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Three Killed at Pennsylvania Town Meeting; Boos Greet A-Rod in Chicago; Fort Hood Massacre Trial Begins; Powerball Swells to $400 Million; Brutal Beating Caught on Tape
Aired August 06, 2013 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks, guys, have a great morning.
And happening now in the NEWSROOM -- terror at city council: a town hall meeting shattered by bullets. Three people are dead and this morning the story of a hero is emerging.
Plus this -- booed in Chi-town, A-Rod battered and bruised by a suspension taking the field -- the humiliating public verdict playing out before all of America.
And Oprah reportedly reaching out to Lindsay Lohan. Just hours before the embattled star was going to take off for a European vacation, the queen of talk steps in.
NEWSROOM starts now.
Good morning, I'm Brianna Keilar in for Carol Costello. And a small Pennsylvania community that prided itself on never being in the headlines is finding itself in the middle of a very tragic story this morning.
Police say a man with an 18-year-old grudge against Ross township officials killed three people at a town council meeting in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, last night. This is about 70 miles north of Philadelphia.
And witnesses say that Rockne Newell started firing even before he entered the building. Once inside, the gunman sprayed more bullets, then left and came back with another gun. The nightmare didn't stop until he was tackled and shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. ROBERT BARTEL, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: They absolutely would have saved lives. He was entering the building again with a handgun and certainly his intent had been shown that he was wanting to harm the people and certainly if they would not have done that, he would have killed or injured other people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Let's go live now to Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, that's where CNN's Poppy Harlow is.
And, Poppy, I can imagine this community is just reeling from this.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, this is, as you said, a town that itself said is never in the headlines. This is a small, very tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone, and they are reeling from this.
It's a tragedy. The horror played out right behind me at a typical town hall meeting last night about 7:30 p.m. Three innocent people shot dead. Several others shot, wounded. We know that three of the injured have been treated and released from area hospitals at this hour. One of the other injured we do not know their condition at this time, but this scene, believe it or not, Brianna, could have been even more deadly if it were not for two heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW (voice-over): The normally calm town council meeting turned into horror in seconds. Authorities say this man, Rockne Newell, entered the Ross township building and opened fire, spraying bullets at the 15 officials and attendees.
BARTEL: And as you can imagine, you know, there have been multiple people shot there, and you know, there have been a struggle there, so, you know, it was -- it was chaotic. Certainly, there was -- there was quite a bit of damage and what you would expect.
HARLOW: Police say Newell started firing even before he entered the building, shooting through the windows, killing three and wounding several more with what is described as a long gun.
A local reporter in the room said, "I heard more than 10 shots and saw plaster flying out, blowing out through the walls." Then police say Newell was tackled to the ground after leaving to retrieve a handgun.
BARTEL: He then again re-approached the building and entered the building again firing the weapon and was subsequently tackled and brought to the ground by two individuals who were inside the township building. He was restrained until the troopers arrived and took him into custody.
HARLOW: Witnesses say one of the men who tackled him, Bernie Kozen, bear-hugged Newell, bringing him to the ground. This tweet from atsourkraut, "Hails Kozen as a hero," and authorities credit Kozen with preventing further bloodshed.
BARTEL: They absolutely would have saved lives. He was entering the building again with a -- with a handgun and certainly his intent had been -- had been shown that he was wanting to do harm to people and certainly if they would not have done that, that he would have killed or injured other people.
HARLOW: Local media from the last year suggests Newell was troubled, described by neighbors as a junk collector, ordered to vacate his property after it was condemned by the town, following a year's long battle with the township's Board of Supervisors.
He told "The Pocono Record" last year, "Looks like I'm going to be homeless because I have nowhere to go."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: -- with the man who says he helped Bernie Kozen tackle the shooter, bring him to the ground. He didn't want us to use his name, he doesn't want any attention or praise for this. He said, I was just doing what I had to do. But he told me when the alleged shooter ran inside the building behind me, he yelled, "They stole my land, they stole my land."
So this makes the connection to that property dispute that you heard about in our piece. Police are not directly tying that as a motive at this point, we're waiting for an 11:00 a.m. presser, but I just want to give you some details about how these two men say they tackled the man to the ground.
