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Obama Press Conference after NATO Meetings; Pittsburgh Police Officers Gunned Down

Aired April 04, 2009 - 11:00   ET

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

OBAMA: You guys weren't even on my list, but I'm adding you on so that -- I want you -- I want to make sure that the other world leaders treat my American colleagues well too though. Did Sarkozy give you guys any questions? Then, you see there? There's got to be mutuality in the trans-Atlantic relationship. What's your name?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm from the Austrian Television. Mr. President, you said you came here to learn and listen. So a quite personal question. What did you learn from your personal talks with the European leaders and did this change in a certain way your views on Europe and its politics?

OBAMA: It's an interesting question. I had already formed relationships with many of them. Some of them I had met when I traveled through Europe before my election. Some of them I had met because they came to Washington after the election. This is the first time I have been in a forum with so many of them at the same time. I'm extraordinarily impressed by the quality of leadership. I am constantly reminded that although there are cultural differences that are important and that we have to be sensitive to, what we have in common between Europe and the United States so vastly exceeds any differences that we had.

That we should not forget why we are allies. And we should be careful about some of the easy stereotypes that take place on both sides of the borders. It was also interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States senate. There's a lot of -- I don't know what the term is in Austrian, wheeling and dealing. And, you know, people are, you know, pursuing their interests and everybody has their own particular issues and their own particular politics. But I think it's a testimony to the success of the European Union as well as NATO that on very important issues, each leader seems to be able to rise above parochial interests in order to achieve common objectives and I think that has accounted for some of the extraordinary success and prosperity of Europe over the last several years. Yes, right back there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Mr. President, I'm Vladimir from Albania. Thanks for the approval of being a candidate to be a member of NATO. But do you think this will bring peace and stability in politics first of all, and the new American president will support Kosovo for membership in U.N. and for other countries to recognize this new state?

OBAMA: Well, first of all, we are very proud of Albania and Croatia and they made extraordinary efforts at reform in order to see this day come about. And so we are grateful for them. With respect to the Balkans, you know, I think that because of NATO actions, because of European assistance, because of a lot of hard work by the people themselves, we have seen a stabilizing of the situation. But some of those gains are fragile. And I am very concerned about the impact that the economic downturn may have on the ability of these various countries to stay focused on achieving peace and resolving differences through negotiations.

That's not unique to the Balkans, that's, I think, true around the world. One of the points that was made during the G-20 summit is that what starts as a financial crisis can move to a broader economic crisis, a social crisis and eventually a political crisis. And so we have to monitor that very carefully. We want to play a constructive role in that process. The first constructive role we can play is to help fix this economy. Obviously we have a big role to play in doing that. I was very pleased to see what happened with the G-20. But we have a specific role in emerging markets and developing countries and, you know, many of these Balkan states, we need to make sure that their economies are stabilized during this crisis period. I think that will help in the broader issues of political reconciliation. Thank you, everybody. Appreciate it. Thank you.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning everybody, from the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Drew Griffin in today for T.J. Holmes. We have been listening to President Barack Obama after a day of meetings with European allies, the NATO alliance marking 60 years this weekend.

NGUYEN: Yes, these world leaders began their day with a bit of symbolism, coming together at the middle of a small foot bridge joining Germany and France. This is not video of that, but this is, and welcoming France back as a full NATO member. CNN crews are following the president's every move, we're also following the protesters and their various agendas. Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is in Strasbourg, France and he joins us now. Ed, the president was pushing for more support on the Afghanistan front and it looks like he got what he was asking for.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He certainly did get some. For example, what he was able to announce at that news conference is 400 new paramilitary trainers, including 300 from the French, to go to Afghanistan, especially ahead of elections there to try to make it more safe, more secure, so those 300 from the French, he certainly is happy about, because he is trying to develop this relationship with the French President Nicholas Sarkozy. But Mr. Sarkozy would not put up combat troops, so that is a disappointment. There are now about 3,000 more combat troops from NATO that will be going to Afghanistan including a few hundred from Germany, he had been pushing for that, but this is still a very U.S.-heavy mission.

Let's not forget that the U.S. president recently just announced he's sending another 21,000 combat troops to Afghanistan, so it's a very U.S.-heavy mission, he was trying to get these allies to give more, they gave some, but certainly not all that he wanted. That's why you heard one question relating this back to the G-20 summit in London. There too a few days ago we saw the president pushing for a large injection of capital into the global markets. He certainly got some of that but didn't get it quite the way he wanted.

