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Major Change in Loughner Case; Romney Has Moment for Silence for Shooting Victims Before Speech; Clues to Hoarder Behavior; More Details on Sikh Temple Shooter

Aired August 07, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much Carol.

Hello everyone. I am Kate Bolduan. It's 11:00 on the East Coast; that means it's 8:00 out West.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My heart goes out to those people. I'm as devastated for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The one-time stepmother of the Wisconsin Sikh temple gunman shares in the victims' grief. We are live in Oak Creek coming up.

And Curiosity gets settled in on Mars while pictures like these send NASA over the moon.

And if you absolutely positively don't want to wait at baggage claim, one airline will bring your bag to your home. Of course, though, that comes with a fee.

We begin in the brutalized community determined to heal. Forty- eight hours after Wade Michael Page shot up a Sikh temple just outside of Milwaukee, shock and fear are giving way to pain, prayer, and resolve.

For a third straight night, mourners and supporters plan to gather in honor of victims and survivors and the selfless acts of two men, in particular. The temple's leader and a police lieutenant who waved off paramedics after being shot nine times, if you can believe it.

CNN's David Mattingly is joining me now with more on those stories and much more on this case. So, David, the wounded officer, Lieutenant Brian Murphy, how is he doing now?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yesterday, he was listed in critical condition. Today, the hospital says there is no change in that.

He was shot eight to nine times. He was the first officer to arrive on the scene and actually ran to the aid of a person who had been shot there in the parking lot when he was ambushed by the killer and shot at very close range.

His boss, the police chief, says he was shot in the extremities, as well, and his most serious wound in his neck and that's what they've had the most trouble with. He has gone through a couple of surgeries. He was said to be resting peacefully, but at this point, he and the two others who were wounded at the shooting and are now in the hospital, all three remain in critical condition.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, and everyone's thinking -- having -- keeping them in their thoughts and prayers, but what more are we learning about the gunman, Wade Michael Page, and specifically, his history of hate?

MATTINGLY: What we're finding out is that he did not make his feelings about white supremacy a secret and this went on as a partner of behavior for decades, dating back to the days in the U.S. Army, one of his best friends there telling CNN that he would talk about a coming race war and he would talk about it with a great deal of conviction.

When they asked him and challenged him about where these beliefs were coming from, they said that he would sort of avoid the question.

After he left the Army, he was then being tracked by the Southern Poverty Law Center, their Hate Watch project because of his involvement with rock-and-roll bands with a white power theme behind them.

So, this behavior that he was going through was keeping him on the radar screen by this one organization, but his actions were not enough to call the attention of authorities to give them any sort of alarm as the years went by.

In fact, the FBI yesterday saying that his name might appear in some of the files and cases that they had been working on, but he was not under any sort of active investigation at the time the shooting happened.

BOLDUAN: Hadn't raised enough of a red flag, I guess.

And despite all that we're learning, authorities have not come forward yet with a motive, for what they think was the motive behind this massacre. Any timetable that you're hearing on when we could learn more on what they think was behind this shooting?

MATTINGLY: All they're saying, so far, is that they are approaching this as it could be possibly a case of domestic terrorism, which implies that the killer was motivated by his beliefs about white supremacy, but that is just something they are going on right now.

At this point, the last time they were speaking publicly, they said they did not have enough information to confidently say this is why this happened. And as so many cases like this, that is the most difficult question to answer.

BOLDUAN: David Mattingly, thank you so much in Oak Creek. We'll speak with you again, very, very soon.

Lieutenant Murphy isn't the only hero from Sunday's rampage. The temple's 65-year-old president, Satwant Kaleka, gave his life trying to protect his congregation. Kaleka's son spoke to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMARDEEP KALEKA, TEMPLE PRESIDENT'S SON: I have people that I used to work with that called me to tell me that what he did in that temple and a good lot of that day saved so many lives and saved so many people.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": You were told he tried to stop the gunman?

KALEKA: Yes, I was told by several FBI agents that the blood trails and the evidence that are inside, it's blood evidence that shows a battle had ensued and then a knife next to his body that has blood on it and blood trails leading from wherever that battle of blood was, one towards the kitchen, one towards the bedroom where my dad lay to rest.

That flag outside, my dad put that flag outside when we first bought a house, our first house. You know, we lived in little apartments. We were pretty poor and then this was our first house.

