plus this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy was sharp. I'm not sure if he anticipated that. He went in the house, it vaporize or atomized. It did explode because it blew the windows out. We have found gas fragments up to 50 feet away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: An unbelievable story. A deadly attack planned to the last details spins out of control. We're digging deeper into the Christmas Eve massacre. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, money and jobs are scarce. So scams, however, unfortunately, are not. They show up in your e-mail, your phone calls and on signs by the road. All of the offer sound too good to be true, because they are too good to be true. It is a sure sign of the times. In a bad economy, someone desperate to pay the bills, well, they may be more easily conned. But a little bit of knowledge can help you avoid becoming a victim.
So scamming isn't new, we know that. But the Internet has made it a daily hazard for many, many more people. And it also makes it more accessible to people.
Christine Durst is a CEO of Staffcentrix. A company that specializes in legitimate home-based employment. Her clients include the federal government, and she is also an expert on scam, especially those that offer employment and income in hard economic times. So we want to talk to her now about what to look for. What are the common scams?
CHRISTINE DURST, CEO, STAFFCENTRIX: Oh boy, there are so many now. There are the oldies but goodies as we refer to them. The classics like envelope stuffing. But we are seeing many new ones come on the scene now. Some of them people are hearing about. Money mules, for example. People winning the lottery when you've never entered the lottery.
LEMON: And repackaging you said. What is repackaging?
DURST: Repackaging is a scam where people sign on to receive goods for companies that claim to be out of the country. Most of the emails will say that their government is so corrupt, that they can't receive packages in their country without worrying about losing the packages. So they ask the good citizens of the United States to receive their packages, usually small electronics. They received them, they repackaged them, they fill out the customs forms according to the rules that they are given, which is usually defrauding the government because they are telling to put a lesser value on the item, and then you're sending it.
But the hitch is the items that you're sending had been purchased with stolen credit cards. So you're actually sending stolen goods overseas and you're defrauding the government.
LEMON: So you're committing a crime at this point.
DURST: Absolutely.
LEMON: What about bait and switch? Let's move on to that. Oh boy. Bait and switch is a classic. The bait part of course is bringing people on board by telling them something that's too good to believe, but to something that somebody who's desperate might believe.
And then there's a switch in the end. One of the things we're seeing right now is a lot of spam coming out for people to do, auction listing processing is what they are calling it. You pay $197 to come on and supposedly do what's acquaints to data processing. But in the end, what they really want you to do is become sales people for their company, selling their goods. And you don't make any money unless you sell anything.
LEMON: OK. What about now, the clues that it's a scam. What are the clues, Ms. Durst?
DURST: There are some biggies that you should watch out for. First of all, if an ad screams work from home in the job lead, it's probably a scam. If they are charging you for a job -- not if you are an independent contractor, that's a little bit different. But if they are saying that you're going to be an employee, you should not be paying anything.
If they are asking for your social security numbers, your date of birth, bank account numbers upfront, that's a pretty good sign that you're dealing with somebody who's not on the up and up.
LEMON: And here's some that we get and go to our spam. U.S. postal service now hiring, or a Nigerian official, a letter from them.
DURST: Absolutely. And you'll also get the ones that tell you that you are the sole inheritor of a very rich person who just passed away. You never knew you were related to them because you're not.
LEMON: All right. Let's just say that you are a victim. And I have to be honest with you, my mom came very close to it. It didn't happen, but she got a text message saying we need to talk to you about your Capital One card. It just happened just before Christmas. And then call us back. And when you called the number, it says give us your credit card number and all these numbers. She didn't do it, but a lot of people fell for that scam. So if you're a victim, what do you do?
DURST: There are several things that you can do. First of all in that case, get in touch with the bank who did issue the credit card to let them know that these folks are out there doing that. But also, get in touch with the Federal Trade Commission. You can get in touch with the Better Business Bureau, and also the attorney general's office in your state, end of the state where the scam has been perpetrated from if you know where it hails from.
LEMON: All right. Christine Durst, the CEO of Staffcentrix. We appreciate it. I hope you're having a good holiday.
DURST: Thank you, Don.
LEMON: Thank you. Also we want to know what's on your mind tonight. Make sure you logon to Twitter, to Facebook, to MySpace or iReport.com. Tell us what you are thinking. We'll get your responses on the air.
