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Phelps Flubs, Lochte is Golden; Assault on Aleppo; Interview with Alex Sullivan's Family; Romney in Tel Aviv
Aired July 28, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live in Colorado. You're in THE CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm standing in front of the detention center where the accused movie theater shooter, James Holmes, is being held. Of course, he's accused of going on a shooting rampage inside a Colorado movie theater last week. Twelve people were killed, more than 50 others were wounded.
Four of the victims were remembered in services today and we're going to have the very latest from Colorado in just a moment.
But first, we want to get you back to Atlanta and up-to-speed with CNN's Deborah Feyerick on other stories making headlines -- Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Don.
Well, in Syria, we can only begin to imagine the horror facing the residents of Aleppo.
Government tanks are pounding neighborhoods in the country's largest city, where rebel forces are in control.
CNN's Ivan Watson there on the ground there says the Free Syrian Army is making the military pay.
(BEGIN VDIEO CLIP)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): I've been speaking with one rebel operative who says that a column of Syrian army tanks tried to enter the flashpoint neighborhood in the southwest of Aleppo, known as Salahuddin, this morning and he claims that rebel fighters succeeded with rocket-propelled grenades in destroying six tanks trying to get into that neighborhood. It's a poorer neighborhood, that's one of the first that the rebels moved into, and it's also been where some of the fiercest fighting has been.
And, of course, activist groups telling us that this is the worst violence that Aleppo has seen yet.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And those pro-democracy activists say 33 of the 140 people killed in Syria today died in Aleppo.
Well, was it a copy cat crime in the making? A Maryland man undergoing mental evaluations after allegedly calling himself the Joker in the Batman character and threatening to blow up his co- workers. Police say Neil Prescott (ph) was in the process of being fired yesterday when he made the threats in a phone conversation with a supervisor. Police found 25 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition in Prescott's apartment.
As you may recall, the suspect in the Colorado massacre also identified himself as the Joker.
Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is being treated for depression at gastrointestinal issues at the Mayo Clinic. The Illinois Democrat has not been on Capitol Hill in over two months. His office said earlier this month that Jackson was getting treatment for a mood disorder.
And an oil spill near Grand Marsh, Wisconsin, has been contained. About 1,200 barrels leaked from a pipeline yesterday, carrying crude oil to Chicago area refineries. Federal officials have launched an investigation into the spill, this comes two years after a 20,000 barrels spill in the different section of the same pipeline in Michigan.
And the government says a drought hitting 72 percent of the nation's farms, that's 72 percent, likely will affect grocery prices for all of us this year and next and creating a desperate situation for farmers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This should be about a foot long, something like that. Usually it's 42, 44 grains long. This one is eight grains long.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Well, corn growing areas have been hit especially hard, resulting in prices reaching an all-time high.
Well, one of Rochester, New York's most recognizable buildings, it is no more -- as you can see by the dust coming up in the rubble there. St. Ann's Heritage Tower brought down in a controlled implosion this morning. Demolition of the 19-floor nursing facility will make way for two new buildings.
A big American victory in the pool today at the London Summer Games but also disappointment. Ryan Lochte won the first gold medal for the U.S. in the 400-meter individual medley. But superstar Michael Phelps finished fourth. No medal for him.
I spoke with our Pedro Pinto who's in London.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEDRO PINTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael Phelps' lining streak came to an abrupt end here. Even though Ryan Lochte was expected to have a chance, no one expected him to be this dominant in the individual medley in the 400 meters. And more than Michael Phelps not winning the race, the fact that he didn't get a medal, I think this means he has to put the pieces back together and figure out what he's going to do next.
He said after the race that, look, I just had a bad race. Other guys prepared better than me, and I have to take it on the chin. So he was very gracious in defeat.
For Ryan Lochte, it's an amazing accomplishment. It was the first time ever that he beat Michael Phelps in an Olympic race. They had already faced off three times and he couldn't beat Phelps in any of those head-to-head meetings.
So, we have to appreciate the fact that there is a new golden boy of American swimming here at these London Games. It was all about Michael in Beijing. Maybe it'd be all about Ryan in London.
FEYERICK: You know, it's so interesting. When you think about Ryan Lochte, I mean, this is somebody who is the world champion. So there's so many races that lead up to the Olympics and clearly in Beijing, it was Michael Phelps Olympics. But now, we see Ryan Lochte.
