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Temple Shooting Timeline; Person Of Interest Sought; New Pictures of Shooting Suspect; Mission To Mars; Sikhs Call For Peace; Syrian Prime Minister Defects; 30 Deaths In Fighting In Aleppo
Aired August 06, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: John, thank you very much.
And I'm Alina Cho in for Brooke Baldwin today.
Developing right now, police are looking for a person of interest in connection with a deadly shooting in a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. This as we learn more about the gunmen. First, want to get you up to speed now. Today police revealed details of the shooting in suburban Milwaukee. We know the gunman is 40-year-old Wade Michael Page, an Army veteran. His victims, five men and one woman ranging in age from 39 to 84 who died at the scene. The gunman killed by police fire. And a police officer shot eight to nine times at close range. Despite his wounds, just listen to what he did while bleeding to help save others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF JOHN EDWARDS, OAK CREEK POLICE: And as they approached him, he waved them off. He had been shot nine times. One of them very serious in the neck area. And he waved them off and told them to go into the temple to assist those in there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: And perhaps one of more surprising elements release today by investigators, that person of interest. While police believe Wade Michael Page was the only shooter, they are looking for this man. They did not say what his involvement might be.
And take a look at this. Neighbors tell CNN that these are pictures of Page performing in what's being described as far right band called End Apathy. We have all new details on him coming up in just a moment. But first, CNN's Deborah Feyerick has details on how it all went down minute by minute.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The reading of the Sikh holy book was nearly over when the shooting started.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE), I thought I heard shots. Can you confirm that?
FEYERICK: People inside the temple ran to hide.
AMARDEEP KALEKA, FAMILY MEMBER OF VICTIM: So she just kept saying, "they are out there. They are out there. They are out there."
FEYERICK: Calls poured into 911.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): I need an ambulance. I do not see a shooter anywhere. And I am on the -- just come in behind me.
KANGWARDEEP SINGH KALEKA, NEPHEW OF VICTIM: The gunman basically came into the parking lot shooting. Shot people who were standing out in front. Entered the temple and opened fire.
FEYERICK: Community members say the temple president was shot trying to tackle the gunman. A priest and six worshipers among the six dead. Witnesses say the gunman went to the kitchen and may have turned up the gas before exiting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): The gunman or the people that are doing this ran into the kitchen and tried to blow it up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Man with a gun in the parking lot. A white t-shirt.
FEYERICK: One of the first police officers to arrive was ambushed while helping a victim.
JOHN EDWARDS, POLICE CHIEF: A 20-year veteran was ambushed, shot multiple times.
The officer was shot eight to nine times at very close range with a handgun.
FEYERICK: The shooter then taking aim at another officer who returned fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down. The subject's down. The (INAUDIBLE) down. I (INAUDIBLE) --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). We have one officer shot.
EDWARDS: Our officer did engage that individual and that individual is deceased.
FEYERICK: SWAT teams and tactical units from around the Oak Creek area converged, carefully searching the temple building, not knowing whether more shooters were inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please pray for the people inside. You know, there are small kids there that have done nothing wrong (ph).
FEYERICK: Police recovered a single handgun belonging to the lone suspect. The wounded were taken to a local trauma center. Relatives and friends, many who had been on their way to pray, waited for word. Authorities searched the gunmen's home, not far from the temple, looking for evidence, looking for a motive, leaving a community wondering why.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHO: That was Deb Feyerick reporting there.
We want to go live to the scene right now. Our David Mattingly is in Wisconsin.
So, David, this is so interesting. Tell us about this person of interest. What do we know, if anything, about him?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this could be nothing. But it is unusual and authorities want to get to the bottom of it. They're circulating a photograph of this man. He showed up at the scene shortly after the shooting occurred. He obviously does not go to the temple. And they want to know who he is and why he was there. They didn't get a chance to talk to him, to interview him -- the police didn't -- before he left the scene. So this is why they're putting this picture out. They want information about him. They want to know why he was there at the time. But at the same time, they're trying to be very reassuring to this community that there was one gunman and one gunmen alone that carried off these killings.
CHO: Basically -- obviously the investigation is ongoing, David, and we're still looking for that motive. Having said that, this is an active crime scene today. What is going on there today and what kind of clues do you think investigators are finding?
