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Wil the Stimulus Package Stimulate the Economy"; More Details of Flight 3407; Northern Illinois Univesity Revisited
Aired February 14, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Stimulus schimulus. That's what some are saying. An economic boost to the economy, or, as critics say, an overspending plan? When will you see more money in your paycheck or some of you have paycheck at all?
What happened? Was it ice, mechanical, human error, or a combination that caused Continental Flight 3407 to slam into a home? The very latest from the investigators.
One year out, police investigating the Northern Illinois University massacre have yet to release their report. So, CNN does its own investigating -- unraveling the mind of a killer.
Overwhelmed by not congratulatory notes. Nope, the octuplet's mom bombarded with death threats. And there is a new twist that involves actress Angelina Jolie. We're going to tell you about it.
And you've seen the theater where Lincoln was shot. Well, tonight, we take you inside the bedroom where he took his last breath.
The news starts right now.
All right. We have this just in to CNN. Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
It has been talked about, debated, poked, prodded and argued over for weeks. And tonight, CNN has learned that the $787 billion economic stimulus plan, just days away from becoming law.
We want to go now to our Suzanne Malveaux. She joins us now in Chicago with the latest on this developing news.
What did you learn tonight, Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we know that the president is going to sign this legislation on Tuesday out of Denver. Now, this is really a departure from what you usually see out of Washington -- the president usually in a very kind of formal setting at the White House with members of Congress. But aides say, look, this is an opportunity for him to show that he gets it, he wants to be out with the American people, and they can use the city as a demonstration of, like, an example of how they're going to create jobs.
It's aerospace, energy. These are the types of things -- they've diversified their economy -- the types of things that they want to talk about. And it really will be able to link this economic stimulus package with real people. At least, Don, that is the hope of the White House.
LEMON: Yes, and they want to get out of Washington and all of that tugging of -- that tug-of-war between Democrats and Republicans, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Absolutely. I mean, they really are trying to portray this as not a food fight between Democrats and Republicans, they're trying to downplay the fact that they didn't get very much support from Republicans, and simply put him out in an environment where he is relating to folks, ordinary folks, and making the sell. And they said, even last week, there was a real turnaround, that it was very difficult. The Republicans are simply controlling the message. They really got control back of that message when they felt that he was out there.
And we have learned, Don, that once a week, he's going to be on the road.
LEMON: Yes.
MALVEAUX: He's going to be out there and selling whatever it is. But the economic stimulus package, obviously, the most important thing in convincing American people, believe in the economy, have faith that things are going to get better, that they will create those jobs, Don.
LEMON: I think it's interesting that the charm offensive, as they call it, is working, it appears, among the American public, but not necessarily in Washington, Suzanne.
All right. Thank you very much for that. We appreciate it -- our Suzanne Malveaux with our developing news from Chicago tonight.
And once the president does sign his name on Tuesday, the billions of dollars in spending will soon start flowing. But that doesn't mean the plan is popular across the capital. After yesterday's vote, the House Republican leader blasted the measure as bloated and full of wasteful spending.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) MINORITY LEADER: I've just got to say, the president made clear when we started this process that this was about jobs -- jobs, jobs, jobs. And what it's turned into is nothing more than spending, spending, and more spending. American families, small businesses deserve better from their Congress. I said on the opening day, we wouldn't be the party of no, and we haven't been. We offered an alternative that would have created twice as many jobs as their bill at half the price.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: President Obama, however, calls the stimulus plan a major milestone, but he cautions that the stimulus by itself won't be enough. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: Once the plan is put into action, a new Web site, Recovery.gov, will allow any American to watch where the money goes and weigh in with comments and questions. And I encourage every American to do so. Ultimately, this is your money, and you deserve to know where it's going and how it's spent.
This historic step won't be the end of what we do to turn our economy around, but rather the beginning. The problems that led us into this crisis are deep and widespread, and our response must be equal to the task.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So, where's that $787 billion going? Well, take a listen. I'll tell you right now.
$267 billion will be used for direct spending, things like food stamps and unemployment benefits. $212 billion comes in the form of tax cuts. Most people will get a $400 tax credit. Couples will get $800.
$120 billion is to improve infrastructure, patching up roads, bridges, buildings, things like that. $100 billion is set aside for education. And $30 billion will be spent on energy projects to create so-called "green jobs."
CNN's John King, of course, will have more on the stimulus plan and its political fallout tomorrow morning. "STATE OF THE UNION," that's Sunday 9:00 a.m. Eastern, only on CNN. "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING" -- make sure you tuned in for that.
