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Hostage Situation Near Arizona Mall; Washington's Changing of the Guard; Shooting at Omaha High School; Beer Heir on Girlfriend's Death; Changing of the Guard

Aired January 05, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And now here we go, top of the hour, busy hour. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Breaking news in this murder-mystery. The body of a former Pentagon guy found in a landfill. Well, today, we have brand-new video of John Wheeler and what he is doing in it is pretty bizarre.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is hour.

(voice-over): A man is convicted of killing his mother-in-law. Now he's set to inherit her estate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's sitting in jail knowing he's got $250,000 waiting for him when he comes out.

BALDWIN: Really? Is this possible? We're on the case.

Plus, he is the former CEO of Anheuser-Busch, his girlfriend found dead inside his lavish mansion.

911 OPERATOR: Emergency, 911.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This girl is just not waking up.

BALDWIN: Now, for the first time since her death, he is speaking out and he's talking about what happened.

Sharks attacking boats, pure Hollywood fiction, right? Wrong. It's for real. And we have the video.

And pop quiz. What is $380 million divided by two? Answer? Rich. Now the search is under way for the winners of the Mega Millions jackpot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Hi, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We're following and juggling several breaking news stories here for you on CNN. Here is what we have.

Want to begin with the situation still unfolding in Arizona. Here are pictures of this mall. This is the Chandler mall in Chandler just outside of Phoenix. Police detectives telling me there was shooting suspect engaged in some kind of robbery, opens fire outside of this mall, runs inside, is now nearby at the shopping complex in the Baja Fresh. This individual has taken hostages. It's lunchtime in Phoenix.

There are the pictures of the Baja Fresh. We're keeping a close eye on that and the status of those hostages.

Also, to Oregon, to Rainier, Oregon, where a Rainier police officer has been shot and killed today. This is all according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Department. This disturbance at this car audio shop, officer goes to respond to this. There is some sort of struggle that ensues. The officer ends up being shot and killed.

As for that shooting suspect, gunshots were fired. The suspect was wounded. He is now in police custody at a local hospital under guard, not been arrested yet at this time.

Finally, third breaking story, this one out of Oakland, Tennessee. And we have been watching these pictures. You can see firefighters fighting this thing. This was this massive explosion at this munitions plant in Oakland, Tennessee.

There were people inside, according to our affiliate WMC. One person is trapped. One firefighter is injured. And we have yet to see them in the pictures we have been watching, but according to police, there are still explosions coming from within that munitions plant.

So, busy day, keeping an eye on all of those stories.

Also making news now, changing of the guard in Washington. The new speaker of the House, there you have him, John Boehner, taking the gavel from outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrats out, Republicans in. You hear the applause, some applause. On the day they take charge, Republican leaders are backing away from a spending cut pledge.

GOP aides telling CNN that spending cuts will not total $100 billion this year, after all, as the Republicans had promised.

Next, a manhunt is under way in New Mexico. Police there are looking for this man. This is all following a shooting at a hospital Tuesday afternoon. It happened in Albuquerque, where witnesses say a domestic dispute between Daniel Cesar Dominguez-Garcia and his girlfriend somehow erupted into gunfire.

One shot was fired. No one was injured, but hospital officials say the girlfriend was a patient. The hospital was on lockdown for more than an hour until police determined he had escaped.

Next, Ohio police are investigating a shooting and they made a huge discovery. You're looking at it, 850 pounds of marijuana. One man was shot near the cheekbone during some sort of home invasion at his house. Police believe the shooter took several boxes of marijuana along with him. The seized drugs are worth about $1 million. The victim recovering from his wounds, but he has also been charged with pot possession.

Next, a Florida woman in hot water for allegedly throwing hot wax on her husband. Ouch. Police say Kimbra Marcus caught her husband with another woman Saturday night in their trailer. Marcus allegedly left. She came back with a shovel, smashed a window, tossed that hot wax on both of them inside. The husband admits he is married, but separated from his wife.

Marcus has been charged with assault.

Next, a Chicago woman is in a lot of trouble after dialing 911 Sunday. Listen to this one. She called in. She said her boyfriend was attacking her. Well, it turned out, when police showed up, the woman changed her story, said she wanted the police to force her boyfriend to marry her.

Not making this up. Turns out, he was not attacking her. He was actually breaking up with her. Police have charged the woman with disorderly conduct.

Next, want you to listen to what this next little girl has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHRYN AURORA GRAY, DISCOVERED SUPERNOVA: A supernova is a star that is blowing up. We have a program at home that takes an older picture and a newer picture and puts them together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Pretty smart little lady, huh? All right, not only does 10- year-old Kathryn Aurora Gray know what a supernova is. She has apparently just discovered one. She is the youngest person ever to make such a discovery. And one more thing, supernovas are really rare events. The young Canadian whose middle name really is Aurora -- you get it -- made the discovery this past Sunday with the help of a few real astronomers.

That is awesome.

