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Tragic Police Shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; News Conference on the Binghamton, New York Massacre

Aired April 04, 2009 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking news that we're following, a tragic police shooting in western Pennsylvania, today. Our affiliates WTAE and WPXI are reporting that at least two officers are dead. A total of five have actually been shot. It happened during a hail of gun fire in the Stanton Heights neighborhood in Pittsburgh as police responded to a domestic disturbance call. Witnesses report some 80 bullets were exchanged between the suspect and police. The gunman apparently has surrendered.

The Pittsburgh police chief spoke just a few minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF NATHAN HARPER, PITTSBURGH POLICE: ...serious injuries.

QUESTION: How did this end?

HARPER: The suspect, as far as we know now is 22, 23-year-old male that was firing several shots out of a window with a high-powered rifle. He actually had two, one assault rifle and one long-arm rifle as well as one pistol and a lot of ammo.

QUESTION: How did you get him to surrender?

HARPER: Our negotiators finally spoke to him and he did surrender. At this time, though, we're still investigating the scene. Our homicide people are there investigating the scene because we returned several shots as well to the actor because the actor was firing at residents with a high-powered assault rifle. At this time, we will give further information at 3:00 p.m. over at police headquarters.

QUESTION: Who was he holding hostage?

HARPER: Right now, we cannot ascertain if he was holding anyone hostage. There was a female -- a relationship with the mother of the factor, but it appeared at the time that she was not being held hostage.

QUESTION: Was the original call a domestic dispute?

HARPER: Yes. The original call was...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, and we will be hearing from the police chief again. We understand that there will be a news conference scheduled for 3:00 Eastern Time concerning this shooting that took place in Pittsburgh, at least two police officers dead. CNN will, of course, bring that to you live.

Meantime, a man who lived near the scene of that standoff, Randy Branch, is on the phone with us.

Randy, you've been on CNN quite a bit this morning to explain what you were able to hear and witness. What did you see?

RANDY BRANCH, WITNESS TO STANDOFF: Well, first, I have to say, my heart goes out to the police officers here in Pittsburgh (INAUDIBLE). It's a sad day when you lose people, and like I said, and when there's death at all, and like I said at least here, like I said, I'm right on the street where it's happening and there have at least been two police officers killed , two are in critical injury here. I mean, that's not making the news, but I mean, that's what is being talk right here...

WHITFIELD: What did you see? What actually took place in your neighborhood that you...

BRANCH: Well, at first, it was just -- I mean, major -- I can see the house from where I live, and it's just, I mean, the amount of gunfire that was going on at first, you know, it startled everybody in the neighborhood. Like I said, from my vanity point, my upper bedroom window I can look out and then it was just -- you just see smoke and you can hear the rounds being fired at the house.

WHITFIELD: What were you doing at the time that you first heard gunfire taking place at the house across the street from yours?

BRANCH: Just inquiring pretty much and just looking out the window to see -- because it's not normal activity. It's like in anyone's neighborhood and all of a sudden you hear that...

WHITFIELD: So, you heard a lot of police activity in your neighborhood, you went to your window, looked out and at that point you started hearing gunfire?

BRANCH: Well, I'd already heard it beforehand, like I said, I live -- like I said, I'm only just literally a few houses above from where the incident was taking place just on and adjacent street, I can see where the house is and...

WHITFIELD: What have you ordinarily heard from that household or even witnessed prior to today's shooting?

BRANCH: Nothing. Nothing. I mean, you know, in the neighborhood there is a lot of police officers and firemen who live here. It's a very safe community. I've lived here with my family for nine years and this is the first time we've ever had any type of incident like this.

WHITFIELD: And do you know -- OK. All right, Randy Branch, thanks so much for your time there joining us from Pittsburgh. We have another story that continues to develop out of Binghamton out of New York and now, we want to take you straight to that news conference as a result of what took place yesterday, a shooting leaving 14 dead.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MAYOR MATTHEW RYAN, BINGHAMTON, NY: ...setting up the logistics to deal with this crisis. We have represents from all different levels of government who are assisting us. We have the Broom County Social Services, Broom County Emergency Management, the state emergency office.

And we're going to ask the IMAC team to come in and help us, federal representatives, Congressman Hinchey and both senators, Governor Paterson's office, the Broom County Executive's Office, The Broom County Victim's Assistance Office, Red Cross and all of the clergy who are, at this point, right now, upstairs.

Many of our clergy putting together interfaith service that, at this time, is scheduled for the West Middle School, on the west side of Binghamton at 6:00 p.m. Those details will be coming out in the next hour or two, the remain details

I'm sorry, did I say tonight? Tomorrow. Tomorrow because -- especially because of the weather and time constraints.

The district attorney's office who will be working on the idea of, this as it unfolds of getting to the issue of why this happened, the issue of a psychological autopsy, so to speak and a report about getting the most details they can to the community about why this incident happened.