No one in California needs reminding that the economy is struggling. That state is trying to find a way to close a $42 billion budget deficit. Lawmakers are gathering this hour to start voting on a mix of massive spending cuts and tax hikes. Democrats are unhappy with the plans for $15 billion in cuts. Republicans are angry that the state could raise taxes by more than $14 billion.
We'll pay close attention to that and bring you any updates.
We have a follow up now on the saga involving former Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich. It turns out Roland Burris, the man Blagojevich appointed to Barack Obama's Senate seat, was solicited to contribute money to the governor's campaign. That's a fact that Burris did not reveal when he testified before a state impeachment committee.
Burris now says he was contacted three times about donating or raising cash for the governor, but he says he refused the request because of the appearance of a conflict of interest. As you know, Blagojevich was later impeached and removed from office in part over claims he tried to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder.
New details now are emerging in the crash of a commuter plane near Buffalo, New York, on Thursday night. But the new information raises more questions about what really happened as Continental Connection Flight 3407 suddenly fell from the sky as it was preparing to land. Perhaps more interesting, investigators say the plane did not appear to slam nose-first into a house in the town of Clarence Center.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN CHEALANDER, NTSB BOARD MEMBER: There's been a lot of reports of the airplane coming nose-down into the house and the accident -- eyewitness reports and so forth. And what we've found are all four corners of the airplane. We have found the cockpit, the tail section, both wings and engines, and they're where they should be if an airplane was laying flat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All 49 people on board the plane and one person on the ground were killed. The process of removing bodies from the crash site has begun. Completing that grim task will probably take several days.
We are starting to hear from the family members whose loved ones were on Continental Flight 3407, putting real faces on an incredible tragedy. Shirlene Thiesfeld's brother was piloting that flight. She spoke with our Larry King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, "LARRY KING LIVE" HOST: What was it like?
SHIRLENE THIESFELD, PILOT'S BROTHER: He hadn't changed much. He was a great person, he was a wonderful father. He was very involved in his church, in his community. He loved life. He loved sharing his life with his family and friends and involved them. He had a passion for flying. And he'll be -- he'll be missed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And this is Rebecca Shaw, the copilot. Her mother talked about her passion for flying as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was light. She loved to fly, it was her passion. She just -- she just loved flying, and anytime she could be in the air. She was an amazing woman. She came very, very far. She -- you know, she's just full of energy. She'd try anything, do anything, was up for any new experience. And she just loved life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: One of the victims -- Rebecca Shaw's mother.
Ice is the prevailing theory about what caused Flight 3407 to crash. CNN investigative reporter Drew Griffin explains how it could have happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATION UNIT (voice-over): As investigators now focus on icing on Flight 3407, Georgia Tech research scientist Jim Brooks says ice buildup on a wing can take control out of a pilot's hands.
JIM BROOKS, AEROSPACE RESEARCH SCIENTIST: The air is no longer flowing over that as it was designed. It's disrupted.
GRIFFIN: It would build up slowly, a freezing cold aluminum skin aircraft suddenly flying into freezing rain and ice adhering first to the outer wings and then building. With the wings becoming heavier, losing their aerodynamic shape due to ice buildup, the plane would begin to lose lift, literally sinking in midair as it slows down. The pilot might not feel it, not see it, but the plane would start to drop. When enough lift is lost, the plane stalls, and is now out of control, rolling to the side where the wing ice is heaviest, then pitching into a dive.
This eyewitness describes just that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, it was pitched and it was headed -- it was headed down.
GRIFFIN: Brooks says to recover from a stall including an ice- inflicted stall, a pilot would push the nose down, dive, and regain air flow.
BROOKS: What you've got to do is get that air speed back. And to get that air speed back, what do you do? You lower that nose.
GRIFFIN: But at lower altitudes, there's little room to maneuver. There are two different deicing systems on the Dash 8. Electric heaters that heat air heading into the engine and along the leading edge of the plane's propellers, and a second system called boots, that help shed ice from the wings.
Aircraft investigator, Tom Ellis, who works for a law firm that has sued over the issue, says the boots are really an archaic system, like a rubber balloon inflating and deflating to push and crack away building ice.
TOM ELLIS, AIR CRASH INVESTIGATOR: You're talking about an aircraft that's certified to carry up to 78 people that's using pneumatic de- icing boots, bladder technology from the 1930s.
