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Key Al Qaeda Figure Dead; Panetta in Pakistan; Casey Anthony Case Update; Top Dems Tell Weiner to Resign; Protesters and Syrian Troops Clash; No Salt on the Table in Argentina; Celebrating the Queen's Birthday; The Bravest Woman in Mexico; Arizona Wildfire Spreading; Rare Fungus Infects Tornado Victims; Weiner Aide Says He will Enter Treatment Facility; CNN GOP Debate; Gingrich Campaign to Begin Again; Rick Perry May Enter 2012 Race; Jon Huntsman to Announce Soon

Aired June 11, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: A long-sought Al Qaeda figure has been killed by Government sources in Somalia. That's according to Officials in the U.S. and Africa. This is an FBI wanted poster showing touched up photo's of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Al Qaeda's Leader in East Africa. Fazul is believed to be a key player in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. He was reportedly killed at a Government checkpoint in Mogadishu.

And the man tapped to be the next U.S. Secretary of Defense is in Pakistan today. Leon Panetta is meeting with Military and Intelligence Officials trying to repair relations strained after the unilateral U.S. mission to take out Osama Bin Laden in that country. Panetta is urging Pakistani officials to step up the hunt for militants operating there.

Well, the focus today in Casey Anthony's murder trial, evidence collected near her daughter's remains and in Casey Anthony's car. A bug expert said larvae and flies found in items in the trunk in Casey Anthony's car fit the theory that her daughter's body was in the trunk but doesn't show proof she was driving.

Outrage over Congressman Anthony Weiner's sexting scandal is growing. Three top Democratic Leaders today are calling on him to resign. Weiner recently admitted to sending lewd messages to several women online, photographs also. Today he also admitted sending Twitter messages to a teenage girl in Delaware. Weiner says there's nothing indecent or inappropriate about those messages. Senior Political Editor Mark Preston joins us from Manchester, New Hampshire, and we hear you have new information. What's the latest, Mark?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, Deborah. What we've seen today is three Democratic Officials that, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Steve Israel and the Democratic National Committee Chairman Debbie Wassermann Schultz have all called on him to resign. I am told that they had come to this conclusion late in the week, even before they had found out that he had corresponded with that 17-year-old.

They were going to give him until Saturday morning to make the decision to resign on his own accord, and when he did not, they decided they needed to take this coordinated activity and that's what we've seen in the last 90 minutes.

What we've heard from Debbie Wassermann Schultz, she calls it a sworded affair. She describes it as great disappointment. The House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi says Congressman Weiner has the love of his family, the confidence of his Constituents and the recognition that he needs help and she urged the Congressman to leave Congress without the pressures of being a Member of Congress.

Right now not very good news for the Democratic Party as they are embroiled in this scandal. They would like Congressman Weiner to leave. There are bigger issues that they need to fight including the fact that the unemployment rate is nine point one percent, Deb. They don't want to be caught up in a sext scandal.

FEYERICK: Okay Mark, clearly it takes the focus off the Democratic Party if they are seen as supporting him in any way by demanding his oust. Let me ask you another question. You're in Manchester, New Hampshire. The debate is coming up. What are we learning? What can we expect?

PRESTON: Well, we can certainly expect all of the major Candidates say but one or two will be on stage here at the Campus of Saint Anselm College. We expect them to talk a lot about jobs, to talk a lot about the economy for many viewers out there this will be the first introduction to them for many of the Candidates. Michele Bachmann she's a Congresswoman from Minnesota, Herman Cain a Businessman from Georgia. They'll also see the likes of Mitt Romney. He ran for the Republican Nomination. He was unsuccessful in the 2008 Campaign.

Expect Monday night to hear these Candidates talk a lot about that. Expect them to talk a little bit about Foreign Policy as well. Of course, a major issue right now that the United States is grappling with, that President Obama is grappling with.

FEYERICK: Okay, Mark Preston stay out there in the rain because we're going to be coming back at you in another half hour. We appreciate it. Stand by.

Congressman Weiner has been adamant he's not going resign and he's also adamant that these new Twitter messages that police are investigating are not lewd or inappropriate. Jason Carroll is in the Congressman's home district in Queens.