But who else -- who else is making some in roads there who we may be able to see medal during the swimming competition?
PINTO: You know what's been really surprising is how well the Chinese swimming team has been doing. Now, they finished first in the total metal count in 2008. And they did well in a variety of events. But we saw today the first Chinese man ever to win a swimming gold medal. We saw a Chinese woman beat a world record in the individual medley.
This has been one of the most interesting stories of the opening. I know we have long way to go, but China proving that not only are they excelling in sports that we expect them to, such as gymnastics. But now, they're dominating in the pool, as well.
So it will be interesting to see what they can do against the traditional superpowers of swimming like the United States, like Australia, like South Africa, and they could really turn the tables on those traditional powerhouses and start dominating in the swimming pool, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: An exciting day at the Olympics there, including some pretty good tennis. Ping-pong actually being played there as well.
We go now to Don Lemon who is in Colorado -- Don.
LEMON: Deb, thank you very much. We're learning the suspect in the Colorado theater shooting was seeing a psychiatrist before the rampage. That's new information here. Did he tell her any warning signs? Did he exhibit any? And if so, how much information does she have to reveal? We're going to tell you about that.
And it was his 27th birthday and his first wedding anniversary. Alex Sullivan went to the movie theater with his friends and his wife that night. His life was cut short. I sat down with Alex's family for an emotional interview, straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Just over a week ago, no one had any idea they'd be trying to make sense of a huge tragedy out here in Colorado. Least of all the family members of those shot and killed in theater nine last Friday. Today, services were held to remember four of those victims.
Jessica Ghawi was one of them. She was remembered during a ceremony in San Antonio, Texas, as a woman who celebrated everyone in her life. Friends at her ceremony remembered light moments in the life of an aspiring sports broadcaster, even showing this video of her falling on the ice while wearing heels. Now, at the time, just an intern trying to do an interview, who had her whole life and career ahead of her.
Matthew McQuinn was also remembered today when the gunfire began, he threw himself in front of his girlfriend, shielding her. He took three bullets, but she survived. Friends and family members of the hero packed a church in Springfield, Ohio, today to remember him.
The girlfriend whose life he saved took one bullet in the knee. She arrived on crutches and wept with his family.
Also remembered today, Alex Teves. The 24-year-old was a university of Denver alum, also protected his girlfriend from the gunfire. His family gathered today, remembering him as a hero who sacrificed his life to save another. The Phoenix native graduated just last month in a masters degree in counseling psychology.
John Larimer was the fourth victim remembered today. The Navy petty officer 3rd class was 27 years old. He followed both his father and grandfather in choosing the Navy and he received full military honors.
Meanwhile, we're learning that the shooter was seeing a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado before the attack. And I spoke to our Dr. Wendy Walsh and I talked to her about how much information that this doctor might have to reveal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR EXPERT: She only had to say something if she could identify who or what or when the victim was going to be. You know, you can't be arrested for expressing rage and aggression in a therapy place.
A therapy room is a place of complete confidentiality. And therapists all day long hear how mad people are mad at co-workers or what-have- you. You can't be arrested for that. But if he said specifically I'm going to go to this theater and blow it up, then she had a duty to report, which she probably didn't.
LEMON: Yes. And that's been the big news we've been following here. Even the front of the "Denver Post" saying suspect saw a psychiatrist.
So Dr. Wendy, everyone is talking about here that they believe possibly it's schizophrenia. So, let's just say that's it. Are all people with schizophrenics violent? WALSH: Absolutely not. And in fact, last week, we talk about this, Don, that I had an official instinct that schizophrenia would have played a role in this.
Now, remember, we don't know if he had a diagnosis. We do not know what his diagnosis was. We happen to know that this psychiatrist, as being sort of the head of mental health there at the university, also had a specialty in schizophrenia.
So it doesn't confirm it, but the onset is often in early 20s, college students.
And most schizophrenics are not violent. They are never violent. So for her to predict it based on this diagnosis if it existed wouldn't have helped.
LEMON: And I think this is probably a wakeup call for mental illness, mental health, to be able to talk about it. One question that's been going around is, Dr. Wendy, does this call for more government money to help people suffering from psychiatric illnesses?
WALSH: I think that this is just another occasion where we need to look closer at where our medical money is going, and how much mental health services are available either through private health insurance or through government funded, especially for those people who are most in need. They tend to be minority cultures. They tend to be students and the unemployed.