Next, spilled coffee is to blame for that diverted United flight. You remember this? The plane had to land in Toronto Monday night after a cup of joe spilled on an instrument panel, the panel, you know the one that controls the plane's navigation and communications equipment? Yikes.

United says the crew never actually lost communication with controllers. Passengers were taken back to Chicago and eventually got all the way to Frankfurt.

Next, two of Mark Twain's literary classics are getting a bit of a we will call this a literary makeover. The language in the books "Huck Finn" and "Tom Sawyer" is changing. Here's how. NewSouth Books is publishing new versions of these books without the N-word.

So, instead of the N-word, they are going to be pointing in the word slave. Some complain that this is sanitizing history, but the publisher hopes changing the offensive words brings in more readers.

Next, parents, you're going to have to cover your kids' ears on the streets of Pennsylvania. Why? Because folks there can no longer get a ticket for cursing in public, state police agreeing to stop handing out potty mouth citations. I didn't even know they did that. The settlement is part of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. Now you know.

Next, Montel Williams gets busted at an airport. Police say the TSA caught the former talk show host with an apparent drug pipe at a security checkpoint in Wisconsin. Now, we're told Williams paid a citation and was free to go about his business.

Worth noting here he does suffer from multiple sclerosis and supports legalizing medical marijuana.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: You know that mystery is still unfolding? The clues keep rolling in. Who killed this man, former Pentagon aide, and how did his body wind up in this landfill? There is bizarre new video, brand- new video out today, apparently showing what he was doing before they found him. That is ahead.

And the former chief of a beer giant is now speaking out about the mysterious death of his girlfriend. She died at his mansion. Now he is telling one reporter what happened inside that house. That is next.

Also, first iReports, we're getting them, inside the mall in Chandler, Arizona.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We have been working this breaking story for you since the top of last hour, this shoot-out outside of this mall in Chandler, Arizona, just outside of Phoenix.

The suspect then according to a detective I spoke with here on TV went inside this mall and then is now apparently holding hostages in the nearby Baja Fresh restaurant.

I want to back up because obviously that mall had to be evacuated for public safety.

And I want to bring in Scott Cahill, who had the presence of mind I guess to pull out his cell phone and take some pictures inside this mall.

Scott, I know you work inside one of the stores that was on lockdown.

I want you to stand by for me, because I want to play the video and I want to listen to it.

Well, we're hearing something else, but we're looking at the pictures. Scott, if you're with me, I don't know if in front of a monitor, but it looks like a panic-stricken situation. Walk me through what you saw and what you heard sure.

SCOTT CAHILL, CNN IREPORTER: Sure.

You say presence of mind to take out my camera. Usually, that's not the smartest thing to do. But...

BALDWIN: But you did.

CAHILL: Yes.

I was eating lunch at the mall. I actually work outside the mall. And I go to the mall for lunch. And I normally eat at the food court, but I was eating at Sunflower, which is on the corner, was walking upstairs towards Barnes & Noble for the rest of my lunch break.

And I basically was coming across, entering the center of the mall, where you can see pretty much everything in the center of the mall, and just -- I just saw people looking at things. I didn't hear anything because I had headphones on listening to podcasts.

And basically I started hearing people say things about shooting. And this lady was buying a cookie at the cookie shops. And she has a baby. She bumps into me, turns around and says that she hears shooting.

And -- but she doesn't seem too panicked. And I was trying to figure out, if there's a shooting, why isn't everyone running? And this lady at Frederick's or whatever -- it's a lingerie shop -- was closing her doors, so I asked, well, can I come in?

And so here I am stuck in this lingerie shop and think, well, I'm pretty safe. If somebody comes running around the corner, I could probably run behind this wall. So I decided to take my cell phone camera out and start taping video.

BALDWIN: So, I see. So, yes, we saw a woman. See saw the store and that the metal locks kind of...

CAHILL: Metal...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: ... exactly, coming down.

And it looks like the mall, at least the inside, was pretty clear. Did police -- I imagine they did a pretty impressive job getting everyone out of that mall as soon as possible.

CAHILL: Well, at first, it was just people telling each other. And people were basically walking towards exits.

Later on in the video, you actually see a security guard come out and tell people, get out, go. He was yelling them at Macy's to go back. And like, at that point, people went from walking to running, because they really realized, you know, their lives were in danger.

BALDWIN: Where are you calling me from right now? Are you somewhere near the mall?

CAHILL: I went back to the parking lot. People were standing around the lot wondering if we could go back into the mall. I just figured I would take a short lunch break today, no Barnes & Noble, and I went back to my work and basically upload the videos to my Channel 12 news and I thought I sent them to you guys, too.

BALDWIN: Well, Scott Cahill, we appreciate it. We appreciate you thinking of us here at CNN sending in that I-report. Glad you're okay. Thank you so much for calling in. I appreciate it.

The former head of Anheuser-Busch finally talking now about the mysterious death of his girlfriend. Here he is, August Busch, IV made his first public comments about the death of 27-year-old Adrianne Martin to the "St. Louis Post Dispatch" newspaper just yesterday.

