Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Gunman Targeted Former Co-Worker; Tropical Storm Isaac; Eleven Shot Outside Empire State Building; Tropical Storm Isaac; Storm May Hit GOP Convention; Storm May Hit GOP Convention; NYPD Says Gunman Targeted Former Co-Worker; Lance Armstrong Faces Losing 7 Tour de France Titles; Tropical Storm Isaac to Hit Haiti; Doctors Seek Mystery Illness Clues

Aired August 24, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Suzanne Malveaux. This hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, a man laid off from his job starts shooting outside the Empire State Building. In the end, 11 people are shot, two are dead, including the gunman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a terrible tragedy and there is no doubt that the situation would have been even more tragic, but for some extraordinary acts of heroism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's get straight to it. Tourists were lined up outside the door of the Empire State Building. Workers were headed to their offices on a Friday morning during rush hour, and then the sound of gunfire. When the chaos was over and the shooting stopped, two people, including the gunman were dead, nine others were wounded but are expected to be OK. And police say it all started over the loss of a job a year ago. Maggie Lake joins us live now from the scene. So, Maggie, what more are we learning about the gunman, the planning that went into this, his actions overall?

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, as you mentioned, 56 years old identified as Jeffrey Johnson. A middle-aged man, nothing out of the ordinary from witnesses who witnessed -- described what happened. He evidently worked at Hasan Industries, that was on West 33rd where the shooting took place. It's a lady's accessory firm. He was a designer there, until he was laid off about a year ago due to downsizing.

Now, the police say the victim who was shot, the other person who is dead in this, was a former colleague, 41 years old, whom they believe Johnson had some sort of dispute with. He then -- an eyewitness just told us that we just spoke to said, he had a suit on and after the shooting, he turned and started to walk calmly up the block, sort of concealing his weapon But there were people on the street, as you can imagine, 9:03 on a Friday, it was teeming with office workers on their way to their buildings with tourists.

So, people did see what happened. One bystander evidently tried to get a hold of him, another identified to police what was going on, pointed him out, police approached him. The commissioner and the mayor said he turned and fired on them, at which point police fired back and that is how the other nine people ended up injured. Not clear where those bullets came from, whether they were from the shooter or from the police. That is something police are investigating now. The entire area is still blocked off, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. And so, most of those injured, we understand none are suffering from the life-threatening injuries. But I also understand that two officers may have been treated at a hospital?

LAKE: That is what we understand as well. Police not giving out too many details just yet. But again, speaking to the witnesses, they say that some of the -- a few of the people who were injured say that it was very chaotic. You know, this is a noisy, busy time in the city. A lot of people didn't realize that they were gunshots at first. You wouldn't expect something like that on a Friday morning. Some of the people who were shot may not even have realized it, meaning a lot of them were grazed by bullets.

So, one woman was walking with her leg bleeding and sort of stumbled onto other people, others fell to the ground. Again, not life-threatening. Some officers are said to be wounded, we don't have details on that. But it was chaotic. One thing that everyone says though is that the police response was immediate. This is an area that has high security, the Empire State Building, of course, an iconic building, tourists lineup starting at 8:00 in the morning to get inside the building to get their tickets for the day. So, there is a huge police presence here, Fredricka, and they seemed to have responded immediately to the incident.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and it looks like even though there are a number of streets around you, Maggie, have been closed off, an awful lot of pedestrians have come out and continue to kind of watch the area as investigators continue to try and piece through and collect more physical evidence for advancing their investigation. All right, thanks so much. Maggie Lake there in midtown Manhattan.

So, some witnesses couldn't believe what was happening at first. Anika Basu was on a bus headed to work when she heard the gunshots. I talked with her on the phone last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANIKA BASU, SHOOTING WITNESS (via telephone): We heard a bunch of rounds go off. I'm not sure as the stories are unfolding if it was also police fire. We saw a bunch of gunshots -- heard a bunch of gunshots go off, and then people fall to the ground. I did not see the gun -- the gunman, himself. And it was -- I was just explained to others that it was just absolute mass chaos, and then the street just went completely still and quiet for about a hot second. And then people started fleeing to the scene. WHITFIELD: So, what's happening on the bus there? You and others, did you all, once you heard the gunfire, kind of hit the deck? What was taking place? Was there conversation? Did it fall silent, what?

