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Data Recorders Support Bomb Theory; Suicide Cop Tried to Hire Hit Man; Preventing Young Sports Deaths. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired November 07, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is the most disturbing thing I've seen and I will leave it at that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Emotional reaction to the fatal police shooting a 6-year-old boy, shot while still buckled in the front seat of his father's car. Now, two officers are charged with murder.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: New, this morning, a disturbing incident involving a British plane now. The pilot says the jet came within 1,000 feet of a rocket, as it approached the same airport where Metrojet 9268 took off from.

BLACKWELL: And Ben Carson gets agitated with the media over questions about his past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What you're not going to find with me is somebody who is just going to sit there and let you be completely unfair, without letting the American people know what's going on, and the American people are waking up to what you're doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: We are always so grateful to have you on board with us on Saturday morning. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you. We're starting this morning with Ben Carson, possibly in a way you've never seen him. The candidate is now shedding that mellow personality and firing back at the media over questions concerning his past, something that he introduced on the campaign trail by saying he's a changed man by divine intervention during those years.

PAUL: One of his personal stories that he received scrutiny for is his claims that he received a full scholarship from West Point. Listen to how he wanted to clarify that account.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARSON: If you look at one of the web sites that West Point has today, it says, government offered full scholarship to West Point. They use that very language themselves. So almost 50 years ago, they may have been using that language as well. The situation --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

CARSON: It didn't go to that extent because they were very impressed with what I had done. I had become the city executive officer in much less time than anybody else. They were saying, you would be a tremendous addition to the military, and we can get you into West Point with a full scholarship.

I simply said, I want to be a doctor. I really appreciate. I'm very flattered and I moved on. So it didn't go on any farther than that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To what extent do you believe the West Point account is relevant to the public assessment of a U.S. presidential candidate?

CARSON: I don't think it's relevant at all, but I think what it shows and this kinds of things show is that there is a desperation on behalf of some to try to find a way to tarnish me because they have been looking through everything.

They have been talking to everybody I've ever known. Saying there's got to be a scandal. There's got to be news he's had an affair. There's got to be something. They're getting desperate.

Next week, it will be my kindergarten teacher who said I peed in my pants. It's ridiculous, but it's OK because I totally expect it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did someone say we can get you in with a scholarship doesn't mean you've actually been given it?

CARSON: Well, it was an offer to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you interpret it as an offer?

CARSON: I interpreted it as an offer. I made it very clear -- I don't remember the names, I don't remember the names of the people. It's almost 50 years ago. I bet you don't remember all the people you talked to 50 years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) already said this is the beginning of the end. How do you think this will affect you if it will at all?

CARSON: You said the keyword there opponent. What do you expect them to say? I never said I received a full scholarship -- wait a minute, don't lie. I never said that receive a full scholarship, nowhere did I say that.

"Politico," as you know told a bold face lie, they've been called on that by "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times." I'm sure there will be several others who will call them out on that because there are actually some people with integrity in your business.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: So, another account being examined is Carson's claim that he had a temper during his youth. He gave his take on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were told, we were get more details this weekend about childhood friends, you were involved with fights with. Can you expand on this, can we get their identity?

CARSON: If you want to find their identity, let me tell you where you probably should go, you should go to the incident to the place where it happened. Wilson Junior High School in Detroit is where the lock incident occurred. And maybe they still have the records of this. It was, you know, 51, 52 years ago, but maybe they still have them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION).

CARSON: Which other incident?

[08:05:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With your mother, the father and Jerry, (inaudible).

CARSON: Well, the incident with my mother, she and my brother, were the only people who were there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You mentioned that you don't need to have a recollection, you said, I don't remember these incidents?

CARSON: Why would they remember them? I mean, I think that is -- you know, as a scientist who does investigations, that is the most lame investigation I have ever seen where you get people, and you find people that -- random people in the neighborhood near me, you obviously must know about that specific incident, what a bunch of garbage. The only people who would know that, would be the people who were involved --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dr. Carson, the first time last night --

CARSON: Wait a minute, let me finish. You would need to talk to the people who were involved in the incident. Now, I have said, if they wished to come forward and have a barrage of media, they're welcome to do so. I would in no way discourage them or encourage them to do that, but that's a choice that's up to them. It would be very unfair --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a complication that this is causing --

CARSON: I don't think it's causing a complication. Here's my prediction, all of you guys trying to pile on is actually going to help me when I go out to the book signing to answer these you thousands of people, they said, don't let the media get you down. Please continue to fight for us. See, they understand this is a witch hunt. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can actually rely on that support, maybe for the primary, but it's something you have to get to the substantive issues?

