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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
The Man Behind Temple Massacre; Temple Leader Killed In Massacre; Fire Destroys Joplin Mosque; Small Planes Violate Obama Airspace; Fire Rages At California Refinery; Team USA Outlasts Canada; Hoops Stars Tested In First Half; "Romney Hood"; Shooter's Ties To White Supremacists; Loughner To Enter Guilty Plea; Baby In Tote Bag; Train Derails In North Carolina; Flooding In The Philippines; Team USA Outlasts Canada
Aired August 07, 2012 - 05:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks for being with us this morning. I'm Zoraida Sambolin. It is 5:58 here in the east.
And we begin this morning with disturbing revelations about the man police say is behind the deadly Wisconsin Sikh temple shootings, including that an organization that tracks hate groups has been monitoring Wade Michael Page for more than ten years. Now, police are looking into the 40-year-old Page's ties to White supremacists. This photo of Page in front of a swastika is from a Facebook page that has since been taken down
We also know Page was the front man for a White power rock band whose music was promoted on neo-Nazi websites. Neighbors say he was anti-social.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Like a recluse, almost. He didn't talk to us at all. I'd say hi, and he would go ugh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was nice, and then, when he moved in she just changed. It's you could tell he was running the show. He -- she wasn't as friendly any more. She wasn't -- it was kind of like she wasn't allowed to like talk to anybody any more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: David Mattingly is live in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. And David, it is the Southern Poverty Law Center who says that they've been tracking Page since 2000. Do you know if law enforcement was involved as well?
MATTINGLY: The law enforcement says that he was sort of flying under the radar, never really getting in trouble, not showing up in any of their files. And in fact, he wasn't under any sort of active investigation at the time that he carried out this deadly rampage at the Sikh temple here outside of Milwaukee.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: David Mattingly is live in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. David, it is the Southern Poverty Law Center who says that they have been tracking Page since 2000. Do you know if law enforcement was involved as well?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The law enforcement says that he was sort of flying under the radar, never really getting in trouble, not showing up in any of their files.
In fact, he wasn't under any sort of active investigation at the time that he carried out this deadly rampage at the Sikh temple here outside of Milwaukee.
But what we're learning about him is that he had some very strong beliefs about white supremacy, these beliefs going back almost 20 years. When he confided with a friend in the U.S. military when he was serving in the U.S. army talking about how he believed there was a coming race war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS ROBILLARD, FORMER FRIEND OF WADE MICHAEL PAGE: He would often mention the racial holy war that was coming. And you know, we just looked at it as he was trying to get attention to himself because he was always the vulnerable type of person. Even in a group of people, he would be off alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: And we know that the FBI, they've come out publicly saying they are looking at this as a possible case of domestic terrorism and that implies they believe it was possibly Wade Page's beliefs as a white supremacist that may have led him to carry out these deadly attacks here.
SAMBOLIN: Can we switch to the victims. We know many of them are still in the hospital. Do you know anything about her condition this morning?
MATTINGLY: The latest update we had was yesterday from the hospital hearing directly from the doctors themselves. They had a lot to say about that police officer who was shot eight to nine times. He's undergone a couple of surgeries, two others also in the hospital.
All three listed in critical condition yesterday. They've got a long road of recovery ahead of them. Their degree is injury is varying depending on how many times each were shot.
But we know they are working closely and keeping a close watch on them and we'll be watching today to see if any of those three have conditions upgraded.
SAMBOLIN: All right, David Mattingly live from Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Thank you very much. JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Sikh temple's president Satwant Singh Kaleka was among the six people killed by Wade Page. Kaleka is being remembered this morning as a hero for trying to stop the gunman with a butter knife.
His actions gave several temple members time to run for cover. Kaleka's son says he has no doubt his father saved lives on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMARDEEP SINGH KALEKA: What he did in that temple, in that day, saved so many lives and saved so many people.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC 360": You were told he tried to stop the gunman?