Obviously he is learning very quickly on the international stage that in these negotiations, you heard the president a moment ago, call it wheeling and dealing, when you get this many leaders together, even when you're this popular as he is around the world, has this sort of international celebrity, that does not necessarily translate into instantly, automatically getting everything you want. So I think the U.S. is going to try to say that they got a large share of what they wanted both here and in London. Now they move on to Prague for an EU summit. The president going to give a major address, what the White House is billing as a major address, Sunday, on trying to stop the growth of nuclear weapons around the world. So he's trying to use this stage to get very actively involved in national security, we certainly heard him in the opening weeks of his administration spend a lot of time on financial security. Now he's getting a chance on national security.

GRIFFIN: Ed we're going to get into analysis in the next few days, but you have been on these trips and covered many of this stuff before, the idea is as a president you go in with lowered expectations and you come out at the end of it saying, hey, look what we got. I thought the president was struggling to say the look what we got part. He was kind of managing the expectations on the back end.

HENRY: Because in part, you're absolutely right Drew, that the expectations are so high for this president, not necessarily manufactured by him, but manufactured in part by the media and in part by other leaders around the world and people around the world, when we see him travel here in France, in Germany, as well as in Great Britain, he sometimes is met by very large crowds that are happy to see him. That is a contrast to when I was traveling around the world with former President Bush. It was very rare to see large crowds greeting him. He was very unpopular here in Europe, mostly over the war in Iraq, of course.

This president has sort of a clean slate and I think that the expectations in large part come from people here in Europe and around the world who were sort of expecting that in the first 100 days, Barack Obama would be able to radically transform a lot of these things, maybe end the war in Afghanistan, etcetera. That's partly why we're seeing so many protestors here around Strasbourg, France, anti- war protesters in part, saying stop that war, stop sending more troops there, but he's trying to stick it out. You heard in that press conference he said we have got to see that mission through. That's not so popular here in Europe. They think that sounds more like former President Bush. They want to see him change things. Obviously the president is learning and is saying out loud that you can't change things overnight.

NGUYEN: Well he is on the move in fact today. More change is on the way. We just saw some video, we're going to put it up here for our viewers, thank you, Ed, of the president in the vehicle on his way to the Czech Republic. He also has a very busy day. All right, that's out of camera range, maybe we can re-rack some of that video for a little bit later this morning. But while most Americans are sleeping, he is going to be meeting with the Czech president prime minister as we mentioned. He's headed there right now. It's at 3:00 a.m. eastern when that meeting is supposed to take place. But about three hours later ,the president has a working lunch with members of the European Union. And just before 9:00 a.m. eastern he holds bilateral meetings with Spain and Poland. So a lot on the agenda. Then after 11:00, he is going to meet with the former Czech President and then at noon eastern, it's off to Turkey. So a big day still ahead.

GRIFFIN: We're following breaking news about a police shooting in western Pennsylvania. Several officers have been hurt, in fact our affiliates there WPXI and WTAE are reporting that two officers at what was a domestic dispute have died. The gunman they're also reporting has surrendered. This is the scene. CNN is now confirming the surrender of the gunman. Police say the officers were responding to a domestic call at a home in Stanton Heights, that's a neighborhood in Pittsburgh. The call resulted in a hail of gunshots. At best count, some 80 bullets fired. We're going to bring you the details as they come. But also with us on the phone is Randy Branch. Mr. Branch, I understand that you are in the neighborhood and perhaps a neighbor of where this shooting took place. Is that correct?

VOICE OF RANDY BRANCH, LIVES NEAR SHOOTING SITE, HEARD GUNFIRE: That's correct.

GRIFFIN: Can you tell us, now that we're learning that the suspect has surrendered, has the situation calmed there? Are you still in a lockdown situation?

BRANCH: We're still locked down right now, they're not letting us out of the residence. But it is cleaning up but they had a news conference and fortunately this is my vantage point, it's outside my home here. Actually three officers have died, there's one more in critical condition and they said the gunman has been taken into custody with a leg wound. That's what they're saying right now.

GRIFFIN: Randy, tell me what you can see from your house.

BRANCH: It's pretty much just a lot of officers and kind of some are making their way back to their cars. The whole neighborhood is in lock mode. You have police officers and S.W.A.T. teams and the bomb squad is coming in. It's a lot. It's still very chaotic in the neighborhood right at the moment. But it's definitely calmed down from what it was an hour or so ago.

