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Snowman Hit and Run; School Board Shooting; Senate to Vote on Tax Package Today; Robber Walks Off With $1.5 Million in Chips from Bellagio; "Time" Magazine's Person of the Year; Live Speech from President Obama on Tax Cut Deal; Bill Clinton to in Haiti Today; FIFA President under Fire for Gay Remarks
Aired December 15, 2010 - 09:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, guys. Not prosecuted, but I appreciate you letting me take over. Have a great day everyone. It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. in the west.
I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for joining us everyone. Kyra Phillips is off today. Here are some of the stories that have us talking this morning.
Throughout the morning, Greek riot police have struggled to hold back violent protesters from the parliament building. Union workers are railing against wage cuts and changes in labor laws. Those cutbacks mandated by the Greece's bailout from its financial crisis.
There could be a breakthrough in the fight against AIDS. Researchers in Germany say they have made -- they have cured a man of HIV infection. CNN's medical team is taking a closer look and we're going to tell you about it.
Talk about a gamble. This man just pulled off a million dollar heist on the Las Vegas strip and police say he may have hit another casino just last week, but the story doesn't end there.
We begin this morning with a bizarre and terrifying meltdown in a school board meeting in Florida and cameras captured it all and some of these pictures we want to warn you. They are very disturbing.
After calmly sitting through the early part of the meeting, an angry set seven stepped up for comment. He berated Bay District School officials and then he spray painted a red "V" on the chamber's wall.
He then pulled out a handgun and ordered most of the people from the room to leave. Fifty six-year-old Clay Duke is a former convict who's apparently upset over taxes and the recent firing of his wife. That's when the school superintendent tried to reason with him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you let them go? I mean, but you're obviously upset at me. So why are they here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just listen to me for a minute. I don't want anybody to get hurt and I have a feeling what you want is the cops to kill you because you're mad, because you said you are going to die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right, but the efforts to calm the gunman may have enraged him instead and what happened next, again, contains some disturbing video. CNN's Kiran Chetry has the story for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM HUSFELT, SUPERINTENDENT, BAY COUNTY SCHOOLS: He made up his mind and you could tell, he was going to die. My concern was how many people was he going to take with him?
KIRAN CHETRY, ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Cameras were rolling, recording every chilling moment. Fifty six year old Clay Duke, first, spray painting a "V" on the wall and then pulling out a handgun on Bay County School board members.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You may leave. You may leave. The women can leave. Six men stay. Everyone else leaves.
CHETRY: Then, in a bizarre moment, School Board Member Ginger Littleton tries to stop Duke, hitting him with her purse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
CHETRY: At that point, School Superintendent William Hussfelt knew things were about to get worse.
HUSSFELT: He came up over towards the backside of it and started saying somebody's going to die in here. You know? That I'm upset. I'm mad. You fired my wife. My wife lost her job. My family -- he was just rambling. We didn't know what he was talking about.
CHETRY: Hussfelt tried to reason with Duke, not knowing the gunman was about to snap.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen. Just listen to me for a minute. I don't want anybody to get hurt and I've got a feeling that what you want is the cops coming in to kill you because you're mad because you said you're going to die.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to kill you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why? This isn't worth it. This is a problem. Please don't. Please don't. Please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to kill you. Don't you understand? I'm --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Unbelievable. Again, that was CNN's Kiran Chetry and after the security officer wounded Clay Duke, the gunman killed himself. At the bottom of the hour, we'll hear more from the school superintendent and the woman who tried to disarm the gunman by hitting him with her purse.
Another day, another likely step forward in extending the Bush-Era tax cuts to all Americans. Today, the Senate is expected to pass a controversial bill and pass it to the House where it faces more opposition and possible changes, as well.
So let's get the latest from CNN's congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill. Remind us what the big sticking points are here, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The big sticking point and continues to be in the House with the president's own Democrats, liberal Democrats, Don, has to do with the estate tax.
This is something that was zeroed out under the Bush-Era tax cuts and was supposed to be reinstated at a pretty high rate or back to its original rate and under this deal worked out between president Obama and Senate Republicans, it would basically -- you know, put up a graphic to kind of just explain to people what the estate tax is.
This is something to hear Republicans refer to as the death tax. This is if there's an inheritance that you would pay a tax on that inheritance and under this plan, the exemption would go up to $5 million so as long as the inheritance is $5 million or less, you are not paying any taxes above that.