BASU: It was silence. You know, in Manhattan things like this, they -- it's the scariest thing. It really like rocks to your core, especially when the things are happening, you know, first thing in the morning and you're on your way to work, especially outside of the Empire State Building. You just, it just brings you back to -- down to reality after all of these things that happened in Manhattan. But we --people on the bus, it was silence. I don't think -- a lot of us didn't know whether it was really was a gunshot or not. And then, we saw the witnesses -- or the victims rather, on the ground, and we knew exactly what happened. I was on the other side of the bus, but had full view of it and I was at like a low -- at a low range, so I felt safe. But it's absolutely scary to see it happening right in front of your eyes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Eyewitness Anika Basu. Rebecca Fox was an all -- was also an eye witness. She works across the street from the Empire State Building, and she says she didn't hear the gun fire, but she did see the chaos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REBECCA FOX, SHOOTING EYEWITNESS: I was basically getting my coffee at Guy and Gallard walking down the street towards Fifth Avenue on 34th Street. And I saw people running. And I didn't know what happened, I thought, actually, that there was a celebrity sighting but pretty far from it. And I continued to walk down. I did not actually hear any gunshots, because I had headphones in. But I -- somebody had said that there was a shooting, and there was several shots fired.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And --

FOX: So, I walked across the street, and this is before they blocked off the crime scene, and I saw a woman had been shot on the corner next to the Heartland Brewery in the foot, and she seemed in shock, of course, you know, that she had just been shot. Then, I looked over -- I looked in the middle of the street right across -- right at the Empire State Building in front of the doors where you enter, and there is a man lying on the ground and there was police all around him like they had shot him down. And a lot of this I heard just from the aftermath that this man had been in pursuit of another man running down the street, and he had shot the other man next to the Starbucks on 33rd Street toward Sixth Avenue, shot him in the head, and someone had shown me a picture of him and it was just very gruesome.

COSTELLO: Oh, you mean -- you mean they tape --

FOX: They had been taping it and that was across the street at the Empire State Building. I saw the police flip him over and then turn and I saw his head move up like he was still alive, but people tell me that he's dead. And that's basically what I saw. You know, people are just -- it's just a crazy scene. You know, it wasn't that long ago that 911 happened, so I really had no idea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was eyewitness Rebecca Fox talking to our Carol Costello earlier today.

So, the area around the Empire State Building has a large security presence and police were on the scene within minutes. Joining me now on the phone to talk about the investigation is Gil Alba, a former New York City police detective and founder of Alba Investigations. All right, so, you know, Gill, kind of walk us through here. You know, eyewitnesses see this gunman open fire and kill one man and then walk casually off before a very vigilant construction worker followed that gunman, and then when he saw counter terrorism investigators who were working the area, let them know, and then they pursued this suspect and then gun fire ensued.

So, give me an idea now, you know, once that gunfire ensued and that suspect was killed, give me an idea of where the investigation goes from here, because investigators from police to FBI continue to collect evidence. What is the critical question or two that they are trying to answer by way of collecting more evidence?

GIL ALBA, FORMER POLICE DETECTIVE: Well, the immediate answer is how many gunmen, how many people are shot, and where were they shot? That's why they caromed off the area blocks away and because -- and checked the buildings out, because he maybe shot somebody else in the building. To me, what this gunman tells me that he was after his boss and trying to kill him and then trying to get away with it, because he was dressed in a suit and had a shay case and he was hiding the gun, so he is actually walking and trying to get away.

So, I don't think this is a random shooting where he wanted the shoot other people. Then he was confronted, of course, by the police when this construction worker told them. So, the police are stationary right there all the time because this is a landmark building and, of course, you know, 911 and homeland security and everything else is looking at the building at all times. Plus, there's hundreds of cops there, all around that area. I mean that is a very crowded area. Macy's is there, all department stores, you know, crossing the street there is a -- is a -- is a hassle because of all of the people.

