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Senate to Vote on Tax Package Today; Reynolds, Johansson Split; Live Coverage about Panama City School Board Shooting

Aired December 15, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. As Tony Harris gets out of here, I want to tell you that you we have some breaking news right now on CNN. CNN has confirmed that a border agent was shot and killed last night after encountering several suspects near Rio Rico, Arizona. We're told at least four suspects are now in custody, another is still on the run.

And as soon as we get more information on this story about the border agent, we will bring it to you. And, again, a border agent killed last night near Rio Rico, Arizona. And then we have some other stories. We will follow that. We're working on for you right now. It's just a little bit past the top of the hour.

Throughout the morning, Greek riot police have struggled to hold back violent protesters from the Parliament building. Union workers are rallying against wage cuts and changes in labor laws. Those cut backs were mandated by Greece's bailout from its financial crisis.

You know, there could be a breakthrough in the fight against AIDS. Researchers in Germany say they may have cured a man of HIV infection. CNN's medical team is taking a closer look. We'll tell you about that story just moments away.

And talk about a gamble. This man just pulled off a million dollar heist at the Bellagio on the Las Vegas strip. And police say he may have hit on other casinos just last week. But the story, of course, does not end there.

All right. Two words of advice. For a big chunk of the country, you're going to say "Don Lemon, I don't need to you tell me that, I know." I'm just going to say it. Stay warm. Teeth are chattering from the north to the deep south and it could be another bitterly cold day for a lot of people out there.

A big threat today, of course, will be ice. Tennessee and Kentucky bracing for the possibility of freezing rain. The kind that can coat roads and weigh down power lines. This is a different system, though, than the one that left much of the country buried under a mountain of snow. Ohio, New York, Indiana, Minnesota, all blanketed.

So when can we expect a warm-up or a little bit of relief? We got a team of meteorologists tracking it for you. Rob Marciano is bundled up in Louisville with a look at the conditions there but first, we want to get to our meteorologist, in house, the CNN severe weather center and that's Jacqui Jeras.

Jacqui, yesterday morning, I went to work out, I came back. It's like what is all this water doing running down the side of my house. Busted pipe.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes.

LEMON: (INAUDIBLE).

JERAS: That will happen. Good thing though that didn't happen on the roadway because every thing freezes off. That's happened quite a bit over the last couple of days, as well. You know, the temperatures do remain below freezing across parts of the deep south and what we're concerned about is that we've got some moisture which is starting to move in over the top of that cold air. And it's causing some freezing rain.

So freezing rain is liquid rain that comes down, but it freezes on (INAUDIBLE) objects like the roadways, like your car, like your windows. And that's what's been happening here across northern parts of Mississippi as well as in Alabama. We have reports around the Montgomery area as well as heading in to western burbs of Huntsville, a lot of accidents around Tupelo area from this freezing rain.

This is going to be heading up towards the north. This is just kind of the very beginning of what's going to be a major ice storm we think, that warm air will ride over the cold air and it's going to deposit some heavy ice accumulations. We think maybe even after 4:00 today. So late this afternoon through the day testimony. And the big focus will be right up here across parts of Kentucky and then into West Virginia.

In fact, we could see as much maybe a third of an inch of rain. All it takes is about a tenth of an inch of freezing rain to make things slick on the roadways. And about a quarter of an inch is going to be enough to take down power lines, take down some big tree branches. So cold air continues to stay in place. We will see a little bit of a warm-up though, Don, coming in the next couple of days. It's not going to be major but we'll get rid of some of these record cold temperatures that we've been seeing in Florida and speaking of which, take a look at this from one of our i-reporters here showing us a frozen fountain. Take a look at that. That's from Altamonte Springs, Florida. 30 degrees there yesterday morning. He says it's okay, though. He just bundled up.

LEMON: Yes. He says it's winter.

JERAS: It's winter.

LEMON: It started a little early.

JERAS: He got dressed for it.

LEMON: Yes. He's coming in with a vengeance.

JERAS: Yes, it's pretty (INAUDIBLE) LEMON: Thank you very much, Jacqui. Hey, we're going to go and check in with CNN's Rob Marciano because it's not just bitter cold in the mid south, it is freezing, really. There's a threat of freezing rain and also parts of our country. Rob Marciano, live for us in Louisville, Kentucky. So, Rob, is it not good new in store for the folks there?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, they're going to get some ice. They're going to get some snow, some sleet and some (INAUDIBLE)

LEMON: Having a little bit of trouble there with Rob Marciano. Of course, reporting on the weather. And we will get back to Rob as soon as we get that fixed. A live report from the ground. Of course, CNN, your weather center. And we'll update you in just a bit on that.