Isn't it ironic when you need mental health services the most, say when you're unemployed, you've lost your health insurance and you can't afford it? And most health insurance only covers a small amount of mental health services per year anyway. So, again, this is another time for us to look closely at what we're doing with our society.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Thanks to Wendy Walsh. We're looking back at the lives of those lost inside the Colorado movie theater.
A one-hour special airs right here in less than an hour from now. Make sure you watch "Madness at Midnight," the dramatic story of what happened inside theater nine, today, 8:00 p.m. Eastern. And then again at 10:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
Also , other news to report to you tonight. Rebel fighters clash with government forces in Syria's largest city of Aleppo. Ahead, a rare look inside the firepower some of the rebels have managed to stockpile.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: I'm not just a principal, I'm also a father. It's very, very easy to get caught up in your open dreams. You see some potential in your child and you think they should be a doctor, they should be an attorney. But they may not want to be.
Parents can keep expectations high, because you can demand that they perform well in school, that they do their homework, that they participate in extracurricular activities, and that they do something in the community. You can demand that they work to their full potential, whatever that full potential is.
One of the most important things that parents can do is expose your children. Expose them to different careers and within a career, the different career tracks. Take them on a visit to a corporation. Find a way to make sure your child is going to stay focused on a career.
Simply because you're paying for college, it doesn't mean that you should determine what a child should be. You're investing in their future, not yours.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: At the beginning of Syria's civil war, the rebels were outmanned and outgunned. They're better armed now, but the rebellion is taking a toll on the towns where they fight.
CNN's Ivan Watson saw the destruction firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON (voice-over): Syrian rebel fighters show off captured weapons of war. These are the largest guns we have seen yet in rebel hands, a vehicle-mounted mortar that fires giant .120-millimeter rounds, an armored personnel carrier, and an anti-aircraft gun mounted on a pickup truck. This one has gotten use in battle.
"A couple weeks ago, I shot down a helicopter," says this Jamal Awar (ph), a bus driver who is now a rebel.
Moments later, a helicopter flies high overhead.
(on camera): So, we're looking at a helicopter that is circling over this town right now, and we're hearing gunfire, and this is what scares the fighters the most. This is what has been killing the most rebels that we have come across, the most casualties.
(voice-over): This chopper came from the embattled city of Aleppo, located just six miles away from the rebel-held town of Anadan.
(on camera): They Syrian rebels say they're fighting for freedom from the Assad regime and they have succeeded in pushing out government security forces from this town of Anadan. But look at the cost. There is not a single civilian resident left in this town. It has been blasted and is almost completely deserted, except for fighters.
(voice-over): The town is scarred by artillery fire, and eerily empty. (on camera): This is why this town is so deserted. Two days ago, three people, Kurds from out of town, were driving this small vehicle, small truck up this road, and they were hit from a military checkpoint it looks like right about here. It still smells like rotting flesh right now.
(voice-over): A fighter tells us there's a government army base out in the farmland just a few miles away, and the soldiers there fire at us. Bullets whiz overhead as we film a defaced statue of the current Syrian president's father, Hafez al-Assad.
Nearby in the mansion of a wealthy businessman, we find a squad of rebels taking up temporary residence. They show me an entire armory of weapons they say are captured from Syrian security forces.
It's a small arsenal, stacked up next to the original house owner's gilded chairs and dainty pillows.
(on camera): Have you even captured armor? What happened to the guy you captured this from?
(voice-over): "He died," the rebel commander says. "God willing, he went to hell."
Unlike Libya, these rebels don't show off by constantly firing their weapons in the air. Syria's rebels aren't getting nearly as much help from the outside world. For them, every bullet is precious.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Anadan, Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Incredible piece there. Well, Alex Sullivan was killed in the Colorado theater that fateful night one week ago. It was his birthday.
Next, his family sits down with Don Lemon to share their special memories.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It was his 27th birthday. It was supposed to be a weekend of fun. Alex Sullivan planned to celebrate the occasion at the movies with his close friends, a special midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." And the next day celebrate his first wedding anniversary.
But, sadly, his life was cut short when a gunman opened fire in that movie theater.
I really had the opportunity, the honor to sit down with Alex's father and his sister to remember him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: People said he was a big guy, but he was a gentle giant. TOM SULLIVAN, ALEX SULLIVAN'S FATHER: He was big and that's -- people always thought he was older than he was. And what you had to do then is when you got up to him and you looked in his eyes, there was the child.