The State Department has offered all their services to help us as we work with the families and right now we've had inquiries from nine different countries and two different consulates. Obviously, as the chief, will talk about the I.D. procedures are not complete, so we don't know exactly how many countries we're dealing with.

We're setting up a joint information center which we'll get the details about soon that will be for the media and all inquiries and we're very -- we're working with our local hotels to assist in that endeavor. So, we're going to try to put that together so everybody is comfortable in your stay heres (sic) and knows exactly one central location to get information out of.

Again, this is a tragedy that -- one thing I would like to reference today is we just found out, and I'm sure probably a lot of the media knows that there was an incident in Pittsburgh, today, another act of violence involving several police officers, at least. We're not sure of all the details, but our prayers and thought goes out to the people of Pittsburgh, today, for the tragedy that is unfolding there.

We do not know a lot of the details. We do know that the gunman in that situation has surrendered, though. So, our prayers go out to Pittsburgh and all of the people there.

Next, as you see, this community as I said, there's a community that comes together in time of crisis and we're very proud of what has been accomplished overnight, we do know that we can learn a lot - we're learning a lot from the Buffalo plane crash situation because that was, in the end, was an international situation and we're learning a lot from Mr. McCartney from CMO (ph) and we will use that information to help move this tragedy forward.

I thank all of the people of the triple cities who have expressed their interest and condolences in helping in any way they can. It's amazing the outpouring of sympathy and concern in this community, and I thank all of our residents and everybody who's assisting us and trying to help in any way they can.

Next, I would like to turn over the podium to Angela Leach who is president of the board of the American Civic Association. She will have a statement to read. As you can imagine, she's very distraught about this situation. She's also a volunteer there, but she's just going to just read a short statement and she will not be available for any questions.

QUESTION: Please say her name and spell it.

RYAN: Angela, A-N-G-E-L-A. Leach, L-E-A-C-H. Right? Angela?

ANGELA LEACH, AMERICAN CIVIC ASSOC.: The American Civic Association was founded in 1939 by immigrants who wanted to help those who had come after them pursue the American dream. We are a small, volunteer-based organization that helps people who are working to become citizens and works to promote racial, religious and political harmony.

That this tragedy should have happened in our community to our friends who only wanted to advance their knowledge and love of America, is unbearable. We are stricken with grief and share this grief with the victims' families, our community and the entire nation.

We want to say thank you to the people of the city of Binghamton, to Mayor Ryan, Chief Zikuski, to Governor Paterson and to all those helping this community deal with this tragedy.

We want to give thanks to our community agencies that are providing counseling and emergency services to the victims and their families. Most of all, we want to express our unending gratitude to those who risked their safety to bring this situation to an end. Not only the Binghamton police and the state police, but to the volunteers and students and others who endured this terrible moment inside our building.

We want to ask you all to please direct your concerns that the time to the people in this community, those immigrants we serve and the wonderful people who support our organization, as volunteers, teachers and friends. Every ounce of our energies, caring and compassion is going to help those who are suffering through this tragedy and to this community. We ask that you do the same. Our hearts and prayer goes out to the victims and their families families.

Whatever drove this individual to do what he did, I cannot possibly fathom, but we will come out of our grief and sadness and more resolute in our mission and more dedicated than ever to help people realize the dream of American citizenship.

Thank you.

RYAN: Next, Chief Zikuski has more details and we'll inform you more that we've learned since yesterday. Thank you.

CHIEF JOSEPH ZIKUSKI, BINGHAMTON, NY POLICE DEPT: Good afternoon. As of yesterday, I'm going to tell you what we do know and then I'll take a few questions and we'll go from there.

We have identified the shooter, his name is -- as reported in a lot of media outlets as Jiverly A. Wong. He, on his own, changed his name to V-O-O-N-G, but his born name is Wong, W-O-N-G, he's 41 years old and he resides in the town of Union, just outside of Jackson City.

A lot of questions about motive. We're still not too far any different than what we were yesterday. As the mayor said, the district attorney says that we're going to have to do a -- you know, the FBI, other organizations have stepped forward and offered assist us in a psychological profile.

What we do know is Mr. Wong arrived at that residence wearing body armor, which would tell us that at one point in his thinking process he was going to take the police on or at least try to stop us from stopping him.

He must have been a coward, we speculate, when he heard the sirens that he decided to end his own life. So, that what -- he was heavily armed, had a lot of ammunition on him and thank god before more lives were lost that he decided to do that.

So, as far as the motive, that's going to be district attorney, obviously, will review this case. He hasn't yet determined on what method or how he's going to do that, whether that will be a grand jury and obviously his investigation will -- excuse me, focus a lot upon what the motive may have been here. We may not every come up with anything more than what we've told you already, but sometime in the future the district attorney will issue a report on his findings.