The tax rate would be at 35 percent. You have Republicans saying, this is protecting small businesses that get passed down within the family, but you have Democrats saying, no, no, no. This is an inheritance -- this is saves a lot of people getting an inheritance. Who does it save? It saves the rich. It is a giveaway and liberal Democrats saying they want to change this, Don.
But as you know there's a key vote on Monday in the Senate that passed overwhelmingly, 83 votes in favor of it in the Senate with those parameters that I just described and you have a lot of folks, Senate Republicans, saying, House Democrats, if you change this, this whole deal will unravel and the thing we passed overwhelmingly on Monday, you know, we're not going to pass it with any of your changes to the estate tax, don.
LEMON: You know, we're getting down to the wire here. Could this get pushed back into next week?
KEILAR: I mean, I think anything's possible. Right now, of course, the final deadline is going to be the end of the year that's when the Bush-Era tax cuts expire. That is when the unemployment benefits are set to go up, but I did just talk to a House democratic source that said that the Senate as we know, Don, voting today.
It is possible the House takes it up tonight, more likely that it's going to be tomorrow. The question is, do they do it with the changes? And here's another scenario that could play out. The House could pass with the changes to be completely a no-no to folks in the Senate.
And the Senate could say, you know what, we're just sending back the original bill that you didn't like and in the end it might be something that the House just has to swallow. The other thing that's important to note is House democratic source told me it's unclear if there's support for changing the e state tax. They're still trying to work that out. There is not a consensus among House Democrats and still in chaos at this point.
LEMON: Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.
There are deepening divisions in the debate over the military's policy banning gays from serving openly. U.S. Marine Commandant General James Amos is stirring new anger with his comments on repealing the ban.
He tells the "Stars and Stripes" that it's a distraction that could jeopardize the lives of Marines. Amos has been a leading critic of the repeal but the stark, new comment has the White House brisling. One senior administration official blasts the comment as, quote, "Beyond the pale."
We have an update on the WikiLeaks scandal and how some military leaders dealing with it. The U.S. Air Force denying the personal access to websites with the secret and sometimes embarrassing documents.
Twenty five blocked sides include "The New York Times" and news agencies in London and Germany. WikiLeaks is a whistle-blowing website released documents from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and more recently private communications among U.S. diplomats.
All right. Two words of advice for a big chunk of the country. Bundle up. Stay warm. Teeter chattering from the north to the Deep South and could be another bitterly cold day for people out there.
Cars and sidewalks in Ohio, look at that. Vanishing beneath the snow. The overnight temperatures there barely hitting the double digits near the U.S.-Canada border, Ontario, about 300 people safe after rescuers plucked them from the cars. Many of them stuck for a full day after blinding snow piled up so high that even opening the car door was all but impossible.
Down south in Florida, bitter cold keeps threatening the citrus crops but so far farmers say their fruits are holding up for the most part. And right now, we are keeping an eye on Tennessee and Kentucky. They're bracing for the possibility of freezing rain, the kind to coat roads and weigh down power lines.
Rob Marciano, of course, bundled up in Louisville. So Rob, give us the story there.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Don, this area has had its fair share of ice storms. A couple of them every year just because of where they're located, but this is pretty early for that to happen. It's dry right now and still a coating of snow on the ground from the last surge of cold air and snow that came through. What you can see behind me, sun coming up, just over the Clark Memorial bridge there.
You have got some mid-level stratus clouds, little layer of cloud cover working in from the south to the north and the leading edge of the storm and the moisture from the Gulf Of Mexico that is already causing some problems to the south in places like Mississippi and Alabama.
As a matter of fact, here's the tower camera. Live shot of Birmingham, Alabama, where temperatures are right at the freezing mark. And the cloud cover is rolling in and in spots you have got some freezing rain. Thanks for the live shot WVTM.
Here's the other temperatures around the region where it's trying to warm up, but when you get moisture down from the Gulf Of Mexico riding up over the cold air you have issues. It's plenty warm in Jackson and New Orleans. Memphis and Nashville, those are places that are going to see issues.
We have seen problems in Vernon, Shelby and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, already. Here's the radar. Tupelo, Mississippi, Highway 70 in Shelby and Fayette County, Mississippi, we have seen a glazing of the roadways there and traffic accidents so this is going to begin to fill in this through central Kentucky and Tennessee today.
Changing over to freezing rain tonight and then an icing situation on our hands tomorrow morning. How much? In many ways about a quarter of inch of ice on the roadways maybe more than that on trees. Tree limbs. Could take down some power lines.