MEGAN SULLIVAN, ALEX SULLIVAN'S SISTER: We had so much fun together. We climbed trees, we, you know, climbed through sewers when we weren't supposed to, and we got in trouble. We had so much fun together.
LEMON: He really wanted to go to that movie. I understand one of the last things he did was he tweeted, the movie is about to start in an hour. I can't wait, I can't wait.
T. SULLIVAN: Best birthday ever is what I think it said. I mean, that was -- that was his thing. We went to the movies on his birthday.
LEMON: He's in the movie. Can you imagine what they went through?
T. SULLIVAN: From what I heard, it was instantaneous for Alex. Alex -- it was an instantaneous death and when I went to the coroner's office on Saturday and saw him and got the coroner's report, it was -- it was a relief. That was our worry, that it was going to be, you know, some kind of a gruesome thing and it was going to be tough.
But he took a single shot and it ended up going through his heart and he died instantaneously. So, there was no -- there was no screaming. There was no anguish. He hit the ground and he was gone. And so I -- I have a lot of relief from that.
LEMON: Who told you?
M. SULLIVAN: Sarah was our victim advocate, and she -- we all moved over to the Aurora south. Cassie was admitted into the hospital for anxiety attacks and we wanted to be close to her. So we all met there and they put us in like a huge room and everyone that was with us at gateway followed us.
Even though they said, like it was only family, we said, no, no, no, they're all coming with us. And we just kind of sat in that room and once the door opened, Sarah walked in and we kind of knew.
T. SULLIVAN: When she came through the door, deathly silence. Everything stopped and she came over and got me and my wife, Terry. And we sat down. She sat in front of us, and she said, it's confirmed. Alex is one of the dead in the movie theater.
And we -- you know, we grabbed each other, held each other. They told us people might be outside, so the security guard there was just a wonderful man.
That you guys might be around and somebody might be running through and he came out and he said, you know, how sorry he was. And I told him, and I said, you know, today -- today was my son's birthday. And it staggered the man. I mean, he actually staggered back when I told him that. And he told me, he said, I've been in the prison system working in corrections for 26 years. He said, I will tell you, he said, maximum security prison is hell on earth. That man will be feeling it for the rest of his days. He says, so you don't have to worry about that.
And I said, I'm not worried. I said, we're already moving into celebration mode for Alex Sullivan and nobody is ever going to forget him. We've already forgotten about whoever else who took care of this.
And then we went home, got the Jamisons out, got a cigar, put some Van Morrison on, and began to celebrate our son.
LEMON: Amen, brother.
T. SULLIVAN: That's it.
LEMON: Right.
T. SULLIVAN: Into the mystic.
LEMON: Good for you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: My thanks to Tom and Megan Sullivan. During that interview, we talked about - they called it their inappropriate sense of humor that the family has and is helping them get through this. Whatever it takes, they're getting through with that and their faith and we wish you the very best. Thank you so much for sitting down with me.
And I want to remind our viewers that we have a programming note for you. Make sure you watch "Madness at Midnight," the dramatic story of what happened inside theater nine. We will have Alex's story as well as 11 other people who died in that theater incident. Their stories as well. "Madness at Midnight" the search for answers in Aurora, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, as well.
It is half past the hour now and we want to get you caught up on the other stories that are making headlines. Deborah Feyerick is in Atlanta with that. Hi, Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there Don. Thanks so much. And boy, just amazing to think that this man was born and he died on the same day. An incredible interview.
Moving on, authorities may have disrupted a tragedy in the making. A potential copy cat crime. A Maryland now undergoing a mental evaluation after allegedly calling himself the joker, as in the "Batman" character and threatening to blow up and shoot his co- workers. Police say Neil Prescott was in the process of being fired yesterday when he made the threat in a phone call with a supervisor. Police found 25 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition in Prescott's apartment. As you may recall, police say the suspect in the Colorado massacre at the movie theater, he also identified himself as the joker. Residents of Aleppo, Syria feeling an assault on the city by government forces.