So, there's a lot of people around. So, they have to -- the detectives and the police department have to find out exactly, you know, who shot who and how many other people got shot, because at the beginning, it looked like this one gunman was going crazy and shooting everybody. But, obviously, you know, he pointed the gun at the police officers and they shot him. And you know, when you shoot, those bullets hit the walls, hit the cement and go flying all over the place, and I'm sure that's why other people, you know, were hit with the -- with the bullets. But now -- of course, now, the FBI has to respond, because that is a landmark building and it could be a terrorist. So, they are there, but you have almost every agency around there, every police agency. And New York City police -- they are so prepared for something like this, that they'll respond in seconds if not minutes. So, they were there right away. They caromed off the whole are area. They had everything under control right away. So, it made everybody feel a little bit more comfortable.

WHITFIELD: So, Gil, what's fascinating here, too -- we have about 30 seconds left or so, is that this suspect, Jeffrey Johnson, was wearing a suit, had a briefcase and, you know, reached in that briefcase, got the handgun out and shot that one former coworker, and then casually walked off. I mean, one would suspect then that he thought he might be able to blend in on the escape just as he was able to blend in just prior to the attack. However, when confronted by police, as you say, you know, he apparently, according to the police, reached for his weapon and that's why they shot him.

ALBA: Yes, that's -- I agree with that. That's exactly what happened. So, thank God for somebody following him as far as the construction worker. And you know, to me, he is a hero, somebody like that. But that's how the police department works. You need -- you need civilians and police to work together, especially in New York City.

WHITFIELD: Yes, really, that underscore the cooperation between the citizens and law enforcement. Gil Alba, thanks so much for your time, I appreciate it, from New York.

ALBA: OK.

WHITFIELD: And we continue our coverage of the shooting outside the Empire State Building throughout the hour.

We are also tracking Tropical Storm Isaac which is closing in on Haiti. We'll show you where the storm could potentially end up hitting the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, now to that breaking news again out of New York where a gunman opened fire outside the Empire State Building. Two people are dead, including the suspect, nine others wounded. Police say the gunman opened fire on a former co-worker. Shortly after, police shot and killed the gunman. CNN's senior producer Rose Arce was on the scene just after the shooting. She's joining us right now by phone.

So, Rose, a lot of the streets there still blocked off. The investigation continues. They're trying to collect physical evidence. But, still, many people who were in the area can't believe that their morning commute or just standing outside in line to go up the Empire State Building, unfolded the way it did. Was there kind of utter chaos or, you know, were people really panic-stricken or did they seem to kind of remain calm during this course of action? ROSE ARCE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes. Well, Fredricka, the body of an armed gunman lying right outside of a New York City landmark was absolutely dramatic. People, when I got there, were very shaken up by it, particularly because most of this shooting -- well, the shooting started right around the corner of the front entrance of the Empire State Building and ended with the gunman shot dead right in front of the doorway where people come in to go to the observatory of the Empire State Building. So this is a lot of bullets being fired in one of the busiest areas of New York City. A place crowded with tourists. So, yes, people were very rattled.

WHITFIELD: And the fact that many people have still turned out to kind of watch investigators do their work instead of people dispersing, it seems as though people have really kind of gathered at those, you know, cordoned off areas, at that crime tape, just to get an idea of what's taking place now.

ARCE: Well, quite a few people work in that area. And up until not that long ago, you also had, you know, bodies lying there, really. I mean it's pretty extraordinary when you're in a block -- this is a touristic district. It's also sort of close to the Garmen (ph) district. All these people are working, you know, inside and they have outside their door, down the street, whatever, you know, tarps trying to block the view of a body lying on the street. So, yes, so it's a pretty dramatic thing to look at.

And a very active police investigation going on. You see these little yellow markers lying around the sidewalk outside the Empire State Building. I counted 17 of them, marking what is evidence, predominantly bullets the police officers will tell you. Next to the body, not far from the hand of the body, is a black bag that was later described during the press conference as a bag that they believe that the weapon was in -- conceal in. There are several witnesses at the scene that I spoke to who have pictures of all of this. It's a very, very dramatic scene.

WHITFIELD: Rose Arce, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

Of course, the Empire State Building is one of New York's most iconic landmarks and a major tourist attraction. Chad Myers giving us a look at the area.