COOPER: And that's one of the first things he did?

KALEKA: One of the first things. We came home from high school and we were laughing. We were like, Dad, that's going to be an eyesore. You have an elementary school-sized flag in your front yard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Despite Kaleka's efforts, five of his fellow Sikhs also died, four men and a woman. The youngest was 39-years old, the eldest, 84.

A woman who was married to Wade Michael Page's father says the man who opened fire in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, on Sunday is not the man she used to know. Laurie Page spoke to our affiliate KUAS in Denver.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURIE PAGE, GUNMAN'S FORMER STEPMOTHER: I would not have known that was Wade. What has changed him, I have no idea and, obviously, we're never going to know.

He had Hispanic friends and he had black friends. You know, there was none of that.

I'm totally devastated. His father is devastated. We're pretty much in shock.

My heart goes out to those people. I'm as devastated for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So many people are devastated. Laurie Page says she lost touch with Wade more than a decade ago when she and his father divorced.

As we mentioned, shooting suspect Wade Michael Page spent several years in the Army. He received training in several areas, including psychological warfare. One soldier who served with Page says that, while they were in the Army, Page was involved with white supremacy.

Page left the army with less-than-honorable discharge in 1998. Chris Lawrence is joining me from the Pentagon with more on Page's military service.

So, Chris, first off, why didn't Page get an honorable discharge? What more are you learning here?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Kate, as we started digging through his service record, you find that there was a series of misconduct that led to him getting a general discharge.

We believe that one of the incidents, at least, or one of the last had something to do with alcohol. In fact, a person who served with him in the unit says, basically, that he got drunk and showed up to a formation and that led to him being demoted from sergeant, busted down to specialist, and eventually processed out under general discharge.

Now, that's not the same as a dishonorable discharge. In fact, general is more like the Army coming to you and saying, look, this isn't really working out for either one of us. It's not an honorable, but nothing as egregious happened that you would get a dishonorable discharge. It's sort of a middle ground.

BOLDUAN: That's really interesting. So, what more can you tell us about the actual training that Page had while in the army?

LAWRENCE: Yeah, he was a psychological operation specialist. You've got to be fairly smart to get into this discipline, got to have fairly high test scores.

In fact, one of the men who served with him said that was one of the things that really attracted him to Page. He thought he was a friendly guy, but he said he was a really smart guy, as well.

They are responsible for analyzing, disseminating propaganda, if you will, dropping leaflets on foreign populations to sway the people to surrender or to get a certain point of view across from the U.S. military.

It can also go much deeper than that. Although at Page's level and during that time in the mid-90s, we believe it was probably more along the line of dropping those leaflets than we are seeing more along the lines of post-9/11 and the war on terrorism.

BOLDUAN: And, Chris, are you getting anything more on the soldier who claims that Page was involved with the white supremacist movement while in the Army?

LAWRENCE: Yeah, this was a soldier that served with him at Ft. Bragg. He says, basically, that Page did talk about this a lot, that he talked about a racial holy war, a revolution that was coming, said some really nasty things about minorities.

But he said, also, one of the things that really jumped out at him was that he didn't seem like the type that was going to hurt people. He said, you know, I thought it was just talk. He didn't seem like he was actually going to do anything.

And quite honestly, I mean, if he was saying these things in the mid-'90s and this crime happens 14, 15 years later, hard to believe anyone could have really seen that coming.

BOLDUAN: An excellent point, absolutely. Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon. Chris, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: The stage is set for another exciting day at the Olympic games. Here is what you can look forward to in track and field. American Lolo Jones, looking for redemption after her stumble in Beijing in the women's 100-meter hurdles. She'll compete in the semifinals.

And two-time defending champs, Misty May-treanor and Kerri Walsh- Jennings, are just two wins away from winning their third-straight gold medal in women's beach volleyball. I'll acknowledge it's my favorite sport to watch. They'll face China in the semifinals.

And all eyes will also be on three U.S. gymnasts competing again today. This is the last chance for gold for Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas.

Zain Verjee is in London, taking it all in. So, what are America's favorite gymnasts doing today, Zain?

ZAIN VERJEE, , CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a little bit of bad news to share with you, Kate. I'm so sorry about this, but Gabby Douglas did not do very well on the beam at all just a short while ago.

She actually fell off, but she did better than she did the last time around in the previous event on the uneven bars when she came last. She came second last. She was at position number seven today, instead of eight.

