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American Morning
911 Tapes Of Omaha Mall Shooting; CIA Tapes Destroyed; Subprime Plan: Relief For Some
Aired December 07, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Whole grain rotini.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: It's not bad.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: He kind of -- he kind of did one of these when I asked him whether he likes it, he's not into the whole grain pasta.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, really.
VELSHI: Yes.
VELSHI: He says --
ROBERTS: Not exactly traditional.
VELSHI: Yes. Exactly, the whole-grain he said it's for people --
CHETRY: It works better with a thinner variety.
VELSHI: Yes. That's exactly what he said. He said fettuccini and the angel hair are big, big sellers. Now, I will come back and talk to you later.
CHETRY: Bring some carbonara back for us.
VELSHI: I will.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.
Still ahead, another company doing work in Mitt Romney's mansion now under scrutiny. Painters accused of hiring illegal immigrants and other questionable labor practices. We'll have more on that. Coming up, you're watching the most news in the morning.
Also, a startling disclosure from the CIA leads to outrage from some human rights groups. What happened to two tapes that showed the agency using extreme measures during interrogations. Well, the tapes the CIA said never existed. There's a live report on that ahead as well. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS (voice-over): The terrifying scene. (GUNSHOTS)
DISPATCHER: Hello, 911.
ROBERTS: Dramatic 911 tapes, as shoppers run from a teen gunman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm at Von Maur and I think there are shots being fired all over the place.
ROBERTS: This morning, what we're learning about the shooter's troubled past.
Extreme weather, on alert for floods and mudslides.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just rivers of flood and rocks coming down from the other properties.
ROBERTS: And winter wallop.
Plus ordinary people making an extraordinary difference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought to myself, fight or flight, and I guess I was going to flight.
ROBERTS: We're honoring our CNN heroes and taking you behind the scenes on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Extraordinary evening last night at the Museum of Natural History here in New York. You were there.
CHETRY: Yes, honoring some amazing people, and we're going to be showcasing them throughout the morning as well. So a great event. We have some behind-the-scenes pictures as well.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to seeing that. The 7th of December, thanks for joining us. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry, and thanks for being with us today.
We start with the horrifying sounds that are now out there, from inside of the Omaha shopping small, because those 911 tapes have been released this morning, of people screaming, the madman shooting, women, children and men running for cover. It was just released, these tapes. Let's take a listen to some of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNSHOTS)
DISPATCHER: 9-1-1, what's your emergency?
(GUNSHOTS)
DISPATCHER: Hello, 9-1-1. (Gunshots).
DISPATCHER: 9-1-1, what's your emergency?
CALLER: There is someone with a gun shooting people at Von Maur at Westroads.
DISPATCHER: OK. We are on our way out there. Have you seen anybody that was shot?
CALLER: No.
DISPATCHER: OK. We are on our way out there. Did anybody see the person shooting?
CALL: There's a bunch of people shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There's another call that came in from a woman who was barricaded in her office. She was watching a security camera and saw the shooter end his life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: Oh, my gosh. It looks like, it looks like the gun is laying over by customer service. There's an officer there now. I wonder if he --
DISPATCHER: Customer service on the third level?
CALLER: Correct, it looks like he might have killed himself.
DISPATCHER: OK. Do you see him laying by a gun?
CALLER: I see him laying by a gun. (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There are also some brand new disturbing details this morning about the killer's troubled past. The more we learn about 19- year-old Robert Hawkins, the more red flags pop up. One friend says that the 19-year-old gunman was suicidal, and the state says he was in and out of treatment before he walked into that mall, murdered eight people, and then took his own life.
Ed Lavandera is live for us in Omaha with more new details coming out today -- Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. It was random. It's been inexplicable. And to the people inside the mall the other day, it must have seemed like an ordeal that lasted forever, but in fact, it lasted just a few minutes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DISPATCHER: Hello?
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Omaha police say Robert Hawkins may have fired off as many as 60 rounds on the third floor of the Von Maur department store.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I can't be because I'm still here in the shop. Hello?
(GUNSHOTS)
LAVANDERA: Shoppers trapped inside the store called 911, as they hid to survive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, we're up in the women's bathroom. There's a bunch of us on the window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. There's a lot of people up there hiding so you all just stay safe. Let the police do what they got to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm at Von Maur and I think there's shots being fired all over the place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we're on our way out there. Anybody been hit?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't seen anything. I'm hiding in a clothes rack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, we're on our way out there, ma'am.
LAVANDERA: Investigators have seen the security camera video of the attack. They say it only lasted a few minutes, not enough time for officers to save any victims. Shooter Robert Hawkins was dead by the time police arrived.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE OFFICER: It appeared that the shooting victims were randomly selected. It didn't appear as if anyone was specifically targeted.