So, again, the building is located on 5th right between 33rd and 34th Streets. Always very busy in that area, whether you're standing in line to go up the building or not.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right. You would probably be at Times Square. You know, your hotel would be there somewhere as a tourist. You would walk down Broadway. You would get right to 34th Street and you'd just go, wow.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MYERS: It takes your breath away how big this old building is. You know, we realize that we can build big buildings now, but you think about when this building was literally built and you go, wow, this is just impressive. And you walk down 34th Street and you think you're going to get in there on 34th Street and they go, nope, keep going. You have to go down to 5th Street. That's where the entrance is. So you have to walk around the corner. Then you find the little -- the overhang there and you get in there to the building.

So let's fly you in. Here's Long Island, here's New Jersey, for those of you not that familiar with -- kind of south midtown I'd call it, because people kind of think of midtown in the 40s. This is 34. But still, obviously, the midtown.

Here's the Empire State Building right there. That would be Central Park. Here's the Hudson River. There's the East River. And there's the building in all its glory right through there. Clearly the tallest thing around because it, for the long, long time, was the tallest thing ever.

So, there you go. There's the building. Here's 34th Street. Here's 5th. Here's 33rd, where the shooting occurred. Right down there, that little spot down there, that's that little portico that you kind of walk into, fly right down to it. You can see it here on the Google Earth itself. This is -- obviously someone drew this picture. But we can get down to street view and show you what it looks like when the Google car drove down there. And it looks just like it does right now, literally.

I mean these people are walking around all the time, lots of yellow cars, all cabs going up and down the street, obviously going down Fifth here. Over here, here's the entrance. Right -- this is where you would buy your tickets right through here. Keep spinning around. We'll get all the way to 34th Street and you'll look down. There you go.

People like this all the time. And at 9:00 in the morning, many people that work there were obviously in their building, but this is the normal traffic pattern. This is how many people live, work, walk around this neighborhood all the time.

Let's go ahead and just keep spinning, Monica (ph). We'll go all the way up -- (INAUDIBLE) take a look on up Fifth Avenue, because it really is amazing how great these pictures are. This is actually at the top of the Google vehicle, three-dimensional all the way around view. You can view up, you can view down, and that's exactly what it looks like when you're standing there, right there, at the base of the Empire State Building.

WHITFIELD: Wow, this is an amazing view.

MYERS: 5th Ave. Broadway on the other side. This is 34th. And you wouldn't know, because there's just a Duane Reade on every corner and so is there a Starbucks.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Hey, well that's New York City.

MYERS: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And we know now 5th Avenue and a good portion of that is actually closed right now. You know what's also interesting, Chad, is while the building put out a statement, it says it is, quote, "fully operational at this time." Clearly, no one's lining up, able to go to the top of the building, it would seem, because the investigation continues right around the periphery of the entrance and all that you just showed us.

MYERS: Unless they're allowing people in a different way. And there are many different ways into the building to get into buy the tickets. You really wouldn't be able to get, as you straight walk in there to get into the ticket booth. So maybe they're allowing people to come in off of 34th Street. That's usually a one way in, one way out. And for employees only, typically. But there are many other ways. And so if this spot is cordoned off, there are other places to get in from three other streets to be able to get in there. We'll see. I don't -- I don't know whether they're letting them in that way or they're just saying open for business or people that work there. Observation tower may not be working now (ph).

WHITFIELD: Well, we're going to have to find out. We're going to have to find out, because there are an awful lot of people who come to New York City just for that occasion. This might be their only shot today in which -- you know, their only or opportunity, I should say, in which to go into that building.

MYERS: Whenever I take someone to New York City -- whenever I take someone, you have to go here.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MYERS: You know, to go the extra -- extra setting (ph) -- it's six floors to go to the extra top thing.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MYERS: That might not be worth the extra money, honestly, in my opinion.

WHITFIELD: Oh, come on.

MYERS: Just the regular place is amazing and you have to go there once.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right, well, Chad, you're going to be back because we're going to talk about something else that is threatening --

MYERS: Isaac.

WHITFIELD: Yes, the Caribbean and south Florida and who knows what else. You're going to talk about Isaac when we come right back.

