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Ten Shot Outside Empire State Building; NYC Mayor Addresses Shooting; Shooting in Mexico; Haiti Braces For Isaac; Romney Makes Birther Joke; Two Dead, Eight Wounded In NYC Shooting; Convention Site Bounded By Water; 900 Plus Killed In Syria This Week; Armstrong May Lose Tour De France Titles; Norway's Mass Killer Gets Max Sentence; Former Ambassador Ryan Crocker Arrested; Penn State Players React To Scandal; Running For Their Lives
Aired August 24, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Fredricka, thank you very much. Have a great weekend.
It is a busy news day. I'm Don Lemon. Brooke is off.
A bizarre moment to tell you about. Listen to this. It's happening on the campaign trail. It is raising a lot of eyebrows and sparking immediate reaction from both camps. Just a short time ago, Mitt Romney appearing to make a birther joke while stomping in Michigan. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born in Henry Ford Hospital. I was born in Harper Hospital. No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Yes, he did say that. You know the birth certificate issue, of course, is really sensitive given all the controversy surrounding President Barack Obama's birthplace. I'll tell you what both sides are saying in a minute.
But first, a developing story. This one out of New York.
The city is on edge just hours after a mass shooting outside the Empire State Building. Crowds of tourists were waiting to get into the world famous landmark when a gunman opened fire just after 9:00 a.m. New York City Police reacted fast and killed the suspect. A man dressed in a business suit carrying a briefcase. Police say 58-year- old Jeffrey Johnson had already shot and killed a former co-worker. Nine others were wounded in the gunfire. A New Yorker saw the chaos as it erupted while she was walking to get a cup of coffee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REBECCA FOX, WITNESSED SHOOTING AFTERMATH: I was scared and in shock and literally shaking. Someone said there's been shots fired. You know, someone had -- a man had been chasing another man down the street and had shot him dead on the corner.
When I walked across the street, I saw a woman had been shot in the foot. And she was just in shock sitting there. There was cop cars and ambulances literally in 30 seconds. I normally walk across the street like nothing and then I see that there's blood on the corner. And I saw a woman, her foot was covered in blood on the corner there. And when I was actually -- I looked across and there was an ambulance and people were taking another woman in there, into the ambulance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The mayor of New York City, of course, is Michael Bloomberg. And he says the gunman intentionally went after police officers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: The perpetrator pulled his gun out and tried to shoot at the cops. Whether he got off any bullets or not, to be determined. How many he shot earlier, to be determined. We do know that the cops fired back. The tape clearly shows the guy has the gun out and is trying to kill the police officers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Live to the ground now and CNN's Maggie Lake. She has been tracking this story from the very beginning.
Maggie, tell us about the weapon. What do you know what that? He used a gun and police say he had extra ammunition in his briefcase.
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. That is our understanding, Don. And that was a .45 caliber gun. Mayor Bloomberg taking great pains to explain that police were responding to shots on them because those nine other people that were injured as a part of this, it is not clear whether the bullets came from the gunman or from police.
But you can imagine it was a scene of chaos and fear and a great deal of confusion. That is in the height of rush hour in midtown Manhattan. An extremely busy area of the city. Many of the eye witnesses we talked to said, in the first few moments, they didn't realize what was happening. They thought maybe there was a celebrity in the area. When it became apparent that there were police running, it was something more serious. One of the witnesses said to us, it seemed like right out of CSI. I mean there was a lot of disbelief at first on the part of a lot of these eye witnesses. Some of them bumped into people who were bleeding, who didn't even realize it.
As for the suspect himself, a 58-year-old man, as you said, being described as a disgruntled worker. He went to this Hasan (ph) Industries on West 33rd with the intention of doing harm. We believe -- excuse me one minute. We still have a lot of activity in the area. They are beginning to clear the area now and try to get traffic running in a normal way. They had blocked of, cordoned off the entire area as they investigation. I mean the suspect shot his co-worker at point-blank range and then a construction worker who witnessed the entire scene from across the street saying Johnson -- Jeffrey Johnson, who was dressed in a suit, carrying that briefcase, calmly turned and started to walk down the block, concealing his weapon, trying to blend in with the crowd. Of course that wasn't possible. There were other people who saw what happened. They notified police, who then approached him, and that is when the gunfire was exchanged, Don.
LEMON: Hey, Maggie, can you do me a favor. I want to know about the surrounding area where you are. If you can tell us what's going on behind you. Are the streets closed? What's happening?