KALEKA: Yes, I was told by several FBI agents that the blood trails and the evidence that are inside, blood evidence shows a battle had ensued and a knife next to his body that has blood on it.
And then blood trails leading from wherever that battle of blood was, one towards the kitchen, one towards the bedroom where my dad laid to rest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Kaleka went on to say he hopes Americans can let go of the violence and hatred and become more civilized.
And in the next half hour, we'll be joined by Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, his civil rights organization has been tracking gunman, Wade Page for 12 years.
SAMBOLIN: The FBI is now investigating the second fire in just over a month at a mosque. This is in Joplin, Missouri. This time the mosque was burned to the ground. Flames broke out early Monday morning at the Islamic Society of Joplin.
It follows an arson attempt last month at that same location. That was caught on camera. In the July 4th footage, a suspect is seen approaching the mosque and throwing an ignited object onto the roof.
Coming up at 6:40 this morning here on EARLY START, we'll hear from Kimberly Kester. She is a member of the Islamic Society of Joplin. She believes the fire that broke down her mosque was another case of arson.
BERMAN: President Obama's campaign visit to Connecticut creating quite a commotion in the air. Let's take a look at this amateur video of two F-15 fighter jets intercepting a small plane.
That plane straight into the president's air space over Long Island last night. The pilot was escorted to the ground and questioned.
It had to be a harrowing few minutes for that pilot, half our later another small plane was intercepted near New Haven, Connecticut. That plane was allowed to continue on to its destination. The Secret Service now is investigating.
SAMBOLIN: All right, a raging fire at an oil refinery in Northern California burns through the night and into the morning. A huge cloud of black smoke has been flowing from the Chevron facility in Richmond since the fire started after 6:00 p.m. Health officials are warning people to stay indoors or simply to just leave that area.
BERMAN: All right, 4 minutes past the hour now, and aiming for gold. The U.S. women's soccer team pulls off an amazing semifinal win. This was a nail biter outlasting Canada in a simply riveting match.
Team USA's youngest starter forward Alex Morgan scored on a miraculous header in the 123rd minute giving the U.S. Team a 4-3 victory, really amazing.
And a date with Japan in the finals with the gold medal at stake next. You'll remember Japan beat Team USA in the World Cup final.
In men's basketball, Argentina gave the U.S. Team for the first half anyway. It was a one-point game at halftime. But as the second half start, the U.S. started pulling away thanks to Kevin Durant who had 16 points in the third hitting from everywhere.
In the end, the U.S. thanks to Durant hitting bombs from, you know, Hawaii, they ran away with victory 126-97. Up next for Team USA, the international power house of Australia, actually Australia's OK.
SAMBOLIN: Has anybody had them within one point in the past?
BERMAN: You know, there were other teams leading in the U.S. in these games over the course of these Olympics but, you know -- Lithuania actually beat the U.S.
SAMBOLIN: There you have it. All right, I can't to wait -- I love watching them even though they are super stars.
All right, check out the overall medal standings that we have here. China has the most medals, 64 and the most golds, 31, but the U.S. is right behind, 63 overall medals, 29 of those are gold. Russia has 42 total medals and Great Britain has 40.
BERMAN: A big day for gymnastics ahead, medals will be up for grabs in the men's parallel bars and the horizontal bar finals. Now, the women's side, the floor exercise finals. Gabby Douglas goes for her third gold in the final event of these games, the balance beam.
SAMBOLIN: So have you heard it yet, it might be the new Obama campaign catch phrase.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's like Robin Hood in reverse. It's Romney hood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: You know who's not laughing? The Romney campaign is not laughing. Their response coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back to EARLY START. It is 10 minutes past the hour. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. You know, the sheriff of Nottingham is nowhere to be found, but out of nowhere, the famous outlaw Robin Hood has stepped into the 2012 presidential race, not as a candidate.
