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House Set to Vote on Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal; Severe Weather Pounds South; Shooting at Florida School Board Meeting; U.S. Border Patrol Agent Killed

Aired December 15, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's begin with a couple of developing stories here.

First up, I want to show you a couple of live pictures of the House floor, a couple of live pictures, triple threat here at the top of the hour, House vote on the newly introduced stand-alone bill. They're going to be voting on the don't ask, don't tell.

I know you thought it was other. The Senate killed it last week. It's back. We will explain why coming up.

Also, the U.S. Senate passed today that tax cut bill that we have been talking about for weeks and weeks now. In fact, the final vote tally, 81-19. So, next, it goes to the House. And the Democrats you know in the House have warned, look, they may be making some changes to the measure, particularly with regard to -- to the estate tax.

Also, we are again today watching the weather, severe ice storm bearing down on the South. Dozens of crashes have been reported. In fact, three people are dead already. And we're told the worst is yet to come overnight tonight.

We will get to all three of those here in just a moment.

But, first, it has to be one of the scariest school board meetings on record. The school board in Panama City, Florida, was winding down its meeting. It was just yesterday afternoon, we were breaking the news to you this time yesterday, when this bizarre situation starts to unfold.

A gunman walks up to the front, takes over the meeting. The pictures, you have probably seen some of them by now. They are disturbing. But you should know, in the video we're about to show you, I want to stress that no one on the school board gets killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAY DUKE, GUNMAN: You may leave. You may leave.

(CROSSTALK)

DUKE: You can leave. Six men, stay. Everyone else leaves.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: So, the man you saw with the gun, here he is. This is his mug shot from -- from previous -- previous issues. This is Clay Duke. He apparently came to the Bay County School Board meeting yesterday upset.

What was he upset about? Apparently, taxes and the recent firing of his wife, who, by the way, officials confirm, was let go during this past year.

Now, what you see here, these are pictures. This is a wider shot for you, pictures from within that meeting. This was taken from cameras. Look at that. It's chilling, I know, school board cameras, the video being broadcast live. Look at him just unloading on these school board members.

Now, eventually, Duke, who you see spray-painting the V. here on the wall before he did all this, eventually, he would turn the gun on himself. But before that happened, the whole -- you know, the terror, as you saw it, was -- was captured on this video.

I want you to listen as the school superintendent who was sitting up front tries to reason with this guy. And -- and, look, obviously some of the video quite disturbing. But again no one on the board gets killed. You're not going to see the gunman shoot himself, but watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM HUSFELT, SUPERINTENDENT, BAY COUNTY SCHOOLS, FLORIDA: This isn't -- this isn't worth it. This is a problem...

Please don't. Please don't. Please.

(GUNSHOT)

(SCREAMING)

DUKE: I'm going to kill you.

(GUNSHOT)

DUKE: Don't you understand?

(GUNSHOTS)

(SCREAMING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Oh, I know. It's -- it's difficult to watch. But here's -- here's the ending here. The man saying, pleading, "Please don't, please don't do that," that's Superintendent William Husfelt. He took part in a news conference. He's OK.

He took part in a news conference today with a very large group of very, very relieved individuals. Listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT COLBERT, PANAMA CITY DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF: Obviously, Mr. Duke had come here with a purpose with extra magazines and extra rounds to carry out this deed that he had set in -- in play. And so by Mike Jones being able to engage him immediately and draw that to a quick conclusion is what saved lives.

HUSFELT: I'm telling you, Mike saved our lives. Now, it doesn't get any more real than that. And you don't have to believe that or whatever, but we were in there, and I'm telling you that that gentleman was not going to stop shooting.

He only turned around after he had been hit twice by Mike. And Mike and him got into the -- the shooting barrage. And -- and that's -- that's what saved our lives, because he was getting -- he had more ammunition, and he was going to keep going.

COLBERT: I know that we can account for probably about 14 rounds total in the room. Obviously, you know, when you get into ballistics as far as making determinations of who and where, the video is certainly going to provide us a great deal of insight, because we will be to be able to -- to make some determinations of -- of who...

RYAN NEVES, CHAIRMAN, BAY DISTRICT SCHOOLS: It's going to be hard to sleep. I -- 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. And I think we were all kind of in the same boat. And we're still trying to get back to life as normal. But I don't think that -- that everybody that saw the live stream or anybody that was in the building, that was this that room, this is something that changes you for life. It's not something that's easily forgotten.

