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Fitness Center Rampage; Joyous Homecoming for Ling and Lee; Fresno Man Flies Tattered Flag; Government's Homegrown Terror Case; No Bail for North Carolina Terrorists; A Different Kind of "Family"

Aired August 05, 2009 - 14:58   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. What an incredible story. Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. We are going to be staying with this story as we continue to bring you the details. Imagine going into a room, an aerobics room, turning out the lights so it's pitch- black, and then shooting as the police officer just said, 31 times. I mean, do the count in your head and imagine how horrific that must have been.

What we have done for you to expand our coverage of this story is, we've gotten on our hands some of the blogs that the shooter actually left behind. What he had said leading up to this shooting, which will, if nothing else, amaze you. To hear exactly what he had planned to do and why he planned to do this. What his thoughts were. Let's do this. Let's begin the show with showing you exactly what we are going to be getting into over the next hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your back. Now!

SANCHEZ: Why do they keep Tasing him? You will see it for yourself.

Neighbors are furious at the man flying this flag this way. He is going to join me live.

Is there a secret fundamentalist organization at the heart of American power?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MARK SANFORD, SOUTH CAROLINA: ...as part of a group called C Street when I was in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: C Street. What is it? Who are they? What do they believe? The author of "The Family" joins me.

The arrival after the pardon.

LAURA LING, JOURNALIST FREED FROM NORTH KOREA: Euna and I would like to express our deepest gratitude to President Clinton.

SANCHEZ: Moments that require few words, but make a part of our national conversation for Wednesday, August 5, 2009.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news. This is a conversation. It's not a speech. And as always, it's your turn to get involved.

This story coming out of Pittsburgh that you have been watching this news conference on is fascinating, to say the very least. And we are learning more about this horrible mass killing, more than 30 gunshots, 31, as you just heard the police officer describe, at a suburban Pittsburgh center. It was an L.A. Fitness. We have seen those all over the country.

And now we can show you the gunman for the very first time, 48- year-old George Sodini. The picture was taken from his personal blog. Looks like an average guy, right? On that blog, now removed from the Internet, Sodini left diary entries. This is where this really gets interesting. I mean, they're eerie to read, because what it reveals is what really pushed this man to the edge.

Let me share some of these with you. Listen to this entry here. You ready?

Sodini wants to kill, he says. He is writing about his exit plan. That's what he calls it. December 28, 2008, "I will shoot," he says. For Tuesday, January 6 at maybe 8:15. That's when he is planning to do this, to kill these innocent people. "I have a list of to-do items to make."

That so-called exit plan, by the way, was delayed several times, because, as he described it in the blogs that we have been reading throughout the course of the day, he just chickened out, couldn't do it, was afraid of what death might be like. That's what he said: "I'm afraid of what death is going to be like."

But then comes last night. He didn't chicken out. Here's what he did. He walks into that L.A. Fitness. He goes into an aerobics class. It was a Latin dance aerobics class, by the way. He turns out the lights, so the room is pitch black, and then he starts shooting, 31 times, according to police.

Can you imagine how long that took for those people trying to get out of there? And can you imagine the horror for so many of those innocent women who were in that class?

Well, today, police have identified three of the women that were killed. They are Elizabeth Gannon, Jodi Billingsley, and Heidi Overmier, all from Pennsylvania. At least 10 others were shot before the gunman killed himself.

All right, listen to what he wrote. This is -- I want to take you back eight months ago. He writes: "Many of the young girls here look so beautiful as to not be normal." December 24, "No girlfriend since 1984." He is talking about himself, how he doesn't have a girlfriend. This is a constant theme with this guy. "Who knows why? I am not ugly or too weird. No sex since July 1990."

December 29, he writes this: "Thirty million women reject me." That was the number in his head that he keeps throwing out about how many women don't like him. He thinks there's 30 women -- available women in the United States.

And then he writes this. Now, I am going to take you to December 31. This is 2008. He is writing about his mother. He says -- quote -- "The central boss, don't you know what her off or she will be mad and vindictive for years."

You start to begin a pattern here, some kind of problem with women, maybe going back to his mother.