LAKE: Don, it's very much sort of getting back to normal. There are a lot of tourists in this area. I don't know if you can see behind me. And they're going about their business. They are shopping. They are stopping to ask us, some of them, what happened. Those who were not in the area this morning.
But if you go the block beyond, right beyond me, that entire block, a major thoroughfare, shopping thoroughfare for New York, as well as office buildings, is still closed off. We understand they are attempting to try to open some of that area to get the traffic flowing as we head into the afternoon rush hour. But people are pretty much going about their business. That was certainly not the scene here this morning, though, as you can imagine, Don.
LEMON: Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. And the biggest time of the year for tourist right now, this and Christmastime.
Thank you very much, Maggie Lake. We'll -- we appreciate that.
If there is one person who has been on a warpath urging stricter gun control laws, it is New York City's mayor Michael Bloomberg. He was actually having his weekly radio address on WOR Radio. He was talking about gun control just before that shooting happened. So it's no surprise that he slipped in a few words about the subject during his news conference about the shooting today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: And New York City, as you know, is the safest big city in the country. And we're on pace of have a record low number of murders this year. But we are not immune to the national problem of gun violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Here's what's going on. All right. So today's shooting is one of at least three mass shootings we have seen this summer in a very short period of time. After the movie theater massacre in Colorado, Mayor Bloomberg gave his view on gun control to CNN's Piers Morgan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BLOOMBERG: I think everybody wants to preserve the right of people that want to use guns for sport, hunting or target practice, to have the right to do so. But that doesn't mean that you have an assault weapon. That doesn't mean you have a rifle that's advertised as able to bring down a commercial airline at a mile and a half, or bullets that are designed to go through a bullet-resistant vest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: I want to bring in now Mike Daly. Mike Daly from "The Daily Beast." And he has been following Mayor Bloomberg's views on gun control.
Mike, thank you for joining us.
You know, it seems after each of these shootings, we hear Bloomberg loud and clear on gun control. He is pretty determined.
MIKE DALY, "THE DAILY BEAST" (via telephone): Well, it's not just after the shootings, you know, that get everybody's attention. It's day-to-day. I mean I watched him become more and more passionate on this subject every time he went to an emergency room to see a police officer who had been shot, to meet the police officer's family. And, I mean, it's a day-to-day thing. I mean this is the safest big city in America, but it's one horror after another. Right after the thing in Colorado, you had a four-year-old in a playground up in the Bronx got shot in the head just as he was running around playing.
LEMON: Yes. And you know what, he -- the mayor mentioned that, what you said, in a news conference. He said, we're the safest big city in the world, he believes. But, listen, here's what he -- the mayor has said as the shooting was probably happening. He was saying, there's just too many guns on the street. And this is on WOR Radio. The argument that guns don't kill people, people kill people is one of the most disingenuous things you can say. It does take a person to pull the trigger.
Mike.
DALY: Well, it does. I mean the other day down at city hall, a guy went a little nutty. And instead of a gun, he had a hammer. And he hit one person with the hammer and about five people jumped on him and it was over. Well, if the guy had had a glock instead of a hammer, we all would have been talking about that shooting.
LEMON: Yes. Well, listen, the mayor was criticized after the Aurora shooting. People saying, you know, it's not time, it's not time. But as you said, he always talks about it. It doesn't just take a mass shooting. A month ago he called on the president and Mitt Romney to do more on gun control and face the nation. Listen to this, Mike.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLOOMBERG: Somebody's got to do something about this and this requires, and particularly in a presidential year, the candidates for president of the United States to stand up and, once and for all, say, yes, they feel terrible, yes, it's a tragedy, yes, we have great sympathy for the families, but it's time for this country to do something. And that's the job of the president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The mayor is part of a coalition of mayors. More than 700 mayors who advocate new laws and stiffer enforcement on the existing ones. And, Mike, you heard what he said there. But very rarely do we hear from any of the candidates, anything to do with gun control, unless they're speaking in front of the gun lobby or what have you.
DALY: Right. And I -- you know, if you saw the president after he was out in Colorado and he came out and he talked to the -- you know, the one girl that saved the other girl by pressing her finger on the wound, he started talking about violence. And he almost got to the point where he was going to talk about guns, but he stopped. But, you see, Bloomberg's been to an emergency room and talked to people in those circumstances a hundred times. And, you know, if the president or the candidates had to go in an emergency room every other day to see someone who got shot, they'd be talking about it.