CARSON: That's what I'm trying to do, get to the substantive issues. This is all subterfuge. Thinks that happened 45, 50 years ago. As far as I'm concerned -- as far as I'm concerned they are out of the way.

Now -- and let me just say one other thing. I do not remember this level of scrutiny for one President Barack Obama when he was running. In fact, I remember just the opposite. I remember people just, well, we won't really talk about that.

We won't talk about that relationship. Frank Marshall Davis, we don't want to talk about that. We didn't really know him, All the things that Jeremiah Wright said, not a big problem. The occidental college doesn't do all that well, somehow ends up at Columbia University.

Well, I don't know? His record is sealed? Why are you guys not interested in why his record sealed? Can somebody tell me why?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, let's talk now with our CNN political commentators, Ben Ferguson and Jeffrey Lord, about what we just watched.

Ben, I want to start with you. Many of these examinations into his past including the West Point claim. Dr. Carson says are not relevant and that he's going to benefit from what he calls piling on of the media? What's your take?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I agree. I'll give you a great example of how absurd this whole West Point scholarship, quote/unquote, "issue is." If you're a student athlete, you have a ton of coaches if you're good at what you play, the sport you play, that will come to you and say, we would love to have you at the University of X.

Later on, people will usually ask you, after your choose your college you are going to, who wanted you, who gave you scholarship offers? You go through the list. Others will ask you, who has talked to you? Who has said they want you?

And that is any athlete, any student, that's coveted in high school will have a list of different people that come after you. Now, to say that somehow it wasn't an official piece of paper, I can tell you this, I played a sport in college. I had coaches that recruited me.

Multiple universities, I told them the same exact way that Ben Carson did. I'm not interested in going that far away from my family, halfway across the country, I appreciate the offer. You know what? I'm not a liar for not having an official document to back it up.

That is how school works. I'll also say this, West Point is free. If you ask anybody in the country, the mass majority say, if you get to go to college for free, what would you call that? They would call it a scholarship.

That's the universal term for not page at a university or even paying part of a scholarship. You would say I'm getting a partial scholarship. It's not like you lied about could he get into West Point or not. You're going say he went to an Ivy League school. So this is to me a total fake story.

[08:10:01]It's embarrassing that "Politico" went with it, and I do not think it's going to affect Ben Carson in a negative way. In fact, I think it's going to make supporters come to his aid.

BLACKWELL: Ben, what then is the value of building the narrative? If he has a clear answer and he defends it by what he wrote in his book, whether people agree with that or not, why not answer the question instead of building this narrative of the tirade against the media, and quote/unquote, "piling on?"

FERGUSON: Well, which question doesn't he answer? He said that he had a conversation of the West Point --

BLACKWELL: No. That's not the question. The question is why then build what we saw there for I think 7 minutes of the news conference we ran, he answered the question, move on?

FERGUSON: Well, he answered the question and the media kept badgering him. I mean, everybody can hear that, hold on, Mr. Carson, what about this? What about that? We're talking about events that happened a really long time ago. There's no one saying he's lying about the opportunity to go to West Point.

You know what he's a 17-year-old young man that was hyper- focused on becoming the best doctor he could become. He wanted to be a doctor. West Point is not the place to go if that's what he wants to accomplish. Look at what he's accomplished in his life.

Does it make sense that he could quickly close the door to West Point knowing that he wanted to go to Yale, knowing that he wanted to be a doctor? Of course, it would. So for him I think he's answered it.

I think the real issue here is the media, many in that room, did not want to let the story go because they love the news cycle of it so he has to answer more questions about it which is crazy.

BLACKWELL: All right, Jeffrey, let me come to you, the response we are seeing from Donald Trump here. He's retweeted these about Carson in the past in which it says, is Carson hallucinating, now lies about West Point.

And then earlier Trump wrote this about Carson's stabbing attempt account. Carson now admits his friend named, quote/unquote, "Bob," who he tried to stab. Bob was saved by his belt buckle. No longer exists as Bob, wrong name. Is this the right move on Trump's part?