Let's move on now and talk some politics. 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, but that won't be the end of the political tug of war. The bill then heads to the House where it faces more opposition and possible changes. Last hour, the president weighed in. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, the Senate is poised to pass tax cuts and unemployment insurance. Putting the House of Representatives in the position to send me this critical economic package so I can sign it into law.

I'm absolutely convinced that this tax cut plan, while not perfect, will help grow our economy and create jobs in the private sector. It will help lift up middle class families who will no longer need to worry about a new year's day tax hike.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. Let's get the latest now from Capitol Hill with our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar. Brianna, so tell us about the sticking points here.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there is still discord in the Democratic ranks in the House of Representatives, Don, and it has to do with that estate tax and how this tax compromise deals with that. We have a graphic just to kind of explain what this is. Republicans you'll hear call this the death tax.

It's a tax on an inheritance. And this is something that had been zeroed out under the Bush era tax cuts and was set to go back to the rate that it had been. And what happened under this compromise is it kind of - it got lessened so that if you were to have an inheritance up to $5 million, anything under that, you're not going to pay taxes on. Anything above that, you're going to be paying taxes at a rate of 35 percent.

Democrats said in the House, a lot of liberal Democrats say, "no, no, no, we're extending tax cuts for wealthy Americans and we're also doing this? This is a total giveaway to the rich. We are not OK with this, we want to change this. We want to make the exemption lower. We want to tax it at a higher rate. And then you had Republicans, Don, saying, no, because you got a lot of small businesses that might be passed on. They're going to be taxed heavily and then it's going to make it difficult as those businesses are passed on to have a lucrative business that would be able to create jobs.

So right now you're looking at some liberal House Democrats who want to change this language, but there's also some moderate House Democrats who say we don't want to change this and there's a lack of agreement right now on exactly how they're going to go forward. But, yes, the Senate is voting today and there's still this big question mark in the House, Don.

LEMON: All right. Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill, following that and other stories for you. Appreciate it, Brianna.

Oceans 11. Well, it is not, but a bandit in a motorcycle helmet robbed the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Taking off with about $1.5 million worth of casino chips. We can't get enough of this surveillance video. Look at it. You see the suspect looking over his shoulder as he bolts, hoping on his motorcycle. Police are still searching for him. And get this, they say the same guy may have robbed another Vegas casino less than a week ago.

Now we go to Florida and the pandhandle and a terrifying showdown in a school board meeting. An angry citizen berates Bay District School officials and then spray paints a red V on the chamber's wall. This is where the video really gets disturbing. He then pulls out a gun and ordered most of the people from the room.

He is 56-year-old Clay Duke. He ordered the six men on the board to stay in the room. The former convict says he's upset over taxes and his wife's recent firing. As he waves around his gun, the school superintendent tries to reason with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM HUSFELT, SUPERINTENDENT BAY COUNTY SCHOOLS: Will you let them go? I mean, obviously, you've upset me so why are they here?

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're going die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So then the Duke snaps. He opens fire on the superintendent and he misses. A security officer bursts in and then the men trade fire. As clay duke lays wounded, he puts the pistol to his head and he kills himself. Earlier on "CNN's American Morning," the superintendent calls the ordeal "surreal."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSFELT: He had 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 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So today, board members are praising the security officer as a hero. Mike Jones is a retired police officer and was unhurt. We want to tell you that the school district superintendent has scheduled a news reference for the bottom of the hour, for the bottom of the hour, just about 20 minutes. We're going to bring you the very latest information released from that news conference. It will be interesting to hear what they have4 to say about this.

OK, ladies, here's a heartbreaker for you. The Hulkster got married but who crashed the wedding? Reports say it was the cops.

And the sexiest man alive soon to be the sexiest bachelor alive. Details on the Ryan Reynolds and Scarlet Johansen split.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LEMON: There's a reason that we played that because it started as an Usher concert but turned into, can you say, I guess a Jackie Chan movie. The singer was performing Monday night at Madison Square Garden. He pulled a fan up on stage for a little serenading. All very nice until she got a little enthusiastic, shall we say, and mistakenly she - check this out. She kicked him in the face and she was wearing a stiletto. Usher laughed it off. He's fine. We tried calling Usher this morning. He's probably asleep right now. Usher, come on and talk about that. Are you all right? It's a funny moment. An interesting moment.

So let's talk about more great showbiz news for you now. First off, heartbreak across the heartland as Hulk Hogan is reportedly now unavailable, ladies. A.J. Hammer, host of "Showbiz Tonight" joins us from New York with the details on that. Man, oh, man, the Hulk is- will -

A.J. HAMMER, HOST "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": You hear the hearts just snapping in half.

LEMON: I know. So sad.

