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Suspected School Gunman in Custody; 1972 Miami Dolphins at White House; White House Denies Cutting off Egypt Aid; Gunned Down by Bored Teenagers

Aired August 20, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Elementary school. Quickly, let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, obviously, has anything like this ever happened before in terms of lockdowns at this school?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not that I know of. No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Thank you, Kenyata Lucky (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And, Bernard (ph), can she - Bernard, can she tell - can she tell us where that shooter was in the school?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any idea? Does she have any idea?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we - do we know where that shooter was in the school or -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was in the front office so far that I know of. The front office.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we know if any shots were actually fired or -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was fired, because she said she heard the gunshot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we know if anybody was hurt or anybody hit?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So far, no hurt. No children hurt. No adult hurt that I know of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And so where's your mother-in-law now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On Longdale (ph) Street. They got them put off to the side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to head over there now to go see them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Kenyata, thank you so much for talking to us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does she know about the Wal-Mart situation, Bernard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you know about the Wal-Mart, right, that's where the kids are going?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, where the children are being held there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Very good. Well, I'm glad your mother-in-law is safe. I'm glad your son is safe. Thanks so much, Kenyata Lucky.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. So you just heard first-hand right there from someone whose mother or mother-in-law, actually, works in that school. A scary situation. Imagine being in there when somebody having a gun, whether it be a hand gun or an AK-47, as she mentioned. Now, of course, none of this has been confirmed yet in terms of the type of gun this person allegedly had. But, obviously, some very scary moments for people in that school, locking themselves in a storage room after hearing shots fired. Scary moments, particularly after what we saw in Connecticut at Sandy Hook.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, gosh. And, Bernard, behind you, are you noticing anymore activity? Does it look as if -- we're seeing pictures on the right-hand side of our screen of the buses leaving or getting over to the kids so they can load them up and take them to that Wal- Mart. Are you feeling any sort of movement there, like maybe this investigation is moving somewhere else?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Stephanie, we've -- at one point we were at the tip of the cutoff where, you know, we couldn't go any further. Now they've actually extended it, allowing us to get closer. But we're still not close enough to really see what's going on at the school. The number of people out here have decreased a great deal as folks are going to where their kids are. They've returned home. And also a lot of people have actually moved closer to the school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A live picture there -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But still a lot of -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, go ahead, Bernard, I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, just still a lot of police officers still out here. We're seeing a couple of ambulances up by the school. But certainly the number of law enforcement officers here is slowly starting to decrease.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Bernard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gosh. Thank you, Bernard. We just heard from a woman, Kenyata Lucky. Says her mother-in-law works in the cafeteria at NcNair Discovery Learning Center and that they were in the front office at the time. Lunch would have been over by then. And she heard some shots fired. They all went in the storage room and locked the door. Her and whoever else was in the main office there. And I'm sure there's a protocol. At that point you call 911. You secure the office and areas so it's unclear if she's hearing it in that front office area, though.

BALDWIN: OK. So pieces of the story are beginning to emerge. But as you know, in any breaking news situation such as this, this is when misinformation can get out here. So let me just be crystal clear. This is what we know thus far here on CNN. There was some sort of shooting. You heard from the eye witness that her mother, her mother-in-law, did hear a shot or shots fired. This is an elementary school. It's a charter school in DeKalb County. This is just outside of the downtown Atlanta area.

And you see all these students, we're talking pre-k through fifth grade, happening right around an hour or so ago when we saw them racing from this school. Reports of shots fired. The latest we have - and thank goodness, as we know parents were incredibly terrified - is that all children, faculty and staff are A-OK.

Here's what we know in addition from the DeKalb County public information officer. They're telling CNN, the situation is over. There is nothing else going on inside the school. Listening to some of the reporting, of course you have, you know, police and sheriff's deputies setting up a perimeter, as they do in situations like this, going, you know, classroom to classroom, room to room, making sure this is a -- the school is cleared out. That, of course, the kids, priorities number one. And there was a briefing going on in the school right now.