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, Donald Trump is his political opponent, and so of course, this is what you do, if you draw the distinctions between you and your opponents.

And as I'm sure, Donald Trump is well aware when Barack Obama sort of came to the nation's attention, one of the things that became clear, eventually, was that he had written, I think, a girlfriend or somebody in his book, that he'd done a composite or some sort thing.

I'm sure this is the kind of thing he's got in mind here. The Ben -- these tweets, at least as I understand this, and correct me if I'm wrong, came as a result of the "Politico" headline. I don't know that he's tweeted something since then.

You know, I have to say, I do agree with Ben on this. This is a problem with -- Ben Ferguson. This is a problem with the media. The media does this all the time. I do think this will help Dr. Carson.

As in fact, this thing has helped Donald Trump, as it helped Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz when they take this kind of thing on. People are tired of this kind of thing. They want to hear about issues. They want to know what's going on.

We get into these little sorts of incidents here and the media goes crazy and it drives the country crazy.

BLACKWELL: We've got to wrap it there. Ben Ferguson, Jeffery Lord, thank you so much. We'll continue the conversation throughout the morning.

PAUL: We are following a developing story this morning, a 6-year-old child shot and killed by police in Louisiana. The officers are now charged with murder this morning. Investigators say it was the most disturbing scene they've ever witnessed. Also --

BLACKWELL: New security measures trickle down to U.S. airports in the wake of the Russian jetliner crash last week. We're going to soon be seeing all in an effort to keep travelers safe.

PAUL: And we're uncovering more information about the Fox Lake Illinois police officer who committed suicide. What was on the phone records and text messages recovered by investigators?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:17:14]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jeremy Moore is 6 years old. He didn't deserve to die like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PAUL: An emotional moment there from a Louisiana police officer last night after announcing two officers are under arrest and charged in the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old boy. Take a look at this picture, if you would, please.

Jeremy Martis, on your left, killed by police bullets as he was strapped in the front seat of his dad's car. The officers reportedly opened fire while they were in pursuit of that vehicle. This is according to our affiliate, WAFB.

BLACKWELL: This happened Tuesday in Marksville, Louisiana just north of Baton Rouge. CNN's Nick Valencia is now with more. I know there aren't many details, but you are learning a few.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a tragedy, a 6-year-old boy, a first grader left shot and killed after his father was involved in a police pursuit. This morning, two officers there in Louisiana wake up behind bars charged with the murder of this child behind me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): Late last night, two police officers taken into custody, charged with killing a 6-year-old boy in Marksville, Louisiana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight, that badge has been tarnished by the two following individuals.

VALENCIA: City police officers, Norris Greenhouse Jr. and Derrick Stafford are facing second degree murder charges in the death of Jeremy Martis Tuesday night. They are also facing attempted murder charges. Both were working secondary jobs as marshals.

Investigators say the two were pursuing a vehicle driven by the boy's father, Chris Few when the chase stopped on a dead-end street. Police say that's where the officers opened fire. The 6-year-old was apparently buckled in the front seat.

COL. MICHAEL D. EDMONSON, LOUISIANA STATE POLICE: Jeremy Martis, 6 years old. He didn't deserve to die like that and that's what's important.

VALENCIA: CNN affiliate, WAFB, said Martis was hit five times in the head and chest. His father was critically injured. State police say no gun was found in Few's car. Circumstances surrounding the chase are unclear.

MEGAN DIXON, CHRIS FEW'S FIANCEE: I don't know what he was thinking. I don't know why he wouldn't just stop.

VALENCIA: The incident was captured on police body cameras. Footage which has not been released left state investigators shocked.

EDMONSON: I'm not going to talk about it, but I'm going to tell you this. It is the most disturbing thing I've seen. I will leave it at that. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: The circumstances surrounding what happened are still unclear. Even at that press conference last night police offered very little details. They did mention that body camera, but that footage has yet to be released to the public or the media.

The father of this 6-year-old child remains hospitalized in critical condition. We're still trying to figure out what led to that police pursuit -- Victor, Christi.

BLACKWELL: All right, Nick Valencia, thank you so much.