GRIFFIN: All right, Randy Branch, thank you for keeping us updated and stay safe inside your home there, as again we're learning a terrible tragedy developing in Pittsburgh, two officers according to our affiliates there have died. The gunman surrendered, 80 shots and there's apparently some other officers wounded. We'll keep you updated on that as we get the information.

NGUYEN: And on top of that we are learning new details about yesterday's deadly shooting in Binghamton, New York, that left 14 people dead including the suspected gunman. It happened at a community center that helps immigrants and refugees. The gunman identified as Jiverly Wong. We're going to get more on him in just a moment. But Binghamton's mayor said yesterday was the most tragic day in the city's history. He's calling for the community to come together. The Red Cross is offering counseling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY GORDINEER, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Anyone in the community who feels that they have a need to come in and talk to someone, there will be mental health available, there will be financial services available for those who have lost someone through the crime victims association. So we're just trying to give the community a place to go to find help, support, comfort or services that they may need.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: CNN's Allan Chernoff is in Binghamton this morning. Allan, 14 people dead, including the gunman, four people seriously injured. Let's work our way through this. What's the latest on the victims and then after that I want to know what you know about the suspected gunman.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the victims we know, obviously the 13 people, they were immigrants and their teachers at the American Civic Association. The four people wounded, they were two in critical condition, they had surgery yesterday, also one person now in serious condition and yet a fourth in stable condition. One of those persons was actually at the reception area, she was one of the first to be shot. And people say she's actually a hero here because she was able to call 911. Police say she actually acted as if she had been killed and then once the gunman moved on, she made the call to 911 that got the police over so quickly.

Now, who exactly was Jiverly Wong? We know that he was an immigrant we believe from Vietnam. He lived with his parents and a younger sister. He also had worked at a local company, Endicott Interconnect Technologies. He worked there as an engineer. Co- workers have told me that he was well respected, he was very intelligent, a very good teacher. In fact, one of his titles was a master trainer, he trained people in using the high-tech equipment, some of it used for medical applications.

He also according to the police had worked at a company called Shop Vac, at least a subsidiary of that company. We have not independently confirmed that, but it seems in more recent years, he had fallen on some hard times and his parents told the police that recently he became unemployed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JOSEPH ZIKUSKI, BINGHAMTON, N.Y. POLICE: We talked to some family members and he had recently lost a job, spoke very little English and said people were disrespecting him and looking down upon him and he wasn't happy with his life.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: One of the incredible mysteries here, if he was distraught about having lost his job, why would he turn his fury on a place like the American Civic Association which helps immigrants, which provides language lessons, helps them with citizenship? That is an incredible mystery that perhaps may never be solved. Betty?

NGUYEN: It is just baffling, especially this from a man who's an immigrant himself who got his citizenship in the mid 1990s. Allan Chernoff, thank you for that and we of course will have more on the massacre in Binghamton. At the top of the hour we'll take you live to a scheduled news conference there and in just a few moments we're also going to talk with a former special agent and security specialist as to why this happened, how it happened and how you can prevent it from happening in the future.

GRIFFIN: Did you forget about this one, the North Koreans were supposed to blast off that missile this morning. It didn't happen. The first window closed without a rocket launch. But it could still happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We have some new information into our breaking news out of Pittsburgh. The police department there says five officers have been injured in a shootout with a suspect who had been holed up inside a neighborhood there, but CNN has confirmed that that suspect has surrendered. But again, five officers injured. Now, according to CNN affiliates, WPXI, WTAE, we understand from them that two of those officers are dead. Again the Pittsburgh Police Department is only reporting five officers injured. So we are following this very closely. But we understand at some point 80 shots were fired within a 20-minute span of time and as you can see from the video, a lot of officers responded to the scene. We are following this very closely and as soon as we get more information, we'll bring it straight to you.

GRIFFIN: North Korea says the prep work is done for the launch of an experimental communications satellite. Strong winds apparently caused it to miss a launch window today. The U.S. and Japan of course oppose the launch and worry it's just a cover-up for a long range ballistic missile test that could eventually lead to the North Koreans being able to launch some kind of a warhead, possibly nuclear warhead. U.S. Navy ships stationed in the Sea of Japan and in the Pacific Ocean monitoring developments. Each can shoot down a ballistic missile if necessary. North Korea of course largely ignored the international chorus calling for a halt to any of these launch plans.