Tomorrow morning, not only an icy commute but likely seeing power outages across parts of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Winds continue to whip and the cold air continues to drive south across the eastern half of the country. No real warm-up in sight and very active weather along the west coast.
Winter storm warnings posted, John. We expect the snows to start here in Louisville later on this afternoon and again change over to sleet and then freezing rain by this time tomorrow morning. Winter hasn't even started yet officially. It doesn't want to end yet either.
LEMON: That weather map doesn't look good. Sounds like the Midwest instead of the south. Crazy. Rob, thank you very much, sir.
You've got to see this next video. A helmet-wearing gunman walks into a possible Las Vegas casino and runs out with a fortune in chips, 1.5 million bucks worth maybe more.
Eleven seconds of security camera footage shows the suspect dashing through the Bellagio looking back to see if anyone is on his trail and just like that he's gone. Get this.
Investigators say the same guy may have robbed a different Las Vegas casino less than a week ago. Casey Wian is live in Las Vegas. What is he going to do with more than a million dollars in hot chips? Can he get rid of them?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a big question right now and one of the things investigators are saying about this unusual robbery. You know, there have been ten casino robberies in Las Vegas this year.
Police say it's unusual, most brazen. When's complicating this is casinos have security procedures in place for these big denomination chips. The robber took chips from $100 to $25,000. They won't discuss what specific measures were in place in this case but some of these high-value chips have electronic devices implanted.
Casinos have agreements not to cash chips in these events like this so what police and casino officials are telling us is that this robber's going to have a very difficult time actually turning these chips in to cash.
What they are suspecting and one of the theories is that perhaps he had an accomplice a known gambler and may have an easier time they hope, the robbers hope, cashing these chips in but the way it unfolded is really incredible.
This robber pulled up on the motorcycle to the valet parking area of the Bellagio behind me, walked into the casino, pulled the gun. Walked past the cage where there's cash and walked instead up to the craps table.
Told all of the patrons about a dozen of them to freeze and then walked out with $1.5 million in chips and got back on the motorcycle and went on to flamingo heading out towards interstate 15 to the west and disappeared from there.
One of the issues that the investigators are having is the fact that there were about a dozen people around this craps table when this robbery took place, but one police officer told me, you can imagine the relative state of sobriety of these folks at ten minutes to 4:00 in the morning. So, they weren't able to give a very good description of this suspect, other than the fact that he was wearing a motorcycle helmet and what we've seen on that surveillance video. Don?
LEMON: So why wasn't anyone chasing him?
WIAN: Well, I -- what happened is, he was carrying a gun, and casino employees called 911 while he was -- before he had actually left the casino. I think what law enforcement officers and casino security personnel will tell you is that if they were chasing him with weapons drawn and a gunfight ensued, imagine how many people might be put at risk inside the casino.
I mean, you've seen movies where there's gunfights in casinos, but they don't want that to happen in real life. So that's why they let him go and let the police handle it.
LEMON: Casey Wian in Las Vegas, thank you very much. Unbelievable video, there. We now know "Time" magazine's pick for Person of the Year. Yesterday, "Time's" readers said they felt WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange deserved that title. Who did the magazine choose? We'll go right to the source, and I'll ask someone from "Time" magazine next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC - "Deck the Halls")
LEMON: Oh, I'm not sure if it'll be a white Christmas, but it could be an icy one. That was Louisville, Kentucky. A live picture there.
OK, so here it is, the year's big game changer. That news maker who had such a sway over the global conversation, they deserve to be called Person of the Year. "Time" magazine makes that pick and, for 2010, it goes to --
(DRUMROLL)
LEMON: Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. So, joining me is senior writer for "Time" magazine, Lev Grossman. Good morning. Lev, out of nearly seven billion people on the planet, why Mark Zuckerberg?
LEV GROSSMAN, SENIOR WRITER, "TIME": Well, if you look at the breadth of what he's done, nearly -- well, more than half a billion people worldwide are on Facebook. Almost half of Americans are on Facebook. Look at the breadth of that, and you look at the depth of it. The way that people run their lives through Facebook, the level on which, in their personal relationships, Facebook touches their lives, that's why Zuckerberg is Person of the Year this year.
LEMON: So, he has changed people's lives this year more than any politician, more than a president, more than a world leader?