MYERS: OK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Tropical Storm Isaac is heading for Haiti and when it does hit, hundreds of thousands of people will be in tents. That's where they have been living since that massive earthquake in 2010. Let's go right to meteorologist Chad Myer in the CNN severe weather center.

And, you know, what's devastating always about Haiti is it doesn't have a whole lot of vegetation and so you end up having mudslides when you have big rains that come with hurricanes and tropical storms.

MYERS: You know, I was just on with Google Earth. I've taken off my Goggle Earth hat and put on my weather hat. If you go to Google Earth and you look down at the line between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, you can see the difference because you see the dirt in Haiti --

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's a clear cut line.

MYERS: You see the trees in the Dominican Republic.

WHITFIELD: It's amazing.

MYERS: And they've cut the trees down to make charcoal, use it for food to cook with. Well, that was their natural resource. That's what they use.

WHITFIELD: Right. That's so sad.

MYERS: And because they cut the trees down, there's nothing holding the dirt back.

Now, there are many organizations trying to replant Haiti. It's a really big place. You can't get it all back in one spot.

Something else I want the talk to you about is Puerto Rico. I don't have a flood warning there for San Juan yet, but this is quite a bit of rain coming in and it's just one mass after another. Almost getting over to the Virgin Islands as well.

But there you go, San Juan, you're getting some rainfall all the way down to El Jianga (ph). It was raining hard for a while in Ponce (ph), but now that's pretty much gone.

This rain will eventually drive itself over here right to the Dominican Republic. That's where we're expecting this rain to go next. Eventually it will get to Haiti. But look at these big white spots here. Fred, that's 10 inches or more right in the big cities. Right where we don't want that rain. There are big hills right through here. Thousands -- 15,000, 14,000 feet high. All that water's going to run down the hill, maybe make some flash flooding for the Dominican Republic. And then, obviously, the wind and the rain in Haiti won't do anybody any good. That's just how it's going to go.

The storm has organized itself a little bit. We've lost a little bit of color the past couple of hours, but I'm not so worried about that. What we're seeing are these striation lines. Look at these lines that are all coming out here. I talked about them last hour. But they are very important. They are saying now this is a healthy storm. Not basically a weak storm.

Yesterday -- and we'll go back here because most people probably weren't watching when I was doing this -- for a while this storm had about three or four centers of circulation. Not one. So when they all tried to rotate around each other, they never got to be one good eye. It was just kind of a big mass of circles going around. Like if you put four dogs in front of a bowl of food, it's going to have four small dogs. You put one dog in front of that same blow of food, it's going to get fat. Well, we never got one dog. We had four dogs eating the same food. We never really got one big storm going, so therefore we never got anything going here.

But now it's getting organized. It's going to run over Port-au- Prince. Probably about 100 miles south when it comes here. And then on up into Cuba. Cuba, another problem here, another country with a awful lot of topography. We could see that topography cause flash flooding as well.

So let's get to it, move it along, because it has changed a little bit right over just to the west here of -- that would be Guantanamo Bay, into Cuba, into Comaguay (ph). There's where we're going to see some flash flooding as well. At least 10 inches of rain there over Cuba.

Then, this is the big story, Fred. Then, when it gets off of Cuba, what does it do? Cuba's going to tear it up. It's going to look terrible. On Sunday morning you're going to say, this thing's done. Nothing (ph). That's because it's in -- over land and Cuba has been affecting it all week long. But now it's going to get in very warm water, south of the keys, right through here, right through the straits. Probably make a run at either Key West or maybe even out toward the dry Tortugas (ph). But I want you to know that, Miami, you're still not out of this. Keep your eye on this because it could go to the right. Remember what I just said, when it gets over Cuba, all things are off. Anything can happen over Cuba. And then the official forecast --

WHITFIELD: Yes, it could change direction.

MYERS: Yes, the official forecast is for it to go somewhere up in the Florida panhandle, but possibly all the way over to New Orleans. You have to understand, if it's in the water this far, it's going to be a much bigger storm in New Orleans than it would be over here where it wouldn't be in that warm water as long. How much time it's in warm water in the Gulf will make sure how big this storm gets. That's how it's going to work. And we don't want it to go to New Orleans. Obviously we know what happens there.

WHITFIELD: Right. All right. We'll all be watching.