HAMMER: Well, yes, Hulk Hogan reportedly got hitched yesterday, Don. And according to a lot of the reports, the cops actually had to be called in to break up a scuffle at the ceremony. Now, Hulk Hogan's real name is Terry Bollea. He was reportedly exchanging vows with his fiancee, Jennifer McDaniel in the backyard of his Clearwater, Florida, home.

The cops had to be called in to break up a fight between a Hogan employee and a paparazzi photographer who is trying to shoot the ceremony, wasn't wanted there. Now, this according to TMZ and radaronline. TMZ saying no one was arrested on site because no one wanted to press charges. Radar online is quoting a source who says the photographer later filed a complaint with Clearwater police alleging assault, battery and destruction of property. So obviously we're looking into this morning.

But Don, there always seems to be some kind of excitement when Hulk Hogan is involved. In any, we wish the reported newlyweds well.

LEMON: Yes. That's why the show is called the "Hogans," right? Let's talk about this, because is there a name for this next couple who are on the outs? Some young stars who won't be growing old together. It seems, you know, we have like - you know the couples.

HAMMER: You mean like Brangelina. What do you say for Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson? Rey-hansson. I have no idea.

This is some pretty sad news this morning, Don. It's a big Hollywood split. And it seems to be, I don't know, some kind of sickness in Hollywood right now. Two very attractive stars single once again. We're talking about "People's" sexiest man alive right there and "GQ's" babe of the year. They're breaking up. Ryan Reynolds and Scarlet Johansson, whatever you would like to call them.

They announced yesterday they're calling it quits on their two- year marriage. The very photogenic couple started dating back in 2007. They got married in his native Canada back in '08. And according to a lot of published reports, they actually have been living apart for several months. The pair did release a joint statement to "Showbiz Tonight."

Here's what they're telling us. "After long and careful consideration on both our parts, we've decided to end our marriage. We entered into a relationship with love and it's with love and kindness we leave it. While privacy isn't expected, it's certainly appreciated."

I actually like these guys a lot. I'm sorry to hear this news. Johansson is 26. She's famous for roles in movies like "Lost in Translation." And also for being a favorite of Woody Allen. She did his "Match Point" and "Vicky, Christina, Barcelona" movies. "GQ's" crowned her babe of the year. As I just mentioned, it was just last month. The same month, her hubby, Ryan, who is 34 is named "People's" magazines sexiest man alive.

So again sad to see another couple and as I said, a very photogenic couple down the tubes and this has been going on a lot in the last couple of months.

LEMON: Good actors. You're right. "Lost in Translation," she was really good and she was very funny on "SNL."

HAMMER: They're both pretty terrific actors.

LEMON: Yes, because of their career, they were spending more time apart than together. So that happens. All right. A.J. Hammer, thank you, sir. You always got the low down on all things entertainment with A.J. Hammer. If you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world as well, A.J. has got it this evening on "Showbiz Tonight" 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN. There could be a big breakthrough in the fight against AIDS. Researchers in Germany say they may have cured a man of HIV infection. CNN's medical team taking a closer look next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It's a very interesting medical story. So pay attention. Doctors in Germany claim they may have found a cure for HIV, a remarkable discovery, right? But the treatment may not be applicable to the millions worldwide who have this virus.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now. Elizabeth, so what exactly did they do here?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is so fascinating that even if this isn't the cure for HIV, which it's not, it's still amazing what these doctors in Germany did. All right. They took a patient who had HIV and also just by chance also just by chance, also had cancer. And he needed to have a stem cell transplant.

All right. So they took this guy with cancer and HIV and what they did was they blasted him immune systems, gave him radiation and chemo. So the patient's immune system gone. And instead they took the stem cells. They took the immune system from a donor and gave it to him.

LEMON: OK.

COHEN: And they waited a while to see what would happen, to see if he would (INAUDIBLE) his immune system and basically he did and this guy is now cancer free and HIV free?

LEMON: OK. So why won't this work, why doesn't it work for everyone.

COHEN: Right. You'd think everyone will be getting this right now with HIV and here's the reason. Let's go back for a second to this donor. This wasn't just any donor. This donor is one of the very, very few people out there who is resistant to HIV. He has some kind of a gene that makes him resistant to HIV. You could try to give him HIV and you couldn't do it.

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: So he got a very special immune system and they sought this donor out for this guy. So in order for this to work for everyone, you'd have to find one of these very, very few people and that person would have to genetically match the person who has HIV. And the chances of doing that is teeny tiny and any kind of transplant even one as well planned as this one can kill you.

LEMON: But there is hope.

COHEN: Transplants can be extremely dangerous.

LEMON: We'll talk about the risks. Before the risks, there is hope then. They learned something from this, right? That can help.