And Martin was found dead at Busch's sprawling estate near St. Louis last month. Busch says he is devastated by her death and on the brink of even deeper depression than he had felt before when the family's beer company sold to Belgian brewer Indev just was two years ago in 2008.

Now autopsy results are not expected for at another two weeks, but Busch said that Martin was taking a sleeping medication. It's called Trazadone. It's a prescription drug used to treat depression. It's also sometimes used to treat insomnia. Martin's ex-husband says that he is surprised that she would be taking this sort of prescription medicine since she had a heart condition.

I want to bring in Deb Peterson who is the columnist who wrote the Busch interview, conducted the Busch interview for the "St. Louis Post Dispatch." She joins me now by the phone. I read through this article, Deb, and it seemed like a pretty candid interview. Why he did even want to open up and talk to you?

DEP PETERSON, ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH (via telephone): Hi, Brooke. Well, I tell you that it was -- I have a relationship with him. We've spoken in the past and he's always been very friendly. I called, I had been on vacation when the woman -- when Adrianne's body was found. Had followed the case, just read about it. Came into work, decided I give him a call. He had a cellphone number called him and within an hour he called me back and he just started talking.

BALDWIN: That's what we love as reporters, don't we? We like talking. That's great for you. My next question, this is also fascinating in news to all of us following the story, is when he realized that morning that she was dead and I want to pull up, we have a graphic as part of this whole interview where he describes, it's that morning, he says, I went to serve her breakfast in bed. I couldn't wake her up. How did he sound when he was describing this?

PETERSON: He was distressed, he sounded heartbroken, distraught I think is a fair way of summing it up. He really sounded very sad. BALDWIN: You even write to the brink of depression. He's really taking this very, very hard.

PETERSON: He is taking it really hard. He said that his father had talked to him about getting some help, some grief counseling and he sounded like he was not yet there, but sort of embarking on a plan to get himself better. He said, I can't let this take me down.

BALDWIN: He said, it is the saddest thing I've ever dealt with. I got up, both of us, I thought were sleeping. I went to the kitchen to make a her a special drink, and then she also had this -- an 8-year- old son who he had really taken a liking to, liked the fact that this young boy wasn't that impressed with I guess his riches, that had he really sort of accepted August.

PETERSON: I think in St. Louis the Busch family is like the Kennedys would be in Boston. They are very prominent. They're very revered. I don't think he can go out and have a cup of coffee or get a beer at a local bar like the rest of us can.

So I think that he live this is somewhat life and apparently this 8- year-old boy named Blake took to him and he felt very good about the -- he, August, felt very good about this young boy's friendship to him or whatever the relationship would be called and he said that he just accepted him for who he was. Didn't care what he had or didn't have.

BALDWIN: According to the police report, no signs of trauma on her body. We're still waiting, as I said, a couple of weeks away from the toxicology reports to ultimately determine how she died. What about the funeral? Why didn't August attend Adrianne Martin's funeral?

PETERSON: Well, she was from a small town in Missouri -- Springfield, Missouri, a couple of hours away. He said that he could not get out of bed and during his two years of depression, he routinely got up at 4:00 in the afternoon. I mean, he really had to struggle to get up every day and I think he said he couldn't get out of bed. He couldn't do it.

BALDWIN: He's someone who has so much. I think it's just an interesting perspective on someone that would appear to be the envy of so many, but seems very, very sad and very alone as a result of all of this.

PETERSON: I think you got it.

BALDWIN: Deb Peterson with the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Deb, thank you.

PETERSON: Thank you so much, Brooke. Nice to speak with you. Bye- bye.

BALDWIN: Nice to speak with you.

It is hard to believe it's not the script of a Hollywood movie, thieves who built a sophisticated tunnel to help them rob a bank. Also, did you see the size of that gavel? Handed over from now former House speaker Nancy Pelosi on over to now Speaker John Boehner. Joe johns is going to join me here just a moment to talk to me about that, that and a few other stories you've been working today. Local politics is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It was a big, big day on Capitol Hill for the U.S. House of Representative. I want to bring in my friend Joe Johns. Our veteran D.C. colleague with "Political Pop" and Joe, I'll tell you what my e- mail inbox is full of all of these little moments here on Capitol Hill. But I want to begin with the big gavel handover, big moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Look at that thing. I mean where else do you get all the latest news about gavels.

BALDWIN: From you Joe Johns.

JOHNS: That thing is gigantic. All right, so the back story on this is pretty good. We wanted to show that moment when Nancy Pelosi officially turns over majority control of the House of Representatives to John Boehner and there was actually a little bit of give and take here. Just listen to what she had to say when she gave him the gavel.

NANCY PELOSI: That goes with it to the new speaker. God bless you Speaker Boehner.

JOHNS: Yes, I mean, the gavel is about the size of a croquet, isn't it?

BALDWIN: I think she was trying to make him cry.

JOHNS: OK, so the big secret here is that she gave him his own gavel. Go figure, a senior Republican leadership aide told me it was made by a constituent of Boehner's back in Ohio, given to the speaker as a gift.

