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Police Investigate Temple Shooting; Curiosity Lands on Mars
Aired August 06, 2012 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. Hi, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Alina Cho in for Brooke Baldwin today. We have this just in. President Obama says the nation needs to bring together leaders of all kinds to consider ways to reduce violence.
Moments ago, he spoke about the Sikh temple in the Oval Office. Listen. Obviously, we're having some technical problems. We're going to get to the president in just a moment, but first to the investigation developing right now.
Police are searching for man who showed up at the scene of those Sikh temple shootings in Wisconsin Sunday. And here he is. Take a look. Federal agents released this picture today saying that they want to talk to this man, a person of interest, but did not call him a suspect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERESA CARLSON, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: ... have any reason to believe that there was anyone else associated with this shooting.
That said, we're going to continue to work. And if there is anybody, we will identify them. We -- I do want to note we have one person of interest and this photograph will be available to you all today. This person is not identified as of yet. And we would like to identify this person and talk to him. He is just a person of interest at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: But Police say it was this man, 40-year-old Wade Michael Page, who was the lone gunman who allegedly opened fire inside the Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee on Sunday.
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 in the studio. And, Drew, you found out so much about this person, Wade Michael Page.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: And finding out he was a fairly big deal in this white supremacist music industry.
Not just the Southern Poverty Law Center has been tracking him, but the Anti-Defamation League as well. But SPLC, Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups online, tries to keep track of all these disparate groups, says they have actually been following this man since the year 2000 when he appeared on the music scene.
He had his own band in 2005 called End Apathy. This is how the director of the SPLC describes what was going on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: This is an incredibly violent scene. The neo-Nazi music scene is really a subculture of very extreme violence. He existed in a world of skinhead concerts in which people are routinely beat up, sometimes killed, often merely for looking at someone's girlfriend the wrong way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: All right. Drew, my question is if the Southern Poverty Law Center was tracking him since 2000, at what point do they get so concerned that they notify authorities? Do you know if that ever happened?
GRIFFIN: You're free to hate in this country. You're free to do whatever you like as long as you harm no one else. Even though the lyrics are violent, it's anti-Jew, it's anti-minority, it's kill this, it's kill that, unless you act on it, you're really not committing a crime. You have free speech rights in this country.
The record label -- his label was Label 56. I hate to even say that because I don't want to give these people -- put out a notice just a short while ago saying they are very sorry to hear about the tragedy in Wisconsin. "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of those who are affected."
The label took down all images of End to Apathy. And then this is what they say at the end. "Please say do not take what Wade did as honorable and respectable and please do not think we're all like that."
If you happen to go on Label 56's Web site you will see neo-Nazi symbol, hate symbols. That's what these groups are all about. The music industry, the music part of the hate groups is where they recruit young kids.
CHO: That's so fascinating. I had no idea and had no idea that this even existed and was so popular. Sad to hear that. Drew Griffin, thank you very much, as always. We know you will be watching him.
We need to move on now. I need tell you about a bomb attack in Syria's capital city of Damascus. It hit state-run Syrian television. Nobody was injured. But again the Syrian rebels have shown that they can strike inside the capital.
Across Syria today, more than 100 people have died in fighting between government forces and rebels. That includes 30 deaths in Aleppo, Syria's largest city. As we told you before, CNN's Ben Wedeman has entered Syria where the war continues to rage today. Ben is in perhaps the most dangerous city in Syria right now, Aleppo, the biggest city in the country.
He joins us now by phone.
Ben, I know you have just arrived there. What is the situation there as you see it?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are in a part of the town that is controlled by the Free Syrian Army.
What We have seen is pretty steady bombardments throughout the day. We saw as two Syrian airport jets flew over the part of the city controlled by the Free Syrian Army and dropped two bombs on a heavy populated area. According to rebel commanders we spoke to, one woman was killed, several people were injured in that instance.
When we entered the city I would say about 10 hours ago, we entered through Salahuddin, an area where much of the fighting is taking place. We came under sniper fire and just moments later a taxi drove up with a man who was severely wounded by one of those Syrian government snipers in the area.
The bombardment is basically pretty steady. Every four or five minutes, you hear a large thud, fighter artillery or mortars or tanks firing into the parts of the city controlled by the Free Syrian Army. Other areas that are also under the rebel control, there's an odd scene of people going about their business., bakeries open, fruit sellers on streets, children riding their bikes around.