But the good news is that Aly Raisman ended up getting the bronze on the beam, so that's a little bit of something positive here for the U.S. from London today.

Gabby actually said in a previous interview that she's just kind of been mentally tired after the women's all-around competition, just physically exhausted, but when she fell off, what she did tell reporters was that I just wanted to show that I was a fighter, that I could get back on the beam and finish my performance really well, which is what she did.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: And she also -- I believe Gabby Douglas said, yesterday, I believe -- I'm losing track of time -- when she fell off the bars that it showed that she's only human, which I guess we all can understand.

VERJEE: Right.

BOLDUAN: Also, I want to talk about soccer a little bit. It was a thrilling match for our U.S. women's soccer team. They beat Canada 4-to-3 in extra time yesterday. It was pretty amazing stuff, but now, there's some sort of controversy surrounding this. What are you hearing?

VERJEE: Well, basically, you know, they're calling it an epic match, an amazing game, but here's the problem. What the U.S. team is saying is that the Canadians, for example, they said the goalkeeper held the ball more than six seconds which is not allowed, so they broke the rules, which is why the referee ended up giving a free kick to the U.S.

What the Canadians are saying is that the referee made some really controversial calls and they were against the Canadians from the second the game began and they were just really upset about the officiating of the game.

But it doesn't matter now. The U.S. is through, in spite of all the anger from the Canadians, to the finals and they're going to be playing Japan and that's going to be on Thursday.

And Japan, by the way, beat them before, back in 2011 at the World Cup, so they have something to prove this time around.

BOLDUAN: An epic match ahead of them. Yeah, we've got to get this in, though, Zain. The U.S. women's 400-meter hurdler, Lashinda Demus, have some pretty amazing cheerleaders. Please tell our viewers about this.

VERJEE: They are the most adorable cheerleaders, I can confirm to you, that I've seen, you know, from a mother-and-son's perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I think we are having some technical difficulties there. So, thank you, Zain, so much.

We are also today, in men's cycling, a little more Olympic news for you, Great Britain's Chris Hoy aims to become Britain's top gold- medal winner of all time. We'll all be watching. More on Olympics every day for you. Also, NASA's rover, Curiosity, has been on Mars less than 36 hours and already we're seeing the first pictures in color from the red planet.

But before you bash the quality of these photos, you'll understand why Curiosity's pictures look a little bit dusty when you see video of this, fascinating video of Curiosity's landing.

These are still pictures that we're hopefully showing you, taken from Curiosity's camera mounted at the bottom of the rover. It captured the two-and-a-half minutes of the, quote/unquote, "seven minutes of terror."

John Zarrella has been following all of this. He's on the phone from Pasadena, California, near the NASA lab where Curiosity is being controlled. So, John, 297 color images sent back. What do they show?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, you know, what we are seeing, of course, on the video that we have out there now, is that descent camera imager which is made by Malin Space Industries down in San Diego. And they've done a lot of work with these color pictures.

And you're seeing the actual -- it's like those old Apollo landing images. I understand there's a lot more of those to come, that they'll be able to piece together even better descent landing.

Then some of the pictures that you're seeing from ground level were taken with that "hazcam," as they call it, and you actually see Mt. Sharp in the distance. And Mt. Sharp is one of the places that they want to go and they want to look at, Kate, because that is where all of that sedimentary rock has built up over eons.

And they believe that they can get back in time, look far enough back in time at Mt. Sharp to get a better idea of what Mars was like billions of years ago when it was more earth-like, when it was wetter, when perhaps life had a chance to take hold.

Now, you know, we expect in a little bit now, we may get some more images released from NASA and, of course, you know, we will bring all those as soon as we can.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: And that was the other question I was going to ask you, John. Is there any kind of schedule of what other images that NASA is going to be able to give us, what kind of video we're going to be seeing?

ZARRELLA (via telephone): Sure. Well, here's how it works. Because of the time difference, you know, 14 minutes each way to send signals back and forth to Mars, what they're going to do is every day they send a suite of commands up to the rover to tell it what to do. Take this picture, take that picture, go here, go there.

Now, they're not going to be doing any moving very quickly. They're going to wait a while until they check out all of the systems.

But and then every day, at the end of the day, the rover sends down a whole bunch of data in one big data-dump. So, then they process all of that and we'll get new images.