Now, in just a moment, I am going to bring in a psychologist who you know. She's been with us before and she nails this stuff down real good, has in the past. It's Dr. Judy, as we call her, Dr. Judy Kuriansky.

First, though, I want to fast-forward, getting closer to these killings last night that people are talking about, reading again from George Sodini's blog.

May 25, he writes: "It's another lonely Friday night. I am done. This is too much."

Fourth of July: "I stayed in all day, no parties or picnics. Then, August 3, Monday, the day before Sodini's so-called exit plan, as he calls it: "There is only one shot. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day."

I mean, those are calling words. And, by the way, what's it like to be in that room when this crazy man walked in and took out a gun, turned out the lights and started shooting?

Here's a witness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened was is, they were in a Pilates class or something like that, and they turned the lights out, and, all of a sudden, the shooting started.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He shut the lights off in the aerobic room. And by the time I realized what was going on, I looked over to the aerobic room, and I could see flashes in the dark. And that's when I realized that someone was actually using a firearm inside of there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pretty intense. At first, you didn't get a chance to think about it because it happened so fast. But, then, once you realized that when you were outside what happened, you saw the people running around. And there was people that were shot and bleeding. It was a lot to take in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right, joining us now is clinical psychologist Dr. Judy.

Thanks so much for being with us. How are you?

DR. JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Oh, you are welcome. Tragic story.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Always good to see you. But maybe we can learn something from this guy.

What was his problem with women? I mean, listen to this. I don't know if you caught this one when I was reading it. I will read it again.

KURIANSKY: Yes, I did.

SANCHEZ: "No girlfriend since 1984. Who knows why? I am not ugly or too weird. No sex since July 1990 either, when I was 29 years old."

Who talks or writes or keeps the data like that around?

KURIANSKY: Well, we know a lot of people feel rejected. There are men rejected, women rejected.

But, when it goes that deep, remember, you also read that he hated his mother and used some very nasty words towards her. So, when psychologically this kind of rejection from everyone, 30 million women, no sex, he is spewing this and blaming his mom -- it gets very, very deep. Most of us know how to deal with rejection and get over it.

Some people, like he, don't. And it turns into suicide and murder. When you have a murder/suicide, the anger -- we heard the word hatred, but this is anger toward self and other -- adds up into this explosion.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

He was angry at a lot of things, though. I heard him. He was angry at the rest of the family. He doesn't like black men because too often young white women date them. "Every black man should get a young white" -- and he uses a negative term to describe women. "Kind of reverse indentured servitude thing," criticizes about Obama, doesn't say nice things about his brother.

This guy was an angry man.

KURIANSKY: Yes, definitely, and a man who had a lot of hatred and anger towards himself and others, and not dissimilar, by the way, to the Holocaust shooter, who also had a lot of hatred, racist, and in many other ways.

I think what this also is so powerful is that the Internet was used. He had a Web page. Nobody noticed this. This man was suffering. It says a lot about the Internet, Rick, and it says a lot about mental health. We are now into health care issues. And mental health must be noticed. This man does -- needed to talk. He was spewing on the Internet. He needed to get out, and somebody needed to be helping him.

SANCHEZ: But wait.

KURIANSKY: There needs to be policing on the Internet for these kinds of talk and postings.

SANCHEZ: But you know what? Look, maybe it is me, but, as a Catholic, it is a sin to kill yourself and certainly a sin to kill others.

I am a Christian. We pray at my table with my kids. I go to church. This man, I read in here, went to his pastor. And we are not going to embarrass the guy, because it may not be true. And who knows? We are not going to take it at face value. But he talks in here about seeing a pastor and about being assured by the pastor that, as soon as he did this, he would be going to heaven, because Jesus would forgive him and accept him.

I'm a little worried about that, Judy.

KURIANSKY: I would worry. You are absolutely right. I would worry about this, too.

Not everybody is qualified. But we have a serious problem too in the training of mental health counselors at all levels. Pastors should be trained. This is what funds have to go to in the government for health care, for mental health, and training of people, like you just said, so that they can be found on the Internet, in the church, in the community.

Now the community is going to pay attention to mental health care and offering it to people who are suffering. This needs to happen preventively, not after the fact.