A few other things out in the media, some of you may or may not know that the FBI has picked up that there are some terrorist group taking credit for this incident and I can't more strongly tell you that as far as we know there's absolutely no tie to any type of terrorism. But it is out there and the FBI is picking up on their intelligence, so there is absolutely no indication whatsoever that there's been any type of terrorist activity in any way involved in this.

Just check my notes, here. As far as the identification, obviously, we've released the shooter's name, we've identified him. We've identified one other victim that I'm not going to release at this time. Each autopsy is approximately two to four hours. There's two pathologists working on that. Hopefully by sometime before the end of the day, we will release the names of all of the victims and we obviously, prior to that, we're going to need time to notify their families. So, as soon as we can get that to you, that's what we're going to do.

OK, I'll take a few questions.

QUESTION: Can you tell us what you've learned about the gun that's (INAUDIBLE)? Where was the shooter's body located in the building?

ZIKUSKI: You ask a lot of questions. OK, let's start. No, (INAUDIBLE), the victims that survived were in the same room and were rescued from the room where the victims that were killed. The suspect was also found in that room, to answer that question, in the classroom.

Fingerprints are one thing. What we will do in the future is be sending those weapons that were used in shooting for DNA analysis. I will tell you, though, that the suspect had a permit with two handguns on it and the two handguns that were recovered at the scene are those guns on the permit.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) prints must be on the registration permit?

ZIKUSKI: I'm unaware we even printed the guns. Assistant Chief Yeager or (INAUDIBLE) didn't know anything about that. I'm not aware that the guns' been fingerprinted that are in our custody and RAD (ph) people have been really tied up with -- we fingerprinted the suspect, that print matched. Maybe you're just getting it indirectly got it wrong. The print on the suspect matched the fingerprint on the gun permit, not on the guns. That's what it is.

QUESTION: Chief, you said that there was some connection to, in your announcement yesterday, between the suspect and his facility. Can you elaborate on that in anyway?

ZIKUSKI: Yes, he was a student there. It's our information that until the first week of March he was taking classes and at that point he dropped out.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: I believe he went to classes.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) he might have been made fun of because of the English. Can you expand a little bit about what he might have been going through psychologically?

ZIKUSKI: Obviously, nobody in this room thinks like he thinks, so I don't know what he was going through psychologically. We picked up information that he had said that. That being said what I'm about to say, I'm not going to further elaborate, but from the people close to him, that what this actions that he took was not a surprise to them. We picked up that he was -- apparently people were making fun of him. He felt he was being degraded because, from what we get, is his inability to speak English and he was upset about that.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: Both.

QUESTION: Chief, how many shots were fired (INAUDIBLE)?

ZIKUSKI: Our identification is still processing the scene and obviously, there was numerous rounds fired and I can't give you that number.

QUESTION: What was the timeline...

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) 10 years ago that he may have had a (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: That's true. I think I spoke yesterday, in 1999 -- excuse me, the New York State Police obtained information from a confidential informant that he was planning a bank robbery, that he had a crack or a cocaine habit and had handguns. In fact, his permit was issued in either 1996 or 1997 in this country. They did what backup -- what follow up they could on it, it was just information that was provided and they provided an intelligence reports at that time.

QUESTION: Can you tell us about a recent job loss? Did he have a recent job loss?

ZIKUSKI: All we know -- we picked up information recently he was terminated from a job at a place called ShopVac and he was very upset about that also.

QUESTION: Did he every work with any company ever affiliated with IBM in anyway?

ZIKUSKI: I do not know.

QUESTION: What about family...

ZIKUSKI: Unmarried. As far as I'm aware of a mother, father and sister.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) the fact that they called some different countries (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: As I said, I'm hoping we'll have that by the end of the day. I don't know what logistics problems we'll run into. INS Is here. Bill Yeager -- we haven't had -- Bill Yeager, we having any problems with I.D.s on them as we go along?

We're not having -- no. INS is here, they have their records. DCJS has provided us with any assistance we may need. The FBI is here, so we do not think that will be an issue. What the issue is the time it takes to do an autopsy and the fatigue of people that are doing it. So, if they're going get that done, we feel that the families and we'd like to give them some peace by giving them the official notification. So, we're speeding up that process as much as we can to give them at least something to go on.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) shot. Were they shot at close range and (INAUDIBLE)?

ZIKUSKI: Yeah, I'm not going to get -- most of the victims had multiple gunshot wounds in various parts of their bodies and we'll just leave it at that.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: That's something I cannot answer, but everybody's stepping up to the plate from the local, the county, the state, the federal government and there is going to be assistance of the families. That's going to be addressed maybe later on this afternoon by other people, other needs, so that's something I can't answer, but there is going to be resources available to the families for burial needs and things like that, but that will be discussed later on this afternoon.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: I'll get right with you.

