Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
NIU Killer and His Victims; Veteran Abuse Detailed; Dangers of Credit Cards; President Bush in Africa; Students Set Up Memorials to Honor Shooting Victims
Aired February 16, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: Good morning, everybody from the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia, it's Saturday, February 16th, I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: And it's a good morning, yes, thanks for joining us. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thank you for starting your day with us.
Well, this morning we are learning new details about the Northern Illinois University shooter and his victims.
Also: The scary situation on campus and the days and months leading up to the killings.
HOLMES: Also: Outrage over video, we're going to show you here of a deputy dumping a disabled man out of his wheelchair. We've got an update on this for you.
NGUYEN: Plus: Exposing the tricks used by credit card companies to get more of your money, what you really need to know before you say, "Charge it". That's ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Well, we begin with the suicidal shooting rampage in Northern Illinois University. Students last night held a vigil for the five victims. They died Thursday when a former grad student open fire on a lecture hall. The gunman then killed himself. Three people do remain in critical condition.
CNN's Don Lemon joins us now from the NIU campus with more this morning. Hey there, Don.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT - DEKALB, ILLINOIS: Hey, good morning to you, Betty and T.J. I want to talk about this memorial behind and the memorial that happened last night in just a moment.
But first: I want to tell you, we're learning a little bit more about the suspect: 27-year-old Steven Kazmierczak. Here's what we heard and learning: According to reports, he was in a Chicago psychiatric treatment shortly after high school. Apparently, he's parents put in there because he was cutting himself. They also put him in there because he refused to take medication and even at that time, was acting erratically. We're also told that he did a short stint as a prison guard and also was in the army back in 2001 and 2002 and told a friend that he got out because of a psychological discharge. In a meantime, a memorial with hundreds of students was held last night on campus.
Hundreds of students gathered last night, all of them wearing red and black, which is their school colors to honor those five victims and even, ironically to honor the shooter as well. He was remembered in all of this. Dignitaries showed up also, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson offering condolences on campus. In the meantime, the family, the family of the victims, the father, Robert Kazmierczak responding last night in Florida to what his son apparently has done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT KAZMIERCZAK, NIU SHOOTER'S FATHER: Please leave me alone. I have no statement to make and no comment, OK? I appreciate that. It's a very hard time and I'm a diabetic. (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So, the family here in Illinois, specifically at the sister's home in Urbana, they responded with a statement and in part I'm going to read it: It says, "Our heartfelt prayers and deepest sympathies are extended to the families, victims and all other persons involved in the NIU tragedy. We are both shocked and saddened. In addition to the loss of innocent lives, Steven was a member of our family. We are grieving his loss as well as the loss of life resulting from his actions." And it goes on to say how they respectfully request that the media grant them some sort of privacy.
Back here now live as we come out I'm going to show you a memorial that's behind us for the five victims plus the shooter, Daniel Parmenter, Ryanne Mace, Julianna Gehant, Catalina Garcia and then, Gayle Dubowski and then also, there is a cross turned backward for the shooter, Steven Kazmierczak. So, obviously, you know, students gathered here yesterday and there were several memorials here on campus, a little makeshift memorials and the memorial last night with all of the students, hundreds of them, held on campus, all wearing their school colors, black and white. We're going to update through the morning on CNN about the latest on this investigation and also more about the memorials. Betty, T.J.
NGUYEN: All right, Don, we thank you.
HOLMES: Well, four of them had not even reached their 21st birthday, another in her 30s. We now know who they are, those killed in the Northern Illinois shootings, you heard Don mentions some of the names there, the school identifies them as 20-year-old Daniel Parmenter, he is of Westchester, Illinois; Catalina Garcia, also 20 years old of Cicero, Illinois; Ryanne Mace was 19 of Carpentersville, Illinois; also, 32-year-old Julianna Gehant of Mendota, Illinois; and then, 20-year-old Gayle Dubowski of Carol Stream, Illinois.
NGUYEN: The response to the shooting in Northern Illinois University was quick. The school updated security and its alert system after Thursday's massacre and Virginia Tech. So, I want to give you a look at the timeline. The gunman opened fire at 3:00 in the afternoon local time. Now, campus police were on the scene within three minutes. Seventeen minutes later, at 3:20, the alarm was sounded across campus and the message was this: There's a gunman on campus, stay where you are and by 4:00 o'clock, police had determined that there was only one gunman and that he had killed himself.
HOLMES: By most accounts, or some accounts we're getting but by all accounts we've gotten, Steven Kazmierczak was an excellent student who showed no outward signs of trouble which makes Thursday's killing spree all the more puzzling, especially to people who knew him well. Here now is CNN's Dan Lothian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Twenty-seven-year- old Steven Kazmierczak seen in this four-year-old video lived in this apartment building with his girlfriend, not far from the University of Illinois campus in Champaign. As a graduate student there, he once sat in Professor Jan Carter-Black's human behavior class.
PROF. JAN CARTER-BLACK, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: He was very personable, he was very likeable. I enjoyed working with Steven.
LOTHIAN: She was also Kazmierczak adviser, helping him to navigate coursework in the school of social work, never seeing anything, she says, that raised red flags.
CARTER-BLACK: This is one of those experiences that it's very difficult to express how it impacts you, how it impacts you. So, we'll do what we need to do, to be OK, but it's very overwhelming.
LOTHIAN: Champaign Police chief, R. T. Finney says, his department has been helping the FBI and other local police paint a clearer picture of the 27-year-old, someone who appeared to stay out of trouble until now.
CHIEF R.T. FINNEY, CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS POLICE: Looking at our contacts we have not had any contacts with him, there's no known criminal activity that we have here.
LOTHIAN: He just focused on his classes and the fall of 2007, Professor Carter-Black says, Kazmierczak dropped her class because he said it conflicted with a new job. When the rampage began, she was shocked to learn that a University of Illinois student was the shooter, but the real blow came when she found out it was one of her students.
