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American Morning
Campus Rampage in Northern Illinois University: Seven Fatalities; Frequent Flier Changes: U.S. Airways Making it Tough to Earn Miles; State of the Economy: Tough Times
Aired February 15, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Rob Marciano is live at the Great American Race on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: And welcome. It's Friday, February 15th. I'm Kiran Chetry. John Roberts has the day off today.
We begin with new information in a shooting rampage at Northern Illinois University, about an hour outside of Chicago. Six people are dead, including the gunman, 16 others shot. Still recovering in the hospital today. Police say the gunman sneaked into a lecture hall at the university in DeKalb about 65 miles west of Chicago. About 100 students were getting ready to wrap up geology class when the gunman came in and opened fire.
And we're now learning more about that shooter. According to "The Chicago Tribune," the university once honored him for his sociology work. He enrolled there last spring and reportedly co-wrote a paper on self-injury in prison.
We also have a team of reporters gathering new details this morning on the shooting. We have Alina Cho following the latest developments overnight. Also, Veronica De La Cruz with our I-Reports this morning. And Don Lemon is live on the campus of Northern Illinois University. Our Ed Lavandera is also checking on the condition of injured students and teachers at the area hospitals. We begin with Don, though, with the latest developments this morning -- Don
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, good morning to you. As you said, no information about the 27-year-old gunman. He is a former graduate student enrolled here in the fall of 2007, but the question everyone in this community is asking themselves this morning is, why did he do it?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): The carnage started just after 3:00. About 100 students were in a lecture hall for a geology class when witnesses say a man dressed in black came out from behind the curtain on stage and opened fire with a shotgun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I turned, and I ran for the door. On my way out, I heard a couple more shots go off. I wasn't sure one of them is going to hit me in the back. LEMON: Witnesses say the shooting was rapid fire and indiscriminate. Some say as many as 30 rounds. The chaos quickly spread outside where students panicked and ran for cover.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As soon as I heard people screaming and running, they came out running, called 911. He has a gun, and I just took off.
LEMON: Minutes after the shooting started, at 3:03, police were already on the scene and inside the lecture hall. At 3:07, a campus lockdown was declared, and alerts were sent out through email, voice mail and the local media. At 3:20, a more specific alert goes out, warning that a gunman is on campus. Students and staff are told to stay put. Forty minutes later at 4:00, the gunman is reported to be dead. Authorities say he killed himself soon after the shooting began.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We anticipated this thing started and ended within a matter of seconds.
LEMON: And at 4:14, an hour and 15 minutes after the first shot, campus police declared the scene secure and the threat over.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And, Kiran, although investigators say they know who the 27-year-old gunman is, they are not releasing his name until they do further testing on his body. We're expecting a briefing here in just a few hours as the sun rises here in Illinois -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. We'll be checking in with Don Lemon throughout the morning as he continues to gather new details for us. Thanks, Don.
By the way, this is the fourth school shooting in the U.S. in a week. There were shootings at Louisiana Tech. Also a high school in Memphis, Tennessee, and a junior high school in Oxnard, California. In all, five people were killed in those shootings.
Coming up in just a few moments, we're going to be speaking with a Northern Illinois University student who had to watch helplessly as her best friend was shot in that lecture hall. She's going to be joining us from the campus in just a few minutes.
Now to politics where John McCain getting a boost from his former Republican rival Mitt Romney. Just a week after suspending his own presidential campaign, Romney yesterday announced he was getting behind McCain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am honored today to give my full support to Senator McCain's candidacy for the presidency of the United States. I'm officially endorsing his candidacy. And today, I'm asking my delegates to vote for Senator McCain at the convention. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: McCain says Romney's endorsement is a pleasant surprise. He told Larry King that last night, that it was a positive sign for the Republican Party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He could have waited until, like, March 4th, as you well know, after the Texas and Ohio primaries. So I was a little surprised, but I'm very appreciative because he came out very quickly, and this is an important time, as you know, to keep the momentum going in the race.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Mike Huckabee, though, is not bowing out of the Republican race. The former Arkansas governor says he's not ready to be part of John McCain's coronation just yet. So as far as Mitt Romney's delegates go, they won't necessarily all go to John McCain. Right now, he has 827 delegates. Mitt Romney has 286. So CNN still crunching the numbers, but if you were to add Romney's 286 delegates to McCain's, he would then have 1,113, and that makes it just 78 delegates short of clinching the GOP nomination.
For the latest from the Democratic campaign trail and other stories new this morning, our Alina Cho joins us. Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran, good morning to you. Good morning, everybody.