SANCHEZ: Unbelievable.

KURIANSKY: This school system needs to pay the attention too.

SANCHEZ: Yes, yes. No, it's important stuff. And I love your passion. I love the way you take us through this every time we call on you. You believe this. And, obviously, after we see a case like this, with the words that this guy left behind -- and, by the way, we are going to put as many of this as we can on our blog so you can read it.

And that's CNN.com/ricksanchez. I think it will further this national conversation.

Dr. Judy, always good to see you.

KURIANSKY: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: All right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LING: We were shocked. But we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Did you see this? It's a needed coup for the president obviously and for the ex-president, and one extremely emotional welcome. All right, we are going to re-rack all this stuff and you are going to see it unfold.

Also, this is an important conversation. Is there a secret organization run by fundamentalist lawmakers in Washington? The book is called "The Family." It is a sensation, by the way, this book. Everyone seems to be talking about it or trying to get their hands on it. We are going to talk with the author. He was once one of them, by the way, Jeff Sharlet.

Also, remember the after-show on CNN.com/live right here at 4:00. I'm looking forward to it today. We're going to extend our conversation on the family. So, for those of you who want to see it, stay with us, by golly. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: A lot of tweets coming in on the story that we have just shared with you. Let's get a couple of these.

"I knew, when reported, this gym killer had a problem with women. It probably began with his relationship with his mother." Boy, that seems to be the case.

"Another instance of violence against women. Sadly, these women weren't given a chance to survive."

No, they weren't.

By the way, we expect there might be some updates on that story. Stay with us. We will be taking you back to Pittsburgh from time to time to bring you up to date.

Meanwhile, the border of China and Korea, a capture, and then five months in prison, Laura Ling and producer Euna Lee arrive home. As the story has unfolded, you have seen news anchors and their guests today and in part yesterday talk and talk and talk.

So, this is where I have decided to shut up. Roger, roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Proving once again there are stories for which words just get in the way. The families of both women credit former President Bill Clinton and his one-day trip to North Korea for securing their release.

Listen to what Laura Ling said today recalling the moment she and Euna Lee realized that there was something about to change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LING: We feared that at any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp. And then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting. We were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And he is a big guy.

In just a minute, a California man is flying an American flag at his house that frankly looks like hell. Wait until you see this. And some people in his neighborhood are looking at this flag in tatters, and they have got a serious problem with it. He says he has got a good reason to fly it. You know what? He may be right.

But I want you -- I want your take on this. So, I'm going to show you the flag and then you are going to hear from him. Let's do this together. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

All right, I want you to take a look at this flag. This might be the worst-looking flag I have seen in my life, right? It is ripped, it is tattered, it is faded. Who would let a flag like that fly in front of their house? It is beat up. Neighbors are teed off about this one, by wait.

They are driving by this thing. And they have told the guy who flies this flag, take it down. They have even -- you know what they have done? They have even gone to his front porch and left brand-new flags, so he can replace this old tattered flag with the new one.

Joining me now is Louis Haros live from Fresno, California.

Mr. Haros, thanks for being with us, sir.

LOUIS HAROS, FLYING TATTERED U.S. FLAG ON PURPOSE: Yes, sir.

SANCHEZ: That's your flag, eh?

HAROS: Yes, sir, it is.

SANCHEZ: And your neighbors, they don't like that flag, right?

HAROS: No. They keep knocking on my door and demanding it to be removed.

SANCHEZ: And you can understand why they might have that impression. I mean, to look at the flag, it is tattered. It looks old. It might make -- I understand a lot of the people are veterans who live around you, and it upsets them, right?

HAROS: Yes, sir. They have brought me flags. And they tell me to remove it, or they want to remove it themselves.

And I tell them the story behind the flag, and some of them agree with me, and some don't.

SANCHEZ: You are a Vietnam veteran, sir. You served your country proudly.

HAROS: Yes, sir. I spent 22 years in the military and put two tours in Vietnam.

SANCHEZ: Now, let's tell people why you are not taking that flag down and why it is so special. Tell us about your son Paul.

HAROS: My son, before he left to go to Iraq, he came and brought me the flag. And he raised it up. And I -- at that time, I told him, I will not replace that flag until you come and you bring it down yourself.