All the while you hear these constant thuds of artillery and mortars and other bombs coming in. It's a very tense situation. And of course there is a lot of worry that the Syrian government is preparing for an offensive within Aleppo itself to try to defeat the rebels. The rebels are telling us they don't have much in the way of weaponry and in the way of ammunition but they do say they have their faith on their side.
CHO: You had reported earlier that the rebels claimed to hold about 60 percent of Aleppo. And you also spoke to the fact that people are in some cases just going about their business. I'm so curious. So much has been made about the fighting, Ben. But what about the civilians? How are they making out?
WEDEMAN: Particularly in the areas controlled by the rebels, it's a very difficult existence.
When we were all off very close to the front lines, we saw sort of small groups of two, three people civilians coming in to recover whatever possession they could. We spoke to an old man who was carrying a black briefcase and a plastic bag filled with jam and sugar. He must have been in his 70s. He said that he couldn't take it any longer from the constant bombardment, shelling and shooting, and he was moving to another part of town to move in with his daughter in an area which he hopes will be safer. But there's no part of Aleppo that's controlled by the Free Syrian Army that's truly safe. We visited one area where there was relatively little damage but we came across a house that had been hit by a huge bomb that had been dropped we're told by a Soviet-made MiG of the Syrian air force. Two people were killed in that bombing.
It seems the shelling and the bombing is fairly random. The civilians are very much in the crossfire.
CHO: Ben Wedeman, dangerous and rare assignment inside Aleppo, Syria. Ben, stay safe, and thank very much for bringing us that report.
Meanwhile, NASA has a reason to rejoice today, a big one. A more than $2.5 billion rover makes an impressive landing. They called it seven minutes of terror. We're getting new pictures from Mars and the rover they call Curiosity.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: All right. This is worth another look for sure. This is the Jet Propulsion Lab we're about to show do you about a half-hour prior to midnight in Pasadena, California. If you would, watch and listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touchdown confirmed. We're safe on Mars.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Just another Monday. Right? These are engineers, scientists, technicians, and the like, one or two apparently wiping aware tears, maybe more.
And here is what the celebration is all about. This is a NASA animation portraying one of the biggest successes of the space age. This is not an understatement. It happened about 1:30 a.m. Eastern time. What we're looking here is the complex, high-speed dissent of a six-wheel laboratory on to the surface of Mars. It's called Curiosity.
As you can see, it made it.
Joining me now from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena is Doug McCuistion. He is heads of NASA's Mars Exploration Program.
Great to see you. Congratulations. Take me inside that room when the rover landed safely. What was it like to be there?
DOUG MCCUISTION, JET PROPULSION LAB: Well, good afternoon, Alina. Thanks for having me.
It was electric. That's all I can say. The energy level was fantastic, a combination of adrenaline flow and anxiety relief. This was a harrowing journey to the surface that we have been working on and planning on for nearly a decade. It was absolutely the most exciting thing I think I have actually ever been involved in.
CHO: It was like winning an Olympic gold medal as one of your colleagues said.
I want to bring in my friend and colleague Chad Myers, who is more of an expert on these types of things and will help along with the questioning.
What do you want to know from Doug there?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Doug, I was watching at home. I know it was supposed to be seven minutes, but it seemed to go very fast. Was it slow for you, like not even breathing? Was everybody really like they said in Houston turning blue?
MCCUISTION: No. It was -- Chad, it was exactly as you stated. There were so many things going on and they were coming so quickly that those seven minutes seemed to go by in only a couple of minutes. It was a whirlwind event.
MYERS: Earlier today, I predicted we would find life on Mars, without a doubt. I would be surprised if we didn't. In fact, I even said we'd find some bones. Now, that may be out there with Joe Namath.
But anyway what's the success to this whole Curiosity planet thing? What's the success to you?
MCCUISTION: Before you can say there is or was life, you have to know whether there was an environment that could support life. And that is what MSL is out to prove.
We have found the water. We have proven the water and that's a water planet, like the Earth is. It's just frozen and locked up in many areas. We see some potential liquids. But if we prove that that planet could have or could still support life, that's a home run for MSL and Curiosity.