Hillary Clinton is the winner in New Mexico announced nine days after Super Tuesday. Here's why. The count was delayed because of a large number of provisional ballots that had to be counted. Clinton edged Barack Obama by about 2,000 votes out of nearly 150,000 casts. But still, Clinton trails Obama by 42 in total delegates. As you can see there, she has 1,211. He has 1,253; 2,025 are needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.
And CNN has learned one of the nation's most powerful unions could endorse Senator Obama as early as today. Sources say Obama is the overwhelming choice of the Service Employees International Union. The union has nearly two million members and represents janitors, nurses, nursing home workers, and home health workers.
And a programming note, next Thursday night, don't miss the Democratic presidential debates. CNN and Univision will co-host Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in that face-off. That's going to be live from Austin, Texas, next Thursday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Also new this morning, the government is setting the record straight on a false report about Barry Bonds and steroids. Rumors were swirling yesterday about Bonds testing positive for steroids in November of 2001, just one month after he broke the single season home run record. But that was due to a typo filed in federal court yesterday. Prosecutors meant to say Bonds tested positive in November of 2000. Baseball did not test for steroids in that year.
After downplaying the problem for months, FEMA now says Hurricane Katrina evacuees should move out of toxic FEMA trailers as soon as possible. FEMA is hoping to get the evacuees into hotels, motels and apartments by the summer. The CDC found dangerous levels of cancer- causing formaldehyde inside the trailers. They were supposed to be temporary housing, of course.
We're going to talk with a family living inside one of those trailers and about where they're going to go now. That's coming up at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, so stay tuned for that.
And the Navy may try within days to shoot down a spy satellite before it crashes to earth. That's the goal, of course. The window could open within three to four days and could last seven to eight days. Now, the military says it would try to shoot down that satellite using a ship-fired ballistic missile. President Bush apparently has authorized the shoot down because the satellite is carrying hazardous rocket fuel.
How will it work? Our space correspondent Miles O'Brien is going to show us in the next hour. Of course, there's a lot of concern, Kiran, that that satellite is going to come crashing down on earth. But the truth is, as the experts say, you know, 75 percent of the earth is covered by water, so there's only really a one percent chance, but the people are worried about that one percent chance.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Right. And the blogs are all abuzz...
CHO: Yes.
CHETRY: ... and there's nothing that you can do with whether it would actually hit the earth, that the military wants to test their ability to shoot down...
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: Yes.
CHETRY: ... the satellite so --
CHO: And the so-called spy, you know, secret information...
CHETRY: Exactly.
CHO: ... that it could be carrying. But, yes.
CHETRY: Well, we'll find out. We'll get Miles O'Brien to sort it all out for us when he weighs in on this coming up at our next hour. Thanks, Alina.
CHO: You bet. CHETRY: Thousands of people in Missouri are waking up yet again with no power. This is now a third day in the dark after the heavy ice storm earlier this week. National Guard troops checking in to see how people are coping.
Our Rob Marciano is tracking extreme weather. He's in Daytona Beach, Florida, but has been keeping an eye on what we're dealing with in some parts of the Midwest today. Still feeling the effects of the storm that came in days ago.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know, another reinforcing shot of cold air, unfortunately, is what they're seeing across parts of the northern plains and diving down into the central plains as well. Take a look at some of the wind chills, and we've got some issues that will be rolling into those areas that still are without power. Wind chills that could very well be in the 10 to 20 degree range. Even below that going a little farther to the north. So, not the best of scenarios. We're not looking for a huge thaw in these areas as we go on through time.
As far as what's going on right now snow-wise, we got more snow in the typical spots of Buffalo. Radar showing quite a bit of snow rolling in through east of Ontario and Erie, and we could see several more inches pile up throughout the day today. That's not typically too unusual. You go to Arizona, though, and we've got some snow there as well. Winter storm warnings are posted for a good chunk of Arizona. Above 4,000 feet, we could see a few inches of snow. Above 7,000 feet, we could see up to a foot of snow at the higher elevations in the desert southwest. So we've got a strong cold storm system that is rolling across the desert southwest and bringing snow to the higher elevations.
Winter storm warnings and watches are posted for those areas. As far as some of the expected delays that we could see across parts of the country, New York and Boston and Chicago. So some of the bigger airports could very well see delays there. We are at Daytona for the 50th running of the Daytona 500 here, and we spent the past couple of days with the number five team, Casey Mears and his team, discussing, you know, how they strategize dealing with weather. And it has a lot more to do with just rain or shine. Temperatures on the track, off the track, whether it's sunny, whether it's cloudy, there is a lot to deal with. And we'll talk more about that in about 20 minutes. We had a good time discussing the weather variables here at extreme speeds. Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right. We look forward to it, Rob. Thanks so much.
Meanwhile, also ahead, stock markets headed for a mixed opening this morning. It comes a day after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's warning that we're headed for more tough times. We're going to look at what it means for your money ahead.