Plus this story --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But obviously, with the weapons he had purchased, he had stored, the homemade device he had built with the jet fuel, this was a preplanned event. We just don't know how long he had been planning this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: But investigators said they do know that Bruce Pardo had been planning it long enough to get his hands on $17,000 in cash, and we're digging deeper into the Christmas Eve massacre tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, we are learning more about a man who dressed as Santa and shot up a Christmas Eve party at his former in- laws house outside of Los Angeles. That's according to investigators. And they say that Bruce Pardo was planning to fly to Canada after the shooting.
We have learned -- since learned from an "L.A. Times" reporter that a trip was for somewhere else. He never made it and instead he committed suicide. Plus, new details tonight. Police tell us they are looking for an SUV that Pardo apparently rented. It's a gray Toyota Rav4, just like this one. That license plate number is a California license plate. It is 5RYD562. Police warned the vehicle could be booby trapped or contain explosives. Nine people were killed in Pardo's rampage and an 8-year-old child was shot in the face. Listen to how the cops describe it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF KIM RANEY, COVINA, CALIFORNIA POLICE: He walked up to the door. Once he knocked on the door, ring the door bell and gain entrance. He immediately was confronted with an 8-year-old child who thought Santa Claus had come to the house. He shot her once in the face and then proceeded inside the residence. Mr. Pardo was armed with four handguns when he went into the residents. All four handguns have been recovered, and to the best of our belief, as of right now, all guns were emptied.
As he went into the house, he began shooting at the partygoers. Again, indiscriminately, it appears that he did have some intended targets, those being the family members and immediate family of his ex-wife. Once the shooting stopped, it appeared that he then retrieved the homemade device, activated that and went through the house basically delivering that and releasing a gas vapor inside the house.
There is no indication that he ignited the vapor. But the vapor was able to be ignited either by a pilot light or if there is a candle inside the house, because obviously there was an explosion that occurred inside the house. Mr. Pardo was severely injured during that explosion. He suffered third-degree burns on both arms. It also appears that the Santa Claus suit that he was wearing did melt on to his body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Just an unbelievable story. There are two things that I want to know. Just right off the bat. One, could anyone have seen this coming. And number two, did Bruce Pardo fit the profile of a criminal.
Well, joining us tonight, criminal psychologist Dr. Gloria Morrow. I should say clinical psychologist. And criminal profiler Pat Brown. And L.A. Times reporter Tami Abdollah. She's back. She joins us now as well.
Dr. Gloria, the Covina police released 911 tapes last night that shed some light on to the chaos as this massacre unfolded. I want our viewers along with Dr. Gloria to listen to this difficult situation, and so that she can offer us some advice on how to cope and how to stay safe or calm if we find ourselves in a similar situation. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: He came in through the entrance of the door. And there was a Santa Claus suit on. I didn't see when he shot. I heard the shots. They were pops and I wasn't sure what was going on.
Everyone started panicking and running. So we all dove under the dining room. Some of us dove, some of us leapt. I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And again, Dr. Gloria, this is very hard to listen to. And it sort of gives us an idea of what people are up against. Anyone can snap at any moment, especially with the stress that we are dealing with now. If we find ourselves in a similar situation like that, what can you do?
DR. GLORIA MORROW, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, first of all, those folks had no clue. They didn't see it coming. So in a situation, you do exactly what that caller did. You get on the phone and try to get 911. Try to get help. And try to deescalate the situation as best you can. I just hope they had a really good crisis team available to help those folks at the hospital, because this is a trauma that will be very difficult for them to forget.
LEMON: Before we move on to our criminal psychologist, Dr. Gloria, how does a family recover -- how does anyone recover from any situation like that? You can hear it in that woman's voice.
MORROW: Yes. It's going to take time and support. They're going to need on going therapy. There will be the possibility for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to occur, especially for that 8-year-old who answered the door and was shot immediately. So the visual images of that are going to be very difficult to get out of their mind, but with good support and with a great therapist and a support team, they can overcome this.
LEMON: Dr. Gloria, thank you. Thank you. That's a good advice. I want to move on now to our criminal profiler Pat Brown.
Can you profile anyone like this, Pat, who was not a criminal before? Are there warning signs that you can look for this, for someone who might lose it like this.
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, Don, I think the word a lot of signs in this man's life that he exhibited a lot of psychopathic tendencies. But the problem is people don't necessarily know what those are.