CHO: Doug, it's Alina again. I just want to ask you, for people who haven't really been following this, this rover Curiosity weighs a ton. It's about the size of a Mini Cooper, with better fuel economy, I'm hearing, traveled 352 million miles since the launch in eight-and-a- half months.
They're saying that this moving laboratory is not a human, but it kind of acts like one, doesn't it?
MCCUISTION: It really does.
It's nice to anthropomorphize these kinds of things. We can relate to it. It goes through the same trials and tribulations we do, with what the weather is and what time of day it wakes up and goes to sleep and what its activities are going to be during the day. We can relate. We live behind it and frankly we vicariously live through it on Mars.
MYERS: Doug, one question. What is the threshold for you to say, yes, this planet could have, maybe one day did have life on it? MCCUISTION: Chad, I'm not sure it's just a single item, but probably the biggest one would be organics.
If we can find organic compounds, long-chain carbon compounds, that would really help us a lot. That would really take us a long way. We know there's water processes in this area in the past. We see clay in the hills. You couple that with organics, and I think we're going to hit a home run with that.
CHO: Doug, as they say in "Casablanca," of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, why should life occur only on planet Earth? Favorite quote of the day.
Doug, congratulations. What a big win and score for NASA. Just congratulations to everybody there in Pasadena. We're all rooting for you and we will all be watching Curiosity in the coming months. Thanks so much.
MCCUISTION: Well, thank you, Alina. For the team, I appreciate it, and for the country, I appreciate it. Thank you.
CHO: That's right. Well put.
Chad, thank you, as always.
Coming up, as speculation heats up over Mitt Romney's choice for a running mate, we may have just gotten a pretty big clue. Find out who is speaking at the Republican Convention or perhaps more importantly who is not.
Plus, a Democrat makes a claim about Romney's taxes and a Republican calls him a dirty liar. Well, today, that Republican says he's tripling down on his comments now and you're going to hear why coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Ohio All right. Welcome back.
The Republican National Convention is a little less than three weeks away and now we know some of the political stars who will be speaking at the event. It's a showcase of present and past governors. Plus, the lineup shows diversity in the party.
Here they are. Have a look there, the first woman and Indian American to be governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley. The first Hispanic woman to be governor in the United States, New Mexico's Susana Martinez. And the first African-American woman to be secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice.
There will also be Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, and Rick Scott, the governor of the key battleground state of Florida. No surprise here. Former GOP presidential nominee John McCain will also be at the podium.
Political watchers are also reading into who is not among the speakers. It could mean that Mitt Romney is considering that person as his vice presidential candidate. So, not on the list, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Ohio Senator Rob Portman, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan.
Today the focus seems to be on Romney's taxes, but the back and forth isn't coming from the candidates. Here is the deal. The highest ranking Democrat in the Senate claims on the Senate floor that Romney hasn't paid taxes for years. Suddenly, the gloves are off on both sides.
Chief political correspondent Candy Crowley is closely watching this war of words.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Let's just say Republicans came loaded for bear Sunday, answering before they were asked.
REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: As far as Harry Reid is concerned, listen, I know you might want to go down that road. I'm not going to respond to a dirty liar.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: You didn't ask me about Harry Reid. I have been around this town for a while. I actually like Harry, but what he did on the floor on the Senate is so out of bounds.
CROWLEY: That would be this.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: The word is out that he hasn't paid any taxes for 10 years.
CROWLEY: Actually, the word that is out that Harry Reid refers to was put out by Harry Reid, who says a reliable source told him Romney zeroed out his taxes for a decade.
GRAHAM: I think he's lying about his statement of knowing something about Romney.
CROWLEY: It's pretty jugular, even by 2012 hyper-partisan standards.
CROWLEY: That's pretty stiff.
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: You think the leader of the Senate is lying?
GRAHAM: Yes, I do. I really do. I think he has created an issue here. I think he's making things up.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: You just called him a dirty liar. You stand by that? You think Harry Reid is a dirty liar?
PRIEBUS: I just said it. CROWLEY: Reid's allegations that Mitt Romney paid no taxes for 10 years began a mano a mano battle.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Harry Reid really has to put up or shut up, all right? So, Harry, who are your sources?
CROWLEY: By Sunday, it was team sport, like synchronized swimming, with Republicans uniformly accusing Reid of being a liar and Democrats uniformly not caring.
QUESTION: Does the Obama campaign have any evidence that Reid's charge is true?