GRIFFIN: In 1994, American Eagle Flight 4184 crashed in Roselawn, Indiana. The finding, ice built up beyond the reach of the de-ice boot. Sixty-eight were killed. And four years ago, this week, Tricia Coffman's husband, Dave, was killed along with seven others when a Cessna citation executive plane crashed near Pueblo, Colorado, in icing conditions.
TRICIA COFFMAN, HUSBAND KILLED IN 2005 CRASH: And I had hoped that our accident would bring interest into icing, that it wouldn't happen again, that nobody else would feel that. Because you want to feel like there was something significant that came from your loss. GRIFFIN: Investigators blame the crew for not properly activating the de-icing boots, blamed the system itself for not being automatic, and also blamed the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to establish adequate certification requirements for flight into icing conditions.
(on camera): The requirement, 15 years now in the making, would require all new airplanes to have ice detection systems that activate or alert pilots to activate ice protection systems. Why has it taken 15 years? An FAA spokesperson told us that the requirement is nearly done, but just not done yet.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Drew.
Overwhelmed, not by congratulatory messages. The octuplet's mom bombarded with death threats. And there is a new twist that involves -- believe it or not -- Angelina Jolie.
Also, we want you to know what's on your mind tonight. Make sure you become part of our program here. Send us your responses, what you think about the stories we put on the air, and we will get them on for you.
We're back moments away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know what? This is still a hot topic -- really, everybody's talking about -- the California woman who recently gave birth to eight babies.
Now we're learning that the fertility specialist responsible for those babies allegedly has another patient with a multiple pregnancy. The "L.A. Times" says a woman is in her late 40s, already has three grown children, and only wanted one more. "The Times" says she's now carrying quadruplets due in two or three months. Her case is sure to provoke more outcry and raise questions about the ethics of multiple fertilizations.
CNN's Randi Kaye reports on the hostile backlash now aimed at the octuplet's mom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When most women give birth, they are overwhelmed with congratulatory messages -- not this woman. The publicist for the octuplet's mom says her client has been bombarded with hundreds of angry e-mails and voice mails, some including death threats.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That little gold-digging trailer trash tramp has no right to be using the money of the taxpayers to pay for her (BLEEP) welfare tribe of the little children.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
JOANN KILLEEN, SPOKESWOMAN FOR OCTUPLETS MOM: I've gotten death threats. One gentleman called, I think he was from Fargo, and said that people like me should be put in a wood chipper.
KAYE: Many are mad because Nadya Suleman is an unemployed single mother in debt and on food stamps, who already had six children. Taxpayers aren't happy about paying for these babies too. Even though she says she's getting her master's degree, then a job, fertility experts aren't thrilled with any of this either.
DR. JAMIE GRIFO, NYU FERTILITY CENTER: The number of embryos that were transferred, that's beyond what our guidelines are. It exposed this patient and her babies to very severe medical risks. And that's not what we do.
KAYE: The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends the transfer of only one embryo for women under 35 and no more than two. Suleman, seen here in this picture from TMZ.com, is 33. She told NBC she had six embryos implanted, then two of them split.
(on camera): Part of the problem, the U.S. doesn't have any laws to enforce the guidelines. The CDC told us it keeps track of fertility data, but reporting is strictly voluntary. With no accountability, more than 50,000 children a year are born as a result of in vitro fertilization in this country, making it a $1 billion business nationwide.
(voice-over): Meanwhile, the octuplet's birth continues to play out in Hollywood, too. The "Chicago Sun-Times" reports actress Angelina Jolie, is, quote, "totally creeped out" by Suleman, who has denied trying to look like Jolie, but bears an uncanny resemblance. The paper also says a source told them Suleman sent Jolie letters over the past year about her talents and her efforts to help children around the world. Is there a movie in here somewhere?
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Wow. Boy, that is a weird story. How does someone on public assistance afford a publicist as well?
All right. Here's a couple of you are saying. Bejewels says, "OK, the octuplet debacle is outrageous, but death threats are even more so. Suleman plus 14 need counseling and security ASAP."
Edicampbell says, "Who wrote the 1,100 pages of the stimulus bill and who actually read it." Iviedoris, "Obama's first few weeks were challenging. Pushback from Republicans at times made me doubt the stimulus package, but if it works, a-ha!" Digitally -- wait a minute -- DigitalBilly202, you guys have to get easy names, something's not so hard, so I read it better. DigitalBilly202, "If Senator Burris lied about the conversation, is it possible that he also lied about making a donation?"