MYERS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Because, yes, those warm waters could be really treacherous.

MYERS: They are. WHITFIELD: And help it pick up steam -- speed.

MYERS: You bet.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Chad Myers. Appreciate it.

So, still in Florida there, you know, people gathering for the Republican National Convention and definitely watching the skies and wondering if that storm will dampen the party there in Tampa. Our political director, Mark Preston, is there.

So, Mark, what is the plan b if it were to look like Isaac or is going to make a direct hit in Tampa?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, we know right now that that's very unlikely. I'm sure Chad could speak more to it a little bit later. But the fact of the matter is, it looks like this storm is going to stay to the west of Tampa. The question is, will there be flooding that is driven in? Will we get lots of rain? Where I actually stand right now, because of the way that it works is that the water would rush up through Tampa Bay, it would rush here to the convention center. Certainly not enough to cancel the convention, but it could cause some problems, no question about that.

You know another thing, though, Fredricka, even if it doesn't hit here in Tampa, convention organizers have got to be a little bit concerned. If that storm crashes in, as we see right now, into the Florida panhandle, if it goes over the New Orleans and causes death and destruction, it would put a damper on the party. It would also take the messaging for the Romney campaign and what they hope to get out of the convention, it would take all out of the air -- air out of that. We saw that happen in 2008 when, of course, the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast. John McCain had to cancel is the convention by one night and had to try to get it back on track. But that is a big, big issue -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: So does it mean that even -- you know, the Romney camp is trying to determine the best night for him to make, you know, his appearance on stage, that formal nomination moment, all pending the progress or lack thereof of Isaac?

Oh, Mark, can you still hear me?

All right, looks like we might have lost audio there with the Mark Preston. We will try to reconnect if we can.

So Sunday, on the eve of the Republican convention, CNN's coverage begins, it kicks off 8:00 p.m. eastern time with a profile of the presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. Watch "Romney Revealed, Family, Faith and the Road to Power," followed by a preview the convention, 9:30 eastern time that evening. Then Monday, live coverage of the RNC from Tampa, Florida, beginning at 7:00 p.m. eastern, right here on CNN.

More on the shooting at the Empire State Building, near the building, after this. And don't forget, you can watch CNN live on your computer at work. Head to CNN.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, updating the breaking news out of New York. A shooting near the Empire State Building leaving two people dead and nine others wounded. We understand now a little bit more about some of those who were wounded. Six are actually being treated at Bellevue Hospital, three of them men, three of them women, all suffering gunshot wounds. We understand none of them are life- threatening. The ages range from 20 to 43. They are all in stable condition as far as we know.

So police say that all of this happened when a disgruntled ex- employee of Hazan Imports near the Empire State Building killed a former coworker at that workplace, outside.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke to reporters about the shoot shooting that happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: Earlier this morning, a little after 9:00 a.m., a man who had been fired from his job about a year or so began shooting near the Empire State Building, but out on the street. He killed one person, and at least nine other people were shot. And some may have been shot accidentally by police officers who were responding immediately. And while confronting the suspect and fatally shooting him, unfortunately, there may have been other victims as well. All of those are not seriously wounded. And there's no expectation that any of them will do anything other than recover quickly.

I ask everyone to keep the victims in their thoughts and in their prayers. This is a terrible tragedy. And there's no doubt that the situation would have been even more tragic, but for some extraordinary acts of heroism.

Everyday, as you know, our police officers put their lives on the line to protect us, and they did so again today responding immediately. And they were joined by a number of civilians whose bravery and assistance probably saved lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: One of the civilians who actually alerted police to the gunmen was a construction worker. Police then confronted the shooter.

Earlier, I spoke to law enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks, about how that confrontation unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST; It's two officers on duty there in front of the Empire State Building as part of the anti- terrorism details, because it is one of the icons. The construction worker says, hey, there's the guy who shot the guy over there on 33rd Street. They approached him. He pulled the weapon and then they pulled their weapons to defend themselves and shot him dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We will keep you posted on that investigation outside of the Empire State Building.

Lance Armstrong says he is giving up his fight to defend himself against doping charges. Now he faces losing seven Tour de France titles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Cycling star, Lance Armstrong, was today banned from his sport for life. And that decision from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency coming hours after Armstrong said he has given up the fight against doping charges. Armstrong said, quote, "There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say enough is enough. For me, that time is now," end quote.