And, so, I made him a promise. I didn't realize that the flag would get in the condition that it is in right now.

SANCHEZ: Your son has done not one, but two tours from Iraq. And I have been told by a little birdie after doing some research that your son has just arrived in the United States. Is that right?

HAROS: Yes, sir. My son has spent two tours in Iraq, and he is due to come in to Fresno tomorrow at 8:30 in the morning.

SANCHEZ: And when your son Paul, who has served his country well, arrives home, and you give him that father-and-son hug, maybe even a kiss on the cheek, like I do with my dad, that flag is going to come down, and it is going to be finally replaced by a new flag, huh?

(CROSSTALK)

HAROS: Yes, sir.

Our plan is to bring him home and give him a new flag, and put the other one away. I think we are going to give it to -- to my -- my grandson, which is his son.

SANCHEZ: You know what? I bet you that most of the people listening right now after hearing your story have no problem with that old tattered flag anymore and respect you even more for wanting to keep it there and admire the fact that you have decided that, to honor your son, you, a man, who served his country, will not take it down until your son, who, like you, served this country, will do the same.

I just get that feeling. But we will be checking, because we have almost 100,000 people who are following our newscast. And they will be tweeting and sending us all kinds of messages.

And you keep listening. By the way, when -- when your son comes back, would you mind if we sent a video crew or a camera over there to get a picture of that moment, when you give him that hug and that camera (sic) comes down?

HAROS: Yes, sir. Please come and join the ceremony.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Louis, God bless you, man. Thanks for being with us, sir.

HAROS: Thank you for calling.

SANCHEZ: All right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back now!

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your back!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: He is 6'1'', 300 pounds and police say they could not stop him, even after Tasing him several times. Now, as you probably know, I got a little bit of experience with this Tasing thing. Yes, I will show mine as well, since he is showing his.

The government lays out their case in federal court against seven men from North Carolina they say are terror suspects. And we have got some details about this. Some of them have been coming in lately, and they are stunning. We are all over this story.

And then always remember, after this show, we go to CNN.com/live. It's at 4:00. And we want you to join us today, because we are going to be talking about the book, one of the bestsellers, says "The New York Times." It's called "The Family" by Jeff Sharlet.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Look at all the comments. You're going to love this, right? I told you this was a great story. I loved this story when I first read about it. And I wanted to bring you this fellow's story, this Louis Haros, we just interviewed.

"Awesome story on the father flying the old tattered flag. Hope we can see his son take that one down and put up a new one."

Me, too. And I know Angie is probably already working on it.

"Damn you, Twitter. Finally, when Rick Sanchez does something worth writing about" -- thanks a lot -- "you block me. Don't Tase me, man."

Look at this one: "Let that flag wave proudly."

And one more. I love this one. Look at this. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Great flag story."

Ain't that the truth?

Oh, my God, and we can go on and on and on. Everybody is writing about this. That was a cool segment.

All right, let me get into another segment now. Let me preface this next story with this. I have four kids, as you probably know, because I talk about them all time. So, unlike people who don't have kids, but are always judging people who do have kids -- I hear it all the time -- I know for a fact that kids can from time to time be an absolute pain in the you know. They can just make you absolutely crazy.

In fact, if you took a given 10-second clip of me or my wife at any given moment sometimes disciplining our kids, we might seem a little irrational. Yeah.

That said, what I'm about to show you is irrational and quite possibly beyond the pale when it comes to parenting. Here it is. Role it, Rog.

This is a woman in Alabama apparently fed up with her son's behavior while she was trying to shop. So, look what she does. She drags the kid out of the store using a security device that most people would describe as, I guess, a leash. The leash was pulled so hard, it left marks on the boy's neck, and the woman was arrested for child cruelty.

What a picture. Let's hope, for the sake of the child, it was just a bad moment and not a normal pattern of parenting for her.

Up next, you will see the arrival of Laura Ling and Euna Lee at the airport with Bill Clinton, while Al Gore and the families reunite at the tarmac. It is pretty amazing stuff.

Now, have you heard of "The Family," a book about a shadowy secret organization of lawmakers in and around Washington? The author, Jeff Sharlet, joins me.