MATTINGLY: Well, they're not being specific at all about what they're coming up with. But we do know that they don't have enough to come out and publicly state with a great deal of confidence the motive behind this. Why this killer did this terrible crime.
We do know that they've searched the temple completely. They also have done a very thorough search of the man's apartment about five miles away from here. It was a very tense situation the other -- last night when they were out there. They evacuated some of the neighbors for a brief period of time. They told people in the neighborhood to stay in their homes. They were able to get into that apartment without incident. They brought out some boxes of materials. They would not say so far what is in those boxes.
CHO: All right, David Mattingly on top of it all for us from Wisconsin. David, thank you very much.
We are also learning much more about the gunman. A picture of 40-year- old Wade Michael Page just released to us this afternoon by the Oak Creek Police Department. There you see him. And take a look at this. Neighbors tell CNN that these are pictures of Page performing in what's being described as a far right band called "End Apathy." Our Drew Griffin is here now with more on Page.
Nobody better than you to dig into this man. So what are you finding out, Drew?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean not just far right. This is a white supremacist neo-Nazi band. And he was deeply involved in the neo-Nazi music industry. Yes there is such a thing out there. In fact, the Southern Poverty Law Center says they've actually been tracking this guy since about 2000 when he appeared on the stand. We talked with Mark Potok, the director of the SPLC. Here's what he had to say about the suspect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: This man has been in the thick of the white supremacist music scene in this country for a good dozen years now. We've been tracking him for over 10 years. He has played in some of the most infamous white supremacist rock and roll bands in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: I also talked with an author of a book who looked into the white supremacy music scene. Why it's important is because that's how they recruit. That's how these hate groups and neo-Nazi groups recruit. They play rock and roll music. Really strange lyrics. And they try to get people in. this is what one expert told us. Given his level of participation, he was deep inside this hate music scene.
CHO: And what do we know about his music?
GRIFFIN: You know, the name of his band is "End Apathy." He played with these various groups, with all these Nazi symbols and hate lyrics. In 2010, he actually gave an interview to a record label and this is what he said. "The topics," he's speaking about his lyrics, "vary from sociological issues, religion, and how the value of human life has been degraded by being submissive to tyranny and hypocrisy that we are subjugated to."
CHO: Strong words.
GRIFFIN: Look, they hate Jews. They hate minorities. They call for a violent end to both of those groups. He does have a minor criminal record in his past, drunk driving, criminal mischief. But as far as we can tell, no violence.
CHO: No violence. Interesting. And I know you'll continue to look into his past. Thank you very much, Drew Griffin.
We should also stress that investigators have not states a motive for the shooting just yet in Oak Creek. What is certain is that, followers of the Sikh religion are all too familiar with hate crimes against them. Since the September 11th attacks, there have been more than 700 assaults against Sikh's. That is according to the Sikh Coalition, which believes that many more cases go unreported. Worldwide, there are about 25 million members of the faith. Seven hundred thousand of them live in the United States. And that makes Sikhism the fifth most popular religion in the world. And yet so many Americans know so little about it. At the half hour, we are going to speak with Eric Marrapodi. He is the editor of CNN's very popular "Belief Blog." And he's going to explain to us the faith and why Sikhs are often mistaken for Muslims and thus the victims of hate crimes. And stay with us throughout the next two hours. We will bring you the very latest on what's going on in Wisconsin and the newest, latest details on the gunman.
But first, we have a lot more to cover in the next two hours.
NASA has a reason to rejoice. A $2.5 billion rover makes an impressive landing on Mars. You see how happy they are. We're getting new pictures of the one ton moving laboratory called Curiosity, and we will bring those to you.
Plus, another high level defection from Syria. The prime minister leaves his country and the regime of Bashar al Assad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back.