LAVANDERA: Nebraska health officials say Hawkins spent four years in state care and was treated for drug abuse and in mental health hospitals. He was released in the summer of 2006.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This tragedy was not a failure. This is not a failure of the system, to provide appropriate quality services for youth who needed it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: After seeing the attack on the security video cameras inside the mall, authorities say it does not appear that Robert Hawkins knew any of his victims, that it was a random attack. And they also say they continue to look into the many text messages and phone calls that he made in the hours leading up to the attack, to try to get a better understanding of what he was thinking in the hours leading up to what happened here in Omaha -- Kiran. CHETRY: Ed Lavandera for us in Omaha this morning, thank you.
ROBERTS: Five minutes after the hour. Now that the dramatic disclosure from the CIA. This morning, the spy agency is admitting it destroyed tapes that showed extreme measures being used in the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives. Our Barbara Starr live right now at the Pentagon with the latest details. Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. Indeed, the CIA admitting that two years ago, it did destroy these videotapes of the interrogation of at least two suspects, Al Qaeda suspects, and it was holding this disclosure yesterday coming from CIA director Michael Hayden.
In a letter to the employees of the agency, General Hayden saying the tapes posed a security risk, and going on to say, "Were they ever to leak, they would permit identification of your CIA colleagues who had served in that program, exposing them and their families to retaliation from Al Qaeda."
Now, the CIA says they destroyed the tapes after determining they were of no intelligence value, but that is not stopping the controversy. These tapes, by all accounts, were of the so-called harsh interrogation techniques that the CIA used against some of these suspects, said to include, indeed, waterboarding, that technique that simulates the sensation of drowning.
According to sources from the CIA, they say it's, pardon me, government sources, they say, one of the tapes is said to have shown the interrogation of Abu Sepeda (ph), a key Al Qaeda operative. He, after that interrogation, provided the information that led to the capture of other Al Qaeda operatives, including Ramzi bin Al-Shibh and, of course, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Why so much controversy about this, John? Well, of course, it is because they included those harsh interrogation techniques on videotape. Why did they tape them? They said they taped them because they wanted to make sure they were following the regulations. Why are they now disclosing it?
According to the "New York Times" this morning, the "New York Times" told the CIA they were about to publish a story about the destruction of the tapes -- John.
ROBERTS: And, of course, Barbara, all of this going on at the same time that the 9/11 commission was looking into this. There are numerous congressional investigations, obviously, we're going to be hearing a lot more about this.
Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, thanks. Now, let's go over to Kiran.
CHETRY: We're getting updates on that massive oil spill in South Korea. As you can see from the picture, it just spread. So far, some 6,000 tons of crude oil spilled into the sea, after a crane ship struck a tanker and in that one shot you just saw, oil was literally spewing out from the ship.
Last hour, Emily Chang told us cruise were able to plug the hole that we saw in the tanker. But the problem now is the slick that continues to spread, now covering more than 11 miles of ocean. One official says it will take several days to even get a fence around all of it.
We also have an update on last month's oil spill in San Francisco Bay. The pilot of that ship may lose his license. A review board says John Kodo was going too fast when he hit a Bay Bridge support tower, spilling 58,000 of heavy bunker fuel. They also say he ignored warnings from two radars and failed to ask the Coast Guard for help. Federal prosecutors also threatening to confiscate and sell the huge vessel to pay for some cleanup costs. It was the city's worst oil spill in nearly two decades.
Well, the all-time home run king is due in court in just a few hours. Barry Bonds expected to enter a not guilty plea to perjury charges at the federal courthouse in San Francisco. Bonds is accused of lying to a federal grand jury in the Balco investigation about whether or not he ever used performance-enhancing drugs -- John.
ROBERTS: There are questions this morning about a painting company recently hired to work on Mitt Romney's Massachusetts mansion. According to "The Boston Globe," authorities are investigating whether the company dodged state labor laws and exploited workers, including illegal immigrants.
The head of the painting company claims they did not employee illegals at Romney's house or anywhere else for that matter. Romney was forced to fire a landscaping company this week over charges that they hired illegal immigrants. You recall during last week's CNN YouTube debate, Rudy Giuliani accused Romney of having a "sanctuary mansion."
How will Republican Mitt Romney's speech on religion play in the early primaries states? Romney's goal was two-fold in giving it. First, it convinced Christian conservatives that he is indeed a man of faith and that they have nothing to fear from the Mormon religion. He also sought to reassure voters that the Mormon church would not shape his decision-making process should he become president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A person should not be elected because of his faith, nor should he be rejected because of his faith. Let me assure you that no authorities of my church or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The polls have shown that Romney's Mormon faith is a concern for many voters. He's also losing ground in Iowa to Mike Huckabee. He is an ordained Baptist minister -- Kiran. CHETRY: Well, a strange turn of event and an even more story out of Great Britain. A man who was feared lost at sea shows up at a police station five years later.
57-year-old John Darwin said he can't remember a thing that happened to him. Well now, he's under arrest for suspicion of fraud. A British newspaper is reporting that his wife admitted to knowing he was alive after a picture surfaced of the two of them together just a year ago. Well, she is now on her way back to Britain from Panama and could be arrested for claiming thousands in life insurance and pensions over the past five years.