GROSSMAN: That's our belief. If you look at just the size of Facebook, it is somewhere between 550 and 600 million people. If Facebook were a country, it would be almost twice as large as the United States. It'd be the third largest country in the world. We think that this phenomenon is major, and it is big enough to justify that choice.
LEMON: Yes. One in ten people on the planet. Can we talk real quickly -- we'll get back to Mark Zuckerberg, but let's talk about some of the runners-up, here, and the nominees. The Tea Party, Hamid Karzai, Julian Assange, the Chilean miners. There was some concern, or people said, Julian Assange, why him? But even Hitler was "Time" magazine's Person of the Year at one time.
GROSSMAN: Well, it's important to realize that Person of the Year, it's not an honor. It's not a prize. This is our best attempt to figure out who changed the world the most this year, who changed people's lives the most this year, for better or for worse.
LEMON: How much did viewers weigh in and listeners -- rather, excuse me, readers to "Time" magazine, how much did they weigh in on your choice, or is it strictly from the editors? GROSSMAN: It is ultimately an editorial choice. There is, as I understand it, a poll on time.com asking people's opinion, but that's an opinion poll and, ultimately, it is an editorial choice.
LEMON: When you think about Facebook, I would imagine it was a targeted strategy by Mark Zuckerberg, but I don't think that he -- even he thought it would become this successful or be this successful and have this much influence. Have you had the chance to speak to him and interview him about the success and about him winning "Time" magazine's Person of the Year?
GROSSMAN: I've spent a good amount of time with Zuckerberg at this point, and one of the things that's remarkable about him, and there are a lot of them, is that I think he's amazed and humbled that Facebook has gotten as big as it has. But this was part of the vision from very early on. This is a guy who takes a very long view and a very big-picture view, and he -- he had an idea. He had a vision of a world in which people were connected electronically in this way from very, very early on.
LEMON: Have you had the chance to speak to him since naming him?
GROSSMAN: He's known about the choice for a little bit. I spent a few days at Facebook talking to him and hanging out with him.
LEMON: So he knew that he was going to win before, even though you didn't announce it? He didn't know that he was just one of the people who might be -- who might win?
GROSSMAN: Yes. That's not how we run it. The person who knows, knows for a few weeks beforehand.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much. Lev Grossman is a senior writer with "Time" magazine. We really appreciate it.
Listen, we want to get you to Washington and tell you that the president is going to speak in just a short time to some CEOs. He's having a meeting there where he's expected to address the public and the folks at that meeting to talk about the economy, mostly.
You might expect the president to talk about the tax deal, because that is coming up today, and the lame duck Congress is voting on that and has been weighing in on that. So, the president's going to speak very shortly here on CNN, and as soon as he comes to the podium and he talks, we're going to bring it to you live. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, sorry about that. Let's go back, now, live to Washington. President Obama is speaking.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Putting the House of Representatives in the position to send me this critical economic package so I can sign it into law.
I am absolutely convinced that this tax cut plan, while not perfect, will help grow our economy and create jobs in the private sector. It'll help lift up middle class families who will no longer need to worry about a New Year's Day tax hike. It will offer emergency relief to help tide folks over until they find another job. And it includes tax cuts to make college more affordable, help parents provide for their children, and help businesses, large and small, expand and hire.
I know there are different aspects of this plan to which members of Congress on both sides of the aisle object. That's the nature of compromise. But we worked hard to negotiate an agreement that's a win for middle class families, and a win for our economy. We can't afford to let it fall victim to either delay or defeat.
So, I urge members of Congress to pass these tax cuts as swiftly as possible. Getting that done is an essential ingredient in spurring economic growth over the short run, and spurring economic growth is what I'll talk about later this morning when I meet with some of America's top business leaders. That includes Jim McNerney of Boeing, who also heads up my export counsel, and several members of my economic recovery advisory board.
As one of many discussions we'll be having in the months ahead to find new ways to spur hiring, put Americans back to work, and move our economy forward --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
OBAMA: Because it's good for the economy.
This morning, I hope to elicit ideas from these business leaders that will help us not only climb out of recession, but seize the promise of this moment. Ideas about tax reform, ideas about a balanced approach to regulation that will promote rather than undermine growth, ideas that will help encourage businesses to invest in America and American jobs at a time when they're holding nearly $2 trillion on their books. I want to discuss our shared mission of building a strong economy for the long run.
We know some of what we need to do to out-compete other countries in the 21st century. We need to offer our children the best education in the world. We need to spur innovation and new industries, like clean energy that will create the jobs of tomorrow.