CARTER-BLACK: I struggled with it. I did.
LOTHIAN (on camera): Kazmierczak has a sister who lives here in the area. She did not want to talk about her brother. A family spokesperson says, it's just too difficult for her.
(voice over): But then, the family released a statement expressing their shock and sadness over the loss of innocent lives, saying in part, our heartfelt prayers and deepest sympathies are extended to the family, victims, and all other persons involved in the NIU tragedy.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Champaign, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: President Bush says, your security could be at risk when a controversial eavesdropping law expires tonight. Democrats in Congress, well, they accuse the president of fear mongering.
HOLMES: And a issue here, a bill that makes it easier for the government to spy on foreign phone calls and e-mails that pass through the U.S. The president says, it's essential for tracking terrorist plots but one main sticking (ph) point is whether to protect telecommunications companies from lawsuits when they cooperate with the government.
Also new this morning: President Bush begins his five-nation journey across Africa.
NGUYEN: Yes, he arrived this morning in the West African nation of Benin. The president wants to highlight U.S. efforts to help fight AIDS, malaria and poverty. White House correspondent, Ed Henry is traveling with the president and he's at the second stop on his journey, that being Tanzania. Hey there, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT -TANZANIA: Good morning, Betty. That's right, the president now en route here to Tanzania, this is a victory lap of sorts, a chance to tout the success of the president's $15 billion program to battle AIDS here throughout Africa. But in Benin, on that first stop, the president was immediately confronted with questions about two places he will not be visiting: Kenya and Sudan, where people are suffering for other reasons, clearly, the violence there on the ground. Now, on Darfur, the president defended his division years ago not to send U.S. troops to deal with what he, himself, has called genocide in Darfur. He said he's doing all he can to help U.N. peacekeepers and on the question of that post election strife in Kenya, the president noted that on Monday, he's sending Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice to try and quell the violence and he said, broadly speaking, on this six-day trip, he's trying to tout progress as a way of giving people all throughout the continent hope about the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES: It's a large place with a lot of nations and no question not everything is perfect. On the other hand, there's a lot of great success stories and the United States is pleased to be involved with those success stories.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: A lot of success indeed. The people on the ground, I can tell you here are very grateful. When we landed in Tanzania last night, we saw all kinds of billboards on the roadside thanking President Bush for this anti-AIDS initiative. He now wants to double it to $30 billion. Already 1.3 million people are being treated throughout the continent that are dealing with AIDS right now because of the president's program, and clearly, the bottom line is the president's trying to tout this as a legacy item to show that the Iraq war is not his only legacy on the foreign policy front. Betty, T.J.?
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Ed Henry and joining us live from Tanzania today. Thank you, Ed.
HOLMES: All right. No primary is a small primary really, anymore. Now, we are three days away from another big, big primary day and more delegates of course is up for grabs.
NGUYEN: Yes, so, the talk on the campaign trail is getting tough as you can imagine and we're going to tell you who is saying what.
Plus this -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNA MOORE, RESCUED GIRL: So, I climbed all the way up to the top, and I went zigzagging up to the top, and then, my foot got stuck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yes, she got stuck. She was all the way to the top of a very tall tree. Any idea how she got down? Well, wait until you see this.
HOLMES: All right. And our Reynolds Wolf who's been stuck in a tree or two a time or two in his life.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Dude, you have no idea how accurate that statement is, you haven't the slightest idea, you're dead-on as always. Hey, guys. We got a rough day today in store for Texas. We're looking at the possibility of some large hails and damaging winds, some heavy rain fall and maybe, even some tornadoes. I'm going to give you the full scoop on this storm system and how it may affect millions of others through the weekend. That's all coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN: The news channel trusted by more Americans. Now back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
HOLMES: All right, we've got a look at some of our other top stories.
NGUYEN: Yes, the fire is out this morning but check out the video. A natural gas pipeline explodes in rural Texas, 40-mile-per- hour winds just fan those flames and officials say, no one was hurt in the blaze, can you believe it? The fire though is still being investigated.
HOLMES: Steve Fossett is dead, that's what a Chicago judge has now declared at least. The millionaire and adventurer has been missing for five months. Well, now that he's declared dead, his family can settle his estate. Fossett, if you remember, was the first to fly solo around the world in an air balloon, who was last seen in September flying his single engine plane. Some think he crashed in the Sierra Nevada but the wreckage has never been found.
NGUYEN: An 8-year-old Arizona girl got more than she bargained for when she decided to climb a tree. It sounds innocent enough, right, a kid climbing a tree. Well, here's the problem, she kept going and going and ended up 50 feet up that tree, then got stuck. That's when the fire department was called in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOORE: Then, there's this big bucket, and they used it, and they brought it and they took it up to the tree, and then, they got me down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Fire officials say that kind of stunt (ph) can be dangerous or even deadly especially when kids climb that high. So, listen to your local firemen, would you? Stay out of trees.
HOLMES: Aren't kids supposed to climb trees, isn't that a natural thing?
NGUYEN: Yes, but not 50 feet up.
WOLF: Bad memories, guys. I don't like seeing the stories. It just brings back -
NGUYEN: Were you a tree climber?
WOLF: Well, yes, but the tree I was in was about 60 feet tall and didn't have a happy ending like that. Mom used a blow gun and a tranquillizer.
HOLMES: Kids can take a licking (ph) back in the day.
WOLF: Absolutely. But the bruises heal, you know, that's the beautiful thing about that story. You know and speaking of trees, we're going to be seeing the possibility of some tree damage in parts of Texas. We've got some rough weather we're going to be dealing with in parts of the southern plains and it may make its way of much of Gulf Coast including in parts of Louisiana, Alabama, even into Mississippi before the weekend is out.