ROBERTS: Eleven minutes after the hour now. Our Rob Marciano is tracking extreme weather in several parts of the country this morning, possible flooding and mudslides out west, and heavy snow in the Midwest. And particularly, the mountains of southwestern Colorado, in Telluride, where they're expecting a powder day at the same time that the World Cup of skiing is going on.
Rob, I'm detecting here a little motivated self-interest.
ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLOGIST: I'm detecting a little bit of sarcasm there, my friend. Hey, I pitched it. They said yes. That's the way it works here.
ROBERTS: There you go.
MARCIANO: You know, I didn't twist anybody's arm here. We do have a winter storm warnings that are posted. This could be the biggest storm they've seen so far this year, now playing a little bit of catch-up ball after seeing a fairly slow start of the year.
Winter storm warnings posted one to two feet expected. The winds are swirling. Coming up and over the mountain passes just a few hours ago was pretty hairy, so travel definitely dangerous, and some of those passes could very well be closed before the day or weekend is done.
Winter storm warnings up until 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night. That includes Waset of Utah, the sierras. So all of the mountain ranges, pretty much south of the Oregon/California border are getting into the act. Heavier rain moving across central parts of California, down to southern -- SO-CAL, that's where the great concern is for flash flooding, debris flows. Mudslides, a potential there, because of all the burned out areas in parts of San Diego and Malibu, even Orange County, so they're worried about that.
Here is the snow total forecast for the inner mountain west. Right of the purple, is where you see the heaviest amounts of snow and there's a bull's eye right over southwest, the southwestern corner of Colorado, where we are. You could see an excess of two feet before the weekend is done.
And there's your flash flood watch out for the next few hours, a half an inch of rain per hour in southern California. That's a lot. You do that over a burned out area, and you've got some -- you've got some troubles that's for sure. Not to mention a little burst of snow that moved through the Midwest.
It becomes a very active weather week for sure, John and Kiran, and it looks like this weekend, this storm is going to get into the plains and it'll cause more havoc as far as snow and ice across the central plains and upper Midwest again this weekend. So, don't rest too much. Another weekend weather event is going to be happening. Back to you guys in New York.
ROBERTS: And Rob, -- Rob, if there's a danger that all the snow is going to close the mountain passes, I hope you're planning to as soon as the show is over this morning, get back out the mountains so you can be back in Atlanta on Monday morning, right?
MARCIANO: Absolutely. I'm scheduled to be in New York Sunday night, so I would hate to be stranded here amongst two or three feet of snow so we'll be sure to hustle up.
ROBERTS: Yes. That's just would not be good. Rob, thanks. Talk to you in a little bit -- Kiran.
CHETRY: File an I-Report, Rob. That's all I could say.
Well, it's that time of year when you hear the coughing and the sneezing in between the mouse clicks. But going to work sick could actually do a lot more harm than good, not only to you but to your co- workers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is saying that as many as a fifth of Americans gets the flu every year, and a survey by an office staffing firm says 80 percent of people go to work sick and say many are discouraged from taking sick days, and that translates into millions of colds and flu-ridden Americans spreading germs around the office. They say that for every one cold, it equals ten if you go to the office.
ROBERTS: It's the old -- you tell two friends and they tell two friends.
CHETRY: That's right. I'm feeling a little stuffy myself.
ROBERTS: You are?
CHETRY: You could you catch that.
ROBERTS: You think?
CHETRY: I can't catch your broken neck, however, so that's the good news.
ROBERTS: I could maybe arrange that.
CHETRY: You could help me along that path though, huh?
Well, how about this one, speaking of a tough job. This is a job where you're required to open doors more than open your mouth. But one Manhattan doorman's breath was apparently so bad that he is now fighting for his job. We'll explain that story a little more detail coming up.
Also, trying to keep part of the American dream alive, President Bush's subprime plan. Will it help the homeowners who need it most? We're going to talk to one man that we introduced to you earlier this week, who was hoping to work a little less overtime. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Eighteen minutes now after the hour. President Bush announcing relief is on the way for homeowners hit by the mortgage meltdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm pleased to announce that our efforts have yielded a promising new source of relief for American homeowners.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: But a closer look at the president's plan suggests it covers just a fraction of homeowners. On Monday, we introduced you to Ed Anderson. He is a homeowner facing foreclosure, who was hoping to get some relief from this new plan, but it doesn't look like he's going to.
How does he feel about that? Ed Anderson joins us once again from his home in Laurel, Maryland. Ed, how are you feeling about the president's plan today?
ED ANDERSON, FACING FORECLOSURE: Good morning. I actually feel that the plan actually should be revisited for people that actually have been impacted by this. This is really troublesome, and it can actually cause a lot of people to lose their homes, so I really am disheartened about it.
ROBERTS: Yes. This plan is only going to help people who are about to be affected because it doesn't kick in until mortgage rates go up for those people in 2008. Tell us why you don't qualify.