COHEN: They certainly have. This is - what happened here is incredible and the principle behind it that you take a certain kind of unique immune system and give it to somebody with HIV. Maybe they can try to make a drug out of this. Maybe this will work as a vaccine, maybe, you know, there's a whole bunch of possibility. So this is proof of the principle but it's not something that doctors are going to do for every HIV patient because it could kill him. Fingers crossed though.

LEMON: So let's talk about the risks, you said it could kill them. Serious risks here.

COHEN: Right. Serious risks.

Because transplants even when they're well thought out can kill people or give some horrible debilitating symptoms. So transplants are extremely tricky and, again, this will only help someone with HIV if it's one of those very, very few people who are HIV resistant. The donor has to be a very unique individual. They are very hard to find and they have to match the patient. This patient was extremely lucky.

LEMON: It would be amazing to be around one day and you and I reporting on, you know, a vaccine or some cure for this and for cancer, as well.

COHEN: Wouldn't that be incredible?

We wouldn't be doing that at 10:30. We'll be doing the top of the show.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Absolutely. Both let's hope it come soon. Thank you very much.

COHEN: Thanks.

LEMON: Interesting. Elizabeth Cohen.

A massive storm ferocious and destructive delivers a stunning gift. It delivers a stunning gift, it reveals a treasure that has been buried by the sands of time. A couple of I-report from the Middle East.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Ancient discoveries are not all that uncommon in the Middle East, but this one caught our attention and everyone's attention. Really a ferocious storm collapses part of the cliff and a statue that dates back 2,000 years. Israeli Officials are showing it off right now. And CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Jerusalem with the very latest on this.

This is an amazing discovery. CNN's Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem with the very latest on this. This is an amazing discovery, Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don. This is absolutely incredible. This all happened over the weekend and there was an absolutely devastating storm in Israel and really across the whole of the Mediterranean Coast. Winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour, 10 meter waves crashing that Mediterranean coast and just north of Tel Aviv (INAUDIBLE), there were some Roman ruins on the beach so actually ruined even more because of the storm.

But (INAUDIBLE) Tel Aviv and a city called Aschelon (ph), on the beach. As you say part of the cliff was actually worn away, it collapsed into the sea and that was when this statue was revealed.

Now, it's thought to be dated back to Roman times, up to 2,000 years old, and it's a statue of a woman dressed in a toga, and with sandals on it. Unfortunately the head and the arms of this are missing, but the Israeli Antiquities Authorities say it's still in pretty good shape and it's looking pretty good, considering it is 2,000 years old and it's been buried for centuries. Now, it's 1.2 meters tall. It weights 200 kilograms and it was actually discovered by Accident. Someone was walking along the beach just after this storm, they looked up and they thought and said that statue wasn't there before and they called it in and that's when they came to take it away.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Paula, Paula, thank you very much. We'll have to get back to you on that report.

Sorry, pardon the interruption. I want to take you now to the Panhandle in Florida where we told you about that school board meeting where the man opened fire. Here's the superintendent of that district holding a press conference.

WILLIAM HUSFELT, SUPERINTENDENT, BAY COUNTY SCHOOLS: There are a lot of heroes out there right now. Mike Jones, being the number one in my heart. And we just lift him up right now. He saved our lives. There's no doubt in my mind that if he hadn't did what he did when he it did, many of us would not be here today. And Ginger, and I want to tell you something, she's like one of us even though she's a female and she's tough and loves us and cares about us, and what she did was try to help us because she knew we couldn't help ourselves.

And so anybody that says anything to the contrary, you get in that situation and you tell me how you deal with it, but Ginger, you're my 1-B hero for the day. And the Panama City Police Department, how quick they dealt with this and got here and we just can't praise them enough. But I'm going on open it up for questions now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And if you have any question, we understand that a majority of those questions are going to be for Miss Littleton or the superintendent. So just feel free to raise your hands and we'll call on you and you can ask any questions that you want. Anybody first?

Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think anything was going through my mind except these guys were sitting ducks. They were lined up like pigeons on a wire. And I couldn't leave them without trying to at least divert or somehow diffuse the situation or just buy some time until Mike Jones, bless his heart, could get there to help us out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next, anyone?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a question for anybody who wants to answer, but when did it hit you.

(INAUDIBLE)

Well, I think all of us are probably dealing with the situation in a different way. It's still surreal. Everything's still moving in slow motion at least in my head and probably for a lot of the board members. When you're put in that type of a situation to where you have a gun faced directly at you, nobody's ever -- if you haven't been through that situation, you can't understand. There's no way to explain or to describe the feeling that you feel when that happens.