We need to upgrade America's crumbling infrastructure, its roads and bridges, update high-speed rail and high-speed internet to connect every community, and we need to redouble our commitment to fiscal discipline and address our long-term deficit challenges.
We know the path that will lead to economic success. The only question is whether we will take it. Whether we have the political will to do the work. I'm committed to taking that path. I know America's business leaders are, as well. And I look forward to talking to them this morning and working with them in the months and years to come to make sure that we're adopting the best ideas for growing our economy and making the 21st century another great American century. Thank you very much, everybody. LEMON: President Barack Obama in the Eisenhower Executive Office, there, this morning, talking about the tax cut deal, really, at the beginning of his speech, of his remarks, he said he urged Congress to pass that tax cut bill.
He said this was a win for the middle class and also a win for the economy. And, as you know, there is a critical vote today on that tax cut bill. The president again urging Congress to pass it and talking about his meeting today with business leaders and what they plan to do to get the economy back on track.
He said, upgrade the infrastructure and commit -- recommit to fiscal discipline. Again, we'll be following that and, of course, our folks in Washington on Capitol Hill will be following the tax cut vote. We'll be back in a moment here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You heard the president live just moments ago on CNN, urging Congress to pass a tax cut deal. There is a critical vote in the Senate today. It is expected to pass the Senate but it may have some trouble in the House. Again, the president speaking about the economy and we will follow it from Washington.
When it comes to the economy, the federal reserve is front and center. After all, one of its main goal to boost economic growth and yesterday policymakers said what their plan is.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
LEMON: It is a little after 10:30 on the East Coast, 7:30 out west. A critical vote is scheduled for today on the tax cut deal that impacts every one of us. The deal brokered by President Obama and the Republicans was debated well into the night last night. It's expected to pass the Senate but then it's on to the House, where opposition is stronger and more vocal.
At least 27 refugees on board this wooden boat died. They died after it smacked into the cliffs off Australia's Christmas Island. Most of the victims are believed to be women and children, asylum seekers from Iran and Iraq. More than 40 survivors were rescued from the treacherous debris-filled waves.
A German HIV patient may have been cured. Researchers claim the infection was wiped out by the man's Leukemia treatment, chemotherapy, radiation, and a stem-cell transplant, as well. That was in 2007 and the man is still HIV free today. One AIDS doctor here in the U.S. says it's a possible cure but it comes at a bit of a price.
A horrifying confrontation at a school board meeting in Florida streamed live online and captured on tape. We want to warn you, the video you're about to see is graphic and it's disturbing. Clay Duke spray painting the wall with this symbol similar to something from the movie "V for Vendetta." Then turns a gun in the right hand -- look at that -- he turns around and excuses everyone in the room except six school board members. While eventually facing down the school board superintendent and firing two point-blank shots. Incredibly no one was hit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM HUSFELT, SUPERINTENDENT, BAY COUNTY SCHOOLS: Just listen to me for a minute. I don't want anybody to get hurt. And I've got a feeling that what you want is the cops to come in and kill you because you're mad because you said you were going to die here today. Why? This isn't worth it. This is a problem. Please don't. Please don't. Please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to kill you. Don't you understand? I'm going to --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Oh. Hard to watch that. I can't really watch that. The shots you heard off cam were from a security officer who wounded the gunman. Duke, then fatally shot himself.
Two of the key figures in the showdown -- well, they relive the terrifying ordeal and they spoke to CNN's John Roberts on "AMERICAN MORNING" this morning and he joins us with today's AM Extra.
John, it's really hard to watch that video. It's unbelievable.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": You can imagine how terrified the people in the room were. When he spray paints that "V" for -- I guess for V for Vendetta on the wall and then he reaches into his pocket and he pulls out a gun, you can see it takes people almost 10 seconds to realize what's going on.
And then I can't believe how calm the school board members were talking to him. Bill Husfelt, who is the chairman of the school board, the superintendent there, just trying to talk him down, trying to say, look, you don't want to do. What's this all about? Maybe you should let everybody else go and take your anger out on me because I'm the one who signed whatever piece of paper it was. Because Duke was claiming that his wife had been fired by the school board.
I sat down with Bill and with Ginger Littleton who is the female school board member who tries to knock the gun out of his hand -- we'll show you that in just a second -- about what it was like to be there in that terrifying situation.