All right. Those are some good responses and we want more. Become part of our show. You can be part of our team here on CNN, right here in the NEWSROOM. Just send your responses to any of those things, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, iReport. We will try to get as many on as possible.
Remembering the faces of Flight 3407: Among them, a young woman passionate about hockey whose life was cut short in Buffalo.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She'd go to places that I could only dream of. And every time she would go, she would do things spiritually to bring her closer to the earth, to bring her closer to God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Oh, what a great smile she has. Rick Ellis remembering his friend, Susan Wehle, one of the passengers killed in the crash of Flight 407 outside Buffalo, New York, Thursday night. Very sad. The 55-year-old woman who helped lead prayers at her synagogue was returning to Buffalo after a vacation.
Well, we're also learning more about the passengers. Twenty-four- year-old Madeline Loftus and 14 others were on their way to a woman's ice hockey game in Buffalo. And that's where we find CNN's Ines Ferre. She is in Clarence Center, New York.
Inez, tell us what you're learning about these wonderful people who sadly lost their life. And this community, I'm sure, is in mourning right now.
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don. Her friends said that she was an amazing young woman. She was 24 years old and her friends called her Maddy, and she was a very talented ice hockey player.
And that's what she was coming to do here in Buffalo. She was going to be playing in an alumni game here at Buffalo State College -- and I'm actually at that ice rink.
This afternoon, her friends decided that they were going to play that game. Her teammates decided that this was very important, because they said Maddy would have wanted us to do this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a really hard time for her teammates, for her friends, for her family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just being an awesome teammate, a beautiful person, always smiling and always upbeat and, you know, ready to cheer you up if you were having a bad day. And -- she was just amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FERRE: And after the game, they huddled around in the middle of the ice rink and they prayed and they lit 10 candles. Ten, because Maddy's team number was number 10, her shirt was number 10. So they had a very emotional time there in the center of the ice rink, remembering her and praying for her. It was a very special game, but obviously, as you can tell, it was also a very sad one -- Don?
LEMON: Yes. Ines, as you can see -- you can just see the sadness on the faces of those folks and your heart just goes out to them. And we wish everyone in that community and everyone who was touched by someone on this airplane, our hearts and our prayers are with you as well.
Ines, thank you very much and for your thoughtful coverage of that story.
Rebuilding a shattered community after a plane plunges from the sky. We'll talk about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You feel a sense of loss and tragedy, but western New York is a very tight-knit community and we're going to get through this, just like we've gotten through everything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A closer look as a recovery process in Clarence Center, New York begins.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF KAREN WIELENSKI, HOME DESTROYED IN CRASH: I shouted first, in case anybody was out there, and then just kind of pushed what was on me, part of that off and crawled out the hole. I had heard, like, you know, a woman crying and when I came out of the hole, you know, the back of the house was gone. You know, the fire had started. I could see the wing of the plane and Jill was over to the side, you know, crying, of course, hysterical.
To me, it looked like the plane just came down in the middle of the house. And unfortunately, that's where it was.
He was a good person. He loved his family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Wow. All right, well, Karen Wielenski, the wife of Doug Wielenski. He's a man who was killed when Flight 3407 slammed right into his house, right into his house.
Now medical examiners have begun removing bodies from the site of that Thursday night plane crash near Buffalo. The process will probably take several days. And the NTSB says a visual inspection of both engines appears to show they were both working at the time of the crash. A more thorough inspection of what went wrong won't emerge until inspectors separate the plane wreckage from the house it fell on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN CHEALANDER, NTSB BOARD MEMBER: It's a tough scene because you've got a house and an airplane and people altogether in this one wreckage. So it's a very painstaking process and they're working, sometimes with just small little instruments, just to knock pieces of dirt off and get pieces of airplane and so forth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, this happened before, back in 1986, and that is when a plane slammed into a neighborhood in Cerritos, California, outside of Los Angeles. It is something these people you're about to see will never forget.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was like an instant flashback.
PETE STRANZ, CERRITOS, CALIFORNIA: But the main body of the plane was right here. I didn't pay attention to it until I heard a jet and jet engines were stalling as it was coming down, it was going, baa boom, baa boom, baa boom. I knew right away to look.
These homes on the north end here, they were all destroyed. This is the main area where the aircraft came in.
MARYANN STRANZ, CERRITOS, CALIFORNIA: I looked at my dad, because the house started rumbling, and I said, oh, my god, we must be having a horrible earthquake. Then I can hear him yelling, get out of the house, get out of the house. There's a jet plane coming down.