But as a new attack line in President Obama's stump speech and it has the Romney camp's attention. We have CNN political editor, Paul Steinhauser to breakdown how the prince of thieves is stealing those spotlight.
Paul, this is really all about this new pitch battle for the middle class?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: It sure it. We've heard both campaigns stepping it up in the last couple of weeks, John and the president going after Mitt Romney's tax plan, which himself and his campaign have really been going after for the last couple of days and now saying that it benefits the wealthy like Mitt Romney and not middle class.
As to the line, he premiered it last night in a fundraiser in Connecticut. Well, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: He'd asked the middle class to pay more in taxes so that he could give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year. It's like Robin Hood in reverse. It's Romney hood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: The president talking about a tax policy institute study of the plan. This is a nonpartisan group that says yes, the plan does benefit the wealthy over the middle class.
The Romney campaign as you can imagine, John, disputing that institute and saying it is biased and saying that the plan itself does not benefit the wealthy over the middle class.
A response last night, of course there's a response, this one from the Romney campaign, President Obama recently said the biggest regret of his first term was not telling better stories.
He's trying to make up for it now, but his stories just aren't true. There's only one candidate in this race who is going to raise taxes on the American people, and that's Barack Obama.
That's Ryan Williams from the Romney campaign. John, I think we'll hear more about this.
BERMAN: I guarantee it. You know, in fact, Mitt Romney is taking his battle to the middle class on the road this weekend. It's where he's going and who he's going to be with that's causing a stir. Key swing states with some pretty interesting guests, right, Paul?
STEINHAUSER: Very much so, four days, four states tour, which kicks off on Saturday, just around the time the Olympics are ending, just around the time maybe he's going to announce his running mate.
Take a look at the map because you're right. He starts in Florida -- Virginia, well, Bob McDonnell, of course, is somebody who is considered, may be on that list the governor there.
But then he goes on to North Carolina and Florida, Marco Rubio will be joining him in Florida. On Tuesday, Ohio, Rob Portman, so many people think that maybe Rob Portman would be the running mate. And he'll be with Mitt Romney in his home state of Ohio on Tuesday.
And one other thing, you know, we're learning whose speaking at the convention as well, the Republican National Convention. And we're hearing speaking roles that's kind of knocking some people out of contention obviously, some people who were maybe on that wide, wide, wide list.
Now we know, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be speaking at the convention. New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, and Nikki Haley of South Carolina, that kind of pretty much rules those three out, John.
BERMAN: All right, Paul Steinhauser, if we don't learn the VP candidate soon, it is clear the Romney team looking to create the buzz at least. Paul Steinhauser in Washington, thanks a lot.
SAMBOLIN: It's 13 minutes past the hour. Let's get you up to date on this morning's top stories.
We are digging deeper into the background of the man identified as the Sikh temple gunman, Wade Michael Page, this morning including his ties to white supremacists.
Page once posted this photo of himself in front of a swastika. This is on Facebook. That picture has since been removed. Page was also the front man for a white power rock band called "End Apathy." Their music was promoted on neo-Nazi web sites.
Attorneys from Jared Lee Loughner are attempting an about face. They're expected to enter at least one guilty plea at a court hearing later this morning for the Tucson massacre suspect if the federal judge finds him competent to stand trial.
Loughner had already pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. The January 2011 attack killed six people and wounded 13 others, including then Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
SAMBOLIN: A woman accused of trying to steal a baby from a hospital and sneak the infant out in a tote bag is in custody this morning. That suspect identified as 48-year-old Razel Ramirez, allegedly posed as an employee in Garden Groove Medical Center in Orange County, California.
Sensors attached to the baby girl set off the hospital alarm. Hospital staff stopped the suspect and recovered the baby girl who was returned to her mother.
BERMAN: Investigators in North Carolina want to know what caused a train carrying liquefied petroleum gas to derail in Gaston County. Nineteen cars jumped the track Monday afternoon. As a precaution, 50 nearby homes were evacuated. Residents were allowed to return a few hours later and luckily no injuries were reported.