Nancy Pelosi's office says that's their understanding, too. There are a lot of gavels used in the capital complex because all the committee chairman have them, but apparently Boehner wanted to get his own gavel from Nancy Pelosi.

BALDWIN: Hang on, though. Give me the back story on the gavel because if you're sworn in as the speaker and there's the handing over the gavel, does every incoming speaker get to pick their own gavel or is Boehner's case unique?

JOHNS: Well, the truth is, it's all symbolism, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: It really doesn't make any difference because at the end of the day, it's his House of Representatives and he can pretty much do what he wants to at this stage.

BALDWIN: His house, his gavel?

JOHNS: Yes. Most of the gavel's are made by the Capitol carpentry shop, but this gavel apparently did not come from them. Boehner's office has not said where it came from.

BALDWIN: OK, well, what about -- we're watching live pictures on the routers, a lot of little kids all around the House floor today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Pretty decent bragging rights when they go back to school tomorrow. Who are these children?

JOHNS: Look at that. It's great. Kids all over the place. Boehner has a huge family. Nancy Pelosi has a lot of kids and grandkids in her family. And, you know, this tradition goes on forever. This takes too long, number one.

This thing started around noon eastern time, went until 2:30ish, you know, going onward to close to 3:00 and you love watching the people during that time. And these kids, obviously, are going to be kids. So there's really no way in the world to get them to stop squirming or playing with their Nintendos or doing what kids do. So it's a lot of fun to watch them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: And that's the only reason we wanted to show you that video because it's one of those instances where so many children in the families and members of Congress get out there on the floor.

BALDWIN: Couple of kids caught with their Nintendos. You could just kind of see the parents like elbowing them when the camera would come on and you know, like look up, honey. In spite though, you know, go ahead.

JOHNS: I would just the members get a little bored, too.

BALDWIN: Reading the newspaper?

JOHNS: Right. Exactly. Reading the newspaper and -- there are votes and it goes on and on and on. Democracy at work if you will, but it's not all that exciting.

BALDWIN: I love it. The back story of the gavel hand off. Joe Johns. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

Right now there are some people out there holding two lucky tickets, each worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But no one, so far, trust me, we've all been wondering, has come forward with the golden tickets yet. The search is still on for the mega millions winners.

And a shark attack rattling a group of fishermen. There is video of this entire thing. Michael Holmes, who I am planning on embarrassing in a minute here. Wait until you hear his whole shark theory. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We told you about a Millard South High School in Omaha, Nebraska. There was a school shooting, two people were hit. Two victims, one was taken to the -- both of them taken to the hospital, one in critical condition. One of the victims is the high school principal.

We are now learning that the shooter -- we told you he was a student. We have now learned he was a 17-year-old senior. He had actually moved from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Omaha to attend this high school and his father is a detective on the Omaha Police Department.

So, there's a news conference underway with the police. They are apparently pretty broken up, but this is now affecting their police family. The son of this police detective was the shooter who was found dead in his car.

Now this -- it is time for "Globe Trekking" with news from all around the world. Michael Holmes is here, our -- one of our faves, from CNN International, with a couple of really great stories.

In fact, we bring you in. Apparently, all of these stories that we do here from Australia, your homeland.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Yes.

BALDWIN: And this first story really caught our eye. I saw the video this morning of a shark attack. Perhaps, that's going too far.

HOLMES: He was -- he was playing around. I mean -- no, it's a decent size shark. It is a great white. But they say it's 16-foot. I think he'd look like 16.

But what he was doing was just hanging around the boat. The guys are filming it and what you see there it's a moment where he actually takes a bite out of the propeller. They're not very bright. So, he takes bite out of the propeller and then he goes and the guys go as well. This happened just south of Perth, where I grew up.

BALDWIN: OK.

HOLMES: A place called (INAUDIBLE), I used to surf south of there.

BALDWIN: You used to surf and you saw sharks?

HOLMES: Yes. I did, a couple of times out behind the break. I had a grey nurse go under me once, which is about -- it must have been about a 12-footer and I saw a tiger shark, too, a few years away. You paddle quickly when that happens.

BALDWIN: Let's embarrass you and pull up your surfer dude picture.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: You know, I read some e-mails back and forth, and to quote you, you said that that these guys in the boat were wusses?

HOLMES: Well, yes, you know, they really feel alive and they go little panicky about it. But the thing --

BALDWIN: What kind of wave is that? Can I just make fun of you? That's a wussie wave, friend.

HOLMES: That's a wussie. That was down in Mexico a couple of years ago.

But, you know, the funny thing with shark is 90 percent of shark attacks are one bite, as that one was, too.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: They don't like us.

HOLMES: They want to eat seals. That's right. And then they take a bite and they go, uh, that tastes like a surf board, I'm out of here. And all you're going to do is hopefully they didn't hit the femoral artery with that one bite.

BALDWIN: Yes, right. Still frightening nonetheless.