PETE STRANZ: The first thing we noticed besides the fire that was roaring, we noticed there was part of a body laying here.
BARBARA MASSEY, CERRITOS, CALIFORNIA: Well, you have to remember that everybody's in shock. So don't do a lot of sitting down and saying, how do you feel? But what they need to do is to give as much comfort to people and to honor people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Yes. Remember that. Remember that. Wow. Well, you know, those plane crashes don't happen very often, but when they do, they make people very, very nervous. Not all people, but some people. I should say, a lot of people are very nervous. I'm among them.
Joining us now to talk about this is psychologist Reid Wilson, director of the anxiety disorder treatment center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Thank you very much. Since this happened, this only happened a couple of days ago, I've had to fly twice, and I tell you, every single time, I mean, just the past few times I have been just been frightened. And I imagine this goes far beyond Buffalo, doesn't it?
REID WILSON, ANXIETY DISORDER TREATMENT CTR.: Well, it certainly does. And people who are somewhat apprehensive, people are looking for information that reinforces their beliefs. And I think there is something dangerous about flying then I'm going to absorb this information like a sponge and the successful landing last week all of a sudden gets offset by some tragedy like this, because this drama, this trauma stands out more firmly in people's minds who are afraid to fly.
LEMON: Have you had to counsel anyone since the plane crash on Thursday night?
WILSON: I certainly have and I've got eight people I'm working with this weekend. And that was the topic of conversation, because they flew in from - some flew in from Canada and were part of weather. And since icing seems to be a possible culprit now when you're flying and there's some weather like that, you've become apprehensive, because you start thinking, this is going to be me, like it was them.
LEMON: Before we get closer to home, meaning closer to Buffalo, and what happened in Clarence, you call it vicarious trauma when people who are really removed from this are afraid by it or nervous, thinking the same thing can happen to them.
WILSON: Yes, certainly. We had the same thing with 9/11. We have this with most crashes. I replace the person in the trauma with myself. I imagine, oh, how horrible that would have been if it had been me. And while I'm having that thought, I'm having a complex imagery about it, developing that fear reaction and all of a sudden now I'm involved too. And that's that vicarious trauma, where I'm affected by it.
LEMON: All right. Let's talk about the people involved. Obviously, this is going to take, for many of them, probably months and months, maybe years of counseling, family members, to get over this.
WILSON: Sure. It certainly can, but this is a normal, healthy grief response. We don't want to pathologize this. This is something that they do need to go through. And more than getting professional help right now, it's more, being with family, being with friends, being able to talk about what's going on. Being quiet, if you need to. The worst is withdrawing, getting by yourself, closing down. That's what we'd like not to see.
LEMON: You know, we talked about people outside. Does this affect - again, this just sort of popped in my head. Does this affect people who work in the airline industry, maybe pilots or flight attendants or people who work in the industry?
WILSON: I think they have more empathy than anything and are more sensitive to these people. I think you're either prone and sensitive to this kind of fear or you're not. So it really doesn't depend so much on the industry. LEMON: OK. Hey, before I let you go, what about the people - I mean, most people don't worry about airplanes falling out of the sky into their homes, but I imagine people, maybe for people who live close to airports, that's a real concern.
WILSON: And it will be interesting. You'll hear a plane fly overhead, the closer it gets to you, the louder it gets, of course, and now there'll be people who'll go, it's getting louder, it's falling out of the sky. That will take a few days, a few weeks, and people will work through that.
LEMON: OK. All right. Reid Wilson, we appreciate it. Have a good rest of your weekend. OK.
WILSON: Thank you.
LEMON: All right. We've been asking you to send your responses on the stories that we have today on the air. Here's what ecurra19 says, ecurra19l this has not been the first plane, just think about the many community areas around the airports.
Mike Wessler says Obama to sign stimulus bill out of D.C. any doubt now about who American people support and who Washington establishment supports.
And seaape(ph) says I'm 17 and I'm worried about the government spending so much that even my grandchildren will be paying for it.
17. If you're 17, you got a while. So hang on.
Bejewels says OK the octuplet debacle is outrageous but death threats are even more so. Suleman & 14 need counseling and security ASAP.
We want to know what what's on your mind. Become part of our community, part of our show really. Log on to twitter, Facebook, myspace, i-report. Give us your comments and we will get as many on the air as possible, just like the ones you just saw.