ANDERSON: Well, I actually won't qualify because what I understand is that, if you are only 60 days behind in your mortgage, this will help you. Therefore, by someone like myself, being three or more months behind in the mortgage, this actually will not help. So I think the plan really should be revisited, because basically, for anyone that actually goes into foreclosure, it's at least three months or longer, in most cases.
ROBERTS: Right. Right. And then also, your rates have already reset, and as we mentioned, this looks at rates that are going to reset going forward. Is that fair?
ANDERSON: I honestly don't think that's fair, because to implement the plan, I think that all of the factors should have been considered. So I honestly don't think that's fair. ROBERTS: All right. Let me ask you, Ed. Why do you take this mortgage in the first place? You knew that it was going to reset at some point, and you knew that there was a chance it was going to reset higher.
ANDERSON: Well, honestly, I did not know that it was going to reset because I was only told that it was actually an interest-only loan. I just honestly found this out in mid-September that I had an interest-only liable on.
ROBERTS: Yes, I know. I know but how come --
ANDERSON: This really was not explained to me.
ROBERTS: But how could you not know it was going to reset? Did they not tell you? Did you not read the fine print?
ANDERSON: Honestly, I relied on my loan officer who was a co- worker at that time, and she explained everything to me and I honestly thought that she was being truthful about it.
ROBERTS: Right. So what do you --
ANDERSON: So, no. I really did not know.
ROBERTS: All right. So what are you going to do now?
ANDERSON: Well, hopefully I can get the lender to modify the loan, if at all possible.
ROBERTS: Right. Have you had any sort of inclination that they're likely to do that?
ANDERSON: Well, prior to the previous lender, transferring the loan to the new lender, we were talking about a loan modification.
ROBERTS: Right.
ANDERSON: But now that it's been transferred to a new lender, I have to wait and see what they will try and work out for me.
ROBERTS: All right. It's starting the process all over again. Well, a lot of people --
ANDERSON: Exactly.
ROBERTS: A lot of people in the same boat as you, Ed, and I know it's got to be a difficult place to be. Ed Anderson, thanks for joining us this morning. Good to see you again. Good luck with everything, by the way.
ANDERSON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: All right -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, he says that he tried it all. He gave up garlic. He uses mouthwash, breath mints. He even saw a specialist, but one doorman's breath is not getting any less unpleasant and now he is fighting to keep his job. Is that fair? Can you lose your job because of bad breath? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Actually swallowing a breath saver, as we speak, so I can get to the story. A New York City apartment building has showing one doorman the door, over a case of bad breath.
Jonah Seeman has ushered tenants into 525 East 89th Street since 1967. Well, he's - I think you have to swallow - he's suspended. He says he was told not to come to work Friday because of halitosis, and he says his breath really isn't worse than most people's. This is the third time, though, he's been suspended over the issue.
He says he stopped eating garlic. He uses mouthwash. He chews breath mints on the job and consulted a specialist. He lives in Brooklyn. He's trying to support his 81-year-old mother and so, it looks like the union may be looking into this and see if they can grieve it, but --
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: My bet is they can.
CHETRY: You really be fired over --
VELSHI: I doubt. I'm quite sure you can't get fired for bad breath. Or you can just take hints from people who give you breath mints.
So people have been getting these things in their mail, these envelopes. It says on a U.S. district court approved refund notice. I must have spoken to several people around here who told me they tossed it in the garbage. I'm going to tell you why you shouldn't toss it.
It's related to a claim, a settlement if you used your credit card overseas. Now let me tell you who qualifies for this. If you used your credit card, if you made a foreign transaction between February 1st, 1996, and November 8th of 2006, or if you had a Mastercard, Visa, or Diner's card as of November 8th, 2006, so there's a lot of people in here, if you got one of these things, the worst thing that's going to happen to you is you're going to fill it in and send it in and you get 25 bucks if the settlement is approved by the court, which it likely will be.
The best thing that can happen to you if you were making a lot of transactions during that period because of a case against the credit card companies and how they dealt with currency valuations you can get more than that. So, before you toss it, I totally see why someone would toss it because it looks like some kind of solicitation.
ROBERTS: Right.
VELSHI: And there's some forms inside that you got to fill in, but 25 bucks. ROBERTS: Just to remind people, who does it come from?
VELSHI: This comes from the U.S. district court. It's a U.S. District Court approved refund notice, very official looking envelope. A lot of people I know is getting --
ROBERTS: Yes. There's a lot of official-looking envelopes.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: A lot of official looking envelopes and many of them, you get free credit and all sorts of things. So take a look at this, fill it out, you'll get a few bucks.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: As little as 25, but if you go the other route, you may get a huge --
VELSHI: If you have receipts and you can show where you've spent in that period of time, you can get one to three percent of the charges that were made against you.
ROBERTS: Thanks.
VELSHI: I have to have a gum now.