Stay with. I will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: A lot of quick comments coming in on Twitter from social media. It's a national conversation, so let's turn things over to you, shall we?

"Leashes are meant for dogs, not kids. Leashes on kids are atrocious."

On the story we are doing about the guy who was Tased: "Don't tase me, bro."

And then another one on the flag -- so many of these.

Let me move that up for you guys so you can see a little better, right? There you go.

"With eyes filled with tears, I say, "Fly, beautiful flag, fly."

Cool. What a moment. What raw emotion. What pure release. There was some joy, there was some love. We sat in the office this morning, all of us, and we watched this as it happened, when it happened.

American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee; touching American soil for the first time in months and falling into the open arms of their loved ones -- husbands, children, parents. Since March, they have been in North Korea where they were arrested, tried, sentenced, thrown in jail.

Laura Ling says the two women they knew were not forgotten.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA LING, FREED AMERICAN JOURNALIST: We could feel your love all the way in North Korea. It is what kept us going in the darkest of hours. It is what sustained our faith that we would come home.

The past 140 days have been the most difficult, heart wrenching time of our lives. We are very grateful that we were granted amnesty by the government of North Korea and we are so happy to be home. We are just so anxious right now to be able to spend some quiet, private time getting reacquainted with our families. Thank you so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: By the way, when those two women stepped off that plane this morning, it was the end of a long diplomatic process, the details of which we may really never know.

Is it possible this deal was struck before Bill Clinton ever even landed there? How much did the president have to do with this? How about Al Gore who we saw on the tarmac today?

I want you to watch this report on the politics of this -- the geopolitics I guess I should say -- from CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Officially, it was all unofficial. But when a former president and spouse of the current Secretary of State comes calling the official overtones are unmistakable. And that is why Kim Jong-Il was smiling according to Jack Pritchard, a former Special U.S. Envoy to the region and now head of the Korea Economic Institute.

JACK PRITCHARD, KOREA ECONOMIC INSTITUTE: As you know for the last year, Kim Jong-Il has been plagued by health problems. There's been speculations that he's not going to survive very long.

FOREMAN: So a visit like this makes him look strong?

PRITCHARD: It looks and makes him look strong. He looks healthy; he looks happy in that picture. It puts to rest a lot of the speculation both internally and externally about his health and his command of authority in North Korea.

FOREMAN: So, how was the deal done?

First, through Sweden, the United States has no formal relations with North Korea but Sweden does. The Swedish Ambassador in Pyongyang, Mats Foyer, has been there since 2005 and he saw the captives repeatedly, keeping back door communications flowing there and at the United Nations in New York.

By all accounts the State Department worked tirelessly through those channels. The White House has not disclosed details.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This obviously is a very sensitive topic.

FOREMAN: But foreign affairs analysts believe the private talks drove public positions, the second key. For example, Secretary Clinton initially suggested the charges against the pair were baseless.

PRITCHARD: And Secretary Clinton indicated that this was somewhat of a sham trial and she disparaged the North Koreans' legal system. The North Koreans were furious over that.

FOREMAN: Then suddenly last month a much more conciliatory tone.

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The two journalists and their families have expressed great remorse for this incident. And I think everyone is very sorry that it happened.

FOREMAN: The third key, when the Obama administration responded to North Korea's latest missile test by pressing for sharper international sanctions, Pritchard says Kim Jong-Il needed to turn down the heat.

PRITCHARD: And this is a way, in a very face-saving way for them to recalibrate their relationship with the United States.

FOREMAN: And the final key, Bill Clinton himself.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FOREMAN: Kim Jong-Il had wanted then President Clinton to visit North Korea back in 2000. It did not happen but analysts say he never gave up on the idea. In the end, that's what sealed the deal. A visit from about the biggest unofficial official America could send.

SANCHEZ: Why are police unable to stop a man, no matter what they do? They are tasing him over and over and over again. Watch some of this video real quick. Go ahead and hit that Rog (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back, now. Put your hands behind your back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: What's amazing about this isn't the fact that he is tased but the fact that he has to be tased over and over and over again.