NGUYEN: And that has many in Asia very nervous. Our Kristie Lu Stout has more from Hong Kong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Asia is on edge, anticipating a North Korean rocket launch that is believed to be imminent. Earlier on Saturday, Japanese media jumped the gun and had to retract a North Korean launch alert. This is what we know. KCNA, North Korea's official news agency is reporting on its website that the DPRK is to launch its satellite soon and the region is on alert. In Northwest Japan, officials at a crisis center in Akita are monitoring the situation.

Japan has mobilized its missile defense system to shoot down any debris that might fall into its territory. China, North Korea's closest ally says it's working to avert the launch. Chinese guards are on patrol on the friendship bridge between China and North Korea. And in South Korea protestors are showing their anger at the planned launch. 300 people rallied on Saturday. Some parading a mock missile before setting it a light. But if the launch takes place, analysts say it won't be an act of war but rather a political gesture to force a return to talks.

MIKE CHINOY, PACIFIC COUNCIL ON INTL. POLICY: The North Koreans don't do nice. They always play hard ball and so I think this launch which they say is for a satellite, but will certainly be testing technology that could be used for a long range missile, is designed to put them high on everybody's agenda and to essentially drive the whole process.

STOUT: As such, this launch would be for diplomatic effect. North Korea's goal is to coerce Washington back to the negotiating table on their terms. Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Other news from the week past, ousted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich indicted this week, 16 felony accounts, including racketeering, fraud and extortion. The indictment even wages some accusations we haven't heard really until now. Joe Levin who helped prosecute the last Illinois governor who went to prison, George Ryan is a practicing attorney now. We invited him to join us to hash out this indictment with us. Joel, first of all, just the stunning indictment, 75 pages, it was a real page turner, I found.

JOEL LEVIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes, I think the indictment is really a sweeping allegation against former Governor Blagojevich and his time in office, basically alleging that even before he was elected, he was scheming to use the office of the governor to enrich himself, his friends and his campaign funds.

GRIFFIN: That's what really struck me about the indictment itself. We even pulled a graph out of it. This is from page 18 and it's kind of what I call the nut graph of the indictment of what you just said. Take a look at it, it says it was further part of this scheme that in a series of conversations that began in 2002 and continued after Blagojevich was elected governor, that these defendants, Blagojevich and Alonzo Monk, he's a lobbyist along with Chris Kelly, a businessman and a lobbyist, and Tony Rezkco, the real estate developer and real estate fairy to a lot of people in Chicago, kind of drummed up this scheme, even before Blagojevich was elected to extort money and then at the end of the his term, they were going to divvy this up. This is really a stunning charge Joel. LEVIN: It is a stunning charge and the allegations in the indictment, if they're true, establish a pattern that continued from even before he was elected through his six years in office where again and again he was using the office and authority he had as governor to really enrich himself, his friends and his campaign fund. And he did that in a number of ways through legislation that he had to approve, through appointments to state boards and commissions, through other authority that he had, he, on a number of occasions used that authority to try to enrich himself or even in some cases, his wife.

GRIFFIN: Did it surprise you that his wife was not indicted? She was certainly named, Tony Rezko giving her some payments, $10,000 a month, for doing nothing, it is alleged. Are you surprised that there was no indictment for Patty Blagojevich?

LEVIN: As you indicate, the indictment alleges that she was the beneficiary of some of the proceeds of the scheme, that she was paid real estate commissions that she really never earned. And I think what this indicates is that the government feels while she was a beneficiary, at this point they don't have sufficient evidence that she was really an initiator or orchestrator in the scheme and I think that's why she probably wasn't indicted at this point. But we don't know whether or not as this investigation continues whether or not she could be included in a subsequent indictment.

GRIFFIN: Yeah, the governor of course down in Florida, not treating this lightly, but certainly not rushing to court to defend himself, although he has defended himself and said he's innocent through his press relations. Anything about the governor's actions that have surprised you as a former prosecutor, the way he has been publicly out there answering questions and even hosted a radio show last week in Chicago.

LEVIN: Well I think what we have seen from him, from the time that he was charged in December is conduct that runs completely contrary to the advice that most criminal defense counsel would give to their clients. That is it's one thing just to deny the allegations, but beyond that, you should not be talking to people about the charges and you certainly shouldn't be doing it in a public forum, and of course that's exactly what he did on his tour in New York and the other radio and public appearances that he has had. I think that has been a surprise to many in the criminal defense community and it is not the sort of advice that most lawyers would give to their clients.