LEMON: Mike Daly from the "The Daily Beast. Thank you, sir. We appreciate it.
DALY: Thank you for having me.
LEMON: You're welcome.
Moving on now. Tropical Storm Isaac taking a slight western curve, but still predicted to hit Haiti later today with high winds and rain. New information just out. And we'll bring it to you. That's next.
Plus, we're just getting word of another shooting. A shooter near Mexico City. And the attack involves U.S. Marines. We're gathering the facts. They're next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: This is just in to CNN. Check it out. That is three Marines, U.S. Marines, injured in a shooting south of Mexico City.
Rafael Romo,. we're just gathering the information. Rafael, what do you know about this?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Well, a lot of people know the city of Cornabaca (ph), just south of Mexico City. Apparently these Marines were in diplomatic commission. They were riding in an SUV with no plates -- with diplomatic plates, excuse me, when they were actually shot.
At this point we're getting reports that it might have been a vehicle that looks like a vehicle from the Mexican Federal Police. But what we have seen in the past in Mexico is that many times there's a vehicle that looks like the Mexican Federal Police and it's, in reality, a vehicle being used by criminal organizations that are posing as the real Federal Police.
So we don't really know a motive behind the shooting. There was an incident last year in which two ICE agents in Mexico were shot. One of them, unfortunately, was killed.
LEMON: OK. Hang on. Let's just sort -- to clarify. The Americans were servicemen who were on a diplomatic mission.
ROMO: That's right.
LEMON: Right. And then it is -- the two are from the U.S. embassy, it would appear if they were from the embassy, they were there on a diplomatic mission?
ROMO: Exactly.
LEMON: Right.
ROMO: Exactly.
LEMON: What more do we know? Anything?
ROMO: There was a confrontation early this morning in a highway -- on a highway that connects Mexico City with Quitanalaca (ph). That's a favorite tourist destination for Americans. They were shot from a vehicle that looked like a vehicle used normally by the Mexican Federal Police. But we don't know at this point that they were Mexican Federal Police.
LEMON: And you don't know if this is part of a trend? You're thinking this morning and then now this.
ROMO: Yes.
LEMON: Yes.
ROMO: Mexico (ph).
LEMON: Maybe it's part of a trend.
ROMO: But we have seen it in the past. So we don't really know what happened there.
LEMON: We'll keep watching it. Rafael Romo, thank you very much. We appreciate your update on that.
In the meantime, we've got a lot of news popping this Friday. The National Hurricane Center has just issued an update on soon to be Hurricane Isaac. Want to get to Chad Myers, CNN's severe weather center.
Chad, what are they saying now?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Sure. Winds are still 60 miles per hour, Don, although it did get a little bit closer to Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the past couple of hours. Also now the pressure's going down. That means it's getting stronger. It's getting its act together, like it hasn't had for a while. This thing has been just a mess and it doesn't even look that great right now. But the center, although it looks like there's a bunch of convection down here, the center is actually very close to the little south coast right there from Port-au-Prince.
Let me get -- open this one up for you here. You won't even believe where the center is. This is where it looks like the hurricane is, but, in fact, there's the dot. And if I draw it for you, that's the south coast of Haiti. And there's the south coast of the DR. And we are seeing right there, Santa Domingo, we are seeing winds at 30 miles per hour.
More to come from the U.S. as well, Don. Big changes.
LEMON: Chad, stand by, because I want to bring in CNN's Martin Savidge. He has crossed into Haiti from the Dominican Republic and he joins us now.
Marty, so tell us, where are you and what exactly are you seeing where you are?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, Don, we're in Jackmel (ph), which is located on the southern coast of Haiti. And just as you heard Chad say, it appears that Isaac, if not here, is very close to being here. The rain suddenly has turned torrential. Now, we have not got the strong winds of any kind, but we've certainly got heavy rain. And that is the greatest fear they have here in Haiti at this particular time.
We are located about 30 miles to the south of Port-au-Prince. Port-au-Prince, of course, you've got several hundred thousand -- let me repeat that, several hundred thousand people living in tents. That's the result of the aftermath of the earthquake from 2010. They're very much in jeopardy as a result of this storm because of just the limited housing they have over their heads. We passed through Port-au-Prince. And the truth is, it did not appear that anybody was making preparations. And that's the concern of emergency officials.