Well, how were the warning signs missed in this case?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The degree of self-destruction and antisocial behavior at the end of really scary behaviors was just phenomenal. And at some point, after you look at all of those records, you just have to wonder, what does a mass murderer have to do to get noticed?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: This story is fascinating. It is one year after the Valentine's day shooting rampage at Northern Illinois University. We have some chilling clues into the mind of a shooter. We know you're interested in it, because it's number one on cnn.com and you've been writing about it right here to twitter, Facebook, and myspace. We're going to give you a special investigation you'll only see right here on CNN moments away. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Remember one year ago, one year ago, I remember being at the campus of NIU, Northern Illinois University. It is the one-year anniversary of the Valentine's day shootings at Northern Illinois University. Five students were killed before the gunman, Steven Kazmierczak, took his own life.
Well, today, somber ceremonies to remember the victims and honor the survivors. 19 other people were wounded in the rampage. At the ceremony, school officials unveiled plans for a memorial. It will include five granite slabs, each will be engraved with the name of a student killed.
An exclusive CNN investigation reveals that may have fueled - what may have fuelled the gunman's rampage. They find out in this investigation. Abbi Boudreau from our Special Investigations Unit. She joins us now with a preview of "Unraveling the Mystery of the NIU killer" which airs tonight at 11:00 Eastern.
It's hard to believe it's been one year. I mean, honestly that was the first time that you and I met each other. We were working on the same story, and it was just weird being on that campus.
ABBI BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: We knew so little at that very moment and then one year later, we've learned so much more.
LEMON: Yes.
BOUDREAU: For the story tonight, CNN got access to about 1,500 documents that are part of the still-secret police investigation into the murders. We've also reviewed Kazmierczak's psychiatric and military records. One year later, we can now see the red flags throughout his life and why his obsession with serial killers and horror movies provide clues as to what happened at NIU.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Behind that mask is Steven Kazmierczak. He dressed up as jigsaw's alter ego for Halloween in 2007. Jigsaw is the sadistic killer from the horror movies "Saw."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heed my warning, Agent Perez. Your next move is critical.
BOUDREAU: Jigsaw tests his victims by teaching them the value of their lives by torturing them and making them face possible death. CNN has learned this would later be a clue that's important to understanding what happened and why he walked into that classroom and opened fire.
DAVID VANN, AUTHOR: It's just amazing that he could that coldly plan to kill all those people.
BOUDREAU: It was so calculated.
VANN; So calculated everything was planned out carefully.
BOUDREAU: David Vann is an author and professor. For nine months, he studied the shootings for a book he wrote about the murders. He wanted to find out if there really were no red flags, like NIU officials told the media right after the shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, there were no red flags.
BOUDREAU: Vann says a law enforcement source gave him access to about 1,500 pages of the investigation and Vann gave CNN exclusive access to those documents.
VANN: The degree of self-destruction and anti-social behavior at the end of really scary behaviors was just phenomenal. And at some point, after you look at all of those records, you just have to wonder, what does a mass murderer have to do to get noticed?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Oh, my gosh. Abbi, it's sad, really. It's sad. What, 1,500 pages of documents, is that what it was?
BOUDREAU: About 1,500 pages or more. There's a lot of stuff to go through.
LEMON: And you go through a lot of, sort of, the warning signs, but also he had a lot of secrets.
BOUDREAU: Oh, yes, this whole thing is about secrets and you know, warning sign. If people see something what are they supposed to do. And that's some of what we're going to talk about later tonight as well. You know, if you do see warning signs, is there anything that you can do? Or is it possible to spot someone who, you know, who might be a killer? And that's some of the stuff that we're blogging about right now on cnn.com. And there's just so much here. It's hard to look at this kind of stuff and read through all of this and realize that so many lives were taken and you know 18 people were injured, seriously injured that day.
LEMON: I was going to say, it's part of your job as the investigative correspondent and part of your producer's job to go online on cnn.com. I mean, people are really weighing in on this as well.
BOUDREAU: There's a big debate. I mean, it's about mental health, it's about guns, it's about what to do, it's about warning signs. I mean, there's so much to look into. And that's some of what we're going to talk about tonight. I think it's a really, really important story.
LEMON: Tip of the iceberg. Abbi, great reporting. And we're going to see much, much more of this. Thank you very much.
As I said, it is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this "Unraveling the Mystery of the NIU killer." Much, much more, tonight, 11:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN Make sure you stay tuned for that. Here's what some of you are saying about this. One person, at least, weighing in on the NIU killer. It's JEHarman. He says, a year later on that NIU killer and they still haven't found out that he went crazy and engaged in mass murder. Witmyvoice says, god bless all those on flight 3407. And mcdarling says I am enjoying your show tonight. The crash in Clarence is very sad. I pray that the reason for the crash is discovered. We want you to be part of our community here, part of our team. You can be on our show as well. Make sure you log on to twitter, Facebook, myspace, or I-report.com. Tell us what you're thinking and we'll get your responses on the air. And don't forget Abbi's report tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.