It's not something that's a news headline today and it's in the trash bin tomorrow. For us, it's real, and it's going to be something that we carry with us.

JERRY REGISTER, BAY DISTRICT BOARD MEMBER: I get emotional about it, but, hey, I have got a great wife. I have been married 40 years, and I have got two great kids. And I just -- I'm not ready to die.

And I said: "Let us please just talk to you. We just want to talk to you."

And, you all, I want to tell you, when he turned around from -- and my board -- my board member friends will tell you, when he turned around from his drawing, when he turned around, when he brandished the gun, we knew that we were all in difficulty.

HUSFELT: There are a lot of heroes out there right now, Mike Jones being the number one in my heart. He's 1-A. 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 did, many of us would not be here today.

And, Ginger -- and I want to tell you something. She is like one of us, even though she's a female.

(LAUGHTER)

HUSFELT: And she's tough, and she 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 then you tell me how you handle it.

But, Ginger, I -- you're -- you're my 1-B hero for the day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: One-B hero for the day, talking about Ginger Littleton. She made the superintendent's hero list, in addition to Mike Jones, who is a security officer, retired police officer.

Ginger is on the hero list by assaulting the gunman with the only weapon she had, that being her purse.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead.

No. No, Ginger. Ginger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Apparently, her kids called this move stupid, but many, many people saying she was very, very brave for trying to do that, whacking the gunman with her purse.

It may not have worked. It may not have taken him down, but the action sure has a lot of people talking today. In fact, we have gotten Ginger Littleton to come on this show to explain why she did what she did when she joins me live right here on CNN at the half- hour. You will not want to miss that interview.

Also developing now, a Border Patrol agent shot and killed near the Arizona/Mexico border. Four suspects now in custody, but at least one more is on the loose. That is ahead.

Plus, stunning video of the damage caused by that tornado in Oregon. There are also now new threats of rain. Look at that damage.

That's next.

We're also keeping our close eye on the House floor. We're waiting for this vote on the don't ask, don't tell policy. This is a stand-alone bill. That vote should happen at any minute. This is a huge, huge vote, as it affects many of our service men and women. We're keeping our eye on this. As soon as they start voting, we will bring it to you live.

Stay here. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So, I was hoping we would be finished talking about the awful weather yesterday. Not -- not so fact, because just in, AirTran Airways warning passengers now that a severe winter storm could cause even more disruptions in the air.

In fact, the company is even allowing some travelers to change their reservation at no extra cost. Can you believe it? It is happening apparently here in the South.

Chad Myers, the big story right now, you say, is ice.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It doesn't take very much ice to make the roads impassable...

BALDWIN: Messy, messy.

MYERS: ... especially in Atlanta.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: We shut down.

MYERS: It takes negative ice.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: But to -- to slow down a runway or to slow down an airport, especially AirTran, they're being very wise in saying this. Look, if you don't want to fly, we -- we understand, because we're going to have cancellations tomorrow. There's nothing we can do about it.

It's going to be raining and 30 in some spots.

BALDWIN: Mm-hmm.

MYERS: When it rains and 30, all of a sudden, it's not snow, it's not traction, it's not sleet. It's just ice that you can fall down on. It's not ice that people want to go out and pack your bags in, put them in the planes. It's not ice you want to drive to the airport in.

BALDWIN: And they're not charging you, which is nice.

MYERS: Exactly.

BALDWIN: That's nice. MYERS: They -- they will -- they're -- they're trying to get themselves protected, so you don't have to go, and they want you to be as least out of the way compromising your air travel as possible.

BALDWIN: Hmm.

MYERS: So, they're -- they're going to do that. Fine. And I think other airplanes -- other airports, other airlines will do the same thing.

BALDWIN: Yes.

MYERS: Even here in Atlanta, it's 33 right now.

BALDWIN: Which feels warmer compared to earlier in the week, by the way.

MYERS: Compared to 17.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Other people in the country -- we -- we have no room to speak.

MYERS: But the problem is, it's going to try to rain. And it's going to cool down because this air is very dry. Go to the doctor, and he's going to give you a shot. He's going to put alcohol on your skin and to make that place right there nice and sterile.

Well, when that alcohol evaporates, it's cold. When the rain falls through a dry atmosphere, it cools down. It gets colder because of the same evaporation as your skin. That evaporation will cool down our atmosphere here in Atlanta to 30. And it will still try to rain.