So let me bring in Mike Brooks, just sitting down with me, popping his microphone on. Here we have -- thank goodness, this seems to be over.

MIKE BROOKS: Yes.

BALDWIN: No one injured. But incredibly frightening, especially we were all watching these pictures, these little itty bitty kids racing across the street to this big field. And now you have parents going to a Wal-Mart parking lot this afternoon to pick them up?

BROOKS: Yes. Well, the Wal-Mart is right down the street from the school. Right on - right down to Second - you go right down Second Avenue by Gretchen (INAUDIBLE) right there. So, you know, we were looking at this. But you see the kids coming in and out. What does that say? That says training. That they have trained for this. The gunman --

BALDWIN: They have a plan.

BROOKS: Right. The gunman comes - comes in the front door, they went out the back door, Brooke. And that says to me that they - this school has trained for an active shooter. We know this school has not been back in session that long --

BALDWIN: Let me interrupt.

BROOKS: Go ahead. Yes.

BALDWIN: Forgive me. I've got someone now on the phone. Jamarcus Holloway (ph).

Jamarcus, I understand your nephew goes to this school, McNair Discovery Learning Academy. How old is your nephew?

JAMARCUS HOLLOWAY (via telephone): My nephew is seven years old.

BALDWIN: Seven years old. Have you talked to him? Is he - is he OK?

HOLLOWAY: No, I haven't talked to him. I'm trying to get there to get to him now. I just came away from Tara (ph) Boulevard to try to get him.

BALDWIN: What has the school told you, Jamarcus?

HOLLOWAY: The school hasn't told me anything. The only thing that I heard was the updates from the news and from my phone saying that there was a shooter in the building and that shots were fired.

BALDWIN: Shooting in the building, shots were fired. So you heard - who told you shots, multiple shots?

HOLLOWAY: Actually, I read it on WSB.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. So you have a nephew. He is seven years old. And where are you -- where are you headed to this parking lot? Is someone going to pick him up?

HOLLOWAY: Yes, I'm - I'm right on Second Avenue, right down the street from the school. I can't even get to the school there's so many police, but I'm trying to get to Wal-Mart now to get him.

BALDWIN: Tell me what it looks like where you are right now. Tell me how many --

HOLLOWAY: What it looks like -- what I see, right now I see two or three police. I see 11 Alive. I see Channel 2. I see Channel 5. There's a lot - there's a lot going on right here.

BALDWIN: OK. So a lot of media. Jamarcus trying to get there, Mike Brooks, trying to get to this seven-year-old nephew of his. And I'm sure you'll be able to.

Mike Brooks, we -- unfortunately we've done this before.

BROOKS: Yes.

BALDWIN: And what always strikes me is, and to your point, that there does seem to be a plan in place, thank goodness. But the fact that once they sort of secured that, in this case it sounds like one alleged gunman now in custody, they then set up that perimeter, right, to go classroom to classroom?

BROOKS: Sure. And, you know, once they said that no one - that all children were safe, no one was transported. But, yes, once they do have someone in custody, you don't know if anybody else came in with this person. So they'll do a sweep, make sure that no one else is hiding anywhere. Either people who might have run away from the gunshots or someone else who was involved in this, but it looks like that they -- the scene is secure right now. But all the kids are being taken by bus from the school to the Wal-Mart where their - where their parents can come meet them.

But again, it sounds like they had a plan in place and it looks like that plan worked today.

BALDWIN: Thank goodness. Mike Brooks, thank you very much.

We're going to keep a close eye on this story in the Atlanta area, I promise, but let me totally switch gears and take you to the nation's capital, take you to the White House, where there is - there is some big doings happening in the White House at this hour. Guys, I'm assuming these are live pictures. Because, here we go, finally, finally, finally, for the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only undefeated team in the NFL, remember this? They went 17-0. They are finally getting to go to the White House.

We have a couple of people to talk about this. This is obviously a huge, huge deal for this team. Our chief White House correspondent is there.