It is a home where President Lincoln took his last breaths. I'll take you straight to his death bed when I come back and introduce you to the people who were there, well, sort of. You'll see what I'm talking about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A big week for history buffs and students of current events. The nation pauses to mark the 200th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birth. The observances included a wreath-laying ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. President Obama attended anniversary events in Washington and in Illinois.
And as the first African-American president, Mr. Obama says he feels a special gratitude toward Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation, calling on slaves to be freed. Both Presidents Obama and Lincoln served in the Illinois state legislature, about 150 years apart.
Well no doubt you know about Ford's Theater, where President Lincoln was assassinated, you know, watching that play, "Our American Cousin," that fateful evening. But do you know about the Peterson house where President Lincoln actually died right across from the Ford's theater.
When I was in Washington this week, I got a behind the scenes look and met some very interesting characters. Pay attention.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): Ford's theater was in chaos the night Lincoln was assassinated. They tried to bring him to safety. In a horde of 200,000 people, they were looking for somewhere to take him. They didn't want to put him into a carriage because it would be too jarring to see a man standing on these steps with a candle. His name is Henry Stafford. He's renting a room from William and Ana Peterson.
This house now where they brought him to is one of the most famous homes in America and we're going to take a tour. Sylvia here works for the National Parks Service and she's going to show us around. Let's go. So, Sylvia, this is the exact route they brought the president here.
SYLVIA: Yes, they did. They carried him right down this hallway to the bedroom in the back and the staff and the friends went into these other two rooms and that's where the visitors come. It's into these two rooms first.
LEMON: OK. And also, they brought Mrs. Lincoln in here. So you try to make it as real as possible when people come through.
SYLVIA: We do, we do. This is Mrs. Lincoln.
LEMON: How you doing, Mrs. Lincoln?
MRS. LINCOLN: Not well. I'm hear, waiting to hear from my husband.
LEMON: And so they got through again, as real as possible and then you are the barber, right?
FRED WIGGINS, "WILLIAM FLORVILLE," PARK RANGER: Yes, my name is William Florville. And I was Lincoln's barber in Springfield, Illinois. This was a boarding house so this room was rented to a couple who slept in this bed. And when the Secretary of War came here. He asked them to let him use that room to do the investigation. So this was the seat of government that night while the president lie in the back room.
You said you're here because you wanted to show that Mr. Lincoln had African-Americans in his life, is that -
WIGGINS: Yes, Mr. Lincoln had many African-Americans in his life. Mrs. Lincoln had a seamstress named Heckley and Mr. Lincoln had a barber named William Florville.
LEMON: Back into the hallway where he was taken and then -
SYLVIA: Right down this hallway they carried him and they brought him into this room. This was a rental room to a soldier. And he was gone that night at a party. And so they just borrowed his empty bed. They laid him on the bed. They had to lay him diagonal because he's 6'4", it's a six foot bed. The only way to fit put his feet in that corner and his head over here.
LEMON: Look around this room, it's really small.
SYLVIA: Very small room.
LEMON: How many people do you think were in and out of here.
SYLVIA: I don't know. They had quite a number of doctors in here. But because the room is small, there could only be so many folks in here at a time. They would take turns coming and going.
LEMON: It's interesting you think with someone who is the president of the United States and then all of a sudden this is where it ends.
SYLVIA: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: The Peterson House right across the street from the Ford's Theater. That's where President Abraham Lincoln finally died that evening.
This week I sat down with former secretary of state Colin Powell, a pioneer in his own right. And I asked him for his impressions on President Lincoln.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: There's no question that he was one of our greatest presidents, not just a great emancipator. He had a more important role than just to emancipate the slaves. He had to keep the country together. And that was his first goal, to preserve the union. And the process of doing that, he emancipated the slaves as part of his efforts to preserve the union and we should thank him for preserving the union and emancipating the slaves.
It's unfortunate we lost a president like him because I think the whole reconstruction period would have been entirely different and the great tragedy of our country is that after that war that preserved the union and ended slavery, was able to slip back into a position of racism, Jim Crow, segregation and all the other terrible things that happened for the next 100 years until we had the second civil war, a more peaceful civil war, led by Dr. Martin Luther King.