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR OBAMA CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST: I don't know who Harry was talking to. And the point here though, Chris, is the Romney campaign and Governor Romney can resolve this in 10 seconds. They can release the tax returns.
QUESTION: Do you have any proof that Mitt Romney paid no taxes in some years?
TED STRICKLAND (D), FORMER OHIO GOVERNOR: No. But Mr. Romney could give us the proof that he has paid taxes consistently.
CROWLEY: If the president or his Chicago reelection team wanted the senator to back off his unsubstantiated accusations, they'd ask, but they haven't and they won't. It's too big an opportunity.
(on camera): Is that something that Chicago has encouraged? Do you want him to stop?
ROBERT GIBBS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Let's be clear. I don't think anybody controls Harry Reid.
CROWLEY: But if you asked him to stop, he would?
GIBBS: You know, again, put the tax returns out.
CROWLEY: Republicans say voters are a lot more interested in their own tax returns than in Mitt Romney's. But Democrats are in no hurry for this conversation to end. Every minute they figure spent on this is a minute Republicans aren't on message.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Reince Priebus, by the way, is not backing down from the dirty liar reference. He told another network today that there's "no triple down in blackjack, but I will triple down on my comments."
As police look for a man that showed up on the scene after the deadly shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, I'm about to speak live with a documentary film maker who is a faithful Sikh herself. You're about to hear why she says 9/11 changed everything for this religion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. We have this just into our newsroom.
President Obama says the nation needs to bring together leaders of all kind to consider ways to reduce violence. He spoke about this Sikh temple shooting just moments ago at the White House.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First of all, we're still awaiting the outcome of a full investigation.
Yesterday, I had a chance to speak to both the governor and the mayor, as well as leaders of the Sikh community in Oak Creek. All of us are heartbroken by what's happened. And I offered the thoughts and prayers not only of myself and Michelle but also the country as a whole.
I think all of us recognize that these kinds of terrible, tragic events are happening with too much regularity for us not to do some soul-searching and to examine additional ways that we can reduce violence.
As I have already said, I think there are a lot of elements involved in it. And I want to do is to bring together law enforcement, community leaders, faith leaders, elected officials at every level to see how we can make continued progress.
We don't yet know fully what motivated this individual to carry out this terrible act. If it turns out, as some early reports indicate that it may have been motivated in some way by the ethnicity of those who were attending the temple, I think the American people immediately recoil against those kinds of attitudes.
And I think it will be very important for us to reaffirm once again that in this country, regardless of what we look like, where we come from, who we worship, we're all one people. And we look after one another and we respect one another.
But, as I said, the FBI is working with local officials. And they are still investigating what motivated this individual. And as we find out more, I suspect that not only the White House, but others in Congress and at the local level will have more to say.
Thank you very much, everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Those comments were made inside the Oval Office. The president at the time was signing a law honoring America's veterans.
As far as the investigation is concerned, new details released today in the shooting that left seven people said, including the gunman, and several people injured. Authorities say the man you're about to see here is the gunman, 40-year-old Wade Michael Page.
Authorities released this picture of him today. CNN also obtained some other pictures and neighbors tell us that they show Page performing in what's being described as a white supremacist band called End Apathy.
And perhaps one of the more surprising elements released today by investigators is this picture. While police believe that Wade Michael Page was the lone gunman, they are also looking for this man.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EDWARDS, CHIEF, OAK CREEK POLICE: He's an individual who shoed up at the scene after the shooting and was just on scene and someone mentioned him to another officer who was out there, saying this guy looks suspicious.
And, so, we're looking to question him. That's pretty much what this is. He left the scene before anyone could ascertain what he was doing there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Now, to a quote about what happened in Wisconsin. Take a look at your screen. "If we really want to unite in response to this national tragedy, we need to know whom we are embracing. For many this means learning about Sikh Americans for the first time."
Those are the words of my next guest, Valarie Kaur. She produced a documentary about the persecution of Sikhs in America after the 9/11 attacks and here is a clip from "Divided We Fall."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This guy came up to me. He said, you know, you're a cute terrorist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're the bad people. We're the committed that committed this horrendous act.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people say I'm from Afghanistan and I'm bin Laden's son.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can put a face to what hate really means.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I be as free or as open as I want to be?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're afraid to leave your own home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Injustice, intolerance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terrorist, go back to your country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hatred.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was scared. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This kind of paranoid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're guilty unless you're proven innocent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone in this country says turban equals terrorist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: That documentary was released in 2006, but obviously, the words relevant today.