Let's go right to it, and show you, who is being affected first, that would be Texas. We've got a couple of great cameras for you, one would be WFAA in Dallas, were skies are cloudy but you can't tell what, you know, the dark conditions, the sun isn't up there you yet but the rain is coming down and will continue to come down through a good part of the day. In Dallas, you may get a combination of not only some rain but maybe even some freezing precipitation. So, please be careful on parts of I-35, even into as far south as I-20, we're going to be dealing with some issues.
Overpasses are going to be a problem for you in other locations, like even Houston where you could have some flooding. You know, it always seems if you have some heavy rainfall in spots like Houston, right along portions of I-10, you have the water that begins to pile up, poor drainage there in a few spots. So, please be careful there, too.
The reason why all this is happening is because of the storm system that is leaving parts of the four corners and now rolling into Texas from Amarillo back over to Shamrock, mainly freezing precipitation. That includes portions of Oklahoma, too. As we move a bit closer to Dallas, northward to Ardmore and to the Red River Valley, scattered showers and even to Louisiana where we're getting have some flash and dash showers. We have some stronger thunderstorms mainly south of Alexandria, those have begun to taper off a little bit but we're going to see more of those spawn as we make our way into the midday hours.
Here's the reason why: Again, is that storm system we had over the four corners is now begin moving into portions of west Texas and as it moves from west to east, all of the gulf moisture is going be picked up, move northward and as it does, it interacts with some mid level air loft that's going to be pretty strong, that coupled with the jet stream could give us strong storms, and large hails, damaging winds and maybe even some tornadoes.
The problem is: that issue is not going to be around for just this morning and ends in the afternoon hours but it may stick around for days to come because that area of low pressure is going to move right along the gulf coast so into portions of Mississippi, Alabama, even in to Georgia and Florida, you're going to have at least a slight risk of storms as we get into Sunday. But today, certainly, the most dangerous time will be this afternoon and into the evening in parts of the east and into central Texas. That is a look at your forecast. Let's send it right back to you at the news desk.
NGUYEN: Oh, what a day.
WOLF: Yes, it's going to be busy for us.
NGUYEN: OK, thank you, Reynolds, which means you'll be busy.
Well, in the meantime though, listen to this. This is a hard one to watch. A suspect in a wheelchair, a surveillance camera is rolling and a deputy's actions caught on tape. You have to see this story.
HOLMES: Yes, also some students at Northern Illinois University understandably now saying that they are feeling safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLAS JOHNSON, NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIV. SOPHOMORE: I feel nervous in my class like, I honestly, since the threats, all of that, like I look around, threats and anxiety, you know, I'm nervous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Talk about questions now, whether the school responded properly after the shooting. And also, what are the lessons learned from this tragedy. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, if you haven't seen the video, this is an outrage story. A sheriff's deputy is now facing jail time after -- get this -- dumping a disabled suspect on the floor. You have to see this one.
HOLMES: And here it is. Let's show it to you, the surveillance tape shot in Tampa, Florida. You can see it there, right there on your left. This is a jail on January 29th. The deputy dumps the paralyzed man out of his wheelchair and frisks him. He had been brought in for a traffic violation. The deputy could now face five years in prison for felony abuse.
NGUYEN: That is hard to watch.
HOLMES: Also: Thursday's deadly shooting spree at Northern Illinois University faced a question: Just how safe is this campus in particular and also campuses really around the country are asking the question.
NGUYEN: That's true. CNN's Abbie Boudreau explains, well, it just depends on whom you ask.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE GAYNOR, NIU STUDENT: This guy with the gun comes in.
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George Gaynor, an NIU senior saw it all unfold.
GAYNOR: There was no expression on his face or whatsoever. He didn't say a word. He just came in, pointed the gun and opened fire.
BOUDREAU: After a shooting rampage that left six dead and 16 wounded, a Northern Illinois University campus, Gaynor and others we talked to say, they feel safe.
GAYNOR: Yes, concerning the police response to the incident, I feel that, you know, everything is very well in hand and very under control.
BOUDREAU: NIU Police chief, Donald Grady agreed, telling a roomful of reporters, it took his officers only two minutes to respond to the scene.
CHIEF DONALD GRADY, NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIV. POLICE: The recovery efforts were remarkable. NIU has an extremely professional staff of police officers.
NICHOLAS JOHNSON, NIU SOPHOMORE: They got to the scene on time but where were they before the actual event happened?
BOUDREAU: Sophomore Nicholas Johnson says, a recent string of threats on campus had made him feel unsafe. JOHNSON: I feel nervous in my classes like, I honestly say, since the threats, all of that, like I look around, threats and anxiety, you know, I'm nervous.
BOUDREAU: There have been at least two recent cases of bathroom graffiti reported to police as possible threats of violence. The first, taken seriously, and one last week, that the chief says, did not appear connected to the shooting.
BRADY: There was a threat on the bathroom wall. It was not considered a credible threat, and no, we do not believe it's related to this incident at all.
BOUDREAU: That first threat in December was racially charged. It led to the campus being shut down.
FLOYD SANDERS, NIU COMMUNICATIONS INSTRUCTOR: It certainly makes you a little bit concerned.
BOUDREAU: Communication instructor, Floyd Sanders says, he knows many students who feel just like Johnson, and says the university needs to do a better job investigating every threat.
SANDERS: (INAUDIBLE). The student body needs to hear about it. (INAUDIBLE)
BOUDREAU: How big of a concern is that?
SANDERS: Considering what just happened, pretty big.
BOUDREAU: Abbie Boudreau, CNN, Dekalb, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, coming up in the next few minutes, we're going to have more details on the shooter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN PETERS, PRES. NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIV.: We were dealing with a disturbed individual, who intended to do harm on this campus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: As always, the question that follows after something like this, could this have been prevented?
NGUYEN: And Josh Levs is here. He's got his eye on politics, Keeping Them Honest this morning. Hey, Josh.