Jason, it had to be almost surreal when he walked out of his home and you got that interview with him. He's not laying low. He's not hiding. As a matter of fact, he's accessible, at least as accessible as it takes to get to the dry cleaners.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. He walked out, stopped, spoke for a little bit, was out running errands, he answered questions about a number of sensitive topics. Regarding resigning he basically told me, Debbie, he would continue on as Congressman, that he would not resign. Again, that was earlier today before we had all of these statements coming out from top Democrats. He also told me, Debbie, that he has made a point of reaching out and speaking to Democratic Leaders. Once you listen to what he's had to say on the first point, that point of resignation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Just to reconfirm about resignation, at this point you have --

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: I have no news for you today.

CARROLL: And no plans for anything changing --

WEINER: Nothing has changed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you're not resigning?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: So once again you can say nothing has changed, no plans have changed. Again, that was earlier this afternoon. You may wonder where he gets a lot of his confidence from. A recent poll shows that 56 percent of the people here in Queens and his district support him in that he should not resign. 33 percent say that he should. And as we were doing this sort of impromptu interview with the Congressman, at one point one of the voters walked up and congratulated him but I want you to hear from a different perspective as well. Take a listen now to what some of his constituents are saying here this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anthony I just want you to know that I support you. Okay. That's your private life. You are a great man. You are the right person in the right position. We all support you.

WIENER: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of New York are going to make sure you are the next Mayor. Thank you.

WEINER: I appreciate it. Very nice of you to say.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should he resign? I guess he should. Everybody else is resigning. I don't think he did anything so awful but he's taking away from the Party. He's just causing so much furor that we shouldn't be talking about. That's the only reason. I feel sorry to see a man's life fall apart in front of your eyes. It's very, very depressing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And that sort of mirrors what some top Democratic Leaders are saying at this point. They wonder how effective Congressman Weiner can be in the wake of the scandal. You heard what Pelosi was saying. She's encouraged by the fact that he will go and seek help. According to a source we have heard that Congressman Weiner may do that, seek some sort of help with regard to what happened but clearly according to top leaders, that is not enough. It's too little too late.

FEYERICK: Jason Carroll, thanks so much. At least with all that support he's got there, it certainly doesn't proclude another run for the Congressman, perhaps at a later time.

Jason Carroll, thank you so much.

For a second weekend in a row a top Al Qaeda Leader is killed. We're going to go to The Pentagon for details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, back to our top story this hour. A long sought Al Qaeda figure has been killed by Government Forces in Somalia. That's according to U.S. and Kenyan Officials. This is an FBI wanted poster showing touched up photos of Fazual Abdullah Mohamad, Al Qaeda's Leader in East Africa.

Barbara Starr, Pentagon Correspondent, joining us now live.

Barbara who is he, why did they want him and how does this disrupt Al Qaeda in the region?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This is a significant blow to Al Qaeda in Somalia according to U.S. Officials. In fact, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just a few hours ago issues a statement about all of this.

He was believed to be a master mind of several Al Qaeda attacks in East Africa in recent years, he is said to be the architect of those 1998 attacks against the U.S. Embassy in Kenya and Tanzania which killed some 225 people. There were attacks after that.

This was a guy, Deborah, that the U.S. wanted and wanted bad. There was a $5 million reward on his head. Back in 2007 in fact U.S. Commando's staged an air raid into Somalia using aircraft to try and kill him, they had a tip about where he was. They didn't get him. But it shows how much they wanted to go after him. Somalia being one of the most dangerous places for U.S. forces to try to even operate in.

So now that they have confirmed through Somali Government sources that they do believe indeed he's dead, this is good news, but there also is a but, Al Qaeda and Somalia and next-door Yemen, on the rise, growing terrorist concern for the United States, so this is still a very tough neighborhood. Deborah?

FEYERICK: Barbara as an operational guide does it suggest he was building a network and is there any sense that the Somalia Al Qaeda and the Yemen Al Qaeda were uniting to form a one two punch in that region?