Valarie, thank you for joining us from New York. I want to hear, first of all, about your reaction. What went through your mind when you first got word about the shooting?
VALARIE KAUR, FILMMAKER, "DIVIDED WE FALL": Let me just say that this is a deeply tragic time for Sikh Americans and for all Americans. For me, as someone who has documented the struggles of my community for more than a decade, I was struck with deep sadness, with deep grief.
But within minutes, I became heartened by this groundswell of love and support that flowed into my inbox. My phone was ringing off the hook. I mean, people from all corners of life were sending in their messages of support and love and it was incredibly, incredibly heartening.
You know, I want to say that the news is reverberating through every Sikh American household. When I saw the television screen, that is my gurdwara. Those are my aunts and uncles, my brothers and sisters, our children caught in the gunfire.
And, so, no matter what the motive ends up being, we still don't know. But right now, every expression of support, every candle lit, every prayer, every story, every message is being deeply felt not just by the Sikhs in Milwaukee, but across the country.
CHO: You started working on this documentary, as you mentioned, more than a decade ago, shortly after the 9/11 attacks and it was released in 2006. I'm curious to know. You know, it was such a huge project to undertake. What was it that inspired you to do this?
KAUR: I was a 20-year-old college kid when 9/11 happened. My grandfather had traveled by steamship to California, settled in the U.S. 100 years ago, so I felt deep roots as an American.
But I also had fallen in love with the tenets of my Sikh faith, this idea of the oneness of God, this commitment to equality between all people, between all men and women, this commitment to service that, in order to realize God, we must serve others.
And yet, in one instant on 9/11, my community, my community suddenly became automatically suspect, perpetually foreign and potentially terrorist in the eyes of our neighbors.
On September 15th, the first person killed in an anti-Muslim hate crime was Balbir Singh Sodhi, a man my family knew, so it was as if an uncle had been murdered.
And my response was simple. I had to do something. I left college. I grabbed my camera and I crisscrossed the country, capturing stories that weren't making the evening news.
That journey became "Divided We Fall" and I'm very sad to say that what's happening in Milwaukee seems as though it is just the latest chapter of an ongoing struggle of my community to be seen as fellow Americans.
CHO: You know, what has struck me in the hours since the shooting is hearing from so many Sikh Americans and talking about how they constantly lived in fear of this happening to them. This is sort of their fear realized. Is that something you can relate to?
KAUR: Yes. It's our worst nightmare realized. You know, in a culture of gun violence, in a time when the economy is poor and people are upset and during an election season where some people have learned how to profit from spewing anti-Muslim ideologies, this has created a climate where many of us were bracing, were fearing the rise of hate violence this year.
And, so, while we are devastated and saddened, unfortunately, I'm not terribly surprised. I am moved, deeply moved that the entire nation is looking to the Sikh community right now. I think this is an unprecedented opportunity for people to reach out to their neighbors in bold new ways, to stand up for one another and stand up for what it means to be American to one another.
And this is why we are collecting messages of love and support and solidarity. If you send your messages to Groundswell-Movement.com, I'll be talking them in person and delivering them to the families in Milwaukee in just a few days.
CHO: Well, I think that's incredible. Wow.
Valarie Kaur, we thank you for your thoughts as a Sikh American, as someone who has documented Sikh Americans and their struggles and all of their successes. We thank you for joining us at this terrible time.
KAUR: I so appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.
CHO: Thank you.
Up next, a new development in the case of a church that apparently refused to marry a couple because of race.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: A Mississippi church that refused to marry a couple because of their race is now apologizing. That church released a statement, saying, "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." Well, the groom, Charles Wilson, calls that apology an insult and an elaborate lie. He and his wife were ultimately married at another church nearby.
Well, have you ever dreamed up an idea for an invention that you think could make you lots of money, but you just didn't have the tools to create the product in real life?
Well, a new start-up is helping would-be inventors get their ideas out of their heads and onto store shelves. It's called Quirky and it's founder is 25-year-old Ben Kaufman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN KAUFMAN, FOUNDER AND CEO, QUIRKY.COM: So, I really enjoy the design and the creative process and, like, you know, pulling little levers there and tweaking little details from a design perspective.