JOSHUA LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you guys. All right. So, everybody in the political world right now is talking about who can beat John McCain on the Democratic side, right? We've got either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. But is everybody forgetting, we don't have a popular vote in this country? We have the whole crazy electoral system thing. So, the real question, who can win the swing states in November and to answer that we have brand new information, new numbers just came out showing an advantage for Clinton. It's coming up right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Welcome back, everybody on this Saturday. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. We're so glad that you can be with us this morning.
We start with this story: The latest on the shooting in Northern Illinois University. Here is what we know now.
NGUYEN: Police say, Steven Kazmierczak recently stopped taking some medications and had begun behaving erratically. Police say, they found another weapon at Kazmierczak's apartment and "The Chicago Tribune" is reporting his sister pinned a note to her door saying that she is shocked and saddened by the news. Kazmierczak girlfriend is cooperating and they've spoken with his father in Florida.
HOLMES: Also: We'll check out this cellphone video taken by a Northern Illinois University freshman and CNN I-reporter, Ray Cook. This is just minutes after the shooting on campus. Cook was to class when paramedics rushed one of those victims into an ambulance.
NGUYEN: Northern Illinois University officials say, after the shooting at Virginia Tech last year they put a security plan in place.
HOLMES: Yes, but was that plan good enough is the question now. CNN's Allan Chernoff takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Students pay tribute to their fallen classmates at a candlelight vigil on campus after a senseless tragedy that Northern Illinois University says it had tried hard to prevent.
JOHN PETERS, PRES., NIU: We were dealing with a disturbed individual who intended to do harm on this campus.
CHERNOFF: The gunman, 27-year-old Steven Kazmierczak, entered a geology lecture and shot 21 people, killing 5, before turning the gun on himself.
GAYNOR: When I look up and I saw him entered the room. He just walked in, no expression on his face but it seemed like he had intent in what he was going to do.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Kazmierczak received his bachelor's degree from NIU and had been a sociology grad student last spring. So far, police say, they found no message from the gunman and see no apparent motive. CHIEF DONALD GRADY, NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIV. POLICE: He was someone revered by the faculty and staff and students alike, so, we had no problems and we've had no indications at all that this would be the type of person to engage in such activities.
CHERNOFF: The shooter, police say, carried three handguns and a shotgun, hidden in a guitar case. All had been purchased legally at the same store.
KEVIN CRONIN, ATF: The shooter purchased two of those firearms just six days ago from a gun dealer in Champaign.
CHERNOFF: Kazmierczak purchased two handgun magazines and a holster online from a Web site owned by a dealer that the Virginia Tech killer patronized.
(on camera): Of this tragedy, the entire camp success mourning. Seven victims remain in area hospitals are in critical condition. I'm Allan Chernoff reporting from Dekalb, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: Four of the victims did not even reach their 21st birthday. Another one of the victims is in her 30s, there they are. We know who they are. Here are the faces of those killed in that Northern Illinois shooting, the school identifies them as 20- year-old Daniel Parmenter; also Catalina Garcia, 20 years old, she's from Cicero, Illinois; Ryanne Mace, 19 years old, also of Illinois; 32-year-old Julianna Gehant of Mendota, Illinois; and 20-year-old, Gayle Dubowski of Carol Stream, Illinois.
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: Well, we turn now to some politics where the Democratic race is just getting uglier.
HOLMES: Yes, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- maybe you heard of them and what's going on. It's still a really, really close contest and that's you can attribute to why it's getting a little uglier here.
NGUYEN: Yes, this is true. Both candidates are trading new barbs and accusations, Obama is accusing Clinton are being indebted to lobbyist while Clinton says Obama has no concrete plans, just promises.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's a big difference between speeches and solutions, between talk and action. I have the highest regard for my opponent. I just believe that if you are hiring a president, I would be the one you would hire for this job.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Her argument I think yesterday was, well Obama's a talker and I'm a doer. You know, he makes speeches. I offer solutions. Now, I understand, you know, as we get further and further along in this process, that some of the arguments get sillier and sillier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well - yes.
HOLMES: My goodness.
NGUYEN: Getting tougher, isn't it? So, up next for the Democrats is the Wisconsin primary and the Hawaii caucuses, they both take place on Tuesday.
HOLMES: We'll turn to the Republicans and see how civil they're being right now. They're looking ahead to Wisconsin in pretty different ways here. John McCain spoke last night at a Reagan Day Dinner in Milwaukee. While, challenger Mike Huckabee, he left Wisconsin. Where is he going, Betty?
NGUYEN: He's going to the Cayman Islands.
HOLMES: Yes, all of this running for president, I need a vacation. Actually folks, he's giving a paid speech to a youth group there tonight.
NGUYEN: It's a vacation.
HOLMES: He says, hey, he's still got to make a living because this job he's applying for isn't going so well - he's being so far behind in the delegate count on the Republican side. This speech in the Cayman Island trip was actually planned quite some time ago. He's expected back in Wisconsin tomorrow with a tan.
Well, of course, it's easy to get caught up on the popularity contest of the presidential elections and right now polls are asking whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would do better against John McCain in November.
NGUYEN: All right. But guess what? It may not even matter really, because the popular vote is not the final word. Josh Levs is here to Keep Them Honest and this is kind of disappointing as we try to get everybody out there, you know, to make sure that their voice counts, their voice counts and it may not matter.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we got to keep that in mind. Yes, we know how it works. You know, in the end all of these states electoral votes going one way anyway. So, if people want to say, who's going (ph) to beat McCain, a national poll showing that you edge him out doesn't really tell voters anything. It sounds a certain way and people care on some level but the reality is you want to know how things might go in November? You got to look at the swing states.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice over): It's now the most frequently uttered name on the Democratic campaign trail.
OBAMA: John McCain. CLINTON: Senator McCain.
OBAMA: John McCain.
CLINTON: John McCain.