Well, talk about a chipper Monday. How's this for the start to the work week? Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Touchdown confirmed. We're safe on Mars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: They're just happy to be done with the weekend, aren't they? No, that's not the case. These are engineers, scientists, technicians and the like at NASA's jet propulsion lab in Pasadena, California. One or two apparently wiping away tears as well. And here is what the celebration is all about. This is NASA animation portraying one of the biggest successes of the space age. It happened around 1:30 a.m. Eastern Time. And what we're looking at here is the complex, high speed dissent of a six-wheeled, moving laboratory on to the surface of Mars. Yes, it did make it. That's why everybody was so happy at NASA. And take a listen if you would to White House science advisor John Holdren.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN HOLDREN, WHITE HOUSE SCIENCE ADVISER: And if anybody has been harboring doubts about the status of U.S. leadership in space, well, there's a one ton automobile sized piece of American ingenuity and it's sitting on the surface of Mars right now and it should certainly put any such doubts to rest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: All right. The so-called Curiosity rover is at work as we speak. It is already sending back pictures from a location on Mars known as the Gale Crater. Here with me now to talk more about this is James Wray. He's with the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was also part of the huge team of scientists who worked on this. And we want to talk about the mission on Mars in just a moment. But first I want to talk about this incredible landing. Seven minutes of terror, as it's called. One NASA scientist described it as winning an Olympic gold medal. I mean we could see how happy everybody was. Tell us about what we -- what happened at 1:30 in the morning today.
JAMES WRAY, GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: Well, seven minutes of terror. You would think it would be the longest seven minutes of a scientist's life. For me actually it went by very quickly. We'd watched simulations of this happening. The heat shield burning up. The parachute deploying. The sky crane dropping the rover down to its safe landing on the surface many times. And to actually see it go by, it went very quickly for me. But, fortunately, the ending was positive.
CHO: Well, listen, I mean this was 11 years in the making, right? I mean it was almost textbook. And from what I understand, it literally landed between a rock and a hard place, didn't it?
WRAY: That's right. That's right. That's right. Yes, it landed in a crater, but a crater that has a mountain inside of it and so it landed just at the bottom of the mountain but also at the bottom of the crater wall. It's the lowest point in the crater essentially is where we (ph) --
CHO: Let's talk about the rover itself. It's about the size of a Mini Cooper.
WRAY: That's right.
CHO: It weighs about a ton. And it actually -- it's being described as not a human but it has eyes, ears, mouths, plural, arms and feet. What is it able to do and what will it do over the next martain year, 687 days?
WRAY: It's everything you could hope for if you were a geologist being able to walk on Mars. It's actually more than that. It's everything you could hope for as a geologist in the field but also if you were able to take back samples to your laboratory. So the thing that distinguishes Curiosity from prior rovers is that it can ingest samples and analyze their chemistry and tell us whether there is organic matter in the rocks, which could be a sign of past life or there are other ways to produce organics, but it could -- that's one of the primary things that we're looking for as evidence of whether life ever existed on Mars.
CHO: Well, and that's -- I mean, listen, beyond little green men, I read this quote. It was great. It's from "Casablanca." "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, why should life occur only on plan Earth?" I mean how hopeful are you that some sort of life form might be discovered this time on Mars?
WRAY: So Curiously is not specifically looking for evidence of life. It is looking for evidence of a -- an environment on the ancient Mars that life could have inhabited.
CHO: That could be conclusive?
WRAY: Exactly. Exactly.
CHO: Right.
WRAY: So, if we don't find evidence for life itself, that doesn't mean the mission was not successful. That doesn't mean NASA doesn't have a gold medal, as you said. But it's possible if we -- you know, with the cameras, looking for fossils with the -- with the capability to detect organic matter, we will say a lot more with this mission about whether Mars could have had life than we've ever said before.
CHO: And when might we -- I mean it will be there for 687 years -- days, I'm sorry, which is a martian year.
WRAY: Exactly.
CHO: Explain what -- how is that a martain year, 687 days? How is that determined?
WRAY: So the definition of a year is just how long it takes your planet to orbit the sun.
CHO: That's right.
WRAY: It takes Earth 365 days. It takes Mars 687 days.
CHO: That was my suspicion, but --
WRAY: Yes, exactly. So --
CHO: (INAUDIBLE) confirm it.
WRAY: So that's how much time we think we have. We hope that we might have more time than that. The Spirit and Opportunity rovers obviously were supposed to have three months on Mars. We have one of them still going today. So --
CHO: Wow. Wow.
Well, James Wray, thank you so much for your insight and --
WRAY: Sure.
CHO: Giving us a look at Curiosity. We'll be watching it as it roves around Mars. Thank you so much.
WRAY: Thank you.
CHO: Wildfires in Oklahoma are contained for now, but officials warn of a high risk again today with triple digit temperatures in the forecast.