HOLMES: But you got more chance of being killed by a bee sting or lightning than a shark. It's very, very rare. So --

BALDWIN: OK. And I kid because I love.

HOLMES: They need to release.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about this story out of Argentina. I've been waiting to tell the story.

HOLMES: Unbelievable. I know. The last time, we held it.

BALDWIN: With the title --

HOLMES: Amazing.

BALDWIN: -- explain this whole thing.

HOLMES: Pretty clever -- pretty clever robbers and pretty damn cops actually. This is New Year's Eve in Argentina. What these guys do was they built over a period of I think six months a 100-foot tunnel from the next door building -- it's like movie.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: In fact, movies are being done like this.

BALDWIN: Pull the (INAUDIBLE) in Argentina.

HOLMES: And they burrowed in through this 100-foot tunnel. There was carpeting there, ventilation and everything. And eventually, they went in through the vault, went through all of the safety deposit boxes, and the bank doesn't know how, because there's (INAUDIBLE) -- they don't know much was stolen. But it's certainly millions of dollars.

BALDWIN: A lot of people in the bank weren't necessarily around because this was like New Year's Eve or New Year's Day?

HOLMES: It was the holiday weekend.

BALDWIN: Right.

HOLMES: Now, the alarms went off, like three times alarms went off. The cops go around, they checked the doors, and they're like, everything was fine, without thinking they come up from underneath. This should go to the movies more. This thing is like four movies that sort of thing.

BALDWIN: This is the perfect movie plot.

HOLMES: Yes, millions of dollars. It happened actually in Argentina a few years ago, very similar thing, under, up, bingo.

BALDWIN: It happens.

Thank you. "Globe Trekking." See you later.

HOLMES: You're welcome. Yes.

BALDWIN: Police could be getting closer to figuring out what happened to former Pentagon official John Wheeler days after his body was found in that landfill. There is video, brand new video out today that has surfaced showing him alive, but it's a bit bizarre what he's doing in it. We'll show it to you next.

Also, it is billed as the most electronic show in the world. So, what can new products, what new products, I should say, can we expect to test out and try out this year? We're live in Vegas. They are lining up right now.

"Reporter Roulette" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Looking for why dead birds are falling from the sky, the search for who killed a former Pentagon official, and the latest gadget that could be your next must-have. Time to play "Reporter Roulette."

I want to begin, though, with Martin Savidge, who is at a research lab for us in Athens, Georgia, where they're doing these, we'll call the necropsies, right, they're autopsies for animals -- on all of those dead birds that fell from the sky a couple of days ago.

Martin, any answers?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a University of Georgia, actually called Wildlife Disease Study Lab. And here, they are trying to determine exactly what caused these birds to fall out of the sky. They have five of them, they came from Louisiana. There were a total of 500 killed there. And they've got about a dozen birds that came from the 5,000 that were killed in Arkansas.

Their initial look at these birds would indicate trauma. And otherwise, they say it's a traumatizing event. The birds somehow ran into something very solid in flight.

BALDWIN: Ran into something very solid in flight, but still, they have not conclusively figured out what caused all of these birds' deaths?

SAVIDGE: Let me explain how they're -- what they do. With the autopsy, they are going to look inside the bird. They've already started to look at the Louisiana birds. They see that they've suffered some real severe blows inside their structure. That would indicate that the birds did fly into something. The question is why?

Well, startled in the night, they take off at a panic, fly, run into houses, run into roofs, run into buildings. So, that causes the so- called traumatic event. It was New Year's Eve and let's pointed out that the startling event there could be, say, something like fireworks or celebration that scares a large amount of birds that otherwise have been sleeping.

BALDWIN: Martin Savidge with the exclusive information for us in Athens, Georgia. Marty, thank you.

Next in "Reporter Roulette," Deb Feyerick for us in New York. She's been digging on this story, this mystery. John Wheeler, this former Pentagon official, found dead in this Delaware landfill.

Deb, let's begin with the police in this investigation. Do they have a clear picture as to where he was?

DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPNDENT: Well, the good news is that police are starting to piece together the hours before his disappearance, specifically on December 29th through the December 30th, which is about the time he believed he went missing. He was in a pharmacy. He was wandering around a parking garage. He was even inside an office building. And so, this has enabled them to narrow the time of death down to an eight-hour window.

They're still trying to figure out how he got from Wilmington, Delaware. You can see him there wandering around in a parking garage and he looks disheveled. People didn't say he was -- he felt he was threatening in anyway. They just felt like he was confused and disoriented.

He was offered help a couple of times. He turned it down. Somebody offered to call him a cab. He said, no. Somebody offered him money. He said had he enough money.

So, it just shows that something clearly was going on mentally within John Wheeler. I did ask the police department whether in fact they were investigating if he had a medical condition. They said, yes. That was one of areas that they were pursing.

They also asked -- well, I asked about the briefcase and they said, well, they hadn't located it yet, but they are working with Amtrak police to see whether maybe he left it on the train.

BALDWIN: We don't know. Lots of questions still, Deb Feyerick. Thank you, Deb.