STARR: That is the concern. The CIA Director Leon Pnetta testified on Capitol Hill at his confirmation hearings to become Secretary of Defense about this very point. Leon Panetta said in written documents to Capitol Hill that Al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia but an Al Qaeda affiliate organization in Somalia on the rise, may have a couple of hundred of foreign fighters at its disposal and, yes, is trying to link up across the water with Al Qaeda in Yemen. Both groups very interested in trying to recruit individuals to come to the United States and stage attacks here. This whole region now is really in the cross here of the U.S. Military and the U.S. Intelligence Community. This is not just some far-off big threat. A lot of concern about what Al Qaeda in this region may do even though apparently their Leader's been killed in this attack, plenty of other people out there in the region they're worried about. Deborah?

FEYERICK: All right. Perhaps disrupting it at least for a little while. Barbara Starr, thanks so much. As always, fascinating. Appreciate it.

And some other international headlines now. Police and anti-government protesters clashing again in cities across Syrian. According to a report on state run media Syrian troops kill or arrested members of what they called armed terrorist groups today. Thousands of Syrians have fled to safety across the Turkish border. Stay with CNN. We'll have a story coming up in a few minutes.

Something's missing from the table's in restaurants in Argentina. The salt shaker. Health Officials in the Capital Province made agreements with public eateries and hotels to take salt off the tables in an effort to combat hypertension. You can still get salt. You just have you have to ask for it.

And it's a celebration fit for a Monarch in London today. Queen Elizabeth II turned 85 in April. The British always officially observe her birthday in June when the weather is a lot nicer. Plenty of Dukes, Duchesses, Princes, and Knights were in attendance.

She took over a Mexican Police Department at just 20 years old. So why did she run away after serving just four months. CNN's exclusive interview with the ex-officer now seeking asylum north of the border here in the U.S. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, some call her the bravest woman in Mexico. The 21- year-old college student who took over as Chief of Police in a town where her predecessor was decapitated by a Mexican drug cartel. Plenty of people feared she'd meet a similar fate, but now she's in the U.S. and she's afraid.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Marisol Valles Garcia took a job no one wanted. No one. Police Chief of a small Mexican border town near Guades. Replacing a man who was sent to his grave for doing the same job when the drug cartels cut off his head.

The Police Chief before you was killed. Why did you accept this job?

MARISOL VALLES GARCIA, EX POLICE CHIEF, MEXICO (via translator): We had a beautiful idea. A plan to re-establish people's confidence in the Police.

LAVANDERA: Despite her hopes four months into the job Marisol disappeared from the town where life is marred by cartel violence. Now almost three months later, she's re-emerged in the United States and has been seeking asylum.

What happened?

GARCIA: Shortly after I took the job the threatening phone calls started. They asked me to work for them and I said no. Then they told me they were going to kill me and my family.

LAVANDERA: At first she ignored the threats but then she noticed strange men driving by her office and home. She was so scared she'd ask her father to drive her to work. Marisol is hardly a threatening figure, a tiny soft-spoken 21-year-old, who never carried a gun, didn't have bodyguards and said publicly she wasn't targeting the cartels but she was getting a lot of media attention, shining the spotlight on the cartel stronghold.

The cartels felt threatened by you.

GARCIA: Yes because we were working on a marvelous project. We were trying to help mothers and small children have a better life so they didn't feel like they have to work for the drug cartels and they didn't like that.

LAVANDERA: On March first, Marisol said she received a phone call from the same man who had been threatening her for months and he said he was coming to get her. She couldn't take it anymore. She decided to leave. Didn't even pack a suitcase. Gathered her family and this is where they crossed into the United States.

When you look out toward Mexico do you get sad?

GARCIA: Yes, it's sad to know I can't go back to the place I was born, where I lived. My whole life was in Mexico.

LAVANDERA: This part of Mexico is considered one of the most violent places in the world but it's the only place that she's ever called home. She left here with her husband, baby boy, parents, and two sisters a few days after entering the United States she learned that her parents' home had been ransacked. She suspects it was cartel members looking for her.

Now that you're in the United States, do you feel safe?

GARCIA: The fear will never go away. My experience is a fear that will last a lifetime.

LAVANDERA: You don't think you'll ever see your home town again?

GARCIA: No.

LAVANDERA: In the short time she served as Police Chief, Marisol Valles Garcia youth and idealism captivated the world. CARLOS SPECTOR, ASYLUM ATTORNEY: She's the Rosa Park of Mexico.