Jessica Yellin, tell me how this whole thing came to fruition in the first place.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Story. We're hoping the president will tell us when he stands up and welcomes them, exactly how this all came to pass. But we do know that the president is a true sports fan and also that this is the historic undefeated team. They have the -

BALDWIN: Here he is. Here's the president. Let's listen.

YELLIN: Go ahead.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And, you know, I love baseball, but "SportsCenter" is better when you've also got some football on there. College football kicks off next week. NFL regular season, the week after that. And so today, just to whet everybody's appetite, I am proud to welcome the only undefeated, untied team in NFL history to the White House for the very first time. Give it up for the 1972 Miami Dolphins, please.

I know this is a little unorthodox four decades after the fact, but these guys never got their White House visit after winning Super Bowl VII. I know some of them are a little harder to recognize these days. You know, they don't have the afros or the mutton chops, the Fu Manchus, but I want to recognize and thank, first and foremost, their outstanding coach, Coach Shula, the legendary Hall of Fame Coach Shula.

I want to thank the owners, Stephen Ross, and I want to thank Tim Robi (ph) and everyone from the Dolphins organization who helped made this event possible after all this time. And I know that some people may be asking why we're doing this after all these years. And my answer is simple, I wanted to be the young guy up here for once.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's cold (ph). That's cold (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very cold (ph).

OBAMA: I did have to explain to my staff, who mostly are in their early 30s, what an incredible impact these guys had, including on me, when they were playing. You know, these Dolphins made history back before Super Bowl champs started visiting the White House. The first teams didn't start coming until after 1980. And, let's face it, this is also just a fun thing to do. I like doing it as president. I even let the Packers come a couple of years ago, which was hard to do. So I decided it was high time to pay tribute to the NFL's only perfect team and to give Butch and Sundance and the (INAUDIBLE) defense in her too.

In 1972, these guys were a juggernaut. They had a grinding running game that wore opponents down. They became the first team ever with two thousand yard rushers. They had the league's best offense. They had the league's best defense. They posted three shutouts. They doubled the score of their opponents eight times. And they did most of it after their outstanding pro bowl starting quarterback, Bob Griese, broke his leg in week five. And that brought in backup Earl "Old Bones" Morrall, who unfortunately couldn't be here today. As one teammate later said, Earl couldn't run and he couldn't throw, but Earl could win. And that's what he and the Dolphins did again and again and again.

Winning the Super Bowl, however, was not a foregone conclusion. The Dolphins had to win in Pittsburgh just to make it there. And once they did, they still were slight underdogs to the Redskins in the big game. Plus, they had lost in the Super Bowl the year before. People were stupidly doubting whether Coach Shula was going to win the big one. So the pressure was on leading up to the big game.

But the key to their victory, I am told, is that Csonka put an alligator in Coach Shula's shower.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He blamed (INAUDIBLE).

OBAMA: So that loosened everybody up. The Dolphins went on to win their first back-to-back titles. And with every year this team's accomplishments just look better and better. They're one of only two teams to play in three straight Super Bowls. Seven players have busts in the Hall of Fame. Coach Shula retired with more wins than any coach in NFL history. Each and every time that perfect record has been challenged, team after team has fallen short.

But these Dolphins didn't always get the credit they deserved. Some said that they only had to play 14 regular season games. I've got to come clean here. A couple of years ago I hosted the '85 Bears out on the South Lawn. They'd also missed their chance to have a White House visit, and that day I called them the greatest team ever, but, I mean, take it with a grain of salt. Their -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

OBAMA: Bears lost once in their nearly perfect season.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We beat them.

OBAMA: It happened to be the Dolphins.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you again. Thank you again.

OBAMA: So I think you've made your point. Nobody can argue with this record. Nobody can argue with what all of you have gone on to do after you hung up the shoulder pads for the last time. You know, players from this team have gone on to become a minister, a mayor, a doctor, a state senator, a high school counselor, many successful business men.