That same thing is going to happen -- and I picked out Atlanta because that's happening pretty soon, I would say in the next hour, for rush hour -- but all the way through southern Indiana, Illinois, back even toward the Bootheel of Missouri, back into Memphis, Nashville, especially Lexington and Paducah and -- and -- and Evansville and -- and Louisville. Oh, it's just going to be an ugly, ugly night tonight with this ice event that's happening here across the South.

BALDWIN: And that is the problem. The ice is the huge problem for -- for them.

MYERS: It doesn't take very much.

BALDWIN: Yes.

MYERS: Right.

BALDWIN: And, unfortunately, a lot of times, you can't even see it. MYERS: What would be...

BALDWIN: You can't even see it.

MYERS: What be even a quarter-inch of snow, which you could get traction on, or it could kind of blow away, will be significantly different when this pink comes in, and it's an ice event, when it's sleet or when it's rain.

Now, sleet is frozen before it gets to the ground, those little pebbles, those little pellets you hear pinking on your window, those are freezing rain pellets that have frozen into sleet. That's where that word comes from. If it hits the ground and then freezes, it's freezing rain, and it's much more slick that way.

Here's the big story, right through all of Kentucky. Here's Tennessee and there's Atlanta, only a trace, but that trace will be enough to certainly slow down travel...

BALDWIN: Now...

MYERS: ... air and land.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: ... as people deal with all of that in the Southeast, remember how we were talking the Pacific Northwest yesterday...

MYERS: Yes.

BALDWIN: ... a little -- a little thing called a tornado...

MYERS: Yes.

BALDWIN: ... and we don't often talk about this in Oregon, but let's talk about it, because we have even more video. Look at this ground video. This was -- remember, this was just outside of the Capitol, outside of Salem, Oregon.

This is the damage is a town called Aumsville. It is a tiny town. It is south of Portland. And the center part of this town apparently was hit the hardest.

MYERS: Yes.

BALDWIN: Look at that, concrete blocks nothing for a tornado. About a dozen buildings, we're told, were damaged. Fortunately no one was hurt, but you can see the damage. The -- the pictures tell the story. And here's a bird's-eye view of some of this wreckage.

Here's the thing, though. And this is what -- Chad, you did such a good job at pointing this out yesterday. Oregon not exactly one of those places where people are accustomed to tornadoes. In fact, according to the record-keeping, the entire state has had only four tornadoes in the entire past decade. So, this is -- this is not the norm for you in Oregon. National Weather Service says they will not know the size of the Aumsville funnel cloud until they finish measuring all of that, the damage on the ground.

A driver attacks a police officer during a traffic stop. Look at the video, all caught on this dash-cam video, right? So, this woman, though, just so happens to be passing by, hops out of her car, comes to his rescue. So, coming up, I will be talking to that police officer about all of these terrifying moments there unfolding.

And also did you hear what a Marine chief, this Marine commandant, said about the possible repealing of don't ask, don't tell? Have you heard this? He said that overturning the ban would cost lives. Jessica Yellin is standing by. She's going to break that down for me. She's going to explain to me what the House is doing, as we're waiting for this vote on possibly repealing don't ask, don't tell. Jessica Yellin is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back to NEWSROOM.

Remember, late last week, I think it was Thursday, it seemed the effort to let gays serve openly in the military, you know, was done for. Remember how it died in the Senate? We brought it to you live here on CNN. Well, how about this? This is happening right now.

The House is about to start this debate all over again. And we're hearing within the next hour we should have a vote on a law to repeal don't ask, don't tell. Right now, it's a stand-alone bill.

So, I want to explain. If you're sitting there scratching you head, wait a second, how could this happen, here's how. An earlier effort in the Senate was part of a bigger defense bill. Remember, the defense authorization bill, doing away with the don't ask, don't tell, that was just one part, just one part of that massive piece of legislation. And that one of part of the bill was killed.

Well, yesterday, two House members proposed this stand-alone measure to repeal specifically don't ask, don't tell, that and that alone, and, yes, they can do that. And so the debate, I'm told, is about to start with an up-or-down vote to then follow.

And we're going to be watching some of this together. We will bring it to you live, of course. But I want to just jump ahead a step or two, if you will allow me to do that.

If the vote here in the House succeeds, then the measure of course has to go back to the Senate.

And, Jessica Yellin, want to bring you in to this in Washington. My question to you is this.