LEMON: Oh, yes.
SAVIDGE: People living in flimsy housing, not ready for the storm that's coming, Don.
LEMON: And you can -- just given the lack of infrastructure that you talk about and given the fact that hundreds of thousands of people, as you said, essentially live in tents, what, if anything, can they do to prepare for this storm?
SAVIDGE: Well, you know what, and that's part of their attitude. Exactly what you just said. It's like they have been told the storm's coming. There are announcements that are being made officially on radio. They're even driving through the streets of cities warning people, prepare, get ready, stock up on food.
But the truth is, they don't really have any place to go. There are storm shelters, but storm shelters are not their concern right now. It's the flooding. This is a very mountainous country. And what is happening is that they're expecting maybe a foot, maybe more of rain. It comes rushing down the mountains and it comes blasting into the communities. Jackmel, where we are, has flooded in the past. That's why we're here now. The mayor is gravely concerned for his community. So far no evacuations. So far, it appears, no one else besides the mayor is really worried the rains here.
LEMON: He should be worried and a lot of other people.
All right, back to Chad Myers now.
Chad, do we know where this -- you showed us the eye.
MYERS: Yes.
LEMON: And, approximately. But do you know where it's going? And, of course, because we're talking about the convention in Tampa.
MYERS: Sure.
LEMON: And there was word earlier in the week that it was headed that way.
MYERS: Of course. Now, we're always worried about the Tampa, because we have so many non-Floridians moving to Tampa. It wasn't so much that it was the convention. People -- 50,000 people that don't have any idea what to do in a hurricane, in a hurricane, then you've got a problem, right?
LEMON: You got it.
MYERS: So that was part of it.
Here's what Marty did all day today. Drove this road all the way down here to the south coast of Haiti. Here's Port-au-Prince itself. Mountain range right through here. So, Marty, if you still have us on the line, trust me, worst weather is coming than you're seeing right now. So if you think it's there, it's not there yet. There's where Marty is. The big cell is still to his southwest, heading right at him. He will get winds at least 60 miles per hour.
This right there, Don, see that right there?
LEMON: Yes.
MYERS: That's what I'm afraid of that's going to rotate right into Port-au-Prince in about three to four hours and that will, of course, make big time problems -- get right to there -- get big time problems for the coast there of --
LEMON: And the right side, that's the stronger side usually, right? Is that correct?
MYERS: Always. Always as you move this way.
LEMON: Yes.
MYERS: Correct. Then it moves across Cuba. Then it makes its way toward Florida.
We don't have any evacuations for the Keys yet. I'm thinking maybe tourists, you may want -- don't even go. If you're thinking about it, don't even go. It's going be a lousy weekend anyway. Stay home. You won't have to get evacuated on Sunday.
Then it goes here way west of Tampa. And I know this says only a cat one storm here. That could be a two or a three if it spends more time in that very warm water it's going to get bigger.
LEMON: A quick update again on Tampa.
MYERS: Yes.
LEMON: Listen to Rick Scott, Florida's governor, and then I want you to respond quickly.
MYERS: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: At this point, you know, everybody's comfortable. We're going to have a great convention. The delegates are coming down. They're going to have a great experience. They're going to see a bit of -- a little -- maybe a little bit of rain and a little bit of wind in Florida, but they're going to -- they're going to see how nice people are in Florida. We're going to have great convention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So, a little rain maybe --
MYERS: Or we don't know.
Let me tell you what I'm worried about. I don't have very many seconds left. See all these models turning to the right, right here?
LEMON: Yes, sir.
MYERS: What if those models are just a little bit too late and it's supposed to turn right here. I'm not comfortable with that yet. Tampa is still in the cone.
LEMON: OK.
MYERS: There you go.
LEMON: You heard it from the expert.
MYERS: Uh-huh.
LEMON: Thank you, Chad. MYERS: You're welcome.
LEMON: Thank you, Martin Savidge.
We'll get back to you, sir. You'd better believe it.
All right, to find out more about how you can help those affected by the storm, go to cnn.com/impact. You'll find a list of relief organizations and a lot of different ways that you can help.