ROBERTS: For five months, we've been bringing you stories of our CNN heroes, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Last night, we honored them right here in New York. Actress Rosario Dawson recognized Erania Martinez Garcia in defending the planet category. Garcia is from Cuba. She transformed her town dump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSARIO DAWSON, ACTRESS: So she looked out at the toxic smoke and the swarming flies and said, nature demands respect. She created a compost pile to help bring back the plants and the animals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Coming up in the next hour on AMERICAN MORNING, our own Alina Cho joins us live for the look at what went down back stage. She spent the entire evening there. She's got a lot of fascinating things to show us.
New details in the case of a teen driven to suicide by messages from a bogus MySpace friend. Why police are being called into her neighborhood.
And some 80,000 people expected at a Barack Obama rally this weekend, featuring Oprah Winfrey. It's part of a political push by candidates with the all-important Iowa caucuses approaching. We're live from Des Moines, when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: And welcome back. A skyline shot of Detroit this morning coming to us from WDIV. It's 26 degrees right there but it feels like 18 degrees, shaping up to a high of about 34 today and they're expecting some snow, not much, accumulations of about an inch or so. They can handle it for sure in Detroit. Welcome back, it's Friday, December 7th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm John Roberts. It was so cold yesterday in Omaha. Oh my god.
CHETRY: I know, you said you were having trouble typing at one point, you said your fingers were frozen.
ROBERTS: Everything was frozen but now that weather moving on obviously a little further east. We'll have more information on that this morning.
We're also getting more information now on the breaking news out of Indonesia where a strong earthquake hit a little more than 90 minutes ago. The U.S. geological survey says the 5.4 quake hit under the ocean floor about 150 miles southwest of Bali. It wasn't strong enough to trigger a tsunami warning. No injuries have been reported. The quake could be felt though on the island resort. Tents that were set up for a conference on climate change shook for about ten seconds. There's about 10,000 people in Bali for that conference.
And the latest now on that massive oil spill off of the coast of South Korea. It's a story that we're following all morning for you. A tanker was struck by another vessel in the Yellow Sea about 5:30 p.m. Eastern time yesterday, just a few miles off the coast, a little less than 100 miles from Seoul. As could you see from these pictures, some 6,000 tons of crude oil just gushing into the sea there. The hole has since been plugged but the spread now covers 11 miles of ocean and it's rapidly expanding. Officials say high winds could push the oil to reach land by tomorrow morning.
And in Missouri, police are boosting patrols around the home of a woman accused of driving a teenager to suicide. Officials say Lori Drew is getting death threats and had a brick thrown through her window. Prosecutors say she and her daughter sent fake myspace messages to neighbor 13-year-old Megan Meier. Megan hanged herself thinking that the insults were coming from a boy. Prosecutors have not been able to find statutes to allow them to arrest Drew. Neighbors are demanding the family leave town.
CHETRY: Also, brand new this morning, chilling sounds from inside of the mall when a gunman committed mass murder in Omaha. The shots and the screams in new 911 tapes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911: 911, What's the emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible)
911: We're on our way out there. Have you seen anybody that was shot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
911: The rescue squad and police are on the way out there. Has anybody seen the person shooting?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible) people shot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible) Oh my god, help us.
911: (inaudible)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said there are a bunch of people shot inside of Von Maur.
911: OK. (inaudible) the police on their way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Also, more red flags are popping up about the young man that opened fire. The state of Nebraska saying that 19-year-old Robert Hawkins was sent to at least four treatment centers and group homes for use with substance abuse, mental or behavioral problems.
There are also reports out this morning that say Robert Hawkins was able to get his gun into the Von Maur Department Store by tucking it under a sweatshirt. It leads us to this morning's quick vote and a lot of question that people are asking about how malls can best protect people. There have been four shootings at malls around the country this year alone. Should shopping malls install metal detectors at their entrances? Cast your votes CNN.com/am. Right now, 36 percent of you say yes, 64 percent say no. Keep the votes coming and we'll update you again in the next hour.
ROBERTS: With the Iowa caucuses now less than a month away, Mitt Romney takes on the issue of his religion and the queen of all media goes on the stump for Obama. What impact did they have on the race in Iowa and in South Carolina as well for that matter. Joining us now is senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.
Candy, how was Mitt Romney's speech yesterday on faith and his Mormon religion playing there in Iowa today, might he take any of the wind out of Mike Huckabee's sails?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we'll see. Mike Huckabee is running into some problems of his own due to some dealings in a pardon for someone in Arkansas when he was governor, but here's how it's playing here all over the air waves, which is definitely what Mitt Romney wanted. What his message was, was my religion will not influence my decisions as president, but to Iowa, it was also, I'm a religious man because as you know Mike Huckabee, who is currently leading here in the polls is an ordained minister. So and Mitt Romney has been steadily losing conservative Christians support and more importantly evangelical support here in Iowa and that group makes up a big part of the republican base that will come out in these caucuses. ROBERTS: On the democratic side of the fence, there is a huge event this weekend in Columbia, South Carolina, Barack Obama appearing with Oprah. They had to move it from an 18,000-seat arena to an 80,000-seat stadium because of it. There are some polls showing that the race in South Carolina very, very close. Could this potentially catapult Obama into the lead in South Carolina and will the buzz from that translate there in Iowa?