But I will tell you what, I've seen the room and there is nothing short of a miracle that our superintendent is alive and well with us today. Nothing short of a miracle that God protected him and stood in front of that bull head and pushed it another way. I'm just here to tell you if you're not a believer in miracles, watch that tape again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That will make and you believer real quick.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

NEVES: It's going to be hard to sleep. I think a lot of us are struggling on just getting through last night. I know I didn't sleep at all. I got an e-mail from the superintendent about 3:00 in the morning. I know he didn't sleep much. I think we were all kind of in the same boat.

We're still trying to get back to life as normal, but I don't think that -- everybody that saw the live stream or anybody that was in the building that was in that room, this is something that changes you for life. It's not something that's easy forgotten. It's not something that's a news headline today and in the trash bin tomorrow. For us, it's real, and it's going to be something that we carry with us.

QUESTION: How soon do you think you'll be discussing possible new security measures?

QUESTION: What time is it?

NEVES: I'm going to let the superintendent answer that. WILLIAM HUSFELT, SUPERINTENDENT, BAY COUNTY SCHOOLS: We had a meeting today with -- well, it started last night, but we had a meeting today with all the employees in the Nelson building and that was a concern of theirs, too. And I even had some e-mails last night with concerns about that.

And it's just -- you know, here's the thing. If you could have seen that gentleman's eyes, it this was going to happen. You saw him. This was going to happen. We could have had this place like Fort Knox and he would have shot us as we come out of the building.

He was going to do this. There was nothing we could have done to stop him. It was a tragedy. We're very thankful and blessed to be alive. But we don't want to -- I don't want to make light of it, but we don't want to overreact. We don't want have to have TSA, as I said earlier to someone, checking people when they go in. That's not what this country is about. You're still safer in our buildings than you are driving your vehicle in town.

And you know, while it's scary and a tragedy, this gentleman had issues. I feel for his family, but we're going to discuss and look at what we might need to change. But we're not going to start arming every school and putting up barbed wire everywhere and all that. I just - you know, this guy was going to do this no matter what security we had.

QUESTION: Several of you went in and looked at the room for the first time since (INAUDIBLE). It's been described as a mess. (INAUDIBLE)

HUSFELT: Well, Ryan, I don't know if the rest of you have been in there, but there are bullet holes all over the place. I knew there was a pattern. And this is why Mike Jones is a hero. The door he came in, there's five shots right in the hole with little numbers by them all.

But the scary thing, I saw that before I left there yesterday when it happened. What I didn't see were the shots that were behind the board counter. And if you will watch the video, when Mike Jones comes in, he's still shooting and getting ready to reach over and start shooting again, and there are bullet holes all along the edge where the board members are at. And Mike shoots him twice before he finally turns around and Mike -- I'm telling you, Mike saved our lives.

Now, it doesn't get anymore real than that. You don't have to believe that or whatever, but we were in there and I'm telling you, that gentleman was not going to stop shooting. He only turned around after being hit twice by Mike, and Mike and him got into the shooting barrage and that's what saved our lives. Because he was getting -- he had more ammunition and he was going to keep going.

QUESTION: Where was Mike when the shots first started?

HUSFELT: I think he was in his office or he was in the building somewhere. When he started spray painting, I think Dr. Haley went to go get Mike because the guy started spray painting. I thought -- and I'm not making light of this, but I thought, man, he really hates technology because we had just voted on a thing about technology, and we were getting ready to do a technology presentation and I thought, man, he doesn't want us to spend -- I didn't know what the V stood for. I didn't know what was going on.

And then when he turned around -- with the gun, it was totally different then.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

HESFELT: He's good. I went and visited with him in the hospital last night, and his family was all there. He's in very good spirits. They were going to keep him overnight for observation, but he was going to be released today, and I'll be surprised if we don't see him sometime today.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you feel helpless. He was helpless out there When he about pulled the gun out and told everybody to get out except for all the men school board members, he had the gun and we felt helpless. And I want to - Mr. Husfelt did a tremendous job talking to the gentleman because it seemed like he was upset. And Mr. Husfelt, he talked to him, tried to talk to him, tried to reason with him, tried to get him to put the gun down. We was back there just helpless, sitting back there, thinking how can we get the gun out of this man's hand before he shoots somebody or kills somebody? Kills us all? That's what we was thinking.

It went through our minds. A lot of things go through your minds when a person holds a gun. First time anybody's ever held a gun on me, and a lot of things went through my mind. But Mr. Husfelt, he was out there and tried to reason with the guy.

And I'll tell you something else he did, too. He was trying to protect everybody in this building. He was trying to get them out of the room. And when they tried to come back in, tell them to go back out. In fact, he even tried to negotiate with the guy said let the board members go. If you got something with me, said just let me stay in here. So, you know, I just -- just a very touching time.