Why might the Senate change its collective mind? I remember the vote last Thursday. It was 57 to 40. They didn't have those three extra. So, all right, who's going to change their mind or why?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Brooke, when the repeal of don't ask, don't tell failed last time, it wasn't on the merits of the issues itself. As you pointed out, that repeal was included in a huge bill that has many other issues in it. And that vote failed mainly because Republicans vowed not to vote for anything else until tax cuts and budget issues were revolved.

So the House of Representatives said, OK, we will just vote on a simple bill that is just to repeal the don't ask, don't tell, then send it back to the Senate to give them a second pass at repeal after tax cuts and budget votes are done, and that's what we're looking at now.

BALDWIN: So, going back to last week, I mentioned the vote tally. The Senate was three votes short of the -- that 60, the magic number 60 that the -- the supporters of this needed.

So, I want to tick off some of the names here. And it was Republican Lisa Murkowski. It was Scott Brown and Dick Lugar. On the Democrats' side, you had Joe Manchin and Blanche Lincoln. All five have expressed in differing degrees some support for letting gays serve openly, but none of the five was among the 57 who supported ending the ban last Thursday.

So if you do your math, it's pretty simple. Only three of the five would need to switch. But, Jessica, there's another issue here, and that being sort of the calendar. The lame-duck session could run out of time, could they not? Is there any guarantee that they could even get a vote into this thing by the end of the year?

YELLIN: There's no guarantee and that's an excellent question. As a friend of mine here says, it's beginning to look a lot like last Christmas, when the Senate stayed way late.

(LAUGHTER)

YELLIN: Remember, they stayed way late into Christmas to vote on health care.

And part of the unknown here is the timetable. So, right now, working on the side of those who want to repeal don't ask, don't tell is a lot of momentum. If this passes the House, the White House wants this measure passed. Defense Secretary Gates has called for Congress pass it. It's co-sponsored by Senators Joe Lieberman and -- an independent -- and Susan Collins, a Republican, who have both bipartisan and national security credentials.

So, those are all reason why it seems likely to get through. Senate aides say you did some of the faces who voted -- were -- didn't vote or were no-votes before. They say they have 60 votes to pass it. So all they need to do is get it to the floor. The question is, will there be time?

Leader Reid says they're going to -- they are planning to bring it, but there are all sorts of ways -- this is the Senate -- where it could be delayed, put off. Republicans could block it in other ways. Who knows.

BALDWIN: Might this, Jessica, be one of those things where, you know, the public, thinking this was a done deal, it died in the Senate last week, case closed, but simply Congress just is lagging behind that sentiment?

YELLIN: Yes. There -- it's clear, Brooke, that a clear majority of Americans supports repealing don't ask, don't tell.

A new Gallup poll has 67 percent of Americans supporting repeal. So the American public's ready for it. Interestingly, Gallup also shows that Congress has its lowest approval rating in the history of polling.

BALDWIN: Right.

YELLIN: Just 13 percent approve of the job Congress is doing.

So it's clear that the American people are in one place and one place where they're not so happy in Congress either.

BALDWIN: Hmm. Not good-looking numbers for Congress coming out today.

Hey, Jessica, as soon as we start seeing voting happening, do me a favor. Don't go too far from that camera, will you?

YELLIN: OK.

BALDWIN: All right.

YELLIN: I will stand by.

BALDWIN: Jessica Yellin for us in Washington -- Jess, thank you.

And this just in here. Here's what we're getting. The number of sexual assaults at military schools here in the U.S. is apparently on the rise. Three service academies reported 41 attacks in the last academic year. That is compared to 25 the year before, all of them involving cadets or midshipmen.

In a statement, here's what the Defense Department is saying. This dramatic increase could mean perhaps more reporting, not necessarily more attacks. We're getting some more information on this. We're doing our due diligence. And as soon as we get updates -- updates on that, I promise I will pass that along to you.

Here's a question, moving on. Did the prime minister of one country run an organ-smuggling ring -- an organ-smuggling ring -- and did he steal these organs from prisoners of war? These stunning accusations, that is ahead.

Also, this story -- this video really tells this story. A 64- year-old man, this driver, allegedly attacked an officer right there on the side of the road. See, there's the officer asking this guy to get out of the car. We showed you this dash-cam video just yesterday. Well, now, guess what? That officer in the midst of this -- this whole back-and-forth wrestling, punching going to join me live, walk me through this -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It all started off as this routine traffic stop. It all happened in Dayton, Ohio. You have this police officer, Jonathan Seiter, pulls over a 64-year-old man, Otto Coleman, for driving with a headlight that appeared to be burned out. Watch.