And finally here on "Reporter Roulette," Dan Simon got a pretty cool gig there. The consumer electronics show there in Vegas.

And, Dan, last year, you know, they had the whole Android and e-book devices and tablets, iPad, huge now. So, what's the big next toy?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's really all about tablets this year, following on the success of the Apple's iPad, of course. Two million square feet of gadgetry, if you can believe that here at CES. The show actually starts tomorrow. And you can see a little bit of construction right here.

But we're getting a sense that tablets and 3D TVs are going to be the next big thing. But, Brooke, I want to show you something on my arm here. So far, this is the coolest thing I've seen. This is a little device. You can see it fits on my arm. It actually takes your blood pressure and you use your iPhone. It has an app. You just click start and boom.

Yes, believe it or not, your iPhone can take your blood pressure.

BALDWIN: Wow.

SIMON: It comes from a company Y Things (ph). And if you want, it will automatically e-mail your results to your doctor, if you can believe that.

BALDWIN: I can't believe it but it seems that Apple has an app for everything these days. Before I let you go, Dan, I know you're in Vegas, far from Silicon Valley. A lot of the stuff there; the toys originate from Silicon Valley. I hear you have some brand-new digs, this brand new CNN Silicon Valley bureau. Pretty nice.

SIMON: That's right. Well, we're launching CNN Silicon Valley February 1st. So, we could not be more excited about that.

You know, if you take a step back and you think about where we are in innovation, you realize we're in the midst of another technological revolution in this country when you consider social networking and what they called "cloud computing" and mobile and tablets and there are some companies coming online everyday. We're going to be covering those and the personalities behind those companies and app reviews and hardware reviews.

So, CNN Silicon Valley, Brooke, starting February 1st. We're really excited about it.

BALDWIN: Very cool, Dan Simon, than you so much, there in Vegas. And that is your "Reporter Roulette."

Quickly, I want to update you on a situation in Chandler, Arizona. That's the town just outside of Phoenix. We've been reporting for really the last two hours here about what started as a shootout involving a fugitive, according to the U.S. Marshals, happened just outside of the Chandler mall there. And inside, there was -- the suspect that moved inside. Eventually now, apparently, according to police there, at Baja Fresh holding hostages. We'll get you more information on that on the other side of this break.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM. I want to talk politics here real quickly. "CNN Equals Politics."

And my colleague, Jessica Yellin, joins me now from Washington with the latest news hot off the Political Ticker.

Ms. Yellin, what do you have?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke. Well, it's been a big day here in Washington.

Here's something that John King learned today. Darrell Issa, who is the incoming head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- translation: that's the committee that can subpoena members of the White House to testify and do investigations if they want, he previously called President Obama corrupt. He was on the Rush Limbaugh show and he said that this is one of the most -- President Obama is one of the most corrupt presidents in history.

Well, he told John King that people are, quote, "misunderstanding the meaning of the word corrupt." And he's trying to translate for us. He says, "Corrupt or corrupted or failure, well, that's no different than a disk drive that has some bit wrong, it's not illegal."

So, it sounds like he's backtracking from those comments a little bit. He even told "STATE OF THE UNION" over the weekend that he meant to say that the Obama administration is corrupt. Now, he's telling us corrupt doesn't mean what you may have thought it meant. OK.

So that's Darrell Issa. He's the chairman of the committee, but John Boehner, he is the big star today. He became the Speaker of the House.

And guess what happened right after he became Speaker? He started asking more for money. Yes, that's what you do when you're in politics, I guess.

He sent out an e-mail -- well, under his name -- for the National Republican Campaign Committee, trying to raise funds. So they don't slow down for a minute. As soon as they get into office, they all -- it's not just Boehner. They all have to start asking for cash. And he did it with an e-mail to donors, saying, please give because Democrats still control the White House and the Senate.

And, Brooke, speaking of Boehner, did you notice that big gavel he was holding --

BALDWIN: Quite large.

YELLIN: -- Nancy Pelosi made a little joke about? Yes. And she pointed out that it's larger than most gavels -- I'm not going to touch that.

BALDWIN: Yes.

YELLIN: A slightly unusual moment. We learned the reason he picked that gavel -- because he could pick from many -- Dana Bash, our senior congressional correspondent, learned it's because it was made by one of Boehner's own constituents. So it wasn't the size, it's because it was from his home area.

BALDWIN: From his home area, from a constituent in Ohio, thus the size. Small state, large gavel. OK.

Jessica Yellin, thank you so much.

YELLIN: You got it.

BALDWIN: We are working on getting you the latest news here on that developing situation, breaking situation out of Chandler, Arizona. This shooting suspect now, according to police, taking hostages in a restaurant near this mall.

We'll get you an update here on the other side of the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A decade-long mystery may finally be solved. Biologists had thought they had found El Chupacabra. I'm going to let you decide. "You Gotta See This!"