LAVANDERA: Her Asylum Attorney Carlos Spector said Marisol is a symbol of hope, a woman who defied the cartel assassins and will die if she returns to Mexico.

SPECTOR: I have no doubt she'll be killed because she's a trophy for the cartel. She's a woman who stood up and has been characterized as the bravest woman in Mexico.

LAVANDERA: A lot of people have called you the bravest woman in Mexico.

GARCIA: I felt proud. At least we made a little difference, gave people a little hope.

LAVANDERA: Do you think Mexico will ever be safe again?

GARCIA: I hope Mexico can become what it once was, a safe fun place with life.

LAVANDERA: But it comes at the price of knowing she may never go home again, unable to help the people of her home town trapped in a violent world.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, El Paso, Texas.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FEYERICK: Well, let's say you could invite a famous person to a beach house for a weekend. Would you consider President Obama, Justin Timberlake, Top picks right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, "USA Today" asked who would you invite to a beach house and here are the top picks. Thirty three percent said actor Matthew McConaughey. Twenty three percent said President Obama Seventeen percent said Justin Timberlake and sixteen percent said Jennifer Lopez.

Checking on our top stories a long-sought Al Qaeda figure has been killed by Government Sources in Somalia. That's according to officials in the U.S. and Africa. This is an FBI wanted picture showing touched up photos of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed Al Qaeda's Leader in East Africa. He was believed to be a key player in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

High winds and low humidity are expected to fan the flames of the massive wildfire in Eastern Arizona. That blaze has scorched an area about the size of Houston and has forced thousands to evacuate. Right now firefighters are trying to keep it from spreading into New Mexico.

Health Officials in Missouri say eight people who were injured in last month's tornado in Joplin have contracted a rare type of fungus. Three of them have died. One of those deaths is directly attributed the infection which can occur when dirt becomes lodged under the skin.

Now to the Casey Anthony murder trial. The jury taken in forensic evidence to determine if she could have killed her own daughter. Sean Lavin is live at the Courthouse in Orlando. Sean, there's been a lot of talk about the duct tape. Have her fingerprints been found on the duct tape?

SEAN LAVIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't believe they were able to find any fingerprints on the duct tape but they do say that that duct tape was linked to the Casey Anthony home. The same brand. So they believe they can link that duct tape to Casey Anthony. Now today on the stand we saw a crime scene tech go up there and show that duct tape to the jury. She had her gloves on. It was very real-life CSI in court today. It was real significant evidence they brought out today. Deb?

FEYERICK: It's interesting. The jury has to be thinking and imaging that the duct tape on little Caylee Anthony's mouth. The jury, how have they appeared throughout this?

LAVIN: The jury is taking notes here and there. They're looking at the evidence on their screen. They have -- at the Courthouse they gave them special screens to try to keep up with all the technical evidence they've seen. They don't get to always watch Casey because they're watching the evidence but when some key evidence is shown some are taking a look look at Casey to see how she's reacting, Deb.

FEYERICK: Interesting. Casey had to leave the court early yesterday or the day before because she was so overcome with emotion, seeing pictures of her child really at the resting place where that child was found. Today how did she seem do you?

LAVIN: She was better today, you're right, Deb. On Thursday they had to end court around 3:00, 3:30, call court off for the rest of the day because she got so worked up. I was talking to some medical experts and they said she was probably having a panic attack sitting there knowing her life is on the line and watching all this evidence come down against her.

Today she looked a lot more calm. She did look down but she wasn't as bad as before. You talked earlier about the duct tape. There was also other evidence that was brought up concerning the flies in the trunk of the car Casey Anthony would drive around. There were hundreds of flies there that indicates there was a decomposing body inside her car. Listen to what Casey Anthony's Lawyer had to say when he was cross-examining one of the forensics guy's who found those flies and evidence at the crime scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the only item where you found Hinkle brand duct tape.

RONALD MURDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: That's correct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it was attached to this gasket.