Mark McKay takes a look at the lengths that Lance Armstrong has gone in an effort to clear his name.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a script to make a Hollywood writer jealous. A cyclist gets cancer, doesn't die, and comes back to win a world race a record-breaking seven times. And by the way, he starts a cancer foundation, which has raised $325 million and has provided inspiration to millions around the world.

But hovering above this true-life story is a dark cloud that has never blown past, suspicions and allegations that Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs or PEDs to accomplish the incredible feats.

In 2000, after winning the second Tour De France, Armstrong and the cycling team were investigated by the French authorities for using PEDs, but cleared. In 2004, a book came out where the authors accused him of using illegal drugs. Armstrong sued for libel, but later dropped the suit.

In 2005, after winning his seventh, last Tour De France, a French newspaper accused Lance Armstrong of using PEDs during his first victory in 1999. Armstrong vehemently denied the allegations.

Over the last two years, two former Armstrong teammates, Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton, both said they witnessed Armstrong inject an illegal blood booster to held performance. In both instances, Armstrong dismissed the allegations, and pointed to Landis' and Hamilton's lack of credibility since they themselves had admitted to being drug cheats. In 2010, the federal government launched a criminal investigation into whether or not lawn Armstrong was involved in a doping agency, but dropped the case earlier this year.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which had suspended its investigation into Armstrong during that federal probe picked it up again and formally accused him of doping in June. Through it all, Armstrong has denied the allegations, saying that he has passed more than 500 drug tests.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And on to another story. The young man accused of shooting up a packed movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, was in court yesterday. James Holmes heard prosecutors say he made threats at the University of Colorado before the shooting spree, threats that were reported to campus police. Holmes is accused of killing 12 people, and wounding almost 60 others.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is on the hook for damage caused by a major environmental spill back in 2008 when one billion gallons of poisonous coal ash waste spilled into the Indian River in east Tennessee. A federal judge ruled that the TVA failed to address and fix a problem in a dam burst. Nobody was killed, but the long-term health effects are not known.

And U.S. stocks are up today. Let's check the big board now. The Dow up 81 points. The Dow and the S&P 500 are all in the positive territory.

And when we come back, more on Tropical Storm Isaac, and what places it continues to threaten.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there. Here on the "Help Desk" today, we are helping you to pay for college.

With me now is Liz Miller and Doug Flynn.

Doug, this question is for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have two kids going to college and don't qualify for any financial aid. What's the best way for me to pay for college, because I don't have $200,000 sitting around either in the bank?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Now, that is a pickle to be in.

DOUG FLYNN, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER, FLYNN ZITO CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Yes, the sort of financial planning board came out a study that said that more people are interested in saving for the vacations than college. So this is a problem. This is a situation where you make too much accordingly to get aid but you haven't saved for whatever reason.

KOSIK: What do you do?

FLYNN: So it comes down to loans. And education is something that you can borrow for, unlike your retirement, which you cannot, so that is what it comes down to. I don't know what the home equity situation is, but let's put it in perspective. The difference of sending your child to a $20,000 a year school and $40,000 a year school just because they get in not means this. It's not so much the extra $20,000 it costs, but it will add $50 a month additional student loan payment for the child for 20 years. so that school, the $40,000 a year school, will it give you $10,000 a year of before-tax income on top of what you would earn at the $20,000 year school for the rest of your life just to cover the loans for 20 years, and then have a return on investment? This is down to affordability. What can you afford? If you have nothing saved, look at the community colleges and the state schools and things. But don't send your kid to a $40,000 or $50,000 school just, because you get in, because you don't have any money, you will saddle them for a long time.

KOSIK: Do you agree with that?

LIZ MILLER, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER & PRESIDENT, SUMMIT PLACE FINANCIAL ADVISORS: Well, that is a debatable question on the quality of the school for your child, but there are ways to pay for it, too. Education are some of the things you can borrow against a 401K. Your child will get student loans and you can get the loans. Borrowing from the 401 is nice, because you pay yourself back and the interest does go back to yourself. So I see you concerned, but those who do it actually are still making their deposits in the 401K and putting themselves in a perfectly good retirement place, and paying themselves interest instead of a bank.