Take a look with me at what many believe to be El Chupacabra, the mysterious creature that would strike at night, allegedly sucking the blood out of goats. Well, biologists have confirmed that this animal shot two weeks ago in Kentucky is, alas, not the Chupacabra, but instead, a hairless raccoon.

Who knew? All is not lost though. Now scientists have a new mystery ahead of them. What causes the raccoons to lose their hair? We'll keep you posted.

Next, have you seen this video of this homeless man with a very unique gift? Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say something with that great radio voice.

TED WILLIAMS, HOMELESS: When you're listening to nothing but the best of oldies, you're listening to Magic 98.9. Thank you so much. God bless you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: This video has gone all over. This man is Ted Williams.

He's talked about his struggles with drugs and alcohol, became an instant Internet sensation, thanks to his perfect radio voice. And we have some good news. Since the video came out Monday, the job offers have been rolling in for Ted. In fact, he was on this morning on the "CBS Early Show."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: In the year 2010, on this date book that somebody gave me, I was going to write on there, "Well, another year wasted." But it was the year that I found God in my life. I mean, really, a God of my understanding. And so it wasn't a wasted year.

And I had no idea that something like this would have ever happened to me. It's almost like winning the mega ball lottery or something. This is just phenomenal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: How about that? Sounds kinds of like a fairytale. We can't wait to see the ending of his story there, Ted Williams.

And now for a look at what is ahead in "THE SITUATION ROOM," we'll go to my colleague Wolf Blitzer.

And Wolf, I know you're talking about that gavel, but first, what do you think of Ted Williams? Did you see his story this morning and his voice?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you know, Jeanne Moos did a whole piece on our show yesterday, here in "THE SITUATION ROOM," on this phenomenon. What a voice this guy Ted Williams has. It really is amazing.

The job offers have in fact been coming in. And Jeanne is going to have an update in "THE SITUATION ROOM." You're going to be excited, Brooke, because there is a really, really great job he has now been offered. There's been sort of a bidding war for him.

BALDWIN: Oh, yes?

BLITZER: He's got those deep, deep lungs, and he's got that great voice. And it's really a nice twist, a nice happy ending. Ad I'm really pleased that all of us have been able to play a role in helping this guy.

He seems like a decent guy. He's gone through a rough period, as he says himself, alcohol, drug abuse, homelessness. But now things are going to turn around. Now he's just got a break and he's got to carry the ball and he's got to really deliver. BALDWIN: Wolf, I want to break away from you. Forgive me. We'll all be watching "THE SITUATION ROOM" here in a couple of minutes, but we've been watching this story out of Chandler, Arizona.

A gunman outside of a mall now apparently has taken some hostages inside of a Baja Fresh. And I want to bring in Leda Schultz, who was one of those hostages. The gunman has let her go. She's now on the phone with me.

And Leda, I am glad you're all right. Tell me what happened inside of that restaurant.

LEDA SCHULTZ, WAS HELD HOSTAGE AT RESTAURANT: Oh, my. Basically, we were inside, a friend and I, and having lunch. And I looked up and saw a man waving a gun around. It didn't quite register to me.

And he started telling people to get out, the patrons to get out. But everybody just was really silent, and then he yelled it again, for the patrons to get out and for the employees to stay.

So we ran out as fast as we could. And he shoved the employees back behind the counter. He wouldn't let them leave. There was a couple of girls and then maybe one or two guys that were the chefs in the back.

And we ran out, and we ran to the front. And the FedEx guy told us to run into the vacuum cleaner place, so we've been hiding out here for the last two hours.

BALDWIN: Wow, so he -- yes, go ahead.

SCHULTZ: I just saw him walk out. He was wearing a gray shirt and jeans when we were there, and they just walked him out, and he was wearing a Baja Fresh hat and Baja Fresh T-shirt. So he changed clothes probably to look like an employee, and they just walked him out. They got him out of there.

BALDWIN: So you're telling me -- and this is news to me, so this is unconfirmed by CNN -- but from you, an eyewitness on the scene, you're telling me that this suspect who was holding those Baja Fresh employees hostage has now walked out of that restaurant? I'm assuming, walked out in handcuffs?

SCHULTZ: In handcuffs, yes, with the SWAT team and police officers surrounding him. Just walked out.

BALDWIN: In those few moments, though, Leda, when you are sitting inside of that restaurant, and you see this man waving this gun, what thoughts are going through your head?

SCHULTZ: Just really scared. I didn't -- I'm not familiar with guns, so it took a while to register that it was a real gun.

He just looked like a regular patron. I didn't see him walk in. He had been sitting there probably for about five or 10 minutes, just looking like he was waiting for his food. And then all of a sudden, he popped up, you know, standing in the middle of the floor, probably 20 feet away from me, waving the gun. And I seriously just thought he was just going to start shooting.

And I was in there with my best friend, and we just couldn't believe what was happening. And I just looked at her when he said, "Get out." And we were pretty close to the door. It's a small little restaurant. And we just left -- left our purses, didn't care and --

BALDWIN: And took off. And I know you're not in front of a monitor.