LEVS: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each aiming to convince fellow Democrats that she or he is the one who can beat the presumptive Republican nominee in November. There have been polls showing how they might matchup in the national vote there is a problem with that. We don't go by a popular vote. We pick the president through that whole complicated electoral system, leaving us with red states and blue states.
This is how they went in the last presidential election. Some were swing states -- where one party had a narrow advantage over the other. This year, Clinton and Obama have each won in some of these states but that doesn't tell you much either. The real question is: How each would fare against McCain? A new poll looks at that in critical swing states: in Pennsylvania, good news for Clinton, she's ahead of McCain by six points. Obama came out just one point ahead of McCain. In Ohio, McCain beats Clinton by one point and Obama by two and in Florida, McCain beats both Democrats by two points.
Statistically, all are virtual dead heats, except for Clinton's lead in Pennsylvania. Clinton says, she can win swing states the way she won over some Republicans and independents in her New York Senate run. Obama says, he wants a new kind of politics, where there aren't blue states and red states, just the United States. But in the end, if this election is close it will come down to a handful of showdown states.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: All right. Now, there really haven't been polls in all the swing states and there are months ahead for voters to change their minds but those three states, they are Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, they've played major roles in the last elections and, guys, they really could easily do so again in November.
NGUYEN: All right. So, let's talk about Florida for a minute because the Democrats aren't counting those votes in Florida. So, how does that factor in?
LEVS: A thing that a lot of people haven't realized how huge that could be. I mean, it's conceivable that this race right now on the Democratic side between Obama and Clinton could in a way come down to Florida and that those votes could absolutely be critical in Florida, and the Democrats have in a way boxed themselves into a corner. You know, they made this decision that the votes in Florida were not going to count, there wouldn't be these delegates but you have the huge numbers of people in Florida turning out and the Democrats have got to energize Floridians to turn out in November. This is what so critical and this is a video of Hillary Clinton went there after she won in Florida. They weren't campaigning there before. But think about this, to win in November, they want to win in Florida, right? That means energizing Democrats in Florida. So, if you're going to end this whole race here saying, you know what? We're just not going to count you, Florida, we don't really care what you did during the primary, that damages their effort for November which is a very serious problem facing Democrats right now.
NGUYEN: All right. Josh Levs, Keeping Them Honest, thank you.
LEVS: Thanks.
NGUYEN: And you do want to remember that BALLOT BOWL is back this weekend. Yes, it is your chance to see the candidates unfiltered in their own words. CNN's BALLOT BOWL comes your way today at 2:00 p.m. eastern.
HOLMES: And you can hear the Democratic candidates to talk about the issue or attack each other, or whatever, that's the CNN Univision debate. That's coming Thursday night. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama face off in Austin, Texas, you're way at 8:00 eastern only right here on CNN.
NGUYEN: All right. So, if you have an old television at home, or maybe old cameras that you've upgraded, these things are just lying around. Well, don't throw it away when you could give it away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just astounding what people throw away. To recycle enables an item to be given a second chance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yes. It's all about what's called freecycling. So, how does it work? Well, just go online.
HOLMES: All right. And also: Not enough people really pay attention to that three-digit credit rating number that determines whether you get that new house or that new ride, well, everything you need to know about your credit rating after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: This story is just in to us and a horrible one to bring you this morning: A fatal drag racing crash in Prince George's County, Maryland. These pictures are just in to us. You can see this scene and this carnage laid out here. But seven people dead, killed by a car that apparently plowed into a crowd that was watching this drag race. According to the AP, this is a race that was happening at 3:40 a.m.
So, apparently some people had gathered here, when I say drag race, we're not taking about these, well, these professional drag racers. These are folks gathered and appeared in the early morning hours to do this. Four other people had to be rushed to the hospital but again, seven dead here. Police say, the car apparently went out of control, hit the bystanders, hit several other vehicles including a tractor trailer. We will continue to follow this story. Expect many more details to come in to us. Again, this happening overnight, really at 3:40 a.m., so, just a matter of hours ago. We'll stay on this and bring you more details as we get them.
NGUYEN: A terrible story.
I want to give you another look at some of the other stories that we're following this morning.
An autopsy being done today could reveal the identity of a woman's body found in Reno, Nevada. Police want to know if it's 19- year-old Brianna Dennison, who was reported missing a month ago. Evidence is already has linked her abduction to two other attacks in the area.
One Florida mother got a shocking Valentine's Day gift from her 8-year-old son -- a live hand grenade? Yes, her son and his friend found it buried in their back yard. They showed it off to the other neighborhood kids before giving it to mom. Now, thankfully, police have it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a delivery for you. Happy Valentine's Day.
HOLMES: OK, a Valentine's Day surprise for some fugitives in Colorado. They thought they were getting long stemmed roses from a secret admirer. But the flower delivery guy turned out to be a police officer. That is just wrong!
NGUYEN: One way to get them.
HOLMES: No love train, just a paddy wagon here. How could you not know?
NGUYEN: And it took him straight to jail.
HOLMES: Who sent him some flowers?
NGUYEN: Happy Valentine's Day.
We want to talk about this now: your credit rating. Two simple words that could determine what car you drive or how big of a house you buy, but, did you know that your credit rating is extremely important, and do you even know what that credit rating is? Well, a new survey says, you probably don't even know your own credit rating score. Well, Kim Lankford is contributing editor to "Kiplinger's Personal Finance" magazine. She joins us live from Washington. I'm not going to ask you what your credit rating is. Hopefully it's good. But you know, in this time of mortgage, of meltdowns, the credit crisis. It seems that those three numbers are even more important these days.
KIM LANKFORD, KIPLINGER'S PERSONAL FINANCE: It's true, your credit score is so much more important than it was even just six months ago. I mean, mortgage companies are offering the best rates only for people with the best score. So, it really pays off to take a look at your score and do what you can to improve it.
NGUYEN: And there are some key things that we need to know: ever-growing penalties for missing deadlines when it comes to paying off the credit.