MURDOCK: That's correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVIN: Now Baez is trying to plant some seeds of doubt about the duct tape. There were several pieces found, one on Caylee's mouth, one on some gas tanks nearby and duct tape here and there around that crime scene, which was filled with Caylee bones, remains and also lots of trash, Deb.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, it's fascinating hearing your perspective, but watching the trial as it progresses and what must be going through Casey Anthony's mind. Sean Lavin, thank you so much. Appreciate your insights on that.

And earlier today, I asked our legal guys, Richard Herman and Avery Friedman about the graphic nature of this week's testimony of Anthony's trial and we also talked about the impact it had on the jury. Listen to our discussion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: This is the most dramatic part of the trial, Deb. It is the crescendo that the prosecution is building to achieve their obligation of proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

They've done it carefully, methodically. They've done it smart, but again, the skull, the idea of testimony, even the part about drawing the body into the woods where bones were gnawed by animals obviously is having an effect.

Question, prejudice versus probative, probative prevails. It's an appropriate way of prosecuting the case.

FEYERICK: You know, and Richard, one thing I don't understand. They spent a lot of time about the garbage that was in the trunk of Casey's car.

First of all, what kind of mother drives around with garbage in her car? It's not even logical. They find traces of chloroform on it. Why do you think they're spending so much time on this?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, one of the keys to the prosecution's case is Casey put the child after she was dead in the trunk and drove around with her for four or five days deciding what to do with the body.

So they're trying to show forensically that that body was in the car, that was Casey's car, so therefore she had to have killed the child and drove her around in the car. The problem is they can't link Casey to driving around with the baby. They cannot link it, Deb.

The prosecution has a lot of problems. They went overkill on this forensic crime scene photos. I mean, of course, they're admissible in every case, but they went overboard and the overplayed video that they played in court yesterday, that's absolutely going to be grounds for reversible error in this case.

That was horrible to do that. With a week to go, Deb, the government, they haven't done it. They haven't done it in a first-degree murder case.

FEYERICK: Avery, you're saying it's probative. That it is not prejudicial necessarily, which is interesting, but do you think defense has been able to undermine the testimony put forth by prosecution that in fat George Anthony, the father, was the one responsible for Caylee Anthony's death? Has that stuck as far as the cross-examination?

FRIEDMAN: Well, Jose Baez in the history, in the annals of American law you got to take the opening statement and put it at the bottom. That unfortunately has set the tone here. To answer your question, Deb, I don't think much if not all of the prosecution's evidence has been undermined in a least.

Again, we're going to hear the evidence coming in about a week, but the fact is the evidence has been irrefutable. The defense really has not done much of anything to bias the jury into think make there's some justification. I think the defense is in a world of trouble. That's not a surprise to anyone.

FEYERICK: Before we segue way to the next story, I want to say does she have to testify, Avery, yes or no?

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

FEYERICK: Richard, yes or no?

HERMAN: If she testifies, she's going to get convict and get sentenced to death.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And you can catch our legal guys every Saturday at noon Eastern.

And this just in to CNN. We're hearing New York Representative Anthony Weiner will request a short leave of absence from Congress. According to his spokesperson, the congressman will seek professional treatment to, quote, "focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person." This comes as Democratic leadership including Nancy Pelosi are calling for Weiner's resignation.

Political GOP heavyweights are gathering in New Hampshire. Could it give one presidential campaign a crucial boost?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: CNN is hosting the Republican presidential hopefuls for a debate in New Hampshire on Monday night, and it may come at a good time for Newt Gingrich.

He's getting ready to restart his presidential campaign after the sudden resignations of his senior staffers. CNN's senior political editor Mark Preston is in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Mark, was it simply an ill conceived opening of a campaign? Should he have waited? He doesn't usually make these kinds of mistakes. He's so politically astute.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: He is, he is very politically astute, but you're right. He had very major stumbles out of the gate with the launch of his campaign, but really what it came down to is the incompatibility between what his vision for the campaign was and what the hired guns he brought on to run the campaign thought it was.

His senior staff had just quit in the last couple of days. They brought along a lot of key staffers. When you lose your campaign manager, when you lose your senior strategists, your campaign goes awry.

Now what we've heard from Newt Gingrich is the fact that he also had a different vision from what they were saying. He's going restart his campaign tomorrow. He'll be in Los Angeles tomorrow to attend an event for the Republican Jewish coalition. The next night, he will be here on the campus of Saint Anselm College and he will be debating.