But for those of you who have been watching this whole story with us, we are looking at pictures now. Perhaps they have someone surrounded. We don't know if the suspect is part of that group or not, but it appears massive SWAT team presence.

SCHULTZ: Right.

BALDWIN: A man there in the center of the screen wearing no shirt. Could this be our suspect? We are working our phones right now to try to figure out if this is the guy.

But Leda, how much time passed between when you all were told to leave and now?

SCHULTZ: And?

BALDWIN: And the moment that they walked him out?

SCHULTZ: Oh, they just walked him out literally in the last five minutes. And I got to the restaurant around 12:30, 12:35, and he was waving the gun probably by 12:40.

BALDWIN: How many minutes passed as he was holding those Baja Fresh employees hostage, would you guess?

SCHULTZ: Oh, so that would be two hours?

BALDWIN: Two hours.

SCHULTZ: Two hours and 10 minutes, probably. A long time.

We've been here just on lockdown inside this vacuum store. Had to lock -- we ran in here immediately and said, "Lock the back door, lock the front door. There is somebody with a gun."

He had shot -- he fired off a couple of shots when we were running out, so, of course, that made everybody more frantic. Ad just didn't really know where to go, didn't know who was involved, didn't know if it was just him or another person.

I'm thankful that he had us all get out and not wait there. But unfortunately, the employees had to stay through those two hours and be there with him with a gun.

BALDWIN: Sure. How terrifying for those employees. SCHULTZ: Yes, young girls.

BALDWIN: Do me a favor -- young girls being held hostage here inside this Baja Fresh. Remind me -- explain to me again, Leda, as he walked out in handcuffs with some of these officers, describe his appearance. Big guy? Little guy?

SCHULTZ: Probably about my height, about 5'6, 5'7, around there. Kind of stocky, like he maybe he works out. But just really a normal looking -- he looked like everybody else that was in there that were there on their lunchtime during business hours.

Just clean cut, close-shaven haircut. Just really normal. You would never think that he was anybody -- anybody else other than just a patron waiting for his food.

BALDWIN: And what exactly did he say when he was in there, after you said, you know, he appeared to be just in line to get some food for 10 minutes or so? And suddenly, he pulls out his gun, waves it, and tells all of you to leave. What specifically do you remember were the words that he chose?

SCHULTZ: His voice wasn't very cloud, so I think that's why nobody heard him the first time. His voice was very soft spoken.

He said, "Get out," but loud enough to kind of quiet everybody down. But still not understanding what he said. And when everybody just kind of froze, he said, "Everybody get out except for the employees." And that's when everybody just ran out the door.

BALDWIN: And how many employees would you say were still held in there as hostages? Half a dozen?

SCHULTZ: No, no. There's only the two girls up front, and they are always there, and maybe one or two chefs in the back. And I think the two chefs were able to get out the back entrance, and the two girls were trying to run out of the front with the rest of us, and he shoved them behind the counter. He wouldn't let them go.

So I'd say he had two girls in there, my best guess.

BALDWIN: And just describe outside of the Baja Fresh restaurant. This is a whole sort of shopping center, as it's been explained to me. Describe the police presence there.

SCHULTZ: Very strong because -- well, when I pulled up to the Baja Fresh, there was already helicopters up above like something was going on, and police cars on the street. But everybody thought it was a high-speed chase or something, nothing too abnormal.

And then I pulled up to Baja Fresh and I went in. And then when we ran out, immediately the police showed up, and then the SWAT team came.

Apparently, there was quite a few SWAT teams here, about five SWAT teams. And they asked if they could go on the roof of where we are -- a lot of people ran directly across and they had to open up the back door. We were one of the first ones to bolt out there, so we ran around to the front.

BALDWIN: And again, what did he tell everyone as he was inside and he was soft spoken? What did he tell everyone? How did he say "Get out"?

SCHULTZ: He just said, "Get out. Everybody get out."

And then everybody just -- they only needed to be told twice, and everybody ran. Just as I was going out the door, he did fire maybe -- definitely one shot everybody heard, and they're thinking maybe two shots though.

By then, we didn't know where, so we were very scared when we heard the shots fired. We thought maybe the girls were injured, but, apparently, I'm hearing they are OK. I don't know.

BALDWIN: Was he alone, Leda, or were there others who appeared to be with him?

SCHULTZ: He appeared to be alone. But that was what ran -- as I'm talking to other people here as we were waiting, that's what ran through everybody's mind, that he was alone when he was waving the gun. But when he was telling everybody to get out, nobody knew what to expect when they got outside the doors. You know?

BALDWIN: What a scene.

SCHULTZ: It's just a parking lot, so you don't know what you're running into.

BALDWIN: Amazing, yes.

SCHULTZ: You're being told to get out, but you don't know which one is worse, inside or out.

BALDWIN: Leda Schultz, we are glad you're OK. We're glad -- hopefully everyone who was inside that Baja Fresh is OK.

I'm going to hand off to Wolf Blitzer. I'm sure he'll be continuing to follow this situation in Chandler, Arizona.

Wolf, to you.