Also, the campus of Northern Illinois University still reeling after a gunman opens fire inside of the lecture hall. CNN has confirmed just moments ago that now another person has died. That brings the number of those killed to seven, including the shooter. That shooter said to be a former grad student.
Don Lemon is on the ground for us right now. You know, we talked about a lot of people recovering at the hospitals, the extent of some of these injuries, we are not exactly sure of, but now confirming that another person has died from the gunshot wounds, Don.
LEMON: Yes. And Kiran, it's just unbelievable because normally students would be asleep right now, or just awaiting an alarm clock. And instead of doing that, now they are grieving. We're going to talk to one student who was inside of that lecture hall and sadly has now lost two of her friends. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Back to our top story this morning. CNN now confirming a seventh person killed from the shootings at Northern Illinois University yesterday afternoon. That number does include the gunman who took his own life. More than a dozen other people were wounded. The shooter has not yet been formally identified, but authorities are saying that he was a grad student or he had been a grad student at the university, the Northern Illinois campus in DeKalb, Illinois, about an hour west of Chicago.
Don Lemon is on the campus this morning with a student who was just feet away from that gunman and witnessed some of that horror yesterday -- Don.
LEMON: Yes. Kiran, witnessed the horror, and, sadly, you know, I hate to say this, but saw two of her friends die. One of them, her best friend. But as we said, as you said this morning, seven people have died in all of this. All of them believed to be students and then a teacher's aide. And in that classroom was Stefanie Miller, and Stefanie joins us now.
Stefanie, thank you so much for joining us. I understand you've been up all night.
STEFANIE MILLER, NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIV. STUDENT: Yes.
LEMON: And how are you wrapping your head around this?
MILLER: There is no way you can wrap your head around it. It's an unbelievable experience. It's -- it's something that you'd never think that would happen to this town. The support is what's got most of us through it.
LEMON: Yes. And I know I talked to you earlier this morning, and it's tough for you. But can you go back to 3:00 yesterday. You're in the sociology class -- geology class and all of a sudden what happened?
MILLER: A gunman came in behind the curtain and fired from what I believe 20 to 30 shots. People screaming. People running around. From what I heard and from what I know most of the people that were shot were shot from there or running to get out.
LEMON: Yes.
MILLER: It was a scene from a movie. It was something that you thought was staged. It was an unbelievable experience.
LEMON: You didn't believe it at first?
MILLER: No. It was -- from what -- from what went on, from what was going on, it was -- it was like it was from a movie.
LEMON: And your best friend is gone?
MILLER: Yes. She's gone.
LEMON: What do you want to say about her?
MILLER: She didn't deserve it. Nobody did. Nobody -- this is something that never should have happened here. It's a quiet community. It's a local college. A lot of your, you know, DeKalb High School, local schools around the town come here. It's something that doesn't happen here. Nobody deserves anything.
LEMON: Is there anything you can tell us about your friend, because you said your best friend died, but there was also someone else, another friend who died.
MILLER: I knew two other people that are deceased. I knew at least 40 people that were in the class. Just -- I'm in shock right now. I'm at that that stage where I've gotten phone calls. I know what's happened, but I don't want to believe it.
LEMON: You saw the gunman take his own life?
MILLER: No. Not his own life. I didn't see that.
LEMON: Yes. But you're trained in rescue, so I imagine you were conflicted because you wanted to help, but then you wanted to run.
MILLER: Exactly. You want to help as many people as you can. You want to be out there. You are trained to be on the first line. You are trained to do what you can do.
LEMON: What do you want to say to the people who are watching here?
MILLER: Just to have support, to support our community, to pray for us, to pray for the families, to pray for everybody. It's -- I see so many people comparing it to Virginia Tech, and just so many different schools, and we're nothing like them. It's a completely different situation. It's people that lost their life for no reason...
LEMON: Yes.
MILLER: ... for no motive at this point. It's an unbelievable situation. LEMON: Stefanie Miller, thank you. And I don't know how you're dealing with this, but you've been up all night. You haven't slept. And, Kiran, you can understand why and probably, you know, a number of people are dealing with this as we figure out more what's going to happen here and figure out more about the shooter and exactly why he did it. It's just terrible.
CHETRY: Absolutely. Don, thanks for sharing that with us and bringing us a little bit closer to this story this morning. We'll be checking in with Don throughout the morning as he follows the latest developments as we find out more. And, again, the terrible news just coming into CNN confirming a few moments ago that a seventh person has now died in connection with this shooting.
Meanwhile, the talk in politics today is whether or not an influential congressman and superdelegate John Lewis is switching support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama. We're going to talk to one of the reporters breaking that story this morning.