UNIDENTIFEID MALE: This was, I think, our second official board meeting. When I first got elected, I got a letter from one of the officials up in Tallahassee saying, "I hope you enjoy your new opportunity on the school board, I'm sure it will be very exciting." I don't think he had this in mind.

I didn't appreciate how close some of the bullets came to me until probably just then as the first time I'd been in the room since then. If you look at video, his last two shots he fired he was almost leaning over right where I was sitting. One hit my board book and my papers on my desk. I was laying down, and it was probably inches from where I was laying. One hit the pole right next to me, which again was inches from where I was. I didn't appreciate it until I just went in there and saw it. And that being said, last night -- I have a 5-year-old and a 4- year-old, and we're not telling them much about what happened. But when I got home last night, I kept it together pretty well until I got home last night and they met me at the door and gave me a big hug, and that put things in perspective. Just how fragile life is and how, you know, hug your wife and your husband and love on those kids because you never know literally when that might be the last time you get to do that.

So, I held it together really well until they met me at the door when I came home last night, and to me that put it in perspective needless to say.

QUESTION: Has there been any more determination on what he was talking about and his wife (INAUDIBLE)?

HESFELT: I think you've requested some information on it and they're looking that up right now. They're going to get that to you. And I know that the police -- I think the police have some information, too, on it. They've been working on that. But I didn't know her, didn't know him. I didn't know what he was talking about.

QUESTION: Was anyone in the office, besides yesterday, have any recollection of any sort of the contact?

HESFELT: Someone recognized him, but it was just like they knew who he was. They did not have any -- it was not a working thing. I think they knew a relative of his or somethinglike that, but nobody had seen him anywhere in this building before or has any recollection of anything that he was talking about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday was a difficult time for all of us. I'm not a pansy, but I will it tell you, I was very afraid. I was scared to death. I did my talking in behalf of my life and my friends. When we tried, Bill and I tried, our best to talk with him. The first thing I said to him was, "Hey, what is your problem? Can I help you? Is there -- what's your difficulty?" and he looked at us and he kind of mumbled several times, and I said, "If there's a problem with your wife and your job, I will do anything I can do to help you with your wife and the job."

Hey, all this time, folks, we were trying -- we were looking for time. We knew we had Mr. Jones, but you know Mr. Jones was not always -- is not always in this building. He's out in schools. You'll notice that -- I'll continue to give accolades to him.

Mr. Jones is anywhere we have problems. Just last week, we had the bus accident up on 388 and 2301. He was there. He is always there when we have a problem. So, we didn't know if he was here or not.

And then I got in it to the thing, you know, I'm a pretty good guy. You know, I get emotional about it, but, hey, I got a great wife, I've been married 40 years. And I've got two great kids. And I said I'm not ready to die. And I said, "Let us please let's talk to you. We just want to talk to you." And when he returned around -- and my board member friends will tell you, when turned around from his drawing, when he turned around, when he brandished the gun, we knew we were all in difficulty. Not only did the gun which was a 9 millimeter, but it became a bazooka. Because that's the way we looked at it. And it's just like Mr. Walker said, we knew were in the difficulty.

And so, hey, it was a heck of a day. We don't want to ever have this happen in our district ever again. It was very negative. And I hope that we learned something from it. And I think it's our society, you know. We have people who do this from time to time, and it's a very difficult time for us, but we appreciate the media that you've supported us throughout, and we do thank you.

QUESTION: Miss Littleton, last night you told us that it hasn't hit you yet. Has it hit you? And if it has, when and why?

GINGER LITTLETON, PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA SCHOOL BOARD, ATTACKED GUNMAN WITH PURSE: I think it's still sinking in. Walking into the board room for all of us and seeing the actual bullet holes in chairs behind where the board members were sitting, there was still some blood on the floor when I went in. That makes it pretty real. They were cleaning up some of the blood out here on the walkway.

So, by the end of the day, I think it will be very, very real, but I will say again the sun is beautiful and it looks great today.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LITTLETON: Oh, yes, this is the purse. Shall I do my Vanna?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to put some bricks in it for her.

LITTLETON: I wish I'd had some bricks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about $50?

LITTLETON: Fifty dollar, fifty dollar. Fifty dollar, fifty-five dollar!

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LITTLETON: I have three wonderful daughters and they said, "Mom, are you just stupid? What were you thinking?"

(LAUGHTER)

LITTLETON: And I actually didn't have an answer for that. I don't know if I was just stupid, and I don't know what I was thinking. We're just so thankful that it turned out like it did.