GRIFFIN: Final question, this prosecution stream started several years ago, I think there have been 17 people either indicted or convicted. This is kind of a continuation of that. Does it stop with the governor? Does it move on to other political power players or do you know? Do you have any insight of whether or not this is the top of the food chain for this particular corruption investigation?

LEVIN: I think that remains to be seen. The government did in its press release this week indicate that John Harris, who was the former chief of staff and who was charged with Governor Blagojevich, that he is cooperating with the government. So I think we can probably expect that this investigation is going to continue.

GRIFFIN: And we should also point out that Mr. Harris worked for Mr. Daley during his stint in Chicago politics there. Mr. Levin, thank you so much for joining us.

LEVIN: Thank you very much.

NGUYEN: And we continue to follow breaking news out of Pittsburgh. We are learning from the police department there that five officers have been injured in a shootout, but the suspect has surrendered to police. Now CNN affiliates are reporting that two of those five officers are dead. But according to the Pittsburgh Police Department, that has not been confirmed at this hour. They are only reporting five officers injured. Of course we are continuing to follow this story and will bring you the latest, stay right here for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking news out of Pittsburgh, we are learning that five officers have been injured. But according to CNN affiliates, two of those officers have been killed. That is not the official word from the Pittsburgh Police Department though at this hour, but those affiliates, WPXI and WTAE are reporting two officers dead of the five injured. We understand the shootout took place earlier this morning as a result of a domestic dispute. Some 80 shots were fired in the span of some 20 minutes, but the suspect has indeed surrendered, that can be confirmed by CNN. We are continuing to follow the story and will bring you the latest.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: A witness speaking out now about what unfolded yesterday at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, New York. Imagine working right across the street from where 13 people and a gunman were killed. Richard Griffis is in that position, he joins us live from Binghamton. Richard, thank you for joining us. You were at your office yesterday when this took place, what was the first indication that something was wrong?

RICHARD GRIFFIS, WITNESS: We were notified when we began to hear a lot of sirens approaching and when we looked out we saw a large number of police cars arriving. Then it became obvious that something was going on as they began to remove automatic weapons from their cars and began surrounding the building across the street. So we began to notice what was going on at that time.

GRIFFIN: When and how did you find out exactly what was going on, the scope and obviously the horror?

GRIFFIS: Well, it was in bits and pieces as you began to realize what was going on. Obviously we became aware that there was some sort of a hostage situation, but it was not until probably about a half an hour after when they removed the first four individuals that had been shot that we realized how serious it indeed was, that there had been injures result of that. It was probably another hour or better before we began to get reports that maybe there were individuals that had been killed. GRIFFIN: Wow. Just tell me a little bit about this center, how it fits into your community. Is this a busy building, a building certainly that has never seen this kind of violence before, but I wonder if it's a part of the community actively?

GRIFFIS: Well this community in this area obviously is used to a lot of traffic because it is a main intersection of the town, and the building itself certainly has a lot of activity because they deal with a lot of immigrants, they help a lot of people with training and immigration status and English as a second language, so there's a lot of individuals coming in and out. We see them quite regularly and they all seem to be very pleasant in trying to fulfill their part of the American dream.

GRIFFIN: Yeah, I guess what I was getting at, I heard that there were fairs there or activities where people could sell their food from their countries of origin and just trying to get a sense of how deeply this center has been playing a role in the Binghamton community.

GRIFFIS: Well, yeah, it does -- it holds a number of ethnic festivals and things so this town is built on its ethnic population so it certainly is a centerpiece of those types of activities and the community rallies around our diversity. For something like this to happen has shaken people of all nationalities because all of us are affected by that.

GRIFFIN: Thank you Richard, we hope that Binghamton can rally around their community again to pull through this. Thanks for joining us, Richard Griffis.

GRIFFISS: Thank you.

NGUYEN: Let's get more now on the situation in Binghamton. Joining us live from our New York studios is Christopher Falkenberg, he is a former special agent with the U.S. Secret Service and currently heads up Insite Security. Richard, let's get right to it, because authorities have identified the gunman as Jiverly Wong, a man in his 40s. What are investigators looking for as they try to determine a motive here?