So, every day we should be getting -- and that image there, of course, was Mt. Sharp in the distance and the image there taken by the Mars reconnaissance orbiter showing Curiosity at the end of the parachute coming down.

So, I would suspect very shortly in that latest data dump that they got from the surface of Mars that there are going to be some more absolutely spectacular images in better resolution, which is what we're looking for, higher resolution images.

And again, Mt. Sharp in the distance, that's where they want to go. That's where they believe they will be able to find evidence of what Mars was really like back when it was more earth-like.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: Pretty amazing stuff. Great report. John Zarrella, thank you so much. Talk to you soon.

So, Curiosity is supposed to last for two years on Mars, but it could keeping going longer after its predicted expiration date. We'll be watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: A full-scale battle for Syria's largest city and commercial hub could be just days away.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Syria and reports daily heavy shelling and bomb by Syrian government artillery and fighter jets. As you can see in these pictures, some parts of the city already are nothing but rubble. While many civilians have fled, many more remain, including women and children.

Ben is joining me now on the phone from Aleppo. Ben, these images are absolutely startling. We just got word that the U.N. is pulling out its monitors from Aleppo because of the deteriorating security situation there. What are you seeing on the ground today?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we have seen today is a series of air raids by the Syrian air force on areas around the old citadel, the old city and whatnot.

We saw helicopters strafing rebel-held areas and the same steady bombardment that we've seen since yesterday. Overnight, we got very little sleep because of the artillery bombardment that really went on all night and became intense at about 3:00 in the morning.

Now, this afternoon, after one of those Syrian air force air raids, we were outside a field hospital where we saw at least half a dozen wounded being driven up and, as well as, several dead bodies in the back of pickup trucks.

The field hospital was really completely overwhelmed. We'd spoken to the doctor before the wounded arrived. He said that they're short not only of medicine and medical supplies, but he's also short of staff because many of the nurses and doctors he was working with are unable to get to the parts of Aleppo that are held by the rebels.

In fact, he came out of surgery with his rubber gloves full of blood and he was pleading with people on his cell phone to come and help him because he simply could not deal with the level of injured who were arriving at the hospital.

Now, we've seen parts of town where there was severe destruction. These are heavily populated areas under normal times. The areas that are near the frontline have, obviously, been sort of -- people have left.

But there are still hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of civilians living in these rebel-held areas. This morning, we were -- at about 6:30 in the morning, we were outside a bakery where a hundred people were lined up to get what little bread is available.

One man told me that his entire family sleeps in the stairwell of their apartment because of fear of the bombing. He said that they have very little in the way of supplies. One other woman told me they've run out of cooking gas and that she's cooking on firewood she picked up from public parks

Kate?

BOLDUAN: Wow. Just astonishing. You've been doing amazing work there, Ben. Please stay safe and we'll check back in with you very, very soon.

A very deteriorating security situation in Aleppo and throughout Syria and we'll follow those developments, as we do every day.

I want to take you live to a very, very different event here back in the States. Governor Mitt Romney, speaking now in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, just west of Chicago.

This is a campaign stop and they just held a moment of silence a moment ago for the victims of the Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin.

Let's take a quick listen to what he has to say.

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... or stagnation and, of course, an economy on the verge of economic crisis, given the massive debt we have.

The president's solution for all of these problems is to do more of the same. He wants another stimulus. The last one didn't work. The next one won't either.

President Obama is simply out of ideas, he's out of excuses and Illinois needs to help me make sure that in November we put him out of office.

Now, I've got a very different record. When I was governor of my state, we brought unemployment down to 4.7 percent, not the 8.3 percent you're seeing today. I was also able to see rising incomes and wages in my state. We also balanced the budget every year.

And rather than leave the state with a financial crisis at the door, we were able to build a rainy day fund of over $2 billion. I also have a plan to help middle-income families in America get the middle class growing and thriving again. We need to have America the best place in the world to be middle class and I know how to do that.

There are five things -- there are five things I will do to get the middle class seeing good jobs, rising wages again, and to tame our budget deficit. Let me tell you what they are.

Number one, we will take advantage of America's energy resources, our coal, our gas, our oil, our renewables, nuclear. In part because of the technology right here at ACME, we're able to take advantage of natural gas in new, plentiful amounts at low prices, bringing that natural gas into manufacturing is going to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States just as it's doing here at ACME.