But what really gets me excited is when I, literally, when I hand an inventor their product for the first time, a product that they conceived on a napkin and posted on the Internet.
And here I am, some random dude, handing it to them and it's a real live physical thing they're going to be able to buy at Target next week. That, to me, is the most special of the process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: And to find out more about how Quirky turns dreams into reality, tune into "The Next List." That's this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
An Oscar-nominated actress is targeted on Twitter. Ellen Page asks the LAPD to investigate death threats that were made against her on the social networking site, but what kind of information can they actually get.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: All right, it's that time again. "On the Case," targeted on Twitter. "Juno" actress Ellen Page receiving violent death threats online and now the Los Angeles police is investigating.
The 25-year old Oscar-nominated received two separate death threats via Twitter. Both, apparently, have since been removed. The LAPD tells CNN that the investigation is ongoing.
Criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Anne Bremner is "On the Case." She joins me from Seattle in my home state of Washington. Anne, great to see you.
I want to talk about this. Page has actually asked the LAPD to issue search warrants, so what kind of information can police actually glean from Twitter by doing that?
ANNE BREMNER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, everything about the person that's tweeting. And, so, you know, the old "I. Anonymous," you know, I say in the future no one will be anonymous.
You can't just tweet it out there, especially when it's a death threat, and hope that the police won't track you down and find you at the request of a celebrity or anybody else.
So, they can find out who was the person that put it out there, what their registration is, what their address is or any information they used to sign up for Twitter.
CHO: In terms of what might be important for the investigation, I guess, first and foremost, the tweets, right, would be most important?
BREMNER: Right. Well, right, and the thing is about - you know, as we see more and more with Facebook, Twitter, comments to newspaper articles or to CNN or anywhere else, people feel like when they're anonymous they can just say whatever they want and they have free speech.
But there's limits on free speech, as we know, and one of them is defamation. Another one is shouting, "Fire," in a crowded theater. And, of course, another one is a death threat.
And, so, these people will be found out and they will probably be prosecuted for these or maybe it's one person. We don't know if they have separate accounts out there or anything else.
They can be prosecuted for making these kind of death threats. I've had them in cases. I had one in the Amanda Knox case where somebody threatened me from their work e-mail, of all places.
So, of course, I can find them, but oftentimes it just takes a little more time and effort to find these people and the efforts of the police, like in Los Angeles.
CHO: But the message is, you will be found.
BREMNER: You will be found.
CHO: All right, I want to move on to the next case. Case number two here, a policeman tasered a 12-year-old girl. It happened at a Victoria's Secret store at a mall in Missouri.
Now, you should know that the police officer was apparently trying to arrest the girl's mother when he tasered her. Still, the girl and her mom are outraged. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEJAMON BAKER, SAYS COP TASERED HER IN STORE: I had fell on the floor and I was like I couldn't control myself. I just kept on shaking.
CHARLENE BRATTON, GIRL'S MOTHER: And he should have had enough control to tell her to get back instead of pulling out his gun. I guess he was nervous or whatever and tasing people.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHO: All right, Anne, a police spokesman says that he believes that the officer's action were justified. He was trying to arrest the mother.
Now, is there ever any justification for tasering a 12-year-old girl?
BREMNER: Well, it's a tough one. This is not pretty and she's 12 and it's Victoria's Secret, so you even wonder why it's done in a Victoria's Secret or anywhere else like that.
But there is, when you deal with police officers' use of force that it's actually below use of physical force, so a Taser just drops somebody.
I defend police officers in my law firm. We actually had all of our associates tased, everyone except for me, of course, because I was supervising. But people drop to the ground, so it's below physical force.
That's their justification, but I'll tell you, with a 12-year-old, it's tough. And with an internal review, that'll be tough, too.
And it's not pretty when you see it and, of course, when you feel it.
CHO: That's right. Especially for a 12-year-old girl. All right, Anne Bremner, great to see you, as you always. Thank you very much.
BREMNER: Great to see you, as always. Thank you.
OK, wildfires in Oklahoma are contained for now, but officials are warning of a high risk again today with triple-digit temperatures this hour.
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CHO: A lightning strike kills a NASCAR fan at the Pennsylvania 400. Pocono Raceway officials say nine others were hurt. 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.