That man I talked to said that he stood on the alleged shooter's neck when they finally got him on the ground. The other stood on his ankles. The shooter was shot, we don't know by whose gun, and they tied his arms behind his head with a jacket until police could arrive. And if it weren't for them, many more people may have died because we know he went out to his car for a second gun -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Wow. Poppy Harlow, and we'll come back to you for that -- when you get more information from that 11:00 press conference.
HARLOW: Yes.
KEILAR: Thank you so much.
Now Major League Baseball slammed Alex Rodriguez with the biggest non- gambling suspension ever, but the Yankee third baseman played on to a chorus of boos in Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number 13, Alex Rodriguez.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Deafening, right? Well, A-Rod is expected to appeal his 211- game suspension, which officially begins on Thursday.
Baseball suspended a total of 13 players yesterday for their part in a doping scandal. A-Rod is the only one who didn't take his punishment. And while many players and fans are angry about the stain on the sport, some are also responding with humor.
ESPN baseball analyst John Kruk said, "Tonight A-Rod will be playing third, batting fourth, and pleading fifth." And former MLB manager Ozzie Guillen tweeted, "It's all Madonna's fault." Kind of funny there. "Now every athlete she has been with has gone bad. You could see Canseco, Rodman, and now Rodriguez, lol, lol, lol." So many lols there. So let's bring in Rachel Nichols. She is with CNN Sports.
Funny comments there, Rachel, but the commissioner's office certainly isn't laughing here.
RACHEL NICHOLS, ANCHOR, CNN SPORTS: No, hardly. When they suspended Alex Rodriguez yesterday, they used particularly harsh language in their statement. We said this was going to get ugly, well, it's getting ugly already. They could have just suspended him, talked about the status under which they suspended him.
Instead, they spelled out that he used multiple performance-enhancing drugs, including testosterone, they specified, including HGH, over multiple years, making it clear that this wasn't just a short period. That their allegation is that he used these drugs basically the entire time that he was a Yankee and that all of those all-star numbers are fake. They are inflated.
Now Alex Rodriguez met the media shortly after that came out and he was asked point blank, did he use performance-enhancing drugs?
It's interesting, Brianna, he didn't directly answer the question, in fact, he declined to answer the question. Instead he said he had to defend himself against the severity of the punishment, not the verdict itself. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX RODRIGUEZ, NEW YORK YANKEE: I'm sure there's been mistakes made along the way. We're here now. I'm a human being. I've had two hip surgeries, I've had two knee surgeries. I'm fighting for my life. I have to defend myself. If I don't defend myself, no one else will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLS: A-Rod's fate now is in the hands of a 64-year-old California journeyman arbitrator. This is the guy who's going to decide the fate of the highest paid player in the history of Major League Baseball. He'll consider this case over the next few months.
We don't expect a decision, Brianna, until maybe November.
KEILAR: Wow, that is quite a while. And his 211-game suspension begins on Thursday. We will keep following this with you, Rachel Nichols. Thank you.
Now the army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in a 2009 shooting at Ft. Hood goes to trial today. According to prosecutors, Major Nidal Hasan premeditated the massacre on his fellow soldiers who were preparing to ship out to Afghanistan and Iraq.
This was the deadliest soldier-on-soldier attack in recent U.S. military history and he could face the death penalty if convicted. Hassan has chosen to represent himself in court, meaning he can legally cross-examine the victims. The very people that he shot. CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joining me now.
Chris, this is -- I mean, this is almost unbelievable, shocking some people would say. And you can just imagine sort of being in the shoes of these victims and being questioned by the person that you were -- that you were shot by or allegedly shot by.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brianna. I mean, they believe this is the man who tried to kill them and yet they are going to be subjected to his questions if he, indeed, tries to cross-examine them. You know, because of that, no one really knows what to expect when this hearing gets started in less than an hour, but just because you have the right to defend yourself, it doesn't give you free reign in the court to do whatever you want.