Many civilians took shelter in Syria's largest city after similar attacks on other cities. CNN's Ivan Watson says the rebels in Aleppo will not give up, not without a fight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (OVER THE PHONE): I've been speaking with one rebel operative who says that a column of Syrian army tanks tried to enter the flashpoint neighborhood in the southwest of Aleppo this known as (INAUDIBLE) morning. And he claims that rebel fighters succeed with rocket-propelled grenades in destroying six tanks trying to get into that neighborhood. It's a poorer neighborhood, one of the first that the rebels moved into and that they seem to control. It's also been where some of the fiercest fighting has been. Of course, activist groups telling us that this is the worst violence that Aleppo haste seen yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-Noon says the battle is just more evidence that a political settlement is need in Syria.
A big American victory in the pool today at the London summer games. But also a little bit of a disappointment. Ryan Lochte won the first gold medal for the U.S. in the 400-meter individual medley, taking the race by more than three seconds. A lot of time in the pool there. Superstar Michael Phelps, well he did not get a medal. He finished fourth. Phelps already has 14 gold medals from previous games. He is trying to go for 16 though to top the record.
Mitt Romney was at the Olympics earlier, but he has now moved on to Israel on his overseas tour. Romney arrived in Tel Aviv tonight. The GOP presidential candidate is to meet tomorrow with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders. A Romney aide says Iran will be a major topic. Romney is planning to hold a fund-raiser and give a major foreign policy speech tomorrow.
Well, Florida senator Marco Rubio had a scare today. He was on a private plane that had to make an emergency landing in Albuquerque. Rubio tweeted that he might be late for his appearance at a Mitt Romney rally in Iowa. An airport spokesman says a sensor on the plane indicated there might be an electrical problem. Rubio eventually canceled the appearance in Iowa.
And the government says a drought is hitting 72 percent of the nation's farms, and it will likely affect grocery prices across the nation this year and next. It's also creating very desperate situation for farmers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This should be about a foot long, something like that. Usually it's 42, 44 grains long. This one is eight grains long.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Corn growing areas have been hit especially hard, resulting in prices that are reaching an all -time high.
Well, some people got a surprise in Texas when a plane landed on a busy road yesterday in the middle of rush hour traffic. No one was hurt. The pilot had engine trouble and landed the plane on its belly. The fire chief called it a great landing. Unless of course, you were stuck in the traffic.
Well, imagine jumping from 90,000 feet in the sky, a daredevil does it and he plans to go even higher. It's all caught on tape. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: So you're sitting on a plane looking out the window, and you know how high 30,000 feet is. It's pretty high. Well, that's the cruising altitude of most commercial flights, right? Now imagine you are four times higher than that, and it's just you, no plane. That's the scenario facing one daredevil any day now. Here's CNN's Lisa Sylvester.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a man who just minutes ago was going 536 miles an hour in freefall, with nothing but a flight suit.
FELIX BAUMGARTNER, SKYDIVER: Well, it feels great.
SYLVESTER: Skydiver Felix Baumgartner, after surviving a jump from nearly 18 miles, that's 96,000 feet over the New Mexico desert. It's his final test before attempting a record breaking 120,000 feet and trying to break the sound barrier on his way down.
BAUMGARTNER: The sky was totally black. You know, you could see the curvature of the earth. It was amazing today.
SYLVESTER: But in the extreme cold and near vacuum where a drop of water would vaporize instantly, any puncture of the suit or a malfunction of his life support system would mean instant death. Boarding his capsule at dawn, Baumgartner was launched with a help of a crane. Then an hour and a half up with his helium balloon to the height about three times your average jetliner cruising altitude.
BAUMGARTNER: You have to be focused. Otherwise, you're going to die.
SYLVESTER: Then the critical jump.
BAUMGARTNER: It feels totally different, you know. You absolutely have no control when you exit. So it turned me around a couple of times, because there's no supportive air. There's no way to get off stable. That was the big learning from this one. SYLVESTER: Then the freefall. Just three minutes, 48 seconds, followed by seven minutes with a parachute. His life depended on not getting caught on the spin and on his chute deploying successfully.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Felix has landed safely back to earth.
SYLVESTER: One of his advisers, retired Captain Joe Kiddinger, who set the record in 1960.
CAPT. JOE KIDDINGER, RETIRED: Now there's only two of us that have jumped that high.
SYLVESTER: Kiddinger jumped from nearly 102,000 feet. A daring jump, in spite of an alarming suit malfunction that caused one of his hands to swell up. Baumgartner has done thousands of jumps from planes, skyscrapers, cliffs even the giant statue in Rio. His next jump, if he breaks the sound barrier, would be over 700 miles an hour.