No. All I can tell you is the initial patrol sponsor was less than two minutes and the shooting was over before any police arrived on the scene.

QUESTION: Was there a hostage (INAUDIBLE)?

ZIKUSKI: That we're aware of. We cannot speak to the receptionist that's going to survive and when we can get to talk to her, we're going to find out what time it was from the time she got shot to she was able to call us. But, so we don't know what that time was, but we do know from what both her and speaking to another victim that he never spoke a word, so it's our -- it didn't take too long.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: We haven't got to the computer yet and by the number of shots fired he had two handguns, but it is certainly plausible that he had a lot of ammunition that he may have reloaded with actual magazines, but until our identification people are able to tell us exactly how many shots, I wouldn't be able to answer that question.

QUESTION: How would you describe the receptionist who was on the phone with 911?

ZIKUSKI: I describe her as a hero.

QUESTION: I'm sorry?

ZIKUSKI: As a hero. She was very helpful to us. I would suspect, as I said, he was wearing body armor, his initial intentions were, at least to prevent us from terminating his actions or taking us on. And, by her making that call, we believe when he heard the sirens we can just speculate that he took his own life upon hearing police responding there.

I'm going to give someone else a chance.

QUESTION: Can you tell me more about in biography? Has he lived in this area all his life? Where was he born? He spent time in California.

ZIKUSKI: Yeah, I know there is a minor criminal instance someplace out of this state. I do not know and can't answer your questions, I don't know at this point.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) 911 call. Can you describe (INAUDIBLE)?

ZIKUSKI: She was very composed, as I said, she was very helpful to us, she was able to provide us with a description, but she was hiding underneath the desk for her own safety and she was very helpful to us with the initial description of what we were looking for. He had handguns and we knew he wasn't right in the -- close to her, so she was helpful. A very brave lady.

QUESTION: When you say body armor do you mean bulletproof vest?

ZIKUSKI: Yes.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: No, he had a bulletproof vest on. And so, you know, yeah, I would think if you put that vest initially, you weren't thinking of killing yourself.

QUESTION: What else was he wearing (INAUDIBLE)?

ZIKUSKI: I do not know. We can give that to you at a later time when we get the stuff back from the autopsy. We have various descriptions from various witnesses while we were there, we got a different-colored jackets and stuff like that, so I don't know.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: Under state law, 911 calls cannot be released, so you won't be getting that at all. That's a state law.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: I don't know exactly what the vest was, but hunting vests are bulletproof.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) military...

ZIKUSKI: They do the same, basically, so I can't answer that question.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) how was it used, in what capacity (INAUDIBLE)?

ZIKUSKI: I believe Mr. Wong is of Vietnamese ancestry and I don't know exactly what you're talking about.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) community college to assist...

ZIKUSKI: A lot of people offer their services whether we use them or not, I don't know, so, the suspect is Vietnamese is my understanding, but I don't know how we utilized assistance from outside translators.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) did he have a lot of contact with them?

ZIKUSKI: He lived with them. The four of them lived together.

(CROSSTALK)

ZIKUSKI: Pardon?

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: Yes. That's actually the town of Union, it's at the border with Johnson City. That's where he lives.

QUESTION: What was the make and the model of the car that was used to barricade the back door?

ZIKUSKI: I don't know that either.

(CROSSTALK)

ZIKUSKI: Pardon?

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: I was expecting to get an e-mail this morning, they're all expected to survive, and I was hoping as I was talking, I have the detectives checking for me any updated -- two are critical and the other two were satisfactory, but there's every indication at this point that all four of them are expected to survive and I haven't got that e-mail yet. So...

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) father, mother, sister...

ZIKUSKI: They gave us some information that we're not yet going release other than someone in of this behavior on his part wasn't a total shock.

QUESTION: Could he see the receptionist when he went into the classroom (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: No, the reception was right straight in front of him, she wasn't in the classroom. As he entered, she was maybe from me to that pillar fontal.

QUESTION: When he entered the classroom (INAUDIBLE)? ZIKUSKI: No. No, he could not. I'll take one or two more questions, then we're done.

QUESTION: Were all the victims from the (INAUDIBLE) classroom?

ZIKUSKI: Yes, even the surviving victims, everybody was in that one room.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: No, I believe it was a regularly scheduled English class. That's mostly what they do there, they teach people English to get their citizenship. So, it's my understanding there was an English class going in that room and that's the first room he would have come upon, have access to.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: No, I'm not going elaborate on that.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: Yes, he did. As I said, he had a pistol permit dated 1996 or '97 and the two handguns that were used in the shooting were on that permit.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: I don't know, you have the answer? There is -- you know, how do you -- you know, we feel bad that we couldn't get there and stop some of this terrible, outrageous conduct. The shooting was over by the time we got there.