There's going to be a lot of pressure on this military judge to make sure that Hasan does not go so far as to harass some of these witnesses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): When this army major goes on trial today for allegedly murdering 13 fellow soldiers and civilians, he may not put on much of a defense. Major Nidal Hasan only plans to call two witnesses.
Thirty-two people survived the massacre at Ft. Hood in 2009. When prosecutors bring some of them to the stand, Hasan himself will be doing the cross-examination.
NEAL SHER, FORT HOOD VICTIMS' ATTORNEY: It is going to be very difficult. It will be painful.
LAWRENCE: Survivors have waited four years to tell their story in court.
MICK ENGNEHL, FORT HOOD SHOOTING SURVIVOR: All of a sudden, like, we just hear, Allahu Akbar, somewhere, and just pow, pow. Shooting everywhere.
LAWRENCE: Retired soldier Mick Engnehl says he clearly remembers Hasan pointing a gun at him and pulling the trigger.
ENGNEHL: Felt like a baseball bat, hit me on the other side of the neck. And then just blood went everywhere.
LAWRENCE: And while the physical scars are fading, unseen injuries linger.
CHRISTOPHER ROYAL, FORT HOOD SHOOTING SURVIVOR: Since the shooting, I just -- I don't know what happened, but my short, short-term memory is just non-existing.
LAWRENCE: Hasan's former attorney says he's got a right to represent himself, even if survivors have to be subjected to his questions. JOHN GALLIGAN, FORT HOOD SUSPECT'S FORMER ATTORNEY: Their sensitivities on the issue, I think, are subordinate to his constitutional right to act as his own attorney.
LAWRENCE: Hasan has claimed he was protecting the Taliban from soldiers who would soon be deploying to fight them in Afghanistan. The judge's ruled out that defense, so it remains to be seen how he'll defend his actions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Believe it or not, since the shooting, Hasan has earned about $300,000, all courtesy of the same government that's trying to convict and kill him.
Military prosecutors are pushing for the death penalty, but army officials tell us they have no choice but to keep paying Hasan because he is a United States soldier and he's not been convicted -- Brianna.
KEILAR: That is so unreal, Chris. What happens to all of the money that he's earned since the shooting?
LAWRENCE: Well, if he's convicted at sentencing, the judge could impose a fine, so some of the money could go to that. Also some of it could go to repay some of the defense experts who are recalled during this trial. And there's always the possibility of a civil suit, although with so many victims, you know, dozens and dozens of victims, you know, it's not very much money when you start spreading it out that way.
KEILAR: No, certainly not. This will be a story to watch. Extraordinary. Somewhat disturbing, certainly, the process of this trial.
Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence, thank you for that report.
LAWRENCE: Sure.
KEILAR: Well, checking this morning's other top stories, both the American and British governments are evacuating nonessential personnel from their embassies in Yemen because of a potential terrorist threat. Sources say that members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula are planning an attack. The U.S. is also urging American citizens to leave the country immediately.
Major delays for airlines around the world after a problem with a reservation system called saber. Maybe you've heard of it. The system was down for about two and a half hours, it forced airline employees to manually enter reservations, going old school there, and that left thousands of passengers very frustrated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
We got, like, a slip of paper saying, you know, some computer systems are down, but I don't really know what else.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best answer I got was a maybe it will be up tonight or maybe not.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So they just told you sit and wait, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Essentially, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Just got in from Maui and it's going to take hours to get home.
No fun at all. And officials don't yet know what caused the outage. In a statement, Saber says its teams are working to resolve the issue.
Well, in money news, the competition to get drivers behind the wheel of an electric car is heating up. General Motors is knocking $5,000 off a Chevy Volt. And that brings the price down to 35,000. Two other electric car makers have also cut prices on their electric cars in its effort to ramp up sales.
Well, have you ever wondered what you would do if you won the lottery? Might be time to start. There were no winners during Saturday's Powerball drawing, which means you still have a chance to win a whopping $400 million jackpot tomorrow. Thinking of all the things I could do with that, right?
Well, the prize is the third highest amount in history. In May, an 84-year-old Florida woman won a record $590 million prize.
And if it feels like Powerball prizes keep getting bigger, that is because they are, most certainly. Just how high could the jackpot rise?