Who is right? Who is wrong? Are the police overdoing it? Did the guy deserve it? Those are all questions that deserve to be asked and we will.

Also, remember the aftershow on cnn.com/live at 4:00. CNN will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: I want to show you that even though we are a huge country, from time to time we do a story that affects people right in their own backyard. Listen to this tweet right here. It's from Donny's hostess (ph). She sends it to me and she says, "That tragedy at that gym in Pittsburgh was about 20 minutes from my house."

This hits too close to home. That's interesting. She is right there watching the story on national television and it happened 20 minutes from her home.

Now, this story: this is a story I've been telling you about. This is interesting. A Nashville, Tennessee police officer decides that he has to arrest this man because he has been stealing according to his boss. He tries to arrest him but the guy won't cooperate.

The guy is 6'1" and 300 pounds. So things don't work out as well as they usually do when someone takes out a taser. Let's watch it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back, now. Down, put your hands behind your back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: I mean, that's amazing. Keep watching. Watch what he does. He gets up. Now, he is taking the Taser off. See the wire that's connected to the Taser? Remember, those are like little needles. They just go through your skin and give you enough of a pulse. Enough -- that's like 50,000 watts. I know. I've done it.

I have been looking into these Tasers now for several years. One of the reasons we did our original story is because many police departments feel like these things are effective and they're certainly much safer than guns and they protect the person and they protect the police officer.

Let me tell you, what this guy is doing is nothing short of amazing? Three times they Tasered him and three times he gets up. He is taking them off.

Maybe it is the loose clothing, maybe it's the apron, maybe it's the T-shirt underneath. You want to see what really happens when someone gets about 3.5 seconds of this stuff?

By the way, the guy's name here is Rich Sanchez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(RICK SANCHEZ GETTING TASERED)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Yes. No hero here, right? That was about 3.5 seconds; a couple more seconds who knows what I would have done. That is extremely painful.

And to be serious now, I have been working with police officers all over the country getting information as to why they want more police officers to replace gun in certain circumstances with Tasers.

They say that they are highly effective. To the point now where even in Nashville, one official said before Tasing that guy you saw right there, that in most cases -- 83 percent of the cases -- all they have to do is take the Taser out and usually, the person who they're trying to arrest will comply.

Just by showing them the Taser, not even having to use it; that shows the dramatic difference it's made. And yes, Jon Stewart, I know it is fun to watch that video of me getting tased.

Then, there is this.

Are terrorists being grown to kill us in our own backyard? An in-depth look at the North Carolina Seven; what was actually going on in that house in North Carolina? Do they really worship Jihad as they've been found to say? How big a threat were they to the rest of us?

We are looking down -- we're drilling down, I should say -- on this story. The report when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: It's funny. Most of you were enjoying seeing me getting Tased. You guys are awful.

Let's go to the Twitter board if we possible can before we move on to the next story.

This guy says, "You need to buy a Taser-proof suit, Rick. You don't have that 300 pound body." Well, getting close.

And there is raggatasn who says, "Way to go, Rick." Way to go, for what?

My thanks to all of you who are twittering us and sending us messages.

We have a late development to a significant story that we started to follow for you yesterday. Today, a federal judge in North Carolina denied bail to terror suspects accused of plotting attacks overseas. His ruling is based on the strength of the evidence thus far.

When these seven men were arrested, we all had a lot of questions about what they were really doing in North Carolina, as did neighbors of the alleged ringleader who described Muslim convert, Daniel Boyd, as a model citizen.

But I want you to hear what the government says about this, quote, "Model citizen." Here is CNN's homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The men are charged with conspiring to wage Jihad overseas. But as they left jail for court Tuesday morning, they seemed unconcerned, even smiling.

In court, they sat shoulder to shoulder with Daniel Boyd, the alleged ringleader, in the center. An FBI agent testified that a search of the Boyd home turned up guns, including an assault weapon, more than 27,000 rounds of ammunition, including some that pierce armor, a trench under the deck purportedly to hide weaponry, a possible lookout perch in the yard, documents promoting Jihad against America, a book the government describes as its playbook for responding to terror attacks and $13,000 in cash.