[08:20:08] PAUL: I want to bring in CNN law enforcement analyst, Tom Fuentes, right now. Tom, help us understand, when you hear another officer saying this is the most disturbing video they've ever seen, how severe is it?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You know, Christi, I was just thinking having heard him say that in a couple of these videos, you know for a senior officer of the state police, he would have seen, horrible traffic accidents.

People just, you know in unbelievable situations and to describe this incident as the most horrible, it must be a really disturbing difficult video to watch, and they haven't released it yet. They may not release it publicly because of that fact.

So for me, when I hear an experienced officer make a statement like that, that tells me that this must be a really, really horrible situation.

PAUL: Well, they haven't released, as you said, the video, but they also haven't released a whole lot of other information as well. As Nick pointed out, there are a lot of questions at this stage. The officers have already been charged with second degree murder.

FUENTES: No, that's true. I think that we're probably going to hear more about this in the days ahead and maybe they don't want to prejudice the case. But, you know, they should be describing the nature of the chase. Why the officers were in pursuit?

What led to the actual shots being fired? How many shots were fired? Where were they in proximity to the car when they fired those shots? That so many bullets hit that little boy and his father.

There is a lot to tell about what happened in this incident. Again, for the state trooper to say how horrible it was, that's pretty significant to me.

PAUL: There were four officers involved in this. Only two charged with second degree murder at this point. What does that charge of second degree murder tell you about this case?

FUENTES: It tells me that the investigators and the prosecutors believe there's absolutely no justification for the shots being fired. And that there's no -- and in their view, no self-defense involved that these officers were in any danger whatsoever and had any reason to even shoot at that vehicle in the first place.

PAUL: All right, Tom Fuentes, we appreciate your insight as always, thank you, sir.

FUENTES: Thank you, Christi.

BLACKWELL: European authorities now believe a bomb probably caused that deadly Metrojet crash in Egypt.

Also, we are learning new information this morning about a U.K. flight and its close call with a missile on its way to Sharm el- Sheikh.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:15]

BLACKWELL: You're watching history here. This is in Singapore. The two leaders of China and Taiwan met for the first time since the end of the bloody Chinese war in 1949. Now, this landmark handshake could reboot relations between the two rivals or drive them farther apart. We don't know yet. But both sides have said no agreements would be signed on this day, but they would discuss ways to cement their peace.

PAUL: And security forces in Argentina say they're on, quote, "maximum alert" because they believe this man, fugitive, drug kingpin, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman may have fled Mexico and traveled thousands of miles across their border. El Chapo made headlines when he broke out of a Mexican maximum security prison through a tunnel. That was back in July.

Live from New York is that guy, Donald Trump. Tonight, the GOP presidential candidate hosts "Saturday Night Live." The GOP candidate's appearance comes with amped up controversy. Several groups are preparing to march from Trump Towers to "SNL" Studios to denounce his stint.

BLACKWELL: In about 90 minutes, Egyptian authorities will give an update on the investigation into what happened to Metrojet 9268.

PAUL: We hope we will find out how close they may be to getting some definitive answers into what caused that jetliner to fall out of the sky, was it a bomb?

BLACKWELL: Also, we're uncovering more information about the Fox Lake Illinois police officer who committed suicide. We've got details about phone records, text messages as well recovered by investigators.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:22] PAUL: We are about 90 minutes away from the news conference by Egyptian officials regarding that crash of a Russian airliner in Sinai last weekend. And today, nine flights are expected to bring home British tourists who are stranded in the resort Sharm el-Sheikh in that wake of the crash. And the luggage, we understand, coming on a separate flight.

BLACKWELL: Yes, British media also reporting a frightening incident in august. A British airliner approaching Sharm el-Sheikh, the airport there with 189 people on board, apparently had to avoid a missile or came narrowly close to intersecting with that missile.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin joins us now from Sharm el-Sheikh.

So, Erin, the French media reports that the data recorders from the crashed airliner seem to support the theory of a bomb on board. How are the Egyptians reacting to that report?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Egyptian authorities say they don't have that information. They weren't informed. And they're pretty angry about that fact as well.

The Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry gave a press conference earlier today. He says that it seems that the media was given that information instead of Egyptian authorities. And keep in mind this is an international investigation comprised of investigators from a number of countries including Russia, Germany and France.