CHRISTOPHER FALKENBERG, INSITE SECURITY: Well the first thing investigators have to preclude is the possibility that anybody else is involved. I think it's pretty clear at this point that that is not the case. The second issue is something that law enforcement and what we do at Insite Security frequently which is look at major criminal events after they have occurred and do what's called a psychological post mortem, taking a look at all the factors that led this individual to react violently, the purpose being so that in the future we're better able to identify violent behavior before it begins and to intervene and stop it.

NGUYEN: It's going to take some time to get some answers on this one as to a motive behind this attack. But let's broaden out the picture here and see what we can learn from it. Is there a best way to survive something like this. FALKENBERG: Regardless of what the nature of the emergency is, the most important thing to do when a sudden crisis envelopes you is to be able to think and to take immediate action, to have a bias for action and to act on it. So what we do at Insite is we try to find the means to help people in emergencies is to train them to overcome the instinct to just freeze. What happens when up is down and left is right? A shooting, a plane crash, any sudden emergency like that really takes people in their orientation totally out of whack and so it's incredibly important to be able to react quickly and not to freeze.

In this case there were two examples of that. The first is the woman who acted dead at the reception area and the second is the teacher and students who barricaded themselves in the basement. So those are both examples of people who took initiative and acted and by doing so saved their lives. In my view, I think that's the most important thing that one can train somebody in when dealing with security issues.

NGUYEN: What we are learning about the gunman is that this suspect is believed to have lost a job recently. As we look at the big picture here once again, are you seeing violence ramp up in times like this and recessions like this?

FALKENBERG: Well the path to violence is generally a long and predictable one and so something that we do at Insite all the time is dealing with corporations and clients who have people who seem to be suffering emotionally, the question always being whether or not those emotional problems are going to spiral down and they'll react violently. So the way to deal with that is to have mechanisms in place to recognize when people are decompensating and not dealing well with multiple stresses.

NGUYEN: Ok, so what do you do in order for people out there to have the information to prevent something like this from happening, if that's sort of possible?

FALKENBERG: Well I think it is possible. There's so much workplace violence, it's unclear at this point, what the relationship is between the shooter and the civic center although much has been said that he had a relationship there. So we don't know if he had been there previously, if he had been making threats, but frequently situations arise in the workplace or at school, where regular people, employers, receptionists, bosses, can be trained to recognize the signs and anticipate violence. Not to the extent that we ask them to make a determination that this person is dangerous and they should be arrested.

But they can bring that to the attention of security professionals, threat assessment professionals who can then make a determination of whether intervention is warranted. When that can be done effectively and when the ground work is laid effectively in corporations and in schools to recognize these sorts of problems, you can have great results and we have had great results in precluding and stopping what could have been real emergencies, real crises prior to their development. NGUYEN: All right, Christopher Falkenberg, we do appreciate your time and insight today.

FALKENBERG: My pleasure, thank you for having me.

NGUYEN: And at the top of the hour, we're going to bring you a scheduled news conference live from Binghamton, that's a little less than 30 minutes from now right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

GRIFFIN: Betty, we have breaking news coming out of Pakistan and Islamabad where there has been an explosion. We're going to get right to Reza Sayeh who is on the phone. Reza, what can you tell us?

VOICE OF REZA SAYEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We have some new information, so let's pass it along to you. Police in Islamabad do confirm to CNN that this was indeed a suicide attack targeting a security check post in the federal capital of Islamabad. More and more, we're seeing militants in Pakistan target security forces in the country, go at the heart of the security apparatus and it's happened again. About an hour ago, police tell us a suicide bomber came up to a security check post on Margalla Road in the federal capital of Islamabad and blew himself up. There was gunfire that followed that explosion. These security check posts are manned by police officers and some military personnel throughout Pakistan. They were put in after the September suicide attack on the Marriott. And these security check posts were put in to check vehicles going into sensitive areas in Islamabad and now we can confirm tonight that a suicide bomber has targeted one of these security check posts.

We do not know if other than the suicide attacker any one has been killed. The police do tell us there are several injured and they have been taken to local hospitals. This is the second suicide bombing targeting security forces today. Earlier this morning in Pakistan a suicide attacker hit a check post in Pakistan's tribal region in North Waziristan, the region along the Afghan border. So clearly militants going after security forces in an effort to moralize the same troops that are charged with going after them.

GRIFFIN: Reza, I was unaware that there were checkpoints in Islamabad. You mentioned that they were put in after the attack on the Marriott. Are they surrounding a certain or protecting a certain area or are they designed to check people coming out of a certain area?