You can see, more importantly, you can now hear today, soon after this officer gets this guy to step out of the car, apparently, he wasn't cooperating. The situation turns combative. It's almost like this wrestling match back and forth. And you can the guy's arm kind of reaching around the police officer.,

We're told that he was actually trying to -- trying to get the officer's gun and the Taser. But here's the deal. This woman -- that is a woman in that red shirt running over. She starts punching. She's a passer-by and helps take this guy down, along with the officer, before -- there's the other police officer -- until backup comes by.

So, what was it like to live through this?

I want to talk to the police officer here, Jonathan Seiter, good enough to join me by phone from Dayton.

And, Officer, I want you to just take me back. We were all so taken aback by this video. So, let's go back to when you -- you asked this driver, this 64-year-old, to hop out of the car.

What you thinking when he slammed you up against your car?

JONATHAN SEITER, DAYTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: He was fighting to kill me. I have had resistings before, and he was not resisting. He was fighting to kill me.

BALDWIN: So, you...

SEITER: And...

BALDWIN: ... you absolutely say he wanted to kill you; this just wasn't to rough you up a little bit?

SEITER: That is correct. You don't grab and go for people's weapons or guns and -- trying to get away. I was fighting for my life.

BALDWIN: You were fighting for your life. How tough was this guy? How tough was he? How tough was it to resist him?

SEITER: It was tough, but I had the mind-set that I was winning this battle, and he was going to lose.

BALDWIN: And ultimately we know at the end of the story and the fact that he does lose. But the next thing you know, you called for backup. At what point do you call for backup?

SEITER: Before I get him out of the car, I ask for another officer to back me up, because I was going to do some field sobriety tests. And before they could get there, he turned aggressive.

BALDWIN: So, backup is on the way. And then suddenly we see the woman now walking into this picture from your dash-cam -- camera. She comes along and tries to help. What were you thinking when you see this woman who I imagine you don't know come along and try to help you this guy down?

SEITER: Thank God, because she helped distract him long enough to allow me to finish what I had to do to take him down, along with Sergeant Colvert (ph) from the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

BALDWIN: And you had no idea who she was, correct?

SEITER: That is correct.

BALDWIN: Have you since -- sir, have you since spoken with her, thanked her?

SEITER: Yes, I -- I have spoken to her today, and I thanked her on behalf of my family and my wife.

BALDWIN: Wow.

Well, how's your wife feeling? Pretty happy you -- you're all right, I imagine.

SEITER: Yes, yes.

BALDWIN: Oh, wow.

Officer Seiter, we just -- we -- it's tough to -- to pull away from those images. We're glad you're OK.

But I imagine, health care, message to people, don't -- don't hop out of your car and try to take down someone on the side of the road with a police officer, yes?

SEITER: Right. We don't recommend that, but I am thankful that she did step in.

BALDWIN: How about that?

Officer Seiter calling in from Dayton, Ohio -- Officer, thank you.

And now this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEITER: If you could have seen that gentleman's eyes, 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. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: This was the story. If you were watching yesterday, this whole thing unfolded live on this newscast. You had this gunman taking members of a school board hostage.

But, before the standoff ended in a shoot-out, one woman tried ending it herself, tried helping out, taking matters into her own hands. You're going to see that video. I will talk with her live. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A couple of stories moving this hour. This first one, the U.S. government now suing BO and eight other companies for damages relating to this year's enormous oil spill down in the Gulf of Mexico. Attorney General Eric Holder says today he intends to hold them, quote, "fully accountable." The suit seeks civil penalties under the Clean Water act and joins nearly 80 others that have been consolidated in New Orleans.

A firefight on the southern border ends with one border patrol officer dead. His name was Brian Terry. The FBI says it happened last night in Arizona. Several suspects are in custody today. One of them was hurt in the gunfire. The border patrol still out there, still searching for one suspect. The agent killed last night is the third back courter patrol officer killed in the line of duty this year.

And a disturbing report today from the council of Europe. It names the prime minister of Kosovo as the key figure in a crime ring involving the black market sale of human organs. European officials are asking for help in approving those negotiations. No comment as of yet. The statement calls the report defamatory.