Egypt, though, is supposed to be leading that investigation. So it's unclear why Egyptian authorities would not have that information. Shoukry, also very critical of Egypt's international partners saying that they did not heed Egypt's call warning about terrorism. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMEH SHOUKRY, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): They did not show a level of cooperation and a direct targeting of these organizations that we hoped for. I can say these calls were not heeded by many other parties who are now working to protect the interests of their citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: Now, he's referring there, of course, to the decision by Russia, by the United Kingdom to evacuate their citizens from Sharm el-Sheikh. Russia is actually evacuating all of its citizens from Egypt which is seen as a big blow to this country's tourism industry.

Now Egypt's Civil Aviation Authority which is supposed to be at the helm of this investigation into what happened to the plane, well, they're expected to give a press conference in about an hour and a half. It will be interesting to see if they mention the contents of the black boxes.

BLACKWELL: All right. Erin McLaughlin for us there in Sharm el- Sheikh -- thank you so much. And we'll check back with you when that news conference starts, again, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

PAUL: We want to follow up now on those French media reports that analysis of the data recorder seem to support the theory that a bomb brought down Metrojet Flight 9268. Let's talk to CNN aviation analyst Peter Goelz and CNN contributor Michael Weiss. Gentlemen -- thank you so much. Michael, by the way, the co-author of "ISIS: Inside the army of terror.

Peter, I want to start with you, what do you believe we could learn at this news conference today?

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, we would hope that the Egyptian government would step forward and start to take control of this investigation in a transparent way. Clearly their partners -- the British, the French, the Irish and the Russians, have all indicated that they believe this had been an act of terror.

[08:34:57] The Egyptians, for a variety of reasons have been reluctant to go there. They need to step forward. They need to say where they stand on this issue. And if they do not support that this is a terrorist act, they really better lay out some facts on why that is.

PAUL: Ok, Michael, if they do come out and say, yes, it was a bomb, how does that modify the investigation? Because, really at this point then, essentially you're looking for a killer?

MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. And I mean the prevailing theory is that this was sort of an inside job. Somebody at Sharm el- Sheikh Airport or perhaps even in the Egyptian government, the transport ministry allowed the ISIS affiliate to arrive (ph) at Sinai to smuggle an explosive device on board in the cargo compartment.

So what this suggests is that the Egyptian state is itself infiltrated by terrorists -- by real hard core ideologues who want to blow up airliners.

Look, there's an irony here. The irony is that the Egyptian government, you know, does not want to come out and own this investigation and say what now has emerged as the consensus view that this was an act of terror because Egypt's economy revolves around tourism. And yet, look at how this makes the Egyptian government appear on the international stage, as incompetent -- that they don't even know.

You know, other countries -- the United States, Great Britain and now even Russia have a better command of what's taking place on Egyptian soil than the Egyptian intelligence services. So that's going to affect tourism, too. I mean would you go there knowing that their national security is in such a state of shambles?

So I think they're in a terrible bind at the moment and it's a self- inflicted wound, if you like because they could have come out much sooner and given this press conference, days ago. I mean we're a week in since supposed attack took place.

PAUL: Peter, I want to ask you about the news this morning that there was this missile incident back in August with that British airliner. Do you think there's any possibility that something similar could have happened here? GOELZ: It doesn't look as though it was a missile because this is a

heavily monitored area of the world, as we saw with satellites and radar. And a missile shoot-down, it would have been seen. I think -- I think they're right in focusing in on an explosive device on the plane. So, I think that's where it's going to hit.

But the Egyptians are in a terrible bind. And unfortunately, they've had a history of bucking the facts. In 2004, there was a 737 accident of Sharm el-Sheikh, in which the British and the Americans identified the fatal accident as pilot error. The Egyptians refused to accept that. In 2009, Egypt Air crashed. In 1999, Egypt Air crashed off of Nantucket. The United States declared that it was suicide, the NTSB. The Egyptians refused to accept that.

So this is a critical moment for the Egyptians.

PAUL: Ok. And Michael, lastly, if this does turn out to be an ISIS attack, let's say, what does that mean? I think a lot of people in the U.S. are wondering, is it something that could possibly happen here in the U.S. Was this something from ISIS central, this was a front (ph) team. We know that there are ISIS followers here in the U.S. What's your take?