CROWLEY: Well, potentially, but as you know, she is also coming here. There are two events here tomorrow, one in Des Moines, one in Cedar Rapids, where they are giving out tickets, and let me tell you what's really interesting. In addition to the free media, which if your politician is just golden stuff, this has been an organizing tool for Obama. Here's how they gave away the tickets in Iowa.
They first gave them to precinct captains for Obama, and said take as many as you want and give them out. After that, they said listen if you come into one of Obama's offices and volunteer for four hours, or go to a caucus organizing seminar, we will give you tickets. After that, if you wanted a ticket, you could come into the office, you had to come into the office, where they took your information. So this has been a valuable recruiting tool here for people that they want to have go to the caucuses. So he gets that. He gets free media, and so while we may see mostly Obama supporters in these events in Iowa, in New Hampshire, in South Carolina, we will definitely see this campaign in Iowa at work, organizing those caucus goers.
ROBERTS: The polls in Iowa on the democratic side still very close. Is Iowa do or die for John Edwards?
CROWLEY: Well, really interesting, we followed him around the other day and talked to him about that. And obviously, what you always want is a win, but not necessarily is a win the only thing that takes you out of Iowa into New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY (voice-over): And if you lose here it means -
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It depends on the circumstances. I think that's hard to predict.
CROWLEY: Can you lose well?
EDWARDS: you can lose better.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: He says he could lose better, but not necessarily well, and if he does not come out of Iowa with a win, what happens in New Hampshire? Is it all over?
CROWLEY: Well, you know, look, they say it isn't. I think usually, John, as you know, they say there are three tickets out of Iowa. This time on the democratic side and probably on the republican side, there may be two, first and second. They believe in the Edwards campaign, in the Obama campaign, as they come out of here second, what they have is a Hillary and the not-Hillary race and that's what they're vying for, although again it's so close here that the fact of the matter is, any one of the top three could take first.
ROBERTS: So close and getting more and more exciting. Candy Crowley in the winter wonderland of Des Moines, Iowa, for us today. Candy, thanks. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, a security breach or lapse in judgment? Maybe both, topping your "Quick Hits" now. A baggage screener at JFK airport arrested after boarding a flight without a ticket. The TSA employee says he wanted to see his parents off so he got on their flight and when the door closed he told the flight attendant who he was, that got him arrested for alleged misdemeanor trespassing.
An Arizona man is arrested for not taking his tuberculosis medication. The 49-year-old homeless man is still being held in an isolation in a Tucson jail. The county health department petitioned to have the T.B. patient picked up. He's now taking his medicine, they say. T.B. is a highly contagious respiratory disease.
Britney Spears says she's been buying on ebay. We'll show the thousands of items bearing her name from perfume and dollar bills with her face, which have been sold on ebay. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The latest national intelligence estimates said Iran stopped its nuclear weapons programs four years ago. CNN will air a special report debating how to deal with the Iranian threat. Correspondent Frank Sesno joins us now with a preview. Good morning, Frank.
FRANK SESNO, CNN, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. 2003 - pivotal year when they stopped the program. It's also when this mystery memo hit Washington. A mystery memo that apparently was touched by Iranians themselves and that many think could have changed history if the Bush administration had been interested.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SESNO: In 2003, there was a back channel memo. Iranian officials helped write it. There's no letterhead, no signature. It came through a Swiss intermediary. Was it, as it's been called, a grand bargain, or was it a fraud?
DANIELLE PLETKA, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: But I find this 2003 memo a wonderful instance of dishonesty on the part of advocates of a particular policy in the United States. Iran has been moving progressively forward on its nuclear weapons program for the last 20- plus years. The suggestion that somehow they were going to decide that their national interests were different because of some memo, which actually was never real, really seems to me to be a stretch.
SESNO: Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff, Larry Wilkerson, thought the memo was credible and was struck by what it said.
Iranian aims halt U.S. hostile behavior, work for a democratic employee representative, government in Iraq, access to peaceful nuclear technology, this is what they want. U.S. aims, full transparency on weapons of mass destruction, decisive action against terrorists including Al Qaeda. You took it seriously?
LARRY WILKERSON, FMR. CHIEF OF STAFF FOR COLIN POWELL: I took it seriously. First thing I thought, my gosh, this is a great opportunity. We should take advantage of this.
SESNO: What actually happened?
WILKERSON: What actually happened, it got stopped. It got stopped in its tracks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESNO: What Wilkerson told me it was stopped in its tracks because the Bush administration was much more interested, remember this was 2003, in regime change than reaching out and talking to the regime especially the Iranian regime. So here we are now, the NIE is out, totally different times and the administration is still saying that the way to deal with Iran is not to engage it broadly across the spectrum but to isolate it, to pressure it and to make sure it doesn't pursue its nuclear aspirations, even though it stopped apparently its nuclear weapons program.