NEVES: I've got a good friend who sent me an e-mail this morning, she's a lawyer in New York. And she said I don't know about it that Ginger woman, but I want her in my Foxhole. And that's exactly how I feel about it. I was so glad. I've representing the school board 31 years, and I was thinking last night that I guess I've been to a thousand school board meetings over 31 years. And there's so many times when you have real contentious issues. I mean, just terrible things that you have to deal with. And people get very upset. You're talking about their jobs, you're talking about their children. I mean, we just went through a morning's worth of expulsions that are private, but you get parents that get extremely upset with board members and it's a real -- it's kind of scary.

And what is so frightening about this event, well, it's frightening because I've seen where the bullet holes were and I had no idea till this morning, but what's frightening about this event is it was just an ordinary school board meeting. I mean, there was nothing controversial, no reason for somebody to come and be all upset. I mean, we went through the wonderful meeting of all those kids being honored for all of their academic achievements. Thank goodness they were all gone. And then just almost a fun kind of meeting toward the end, talking about head lice, of all things, and scratching your head.

And then suddenly out of nowhere comes this individual. That's really the frightening thing. Because - when you know you've got a problem, you can have security there and prepare for it. But this was out of the clear blue, and I think it's going to change all of us. No question about that. Thank y'all.

NEVES: If there's no more questions, I'd like to kind of in closing say that I would put the character and the demeanor of this board and what happened in this situation up against any training that could have been done. I mean, I know there will be a lot of arm-chair quarterbacks that will question things that were done and use of force and managed force and everything.

But let me tell you, unless you're in this situation, unless you're in the middle of something like this, you don't know how you'll react. And this superintendent and Mr. Register and talking the man down and doing their best to try to alleviate the situation, Mike Jones and Miss Littleton and doing what they could to protect this board -- I can't tell you how proud I am to be chairman of this group of people, this team that's working for Bay County.

And there will be a lot of question, a lot of things coming up, and a lot of issues that we'll have to deal with, and there will be a time for it that. But for right now, we're just happy and blessed to all be alive today, and we just thank God for that. And we appreciate you coming out. Thank you.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let me tell you something. Those people will have a very Merry Christmas, and they are fully aware of the meaning of the season. They're all alive and all okay after what happened yesterday.

And before we give you some context to this story to tell you why we're showing video of a man waving a gun around, let me just say that it was a serious press conference, but there was some levity there, as well. Ginger Littleton, the woman who tried to subdue that man, showed off her purse and said "I have three daughters and my daughters said 'Mom, are you just stupid? What were you thinking?'" There she is right there.

And one of the gentleman said "I'm not a pansy, but I was very afraid." And another gentleman in a serious moment said "Hey, listen, it's going to be hard to sleep. I didn't sleep last night." And someone else said you feel helpless in that situation.

Now, let me update you on the story and tell you what happened. This was yesterday. They're holding a school board meeting in the Bay County School District in Panama City. It was a terrifying showdown in that meeting, and video is very disturbing. As we said, to give you a little context here.

So, this angry citizen, this man, berates the school officials there that you saw standing there at that podium. And then he sprayed that V then pulled out the gun that you see there. So, after that, who knows why he went on this rampage? The superintendent tried to reason with him, the superintendent that you saw in the video. His name is Bill Husfelt.

Let's listen to what he said about -- while this was happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSFELT: Will you let them go? I mean, you're obviously upset at me. So, why are they here? Just listen to me for me. I don't want anybody to get hurt, and I've got a feel that what you want is the cops to come in and kill you because you're mad. Because you said you're going to die.

CLAY DUKE, GUNMAN: (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So that was that, the superintendent trying to talk him out of it. This is the man. He's 56-year-old Clay Duke. He ordered everyone out of the room except for the men. There were six men in the room.

We're being told by police that is he a former convict, and he said he was upset over taxes and because of his wife's recent firing. Well, in the press conference you just heard, one of the board members said they still had no idea who the man was talking about. They don't know who the woman is.

So, then this Clay Duke is shot by Mike Jones who is a security officer at the school, the chief security officer. And then at the he turns the gun on himself and shoots himself.

We're being told that Mike Jones is in the hospital. He may speak a little bit later on. But of course, this man snapped. Who knows why he did it? They're still trying to figure it all out right now. It's a very interesting story. And one that has disturbing video, but guess what? There's a very happy ending. So Merry Christmas to those guys there in Florida. We'll be updating you on this story throughout the day here on CNN. And make sure you tune into primetime as well. We'll have it for you.

We're back in a moment on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Internet interconnectivity can be an amazing thing, but the dark side? It can mean the "End of Privacy," especially for teens.

All right. Let me show you this. About three out of every four teen with Internet access uses social networking Web site, while just under half of online adults use social networking.

Carl Azuz from CNN Student News is here. And Carl, you talked to teens about divulging information in the digital space. They probably have no idea. Do they have an expectation of privacy that they shouldn't?