If we look back to his earlier life when he had this child with another woman, and supposedly he is home watching television, and the child ends up in the swimming pool -- a 1-1/2-year-old. And he didn't discover until his girlfriend arrives home and says, where's the child? Is in the swimming pool, she saves him.
But you wonder, how did that child ends up in the swimming pool. And there is a clue perhaps that either the man has no empathy for the child or perhaps he put him in the swimming pool himself. We don't know at this point. But what we do know is that he did not pay child support for this child who ended disabled for the rest of his life. And he also claim that little boy on his tax return, which is what set off the wife about, you know, what was going on in their lives. She said, where does this come from? Who's this little boy, and why are you putting him on our tax return.
So, there's all this, this little clues here, that he's not a really great guy.
LEMON: Yes.
BROWN: But you may not find it out until it's too late, and that's what happened in this circumstance.
LEMON: Yes, Pat. And a lot of what you're referring to is from the L.A. Times. That's what they are reporting about the little boy in the swimming pool or what have you, which brings me now to Tami Abdollah.
Tami, you were in the neighborhood and you heard both of our criminologist and our psychologist there. Did neighbors or family members or anyone say to you, anyone from the L.A. Times that there were any signs from this man that he might react violently?
TAMI ABDOLLAH, LA TIMES REPORTER: You know, his best friend of 28 years, most people that knew him said that he seemed like a really nice guy. Kept to himself. Didn't have many close friends. But there was a lot going on in his life at the time. He was a nice guy, seemingly very generous. Enjoyed the perks of his career as an engineer. He had a hummer and an escalade that he really liked to drive around. But otherwise, there weren't any ostensible signs that this was going to happen to anyone that knew him.
LEMON: Tami, Pat, Gloria, thank you very much. Stick around. We want to go dig deeper into the story, because another possible factor is an ugly divorce. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANEY: We are still doing a lot of background work to find out more about who he is and what might have been his motivation, you know, besides the obvious with the marital issues that were going on in the relationship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What else may have pushed Bruce Pardo over the edge?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANEY: To our knowledge as of right now, there was no restraining order between his ex-wife and Mr. Pardo. They just finalized their divorce last week. Apparently, they were in court last Thursday, understanding that that was a somewhat contentious procedure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, that was Covina, California Police Chief Kim Raney providing perhaps a little perspective on what may have driven Bruce Pardo to rage. We want to welcome back our guests now. Dr. Gloria Morrow, Pat Brown and Tami Abdollah.
Tami, new information you gave us at the top of this broadcast. Everyone had thought, and we have been reporting that he was going to Canada? But it was an Air Canada flight, but not to Canada.
ABDOLLAH: No. What sources are now saying is that the ticket was actually, as you said an Air Canada flight from LAX with a connection in Minneapolis that would take him to Moline, Illinois where he would rent a car and go visit his friend in Iowa?
LEMON: Do you know if this friend in Iowa has any -- was it a friend on his side or maybe his ex-wife side, do they have anything to do with them as a married couple?
ABDOLLAH: No. This was a friend from high school. They went to high school together.
LEMON: OK. I want to move on now and talk to Pat Brown about this.
Pat, you said that there were signs in all of this, and we may not know what those signs are. You went in -- you talk about his side, but you didn't talk to us about every day signs for every day people, because, you know, people always say, oh, anybody can snap.
BROWN: No, no.
LEMON: Usually before someone snaps --
BROWN: People don't just snap. They go to a point in their lives, where they don't like their life anymore or what's happening in their life. If we look at mass murderers, we find there are two groups of mass murderers -- teenagers and middle-age men in a mid-life crisis. The teenagers get to the point where they say, hey, you know, I'm not going to be anything in life. I'm a total loser. I'm never going to be anything. Why don't I go out with a blast and take all this people who are going to be something and get my revenge on them. Get my last moment.
For the middle-age guy, he says, look, my life has gone down the sewer. You know, I'm losing all the power and control I have. Now, I'm a total loser. I'm never going to get better. And all these people have done me wrong. In this case, I think Mr. Pardo decided -- well, his boss did him wrong and he got fired, and his wife did him wrong when she decided to leave him. But what we are ignoring is the fact that she had reasons to leave him. But he is going to say, no, I'm not guilty. She is, and therefore, she deserves that because the only way I'm going to prove myself now is to take them all out. Take out all those relatives who did me wrong. They're having a party, and I'm not invited anymore. They're calling me a loser. I'm not.