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ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Floodwaters continue to rise this morning in the Philippines. Waste deep water can be found in several sections of the capital city of Manila. A dam near Quezon City began overflowing last night, sending more water toward low-lying areas. Weeks of torrential rains have left at least 50 people dead there.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): And a deal just finalized overnight. The San Diego Padres have been sold. The O'Malley Group which includes famous names likes golfer, Phil Mickelson, has purchased the Padres for a reported $800 million. Fairly bargain price. The MLB must still sign off on the deal, but that could happen as soon as Thursday.
Now, the O'Malley Group, a familiar name there, is headed by former Dodgers owners, Peter O'Malley. His father famously -- or infamously defended (ph) purchased the Dodgers back in the 1950s and moved them from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.
SAMBOLIN: And team USA women's soccer team edges Canada in extra time. What a match. Team USA's youngest starter, forward, Alex Morgan, scoring a header in the 123rd minutes, avoiding a penalty kick shootout and giving the U.S. team a 4-3 victory.
Next up, a date with Japan in the finals with the gold medal at stake. The American women have never failed to make an Olympic gold medal match since women's soccer became an event.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN (voice-over): Pay back time.
SAMBOLIN (voice-over): Wow! Puts a lot of pressure.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: I think they're going to do it. They looked great yesterday.
All right. Get this, Brook Baldwin and I are both filling in for Soledad O'Brien this morning --
SAMBOLIN: Several duty.
BERMAN: -- on "Starting Point." And I'm dying to know what is on our show, Brooke. So, tell me.
(LAUGHTER)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Berman, are you ready for two more hours?
BERMAN: Absolutely.
BALDWIN: Let me bring in for you. Here's what's coming up. Really, the question we're asking, I know, you all on it (ph) this morning, who was Wade Michael Page, the suspected gunman here in the Wisconsin temple shooting? We are looking into his past or finding links to the skin head rock scene.
So, coming up, the police chief of Oak Creek, Wisconsin is going to join us live with new details into this investigation.
Also ahead this morning, Mavy Stoddard (ph), a sad story here. She lost her husband in the Arizona massacre last year that severely wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Why she says and I'm quoting her, she is just thrilled by reports that this man, Jared Lee Loughner, has made a plea deal.
Plus, a new attack line for the Obama campaign. Why the president is now calling Romney's tax plan, Robin Hood in reverse. We have independent senator from Connecticut, Joe Lieberman. He's going to join us this morning live along with Christine Todd Whitman, former Republican governor of New Jersey. They will both be stopping by. And this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- saves you money. I'm a thrift saving momma. So, save a little bit of money that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: We are venturing into the land of reality television, a very special kind of reality TV this morning. Here comes "Honey Boo Boo" getting some serious buzz this morning. The show -- I hear you, Zoraida -- the show follows the breakout star, "Toddlers in Tiaras." She and her mother will be here live. A lot of people have a lot of questions about this mother-daughter duo when we will be bringing the questions, certainly, won't we, John Berman?
BERMAN: Brooke made me look at this video, and I swear, I will never be the same again.
SAMBOLIN: I can't wait.
BALDWIN: Don't miss it. That's all I'm saying.
SAMBOLIN: We will be tuned in. Thank you very much.
So, one man's trash is another's obsession. A new study going inside the brain of a hoarder and finding the mess begins in the mind.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back to EARLY START. Fifty-one minutes past the hour. We have all seen the shows, and we can never turn away, can we? Reality TV has taken us into the homes of hoarders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I let everything else go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just gradually over the years accumulated so much stuff that it's gotten to a point where you just can't stand it anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: so, you may wonder how can hoarders live like that? Well, new research gives us a clue. Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is live in Atlanta. And Elizabeth, science says hoarders are wired a little differently than you and me. Is this considered a mental illness?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it's definitely considered a mental illness, but what's new here, Zoraida, is that maybe it's a slightly different mental illness than what we thought. And what this researcher in Connecticut did was really interesting.