And when authorities moved into arrest Boyd, the FBI testified, Boyd went for his gun, which he had a permit to carry. Then on a later law enforcement interview, Boyd denied reaching for his side arm.

In court, five secretly-recorded audio tapes were played. In them, a man identified by the FBI as Daniel Boyd, discusses financing and waging jihad. "Allah knows I love Jihad," he says.

Dozens of family and friends gathered to hear the details of the government's case.

KHALILAH SABRA, MUSLIM AMERICAN SOCIETY FREEDOM FEDERATION: What we are trying to do is to make sure there is due process. We're not coming to any conclusion about guilt or innocence.

MESERVE: But Boyd's wife has already made her opinion clear.

SABRINA BOYD, DEFENDANTS' WIFE: We do own guns in our home as our constitutional right allows us. I don't think there is a crime in that. But as far as the other allegations, I find them false and I know that my husband and my sons are free of guilt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Wow. Again, no bail for six of the seven men arrested for allegedly plotting those terror attacks overseas. That decision, we understand, might be coming down sometime this afternoon. We're going to be watching the clock. The case of the seventh suspect is also still being considered.

A seven-year-old -- seven-year-old boy driving a car on YouTube; and now his parents are facing charges or could face charges, we're told. That video is next.

Remember, we'll be going an extra 15 minutes if you just switch over to cnn.com/live and click my icon. We will continue the conversation right there with the man who wrote "The Family" tonight.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: I just want to thank somebody who just corrected me. He did. And it's Murphy here right in the middle. You see that, Johnny, or you see that, Robert? Says, "I kind of doubt that there's 50,000 watts. Volts, amps, maybe."

You're right. If I said watts, I meant volts. 50,000 volts of electricity is what you get when you are tasered by most of the weapons, the taser weapons that are used by police officers these days. Good catch. I appreciate it.

I want you to watch this next piece of video and see how many safety violations you can count. The first one's easy. Just look at who's behind the wheel.

Roll it, roger.

All right. Let's see. Could that be a 7-year-old? Yes, it's a 7-year-old. This is on a country road in Canada.

Dad's behind the camera; car's going about 43 miles an hour. Oh, mom and two other kids, they're in the back seat, unbuckled. One is on her lap. At one point, she says you're getting too close to the ravine. Too close to the ravine. Wow.

A parent actually put this on YouTube. We thought you'd like to see it.

Up next there's a shadowy family that presides over Washington's Evangelical elite. I'm going to talk to the writer who's worked his way into this secret society.

So much to say about this, so many questions to ask. That's Jeff Sharlet. He joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

There is a phenomenon that you need to know about that has become public because of a scandal involving this man. That's U.S. Senator John Ensign of Nevada whose relationship with an aide has led to actions of everything from cheating to nepotism to chaos. It doesn't help Ensign's case that he demanded at one point that Bill Clinton's resignation be taken for his sin with Monica Lewinsky.

In fact, since the Clinton affair, these prominent Republicans are among those caught in similar trysts of the flesh. There's Louisiana Senator David Vitter, Idaho Senator Larry Craig, the aforementioned John Ensign, and now, as you know, Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina.

Now, in fact, do you remember Sanford's mea culpa, the one he made upon his return from Argentina where he had his final fling with his secret lover? I want you to hear the part where Sanford reveals his connection to this previously secret organization, a group that also involves some of those other men that we just mentioned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MARK SANFORD (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: We've been working through this thing for about the last five months. I've been to a lot of different -- as part of the group C Street when I was in Washington. It was a -- believe it or not -- a Christian Bible study, some folks who asked of members of Congress hard questions that I think were very, very important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Christian Bible study. That's a good thing. Right? My kids go to the Christian Bible study.

However, what is the C Street group really about? Where's the bigger phenomenon here? Members are described by my guest as "the family" who are in this organization. Who are these men?

Joining me now is "The New York Times" best-selling author whose book is sending shock waves all over the country. You've probably seen him. He's been getting a lot of ink and a lot of press lately.