These are companies from all over the world that have operations in the United States manufacturing products and ACME provides those products to them for ultimate assembly. They're bringing manufacturing back to America, in part, because of energy. I will take advantage of energy to bring jobs back.

Number two, I want to make sure our people have the skills to succeed. You're seeing those skills being developed as a relationship between ACME and Harper College. I want to see more effective training programs in this country. I believe we can do that to get our workers the skills they need to succeed.

I want our schools, instead of performing at the bottom-third, to perform among the very best in the nation. We have to put our kids first and sometimes put the teachers union behind, make sure our teachers and our kids come first.

You see, for me, the skills to succeed ...

BOLDUAN: There is Governor Mitt Romney speaking there in Elk Grove Village, Illinois on President Obama's home turf, speaking there about the economy, an issue that both candidates have been hitting on over and over again, as they well should. It's an important issue in this November election.

I want to bring in our Jim Acosta to speak a little bit more about this. We're going to actually speak with Jim Acosta right after a break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: A major change in the case against Jared Loughner is about to play out inside a Tucson federal court. He is accused of trying to assassinate former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, is expected to plead guilty, but that is if a judge believes he is competent to stand trial. He is charged with killing six people and wounding 13 others for a meet and greet with dynamic Giffords in January of 2011. Since his arrest, Loughner, who suffers from schizophrenia, has received treatment for his illness.

One widow who lost her husband in the shooting said this about Loughner, possibly admitting guilt and perhaps avoiding a death sentence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAVY STODDARD, HUSBAND KILLED IN TUCSON: I think life in prison would be a lot worse. And also because I think he might have a chance -- his mind that maybe, under sedation to the point that he's whole, he might learn about the lord, and that is important to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Kyung Lah standing by in Tucson, Arizona, outside of the federal courthouse where Loughner will be appearing in a couple of hours.

Hey, there, Kyung.

Before Loughner can change his plea, Loughner's competency is key here. Tell us more about that.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're right about that, Kate. It's a two-step process. So the first part of this court appearance will be a competency hearing and in that hearing that the judge is going to determine whether or not Jared Lee Loughner understands the nature of the proceedings, will be able to assist his lawyers should this proceed to a trial. So that's the first part. The competency.

Now this is entirely separate from the nature of the crime itself, whether he was competent during the actual incident. This is simply to determine whether or not he is competent to stand trial. Once a judge rules on that, we are expecting the next part of the hearing.

Something we are looking for today is what Jared Lee Loughner looks like. Remember, throughout this entire time, this year plus, we have seen him appear in court with a shaved head, grinning as the charges were announced. In other appearances, having a loud outburst and ready to be tackled by the guards. We are looking to see what kind of mental and physical state that Jared Loughner is in today -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: If Loughner is found mentally competent and he enters a guilty plea, what is next here?

LAH: What is next is the actual plea change. Now, according to the court filings it certainly looks like that will be the exact opposite of what he is currently pled. He has pled not guilty at this point. The full expectations he will be changing his plea to guilty. BOLDUAN: In addition to the widow we heard from before, any reaction from victims' families will this decision of possibly changing his guilty plea?

LAH: We have heard from a number family members. We got a statement from Mark Kelly, the husband of Representative Gabrielle Giffords. He said while he and his wife don't speak for all of the victims, quote, "Gabby and I are satisfied with this plea agreement. The pain and loss caused by the events of January 8, 2011, are incalculable. Avoiding a trial will allow us -- and we hope the whole Southern Arizona community -- to continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives" -- Kate?

BOLDUAN: I am sure many of the victims would share that exact same sentiment.

Kyung Lah in Tucson. Thank you very much.

While Giffords focuses on her recovery, you may remember that Ron Barber, her aide, who was also wounded in the shooting, was elected to replace Giffords in Congress back in June.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Just a little earlier we were listening to Governor Romney speaking at a campaign event in Illinois.

The event is still going on, but our Jim Acosta is also there. I want to bring Jim in.

Nice to see you, Jim.

Even before the event started -- and we're seeing governor Romney right there. Even before the event started, the governor Romney held a moment of silence for the Wisconsin temple shooting victims, is that true?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kate. As Mitt Romney was opening his remarks here outside of Chicago, in Illinois, the former governor did ask for a moment of silence to remember the victims of that shooting tragedy up in Wisconsin. And then he moved right into his speech.