The researcher collected his own junk mail, just all that stuff we all get, and he gave it to people with hoarding problems and then he did MRIs of their brain while they went through it, and they were fine with his junk mail. Well, you didn't see anything special on the MRI.
When they had to go through, however, their own junk mail, what he found was that two areas of the brain lit up, and these are areas that try to assign importance to things and relevance to things and prioritize things.
And he thinks what's going on is that hoarders have a hard time making a decision. They see a piece of mail, for example, and think, should I keep it? Can I get rid of it? What should I do with it? And then, that's why they hoard it. They don't want to hoard it. They just end up hoarding it, because they can't decide what to do with it.
SAMBOLIN: All right. And I understand that many hoarders get upset when someone tries to help them. Do the brain scans explain a little bit of that behavior?
COHEN: Yes. They do help to explain it, because you can imagine you're sitting there and you're trying to decide how important is this piece of mail, and then, there's this guy telling you, oh come on, just throw it away. Come on, just relax about it. But your brain is telling you, no, this is important. I need to focus on this. And so, that's why sometimes the help isn't really so helpful for them.
SAMBOLIN: And so, are we looking at treatments?
COHEN: You know, I think what happens here is that this -- what they've discovered here is going to help doctors treat hoarders, because before, they would see hoarders as though they have OCD, they're sort of obsessive and compulsive, but maybe what's really going on is that they need some help with their thought process.
And so, you can do cognitive behavioral therapy that can help them through that, but realizing the nature of the disease will help therapists counsel them.
SAMBOLIN: I got to ask you, at what point do you know that you're a hoarder? Does it have to get that serious like the video that we just saw? How do you know you're on the path to hoarding?
COHEN: I know, Zoraida. I'll tell you, when I saw this story yesterday, I looked at my own table --
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
COHEN: -- pile of mail, and I thought oh, no. Do I have this -- I think, you know, it's hard to define a hoarder, but I think one way that you can define is, does it get in the way of your life. I mean, obviously, someone living in a place like we're watching now, it's hard to function. So, when it makes it hard to function, you need help.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, as usual, full of really great information for us. Thank you very much. Senior medical correspondent.
All right. Today's "Best Advice" from veteran TV journalist, Dan Rather. That is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: And we wrap it up as always with "Best Advice." We asked former CBS News anchor, Dan Rather, the best advice that he's ever received. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN RATHER, JOURNALIST: A tied for first place. My mother's admonition about yesterday, no tears, about tomorrow, no fears. My father's advice, get up early, stay late, in between, work hard and smart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: I love his advice. And can we get Brooke in and John up, because I think you both have taken his advice. John Berman is working both of these shows and he's coming up here. Brooke Baldwin flew in all the way from Atlanta. That's it for us on EARLY START. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
Soledad O'Brien is off. So, we're going to send you over to John Berman and Brooke Baldwin for "Starting Point" right now.
BERMAN: And good morning. I am John Berman.
BALDWIN: Hi, John Berman. Haven't I seen you since the last two hours?
BERMAN: Nice to meet you.
BALDWIN: Nice to meet you. Let's do this. It's two more hours. You got me. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Soledad has the week off. You're stuck with us.
And our "Starting Point" here this morning, a White power past and word that Wade Page had been tracked for, not one, not two, 12 years. New details this morning of the suspected gunman who open fire on a Sikh temple.
BERMAN: And could there be a plea deal. Jared Loughner charged with killing six people and trying to assassinate Congresswoman Gabby Giffords last year may admit he's guilty today.
BALDWIN: Also, take a look at this. Picking up speed, there he is, tropical storm Ernesto brewing here, forcing evacuations already. The storm could intensify, we're hearing, into a hurricane by tonight.
BERMAN: And overnight, a new catch phrase for the Obama campaign?