Plus, a new development in the case of a church which apparently refused to marry a couple because of race.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I stayed as long as I could and I had to get out of there. When I left, the fire was right at my back door. I don't even know what to think right now. I'm just numb to the whole deal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Got all the way up to our barn, then it jumped over to the other neighbor on the west. And it dang near took out my whole barn and hay field. Everything. Our retirement. Everything we own is here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Heartbreaking stories as people from Cleveland County, Oklahoma, get a closer look at the damage from a weekend filled with fire. Most of the huge wildfires have been contained. The biggest problems today, flare-ups and the direction of the wind.
A Mississippi church that refused to marry a couple because of their race is now apologizing. The church released a statement saying, quote, "this wrong decision resulted in hurt and sadness for everyone. Both the pastor and those involved in the wedding location being changed have expressed their regrets and sorrow for their actions." Charles Wilson calls the apology an insult and an elaborate lie. He and his wife were ultimately married at a church nearby.
Investigators are looking into the death of the son of Philadelphia Eagles Coach Andy Reid. Someone found the body of Garrett Reid inside his room yesterday at Eagles' training camp at Lehigh University. Team officials say Garrett, who was 29 years old, grew up with the team.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've watched Andy, you know, try so hard with his family over the years. You know he just -- excuse me. He cared so much about his family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Authorities said there were no signs of foul play. Our affiliate KYW reports that Garrett spent some time in a drug rehab program while serving time for causing a car crash while under the influence of heroin.
A lightning strike kills a Nascar fan at the Philadelphia 400 -- Pennsylvania, rather. Pocono raceway officials say nine others were injured. Fans were warned to take cover on Sunday as a powerful band of thunderstorms approached. Heavy rain forced Nascar to stop the race on the 98th lap.
A police officer caught on camera doing what? Allegedly stealing not once but twice from Goodwill of all places. Investigators say back in May the officer was seen loading up his police cruiser with donated stuff outside the store in DeLand, Florida. Officer Bryce Miller was to be terminated from the force but he retired before that punishment was handed down. Goodwill says it will not press charges. The eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula is under a hurricane warning because of Tropical Storm Ernesto. A hurricane watch is in effect for Belize as well. The storm is getting stronger and forecasters say it will turn into a hurricane by tonight. More than a thousand people on Nicaragua's coast are being told to evacuate the area as the storm approaches that country's border with Honduras. Crew ships in the area, at least six of them, are now changing course to avoid a brush with Ernesto.
As police look for a, quote, "person of interest" in the deadly shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, you're about to hear more about this religion and why it may have been targeted. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: New details released today in the Sikh temple shooting that left seven people dead, including the gunman, and several others injured. Authorities say this is the gunman, the man you see there, 40-year-old Wade Michael Page. They released this picture of him today.
CNN also obtained these pictures that you're about to see. Neighbors tell us that they show Page performing in what's being described as a far right, white supremacist band called "End Apathy." And perhaps one of more surprising elements released today by investigators is this picture right here. Someone that authorities are calling a person of interest. While police believe that Wade Michael Page was the lone shooter, they are looking for this man.
Despite the violence against their own, Sikhs around the nation are calling for peace. We want to turn now to CNN's Dan Simon. He is live at the largest Sikh temple in the nation. That's in San Jose, California.
Dan, good to see you.
What has the reaction been from there?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously, people here are shocked and horrified by what happened in Wisconsin. In fact, there is a member here who has a relative who was shot at the temple in Wisconsin. He's expected to survive.
But we've spent a couple of hours here talking to members, getting a feel for how they're going to deal with what happened there. And basically they're going to be talking to local governments, talking to school districts. They want to try to educate people about Sikhism. You know there's a lot of confusion out there. They believe that people, you know, mistake Muslims for being Sikhs. And aside from the fact that men in both faiths wear turbans, the religions really couldn't be any more different.
So that's what they want to focus on. They did put out a statement today and I want to read it to you what says in part. It says the Sikh religion teaches people respect for all faith. Sikh gurus gave their lives to uphold the right of people of other religions to practice their faith. That is what really what Sikhism is all about. It's probably the most tolerant of all the religions out there, Alina. So they want to get the word out about what Sikhism is and try to draw this distinction between Sikhs and Muslims -- Alina.
CHO: Which is an important message I think to get out there in the days and weeks after the shooting. Dan, but having said that, as you well know, there has been tighter security around Sikh temples in New York City and other cities, is that the case out there and also are there any special services planned at that temple?