And the scene had to be one of the scariest things Ginger Littleton has ever imagined in her life, I imagine. We warn you, watching the video it is disturbing, but her fellow school board members, here they were, held at gunpoint by a very vengeful gunman. So what is the only woman on the school board panel to do? Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No, Ginger. Ginger, no. Ginger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That's right. Ginger is Ginger Littleton whacking this man with her big purse. I want to point out none of the school board members were killed. But the gunman did eventually take his own life. And Ginger is joining me on the phone from Panama City, Florida.

And Ginger, before I get to the why, I want to first just ask you how are you today? Was today's sunrise a bit brighter, I imagine.

GINGER LITTLETON, BOARD MEMBER, BAY DISTRICT SCHOOLS: I have to say it certainly was, Brooke. It took on new meaning. Every minute of today has been very special.

BALDWIN: Piece it together for me. He let the children go and he wanted to keep some of the hostages. You grab your purse and you smack him. Why did you do that, and what was going through your head at the time?

LITTLETON: I don't know -- I didn't even know what was going through my head, Brooke. I just knew that if I left, these guys were completely unprotected. Our cavalry had not arrived yet. There was no one in the boardroom that could do anything for them. This guy held all the power.

And when I turned back around and saw he was standing now up on the desk at the same level, standing where I had been sitting and my guys were lined up like pigeons on a wire, one after another, it would have taken two seconds for him to take every one of them out. They had three-ring binders and pencils for defenses.

BALDWIN: They had binders and pencils. You had your purse. I have to ask. We see the gunman with the gun in his right hand and you come very, very close to that. In that moment when you make that split second decision to come in with your purse, were you thinking, I could die?

LITTLETON: No. That would be kind of thinking ahead, and I wasn't thinking ahead. I was totally in the moment. I knew I had to divert or delay for somehow or other make some kind of either get his attention shifted so he could get the gun or get him to spend some time while our security officer got into the room. I knew he was on his way, but time was of the essence. So the longer I could stall, the better I thought it was.

So for whatever happened, I wanted to divert him somehow. Whether it was a smart move, and was I successful -- probably not. But maybe it took enough time so we could get the troops in.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. And a lot of people saying it was a very, very brave move. But ginger, I understand you have three daughters, all of whom said it was what?

LITTLETON: Well, the first comment by all three was, mom, what were you thinking? And the second one was, were you just crazy? And probably the answer was, no, I wasn't thinking, and, yes, I was just crazy.

BALDWIN: Ginger, let me ask you about this gunman. He gets up. We see he spray paints this "V" with a circle around it. Do you have any idea what it's supposed to signify?

LITTLETON: I have no idea. He said I want to make a motion and he turned around and started painting. I thought, this may not be a good thing. He turned around when he finished that job and he had the gun in his hand.

BALDWIN: Had you ever seen him before? Did you know of his wife? Apparently one of the reasons he was upset is because his wife had been fired. Were you familiar with him?

LITTLETON: I had never seen the person before, never knew the name before. I don't know anything about him or his wife or anything about the family. I still don't. I have no idea.

BALDWIN: I want to get to -- some people were calling you -- the superintendent calling you a hero, but also the hero this guy Mike Jones, who wasn't just a security guard but a retired police officer.

LITTLETON: Absolutely phenomenal.

BALDWIN: Phenomenal, right. So he ultimately -- would you agree, he's the hero here.

LITTLETON: That's no doubt. I don't think anybody in Panama City, no one think he's anything less than a hero of the nth magnitude. He was magnificent. He timed everything. I fully believe if Mike had gotten there three or five seconds later, everyone might have died.

BALDWIN: Seconds made the difference.

LITTLETON: Absolutely, absolutely.

BALDWIN: Ginger Littleton, thank you for calling in. I'm so glad you're OK and your daughters are as well. Thank you.

LITTLETON: Yes, thank you so much, Brooke.

BALDWIN: If you are on Facebook or twitter or any other social network, listen up. There may not be enough laws to protect your privacy. It seems the Internet is leaving the legal system in the dust. Computer security expert Peter Vogel breaks it all down for us. That is next.

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BALDWIN: So it's kind of funny that we all -- yes, I am guilty as well -- we scream about our privacy rights, they're not protected. Then we go on Facebook and post a bunch about ourselves. But Facebook has a privacy policy. So does MySpace and Twitter. So we're covered, right? Maybe not so much. There are dangers here a lot of us haven't exactly considered.