Here's what they told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM HUSFELT, SUPERINTENDENT, BAY DISTRICT SCHOOLS: It was surreal. We've used that word together. I started using it last night and Ginger was using it this morning. It was just like we're at a board meeting and talking about technology and headlights, and the next thing we know he has a gun in our face. And, you know, there's nothing you can do to prepare or think that's coming.
ROBERTS: You talked with him very calmly and very reasonably. We want to play a little of that in just a second. But all through that, was it going through your mind that, oh, my god, we could all die here?
HUSFELT: He'd already told us that he was going to die. He was prepared to die, and we were going to die, as well. And so we -- we knew -- I mean, you could tell by the look in his eyes that there was going to be some killing going on. And so he made up his mind. I mean, right there where you're showing where he shoots at me, I knew he was getting ready to pull that trigger
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Wow. And you can imagine. And Husfelt told me, Don, he said when he leveled the gun at me, I knew that if he shot and killed me, I was going to go to a better place. I Don't necessarily think he was at peace with the idea of dying right then and there, but he knew that if this was to be his very last day of earth, he would go to a place to be comfortable at the very least.
LEMON: What I found interesting, John, was there was a woman who was at the school board meeting. I think was asked to leave earlier because he kept a couple members of the board there. She was told to leave and then she came back and tried to subdue the guy with her purse?
ROBERTS: Yes. The school board member. And look at this. And look, she comes up right behind him and, bam, and tries to knock the gun out of his hand. She realizes right there in a heartbeat that it hasn't happened, that she didn't knock the gun to the ground and she screams this scream.
Listen here.
(VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And that scream you can only imagine is a scream a person would scream -- the scream that you heard there, Don, the scream you can only imagine a person who would scream if they knew that they were about to die.
I asked her what went through her mind right at that second.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINGER LITTLETON, BAY DISTRICT SCHOOLS: That's pretty much what was going through my mind. I was concerned about my guys. They were lined up like ducks in a row. He was already basically standing on the same level with them. I knew something bad was going to happen. That was my only option was to see if I could at least hurt him or somehow or other detain until somebody got there to help us. Because my guys had three-ring binders and pencils for protection and that was all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Wow. So you can imagine that she thought right then and there that he was going to pull the gun on her. It was leveled at her head and he just didn't.
Everybody felt like it was by the grace of God that they escaped. And Bill Husfelt told me -- you know, I said to him, when he leveled the fun at you, when he pulled the trigger, we saw you clutch your chest. He said, that was out of reaction. I said, but did you think you had been shot at that moment? He says, as he went down, as he was hitting the ground, he said, my God, if I've been shot, it doesn't hurt near as much as I thought it was going to.
LEMON: Wow. John, and nothing to say there. Unbelievable. I thought the people had gotten shot when I saw the video because it was at such close range and one wonders, was he trying to miss? Was he just that upset that he was nervous that he missed those guys?
ROBERTS: Yes. Bill Husfelt told me, he said he was literally 10 feet away from him and the gun was leveled right at him and somehow he missed.
He told me he said he felt it was the hand of God that got in the middle of the bullet. Whether it was that or whether it was that Duke didn't have a proper aim on it, wasn't familiar are the gun because he does fire one shot into the ground accidentally. Or whether he didn't intend to kill anyone except himself. We'll probably never know.
LEMON: John Roberts, thank you.
And we are waiting. They're supposed to hold a press conference -- the superintendent -- this morning. And we'll bring that to you right here on CNN.
John Roberts this morning in New York.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Former president back in the news a lot lately, holding that press conference last week. I'm talking about Bill Clinton. And now heading to Haiti today.
Our Ed Henry is at the White House with that story and others on the political ticker right now.
Hi, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Don. You are right. Former President Bill Clinton seems to be everywhere. He was upstairs from where I am right now in the briefing room on Friday. Now he's going to Haiti. Obviously, very serious story. They've got that serious difficulties with cholera. He's going to be visiting a cholera treatment center down there later today. And then he's going to be meeting with the prime minister of Haiti, meeting with other health officials. He's going to be having a news conference about 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. We'll get some comments from him. Obviously, he's also a U.N. special representative to Haiti. He's been there in the wake of the earthquake about a year ago. But also, now the cholera situation. And this comes just a couple of days after Sarah Palin, the former Republican governor of Alaska, was down there. But obviously Bill Clinton has a more formal role both with the U.N. special rep, but then also his foundation also doing a lot of work down there. So we'll hear from him in just a couple of hours.