WEISS: Well, it's actually quite frightening because, you know, for the last year and change we've been focused on the realm of the so- called caliphate, right where ISIS has actual command and control over its infantry and its operatives from Mosul to Raqqa in Iraq and Syria.

But these (inaudible), that is to say the provinces beyond where the caliphate has been established seem to be coming into their own. I mean they set up shop in Egypt in a rather remarkable way. They're in Yemen. And indeed they've been in Sinai.

And you know, for the last several months in July the lay (ph) of Sinai got into a firefight with the Egyptian security forces. They bombed simultaneously all 15 checkpoints in the peninsula. They were using coronet (ph) antitank missiles -- very sophisticated material. And the Egyptians said we have to fight them like they were conventional military.

We've kind of ignored the threat coming from these sorts of provincial outposts of ISIS, but no longer. I mean if this does turn out to be them, then it is a stunning, stunning debut for what had been sort of a junior partner to ISIS.

PAUL: Ok. Michael Weiss and Peter Goelz -- your insight is appreciated as always. Thank you so much for being here.

GOELZ: Thank you.

And again, we should learn more at this news conference by Egyptian officials. That's happening in about 90 minutes.

[08:39:56] BLACKWELL: Also this morning we've got some new details of this really bizarre case of a police officer who staged his own death, turned out to be suicide. What police now say he wanted to do to a city administrator that raised the alarms -- we've got that for you.

PAUL: Also legal efforts to keep kids safe in school sports after a nine-year-old collapses and dies on the football field. This was during practice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: This is one of those stories that everybody is still going -- what the heck happened?

BLACKWELL: Yes, it is.

PAUL: It's so bizarre. The small-town cop who police say staged his own suicide. And now, somehow, it's getting even more bizarre this morning.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Because not only are Lt. Joe Gliniewicz's widow and son under investigation for possibly being involved in this alleged embezzlement scheme but detectives say this veteran officer also tried to put a hit on a city administrator.

CNN's Rosa Flores has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A Fox Lake police officer who staged his suicide after embezzling funds may have been plotting a murder according to authorities. And they say this was the woman he was targeting.

ANNE MARRIN, FOX LAKE VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR: I was stunned -- absolutely stunned. It's definitely not a good feeling and it's very scary in the same sense as well. It's almost surreal.

FLORES: She says her interaction with Lieutenant Gliniewicz was professional, but behind her back, he could have been plotting to kill her. Authorities say this text message was the first clue. Quote, "close to entertaining a meeting with a mutual acquaintance of ours with the word "white" in their nickname." "White" referring to the would-be hit man -- a gang member.

[08:45:07] CHRISTOPHER COWELL, DETECTIVE, LAKE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT: We had to do some backtracking and some digging. But it was very clear through the text messages that he was looking at wanting to speak with a high-ranking motorcycle gang member.

FLORES: Investigators also say Gliniewicz alluded to planting evidence on someone. Police found cocaine in an unmarked evidence bag in his desk though the autopsy on him showed no traces of the substance in his body. Personnel records tarnished the hero status he acquired in the days following his death -- records showing numerous suspensions, nearly a dozen violations of rules and procedures and allegations of intimidation.

In one incident, the dispatcher said that Gliniewicz told her that she needed to stop her behavior or he, quote, "could put three rounds of bullets in her chest". In another Gliniewicz is reprimanded for leaving a crime scene unattended.

And in a new twist, sources tell CNN, authorities are now investigating Gliniewicz's widow, Melodie and one of his sons in their role in embezzlement of thousands of dollars from the Explorers' Youth program.

In an interview with Crimewatch Daily last month, Melodie Gliniewicz detailed her role in the program.

MELODIE GLINIEWICZ, WIDOW OF LT. JOE GLINIEWICZ: His big concern was the Explorer Program.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He loved that program?

GLINIEWICZ: Dedicated is a very mild word when it comes to that program and him. I did a lot with that program with him. Again if you didn't keep up, you get left behind. And I was one that was very heavily involved. We both were.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right. Our Rosa Flores reporting for us there.

New efforts under way, this morning to keep your young children who may be playing football today safe, after the death of a nine-year- olds who collapsed during practice.

PAUL: A doctor who helped pass a state law mandating health screening for students is weighing in on this.

Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Tragedy on the gridiron. Take a look at Luke Shone (ph) there -- one of two young football players who died this. He was a high school senior in Kansas, plans to head to college next fall. The other, a 9-year-old from Ohio.

And in response this week, several legislators proposed a bill to Congress to help protect young athletes. At least nine young kids across the country have died in football incidents since early September -- nine of them. Look at these faces here.

A report from the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury research database says about 12 high school and college football players die every year. The leading cause: sudden cardiac arrest.

Obviously, football comes with inherent risks, we know. But can these types of deaths be prevented is the problem. Let's talk to Lisa Salberg, she's founder of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association and recently helped push a law in New Jersey, in fact, that mandates heart screening for kids under 19.

Lisa -- thank you for being with us. I understand that you have seen parts of this bill that was introduced to Congress today or this week, rather. Anything in that stand out to you? Give it a grade. Is it a bill that would really make a difference?

LISA SALBERG, HYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY ASSOCIATION: Well, first of all, thank you for having me here today. And secondly, I think bringing national awareness to the problem of cardiac arrest and death in our youth is critically important.

There are actually two pieces of legislation in the House right now. The other is the Hearts Act which helps to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest and create programs within schools and within communities to identify those at risk for sudden cardiac arrest in time.

The other bill is more global looking at football specifically and how to keep football safe. This isn't really a football issue. This is not only a sports issue, it's a child issue. That's why in the state of New Jersey, we reached out to our legislators, and Senator Matting was really helpful in getting us to pass not only student athlete protection but well child protection.

So when every child goes to their community or to their physician for a well child examination, we're now going to be looking at all children for signs of heart disease in themselves and in their families.

PAUL: ok. So we know looking for those signs and expanding those physicals is of much importance here. What is the greatest pushback you get when you're trying to make -- when you're trying to solidify those kinds of mandates?

SALBERG: Well, New Jersey was our first state where we came up with a comprehensive approach to dealing with the problem of sudden cardiac arrest in the young and specifically looking for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

And I will tell you we got very little pushback at all from legislators when we explained that we were building sustainable methods within currently existing health care systems to have people communicate to their physician appropriately and really use the systems that we already have created.

We're just asking about ten more questions and the physicians are being trained in the state of New Jersey to know what to look for. And to be able to do a couple of physical examination issues, like listening to your heart sounds while you're standing, sitting and squatting. It doesn't cost any money. There's no real pushback here. This is simple stuff.

If we can get the GP and pediatrician to identify these risks, we can then refer these kids to cardiac specialists for additional screening.

PAUL: But then when people hear that already this year nine kids have died since September and the average according to stats is 12 per year it is alarming -- there's no doubt about it. So what do we -- you know, the parents, the children the doctor, the coaches -- what do we need to be aware of? And schools, too, when we're looking out for this? SALBERG: Well, I hate to tell you, but the number is much greater

than 12. That may be within football specifically that you're looking at. But within the United States, children under the age of 24, or young people under the age of 24, we see about 130 deaths per year from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy alone.

[085500] And in those cases, most of them are not diagnosed before they die. So we need to get better at identifying. So what we're looking for is signs and symptoms. If your child is short of breath, if your child has chest pain or discomfort, if your child has fainted or nearly fainted, they're more fatigued than they should be. If they're an athlete and there's been marked changes in their ability to perform season to season -- these are warning signs.

The other things we're looking for are family history. You want to really know your family history. Not the family myths, but the family history. When Uncle Joe died from a heart attack at 40, it's not likely a heart attack. It's more likely a sudden cardiac arrest. And many of those cases are genetic. And hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is genetic.

So we're looking for genetic diseases. You don't necessarily look like a cardiac patient. Do I look sick? I was diagnosed when I was 12 years old. So we want to be able to look at the facts. I have an extensive family history of hcm. You want to look at your family history very carefully.

PAUL: Very good points to make. Lisa Salberg -- we appreciate it. Thank you for taking the time to be with us.

SALBERG: Thanks for letting me be here today.

PAUL: Of course.

BLACKWELL: Well, that's it for us this hour. We'll see you back here at 10:00 Eastern. Again, Egyptian officials will hold a news conference at the top at 10:00 giving an update on the investigation into the Metrojet crash of 9268.

PAUL: But stay close.

"SMERCONISH" starts now.

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