LEMON: And Dr. Gloria, Pat Brown brings up a good point. He lost his job. He lost his marriage. He may have felt that, you know, the family and everyone was going on and having a good time without him. And so, he was going to destroy the good time that they were having.
MORROW: Well, that's possible. Without us having more information about his medical history and his mental health history, we could even throw in the equation that he possibly suffered from depression. And he kept himself very contained until after the divorce. So we want to make sure that we alert people to understand that people may exhibit some of the subtle signs of depression that may not manifest themselves until someone really loses control and you know loses control as in this case.
LEMON: All right, Dr. Gloria Morrow, Pat Brown and also Tami Abdollah, thank you very much. There are many unanswered questions still in this case. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANEY: It looks like he had a plan to flee the country. That plan might have been altered due to the juries that he suffered. That he wasn't going to be able to travel. And he might have just decided to end the situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So far, I had been asking all the question here. But our panel is going to take your questions on this Christmas Eve massacre. Make sure you logon and send them in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANEY: He went inside, and while he was firing indiscriminately and very quickly, he probably did have some targets. We have some information. Again, it was hectic inside that house. These people are fleeing for their lives, and they are seeing just snap shots of this. Some information that he did target some people, might have stood over some people and executed them. But again, it's still fluid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. Some more information from Covina, California, the police chief there Kim Raney. Tami Abdollah from the L.A. Times, criminal profiler Pat Brown and clinical psychologist Dr. Gloria Morrow, all back with us tonight.
OK, Dr. Gloria, my question -- actually, the viewer's question is for you. Here's one. Her name is SofterSilk, right? This is on Twitter. She says, "Usually people who snap like that are the untreated mentally ill. Preventable tragedy. If someone hadn't shut mental hospitals. If society hadn't shut mental hospitals. Is there any truth to that?
MORROW: Well, I think that there are cases where people should have been hospitalized that have committed crimes -- maybe not of that nature, but had committed crimes. And so I do think that shutting down mental hospitals has not served our communities well.
LEMON: OK. There is another person who said that there should have been signs like Pat Brown was saying. "It's an horrific story. Devastating news about the orphans. Their children are orphans now. It is just terrible."
And then the next person says -- this is to you, Pat Brown. I don't think you can predict something like this. I think that one day the person just snap, and it's just not predictable.
BROWN: Well, first of all, I disagree with the fact the person snapped. What they've done is they got to the point in their life. They just don't like the fact that they've lost the power and control. This is a very psychopathic problem. We all like power and control. If we have bad things that happened to us, we get depress, we seek treatment. Maybe we drink a little bit. Maybe we try to find a new activity. We complained everybody. But we don't go out and shoot everybody in our family and destroy lives.
This is a psycho path. And he's not going to seek treatment. And he's going to do what he wants to do. So there's really no way you can predict this. The only thing you can do is try not to get involve with this kind of people, recognize the signs of psychopath, power and control, pathological line, manipulation, he's always right, you're always wrong, that kind of guy. Try not to get in a relationship with him and stay as clear as you can.
LEMON: Hey, Pat and Gloria, you heard Tami say that she was on the scene. Everyone that she spoke to, neighbors, friends and what have you said that he was a nice guy, and you always hear this sound byte -- oh, quiet guy, kept to himself. Do we not know enough about our neighbors, maybe? I will let you take that, Dr. Gloria.
MORROW: I believe that, you know, -- first, I have to go back to Pat. i have to.
LEMON: Go ahead.
MORROW: Because, you know, the studies have shown that people who commit murder-suicides, within that realm, they have found that many of those folks have struggled with depression. So I believe that there are psychopaths and there are people out there who do these kinds of heinous crimes with a flawed personality disorders, but I do think we undermine the impact of depression on the lives of people too often.
BROWN: Wait a minute. I would also say that we also ignore the fact that the reason these guys are getting depressed is because of the way they treat other people and the things they are doing in their lives. If you mistreat the people around you and do squirrelly things, eventually, your boss doesn't want you working for them anymore, your spouse doesn't want to be with you anymore, you upset people, and they don't want to be around anymore, so you're bringing on a lot of this stuff on your own.
Depression does not cause you to be a murderer. That's just ridiculous. Depression caused you to be depressed. Being a murderer requires a psychopathic nature behind it.