OK. Mitt Romney, just days away from the Republican National Convention and the presidential nomination. He talks about business and birth certificates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born in Henry Ford Hospital. I was born in Harper Hospital. No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Enough said. You'll hear more from the campaign trail. Both campaigns reacting now. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Yes. Yes. Mitt Romney went there. A short time ago in front of a large crowd of supporters in Michigan, Romney attempted a birther joke. I won't even try to explain. You should just hear it for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born in Henry Ford Hospital. I was born in Harper Hospital. No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right, so I want to get right to CNN's Jim Acosta because at the end of that he said, you know, no one's asked for my birth certificate because they know we were born here. He is following the campaign. There he is. He's in Commerce, Michigan, right now.
Jim, Romney keeps saying he wants to focus on the economy and he says what he says today about the birth certificate.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.
LEMON: What's going -- is it a -- was it a joke or -- ACOSTA: Well, you know, it certainly sounded like a joke, Don. And the crowd took it as a joke. There was a lot of laughing and applauding in the crowd here in Michigan. But the Romney campaign says that the GOP contender was not working off of his prepared remarks. That is from a source inside the Romney campaign.
And I have to tell you, Don, what he said there completely overshadowed his message for the day. He was coming out, as you said, to talk about the economy. This also comes as the Romney campaign is trying to re-introduce Mitt Romney to American voters. Ann Romney was choking up here at this event today about her Michigan roots. She almost started to cry at one point. All of that got drowned out by this remark that Romney made.
And, as you know, there have been some statements flying back and forth from the Obama campaign and the Romney campaign on this. So I think clearly this is not what Mitt Romney wanted to get out there today, but it's out there. He went there.
But having said all of that, you know, President Obama also likes to joke about this. He's joked about this at White House correspondent dinners. The Obama campaign has up on its website, you can go there now and buy a birth certificate mug. The mug says, "born in the USA" and on the back it has his birth certificate. So the president has had some fun with this too.
But what it sounds like from the Romney campaign is that this was not an intentional joke. There were no teleprompters here. Mitt Romney was adlibbing. And adlibbing in a way that overshadowed his message.
LEMON: Yes. And, listen, I am all for free speech. And I always say comedians, especially, sometimes a joke is just a joke. And then you know what they say with jokes sometimes. Sometimes it's too soon. We'll see. Obama's in on the joke, though, so it's -- there's a nuance there.
But, Jim, listen, quick reaction from Ben Labult at the Obama camp. He said, "throughout this campaign, Governor Romney has embraced the most strident voices in his party instead of standing up for them. It's one thing to give the stage in Tampa to Donald Trump, Sheriff Arpaio and Kris Kobach, but Governor Romney's decision to directly enlists himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter across America."
And then we get this from Romney's campaign, Kevin Madden. He says, "the governor has always said and has repeatedly said he believes the president was born here in the United States. He was only referencing that Michigan, where he is campaigning today, is the state he himself was born and raised."
So differing there. But again, if it's a joke, then, you know, I get it. But it's just right before the convention and he's trying to get away from this particular issue and focus on the economy and then there you go. So either way it was kind of off point (ph).
ACOSTA: Exactly. That's right. And the Romney campaign and GOP convention officials had a news conference this morning with reporters on the phone talking about how, you know, they're going to try to re- introduce Romney to the American people. Ann Romney is slated to talk on Monday night.
And then on Thursday night, Don, the Romney campaign is going to be diving deep into Mitt Romney's Mormon faith. They're going to be bringing people up on stage to talk about when Mitt Romney was the leader of the Mormon church in Boston and how he helped them out at times. And so all of this could have been the news of the day. This could have been what everybody was talking about today.
LEMON: Right.
ACOSTA: But because of that one comment from Mitt Romney. we're all talking about the birth certificate again.
LEMON: Yes. Talking --
ACOSTA: So I don't -- that's why I think this was not intentional, but -- and it did throw them off message.
LEMON: Talking about it. Now he's responding and people are wondering if it's a dog whistle and on and on instead of being on message.
Thank you, Jim Acosta. We appreciate it.
Make sure you stay with CNN Sunday night for "Romney Revealed: Family, Faith and the Road to Power." It's a profile of the soon-to-be Republican presidential nominee. It is at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. It will be followed by a preview of the convention itself starting at 9:30 Eastern. And then on Monday, live coverage of the GOP convention begins at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
OK. The Empire State Building, the scene of a tragic shooting today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Street. Right across -- right at the Empire State Building, in front of the doors where you enter, and there was a man lying on the ground. There was police all around him, like they had shot him down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We're going to catch you up on the shooting at one of the nation's top tourist attractions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: An American landmark is now the site of a crime scene. A mass shooting outside the Empire State Building.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): We're looking down at 34th Street just off of Fifth Avenue where you see at least two people being taken off in a stretcher after being shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: New York City's mayor says a total of 10 people were hit including the man who allegedly ignited it all. At a news conference, Michael Bloomberg says the shooter named Jeffrey Johnson gunned down a former co-worker and then police gunned down Johnson who was 58 years old. An eyewitness talked to CNN's Poppy Harlow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Did you talk to anyone else, Rebecca, who witnessed the shooting like you?