Jeff Sharlet not only writes about this "family," he lived among them for a time, as well. Mr. Charlotte, thanks so much for being with us, sir. JEFF SHARLET, AUTHOR, "THE FAMILY": Hi, Rick. Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: You know, the first thing that I have to ask you about that I'm surprised at is some of these men, and obviously not all of them, but some of these men defend one man's sin. Ensign's, for example, where they all coalesced and tried to help him, but then not others' like Bill Clinton, for example.

You know, I'm not quite -- isn't sin, sin? How is one man's sin acceptable but the other man's isn't?

Well, according to the "family," it all depends on whether you're chosen. They have a very unusual religious belief. They believe that the politicians that they're involved with are in some way sort of selected for their offices by God, not so much elected by the people.

And that's why you see Governor Sanford and Senator Ensign saying that they're not going to resign; Governor Sanford even comparing himself to King David.

SANCHEZ: Chosen? Chosen?

SHARLET: Chosen, yes.

SANCHEZ: So that means that the things that count for the rest of us don't count for them?

SHARLET: It really does. Inside the "family" when I've lived as a member and then as I dug through their archives for years, they have the idea that morality is a secular concept. That all that matters is obedience to God. And that you find out what God wants by going behind closed doors with other powerful men and listening for messages.

It's hard to grasp, but I mean this is...

SANCHEZ: Let me read this passage from your book. I was reading your book last night. I was really intrigued. So were two or three of my staff who all took it home as well.

Bo -- in your book it says Bo, is somebody who's just there. We'll just leave it as a first name. "Let's say I hear that you raped three little girls. What would I think of you?" Bo responds as would I and you or anybody else, "Probably that I'm pretty bad. No, I wouldn't."

That pretty much makes your point. What does that mean?

Go ahead. Take us through it.

SHARLET: That man speaking there is actually Doug Coe who is seen in the news as Senator John Ensign's spiritual advisor; the man who helps Senator Ensign cover up his affair. And if Senator Ensign's former aide, Doug Hampton, is to be believed -- encouraged him to make pay-offs to his mistresses. That man is one of the leaders of this group.

And that story you just read is him actually illustrating what the King David story means to the "family." If you're chosen, the normal rules don't apply. Good, bad, that doesn't matter. You're chosen by God for power.

SANCHEZ: I have to ask. I mean, it does sound like some of the things that these gentlemen interpret is not something they would want out there. Why did they let you in to the organization -- are you even -- are you a Christian?

SHARLET: You know, I'm a person who writes about -- my faith is writing about religion. And as I stumbled into it, I was writing my first book about unusual religious communities around the United States and was invited by a man -- a family friend -- who was worried that her brother had joined the cult. She said, "Would you talk to him?"

He said the only way you can understand is to come and see it. And once I was in, I couldn't believe what I saw and so I spent several years investigating.

SANCHEZ: But they can't be that bad if they would allow you in there, right? They're an open, honest organization of Christian men who want to organize around Jesus -- what's wrong with that?

SHARLET: Well, they're not actually. The inner circle actually rejects the label "Christian." They do use the idea of Jesus but when I was at the C Street house, Doug Coe explained. He says, "Look the model of Jesus -- you want to understand how Jesus wielded power" -- this is a direct quote speaking to Congressman Todd Tiahrt. "Look at Hitler, Osama bin Laden, Lenin, Pol Pot." He said, "We want that same model for Jesus." And I don't think any Christian in America would sign off on that.

SANCHEZ: Well, I have to ask you about the Ensign thing. I have to ask you about the comments that Coburn made about the Ensign thing where he said that he didn't feel compelled to have to talk about what he had discussed with Ensign even if it might be a legitimate or legal issue.

I want to ask you about really where this place is. What the cells are as well and we're going to be getting into all of that.

I can't help but wonder though as I'm looking at this whether you've reached out to these guys to get a response. Obviously we're going to -- after this conversation with you -- if I called them right now, what would they say?

SHARLET: Last year when I worked with actually another network to do a segment on this, they called the leader -- one of the leaders of the group and he said, "Oh, there's been a mistake. There's no organization here. It's just a group of friends."

But of course, the past records tell another tale. SANCHEZ: Jeff, we're out of time. We're going to leave it there. You stay here, you and I are going to slip over to CNN.com/live.

Here now for "THE SITUATION ROOM" is Suzanne Malveaux.