Here to help explaining all of these is Peter Vogel, a lawyer and computer analyst and industry specialist. He also wears a bunch of hats, an adjunct professor of ecommerce law at SMU, South Methodist University. Peter, it's nice to have you on. Let's talk privacy here.

How -- a couple of questions right out of the gate here. How long has Facebook's policy been set? Would Americans really even understand it? And how much does it actually protect us?

ADJ. PROFESSOR PETER VOGEL, LAW OF ECOMMERCE, SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY: That's more than one question, but I'll try to handle all of them. Actually Facebook makes changes to its privacy policy from time to time. It's part of the deal. Usually when I take hands on who reads them, nobody bothers to read them.

But Facebook, there's been a lot of pushback. The biggest change happened February about a year and a half ago. Now when you post things on Facebook, they can use it as long as it's there, and once you take it down, they no longer have the right to use it. But in terms of privacy, no one bothers evaluating what they want to make private or public.

BALDWIN: It's only an afterthought -- hey, hang on a minute, I want to check my privacy settings. I was surprised to think that we assume the government, there are requirements, regulations to protect us. But, sir, that is not necessarily the case.

VOGEL: Well, let's talk about different countries. In the U.S., the privacy laws are protected by the Federal Trade Commission. And under the current law, a Web site is not required to have a privacy policy at all in the United States.

On the other hand if there is a privacy policy, the federal trade commission makes sure that people enforce whatever it is. So for instance, let's say you land on a site like Google or something and it says they will not use your personal identifiable information. If they use your personal identifiable information, the Federal Trade Commission will come after them, sanction them, either that or make them change their policies.

BALDWIN: For Twitter, for example, there is.

VOGEL: Not really. If you look at it, you're encouraging them to push that information now. You don't want privacy. The whole point of putting something -- posting tweets is you want to share. As a matter of fact, what you do is give them an unlimited copyright. They can do anything they want with a tweet and even change the content if they want.

BALDWIN: You brought up the point that the U.S. is very different than other countries. I want to talk about e-mails. It's something we all do, morning, noon, and night. And in Europe it's protected. Here in the U.S. it's not. Your boss can legally read your e-mail. So why can't we get that one done? What's the deal?

VOGEL: I don't know about legal/illegal on that.

BALDWIN: What's the better word?

VOGEL: That may be a label put on it. In the United States there's a presumption that an e-mail is private to the employer and in the EU Canada and Japan the presumption is it's private to the employee. So there's a different privacy expectation.

Now, if there's -- if an employee is using a web mail service and not the employer's e-mail service, they're entitled to that kind of privacy. It's a matter of whether they're using the employer service. BALDWIN: Bottom line, we need to be -- go ahead.

VOGEL: Yes, I know. I was going to say, one of the bigger complications get in when businesses have e-mails between countries like if a company is operating, and interest are mediums between EU and the United States and --

BALDWIN: Under which jurisdiction would it fall.

VOGEL: Very complicated.

BALDWIN: Bottom line, we all have to be careful what we write, what we read, what we Facebook, kind of more often than not.

VOGEL: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. Dr. Vogel, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Got to move on. Now to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the guys put his head around my neck and pulled me to the floor, and the other guy reached in my pocket and took the money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A 90-year-old man. You heard him. He wanted revenge after he says two guys robbed him. Now police are looking for the suspects. They're showing surveillance images. We'll show you that ahead.

Plus, new developments and the mystery unfolding in New York. The four bodies, remember they were all find within a quarter mile of one another on the beach? They have something in common. Could there be possibly a serial killer on the loose? Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Since we talked to you yesterday, something has changed in that grizzly story on Long Island. Authorities have now officially said a missing prostitute 23 years of age Shannon Gilbert was not, was not among the four sets of human remains found on the side of this beach road.

You remember the first set of remains was found Saturday by a police officer and his dog who were out in the area searching because of Gilbert's disappearance. By this time Monday authorities had found three more sets of remains, all within this one-mile strip.

Now, as we showed you, they were looking for more remains and they were warning about a possible serial killer or killers. Yesterday we reported the two sets of remains have been identified as female.

Today we can now tell you all of them, all four were females. But, again, none was Shannon Gilbert. So who are they? Well the local police have called in the FBI and forensic experts from New York City. They're also out there talking to the family of this woman. She was missing since June. Her name is Megan Waterman, 22 years of age from Maine. Like Gilbert, she was allegedly working as an escort. Like Gilbert, she disappeared on long island.