Secondly, you're going to be hearing a lot about the fact that President Obama's meeting today with business leaders. He just made a statement to reporters on his way before he went to this meeting across the street at Blair House and the President had basically told reporters that he thinks it's imperative that Congress pass this tax cut deal, that they can't wait. That any delay will imperil the economic recovery.
The President also made clear that when he sits down to these business leaders from Boeing, GE and some other major companies. He basically wants to tell them that it's time to spur some economic growth in jobs. They're sitting on about $2 trillion in cash and he wants them to spend it -- Don.
LEMON: So Ed, I guess the 2012 election campaign, we have been talking about it already, not that far away.
HENRY: No. You know, it's never too early to start planning for the next presidential election --
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LEMON: It's like Christmas buying your presents, right?
HENRY: Yes, absolutely, it's on the list. And Sam Feist our political director has been checking his list to see who's been naughty or nice, who he is going to be sending to New Hampshire to be covering that big primary but also doing a lot of behind the scenes preparations in securing the fact that CNN will now be partnering with WMUR, the local affiliate there, that's always in the middle of these debates along with the New Hampshire union leader.
And then basically we're going to be holding the first debate in New Hampshire early next year. That's going to basically be, you know, the first one -- the first Republican debate in the first -- in the nation primary.
It is obviously a big deal, something that will be coming in just a few months and something to keep a close eye on because you can never start planning for the next presidential election too early.
LEMON: Yes. Midterms are just what, 45 days ago and here we go.
HENRY: Yes. We're already looking ahead to 2012. And there's a lot more details on the Political Ticker right now. You're going to see this debate in what do I get, June 7th so it's coming up pretty quickly. LEMON: All right, thank you very much, Ed Henry. In one hour, we'll have another political update for you. You can always go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.
Controversy, though, to tell you about over the 2022 World Cup in Qatar; and now a firestorm over some flip anti-gay comments by the President of FIFA. There are calls for his resignation now. We'll have a live report straight ahead.
But first, let's flashback to this day December 15th, 1939. The movie "Gone with the Wind" had its world premiere right here in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIVIAN LEIGH, ACTRESS: Rhett. Rhett. Rhett. If you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?
CLARK GABLE, ACTOR: Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Probably one of the most famous lines in movie history. The movie based on the civil war novel by Margaret Mitchell starred Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. It earned eight Oscars including best supporting actress for Hattie McDaniel who became the first African- American to win an Academy Award.
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LEMON: Scanning our "Morning Passport" let's turn to Qatar, the sight of the 2022 World Cup tournament. Gay activists are calling for FIFA President Sepp Blatter to step down after saying gays attending the World Cup there should not have sex.
Pedro Pinto is live in London with more on this growing controversy.
Pedro, this was supposed to be light-hearted, but people are taking -- some people are finding offense in those words.
PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR, CNN INTERNATIONAL: No doubt about that, Don. The problem is you can think certain things, but if you're a powerful man, you really can't say them. And it can be taken out of context. It can be seen as a bad joke and that's exactly what's going on.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter, the most powerful man in world soccer was in South Africa recently. Of course, the site of the 2010 World Cup and he was asked actually by one of our CNN colleagues what advice he would give to homosexuals and gays that would like to travel to the World Cup in 2022 to Qatar, a country that bans homosexual behavior.
This is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEPP BLATTER, FIFA PRESIDENT: Then I would say then that they should refrain from any sexual activities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINTO: Now, obviously Sepp Blatter did go on to say, as well, that he hopes by 2022 there will be some kind of change in the law or that people will be more open-minded there in Qatar. But Don, no doubt that this is a comment that gay activists around the world have taken to heart and they have threatened to boycott this competition. And as you mentioned they've also said that Blatter should resign after this latest gaffe.
LEMON: Is this going to mean anything to the Qatar Tournament?
PINTO: Well, the issue now is that Qatar was criticized for being picked by FIFA not only for the stance they have on gay practices, on homosexual behavior there, but also because on human rights issues. Everyone is hoping that they will change their laws in the next 12 years they have until the World Cup kicks off.
But we also have to see one thing. This is the latest in a series of gaffes by a man that apparently has the wrong sense of humor. Recently he was asked how should women soccer be made more popular. He said, well, they should wear shorter shorts. He was also asked to comment on the infidelity of a soccer player here in England. He was condemned for that here and Blatter was asked about this particular incident. He said, oh, you know what infidelity is a cultural thing. In a Latin country, he'd be applauded for that.