Now it will be very interesting to see what Newt Gingrich says about how his campaign has taken a new direction, but yes, this has shocked everyone, Deb. At this point that Newt Gingrich would have these missteps in being the position he is right now.

FEYERICK: What was the discrepancy in vision? What is Gingrich's vision compared to those who are stepping down and where are we going to see them go?

PRESTON: Well, Deb, what we're hearing from his aides is that Newt Gingrich was not committed to fund-raising. He wasn't committed to going out and making phone calls, which is very hard work for a presidential candidate to get on the phone and make the phone calls.

He was also not willing to go out and do a lot of retail politicking. Now the big question is who will benefit? Well, it could be the Texas Governor Rick Perry who is mullying a bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Two of the top aides who were running Gingrich's campaign are very close to Rick Perry. Rick Perry, a favorite of the Tea Party very close to social conservatives. If he decides to get into the race, all hats are off.

FEYERICK: All right, so an issue of fire in the belly, I guess. Maybe somebody else looking to get into the campaign or no or get into the race, I should say.

PRESTON: There are certainly others we should look at. Sarah Palin has said that she is running or at least looking at running for president.

Rudy Giuliani is somebody else and Mike Huckabee who said he would not run for the GOP nomination, well, he said that he might be reconsidering as well. So it doesn't look like the Republican field right now is settled. Deb.

FEYERICK: All right, Mark Preston, thanks a million. We'll check in with you a little later on. Appreciate it.

The clashes, the killings, the fear. We're talking about Syria where nationwide unrest is forcing people by the thousands to seek safety in Turkey. They're simply afraid to go home. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Syria's government still won't allow CNN cameras and reporters in to cover the deadly government movement. The demonstrators are finding us. People who fled their homes for the relative safety of the Turkish border, that's where CNN's Ivan Watson is today.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than 3,800 Syrians have fled across the border here to Turkey, running for their lives, and they are fleeing because of scenes like this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON (voice-over): This is what happens when Syrians try to protest peacefully against their government. On June 3rd, thousands of demonstrators walk up a road in the northern town. All of a sudden, gunfire, unarmed men scramble for cover.

Bullets crack and whistle overhead and then the wounded. CNN can't verify the exact location and date of the video, but the images of brutality were filmed by this activist on his cell phone.

(on camera): You must have been terrified when this was happening.

WATSON: Yusuf Mohamed Ali Hassan smuggled himself across the border to Turkey to talk to journalists banned from working in Syria.

YUSUF MOHAMED ALI HASSAN, OPPOSITION ACTIVIST (through translator): I want the world know we want human rights and democracy, he says. This is not a government that governs people. It's a militia that kills and destroys.

WATSON: This 23-year-old Syrian says he was shot in the leg and arm by Syrian security forces at another protest. Now, one of more than 30 Syrian gunshot victims being treated at a hospital in Turkey.

We're oppressed and we want our freedom, he says. We want this president to be overthrown. He can't show his face because he's terrified of his own government. So are these people.

Syrian refugees emerging from the orchards heading toward the Turkish border. More than 2,700 have fled. More are probably on the way. The first wave staying in tents at this abandoned tobacco factory. The Turkish government is already building two more camps.

If the killing in Syria doesn't stop, Turkey stands poised to become the next home for a generation of terrified Syrian refugees.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: The brave activist who smuggled himself across the border to give us the video that we aired at the beginning of this report went back into Syria on Friday. This Yusuf Mohamed Ali Hassan, he said he wanted to participate in another round of anti-government protests after Friday prayers.

We talked with him by cell phone a few hours later. He said he had been shot in the right thigh after security forces operating on both the ground and from helicopters began spraying machine gunfire at thousands of demonstrators in the northern Syrian town.

We've gotten the names of at least four demonstrators who were killed in what appears to have been yet another Syrian government massacre. This activist was speaking to us from a house, too afraid to go to a hospital because he's afraid he could be arrested there. Ivan Watson, CNN, Turkey.

FEYERICK: Now Ralitsa Vassileva is here from CNN International to talk about this more. We can't overstate that what's happening is not just there, but there are severe repercussions for us here in the United States as well.

RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT, CNNI: Well, first I want to make this point, that this is the most serious pushback that we have seen from any town in Syria, and that's why we see the Syrian government cracking down, even with helicopter gunships and tanks.

They have surrounded the city of this area, you can see there. The city is right there in the north and that is also an area, which in the past has rebelled against the Assad regime. The massacre was committed in 1982 by the current president's father in which more than 10,000 people were killed.

So the memory of that is there, these people -- that's why they're so terrified. They know what can happen and yet we have them pushing back and fighting back.

FEYERICK: When soldiers open fire on unarmed demonstrators, what does that tell you?

VASSILEVA: We don't know exactly what has happened there. The government says that there were armed gangs that opened fire and this is what happened. The protesters themselves and witnesses say something very, very significant and interesting.

They say that the soldiers themselves started fighting against each other when they were ordered to shoot against unarmed protesters. And this is first time we've heard of defections from the army.

Again, nobody is saying that the Assad regime will fall from this, but this is a very significant development and the Syrian government itself is acknowledging that 120 security forces were killed there and that's why they're going and they've surrounded the city. Eighty percent of the people have fled. Almost 4,000 are there in Turkey, refugees, in panic because of what's going to happen in the city. And the city is surrounded now, tanks and helicopter gunships. We don't know what's going to happen. We don't know what's going on, but this is very significant.

FEYERICK: When we see all of those people swarming into Turkey and refugee camps being set up in Turkey, what does that do to the dynamic?

Turkey is an ally of ours, but Turkey has also been trying to reach out and bridge the relationship with Syria as well. So how do we think about it in those terms?

VASSILEVA: What is happening is placing Turkey's prime minister in a very uncomfortable position. He has a very close personal relationship with President Assad.

They have tried to repair relations because there are significant trade interests on both parts to development trade. However, the prime minister this week took a very critical line against President Assad, saying he could not support what was happening in Syria anymore.

He's opening the borders to these people, calling on President Assad to stop the crackdown, to reform and to stop attacking civilians and that's very significant.

FEYERICK: All right, Ralitsa Vassileva, thank you so much. We really appreciate you're joining us. You can always see Ralitsa on CNN International when you travel. Thanks so much.

Well, summer is the time to get outdoors and have some fun. But violent storms like this one last week in Illinois, take a look at that lightning, can suddenly pop up and create havoc. Ahead, Bonnie Schneider has the forecast and some important tips on how to stay safe when the weather takes a sudden turn.

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FEYERICK: Well, it's that time of year where we can get some pretty dramatic summer storms that come out of nowhere. Let's bring in Bonnie Schneider. Bonnie, the storms really can be extremely dangerous. What should people know?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, people need to know as soon as they hear that rumble of thunder, it doesn't mean you have 10 seconds or 10 minutes. It means seek shelter immediately because lightning can occur quickly and without warning.

Here is some incredible video from storm chasers and you can see the clouds. Actually most lightning that occurs does occur cloud to cloud. Only about 25 percent hits the ground. Well, there's a lot of other things you need to know about lightning. So let's go ahead and show you since we're coming into the worst season ever for lightning, which is June, July and August. This is courtesy of NOAA because coming up in about a week and a half will be their severe weather awareness week for lightning safety.

Remember when thunder roars, go indoors. It rhymes so it's easy to remember whether you're outside camping, you're at the pool, seek shelter immediately. Now here's a trivia, lightening strikes the same place twice.

Well, in fact, the Empire State building is an example of that. All right, we have a severe thunderstorm warning for the city of Binghamton, New York, right now and this storm is producing frequent lightning strikes so please be careful out there.

We're also watching for severe weather in parts of Colorado where there is a severe thunderstorm watch box and this warning just popped up in the south western part of the state.

So Deb, it's really timing to be talking about lightning right now because this is just the beginning this month and the ones that we'll follow where we're going to have a lot of lightning and dangerous storms ahead.

FEYERICK: All right, Bonnie Schneider, thanks so much. I see lightning, I hear thunder, I'm in there so fast like that little rabbit.

Well, imagine digging through garbage to support your family. What some children are doing until our CNN hero steps in.

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