LEMON: All right. I think guys I'm going to have to give Tami the last word here. Tami, you've been doing lots of reporting. Very excellent reporting for the L.A. Times here. You gave us the information about the friend and also about the flight -- the change of flight. Have you spoken to any other family members? I know you spoke to the mom. Are there any other people out there that you have spoken to, that you're going to break in the L.A. Times tomorrow?
ABDOLLAH: We will break them in the L.A. times. But one thing that does kind of relate to what we've been speaking about already is that we did speak briefly with Brad -- Brad Pardo, his brother. And he said that, again, he couldn't believe this had happened, but he did know that his brother was that -- you know, that Bruce was depressed and that he was going to sell his Montrose home. So, there you have that fact that he was indeed depress and others have said that he appeared sad.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much Tami Abdollah, Pat Brown and Dr. Gloria Morrow. Have a great evening, all of you.
BROWN: Thanks, Don.
MORROW: Thank you, thank you.
ABDOLLAH: Thanks.
LEMON: You know, 'tis the season for giving, and a state park make sure one little girl gets her wish this Christmas. It could be her last.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: All she wanted for Christmas is snow. And if she lived in any northern state, that would be no problem. But Sophie Langford lives in the sunny south. And this may be her very last Christmas. Here is CNN's Brook Baldwin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A snowy surprise for Sophia.
SHIRLEY LANGFORD, SOPHIA'S MOTHER: Get daddy. Tell daddy. Get daddy.
BALDWIN: A 4-year-old who dreamed of a white Christmas. It's a welcome gift she definitely deserves. Just before her third birthday doctors discovered a cancerous tumor on her brain.
WAYNE LANGFORD, SOPHIA'S FATHER: My stomach started hurting and I still have the same ache in my gut today, a year and a half later. So, yeah, your life changes forever. I mean, you just -- it changes, utterly.
BALDWIN: Sophia has endured months of chemotherapy and radiation. She's also lost some of her sight and most of her hearing.
S. LANGFORD: She asked me to sing a lullaby after she lost her hearing. I had already started to sing it and she said mommy, sing me a lullaby. And I had to stop and set my lips against her ears so that she could feel the vibrations.
BALDWIN: Four brain surgeries later, these parents realized this is a battle their daughter will likely lose. In October, doctors gave Sophia anywhere from two weeks to two months to live.
S. LANGFORD: Here we go.
BALDWIN: That is why this snow is so special.
S. LANGFORD: That last, when she threw the snowball at you will stay with us forever. Each laugh is just that important to us.
BALDWIN (on camera): Seeing snow during the holiday season may not seem like a miracle to most, but we're in Georgia, where this stuff is hard to come by, unless you make it yourself.
(voice-over): That's one of the things these employees from a Georgia state park do during the winter. They caught wind of Sophia's story and wanted to help.
PAUL CREASY, STONE MOUNTAIN PARK: I definitely come out, no matter what the temperature is, and be a part of that.
BALDWIN: One snow machine, 30 tons of snow, and four dump trucks later, Sophia got her winter wonderland.
KELLEY SWANN, STONE MOUNTAIN PARK: Knowing that we were able to be a part of her wish and her family's wish is -- and make a little girl's dream come true is just exciting, and very fulfilling.
BALDWIN: Sophia's parents find fulfillment in finding their little girl with joy and laughter the rest of her days.
W. LANGFORD: It's a cliche but you know, every day, every day is Christmas.
BALDWIN: As long as they're filled with smiles and perhaps a sudden Georgia snowfall.
Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: So if you want to learn more about Sophia or find out what you can do to help her family and others, just logon to -- here it is - carepages.com. Carepages.com. Her link is sophiasjourney, and it's spelled out all in one word. There it is right there. It was at the top of your screen. All right, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. We've been asking everybody to send in your thoughts. Here are some of the thoughts. Here is what Colleena (ph) says. She says, "If there are any signs, and by definition, they didn't snap. We all need to be attentive to how we treat and comfort each other." Also one from SamuelAids (ph). He says, "It is obvious this man had some kind of mental disorder or illness. It is a very unfortunate incident." And the last one here is from Jeremy Goldman (ph). He says "Nothing excuses what Pardo did. No matter how depressed you are, there are places you can go for help versus inflicting misery."
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. I'll see you back here tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Eastern. She usually watches from home, but she's watching with me on the set. There's my mom. Goodnight, everybody. Wait, mom. Goodnight, Gracie (ph).