FLYNN: Unless you get fired.

MILLER: Of course, unless you get fired.

KOSIK: All right, thanks very much.

And if you have an issue that you want our experts to tackle, upload a 30-second video with your "Help Desk" question to ireport.com.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: People are on edge in Haiti as the Tropical Storm Isaac gets closer. Many are not equipped the ride the storm out safely at all.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is in Port-au-Prince.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, there's a lot of concern here in the nation of Haiti not only because of the tropical storm on the way, Tropical Storm Isaac, but because so many people in this nation still remain homeless from the catastrophic earthquake of January 12th, 2010.

At least 400,000 people are still living in tents or rickety homes. That is 10 million people who live in Haiti, and that many people still homeless. The problem is that a lot of people have made the decision they will not go anywhere.

Literally, when we arrived in Port-au-Prince yesterday, we had to inform people in a tent city that a tropical storm or hurricane, Isaac, was on the way. They had absolutely no idea. But once we told them, it was not like they were shelter when we told them, it wasn't like they were running for shelter. There are shelters in the country, hundreds of them. But the people who seem to be going to the shelters are the people with means, with homes, with television and Internet. The people who live in the tents with unlimited access to the outside world, with no TVs or Internet connection, are literally staying in their home and making the decision to stay in their tent homes or the rickety homes because they are afraid someone will take their home or tear them down. A lot of people are saying we dealt with the rain before and the sun comes out and it dries it. This country has such a disastrous history with tropical storms and hurricanes. In 2008, four storms came through Haiti and 800 people died. In 2004, Jean came through, 3,000 people died.

There hasn't been a tropical storm or a hurricane since the earthquake. That means they've never had a tropical storm or hurricane with so many people living in tents. So we're very concerned about that. We also have the cholera outbreak over the last three years. More than 6,000 have died from cholera. There's all kinds of problems in this country. And that's why we're so concerned of what will happed when the tropical storm makes its closest approach some time tonight -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. Gary Tuchman in Port-au-Prince.

It's a mysterious new disease doctors are racing to understand and only seems to hit the Asian population, and the symptoms look a lot like AIDS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Doctors are looking for clues to a mysterious new disease that produces AIDS-like symptoms, even though it has no link to HIV. Researchers say the disease causes patients to make antibodies that attack their immune system. It makes them vulnerable to opportunistic infections like pneumonia. More than 100 cases have surfaced in East Asia. 12 people have been diagnosed in the U.S., all are of Asian descent. The disease is not contagious.

CNN has learned that three U.S. Marines were injured in a shooting south of Mexico City taking place earlier this morning. The servicemen were on a diplomatic mission, we understand. It's still unclear what the motive to that shooting or attack may have been. We'll keep you posted as we get more information. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We'll continue to update you on the shooting near the Empire State Building in New York that left two people and nine others wounded. Police say it started when a disgruntled ex-employee of Hazan Imports killed a former co-worker.

Here is how witnesses describe what they saw and heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBECCA FOX, WITNESS: I looked in the middle of the street right at the Empire State Building in front of the doors where you enter and there was man lying on the ground. There were police all around like they shot him down. A lot of this I heard from the aftermath that this man had been in pursuit of another man. He shot the other man. I saw blood on the pavement. I looked halfway down the block and saw man had been shot. He was laying on the ground. There were cops surrounded him. I assumed he was the shooter and someone else confirmed that to me. It appeared at the time he was alive.

I saw woman had been shot in the foot. She was in shock sitting there. I looked halfway down where a across where you go into the building and there was a man lying on the ground face down.

ANIKA BASU, EYEWITNESS TO SHOOTING: Heard a bunch of gunshots go off and people fall to the ground. It was absolute mass chaos. Then the streets went completely still and quiet. Then we saw the witnesses, the victims, rather, on the ground immediately after it happened. It's absolutely scary to see it happen right in front of your eyes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We'll continue looking into the investigation.

CNN NEWSROOM continues with my colleague, Don Lemon -- Don?

DON LEMON: Fredricka, thank you very much. Have a great weekend.