Yes, Nick Buoniconti helped found the world's most comprehensive spinal cord research center. Some have dabbled in acting. I hear somebody serves up a pretty good t-bone as well. So these are all men of accomplishment and character and it showed on the field and off the field as well. We want to congratulate all of them and we want to make sure that they're remembered for not only the history that sports fans will always remember, but also for all the countless contributions that they've made in their community as well.

So, thank you again. Congratulations. It's been a great honor to be here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Finally, finally, 40 years later. Remember, this is the team, as the president pointed out, and you hear all of them saying, yeah, in the background, you know, they were 17-0. The only undefeated pro football team. These are the guys who hoist a glass of Champaign any time and undefeated.

Oh, let's listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great to be here and we feel honored. It's been 40 years, but, what the hell, we still feel honored. But when you look at that, the undefeated team, and we all signed it, we want to present you with this. And even though you were a Bear fan, we understand you've got to root for somebody. But that's -- everybody signed this, the undefeated '72 Dolphins. And we -- this is something that we hope that you find a good spot for somewhere in your office or - and where you can look at it and think about the whipping that we put on that '85 Bear team.

OBAMA: All right, everybody, are we going to strike the podium here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

BALDWIN: What a great moment. We'll stay with the pictures. Talk about a moment of levity in this - in this news cycle to see this team, you know, a little grayer, maybe moving a little slower. Coach Shula on a motorized scooter, nonetheless handing over that undefeated jersey to the president.

Jon Wertheim joins me, executive editor of "Sports Illustrated." So this is so great. This is - these are great visuals. And the whole back story about how this whole thing came together. But so, Jon, there are three players - oh, look at Don Shula standing up -- three players who are not there.

JON WERTHEIM, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED" (via telephone): There are three players that aren't there, and that's sort of in keeping with recent tradition where a few outliers on these teams when they go to the White House and they get to celebrate their championship use that as an opportunity to protest and there's some striking in their absence. And, I mean, you know, it's certainly their right. You can see from ceremonies like this, it's (INAUDIBLE), it's a good time. It's -- I think it's a little disappointing to sort of politicize what's pretty much just a fun day at the White House.

BALDWIN: Yes. And also the story, Jon, about how the tight ends, Marv Fleming, apparently he had spent years and years, you know, trying to get to the White House. This wasn't really a thing to do in the early '70s. President Nixon, a tad busy with Watergate. So, nonetheless, apparently his pal, who played on the Redskins team, who oddly enough is who they beat to become the undefeated team, his wife, lawyer, White House, you know, ultimately they got the gig.

Jessica Yellin, let me go back to you with a pretty plumb assignment today, getting to cover this. But also, if I may, just make a hard turn and talk Egypt. You have some news from the White House when it comes to the crisis that's been developing and Egypt. What do you have?

YELLIN: We had quite a go around in the briefing today with Josh Earnest (ph). He is maintaining -- he's filling in for Jay Carney -- and he's maintaining that the White House has not cut off aid to Egypt. Now, we've been reporting that aid to Egypt has been put on pause while the White House is reviewing what they should do in the future and what is going on here is a little bit of linguistic language, parsing of words, a little legalisms.

The White House is saying, technically, aid has not officially been halted and there is no aid currently flowing to Egypt, so they haven't stopped it. But up on Capitol Hill, one of the Democratic senators there is saying, actually they've been informed that aid is being halted and so there's a bit of a dispute between what Capitol Hill is saying and what the White House is saying.

I can tell you that the president is meeting with his most senior foreign policy officials, including Secretary of State Kerry presumably and the secretary of defense in just about five, 10 minutes to discuss some of these very issues. They say they will be reviewing a final decision. But we don't expect to get that word even today, Brooke. This will take some time to make official determination.

BALDWIN: OK. So we'll figure out what The Hill, the White House, the aid. We're talking about the $1.3 billion, $1.5 billion that the U.S. gives to Egypt each and every year. We'll see what the two decide ultimately. What will be happening, whether or not that will be cut off or not. Jessica Yellin at the White House. Jessica, thank you very much.