REBECCA FOX, EYEWITNESS: I did. He had a photo of the person the shooter shot in the head. So I knew that he was dead from the photo.
HARLOW: What did that fellow witness tell you?
FOX: He just said a man had been chasing another man down the street by the Starbucks and shot him in the head and the police shot him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And the eight others who took a bullet. Well, there could be more. There were apparently at the wrong place at the wrong time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: Earlier this morning a little after 9:00 a.m., man who had been fired from his job about a year or is a began shooting near the Empire State Building, but out in the street.
He killed one person and at least nine other people were shot some may have been shot accidentally by police officers who responded 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. Every day, as you know, our police officers put their lives on the line to protect us.
They did so again today responding immediately and they were joined by a number of civilians whose bravery and assistance probably also saved lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So what was the alleged shooter's gripe? Commissioner Ray Kelly indicated Johnson and his apparent victim who police are not yet identifying had a history involving workplace harassment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: Johnson had been employed for six years at Hazan Imports as a designer of women's accessories. During a downsizing at the company about a year ago, Johnson was laid off.
In a dispute with one of the former employees of Hazan in front of the building, Johnson produced a pistol and fired at close range striking his 41-year-old victim in the head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And now people are taking note the time of mass shooting. Just this morning, Mayor Bloomberg talked about gun violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLOOMBERG: It's too many guns on the street. It's not the only problem and you know, the argument that guns don't kill people, people kill people is one of the most disingenuous things you can say. It does take a person to pull the trigger, but if they didn't have the gun -- we are the only developed country in the world with this problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The mayor giving his weekly address on WOR Radio in New York City.
Tropical Storm Isaac bringing torrential rain to Haiti right now. Our Chad Myers is keeping watch. Storms on certain path has Tampa and Republican National Convention leaders making precautionary plans. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Rick Scott who is the Florida governor, he is ensuring nervous Republicans that their national convention in Tampa won't be derailed by Isaac.
Scott said this afternoon that Tampa might get a little wind and some rain, but local officials in Tampa aren't letting their guard down yet. Brian Todd is there.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, I'm standing right by Bay Shore Boulevard here in Tampa. Now just eight weeks ago, a major portion of this road was flooded because of Tropical Storm Debbie. That created a storm surge that led to some flooding. Now look how close that is to the convention center right over here. And the form where the convention is going to be held just around the corner, it's a low lying area. You can see it's right by water.
Tampa Bay just comes in as a funnel right up to this area. So it's very close to areas that could be affected by storm surge if Tropical Storm Isaac comes this way or even if they get some outer bands of it as a tropical storm or as a possible hurricane.
Now another question here, evacuations, you have 50,000 added people downtown here, delegates and others, who normally wouldn't be here. Most are from out of town.
So how you going to get those people out if you need to in the event the storm closer than they think I might, which it might. So we talked to the mayor, Bob Buckhorn about possible evacuation of all those out of towners.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BOB BUCKHORN, TAMPA, FLORIDA: We are used to moving people. Obviously, the buses would be available to move folks. The key is to get folks from the low lying areas into the higher ground where it's safe.
Part of that depends on the track of the storm, which will dictate, you know, which bridges are used and how people are moved to the middle of the state, but we practice.
This is our world. We live with this. We do it every year. We prepare for it. Our people know what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Another major concern with Tropical Storm Isaac, a possible shortage of law enforcement officers here for the convention. Many of the law enforcement officers slated to work for the convention are coming in from out of town.
Other jurisdictions implored. If the tropical storm hits anywhere along the Florida coast, even if remnants hit and cause problems in those jurisdictions, those officers may not be able to make it here to work for the convention.
But the mayor told me that they have contingencies of National Guard troops to make up that difference -- Don.
LEMON: All right, Brian Todd, thank you very much.