So I think Lincoln will always be seen as a great president. I regret that we lost him too soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That is only just a little bit of what Colin Powell and i talked about. You can see more of our conversation in a special. It's a special news segment called "Up from a Past: African-American firsts." We profile people who were the firsts in their area, first African-Americans. Colin Powell of course, the first secretary of state.
Very interesting conversation. That is tomorrow night 7:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN. Make sure you tune in.
OK. Here's what some of you are saying. Radical Rick living near Buffalo. The whole area is somber. We will get through this. God bless the victims, their families and friends. We agree with you on that. Thank you, sir.
Cabaretartists says those who voted for stimulus should not get any of it. They said our constituents do not want it. No vote, no stimulus. We want you to be part of our show. Come on, be in our show, guys. We're inviting you to. Logon to twister, Facebook, myspace or ireport.com. We'll get you on our show. At least your name. Depending how you send your response, you might get your picture as well.
All right. No money, no problem. We'll tell you what this jewelry store did to make Valentine's day super special, super special for their customers. Super special. Super duper.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: OK. Hey, you know, it's Valentine's day. Happy Valentine's day, everyone. Hope you enjoyed it. And if you didn't, well I'm sorry. Did you get my free gift at the jewelry store? Talk about paying it forward, a Connecticut jewelry store putting love back into Valentine's day by offering free necklaces to unemployed customers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON OGRIN, RECEIVED FREE NECKLACE: It's nice to see a company out there actually trying to take positive steps when there's so much negative going on.
ROSIE DEROBERTIS, DEROBERTS JEWELERS: Unemployment will only take you so far. It's not going to give you the extras that you need in life. And certainly being able to do something like this is just - it's just such a kick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Aw, Rosie, you're so sweet. A hug is all Rosie DeRobertis ask for in return. Hugs are good. For good people, (inaudible) did you guys know that? She was moved by seeing so many people hurting right now and she wanted them to know the community cares. Rosie, you're so sweet. Happy Valentine's day. Will you guys be my Valentine? OK. I'll move on now.
Bonnie Schneider in the weather center. Bonnie, I wish it was a fun toss. Happy Valentine's day to you as well.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Happy Valentine's Day.
LEMON: You got some serious weather going on, don't you.
SCHNEIDER: Yes, We are tracking some storms that are just making their way into a California right now, Don. And these storms starting off to the north and they're going to work their way south. The risk for mudslides, it will really be apparent by the time we get to Monday especially in southern California in the burn areas.
But let's focus on what's happening right now. I'm going to walk over here and give you a better look at the focus of this big storm that's brewing along the west coast, as we zoom into the region. You'll see we're expecting some very strong winds with the storm and also not only that but also heavy downpours of rain, possibly some big snows for the ski areas, one to two feet up into the mountains.
And then expect that rain to accumulate even in the San Francisco bay area as we go into tomorrow's forecast. The winds right now are starting to pick up along the coast, not so bad in San Francisco. But we have seen a lot of airport delays due to the low clouds in the area. In San Francisco and also in Washington, D.C., if you're flying out tonight, watch out, there are some departure delays in the forecast and they're increasing in the D.C. area.
The forecast for San Francisco calls for wet weather for Sunday, especially into Monday. We have wind advisories in place starting at 10:00 tonight to 10:00 tomorrow morning for high wind. Gusts could get as strong as 30 miles per hour. I'll have more on that certainly. And we're also going to watch tomorrow the storm as it goes to the areas of southern California, Don. That's when it could get a little tricky.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, Bonnie, appreciate it.
Some of your responses, again musicalQT. I got that right. Last time I said QT. MusicalQT, loving the Lincoln story. The correlations are amazing. By the way, Happy Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's day to you. Thank you very much.
Survanio, Don, agree with the no vote, no stimulus, so, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and others.
Man, you guys writing this little ellipses, I don't know what you're writing about. Others look out. Vote better next time.
Wlparie says hey, Don, thanks for doing a great job every weekend. My whole family enjoys watching. I enjoy that you watch. And I'm glad that you enjoy. Thank you very much.
Make sure you become part of our show. Twitter, Facebook, myspace, i- report.com.
I want to tell you about what's happening tonight. Tonight chilling new details from a CNN special investigation. One year after the shooting massacre at Northern Illinois University, we're going inside the mind of a killer. So many warning signs missed. You won't believe what you're going to see and hear unraveling, the mind of a killer tonight 11:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.
I'll see you back here tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. Good night.