So this is man who is obviously not in tune with reality, not in tune with being politically correct even if here in Europe people are less worried about being PC than over there in the states and I know because I lived there for long time. But still he can't come out and say this even if he's thinking it -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Pedro Pinto, thank you very much.
We're following lots of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. So let's check in first with meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras. Hi Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi Don. Well, ice is the concern this hour. Freezing rain is coating roads and bridges in northern Mississippi and Alabama and causing all kinds of accidents. Find out where the worst of the storm is going and who could be losing power. That's coming up in extreme weather.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill. We're about two weeks away from tax rates going up and unemployment benefits expiring for millions of Americans. And while we're going see a vote, possibly a successful one in the Senate today, in the House, Democrats are still divided on what to do on these tax cuts. I'll have that story coming up.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: A man's HIV goes away when he's given someone else's immune system. It sounds incredible, but it actually happened and we'll be talking about that at the top of the hour.
LEMON: All right. Thank you guys.
Cady Coleman is a mother, wife, and oh, yes, an astronaut. And in just a few hours she'll be blasting off to the Space Station. We had unprecedented access to Cady for a year and coming up next hour, we'll tell you all about her.
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TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Does that make sense, Don? You want to do it that way?
LEMON: Yes, that does make sense. Bad boys. I don't know if they're -- are they talking about us or they're talking about this kid?
HARRIS: I think in this case it has to be this story out of Florida. Have you seen the tape --
LEMON: Yes, can you imagine a boss or someone who tries to tell you, you did something wrong --
HARRIS: Right, right, right. Yes, yes.
So here we're talking about there's a high school game in Florida and this young kid, his name is Holland -- Mason Holland.
So here's what happens. You're seeing the end of it here. You're seeing the shoving. He's going to pick up the referee and he's going to throw him to the floor. So obviously he is suspended from school, not -- you know, the kid needs his education. But you do something like this then you get thrown out of school. And he's a senior, so his basketball career at this high school is over. We don't know what happens.
But here's the thing. There was probably a better moment of officiating to be had here. This started with a play under the basket, an inbounds play. It looked like the referee missed the push but caught the shove. And Mason absolutely shoved the kid that pushed him first, but again, you can't respond this way.
And the coach, his coach says he'll never play here again. I've been coaching for four years and I've never experienced anything like this. I'm still in shock.
So his basketball career at that high school is over and we don't know -- he's a really good player, too. We don't know if he goes --
LEMON: One decision can change the course of everything.
Yes. And so now he's got real ramifications because of this. Police were involved and it doesn't look like there's going to be any charges connected with this.
LEMON: Did he apologize or anything?
HARRIS: I don't know that for sure and I don't want to state it, but that would be smart if he hasn't.
LEMON: Absolutely.
HARRIS: That would be smart to do.
LEMON: You came into the newsroom fired up this morning. I was like what is Tony fired up -- how many cups of coffee did you have or was it just the game that got you fired up?
HARRIS: Well, there are a couple of plays we're going to show you. First of all, I want to take you to Upland, Indiana and then I'm going to get you to the play that really had me charged.
This is a terrific story; an annual event here at Taylor University. This is a situation -- now again, the lead up to this is really telling. What happens is this is the Friday night game, the home game before finals week. Ok?
This is an Evangelical private college in Indiana. So what they do -- this is called the silent night game. So what happens is the Friday night before finals week --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: This doesn't sound silent.
HARRIS: Right, right. What they do is the kids pack the arena and they are silent. Absolutely silent. Until the home team scores its 10th point and this is the reaction you get. You can cue it up again? Just listen to it for a second. And Don, it goes on and on and on.
LEMON: You said it's a private school?
HARRIS: Yes. It's a private Evangelical college in Upland, Indiana.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: And then what happens is -- there's pressure on the players of the home team to get to that 10th point because it doesn't feel like a real game until they get to the 10th point and then everyone loses their minds. And then at the end of the game -- let's listen again -- they sing "Silent Night".
(SINGING)
HARRIS: And let me jet on this. Can I show you this play that really had me jazzed? The Raptors' DeMar DeRozen, I believe is his name. Take a look at what is the early front-runner for the slam dunk of the year. And then we are out of here.
Do we have it? Do we have it? We don't have it. All right. You'll see it in the 11:00 edition of CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Tony, (INAUDIBLE) to you.
HARRIS: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. LEMON: At the top of the hour.
(CROSSTALK)