And remember, my colleague, Brooke Baldwin will be at the convention. So no worries she's still here. She'll be anchoring this show live from Tampa. It kicks off on Monday right here on CNN. Make sure you tune in.
Overseas now, the violence in Syria. It's like a plane crash every single day. We're keeping our focus on the civil war as refugees seek a peaceful place to live.
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LEMON: More than year now, we have been showing you images out of Syria always with the warning that they are graphic and disturbing, but now a different perspective that just as graphic and disturbing.
Account this week, of all the Syrians killed, activists say by a government that refuses to give up power on Monday, 168 people killed. On Tuesday, 230, Wednesday, 184, Thursday, 200 people dead.
Today, the toll so far 130. We know 25 of today's victims are children. Look at the totals. It's like an airliner going down every day this week. Right now, there is no sign of the bloodshed ending. We'll continue to update you on this story.
Cycling legend, Lance Armstrong may be getting closer to losing his seven Tour De France titles. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said today it will move to have Armstrong stripped of all seven titles.
This after Armstrong said enough is enough and decided to end his battle against the doping charges. Armstrong said he's innocent of all doping allegations, but he's not going to fight it anymore. He's done with it he says.
A turf war between sports councils may be erupting though. Other cycling agencies may weigh in on whether Armstrong should officially lose his titles.
One way to get through a difficult circumstance is to talk with someone who has been through it. That's the premise behind Imerman's Angels connecting cancer patients with survivors. Meet Jonny Imerman, our "CNN Hero" of the week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONNY IMERMAN, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: All of a sudden it was like someone took a syringe and stabbed me directly in my left testicle. At 26, I was diagnosed with cancer. In the hospital, I saw these people by themselves. You could see the fear.
My goal was to get in there and motivate patients so that they wanted to jump out their bed and start swinging at this thing. My name is Jonny Imerman. I'm a two-time testicular cancer survivor. I created an organization to make sure that people that are diagnosed with cancer are able to reach a survivor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to keep your immune system strong and listen to your body.
IMERMAN: It started with just a few survivors sharing information one to one with somebody diagnosed with the exact same cancer. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a 29-year-old healthy young adult. Cancer is not part of our language. I'm really happen that I have this community that Jonny has built.
IMERMAN: We have helped in over 60 countries and matched over 8,000 total since inception.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: she's been like my guardian angel. Any time I call her she's right there.
IMERMAN: We help people of all ages, caregivers, spouses. We help the parents get hooked up with other parents. We get a ton of young adults. We share stories. We listen and learn.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was 30 years old when I was diagnosed. I wanted to make it until my son was five. I'm still here today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the kind of information you need to hear from someone that has opinion through it. There's no other way.
IMERMAN: I don't really count the days since cancer because every day is a good day. I'm happy you got out of bed this morning. Life's amazing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Nominate your hero now at cnnheroes.com. Nominations for this year close next week.
In just eight days, the Penn State nation will gather for the season's first football game since Joe Paterno's death and Jerry Sandusky's verdict and sentencing. CNN just finished exclusive interviews with some current players. You'll hear from them next.
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LEMON: The man who killed 77 people in Norway last year has been sentenced to 21 years in prison. Anders Breivik was convicted today in a shooting spree that killed dozens of people, mostly teens attending a summer camp.
That followed a bomb attack on a government building that killed eight people. Norway does not have the death penalty. His sentence could be extended if he is still considered a threat to society.
One of the country's most promising diplomats, Ryan Crocker, has been charged with drunk driving and hit and run. Now troopers say Crocker was arrested August 14th in his hometown of Spokane, Washington after leaving the scene of an accident. He tested twice over the legal limit on a sobriety test. Until last month, Crocker had been this country's ambassador to Afghanistan.
A gunman battle outside the Empire State Building leaves two people dead and eight others injured. Live to New York next. And we're in Haiti as torrential rain from Tropical Storm Isaac slamming the island nation right now. Our Chad Myers tracking the storm.
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LEMON: Next week, Penn State takes the field for the first time and for the first football game since former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, was found guilty of child sexual abuse.
The legacy of the program has been tarnished by sanctions and by lawsuits and of course, this particular incident. But today we hear from a few of the players who remain on the team.
They sat down in an exclusive interview with our Jason Carroll. There he is now. Jason joins us. So, Jason, what's their reaction to what's happened to their program?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are so many different reactions. It's depending upon what direction you're going with this, Don. You know, I asked some of the five players who we sat down with, first of all, what they thought of the man, Joe Paterno.