Also, high level -- high fuel costs are eating up your frequent flyer miles. We're going to tell you why one airline is now cutting back to save money and how it could affect your travel. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Time for your "Hot Shot" right now. Traveling Chinese acrobats get detoured. Checking out the team of 16 young acrobats are in the U.S. They're ready to show off their cart wheels, their back flips. Wow, that's pretty impressive. How can you possibly do that and still catch the ball there?
They're spending their first two nights in a homeless shelter. The head of the Union Gospel Mission gave them a place to stay and also a place to practice. Pretty impressive. So congrats to the team.
And if you have a "Hot Shot," send it to us. Our Web site CNN.com/am and follow the "Hot Shot" link.
Well, U.S. Airways trimming back on its frequent flyer program. No longer awarding a minimum of 500 miles for every flight. That's what they used to do in the past. And if you want to use your miles to book a flight, you're going to be charged $75 if you don't book more than two weeks in advance. U.S. Airways says it is coping with record fuel prices which are adding $800 million to its costs this year.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: What an excellent plan.
CHETRY: Right. So what was the biggest one?
VELSHI: What an excellent plan, U.S. Airways. Good on, you guys.
CHETRY: So they want to make it more difficult for you to use your frequent flyer miles?
VELSHI: Why don't you all get it right first and then come it at us -- sorry. It isn't my turn yet.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: No. I'm glad you're weighing in.
VELSHI: Ridiculous.
CHETRY: I don't understand. That's $800 million.
VELSHI: It's the stupid airline trick of the week. Last week stupid airline trick was United, saying that you can only have one bag, and if you want a second bag, you get $25. And I'm going to tell you what I -- the best thing I heard from a friend of mine was that I'll give them $50 if they just get the airline up and down on time.
CHETRY: Oh, you're going to say if they don't lose your bag in the first place.
CHO: Exactly.
VELSHI: That's not news. We all know what the airlines do. I'll give you a little bit of news, though. Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson testified before the Senate yesterday. Ben Bernanke is obviously the boss of the Fed, and Henry Paulson is the guy who signs the dollar bill. So the two of them were talking about the economy and what they're going to do about it. No surprise, Paulson says don't expect a recession at all. And Bernanke, who will never really admit to a recession even if we're in one, said he expects things like -- listen to him in his words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: At present, my baseline outlook involves a period of sluggish growth followed by a somewhat stronger pace of growth starting later this year as the effects of monetary and fiscal stimulus begin to be felt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Better you heard it in his words because I can't talk like that. The markets didn't quite like it. Yesterday, we had a lower day. Not as bad as we've seen in previous days. The Dow was down 175 points. Nasdaq down 40. S&P down 18. Housing numbers came in for the fourth quarter. That's the last three months of 2007 and showed the biggest drop in housing prices since the year 714, or something of that nature. So that's pretty much what we have.
But Alan Greenspan, by the way, chiming in. He is the former Fed chair who says the chance of recession is now better than 50 percent. But I think what we've established is that most people, for most people who watch us, the distinction about whether we're in a recession or not becomes a little gray.
CHO: Well, because officially, I mean...
VELSHI: Right. There's --
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: ... it's only -- it's only when you look back on it that you can say.
VELSHI: It's only when you look back. Right. But if you're feeling it already, you're feeling it.
CHETRY: They also weren't that high, it seems, on the economic stimulus plan.
VELSHI: No. I mean, they'll say they're thinking that it's going to work over some time. And it probably will to some degree. The checks are going out, but it will be summer by the time many people get them.
CHETRY: Also, people are weighing in, and I think it's only one in seven who say they're actually going to spend it.
VELSHI: Yes. Everybody else will put it away and pay credit.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Or pay down debt. Right.
All right, Ali, thanks a lot.
VELSHI: OK.
CHETRY: Happy flying.
The "Most Politics in the Morning" now. Hillary Clinton celebrating a win in New Mexico. It was nine days after Super Tuesday, and the state is now done counting saying that Clinton got about 2,000 more votes than Barack Obama. So she then picks up the last unallocated delegate and now trails Obama by 42 delegates. Clinton might also be losing a superdelegate, an influential supporter and that would be Congressman John Lewis.
The "New York Times" is reporting that the civil rights leader is talking about switching his support from Clinton to Obama. Jeff Zeleny wrote "The Times" story and joins now on the phone this morning.
Jeff, thanks for being with us.
ON THE PHONE: JEFF ZELENY, "NEW YORK TIMES": Good morning.