LANKFORD: It's true. Credit card companies are taking huge punitive penalties if you miss just by one or two days. For example, they're raising rates as high as 32 percent, plus charging you a late fee, $20 or so. But in addition to that, that really can have a big impact on your credit score, which then can affect your mortgage rate, your insurance rates and your even ability to get a home and to get a job.
NGUYEN: Hey, Kimberly, is it true that credit card companies are raising rates despite, you know, what your credit history is and how often you pay off your bill?
LANKFORD: It's really interesting that the credit card companies or banks have been involved in some of the financial troubles just like everyone else, and so, they are looking for extra ways to get money. And yes, several of the big credit card companies recently have raised rates, especially for people who had rates of like 9 percent, 10 percent fixed rates. They're now changing their rates to a 14 percent, 15 percent adjustable rate and they can do that. They just need to give you notice. Many times they give you an opportunity to opt out but you then will be stuck with this giant rate and that's what many of them are doing across the board.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, and then it gets scary because it seems like every other day, most people, I do, get an application in the mail for another credit card. I mean, they make it seem like these are such good deals. Are they?
LANKFORD: Well, sometimes they are. If you pay attention to the fine print, you can really take advantage of some of these low interest balance transfer deals but the key thing is, is they are time-limited. Many of them only offer that low rate for about six months or so. Then it pops back up maybe even higher than what you've been paying in the past. So, if your rate does go up on your regular card and you do get a balance transfer offer, you can make that balance transfer as long as you make sure to pay that off before the time ends or else you will end up with much higher interest rates.
NGUYEN: Let's talk about some of the things we can do to get that credit score up. One and you have to explain with what this means, you never want more than 25 percent of your available credit outstanding.
LANKFORD: Exactly. That's something called credit utilization ratio. And actually, that is part of your score that's about 30 percent or so. What you want to do is only have about 25 percent of your available credit used. So, if you have a $10,000 limit on all of your cards, then, to keep your balances to $2,500 or less. And it doesn't matter whether you pay off the bill in full every month, it just matters how much you charge at the time that they're looking at your credit score.
NGUYEN: Well, so that you don't have all of this credit out there, should you close some of your credit cards, would that help you?
LANKFORD: Well, that's interesting. That's a big misconception. If you close a lot of your cards right before you're about to take out a loan, it could actually hurt you. When you close out your cards -- that lowers the available credit you have. So, it could make your credit utilization ratio across the board look much higher than it had been just a few weeks ago. So, if you want to do some housekeeping, don't do it right before you apply for a mortgage and close out one card at a time. Close out one card, then maybe a few months, close out another card. But so many people think they're going to do this and it's going to help their score right before a mortgage and it totally backfires.
NGUYEN: Oh, that's not good. All right. Kimberly Lankford with "Kiplinger's Personal Finance" magazine with some good tips to get those credit scores up today. Thank you.
LANKFORD: Thank you.
NGUYEN: And let's tell about what's coming up on OPEN HOUSE today. CNN's personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, also has some great information on credit cards as well, dealing with the mortgage meltdown. You can join her for OPEN HOUSE this morning at 9:30 Eastern.
HOLMES: Well, superdelegates, pretty popular these days. They're kind of like Willy Wonka (ph) and the chocolate factory: too much of a good thing could turn bad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: There is he, Reynolds Wolf, he's got the jacket off. We've got something going on over there, sleeves rolled up. What's happening?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Now, we already got a tornado warning that just popped up in parts of Louisiana. Let's take you there right now, we're going to zoom into the state of Louisiana and sure enough, here you see this octagon shape that has popped up, the polygon shape just to the north, about north and northwest of Baton Rouge and even the community of Baker, we have a tornado warning that just went into effect. This is the latest we've got for you, this in east Feliciana parish citizens in southeast Louisiana, roughly just moments ago, law enforcement in this parish report a funnel cloud near Morganza, where about nine miles northwest of new roads moving east at about 35 miles an hour. This is going to be just the beginning of what we're going to see especially into the mid morning, midday and afternoon and evening hours. What we have at this particular system if you could just look at, just the southern tip of this, this is where the funnel at least reported would be just in this area, just the north of the I-10 corridor, just to the south and southeast of Marksville, all of this driving to the northeast about 35 miles an hour. Now, with these pockets of storms that you're going to be dealing with, again, is large hail, damaging winds and it tends to form those tornadoes. So, if you happen to be in this region, near the community of Baker or near Baton Rouge, you want to, certainly take shelter immediately, if you happen to be not just a little bit farther to the north, same story. I know this storm is a little bit farther south of you but there's certainly the possibility for more developments. So, you want to take cover as soon as you possibly can. This is going to be just, I guess you could say the baby steps of what could be a big severe weather outbreak in parts of Texas. We've seen a little bit of freezing rain, we've seen some scattered showers, a little bit of flash flooding, too. What we're going to be seeing later on today is all of this coming together, really beginning to ramp up as we have all of this moisture coming in from the gulf. This is going to be the big mechanism, this area of low pressure, gets strong mid level winds, the jet stream is going to be a big factor for some strong storms. Already, we have the tornado warning in this in effect but there is a chance we could see many, many more before the day is out. There's also the first stage in what may be a very busy weekend. Forget about just Saturday. We're going to be dealing with more of this, this afternoon into Sunday, too, as everything goes from the west to the east in parts of Mississippi, into Alabama, even to a corner of extreme southwestern Georgia and along parts of I-10 into Florida. So, I know, folks, this is mind-boggling, it's an awful lot to ingest but fear not, we're going to be here throughout the morning and of course into the afternoon and evening as long as it takes to watch this event unfold. Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
NGUYEN: All right. What a busy day. OK, thank you, Reynolds.
WOLF: Any time.
HOLMES: And also, finding freedom and redemption after false convictions. How some innocent people get helped?