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JOE LOVE, FIRE VICTIM: I stayed as long as I could, and I had to get out of there. When I left t 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.
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CHO: Utterly heartbreaking stories from people from Cleveland County, Oklahoma, as they get a closer look at the damage from a weekend filled with fire.
You are looking live there at the scene. Most of the huge wildfires, we should tell you, have been contained, but there are big problems today. Firefighters are worried about flare-ups and the direction of the wind.
The eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula is under a hurricane warning because of Tropical Storm Ernesto. Hurricane watches, also in effect for Belize. The storm is getting stronger and forecasters say it'll turn into a hurricane by tonight.
Well, Mitt Romney just had a big month when it comes to campaign cash. Look at this. The Republican raising more than $100 million in July. That's a lot more than the $75 million that President Obama raised. This marks the third straight month that Romney has outraised the president.
For weeks, people wondered about the health of Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. He just disappeared. Now, his wife is breaking her silence and she says he is suffering from depression and that it's debilitating.
But is there a link between the depression and his weight-loss surgery? That's next.
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CHO: All right, we're just a few minutes away from the top of the hour. That means my friend, Wolf in "The Situation Room." Wolf is here with a preview.
Hey, Wolf, welcome back.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Alina, thanks very much. We're basically following three important stories.
Obviously, the fallout from that mass shooting in Wisconsin at the Sikh temple. We're going to be speaking live in "The Situation Room" with the mayor of Oak Creek. Steven Scaffidi's going to be joining us to update on the latest, especially this report that they are looking for a, quote, "person of interest" who showed up at that Sikh temple. We're going to try to get the latest on what's going on on that front.
We're also going to be obviously covering the presidential race, the latest developments between the president and Mitt Romney. There are new developments happening on that. Our "Strategy Session" will focus-in on that.
And there are, of course, as you've been reporting, new developments in Syria right now with the prime minister defecting in Jordan, presumably on his way elsewhere. What does this mean for the president, Bashar al-Assad? What does it mean for U.S. policy?
All that and a lot more coming up, but those are the three main stories we're following today in "The Situation Room."
Alina?
CHO: As always, Wolf, I will be watching. Thanks so much.
His body was just worn out. That's what Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s wife tells the "Chicago Sun-Times." Her husband is still very depressed, but showing progress after two months of treatment for mental and gastrointestinal issue.
Sandi Jackson says that medical experts are now weighing whether her husband's weight loss surgery back in 2004 triggered the depression.
I sat down today with our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.
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CHO: So the wife of Jesse Jackson, Jr., has broken her silence, saying that she believes or there may be a link between her husband's depression and gastric-bypass surgery. Plausible?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We had the surgery in 2004 and we looked into this. There aren't a lot of studies about depression and gastric-bypass. There are about suicide and gastric bypass, which we haven't heard about suicide in the congressman.
But just to talk about these studies, these studies do show an unusually high rate of suicide among people who've had gastric-bypass surgery. It's not a huge number, but it's a higher than what you would expect.
CHO: What is it about the surgery?
COHEN: You know, it's not clear what the link is and there's a couple of possibilities. One is that maybe the surgery didn't go as well as you had thought. Maybe it gave you side effects that put you in pain and made you unhealthy. And being in pain or sick can make you depressed.
CHO: Interesting.
COHEN: It could be that the surgery didn't do what you thought it was going to do. You thought it was going to solve all your problems and it didn't. There are many, many reasons. And who knows if there is a link with the congressman and what the reasoning would be.
CHO: Now, the wife, Sandi Jackson, also mentioned lack of nutrients. What does that say to you?
COHEN: Right. She said they're looking into that. It does sometimes happen that when someone has gastric-bypass that they don't get all the nutrients they need.
And there is some thought that a lack of nutrients may possibly be linked to depression, so maybe that's what she was referring to.
CHO: And in terms of the prognosis and when he might be able to get back to work. Is there any way to know?
COHEN: You know, certainly, people with depression go back to work, I mean, all of the time.
But, it's also true that depression is often, usually a lifelong struggle. It's not something that you just get cured of. In most cases, it is something that you struggle with and work with forever.
CHO: And something that needs to be monitored, obviously.
Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: I'm Alina Cho. I'll see you again tomorrow. "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer starts right now. Wolf?
BLITZER: Alina, thanks very much.