There was no intelligence from anybody and then we picked up nobody like this guy was walking around because a lot of shootings people tell people I'm going shoot somebody or it's on the Internet. And we picked up none of that, yet, so if some crazy lunatic decides to pick up a gun and go someplace and starts shooting people, I really don't have the answer how law enforcement can prevent anything like that.

QUESTION: Can you tell us the name of the receptionist who survived?

ZIKUSKI: No, we're not going to release that.

QUESTION: Can you elaborate on what she -- I mean, you said yesterday she on the phone for 90 minutes? I mean, what was he saying all that...

ZIKUSKI: The line was open and we were just making sure she was still safe, she was conscious until we could get to her and you know, there wasn't a whole lot of talk. The line was open and we were in constant communication with her the entire time until the SWAT team was able to go in there and get her out. QUESTION: Can you go over again what happened to her after she was shot, what steps she took (INAUDIBLE) where she hid and if you can briefly go over...

ZIKUSKI: It's pretty simple and quick. She was shot, she pretended she was dead, but once the gunman went in the room she crawled underneath the desk, luckily she had access to a cell phone and she called 911 for assistance.

QUESTION: Do you have time for one more question? You were there within two or three minutes at the scene, how long was it before your team actually went into the building?

ZIKUSKI: I don't have that exact answer.

QUESTION: Was it 90 minutes. I mean, you say she had the phone...

ZIKUSKI: I didn't say she had 90 minutes, I heard that term. I don't know the exact time. What I will tell you is that the police did the right thing. We have procedures and protocols and it wasn't going to -- and her safety and when we had a live victim in the building was of our utmost concern, but also it was going to help anybody else if they had any police officer or anything going in there that were also shot and it ends up, although he was dead, that we would have had to have gone by him to get to her if he was survived.

So, all I can tell you is that we did what was expected and the right thing to do under the circumstances and as we talked to her on the phone, that those circumstances changed, obviously, I would have made some decisions to speed up her recovery.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

ZIKUSKI: OK, No, we're going cut it off. And Andrew Black will be in contact with you later for our next press conference. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: It's the day after a horrible tragedy taking place in Binghamton, New York. Fourteen people died in a massacre taking place at an immigration office. The suspect, the officer there telling us a little bit more about it. Forty-one-year-old man by the last name of Wong believed to be of Vietnamese descent and may have been very frustrated the fact that he has not been able to master the language of English and he apparently was not married and apparently was also wearing a bullet-proof vest.

He barricaded the rear of the immigration office with his vehicle, then walked in the front and unloading gunfire. Thirteen other people were killed. It is a tragedy for Binghamton and we understand that the names of the victims among the dead will be released later on today following the autopsies and also following notification of their relatives.

Much more in the NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: More now on that tragedy taking place in Binghamton, New York, yesterday. Fourteen people killed including the gunman apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Allan Chernoff is in Bingham, New York and he joins us now.

We heard the press conference, a lot of details from the 41-year- old suspect, but still a lot of unanswered questions about why in the world he took such a tragic turn.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Right, the police chief, Fredricka, Joe Zikuski made this very clear that this was most definitely premeditated. He said that Jiverly Wong walked into the American Civic Association wearing a bulletproof vest indicating, the police chief said, that he intended to have it out with the police, intended to have a shootout with the police.

But the police believe that once he actually heard their sirens, he then took his own life. That, of course, tragically after having killed 13 people at the association.

Now as we know, that is an association that teaches immigrants English and helps them with their acclimation to the United States. And indeed the police chief said that Mr. Wong had been taking English classes there. He said that he was distraught after having recently lost a job at a company called Shop Vac. That's a company that makes industrial vacuum cleaners and he said that he also was distraught because people have been making fun of him because of his poor English.

They do provide English classes over here, and he said that that was one connection to the association. But beyond that, he said in terms of a motive, we may never, never truly know what was inside of his head. Fredericka?

WHITFIELD: So terribly sad, and the autopsies painstaking, the police chief saying it will take at least about two hours per victim, so it really may not be until later on this afternoon if not evening that family members learn officially whether their loved ones were killed in this, right?

CHERNOFF: Right. I mean, of course, it is all just definitive notification. That's what we're talking about here. The local newspaper already is reporting that one of the victims was a 72-year- old woman who taught over here, who happened to be filling in, was a substitute teacher for a class of immigrants who were learning English and improving their English. It is just all the more tragic because these are people who really wanted to embrace this country.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

CHERNOFF: And to be killed like this is just an unspeakable tragedy.

WHITFIELD: Terribly sad. All right, Allan Chernoff, thanks so much out of Binghamton, New York.