He went after the president pretty hard the last several minutes on the economy and on the latest message the day for the Romney campaign which is this accusation that the Obama administration has loosened work requirements in welfare reform that was passed under President Clinton. The White House said that's not true. The campaigns have been going back and forth on this issue over the last 24 hours with some tough ads, some tough responses coming from the Obama campaign.

But, Kate, I have to tell you, it's interesting that we are in Illinois. And some people have been asking the question, why would the Romney campaign even bother coming to Illinois? I talked to a senior Romney strategist, Kevin Madden, about that. They said they are not going to waste an opportunity delivering what they call their message the day that is on this issue of welfare reform. He also worked in a few digs in on the economy. And here is a bit of what he had to say just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president's solution for all of these problems? Is to do more of the same. He wants another stimulus. The last one didn't work. The next one won't either. Mr. President Obama is simply out of ideas, he is out of excuses, and Illinois needs to help me make sure that in November, we put him out of office.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All right now, one thing that Mitt Romney did not talk about this event is this new line of attack from President Obama himself. That was delivered last night when the president was at an event up in Connecticut when he referred to the GOP contender as Romney-Hood. Sort of a reverse Robin Hood, the president said, taking from the poor and giving to the rich. I talked to Kevin Madden about that. He said that we shouldn't expect a response from Mitt Romney to that line of attack. But Madden said this is just typical of what has been coming out of the Obama campaign. He said they are long on jokes, long on one-liners but short on ideas that are working for the country. Now after this, Kate, Mitt Romney moves on to a fund-raiser here in the Chicago area, part of the reason why he is here in this state. Then off to Iowa, a key battleground state heading into the fall campaign -- Kate?

BOLDUAN: And then very shortly kicking off a bus tour into some very key states and ending next week in Ohio. Much, much more to see as this campaign kicks into full gear, if it wasn't there already.

Jim Acosta, thank you very much.

We will be back after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Have you ever wondered why some people find it impossible to get rid of newspapers or junk mail or anything that seems useless? They are called hoarders. There's a reality show about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I let everything else go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just gradual, over the years, accumulated so much stuff that it's gotten to a point where you could stand it any more! (END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Wow. You may wonder how can hoarders live like this? New research gives us a bit of a clue.

Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is live in Atlanta.

Elizabeth, scientists say hoarders seem to be maybe wired a little differently from you and me. What is the research showing?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting. They are trying to get into the brain of a hoarder to figure out why they do what they do. They don't want to live like that. What they did is took junk mail. The researcher in Pennsylvania took his own junk mail to hoarders and asked him the hoarders, put the hoarders in an MRI machine and asked them to go through the junk mail. The hoarders didn't have problem. They could easily make decisions what was being saved. However, when the hoarders went through their own junk mail, it was completely different. Two areas of the brain lit up that have to do with making decisions about things, prioritizing things. There was this kind of battle in their brain, is this important, isn't this important? Should I keep it, shouldn't I keep it? It seems to me perhaps an ailment of this disease is an inability to make a decision and decide what is important.

BOLDUAN: That's really fascinating. Many hoarders, if you've watched some of these shows, they get very upset if someone tries to come in and help them. Does the research, do the brain scans and explain that element of it, that emotion?

COHEN: They do. Imagine if you're trying to make what you consider to be a really important decision and you're having a hard time with it and someone off to the side is saying, Kate, maybe you should throw that away, maybe that's not important, your instinct might be, wait a minute, I'm concentrating and trying to figure this out, you know? This is an important decision. You may not welcome that intrusion. And, hopefully, what is going to happen here by learning this, doctors will be better able to help these folks.

BOLDUAN: People have thought of hoarding as a type of obsessive compulsive disorder.

COHEN: The research is saying maybe there's an element that's not OCD, not obsessively keeping things. It's keeping things because you can't make a decision about what to keep and not to keep. It's a decision-making problem and not an obsession.

BOLDUAN: That's fascinating.

COHEN: It is.

BOLDUAN: Fascinating research.

Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. Thank you very much. COHEN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you.

For more on this story, go to CNNhealth.com.

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BOLDUAN: We're learning more details about the gunman who opened fire at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin. 40-year-old Wade Michael Page, while his motive for targeting Sikhs is unclear, Page's past is telling us, tattoos, it seems which include a 9/11 tattoo and Celtic cross, adopted by white supremacist groups. After being discharged from the Army, Page was a member of several white power rock bands. A civil rights group said it had been tracking Page for a while on its radar as a known neo-Nazi skinhead.