SIMON: They're going to be holding some kind of candle light vigil in the coming days. They haven't quite firmed up a time, but in terms of security, there's no security here. They believe that sort of counter intuitive to what this temple is all about.
This has been here since 1985. As you mentioned, it is the largest Sikh temple in the United States. In fact, it's the largest in all of North America both in terms of the number of worshippers and just the sheer size of this facility.
Here in the Bay Area, they believe that this is a very sort of inclusive community. So they haven't had many incidents here over the years. So they don't feel like extra security is warranted -- Alina.
CHO: All right, Dan Simon in San Jose, California for us and what a beautiful structure behind you. Dan, thank you very much.
Twenty five million people around the world follow the Sikh faith. That includes 700,000 right here in the United States and yet for many of us, this is the first time or maybe the first time we've even heard of Sikhs.
CNN's Eric Marrapodi joins me now to tell us more about the fifth most popular religion in the world. Eric is the co-editor of CNN's very popular belief blog.
Eric, what is it that we should know about the Sikh faith and how it differs from the Muslim faith?
ERIC MARRAPODI, CO-EDITOR, CNN BELIEF BLOG: Sure, Alina. Here in the United States there are about 700,000 adherents to the Sikh faith community leaders tell us.
It begins in India about 500 years ago and the faith is a distinct monotheistic faith. It comes out of a time period in India where Hinduism and Islam are very popular.
And in the Sikh scriptures, we see some references to Hinduism and to Islam as well. What's important for people to know is there are three key tenants to Sikhism that I think are important.
One is to meditate on God. Another is to live honestly and work hard and the third is to serve the community. That's something we saw in particular in Oak Creek where the shootings were. We know the women were in the kitchen preparing for the community meal, which is so important for Sikh members to share in that communal meal with all their neighbors and all their friends. It's a meal that's open to everyone.
CHO: Eric, one of the five articles of faith from what I'm reading here includes Kesh, which is long, uncut hair that most men and even some women will wrap in a turban.
But wearing that turban as so many Sikhs do is part of the reason, you say, that they've been often targeted for hate crimes, isn't it?
MARRAPODI: Yes, absolutely. Both men and women who are strict adherent to the faith, keep that hair long. In the United States, the men in particular wrap their hair in colorful turbans.
As a result, that makes them a target. Here in the United States, Muslim men typically don't wear turbans. In Arab countries in the Middle East that's something you see a lot more prominently.
When we saw the terrorist attacks of 9/11, a lot of the al Qaeda leaders who claimed (inaudible) with Islam, which we know they were bastardizing that faith, they also wore turbans.
And so in the 10 years since 9/11, when people who were out looking to commit a hate crime against Muslims, they often targeted Sikhs somewhat accidentally because they thought they were Muslim because they were wearing a turban.
Experts who have studied these hate crimes tell me any time we see a rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric, it's the Sikhs who often face the brunt of the hate and the hate crimes.
Just last year in Michigan, there was a Gurdwara that was vandalized with graffiti. That was referencing Islam. So it's great example of how we see this playing out here somatically here in the United States in particular.
CHO: I think it's important to note as well Eric that first person that was murdered after 9/11 on September 5th, 2001 was a Sikh man. He was a gas station owner in Mesa, Arizona and the man who killed him is serving a life sentence. Eric Marrapodi, we thank you for joining us.
MARRAPODI: Any time.
CHO: Across the world in Syria, more than 17,000 people are reported dead since the violence began last year, 17,000 people. Today, one of the people closest to Bashar Al-Assad has turned against the dictator.
We are going to take you live inside Jordan where Syria's prime minister has apparently defected.
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CHO: It's 39 minutes after the hour. In the midst of a growing civil war, the prime minister of Syria has fled the country and condemned the Assad government as a terrorist regime.
The question is, where did he go? Hold that thought for just a moment because we believe we have the answer. First, I need to tell you about a bomb attack in Syria's capital city, Damascus.
It hits state Syrian television, nobody was hurt, but again, the Syrian rebels have shown that they can strike inside the capitol.
Across Syria today, more than 100 people have died in fighting between government forces and rebels. That includes 30 deaths in Aleppo alone, Syria's largest city.