CHETRY: All right. Very interesting and we'll be watching for sure. Frank Sesno, thanks so much. You can see the whole special by the way it's "Iran: fact or fiction." It's hosted by Campbell Brown tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and it also re-airs Saturday and Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
ROBERTS: It's 44 minutes after the hour. Time for a check of the weather this morning. Southern California bracing for what could very well be devastating mudslides and flooding, more than 1,000 homes have already been evacuated in the area that just went through severe wildfires. Our Rob Marciano is tracking the situation for us. He's in Telluride, Colorado this morning where it looks like it's going to be a powder day. Good morning to you, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. Yes, it will be a powder day today. It will be a powder day tomorrow and going forward, a large storm that's going to be a slow mover and as you mentioned, it begins with concerns across southern California. Flash flood watches are posted for today. We could see an excess of half inch per hour. That's a lot of rain for SoCal and especially with those burned out areas in San Diego and up through Malibu, that's going to be a big concern there. There is the rainfall moving into southern California, moving into northern California, as a matter of fact. You kind of see that little swirl there. That is the center of the low that will be slow to move eastward, and gather strength as it does so.
There are winter storm watches and warnings that are posted, one to two feet of snow, potentially across the sierras, potentially the same across the Wasatch of Utah and right here, the Colorado Rockies, one to two feet expected over the next 36 to 48 hours. There's snowfall that is falling elsewhere across parts of Ohio but just a couple of inches of snow there. Just be aware of that, snow advisories out for Columbus to Dayton. Winter storm warnings of one to two feet expected going through this area. This is a big storm, John. It's going to affect a lot of folks, that's pure and hopefully folks will just take it easy on the roadways or on the slopes. Back up to you.
ROBERTS: So, we shouldn't be surprised then, Rob if come morning you're still there in Telluride reporting on the aftereffects of the storm?
MARCIANO: Listen, if they close the passes I wouldn't want to do anything rash or stupid. It's out of my control.
ROBERTS: All right. Rob, thanks.
MARCIANO: I'll do my best to get back.
ROBERTS: Yes. I'm sure you will. Thanks.
Senate democrats losing a tax fight. Your "Quick Hits" now. The senate voted overwhelmingly to block a tax increase that would have sit some 25 million people. That's the alternative minimum tax. Democrats said to back off on their promise to offset the millions in lost revenue with other changes to the tax code. The bill passed by the house matches the cost of tax relief with new tax revenues.
And remembering the Pearl Harbor attacks across the country today. Japan attacked 66 years ago, 1941, launching the United States into World War II. 2,300 people died in the attack, another 1,100 wounded. Today a fly-over at the Statue of Liberty and the ceremony at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and we'll cover all of that for you today on CNN.
Check your wallets because you could be walking around with a fortune in them and not even know it. The mystery of the unclaimed lotto jackpots, why winners are running out of time.
And Carey, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda. They're back and as sassy as ever. Your first look at the "Sex and the City" movie trailer. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ten minutes now to the top of the hour. If you're just joining us, here's a look at what's making headlines this morning. A friend says he was suicidal. The state says he was in and out of treatment. This was before 19-year-old Robert Hawkins opened fire inside an Omaha shopping mall on Wednesday, killing eight people. Chilling 911 tapes are also out. We've got this for you coming up at the top of the hour.
More now on a story that we've been keeping an eye on this morning. The massive oil spill off of the coast of South Korea. Officials now say that the high winds could push the oil to land by tomorrow morning. A tanker was struck by another vessel around 5:30 p.m. Eastern yesterday in the Yellow Sea, just about a few miles offshore, some 6,000 tons of crude oil spilled into the sea.
A startling admission from the CIA, the agency says it destroyed two videotapes of agents subjecting terror suspects to severe interrogation techniques. CIA Director Michael Hayden says the agency did it to protect the identities of the interrogators, but some on Capitol Hill as well as some human rights groups are calling it illegal destruction of evidence. Barbara Starr will have more on this coming up at the top of the next hour.
And Barry Bonds expected to enter a not guilty plea today to federal charges at the federal courthouse in San Francisco. The all- time home run king is accused of lying to a federal grand jury about whether he ever used steroids.
CHETRY: Well, AOL and google are teaming up. But is it an admission that google actually failed at something?
ROBERTS: Perish the thought. Our Veronica de la Cruz joins us now with a look at some technology headlines. Good morning.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN, INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Finally, finally, maybe something that google's done that hasn't done so well?
ROBERTS: And oops, can you imagine?
DE LA CRUZ: Do you guys use g-mail? Either one of you know.
CHETRY: Yes but I know a lot of people that do.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. How about AOL instant messenger?
CHETRY: No, but I know a lot of people do that.