BAUMGARTNER: Nobody can tell what happens to the human body if you break or travel at the speed of sound. And this is until the very end still the biggest unknown -
SYLVESTER (on camera): If he succeeds, he would be the first person to go Mach One with no plane, no vehicle, no equipment, nothing but his body and a flight suit.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Well, thousands on edge in many states because of this man. He's accused of spreading hepatitis C. That's a report you're not going to want to miss, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I'm Don Lemon, live in Colorado where the 24-year-old suspect in that theater shooting is behind me in the detention center. We'll have more on that.
But we're going to focus on the victims of this tragedy, as well. The victims and the people who survived. The community here, as well as the investigation. That's coming up in just about 15 minutes here on CNN at the top of the hour. "Madness at Midnight" the search for answers in Aurora, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and again at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. More news to cover, though. Deb Feyerick has that for us. Hey Deb.
FEYERICK: Hey there, Don. Thanks so much. Looking forward to that special.
Well, a shocking hepatitis C scare has thousands of people on edge. A medical technician is accused of deliberately infecting people with the virus. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is tracking the alleged serial infecter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Deb, several federal officials say that David Kwaikowski took powerful narcotics meant for patients and used them on himself and gave those patients syringes infected with hepatitis C. Authorities believe that he infected 30 people with hepatitis C at Exeter Hospital in New Hampshire in 2012. Now we've learned that in 2010, Kwaikowski surrendered his license in Arizona as a radiologic tech. Now that is when the licensing board there started investigating him after an incident at a hospital in Arizona. They interviewed an employee who worked with Kwaikowski and here's what that employee had to say.
"The employee told the licensing board, I looked in and found Dave lying on his back in the bathroom stall. I looked in the toilet and spotted a five cc syringe and a needle floating in the water. The label was a blue fentanyl label. He then said, "I'm going to jail." Fentanyl is s powerful narcotic often used in hospitals. Now while this Arizona board was investigating Kwaikowski, Kwaikowski voluntarily surrendered his license and he wrote a letter to the board saying, "I, David Kwaikowski is surrendering my Arizona license at will, because I don't have the resources nor money to fight the accusations and willing to wait to be eligible for reinstated in three years."
Now later that very same month, Kwaikowski went on to work in hospitals in Philadelphia, Kansas, Georgia, and then New Hampshire. An expert in so-called drug diversion says it's all to common that a health professional will be investigated in one state and then leave to go work in another state.
JOHN BURKE, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DRUG DIVERSION INVESTIGATION: It's a very big problem. It's a problem that's nothing new. It's been going on for some time. It's much worse than we probably know.
COHEN: We reached out to Kwaikowski's lawyer and he had no comment. Right now he's in jail in New Hampshire and on Tuesday, he waived his right to a federal detention hearing. Deb?
FEYERICK: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.
Well, a guy clings to the side of a mountain using only his fingers and feet, on purpose. You'll hear from a daring mountain climber who doesn't use a rope when he's thousands of feet in the air.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: A daring mountain climber doesn't use a rope when he's thousand of feet in the air. One false move, it could mean a horrific fall. Well, you may need to hold your breath - I know I did when you watch Alex Hamel scramble up the mountain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX HONNOLD, ROCK CLIMBER: I'm definitely not afraid of heights at all. But I'm just as afraid of dying as anybody else. You know what I mean? A lot of people say they're afraid of heights, but really they're afraid of falling off a cliff and dying. You know, so I mean, if I thought I was going to fall off the cliff, then yes, I'd feel fear like anybody else does.
Hi, my name is Alex Honnold. I'm a rock climber. I did a lot of hiking as a kid and stuff. And so hiking turns into scrambling and scrambling at some point turns into free soloing. Free solo is just climbing without a rope. You just need shoes and a chalkbag, food and water.
In general, when I'm soloing big walls, it's anything from a thousand to 3,000 feet. Honestly, anything beyond 50 feet is kind of all the same. It doesn't really matter if you do 2,000 or 20,000. It's like either way, you're done if you fall.
"Blood on the Wall" was a climbing film about me soloing to big roots. You just like have a cubic inch of your finger shoved into the crack and then both of your feet pasted on. I think soloing requires a certain amount of commitment, a certain amount of concentration and focus and just to make sure you don't make any mistakes.