CNN's Ben Wedeman has just arrived in Aleppo and filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNAITONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): We saw very much a part of the town where there is massive destruction. We came under some sniper fire. We're entering the area.
We met some nervous fighters with the Free Syrian Army who are trying to tell civilians to stay away from major roads, which are very easily shot at by the government. Snipers in those areas, basically every four or five minutes we heard loud explosion.
There is basically very steady bombardment throughout the day and as we drove into this, we went through an area that's controlled by the government. It's normal amount of traffic.
People on the streets, stores open, but the rebels are telling us that they control as much as 60 percent of the city, but clearly they're severely out gunned.
CHO: And now that's our Ben Wedeman inside Syria.
Back now to the mystery surrounding Syria's prime minister. By all accounts now, he is Syria's former prime minister. As we said a bit earlier, he has released statement announcing his defection and a host of reports put him in neighboring Jordan.
That's where we find CNN's Barbara Starr. She is in the Jordanian capital of Amman right now. Barbara, what are you hearing about that? Is the former prime minister in Amman as far as you know?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, I have to tell you, Alina, that it's been confusing all day here in Amman about the exact whereabouts of Rajad Hajid, the -- shall we say as you say, former prime minister of Syria.
He has defected. He has left the regime. But where he has wound up and where he is at this hour remains something that is somewhat confusing. The opposition forces had made statements earlier today that he was coming to Jordan or in Jordan.
The Jordanian government a few hours ago issuing a former statement saying he's not in Jordan, at least not yet. He may be on his way to a Persian Gulf country like Qatar.
Whatever is going on this is a very important defection, by all accounts the highest ranking Sunni member of Assad's cabinet, the former agriculture minister.
He'd only have the job as prime minister for two months. So it's entirely possible he had been planning to get out all the way along -- Alina.
CHO: All right, Barbara Starr live inside Amman, Jordan. Barbara, thank you very much.
Well, he is a gold medal winner and a police officer, but one Kenyan athlete is accused of stabbing a woman. We will have details from our Olympic desk in London next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. An Olympic gold medallist is under investigation accused of trying to stab a woman while on a date. He is Ezekiel Kemboi. He took gold on Sunday.
He was arrested and charged in Kenya just a week before he came to London for the Olympics. A deputy police spokesman says Kemboi who is a policeman himself.
Claims he is the victim of attempted extortion and that police have not given him a fair hearing. Charges have been withdrawn pending further investigation.
CNN International's Becky Anderson joins me now from London. Becky, good to see you. You spoke with Michael Phelps a short time ago. Lucky you, what --
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I did. It's amazing, Alina. We're into the second week of the Olympics here. I'm just watching Sanya Richards-Ross going through the semi finals of the 200 after winning the 100 meters.
You know, it is again a tumultuous day here. The athletic stadium absolutely alive, but if there's one stand out story across this Olympics and this 10 days of events to date, it has to be Michael Phelps, 18 gold medals, 22 Olympics medals.
Four of those are gold medals here. The big question on everybody's lips off four Olympics in 2000, is he going to go on in competitive sport? Everybody said he wouldn't. So I thought I'd ask him again. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL PHELPS, MOST DECORATED OLYMPIAN OF ALL TIME: I'm done. That was my last race and this is my last Olympics. I'm ready for the next chapter in my life.
ANDERSON: When your great friend tweets I'm betting Michael Phelps isn't done with swimming and cared to wager and you fired back, I would love to.
PHELPS: Whatever she wants to bet.
ANDERSON: How would you assess your performance here at London 2012?
PHELPS: I've finished my career how I wanted to. Now looking back I can say I've done everything I wanted to. So I don't think that's too bad to look back on your career and be able to say that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: How could you argue with that? A quite phenomenal man, gracious and charming, big lad, knows his stuff. That was a real, real pleasure. You know and I know there are times in this job when you really feel privileged and blessed to shake the hand of greatness and quite frankly that's how I felt earlier on today.
Let me just bring you up to date on what we're going to see the 400 mens. And amazingly for the United States, you actually don't have anybody up for the medals at all for that.
I think seven gold medals at the Olympics since 1920. This time it's the Trinidad and Tobago runner (inaudible) Gordon who posted the fastest time in the semis. No Americans in the blocks for tonight. Take a night off and get back in front of the tele tomorrow.
CHO: Well, Gabby Douglas is trying to win gold in the uneven bars too. That should be happening shortly.