NGUYEN: And a live report from the campus where those deadly shootings happened, how students are coping two days later. You want to stay with CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, hundreds of inmates facing years for crimes they didn't commit. Many are struggling to prove their innocence.
NGUYEN: Yes, thanks to the help of two famous attorneys and their long-time fight, some have been exonerated but the battle is far from over. CNN's Tony Harris explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Innocent people: arrested, convicted, and sent to prison for crimes they didn't commit -- victims of a broken justice system.
MADELINE DELONE, THE INNOCENCE PROJECT: We needed something to be in the criminal system accused of something that you didn't do.
HARRIS: Madeline Delone is executive director of the National Innocence Project in New York. She oversees the organization that helps revolutionize the use of DNA evidence in criminal cases. Attorneys Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck of O.J. Simpson trial fame co-founded the project over a decade ago.
DELONE: Almost all of our clients were accused of rapes or murders, sometimes both. But these are people who continue to fight because they knew that one day, somehow the truth would come out and for them, you know, the miracle was DNA.
HARRIS: The project began as an every effort to exonerate convicted prisoners whose innocence could be proven through DNA testing. It's a nonprofit organization. The cases are worked on by lawyers, a lot of them volunteers, and students.
ALISON BRILL, STUDENT, CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW: It's interesting working in the clinic because you actually get to witness the lawyering that went on to bring our clients to The Innocence Project.
HARRIS: Allison Brill and Adam Shane are students at Cardozo School of Law. They're getting a real hard look at some of the road blocks their clients experienced in trying to prove their innocence.
ADAM SHANE, STUDENT, CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW: The liberty of our clients so often depends on whether or not someone who we're talking on the phone chooses to cooperate with us or not.
HARRIS: To date, the innocent's network collectively has used DNA evidence to help exonerate over 200 people, some of those who have spent time on death row.
Tony Harris, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: False confessions, junk science, eyewitness misidentification, tonight, Tony Harris uncovers it all, watch LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
Well, good morning, everybody from the CNN Center right here in Atlanta, it is Saturday, February 16th. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. We're glad you can start your day with us. Unfortunately, on this hour, we have to start with this story: A horrible scene in Maryland. Police say, seven people were killed by a car that apparently plowed into a crowd that was watching a drag race overnight. This happened at 3:34 a.m. in the morning. Four others at the scene had to be rushed to the hospital. Police say, the car apparently went out of control, hitting bystanders, and several other vehicles, including a tractor trailer. We are watching this story, we'll bring you more details as they begin to come in to us.
NGUYEN: Also, new this morning, Reynolds Wolf is tracking some severe weather out in the southwest region of the U.S. and he joins us now with a look at that. We have Reynolds up.
WOLF: Hi.
NGUYEN: There you go, Reynolds. I know folks in Texas are going to be watching very closely.
WOLF: No question about it. And also, Louisiana this morning, we have a tornado warning at this time for East Feliciana Parish. We're going to zoom in right into Louisiana to show you exactly where that cell is that we've been watching. Earlier, we have a TVS, a Tornado Vortex Signature that communicate on Doppler radar. We also have some confirmation on the ground by rain storm spatters (ph). Right now, that cell that we've been watching, we don't really see that, that TVS at this point. But this is the cell moving very closely to the communities of Forest Hill right in Louisiana and then, back to Mississippi's Centerville.
TJ HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, SATURDAY MORNING: Now let's turn to that shooting rampage in DeKalb, Illinois. New details emerging this morning about the young man who killed five college students and then himself on Thursday.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR, SATURDAY MORNING: Students last night held a vigil for the victims; 21 people were shot, not counting the gunman. Three people remain in critical condition. Let's get the latest now with CNN's Don Lemon who's on the campus at Northern Illinois University. It was quite a sight last night as they all came out to pay their last respects. Don?
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was quite a sight and you know what Betty and TJ, I'm going to get to this memorial behind me in just a bit. But I want to talk about these new details that we talked about with this shooter in all of this, 27-year-old Steven Kazmierczak. New video of him from a class actually right here at NYU (sic) back in 2004. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN KAZMIERCZAK: I can't think of anything clever to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Again, that was him in class back the 2004. Here's what we're learning about the 27-year-old shooter in all this. He went to a psychiatric treatment center in Chicago shortly after high school because his parents said that he was acting up, he was refusing to take his medication. He also did a short stint as a security guard at a prison. That ended abruptly apparently when he didn't show up for work. And then he also did a short stint in the army for about six months but he was let go of the army on a psychological, we're told, discharge. Let's get back now to these memorials here. Take a look at this, a cross for each one of the five victims, Daniel Parmenter, Ryanne Mace, Julianna Gehant, Catalina Garcia and then also Gayle Dubowski. And then if you look this way, there's another cross there with no name on it. And it's turned backwards and that one is for the shooter in all of this, 27-year-old Steven (INAUDIBLE) who also, I mean 27-year old Steven Kazmierczak who took his own life. Yesterday there was a memorial last night here on campus for the victims, hundreds of students showed up. Let's take a look at some of that.
As you can hear, there was singing and chanting and praying last night. There were dignitaries. Hundreds of students showed up wearing the school colors here, which are black and white, also the Reverend Jesse Jackson was here as other dignitaries were offering their condolences and offering to help the victims in any way. In the meantime, yesterday, we were at this memorial just for one of the victims, a 31-year-old. Her name is Julianna Gehant. She -- friends joined us live yesterday in the CNN newsroom to talk about her and to honor her memory. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN GALAN, FRIEND KILLED IN NIU SHOOTING: There's a very deep loss because she was such a lovely and beautiful person and we're all going to miss her, everyone in the veteran's club and all of our friends and families and her family. The loss that we're feeling and the senseless tragedy that this is is heart wrenching and mind- blowing. Because we loved her as much as we knew her and like this picture here is from a toga party that we had at JD's (ph) house and everyone that was there remembers it as one of the best nights that we have had in our college experience and a lot of that in part because of the joy and entertainment that Julianna brought with her everywhere she went. She was like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day and we were all going to miss her a whole lot. So the loss is immense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Danielle, if she's listening down from heaven now, what do you want to say to her?