CHETRY: All right. You know, Lewis has been one of Hillary Clinton's strongest supporters in the African-American community. And what is he now telling you about the chances that he may cast his superdelegate vote for Barack Obama? ZELENY: When I talked to Congressman Lewis last night, he said, look, the voters in his district on Super Tuesday in Georgia overwhelmingly supported the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama, and he said he would "Never ever do anything to go against the action of them." So he says if this comes down to the superdelegate vote, which he hopes and believes it will not, that he will support Senator Obama. But even more than that, he said he's concerned about this campaign going into a long fight to the convention. He said it would be damaging to Senator Obama and Senator Clinton, and he said unequivocally that he would cast his vote for Senator Obama.
CHETRY: Now, "The Washington Post" is reporting that Lewis' spokeswoman, by the name of Brenda Jones, is questioning this reporting. Possibly saying it's inaccurate that he's given no definitive word and that the Clinton campaign has gotten no definitive word. What's your response to that?
ZELENY: Well, Congressman Lewis said from the beginning that he has always been impressed by Senator Obama's candidacy, but he said in recent weeks something has changed. He said he has seen something that causes him to reassess his support for Senator Clinton. He was nothing but positive for Senator Clinton in the interview I did with him last evening, but he said unequivocally that he would not go against the will of the voters of his district. And he and other lawmakers will be meeting in the coming days, other members of the Congressional Black Caucus will be meeting to have some more discussions.
CHETRY: Right. Well, Jeff, what is this possibly say for the momentum of Barack Obama versus Hillary Clinton? You have Representatives David Scott of Georgia, another African-American member of Congress who was supporting Clinton, who is also saying I won't go against the will of the people in my district.
ZELENY: Well, a lot of these members of Congress are getting considerable pushback from some of their constituents who voted overwhelmingly to support Senator Obama. In terms of the overall outcome of the contest, it remains very close. The results in New Mexico obviously indicate, once again, that we just don't know how this is going to turn out. And Congressman Lewis was not saying that he is deciding the outcome of this, but he said that he and others -- he believes it would be wrong to go against the will of the voters of the district. So I think we may see more of that coming up.
But it also works on the flip side. There are several superdelegates who have endorsed Senator Obama whose districts also voted for Senator Clinton. So the math on this is impossible to work out. But Congressman Lewis said he and other lawmakers hope that this can come to a resolution here in the next couple of weeks after a few other states, like Ohio and Texas weigh in.
CHETRY: Right. All right. We'll just have to wait and see. But, Jeff, thank you for the reporting this morning and for talking to us about it. Jeff Zeleny reporter from "The New York Times."
The U.S. is making the unusual move of sharing intelligence on Iran and its nuclear ambitions. We'll tell you what's behind that urgent step ahead.
Also, the number of people killed is now going up this morning, sadly, in the Northern Illinois campus shooting. Survivors shedding tears, sharing their horror stories. We're getting an update from the hospital where several others are recovering this morning when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING on sad Friday, today, after the news of this tragic shooting that took place at Northern Illinois University. And just minutes ago, we've learn that a seventh person has died. It happened after a gunman opened fire in a lecture hall yesterday afternoon, just after 3:00 local time on the university DeKalb campus. About 65 miles west of downtown Chicago.
Dozens of people were hurt. This was a video that was sent in to us from an I-reporter, Eddie Brewer, as rescue crews frantically tried to get help to this people. Get them to the hospital as soon as possible. The campus was reeling in chaos and the wounded were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Don Lemon is live on the campus this morning with more details. You had a chance to talk to a poor girl who witnessed her best friend being shot and killed. Just a lot of sadness this morning and I imagine a lot of shock.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of sadness, shock, and, also, Kiran, as you can imagine, a lot of pain going on here on the campuses. Speaking to several people here and having worked in this area for a number of years. I mean, Northern Illinois University really is a bucolic place. A place that you don't expect to have this sort of situation. Not that you expect to have it anywhere. But this place really is normally quite tranquil and quiet.
Well, this morning it's eerily quiet. You might see some people walking around on campus. Some people with early classes. But that's not happening early today. The campus has been closed. Everything has been closed. And the only thing open really are the dorms so that they can feed students.
Again, the new information that we have for you this morning, seven people -- seven students, all of them, including seven students killed in all of this. Everyone who was injured in this are students including the teacher who was a grad student, and then a 27-year-old gunman who they are not naming.
Police know who he is, but they're waiting to get -- to name him after they get more and do more testing on his body. But we do know at one time, this former grad student, who was last enrolled here in the spring of 2007, that he was honored for his work in sociology. Honored for his work on self-inflicted wounds in prison and by all accounts was a fairly good student.
According to police and according to the last press conference last night, he had no criminal record. Had no brushes with the law that they could find in the past. So really, the big question is why did he do it? Now, Kiran, as you said in the beginning of all of this, there's a lot of pain and a lot of shock going on. Especially now who learning that another person has died in all of this.
Several of those victims were taken to the hospital very nearby and our Ed Lavandera joins us now from that hospital with an update on the situation there.