SAYEH: Indeed they are, they are surrounding a very sensitive area where government buildings are, the Marriott hotel, we go through them every day and basically there are barricades with police officers, military personnel, you drive up with your car, you roll down your window, you identify yourself, sometimes they ask you to pop your trunk, they check under the hood and they let you go through. They are designed to prevent cars, suicide attackers from going into sensitive areas but they're certainly exposed themselves. If anyone wants to target them, if a suicide attacker wants to target them, he will definitely be able to do some damage because these personnel are certainly exposed.

GRIFFIN: All right, breaking news out of Pakistan and it's not good. Reza Sayeh, thank you so much for joining us.

NGUYEN: Also want to get you back to breaking news right here in the U.S., five police officers in Pittsburgh have been injured in a shootout today. That suspect has surrendered to police. But according to a couple of CNN affiliates, two of those five officers are reported dead. We are going to hear what the Pittsburgh police chief has to say, he just spoke with the media, hear what he has to say next right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Breaking news out of Pittsburgh today, we understand five officers have been injured. Let's take a listen to what the police chief just said. His name is Nathan Harper. He spoke with the media just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATHAN HARPER, PITTSBURGH POLICE CHIEF: As of right now, we have five officers that have received serious injuries.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did this end?

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 were there investigating the scene because we returned several shots as well to the actor because the actor was firing out of the residence with a high-powered assault rifle. At this time we will give further information at 3:00 p.m. over at police headquarters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who was he holding hostage?

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was the original call a domestic dispute?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: All right, so we learned a little bit right there. News conference at 3:00 p.m., we hope to hear some more information on that, but he also had several shots, or at least said several shots were fired. According to reporters on the ground and witnesses nearby, we have been told that up to 80 shots were fired. The police chief said five officers had been injured. But according to a couple of CNN affiliates, they are reporting that two of those five officers are dead. So a lot of information to be sorted out. Hopefully we can get to some conclusions on that at the 3:00 news conference by the police chief. We'll be watching and we'll bring you the latest.

GRIFFIN: Well looking for some help in finding a job? Get on the bus, career counseling going mobile.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, so if you are looking for a job, but you don't have a car and you find it difficult to get to a career counseling center, what do you do, Drew?

GRIFFIN: Well, you call the bus.

NGUYEN: Really? It will come to you?

GRIFFIN: I think so. CNN's Brooke Baldwin has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These days a good job is hard to find. According to the federal government, the national unemployment rate rose yet again meaning more Americans are looking for work. All that economic gloom and doom doesn't deter Jim Montgomery. He knows desperate times call for mobile measures.

JIM MONTGOMERY, COBB WORKS: With the economy being what it is, we need to do everything we can do to enrich people.

BALDWIN: Are you on the road every day?

MONTGOMERY: Pretty much every day.

BALDWIN: Meaning career centers like Cobb Works in metro Atlanta and 2900 others nationwide are hitting the highways, helping the jobless and often car less find work.

MONTGOMERY: We can take our mobile unit out and give them access to our computers, to the internet. They can come on and do a job search. They can work on their resume.

BALDWIN: Montgomery doubles as the driver of this big orange RV, and a career counselor helping hundreds every month.

CARL JOINER, UNEMPLOYED WORKER: This is something, this tool that you can use is right here in my own backyard.

PETER BOWLEG, UNEMPLOYED WORKER: I think it's a great idea because so many times a lot of people when they lose jobs they lose their cars.

BALDWIN: According to Montgomery, this mobile concept is catching on in states like Ohio, Florida, Michigan and Maryland. This federally-funded bus makes stops at local libraries where computers are in high demand. Mario McGowan was sick of waiting.

What have you been doing so far today?

MARIO MCGOWAN: Just looking everywhere and posting my resume on probably every job search that's out there and applying a lot. So that's really what I'm here for until they put me out.

BALDWIN: Until they kick you out of the bus?

MCGOWAN: Yeah.

BALDWIN: Montgomery isn't kicking anyone off, with Georgia's unemployment rate setting record highs, this driver knows he and his RV won't be hitting the brakes any time soon.

MONTGOMERY: Every day. Every day we're busy now.

BALDWIN: Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: That is really a great program. Especially for folks who can't get out and get the information on the web or whatever so that they can get a job. It comes right there to them. We're counseling on wheels.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I know, and just think, a lot of folks are kind of just barging into your conversation, a lot of folks aren't able to get a job fair if they can't afford the gas or they've lost their car because they've lost their jobs, so they come to them.

Hi Drew.