That there's no winner tomorrow night, Alison Kosik joining us live mow from New York.
And first off, Alison, have you bought your ticket? I suppose --
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, I haven't. I admit it, I haven't yet, but I still have time. And you know a lot of dreams, Brianna, are riding on this Powerball drawing happening Wednesday night. The $400 million jackpot is enticing people to line up in hopes that they'll get a piece of it, which means the jackpot is going to grow even bigger.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK (voice-over): Americans have $400 million reasons to look forward to Wednesday night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get out those tickets and let's play Powerball.
KOSIK: The $400 million Powerball jackpot that is keeping stores like this busy across the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Powerball, five tickets, $10.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are not buying dollar tickets. They are buying 10, 20, more, 50. KOSIK: This jackpot is already the third largest Powerball ever and the more who buy, the bigger the pot. Players may be buying for much more in years to come.
VICTOR MATHESON, ECONOMIC PROFESSOR, COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS: You could see maybe in the next several years, maybe an elusive billion dollar jackpot.
KOSIK: That's right, a billion with a "B." Since the first drawing in 1992, jackpots have gotten bigger, and bigger, and bigger. In June, Gloria McKenzie in Florida won the biggest jackpot ever, $590 million.
MATHESON: In the last time couple of years, there has been a merger between the Megamillions and the Powerball, and now you can buy both in just about every state in the United States which gives you a much bigger pool of bidders, which makes those jackpot pools a lot bigger as well. Powerball, at the same time, doubled the price of their ticket from $1 to $2.
KOSIK: Powerball tickets are sold in 43 states, Washington, D.C. and the Virgin Islands, but the chance of winning is less than 1 in 175 million. That's not discouraging these buyers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the winning ticket right here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Feeling lucky today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK (on camera): OK, if you've got a ticket or two at this point, Powerball officials say don't just focus on the jackpot, because this game hasn't had a jackpot winner for more than a month but has doled out smaller prizes where some players have become million dollar winners just winning, you know, with a few numbers instead of all six, Brianna. So, the key here is to check your tickets really well, Brianna.
KEILAR: Really well. Don't get greedy. It could get a little something, even if you don't get the whole shebang.
KOSIK: Exactly.
KEILAR: Alison Kosik, thank you so much. Go buy your ticket.
KOSIK: I will, I will.
KEILAR: Now just ahead in THE NEWSROOM, we have a river rescue that was caught on tape. You can see who jumped in to help a young girl when a powerful current sucked her in and she couldn't get out. We have that story straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: We're checking our top stories. First to southern California where authorities have issued an Amber alert for a missing 16-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother. Over the weekend, their mother, a child, and a dog were all found dead in a burned-out home and San Diego police have named James Lee DiMaggio, a friend of the mother's, as a suspect. Authorities say he may be driving a blue Nissan Versa.
And a new high school opening here in Atlanta tomorrow will include an indoor rifle range. It will be used by junior ROTC and rifle students once it is safety certified within the next 30 days. A spokesperson says the facility is modeled on one already in use at another Atlanta high school. Parents tell our affiliate WSB they are confident the school will implement the right measures to keep everyone safe.
Now, Detroit has hired Christie's Auction House to appraise the city's world class collection, but the man overseeing Detroit's finances says the move does not mean the city will sell the art. However, Kevyn Orr, the city's emergency manager, is not ruling out a sale in a bid to slash billions of dollars in debt.
And a 9-year-old Kansas girl sucked into a river by high water and rapid currents can thank a police officer and others for her rescue. Police say the girl and her sister were sitting with their feet in the water Sunday when she was swept away. Her 17-year-old sister jumped in to help, she got sucked in, too, and the older girl managed to escape and ran to get help.
Now, check out this video of some severe storms in Kansas yesterday. You can hear them, too. Lightning, rain, powerful winds blowing upwards of 80 miles an hour.
Let's get to meteorologist Indra Petersons, she's monitoring it all. Indra, we're watching damaging storms and heavy rains moving through Kansas and Missouri here.
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I mean, exactly what I was going to say, Brianna. We've been watching storms training really through Kansas and Missouri overnight in Missouri last night, we're talking about four to nine inches of rain. That's an unbelievable high amount of rain.