Ed?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Don. Well, here at the Kishwaukee Community Hospital, not too far from where you are, the majority of those victims were initially brought here. About 18 students in all and victims of this shooting. They were treated here. There are about seven of them that were in critical condition at one point throughout the night. Many of those patients were taken to other hospitals to receive treatment. So you can imagine that it's been an intense night here in the emergency rooms -- in several emergency rooms across this area as doctors have been working intensely to save the lives of these students who have been critically wounded.
And of course, there are other students that are still in stable condition. Some in serious condition. Family members of those students have been coming here to see how their loved ones are doing. There was the father of one shooting victim who spoke outside the hospital last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WASIF RAHMAN, FATHER OF WOUNDED STUDENT: She's in a good spirit. She's talking. She's a little in pain because of that. But, you know, doctors have been taking care of her and they've given her medicine and all that. But she's a little bit in pain because of the shots and all that. Buck shots that she got on her both arms and the right side of the face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Now, of course, to the victims that did not survive this shooting on this campus here at Northern Illinois -- very young. Some of them -- several of them 20 years old, 19 years old. So we're talking about very young victims in this case. And hospital officials here in DeKalb County say that they will hold a press conference later this morning around 11:00 Central Time.
We hope to get some more updated information on the conditions of the patients and exactly what's been going on throughout the overnight hours. These doctors, as you imagine, Don, have been working intensely to save the lives of those that are in critical condition right now.
Don?
LEMON: Ed Lavandera at Kishwaukee Community Hospital. Ed, thank you very much for that. And Kiran, just to tell you about the weapons that this gunman used. It is believed that he used a shotgun, a Glock, and then a smaller handgun. At last check they still hadn't found the smaller handgun, but the other two guns had been found at the scene.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Yes. It raises a lot of questions, Don, about what can be done to protect the security of students attending campuses. You know, the open environment of a college campus, very difficult to police. And we want to talk a little bit more about that with our Sunny Hostin right now. Don, we're going to check in with you throughout the morning as well.
But campus police, Sunny, were able to lock down the situation, I guess, within moments. And then within 20 minutes, they were able to send out email alert to notify people that there has been an incident on campus. Stay put. That certainly seems to be a drastic improvement over the last horrific school shooting at Virginia Tech...
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.
CHETRY: ...where they were critical of the lag time between letting people know something that happen.
HOSTIN: You know, I don't think anyone can take issue with the response time of the university in this case. The response time was four minutes. Within 20 minutes there were e-mails sent out. They did everything right this time. They learned from Virginia Tech. We're learning that they made changes after 9/11, after Virginia Tech. I don't think anyone, again, can take issue with their response time. They did it right.
CHETRY: We're learning a little bit more about the shooter this morning as well. Apparently, he had won a Dean's Award, according to the "Chicago Tribune." He is a 27-year-old former grad student there. That he actually wrote a paper on the U.S. prison system. He didn't have a prior criminal record, at least according to papers. Well, how do you profile, if you can at all, to find out whether or not people will have a tendency toward violence?
HOSTIN: Kiran, you really, really can't. I mean, the schools do, do certain background checks. There has been an upswing especially after Virginia Tech, college administrative offices -- officers, rather, asking background check information like criminal checks, credit checks, that sort of thing. But that doesn't necessarily inform you that this person, who never committed a crime, could do something. And it doesn't inform you of a person did commit a crime when they were young.
A lot of these records are closed, juvenile records, and it really just doesn't inform you. It's a very imperfect process, but I don't think background checks are necessarily the answer. You just don't know when this kind of thing can happen.
CHETRY: Are metal detectors or some other way to protect the campus the answer? You know, we've seen actually four -- this is the fourth school shooting in a week. One of them was at a technical school. Two of them were at high school and middle schools. But this guy was able to bring three guns on campus.
HOSTIN: That is shocking. We've been talking about that around here. How did he get not one, not two, but three guns? And one was a shotgun. Do you want to have that sort of environment at a university? Metal detectors, when you come in and out. We're talking about a sprawling campus. I think that would be very, very difficult.
Again, the university, I'm sure, is going to make some changes because they've made changes before and they got it right this time. You can always do better, but this is an imperfect process. I think we'll all learn from this. But really, the short answer is we can always do better, but we just don't know.
CHETRY: Sunny Hostin, thanks for being with us.
HOSTIN: Thank you.
CHETRY: We're also going to be talking with Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the injured students. How the university community begins to recover emotionally from a trauma like this as well. All of that coming up at the top of the hour.
And we're still covering the "Most Politics in the Morning". Who gets Mitt Romney's delegates? Romney is now endorsing his former rival and says he is releasing his delegates, but they won't all necessarily go to John McCain.