Meantime on this day yet another shooting taking place this time in Pittsburgh where we understand police were responding to a domestic call at a residence. You're looking at some of the images of the police enforcement that arrived there and then witnesses say they heard an exchange of gunfire and what we understand from the police chief of Pittsburgh, Nathan Harper saying two confirmed deaths of officers there in Pittsburgh and others were injured.

We'll bring you the latest on that as we get more information. We understand a 3:00 Eastern Time press conference is scheduled for an update on what has taken place in Pittsburgh. Much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, live pictures right now. That's Air Force One. This time making a stop in Prague as the first couple, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama make their tour of Europe. As you know, all week they spent a good part of the week in London at the G- 20 summit, then moving on to France, Strasbourg and now making their way to Prague in the Czech Republic. Our Ed Henry will be joining us throughout the afternoon as well. He is still in France, but he'll be updating us on the developments involving the president of the United States in his European travels.

All right, meantime here at home, so many of us are spooked by this economy, and if you have children, they'll pick up on that fear. Stacy Debroff is an expert on parent and family relationships and she's joining us right now from Boston. Stacy, good to see you.

STACY DEBROFF, PARENT AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIP EXPERT: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, so how honest do we really need to be with our kids because we know that they can detect stress, but how frank should we be about what the family is enduring financially?

DEBROFF: We want to bring our kids into a dialogue about budgets, about finances. Clearly, with younger kids, they're going to want less details, but they do pick up on our anxiety and we have to watch what we say. How we're describing what's going on for our own families and struggles that we're having. So we want them to know that we're in charge. We have a plan and we're dealing with it, but when we open a bank statement and say we have no money left, they take it seriously. And so oftentimes --

WHITFIELD: Kids want things and they don't want their lifestyles to be impacted. So how does a parent, especially when money is tight, how do you tell your child, OK, I can provide for you all of the necessities, but there are certain extras that have to be left out or do you have that conversation?

DEBROFF: You definitely have that conversation. And it can start in just daily life in the grocery store pointing out things that are now luxury treats to really talking to kids about that. WHITFIELD: Do you have to involve them in the shopping so that they can understand you know, the picking and the choosing, how much things cost, et cetera?

DEBROFF: Yes, I think that it brings it really tangible to kids. You challenge them to find the savings. You explain how that impacts. You share with them, when you go to work, you're packing your own lunch now and not buying lunch out.

It's ways to show them about sacrifices and to shift things around birthdays. They might pick one present that they really want instead of the five that you typically got them. Or you might also find yourself in discussions with kids about summer coming up, about what you can and cannot afford in terms of summer plans.

WHITFIELD: And at the same time, you don't want children to feel guilty about all of this. So when do you know essentially when to say when?

DEBROFF: I think that what's important and it's interesting because at Mom Central, we did a survey in showing that parents would rather sacrifice for themselves and cut back on things that their spending is before kids. We want to shelter them in certain ways, but at the same time, it is really important to set expectations and to say to kids so they know coming up, these are the things we consider luxury items.

Here is how we're cutting back and here's how it's going to impact. So you're setting new expectations for them and so you put an end to all the things that they endlessly want. And also we've sheltered our kids from financial decisions and discussions up until now and now all of a sudden we're building sensitivity in them.

WHITFIELD: Yes, everyone has to play a part and be informed. Stacy Debroff, thanks so much, CEO of Mom Central. You know, Stacy, we're going to be talking in great detail even further about things like spring break, summer camps and all of the food stuff that kids like, but in these tough times, we all do have to make some adjustments.

So we're going to be calling the 4:00 p.m. Eastern Hour "Good Times on a Budget." We still want people to be able to have fun, but we've got to figure out how to stretch the dollar and how to do all those fun things that we like to do, but maybe I guess with a few adjustments.

So we're also accepting our e-mails out there. Weekends@CNN.com and we're on Facebook, Fredricka Whitfield CNN and Josh Levs CNN as well. And send us your i-Reports. We want you to be part of the conversation. We're going to have some experts on tap as well to help you figure out how to have good times on a budget at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time today.

All right, well April showers don't only bring May flowers. They also usher in thoughts of summer travels. As our Richelle Carey explains, there are plenty of good deals springing up already. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHELLE CAREY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You don't have to go out of the country to find your summer escape.

CHRIS MCGINNIS, TRAVELSKILLS.COM: If you're being looking for a beach vacation, for example, you'll want to consider Myrtle Beach instead of Monaco and France. You want mountains, you really want to think about the Rocky Mountains or the Smoky Mountains instead of the Alps.

CAREY: Knowing when to travel can save you even more.

MCGINNIS: Early June is typically the least expensive time of the summer to take a vacation. Especially the two weeks just after Memorial Day, otherwise, wait until the summer is over or when airfare sales kick in, which is usually about early April.

CAREY: Stash away money for your trip, but charge you reservation.