And one of the players told me, he said this is a man who I respected for many, many years. Another player told me said this is a man who my father played with. I still respect him even given what happened later on in his career.
So it was very interesting to hear from the players' point of view on Joe Paterno. Also to hear their point of view post NCAA sanctions. As you know, Penn State hit with very heavy sanctions here with the university.
The team really took a hit because of those sanctions. Nine players decided to leave the team. I asked the players who remained what they thought of that. They said, look, it hurts. But the seniors on the team said that they've reached out to some of the other players.
Some of those players on the fence, they talked to them. They said their point now, Don, is to focus on the team members who are here. And one of the points they also wanted me to get across is they really feel as though they are a stronger team now.
They feel they are closer given the crisis that they've been through and they say they are ready to take on Ohio come September 1st.
LEMON: Jason, so they are getting support obviously. They're supporting each other. Do they feel -- because there were many people who thought that the program should be shut down altogether, should be shuttered. Do they feel they are getting broader support from outside of Penn State beyond the fans?
CARROLL: Well, I know you've been following this story very closely, Don. So you've heard critics on both sides. Clearly, there have been a number of people out here not necessarily directly here around Penn State in this community, but throughout the country.
They feel as though perhaps the program should be been shut down. The football players that we spoke to today said they were very aware of that. They were very aware that perhaps they would not have a team, that they would not be able to play.
But they said that they received e-mails from all over the country. One player telling me that he received e-mails from people who he didn't even know, who found way to contact him lending support.
So they feel like they have the support of the community behind them. They feel like they have a stronger team now in place in terms of moving forward.
LEMON: All right, and you can see that interview on "THE SITUATION ROOM" at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Thank you, Jason Carroll.
Just a short time ago, we told you more than 900 people have been killed this week in Syria, but survivors are looking for shelter. CNN's international Jim Clancy has some of their stories -- Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, the death toll continues to soar in Syria with activists reporting more than 150 people killed on Friday alone including large numbers of women and children.
Indiscriminate bombing attacks by jets, the rockets fired into civilian areas and tanks moving in on the ground in many places across the country.
The battle has centered not only on the large cities like Damascus and Aleppo, but on many smaller towns where the Free Syrian Army has held sway for months.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY (voice-over): All young men have gone. All the young men have been burned this woman shouted. Their voices filled with grief and anger. They trudge along. The smoke from fires smeared the skyline from behind them.
Video posted on YouTube purports to show residents of the town leaving their homes, escaping with their lives but little else. Some carried bags with food or belongings, perhaps a single bottle of water.
Many cradle children or infants in their arms. Some appear to be injured or exhausted after days of fighting in Hirak. As they appear to abandon their town many curse Bashar Assad or poured out their stories that all of the young men have been killed. Children murdered and burned.
The determined drive by Syrian government troops left those who supported the uprising in despair. This man was comforted by passersby, but couldn't contain his emotion. Hirak is located north of Jira where Syria's uprising began 17 months ago.
The town not far from the Jordanian border had long been used as a base by the Free Syrian Army. This week, it's 20,000 residents paid the price.
Video also posted on YouTube purports to show the burned out shops and obvious signs of damage from tank fire, which may have set the buildings ablaze. A few young men remain where city streets show the deep scars of tank tracks.
A handful of apparent fighters hastily carry the badly wounded comrade on a stretcher getting medical treatment won't be easy. Bashar doesn't fear God this woman shouted. All the men were slaughtered. Now refugees and head long flight the people of Hirak scrambled aboard trucks to escape. Some will likely find refuge with relatives in nearby villages. Others may try to leave Syria altogether.
Children looked out from one of the trucks, clearly affected by all they had witnessed. The cameraman repeated again and again the world should see what is happening in Syria. The children have seen the ferocity of the fighting between the Free Syrian Army and government troops intent on a crackdown.
What they can't see clearly is what kind of a future they're going to have in their own country.
(on camera): It isn't only the refugees from that single town. It's an estimated two-and-a-half million Syrians who have been driven out of their homes. They remain desperately in need of aid. But there are no humanitarian corridors, no safe havens.
Clearly, President Bashar al-Assad's military is making a frontal assault on the opposition. And we can only expect the situation inside the country to grow more desperate in the hours and the days ahead -- Don.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Jim Clancy, thank you very much.