Actually want to show you the radar where they saw rainfall rates about two inches per hour. Take you over to the radar quick, right around Waynesville, really starting to see the systems continue to train. Unfortunately, that's a dangerous situation. They had flash flood emergencies this morning, about 20 homes need to be evacuated as those flood water rushed into their homes.
Here's the story, we're still watching a low right around Canada, but it's the tailing cold front pushing through the area today, expecting to bring even more rain to the region. It looks like for the next several days, we're going to be talking about showers and thunderstorms in their forecast.
I want to give you a quick update on the tropics. We have some strengthening. Now, tropical depression Gil back to a tropical storm, now tropical storm Gil. It actually looks like the model track here is expecting it to strengthen, still staying south of Hawaii.
That's the good news on Gil, but right behind it, we now have category-one hurricane. Still expected to weaken as we go farther out in the distance, but very careful as far as the track and whether or not it does head towards Hawaii.
The only thing breaking news today, we're talking about heat. Anywhere up to 115 degrees. That's what the heat indexes feel like today. If you're in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, I feel for you guys. No, thanks.
KEILAR: No, thanks, at all. I can't do the triple digits. In dry climates, I get above like 94 degrees and I'm just wilting.
PETERSONS: I got dry.
KEILAR: Yes, all right. Indra Petersons, thank you for that.
Now, still to come, a school bus beating caught on tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUS DRIVER: No, you got to get somebody here quick, quick, quick. They about to beat this boy to death. Please get somebody here quick. And they're doing it. There's nothing I can do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, this bus driver is under fire by those who say that he should have done more. Up next, he talks to CNN and he responds to his critics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHELSEA CLINTON, FORMER PRES. CLINTON'S DAUGHTER: I really felt like I could make a difference and then I should make a difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: All new this half hour, a family affair, Chelsea Clinton in a CNN exclusive. Might she run for office?
Plus, the American dream and why it's getting more expensive to achieve it. Is the time to buy running out?
And this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) this country treats us like dogs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the hell out of my house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, Mr. Butler, I didn't mean to make fun of your hero.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: The blockbuster flick "The Butler," CNN was at the premiere on the red carpet, Whitaker, Kravitz, Oprah, we've got them all
NEWSROOM continues now.
(MUSIC)
KEILAR: A school bus beating caught on tape. This is a video that's gone viral and prompting a lot of people to ask questions about why the school bus driver onboard didn't intervene.
In July, a 13-year-old boy was attacked by three 15-year-old boys, as you see here. The victim was left with a broken arm and now the 64- year-old bus driver is speaking out.
CNN's Piers Morgan spoke to John Moody last night and asked him to respond to the critics who say he should have done more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MOODY, BUS DRIVER IN FLORIDA ATTACK: It's been policy that bus drivers do not jump in the middle of a fight. And me jumping in the middle of that fight with three boys, it would have been more dangerous for other students on the bus, as far as myself. It's just no telling what might have happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So different school districts have different policies. Some say that bus drivers cannot intervene, but let's get a little more on what the specifics of this case is.
CNN's Pamela Brown joining me now live from New York. So, Pamela, what was this school district's policy?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in this school district in particular, Brianna, the driver was not required to physically intervene. He was just required to do what was necessary in order to temper the situation and help the young victim who was being attacked by those three students.
But you know, Brianna, unlike in schools where you have teachers, you have administrators who step in when a fight breaks out, on school buses when violence happens, there's usually only one adult and that is the school bus driver.
So, the questions we're exploring, what should drivers do when violence breaks out and what's being done to break the cycle?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): This disturbing cell phone video showing three teens brutally beating a 13-year-old boy in Pinellas, Florida, in July is just the latest example of bullying onboard school buses.
MOODY: No, you got to get somebody here quick, quick, quick. They about to beat this boy to death.
BROWN: The driver behind the wheel in this case, 64-year-old John Moody. Instead of jumping in to break up the fight, he looked on in horror and called on for help.
MOODY: I did all I can. I was looking, it was like, I was in shock. I was petrified.