GRIFFIN: Hi guys.

WHITFIELD: Betty and I are having a conversation.

GRIFFIN: A very, very busy morning, breaking news. We're about to turn it all over to Fred.

NGUYEN: Coming up at the top of the hour with some good stuff.

WHITFIELD: Yes, a continuation of a lot of what you have been doing with the shootings taking place in Pittsburgh and of course the follow-up on Binghamton as well. And our legal experts are going to be joining us because there are a number of legal cases on the docket, everything from Ted Stevens, Alaska governor now thinking about stepping in. Should there be a lawsuit? Should there be a special election?

NGUYEN: Right.

WHITFIELD: Rod Blagojevich? Where is that case going? It seems to be taking all kinds of interesting turns. Michael Vick, back in court

NGUYEN: Bankruptcy, right? WHITFIELD: Yeah. And trying to get the judge to see his side of things in terms of bankruptcy court. Can he turn things around with the plan? The judge says wait a minute, there's no guarantee that you're going to be playing football again. So I don't like this plan, so denied. We've been talking about a lot of heavy stuff lately, everything from foreclosures.

NGUYEN: Can you give us some good news?

WHITFIELD: We're going to give you some good news. Good times on a budget is the 4:00 p.m. eastern hour focus.

NGUYEN: I like it!

WHITFIELD: Everything from how do you have a little vacation, call this a staycation. I actually went diving with these whale sharks here --

NGUYEN: Diving with sharks?

WHITFIELD: And the manta rays and you can do so if you're certified and you go to the Georgia Aquarium, you can take the plunge too. But other ways to kind of have a good time. Camping is really big these days. People want to stay close. Maybe within 40 miles of their home. Yeah. Food is always a good formula in trying to have a good time.

NGUYEN: The key to my heart.

WHITFIELD: I do, too. So how do you still continue to restaurant go or perhaps dine at home on a budget. Good times on a budget, 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, you can join us with some questions in this discussion, Josh Levs will be with us, Facebook, Fredricka Whitfield/cnn, Josh Levs/cnn as well. I-report as well as weekends@cnn.com. We want to hear from you and be part of the conversation. What are you doing inventive to be sure you have good times, but on a budget.

NGUYEN: Yeah, a lot of people have spring break right now, summer's right around the corner, people are looking for ways to do it on a budget.

WHITFIELD: And it's also prom season. And prom is no joke these days. Is it killing you, Drew? $500 to $1,000 people will spend sometimes on the whole thing.

NGUYEN: Ok.

WHITFIELD: We're going to go way below that. We're going to stay within $100 or $200 max, including the outfit and the meal.

NGYUYEN: Everything, ooh, that's good stuff. Thank you Fred.

WHITFIELD: Are you going to tune in because you've got -- ?

NGUYEN: What? WHITFIELD: You said no?

NGUYEN: He has to catch a flight. Everything else, yes. Prom thing? No, I have to go. Here's an interesting question and apropos at the moment. Do you work with rude people?

NGUYEN: Absolutely not.

WHITFIELD: No.

NGUYEN: At least, say, right now, right, no I'm kidding. Of course, we don't, thankfully.

GRIFFIN: I thought that was a little bit rude right there, don't you?

NGUYEN: I'm not going to call you out on television.

WHITFIELD: Bye!

NGUYEN: Since you called yourself out, fine, yes. Some of us do work with rude people, but apparently some folks, you know, hey, they don't have a problem with it and we've put a list together of the top workplace annoyances. Stay tuned for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Ok, so did you know that interrupting, just like this guy right here, leads the list of rude behaviors in the workplace according to careerbuilder.com and not saying thank you to your colleagues. That is another faux pas. And, of course, everybody works with a pig pen, somebody who leaves a mess in their way, especially in a break room.

GRIFFIN: Yep, from dirty habits to dirty language, cut out that gosh darn cursing and then there are those obnoxious loud phone talkers.

NGUYEN: I'm one of those.

GRIFFIN: And a prime example of workplace rudeness, walking past your co workers and not even acknowledging their presence.

NGUYEN: Oh yeah.

GRIFFIN: Of course we hate to be rude so we will thank careerbuilder.com again for the list.

NGUYEN: Thank you very much. And we are not going to interrupt Fredricka Whitfield, she's coming up at the top of the hour.

WHITFIELD: That's right, let's all be polite.

NGUYEN: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: You all have a grand day. NGUYEN: You too.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much.