DE LA CRUZ: Well, for you out there if you have a g-mail account, you know, google chat never really caught on so google has now partnered up with AOL to offer A.I.M., AOL instant messenger, through its g-mail program. And it's good for a couple of reasons, it's good because millions of people use both of these programs and now they can do so from one screen. It's also good because A.I.M. is a little easier to use than google chat. But it might be an admission from google that they have failed at something and it's possibly the one thing that google touched that didn't turn to gold. So, there you go and you guys are not familiar so I'll move on.
OK. Next story, the personal screen of DirecTV, the company seats running off jetblue now teaming up with yahoo to provide its passengers with yet another perk. The airline will begin testing limited e-mail and instant messaging services on a flight from New York to San Francisco next week. There are lots of restrictions like you can't use it during takeoff or landing but it's definitely a start.
ROBERTS: We've been waiting for internet access on aircraft. How long have they been promising it?
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, forever. Forever. So you know, any day now.
As her life has seemingly gone down, demand for Britney Spears items on ebay has gone up, more than 34,000 Spears' related items sold on ebay this year, pushing her past Paris Hilton, whose 27,000-plus items included a toothbrush claimed to have been found in her trash.
But they still have ways to go to cash the home run king, Barry Bonds, who had 145,000 items. And can we just, can we just take a look at some of those items one more time? What have we found on-line? We found a $1 bill with Britney's picture. I think that's going for $14. There was another item, I think it was a Swatch, just a piece of Britney's dress apparently is authentic.
CHERY: It could have been her whole dress.
DE LA CRUZ: You might now know. Who is going to bid on this stuff? But something else I found on ebay that I think is worth bidding on, John Roberts, take a look at this, something I found worth bidding on, on ebay. There you go Kiran Chetry on the cover of "East/West" magazine. That right now is going for $20.
CHETRY: Are you serious?
DE LA CRUZ: Place your bids.
ROBERTS: There's ten of those in your office. Are you slowly dumping them here? Is that what's going on.
DE LA CRUZ: Kiran's busted.
CHETRY: keeping them around and a lot of people you got to worry about.
ROBERTS: Got to make a little extra cash.
CHETRY: That's funny.
DE LA CRUZ: Kiran, anything to say?
CHETRY: Well, I mean you can get a free copy in my office if you want. I think I have four left.
ROBERTS: She's not selling the magazines but knows somebody who is.
DE LA CRUZ: Exactly, off the hook. That's OK, Kiran.
CHETRY: Veronica, thank you.
Well, you may want to look at your old lotto tickets one more time. There are a lot and I mean a lot of unclaimed cash out there. How people are passing up on free money. Maybe you lost your ticket. Stay around. There's millions out there, and it's all expiring soon. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Also all of your questions will finally be answered. Will Carry get married, will Charlotte have a baby and will Samantha give up men? The "Sex and the City" movie is complete. A preview ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up to a couple minutes to the top of the hour. Do you play the lotto for fun or to get paid? Because it turns out that a lot of people win and never claim anything. According to "USA Today," $570 million in lottery prizes went unclaimed last year. That's nearly 2 percent of the $33 billion offered. It includes one $200,000 Powerball tickets sold in Oklahoma back on June 27th, the winning numbers for that by the way expire on Christmas Eve. So if you got a Powerball ticket sitting around, go to the Powerball website and check it out, maybe you won.
CHETRY: Yes, go to powerball.com and you can type in the date and search for the winning numbers of all those different.
ROBERTS: Maybe somebody somewhere has got that ticket.
CHETRY: Well, it would be a shame to let that much money though.
ROBERTS: You think it would be.
CHETRY: Yes, especially since it expires on Christmas eve.
ROBERTS: Maybe they're playing just for fun though and don't care.
CHETRY: Right. Well, here it is. It's a look at the "Sex in the City" trailer. Let's check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARRY BRADSHAW, "SEX AND THE CITY": They say nothing lasts forever, dreams change. Trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style. Hello, lover. I get a feeling. Hello, lover.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beautiful, fabulous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There it is. It kind of makes you reminisce about the good old days.
ROBERTS: A lot of people are waiting for waiting for that.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: They were shooting some of that in front of my apartment one day. I didn't see any of the cast members. Just one of the technical people involved.
CHETRY: Well, they're having a hard time keeping some of the plot lines secret because they're shooting all around Manhattan. And of course, the cameras are following them everywhere as our people want to know what's going on. Well, anyway, it comes out... what are they saying? May 28th. All right. We'll be watching.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it.
A couple of years ago, Americans were scrambling to get flu vaccines in the midst of a shortage. Now, we have a choice - shot or spray. What's the difference though? What is more effective that the other. Our Elizabeth Cohen will compare in the next hour. Most news in the morning continues coming up next.
And churches in New York City are taking a new approach to deal with a touchy subject. What they're doing with these comic and coloring books. We'll tell you. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
Caught on tape. Gunfire erupts in a shopping mall as holiday shoppers run for cover.
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