Also, by now you have probably heard "TIME" magazine picked Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as the person of the year. What exactly is behind that selection and why this year? That's ahead.

Also, did you see what happened when usher invited a fan on stage? This video, it did not end so well for him -- and kind of her as well. Kareen Wynter is going to bring us that topic next.

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BALDWIN: It is time for "Trending" today. First Usher gets sideswiped in the face. Of course it's caught on video and we're sharing it with you. And Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson are splitting up. And finally "TIME" magazine names its person of the year. Who was it? Kareen Wynter knows and she's joining us from Los Angeles.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: We have our friend Usher. He's performing in New York, Madison Square Garden. Folks, you just really have to take in what happens. This fan kicks him in the face. That's right. Pumps and all. He starts singing to her. Don't worry. You'll see it again. She gets carried away. She's trying to console him. Oh, my gosh, are you OK?

He stops singing because he's stunned it by all of this.

BALDWIN: He gets hit in the head. That's why.

WYNTER: When you call the fans on the stage, she shouldn't be a safety hazard. He gently ushers her off after this.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Don't you wonder what little conversation is happening between the two of them after her foot goes bam.

WYNTER: He's thinking "exit."

BALDWIN: A little see you later with this couple. Beautiful people, two of them. Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds, dones- ville.

WYNTER: What's going on, Brooke? We've reported on so many people breaking up recently. It's true. After just two years of marriage, guess what, they are calling it quits. Some estimate that it's the distance. They are super busy stars. Maybe the distance caused this breakup. But they are in fact calling it quits.

BALDWIN: Are they talking about it at all? WYNTER: Yes, Ryan rep's released a statement short and sweet. It basically says "After a long conversation on both of our parts we've decided to end our marriage. We entered our relationship with love and it is with love and kindness we leave it." Look how beautiful they are. He was voted one of people's sexiest people alive.

BALDWIN: Finally, Kareen, the read picked Julian Assange, but "TIME" magazine picked who?

WYNTER: Mark Zuckerberg. Are we really surprised? Look at him. "TIME" says they chose him because of his remarkable ability to connect with the world. And some people were considering LeBron James, Hamid Karzai. But in the end, Mark got the honors.

He is only 26, very down to earth. He's very humble. He lives a very simple lifestyle. His friends call him "Zuck" and he listens to Lady Gaga.

BALDWIN: Kareen, thank you. That is what is trending on this Wednesday.

WYNTER: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And have you heard what Michael Vick wants to do? He wants to get a dog. But he is actually allowed to? That's ahead.

And Brianna Keilar is standing by with breaking new from the world of politics. Your CNN Political Ticker is coming at you, next.

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BALDWIN: Of course CNN = Politics, Brianna Keilar joins me now. Brianna, hello, friend.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, friend. Brooke, first up, the Senate is on the Political Ticker. The Senate just passed an extension of Bush era tax benefits. The vote there, 81 to 19. Of course, the White House is hoping that the House of Representatives which has yet to pass it. Get it together and give it some momentum.

House Democrats want to make some changes. The estate tax is a give away to the rich. Unclear if they are going to make a vote in the House tomorrow.

And this is interesting, congress, can you believe it, going to get schooled. We have constitution 101 coming to Congress in the form of a seminar series. It feels like college and the first one is going to be done by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

It's part of the Tea Party caucuses started by Michele Bachmann and they are going to learn about the constitution, strip it down to the bare bones, learning about the constitution and bill of rights. It's going to kick off there. Also, this one is pretty amazing, Brooke. Congress tied a knot. The Senate, where it takes as long time to do something, is tied in knots. They have so many things that they are trying to do, whether it's the START treaty or tax cuts or this very controversial spending bill. Republicans, knowing that, and they could be demanding that the Senate clerk read this entire controversial spending bill.

So what kind of timing are we talking about? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office says 50 hours, two days, two hours where the Senate clerk would have to read around the clock this bill. That would take up a lot of time, as you can imagine. And the Senate doesn't have a lot of time heading into the holidays.

BALDWIN: Fifty hours? I don't think so. We will keep our eye on that along with you, Ms. Keilar to see if that actually happens. Brianna, thank you.

I want to remind you we get another update off the Ticker in half an hour. You can always get your latest politics fix. Go to CNNpolitics.com. Now, watch this.

Not just one but two women risking their lives to save others. Their brave efforts caught on video. I'm Brooke Baldwin, the news is now.