MCGINNIS: Use your credit card to make a purchase and then use your vacation savings account to pay the credit card bill. This way, you get the important consumer protections offered by credit cards such as insurance or airline bankruptcy protection which is really important right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: He has lost his attorney, his friends are turning against him and now he's under indictment. Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is facing an uphill legal battle. We'll look at his options.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So imagine living in your dream home and finding out that you have to leave because of the drywall. CNN's John Zarrella has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The last time Alana and Joe Consolo saw their home like this.

ALANA CONSOLO, HOMEOWNER: This was a linen closet.

ZARRELLA: It was four years ago while it was being built.

A. CONSOLO: This whole room here was one of the reasons why we fell in love with the home is that you could have the kitchen with the bar here.

ZARRELLA: It was their dream house, where they'd raise a family, put down roots. That was before they discovered many of the interior walls had been built using Chinese drywall. JOE CONSOLO, HOMEWOWNER: Every sheet of drywall in this room was the Chinese drywall.

ZARRELLA: Hundreds of homeowners from Florida to Louisiana started finding their air-conditioning system coils corroding, along with copper wire and electric outlets.

J. CONSOLO: You rubbed your hand over it and you'd get black comes off of it.

A. CONSOLO: Black soot.

J. CONSOLO: Like a soot.

ZARRELLA: Some people complained it made them sick. Many homes even had a pungent, rotten egg odor.

A study by the Florida Department of Health found the odor coming from "the emission of volatile sulfur compounds." According to the study, those gasses led to the copper corrosion.

Already dozens of lawsuits have been filed against various Chinese manufacturers. Lennar, the builder of the Consolo home has sued the manufacturers and everyone on the supply chain, 24 defendants.

CHRIS MARLIN, V.P., LENNAR HOMES: And there's no question that the defective Chinese drywall is absolutely an inferior product.

ZARRELLA: Knauf, a German company with affiliates in China that's being sued says it's product is good.

KEN HALDIN, KNAUF PLASTERBOARD TIANJIN: There are just a lot of products in place functioning fine, so we believe that we put out a very excellent product in the market place.

ZARRELLA: The Consolos is one of at least 80 Lennar homes that were built that were built using at least some defective Chinese drywall. Lennar is putting the homeowners up in rentals while it rebuilds their homes floor to ceiling.

A. CONSOLO: I mean there are other things, lead paint, asbestos, radon, but drywall?

ZARRELLA: The drywall was imported primarily in 2006. There wasn't enough U.S.-made product to satisfy the demand for rebuilding following the hurricane seasons that brought Charlie, Katrina and Rita. The gypsum association said enough drywall to build at least 30,000 homes came from China between 2006 and 2007.

Several state and federal agencies are looking into whether this defective Chinese drywall can cause health problem. But because drywall is something they've never looked into before, it is unclear how long it will be before there are answers.

John Zarrella, CNN, Estero, Florida. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we're going to try and knock down that case with our legal guys in a minute, but first, these live pictures right now of the Obamas arriving in Prague, the Czech Republic there. A little handshaking after getting off Air Force One. They are still on their whirlwind tour of Europe, beginning with London and then off to France and Germany and now to the Czech Republic. We'll keep watch of the developments on their visit there.

All right. Let's check in with our legal guys now. Let's talk a little bit more about that Chinese drywall and how it is affecting a lot of homeowners from -- as John Zarrella told us from Florida and all of the way to Louisiana. Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor, good to see you. Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor. Good to see you as well.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right gentlemen, the drywall, I wonder if these families have an uphill battle. Do the plaintiffs in this class action suit, Avery, have to prove that there was negligence on the part of the builder or even the manufacturers knowing that this was tainted or bad drywall and installing it anyway?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: The answer is no. This is a products liability case meaning there's no obligation to show either intent or even negligence. In fact, in John Zarrella's report, he talked about 30,000. There may be up to 60,000 homes involved where you wake up every morning and say, P.U., the place smells like sulfur.

WHITFIELD: And Richard, that's how you find out, right? It's jut an issue of it smells bad because that means scraping off the paint and knocking down a wall to see where it says made in China or somewhere else?

HERMAN: As if the Florida real estate market needs more problems. Now we've got drywall problems down there. It's terrible. I understand there's about 36,000 homes with it in Florida, 100,000 in our country suffering from this right now. The litigation is going to be incredible. Look at how the contractor is putting these people up in homes. That's really -- I mean, that's genuine. I think that's a really great move that they're doing that.