YELLIN: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Coming up, reports of these three teenagers who, according to police, shot and killed this athlete who was just out for a jog in Oklahoma. Teenagers quoted in local reports saying they did it just for fun. They're in court this hour. That story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: For three teenagers who police say were bored, had nothing better to do, allegedly gunned down and killed a young man in this senseless act of violence. Chris Lane, an Australian baseball player, was out for a jog in an Oklahoma neighborhood. A student from Melbourne, attending college on a baseball scholarship, who was visiting the town of Duncan, where his girlfriend and her family live. Police say the teenagers followed Lane in a car and shot him in the back before speeding away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DANIEL FORD, DUNCAN, OKLAHOMA POLICE: There was some people that saw him stagger across the road, go to a kneeling position and then collapse on the side of the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN's Alina Machado is covering this story for us.

We know the teens are in court next hour. Tell me about the charges they face and about this alleged confession.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, we know the teens will be charged in connection to the murder, but we don't know just yet the exact charges each will be facing. We're hoping to learn more once the suspects face a judge.

Now, police say Chris Lane was jogging Friday afternoon when he crossed paths with the suspects ages 15, 16, and 17. Those teens, according to authorities, were on a mission to kill and randomly shot Lane in the back. Witnesses reported hearing one gunshot. A woman told police she saw the 22-year-old fall to the ground and she tried to help him by performing CPR. Another woman stopped and called 911. Paramedics took Lane to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Now, the teens were seen speeding away in a car and police later caught up with them thanks to surveillance video from nearby businesses. The police chief says one of the teens contacted investigators and told them exactly how the killing happened and the location of the murder weapon. Now this story is chilling and devastating, especially for the victim's family. Here's what his father told reporters in Australia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETER LANE, CHRISTOPHER'S FATHER: He's left his mark, as we know, and, you know, there's not going to be any good come out of this because it was just so senseless. It's happened. It's wrong. And we just try and deal with it the best we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACHADO: You can really sense the emotion and the pain in that father's voice. Now, Lane has a girlfriend here in the U.S., and she has posted on FaceBook. Her name is Sarah Harper. She posted an emotional tribute saying, quote, "you will always be mine and in a very special and protected place in my heart."

Now there's also a rest in peace Christopher Lane FaceBook page that has gotten tens of thousands of likes. It's unclear who created this page but, Brooke, it has been flooded with messages of love and support for those who knew this victim.

BALDWIN: Awful all the way around. This young man, just jogging. And I know there's a lot of anger from Australians toward - you know, directed towards the U.S. because of this, so we're going to tackle both, of course, them in court and that angle coming up next hour.

Alina, thank you very much.

Coming up, a dad is shot to death in broad daylight outside his son's day care. The trigger man, his wife's boss. And prosecutors say she was involved in a love triangle turned deadly. Well, on the day, Andrea Sneiderman learns her fate, she speaks in her defense. Jane Velez-Mitchell joins me live after the break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREA SNEIDERMAN: And the state wrongly charged me with a murder that I had nothing to do with and would do anything to undo. I want to go back to the life I had with Rusty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A widow, just convicted for lies linked to her husband's murder, took the stand today for the very first time in the trial. Here she was during the sentencing. Andrea Sneiderman wept, pleaded and expressed regret. But the one thing she didn't do, admit to the nine counts of perjury, hindrance and obstruction of justice that a jury just found her guilty of committing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREA SNEIDERMAN, CONVICTED PERJURER: Despite my state of mind following the murder, I did nothing to obstruct justice in any way. I gave the police names, passwords, access to all of my personal (INAUDIBLE) computers and phone information. When asked on November 19, 2010, if I knew anyone interested in breaking up my family, I said yes and immediately gave Mr. Newman's name to the police.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Today, a Georgia judge sentenced Andrea Sneiderman to five years in prison for her actions after her husband, Rusty, was gunned down outside their son's day care back in November of 2010. Her boss, Hemy Newman, was the killer. Prosecutors said Andrea was having an affair with Newman and hindered