CNN is crunching the numbers, but if you add Romney's delegates to McCain's total, he would still be 78 delegates short of the nomination.
And Mike Huckabee, though, remains in the race and says he will stay until McCain secures the nomination, telling CNN that he never actually campaigned actively to get Mitt Romney's support.
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MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did not go out and actively seek it, because I felt like that that was his decision to make and I would respect it. When I talked to him after he went through, I certainly indicated that I would be happy to have his support. But as far as trying to go and put the muscle on him, I didn't think that that was realistic.
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CHETRY: Governor Huckabee says he is not ready to be part of John McCain's, quote, "coronation" just yet. He is heading to a fundraiser in the Cayman Islands this weekend and then will be back on the campaign trail after that.
Senator John McCain talked exclusively with Larry King last night and said that his comment that troops could spend 100 years in Iraq is being taken out of context. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama say that the comment means McCain wants to continue, quote, "failed policies." McCain defended his comments to Larry.
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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've been in Japan for -- since 1945. We've been in South Korea since 1950. Actually, it's really longer than that. We are in Kuwait right now. American troops are. American -- we have an American base in Turkey, as you know. Look, American troops, we've been in Germany since the end of World War II.
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CHETRY: McCain says Clinton and Obama's plan to leave Iraq now would be a failure, and he says that would plunge it back into chaos and genocide and would let al Qaeda claim victory.
Well, we brought you the news about Chelsea Clinton. She's heading to Hawaii. She's going to be campaigning for her mother before that primary on Tuesday. While she's been out on the trail, Chelsea has also been kept at a distance from the press. No questions, refusing interviews. We're taking a look at her evolving role and whether the campaign can both depend on her to promote her mom, but also keep Chelsea in a protective bubble, if you will.
CNN's Frank Sesno is looking into that for us in our next hour.
And it brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Should Chelsea Clinton be protected from the press? Cast your votes, cnn.com/am. Yes or no. And we'll have a tally of the votes coming up a little later in the hour.
Also new this morning, the White House taking an unusual step sharing intelligence about Iran's nuclear program with international inspectors. The administration says it has proof that Iran was trying to build a nuclear weapon. They want a new round of sanctions. The U.S. wants to see inspectors -- wants the inspectors to see their evidence before next week. That's when a report is expected on Iran's nuclear activities.
And we are two days away from another exciting Daytona 500. The Super Bowl of NASCAR, if you will. And Rob Marciano is getting us ready for the big race.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Being in the pits doesn't always equal speed on the track. Weather plays a huge role. Qualifying day at Daytona and we've got your weather report at extreme speeds coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Words kick up an exciting NASCAR scene and every year it starts with the Daytona 500, when you're driving nearly 200 miles an hour with cars just a few inches in front of you. Sometimes literally on your tail. It can make, you know, a big difference, those little things including how weather affects the race. And the Daytona 500, the running of Daytona 500 happening this Sunday and our Rob Marciano in is in Daytona Beach, Florida with more on that.
That was last year's race back in 2007. How much does weather play a role?
MARCIANO: Well, it's certainly huge. And here at Daytona, you know, this is a big oval track. They don't run in the rain, but making critical race time decisions based on changing weather conditions can mean just what it takes to put your car in victory lane.
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MARCIANO (voice-over): How cars handle at speeds of 200 miles an hour on the track depends how teams fine tune them in here and what Mother Nature throws their way.
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF FOR DRIVER CASEY MEARS: The weather will definitely adjust our cars handle.
MARCIANO: That includes air pressure, humidity, and the wind. Even at 10-mile-an-hour head wind can slow a race car down and force crew chiefs like Alan Gustafson to literally switch gears. Of course, they're always on the lookout for rain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have that ongoing live on the pit box during race days.
MARCIANO: Even sunshine can present problems.
GUSTAFSON: The sun is a real big factor with all the blackouts. The sun will always soak in there and the tires will have a hard time gripping the hot track.
MARCIANO: And when you are this close to the wall, your life can depend on your tires gripping the track. Especially on steep turns.
(on camera): Look at the angle of this bank. They say 31 degrees, but you don't realize until you are standing on it. You've got to be a roofer to navigate this. Cars going 180, it's pin. Yes, pinned, unless the wind is blowing you sideways. When we took a few laps in the pace car, we could easily feel the force of the wind.
CASEY MEARS, NASCAR DRIVER: As you start to turn and pick up that head wind, the wind is hitting the side of the car and it tends to make you a little bit tight up off the corner. So you tend to watch the flags. A lot around the tracks to get a good idea of where the wind is at and the crew chief bend in there in the pit and tries to keep you informed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Of course, it never hurts to have, Tony, the tiger on your back pushing you along the race track. These guys, they want to win. I want to thank my boy, Squirrel Mozingo, for letting me borrow this jacket. He is the truck driver of the Kellogg's/CARQUEST number five race team. And I want to thank them for letting us tag along. They came in fourth yesterday. Very unique way, they qualify here at Daytona.