FRIEDMAN: Well there's quickly, very quickly, a legal first here. There's a guy actually looking for business advertising as defective Chinese drywall lawyer. So I'm not sure how defective this lawyer is, but I think you want to stay away from him.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well let's talk about Rod Blagojevich, your favorite guy, and where in the world, Richard, is his case going now? We're talking about, what, 17 possible indictments or charges, 320 years if convicted of any or all of these and possibly $3 million in fines. Where are we now? HERMAN: Sixteen-count indictment, rico, 11 wire fraud counts. Let me tell you something, Fred. He's in Disneyworld right now, but internally, he's in torture world. Trust me. They're dangling his life out from. Tony Rezko is testifying against him. Two of his chiefs of staff are testifying as government witnesses. His wife, the allegations in the indictment about her wrongdoing. They're going to tell him, look pal, you better follow the sword or we're going to bring your wife into this. It's going to be huge.

FRIEDMAN: And he keeps talking. And he keeps talking.

HERMAN: Unbelievable.

FRIEDMAN: I don't know what the defense lawyers are doing, but the two words are shut up.

WHITFIELD: I guess is part of his psychology, you know, taint the jury pool essentially, talk as much as I can and make it tougher and tougher for prosecutors?

HERMAN: He's made a great job.

FRIEDMAN: Little fish and tape, a wiretaps, he's finished.

WHITFIELD: Yes, OK, well let's talk about Dante Stallworth, NFL player, DUI case now. Is his career finished? No matter what happens I guess with the case in legal terms, the NFL has to speak to now the substance abuse problem, right, Richard?

HERMAN: Well he may be -- and also he may have a prior history of substance abuse in the NFL. I'm not sure, I've heard, I've read stories about that. But he's been charged with DUI manslaughter, Fred. And one thing he has going for him is that even though his blood alcohol was high and above the legal limit, at the time of the accident, the pedestrian was not crossing at the crosswalk. He did honk his horn, he did flash his lights. It will be interesting to see the skid marks. I don't know if he was speeding or not, but there may be a defense here.

FRIEDMAN: I think this issue doesn't really -- that's a serious criminal issue, but the issue here is the battle between what is the NFL, the commissioner going to do as opposed to the criminal justice system. Dante Stallworth is caught right in the middle of a terrible thing to happen, a big struggle for a talented young guy.

WHITFIELD: Yes, very sad. And it will be interesting to hear what the commissioner has to say about the future of Michael Vick now, back in court in Virginia trying to offer what his bankruptcy plan would be and the judge said, sorry, not buying it in part because not really sure if you're going to be able to play again.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: Football. Avery, was that fair?

FRIEDMAN: Well and that's the variation on the Stallworth case. You've got the legal system, but you also have the NFL commissioner. His bankruptcy proposal was based on the fact that he's going to be back in the NFL.

WHITFIELD: And he said it with some certainty.

FRIEDMAN: Exactly. And the bankruptcy judge is saying what are you talking about? Give me some confirmation, I can think about it, but I reject it right now.

HERMAN: Fred, I predict he's going to be in the NFL in September and eventually his plan is going to be approved.

FRIEDMAN: Oh, I don't know about that.

WHITFIELD: We'll be revisiting this most likely in July and then again in September to see how it all shapes up. All right, Avery, Richard, thanks so much. Richard, how are you feeling today?

HERMAN: Feeling good, Fred. Horrible up in Binghamton, New York, just a tragedy.

WHITFIELD: So terribly sad and in Pittsburgh as well.

FRIEDMAN: Stay strong, stay strong.

WHITFIELD: Thanks to both of you, appreciate it, have a great weekend, Richard and Avery. Much more in the NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Today marks the 41st anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, the organization he founded, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference held a march and a rally in Memphis. The father of the civil rights movement was shot in Memphis on April 4, 1968 while standing on a motel balcony. He had traveled there to march in support of striking black sanitation workers the day before King delivered his "I've been to the mountain top" address. King would have been 80-years-old this year.

In honor of the anniversary, "Life" magazine has put these previously unpublished photos taken that fateful day by photographer Henry Groskinsky. It is on the Web site. Among the pictures, King's open briefcase, a can of shaving cream on top, a lone individual on the balcony where King was shot, his anguished colleague sitting in his Lorraine Motel room. Some pretty powerful images there upon. Well, tonight, CNN's Soledad O'Brien reconstructs the evidence and the story behind the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination" tonight at 8:00 p.m.

All right, as the end of the school year and summer approach, you can be facing some situations where in the past you typically spent a lot of money. Well, I'm talking about prom, summer vacation. How is the economy affecting your plans this year? We're devoting a special hour to this very topic, "Good Times on a Budget" today at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. And we hope that you'll join us on the conversation. Send us your e-mails at Weekends@CNN.com. Also, join us on Facebook. Fredricka Whitfield CNN and Josh Levs CNN as well and share your i- Reports with us as well. How are you planning your summer vacations? Your spring break? How are you trying to make plans for prom season as well and on a tight budget? We're looking for inventive ways to have good times on a budget. Your stories, your questions coming up at 4:00 Eastern time.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Time now for YOUR MONEY.