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: They've certainly grown up in the digital age, so they're used to having their online stuff tracked and they know wi-fi isn't always secure. They've always been followed and always been tracked. But one thing I found is that they sort of have different expectations between what they wrote on their phones and what they posted online. You hear that in this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS (on camera): As far as phones go and sharing your numbers with people, how many of you expect your numbers to remain private?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phone number? Oh, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

AZUZ: And have you ever gotten a text or a call from a number that you didn't recognize?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ADAM VRTIS, STUDENT: But that's normally from someone that's given my number to someone else. Not that I'm approved it. So, nevermind.

(LAUGHTER)

VRTIS: My hand goes down.

KATHERINE THORNBURGH, STUDENT: I tell my friends not to give my phone number, but it still happens.

AZUZ (voice-over): These suburban Atlanta teenagers may want their phone numbers to be private, but I found their expectations were very different when it comes to the Internet.

(on camera): Do you expect what you post online to be private?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not really.

VRTIS: I know it's not.

AZUZ: Why not?

VRTIS: Everyone sees it. The Internet's -- it's the World Wide Web. Everyone in the world can get to it. So, I'm pretty careful about what I put on there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know nothing's really private.

AZUZ: So how does that affect what you post on Facebook?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't say anything that I don't want anyone to hear.

AZUZ (voice-over): It's a caution instilled by their parents.

(on camera): How much privacy do you give him on Facebook?

LORI VRTIS, PARENT: Very little. If they do want privacy, they can get a journal, they can write in it, keep it in their desk drawer, I will never read it. But when you're posting something that every can look at, I'm going to look at it, also.

KAREN THORNBURGH, PARENT: Anything you're willing to put out there in either a written form, you know, be willing to stand up in front of the whole high school and announce this.

ARIA GALT, PARENT: I teach in a school, so we deal with a lot of these issues each day. And so I sometimes talk about situations that I've encountered at work and hoping that maybe something would be learned from those, as well.

AZUZ (voice-over): And while all three students said they texted something they wish they could take back, they were far more reserved in their Internet behavior, largely because of their parents' involvement.

JOE VRTIS, PARENT: Professing ignorance of it and not monitoring it, I think you're setting yourself up for failure as a parent because I think the kids definitely need guidance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: We hear over and over again that parents who are engaged in their students' education have student who generally get a better education. And one thing I found in the conversation with these teens and their parents is their folks are involved, their folks are engaged. And I think it was as a result of that, Don, that these students were not making some of the online mistakes we see other kids making.

LEMON: A good lesson for parents out there, as well. You have to be involved especially in this Internet age, this information age. Carl Azuz, thank you very much.

AZUZ: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

You know, it may still be 2010, but we have news about the first GOP debate of the 2012 primary season. Already? That story coming up on the political ticker.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is time for your political update right now. Michael Steele's got a new Web site to go with his re-election campaign for RNC chair. I guess that means he is going to run again.

CNN political producer Peter Hamby has that story in this hour's political ticker. Hi, Peter.

PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Hey, Don. How are you.

It does mean he'll run again, and if you're following the RNC race like I was, --I'm a total geek about it, Michael Steele kept everybody guessing until the last minute. Will he or won't he run? Well, he came up with a new Web site yesterday after announcing he would run, and just for fun, I went and looked up when this domain was registered so we could really drill down on when Michael Steele made his decision to run. And he was keeping everybody guessing. Turns out December 8th was when this Web site was registered. So, he was getting ready to run about a week before anyone else knew about it.

But if you're not a dork about the RNC race like I am, let's move on to 2012. Last night, there was an important development in the 2012 presidential race, the early, early stages of it. John Thune, who is the senator from South Dakota, is thinking with running for president. He responded to Mitt Romney's "USA Today" op-ed criticizing President Obama's tax deal. Thune supported it.

Thune came out and said "It's easy to criticize from the sidelines" and he defended his work on the deal. Again, an early skirmish, but it really shows you in the early days, these candidates jockeying to carve out a niche in the Republican primary sweepstakes.

And finally speaking of 2012, CNN, WMUR television, and the "New Hampshire Union Leader" have landed the first Republican presidential primary debate and the first in the nation primary state of New Hampshire. Look for that next June.

It's a big deal, and here's why it matters. I think that will be a time of the year when the field of presidential candidates is really starting to shape up. You're going to have governors like Haley Barbour, who are finishing their sessions - for example, him in Mississippi -- and they're going to be stepping into the field and really kind of figuring out the stakes there. So, it will be the perfect time for a debate in New Hampshire next summer.

LEMON: It is starting already. Peter Hamby, thank you. Our political geek, as you said, in Washington.

We'll have your next political update in one hour. And a reminder for you. All the latest political news, just go to CNNpolitics.com.

I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for watching. The CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris continues after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)