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MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: Page was associated in addition to this band with a group called Hammer Skin Nation. He may, in fact, have been a patched member. Hammer Skins are the scariest, most violent skinhead group out there. So Page was in the middle of a scene that really was very violent, hyper political. And he was not on the fringes of this scene. He was really in the thick of it.

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BOLDUAN: Wade Page's ties to white supremacists raises a lot of questions about their underground world. It's a world all too familiar, though, for our next guest.

Frank Meeink is the author of the book "Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead." Frank is joining me over the phone from Des Moines, Iowa.

Frank, thank you so much for joining me.

First, I want to ask you about this case that we're looking at. This tragedy in Wisconsin. There's still no clear motive or no confirmed motive in this tragedy. Do you think from what you know, would you be surprised Wade Page was specifically targeting Sikhs?

FRANK MEEINK, AUTHOR (voice-over): No, I wouldn't say he was specifically targeting them, but he was targeting anyone whose color was not of his own and this was good enough for him. It could have been, as they say in the movement, any mud race of people. I don't know if he knew exactly what that religion entailed because it's a pretty compassionate and loving religion. So, but, you know, some people have gone on to say it might have been a thing for Muslims but I think to him it was just anyone that wasn't white is good enough.

BOLDUAN: And we've heard, we're hearing now a lot about these white power bands and kind of being used as a recruitment tool. Wade Page was in several of these bands. What more should we know, or what more is there to know about these bands and their role in the white supremacist movement?

MEEINK: They're a huge part now. A lot of the bigger movements and organizations have been kind of shut down in the recent years. Law enforcement are just in-fighting amongst the groups. But the music continues to recruit because the music keeps the movement young. It keeps the younger kids more into the words and the literature of what we're talking about. So the more they hear the up and coming rock bands or the heavy metal bands that are into this stuff, it really helps in keeping the movement, young, not sitting on front porch, sitting on the front porch with the shotguns burning the crosses. This continues to get more and more kids involved, so.

BOLDUAN: I know you, of course, can't get into the mind of this one man and what he was thinking at the time, but is this kind of extreme violence a part of the culture?

MEEINK: It is. It is talked about. It is dreamed about. It is preached about the violence like this, the start of the race war. This movement is full of fearful people. And their reaction -- and anyone can say, in the white supremacist movement, that we're not that way. Listen to all the music. Really listen to the literature and it all talks about standing up for the white race, fighting -- you know, fighting against the Jews. It's all about violence, especially the music. His lyrics just came to life on live television.

BOLDUAN: I know, I mentioned it off the top, you're the author of a book called "Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead." So on a very personal note, I'm sure many of our viewers, especially as they're seeing all these headlines today would want to know how hard was it for you to get out of this world? Out of this movement? What was it that was the tipping point for you that brought about a change of heart?

MEEINK: You know, for me to get out, I had lost all my friends. I lost every companion, comrade that I ever had up until the time that it was time for me to get out. What changed me, and some people might think it sounds very -- but it was compassion. People were showing me compassion and love, a Jewish antique dealer who hired me even though I had a big swastika on my neck, friends that I made who started to prove things wrong to me. And for me to continue to believe in them hateful beliefs, I was just pounding my head against a wall in the end, because I knew they were wrong. I knew I was just stereotyping people. I got into the movement because I was fearful. I was a fearful young male. And when I started to not fear so much the next person, I started using the compassion that was left in me to make friends with people, to understand other people. My world was just completely opened up. If I don't wake up this morning and think about, you know, is my race more superior, is my religion more superior, should I own guns? And if I wake up this morning and I think, how can I be more compassionate to another human being that I come into contact with, my life is better.

BOLDUAN: Frank Meeink, thank you so much for your insights.

MEEINK: Thank you. BOLDUAN: So according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are more than 1,000 hate groups in the United States. That's nearly double the number from 12 years ago. The SPLC says hate groups have been on the rise since President Barack Obama took office.

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BOLDUAN: And finally today, Oscar-winning composer, Marvin Hamlisch, died after a brief illness. He composed the scores for dozens of movies, including "The Way We Were," and he won a Tony for "A Chorus Line," one my absolute favorite musicals. Marvin Hamlisch was 68 years old.