Humans say it's inherently dangerous. It's only dangerous if you fall off. I mean driving is only dangerous if you crash, you know. I climb year round, but I just have to constantly follow good weather around the world. So if I'm on the road in the U.S., I stay in this van. You know, I just park wherever and sleep in the car. Home sweet home. Here's a brief tour. I mean there isn't a whole lot going on. There's a bed, there's a kitchen, there's, like, a stove and some propane, some water. A bunch of food. I've got all of my stuff under the bed. That's it. Yes. That's pretty much the whole thing.
For the most part, I'm just hanging out in the van. It sounds grim, but like when I get to places, I know people and i climb to them. There's always like a climbing community.
So this is a crash bed. This is just like a big mat that just sits under you when you're (INAUDIBLE). If you fall, you don't (INAUDIBLE).
Once you pass, like, 15, 20 feet, you kind of need a big pile of pads. And then once you pass a certain point like this, no matter how big the pile is. You see my arm is straight. I'm not pulling with my arms. I just set up my legs and all at once, I like rock up on that right leg.
I climb full time. This is what I do. There are rocks all over the world. It's beautiful. You can climb anywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: The question, how does he get down? Well, when we come back, we'll return to Don Lemon in Colorado for the latest on last week's shooting. We'll also profile a young babysitter who survived the horrific movie theater attack. It's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: At just 13 years old, she has now endured more than most of us ever will in our lifetime. Amid all the chaos inside movie theater nine, one babysitter even tried to do CPR on people she loved. CNN's Poppy Harlow introduces us to this young hero.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we just put into your hands, Lord.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prayers for 13-year-old Kaylan, a survivor.
KAYLAN, COLORADO SHOOTING SURVIVOR: He just kept firing. And then he would stop like he was reloading. And he kept firing at anyone he saw. I thought I was going to die.
HARLOW (on camera): You thought you were going to die?
KAYLAN: I've never had that feeling before in my life. And it's the scariest feeling. To think that you're going to die.
HARLOW (voice-over): Kaylan watched as three people with her at the "Batman" screening were shot, including a six-year-old girl she regularly babysat, Veronica Mozer-Sullivan.
KAYLAN: I felt like it was partly my job to protect her. And even if I wasn't her babysitter, I would still feel the same because she was just a child.
HARLOW: Lying on the theater floor, she called 9-1-1.
KAYLAN: I put my hand on Veronica's, like, rib cage to see if she was breathing. But she wasn't breathing so, I started freaking out. And then they told me to do CPR and I told them I couldn't because her mother was on top of her and couldn't move.
HARLOW: Veronica's mother, Ashley, was shot in the neck and abdomen. She lived. Veronica did not.
KAYLAN: She liked to draw and she liked to look at the - I had a bunny - well, I have a bunny in the room. And she always liked to look at the bunny.
HARLOW (on camera): OK. Take your time.
(voice-over): Her pastor calls her a girl with a servant's heart.
PASTOR MICHAEL WALKER: She's the type of kid that would come in a room and say what can I do to help? You know, how can I give of myself? I mean a young kid, that really can't be taught.
HEATHER, KAYLAN'S MOTHER: She actually was consoling me.
HARLOW (on camera): You were?
HEATHER: And she was telling me that it will be OK.
HARLOW: How has this changed your life?
KAYLAN: There are certain things i can't, like, hear or certain things I can't look at or certain things that I can't do or even wear.
HARLOW: Like what?
KAYLAN: Like the clothes that I wore that night. I don't want to put those on again. Popping sounds. Or, like, banging. If it sounds a certain way. And I can't really look at popcorn.
HARLOW: I know you want to say something to Ashley, the mother of Veronica, the little girl you tried to help.
KAYLAN: All I want right now is to go visit Ashley.
HARLOW (voice-over): Kaylan may not have been physically wounded, but she still bears the scars.
Poppy Harlow, CNN, Aurora, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Wow, amazing. Little Kaylan there. And, Deb, so many heroes in this horrific tragedy. So many heroes who we have spoken to and those who managed to live but will live with the scars, the physical and the mental scars here say they don't want to be referred to, Deb - they said they're not victims. They say they are survivors and what we are hearing - it's just over my shoulder - we're told that the suspect in all of this has access to television and to newspapers. We certainly hope he's watching. And if he is found guilty of this, the horrific thing that he is accused of doing, he can hear from the families now.