They do time trials over the weekend and they split the field in two. And they have two races yesterday. They're shorter, they're a smaller field, and they're surely exciting to watch. And how racers finish in those races will determine their pole position come Sunday afternoon.
And Casey Mears came in fourth yesterday out of -- you know, a field of over 20. They were disappointed. I thought they'd be, you know, pretty satisfied with that kind of finish, but these guys want to win. Even if it's a field of 40, 43 cars, they're out here to win and they're doing it, certainly, at extreme speeds. It is a big spectacle. It is the 50th running of this historic race comes Sunday afternoon.
Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: It is fascinating how they determine -- first of all, you look fabulous. That looks like it was made -- custom-made for you. I mean, like an actor going to the Oscars.
MARCIANO: I'm not sure I'm going to give it back.
CHETRY: Don't give it back to Squirrel. You keep it for yourself. I'm sure Squirrel will let you keep it. The other fascinating thing though, Rob, is just how, as you said, there are these qualifying runs. There are some articles saying that Dale Earnhardt Jr. possibly has favored to take this. But it really does depend on the conditions of that day when they're actually on the track.
MARCIANO: It certainly does. And yesterday, they were pretty jazzed up because they had temperatures in the mid 60s. That's pretty much ideal. That really hold -- get the rubbery grip to the track. I think Sunday afternoon we'll look at temperatures more like in the lower 80s, which will make it a little bit more slick.
But the number five car there, part of the Hendrick Motorsports Team and it's pretty much the premier team out here and it does include Dale, includes Jimmie Johnson, and includes Jeff Gordon. So, they're certainly going to be the guys to watch come Sunday afternoon.
But anything can happen in a 500-mile race, so it will be fun to watch. That's for sure. And if you're here live to enjoy it. I've never been to one of these things. I mean, the sound just goes right through you. It is something to experience, that's for sure.
CHETRY: The sounds and the smells because all you smell is the gasoline fumes, but makes for a fun afternoon.
Hey, Rob, thanks so much.
Well in just a few hours, President Bush will leave for a trip to Africa, and there's talk that he wants his secretary of state to make an urgent diplomatic mission to Kenya.
We're going to be talking with CNN's State Department correspondent Zain Verjee about the mission to Kenya. She just returned. It's her native country. And as we saw, caught on video, she was caught in the crossfire of a violent situation during her reporting there. She's going to talk about what needs to be done to help that African nation.
CHETRY: Also, eyewitness accounts of the rampage, the shooting at an Illinois campus. We've been seeing I-reports coming in from Northern Illinois. We're going to show you more of these I-reports in just a moment.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Pictures from shooting rampage at a Northern Illinois University campus in DeKalb. We got word a few moments ago that a seventh shooting victim has died. Police are still trying to figure out the motive. This gunman apparently walking into a packed lecture hall and just opening fire. Three different guns used. Many, many people taken to the hospital as well. And we have live reports coming up.
Ed Lavandera is at the hospital with conditions of those still recovering this morning. Don Lemon on campus and Dr. Sanjay Gupta with more about the victims. And also, what it is like to try to treat that many critically injured patients all at once at this area hospital.
First, though, some CNN I-reporters. They've been sending in their pictures and video of the campus shooting and the aftermath. Our Veronica de la Cruz is here to show us some of these latest images, explaining what we're seeing.
Hey, Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you.
You know, I've been keeping a close eye on the web. Also watching all of the I-reports and I wanted to show you this one.
This first one is from Eddie Brewer. He is 23 years old. He is a student there on the campus of NIU. And he says, and I'm quoting here, "That everyone was acting really crazy. A guy was shot who came in, tried to pad his wounds. They tried to pad his wounds with paper towels." He said that people were coming through the hall. He was on a gurney. They were bringing gurney out as they were bringing bodies in. He saw four people being wheeled out. One looked like they were in really bad condition. Possibly shot in the back of the head.
So again, that is from our I-reporter there, Eddie Brewer, 23 years old, a student of sociology there on the campus. And I'm going to, of course, continue to watch the I-reports and bring you more as the show goes on. Kiran.
CHETRY: Veronica, thank you.
DE LA CRUZ: Of course.
CHETRY: And still ahead, there's a new plan this morning involving the out-of-control spy satellite. It's falling toward the earth. They doesn't have any controls on it that would allow NASA to control it and the military now says it is taking aim.
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UNIDENTIFIED MILITARY OFFICIAL: We'll use one missile with two back-ups. We'll have three ships on station. But it will be one shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The plan to shoot it down ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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