ANDERSON: Yes, that's right.
CHO: Just a quick note, Becky, about Michael Phelps, which I find so extraordinary and you were so lucky to have been able to sit down with him. I found this so interesting, 18 gold medals, 22 total.
It says here that according to the "New York Times" that if he were a country, he would be number 36 just ahead of Argentina. Just to put all of that into perspective, really so incredible, most decorated.
ANDERSON: That is amazing. This guy knows his stuff. He's absolutely strategic. I asked him, you know, why he'd gone on so long. He said I want to be perfect and I want to finish it out the way I started my career, which is almost perfect, you know, remarkable stuff.
CHO: Unbelievable. He had a slow start, but boy, did he finish strong. Becky Anderson, great to see you as always. Tough assignment, but somebody's got to do it.
All right, see you later. What started out as a reward for Southwest Airlines customers goes haywire. Just wait until you hear how it all turns out.
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CHO: All right, Southwest Airlines attempts to thank its Facebook followers by charging them half price fares. Well, it's backfired after a number of customers were accidental billed multiple times for a single flight. In some cases as many as 30 times. Kind of defeats the purpose there, right.
Alison Kosik joins me now from the New York Stock Exchange. So Alison, how did this unravel?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: How did this unravel, well, I'll tell you what, this was a big fat headache of a computer glitch. That really was the problem, Alina.
Southwest calls it web site performance issues. So what happened here was the airline was offering these promotional fares in this Facebook celebration, offering 50 percent off.
The problem is some customers were charged on the same reservations over and over again. But Southeast is trying to make this right. It's giving refunds for any duplicate bookings.
So if original reservation was canceled, Southwest is going to honor the original fare. If you used a debit card and were charged overdraft fees because so many tickets were wrongly booked, Southwest says, it will take care of those fees as well.
But you'll have to do a little leg work, in fact, Southwest a copy of your bank statement so a bit of a headache there -- Alina.
CHO: All right, talk about a PR nightmare. Meanwhile, what is driving stocks today? What does it look like on Wall Street?
KOSIK: Right now looking at some nice gains for the Dow. The Dow is up 77 points. The Nasdaq is better by 31. You know what? Today is about a year in the making when the U.S.' credit rating was downgraded.
You know what? You'd never know it happened especially if you look at stocks and the bond market. Because the impact in the bond market it never materialized. We expected investors to sell treasuries because the U.S. was deemed less credit worthy and may have had a harder time paying back its depth.
But instead the opposite has happened, look what's happened to ten- year treasuries. They are at record lows. That pushed mortgage rates to record lows as well. One trader puts it this way.
That investors realized as bad as the economy here in the U.S. is, the U.S is still the prettiest girl at the party if you compare us to Europe and its financial situation. If you want to read more about this downgrade anniversary, you can go to cnnmoney.com -- Alina.
CHO: Who doesn't want to be the prettiest girl at the party? All right, great to see you as always, Alison.
Coming up, Wisconsin police are looking for a quote, "person of interest" after the mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. This as President Obama speaks out for the very first time about the incident. And we are turning around that sound from the president.
Plus this --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you don't stand up for a child that is being bullied, who will be there to stand up for you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Actress and activist, Marlo Thomas talks very bluntly about the need for parents and children to stop bullying now.
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CHO: Teach your kids to be more than a bystander. That's the focus of an anti-bullying campaign unveiled today in Washington. Organizers are urging to teach their kids to speak up if they witness school bullying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're such a dork. Let me help you with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every day kids witness bullying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look, your crush is looking at you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to help, but don't know how. Teach your kids how to be more than a bystander.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Actress and advocate, Marlo Thomas talked about why getting parents involved makes all the difference.
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MARLO THOMAS, ACTRESS AND ACTIVIST: My first lesson on bullying, I learned from my father. I'll never forget. We were driving in the car. I was eight years old and there was a little boy beating up on another little boy.
My father stopped the car and jumped out of car. I was terrified. I remember looking through the back window at what my father was doing. He was shaking them and talking to them.
He pulled them apart and pulled the little boy that was being bullied into our car and we took him home. After he took him home my father was very upset and he said I hate a bully. It really, I remember it to this day. I can remember what I was wearing and what street it was. It was such an enormous effect and had an enormous effect on me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Television, print and web ads will start running this fall.