DANIELLE ADAME, FRIEND KILLED IN NIU SHOOTING: Just that she's touched our lives in a way that we'll remember her for the rest of our life and even if it was only a short time that we knew her, she'll be missed greatly and her family and friends, other friends are in our thoughts and prayers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And you know, lots of people have been talking about the similarities in this, the NIU shooting and the Virginia Tech shooting, the people at Virginia Tech offering their condolences and also some advice to the people here in Illinois. One young man who was actually injured in the Virginia Tech shooting, his name is Garrett Evans. He came here, he just happened to be in town. He graduated from Virginia Tech right after the shooting. But he just happened to be here in town and he wanted to come by and offer his support to the students of NIU and he spoke with us not long ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been through a shooting before and it's totally a new avenue for them to travel. And I have already traveled it so it's over for me. And I didn't have anyone to talk to that endured that. Like they're going to have, if that's what they want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So again, we want to take a look now at this makeshift memorial that has been set up right across from the student union in honor of the five victims and six people in all who died in all of this, Daniel Parmenter again, Ryanne Mace, Julianna Gehant, Catalina Garcia and Gayle Dubowski and then again across at the end with no name for the 27-year old shooter Steven Kazmierczak. Again that's what's happening right now on the campus of NIU. Everything closed today. Flags are flying at half staff, the school - the student president said - the school president said he's not exactly sure when the school will open up again, but they want to take some time to memorialize the students. Betty.
NGUYEN: Don, it's going to take quite a while for them to heal. Thank you, Don Lemon joining us live this morning.
HOLMES: We want to return to a story we have been getting information about this morning. That incident, seven people dead up in Maryland after an incident, a street racing incident. Britney Morehouse of our affiliate WUSA is on the scene for us this morning. Britanny, good morning to you, please tell us what happened? This is just a horrible story.
BRITANNY MOREHOUSE, WUSA CORRESPONDENT: Fatal crash on Indian Creek highway here. It's about 10 miles south of Washington, DC. in Prince George's County, Maryland. We know that we have seven people who are confirmed dead, four more people who are seriously injured and of those injuries, two of them are near fatal. This happened around 3:40 in the morning. Police are calling this a drag racing incident. They say the racers struck a group of people who were watching. Now we're getting conflicting reports from a couple of witnesses. I spoke with a 13-year-old girl who was here watching the race with her grandfather and her mother. Her mother pushed her out of the way in time but she watched as her grandfather was killed. She said that the race was over when two Crown Vic's came up out of nowhere, speeding through and lost control and just hit the crowd. Obviously a lot of confusion here but police are still trying to reconstruct the scene. They will be here all morning long and Indian Creek Highway is planned to be shut down for the rest of the day. That's the latest. We're live in Prince George's County, Maryland. I'm Britanny Morehouse.
HOLMES: And Brittany, if you're still with us there, Britanny can you tell me, is this something that has been an issue that people getting together for these types of races, again, this happened in the early morning hours. Is this an issue that they have in that area?
MOREHOUSE: Yeah, that's a good question. Actually we have done reports on this in the past. If you ask people who live here, they do say drag racing is a problem. Of course we asked police earlier. They said lately it hasn't been a problem, but of course they will be investigating that after this incident.
HOLMES: All right, Brittany Morehouse for us from our affiliate WUSA, Britanny we appreciate you, again just a horrible story.
NGUYEN: Yeah, seven people dead. Also new this morning to tell you about, President Bush begins his African journey. He arrived in Demean (ph) in West Africa just a few hours ago. The five-nation trip highlights U.S. efforts to help fight AIDS, malaria and poverty. Right now the president is headed to Tanzania. He'll also visit Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia.
HOLMES: All right. We have all been through this. You're frustrated anyway. The line at the airport and some people, they didn't take their shoes off, left their lap top in the bag.
NGUYEN: And you're waiting on them.
HOLMES: Folks can't remember the rules and you're stuck waiting behind them. One airport is trying a new system that helps expert travelers, experts now get through security a lot faster.
NGUYEN: I like that idea, if you know what you're doing, just go through that line. All you other folks, get in line.
Some professional acrobats come to the United States and they get stranded. Of course they're making some good entertainment of it. But what exactly happened? And who made those outfits?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A quick look now at some of the stories we're following this morning.
NGUYEN: The Monte Carlo is open again. The Las Vegas strip casino closed for three weeks after that spectacular roof fire. Well, less than half of the hotel rooms are open right now, but more importantly, the slot machines, they are back on and get this, the fire cost the casino an estimated $100 million in repairs plus lost business.
HOLMES: Have to get out there and support the Monte Carlo.
NGUYEN: I guess you got to keep it up (ph) in business.
HOLMES: This is one you're loving Betty, a fast lane for frequent travelers.
NGUYEN: Bring it on.
HOLMES: Yes, part of an experimental airport screening plan being tested in Salt Lake City. This is how it breaks down. You get color coded screening lines. The green is for families who need more assistance, the kids and the shoes and to coax the kid to go through the machine.
NGUYEN: The baby dolls.
HOLMES: All that stuff. Blue is for frequent fliers familiar with the security drill. But the black line is for the expert travelers with few bags who know how to do it, take shoes off, lap top out of the bag, everything out of your pockets, the belt is off, the jacket's off.
NGUYEN: That's the line that I'm in.
A surprise for a New Hampshire college student, Elizabeth Penn's (ph) father came home from Iraq and showed up at her Valentine's Day dance. I just got chills. She was so taken aback she could barely stop shaking. Staff Sgt. David Penn will get to spend two weeks with his family before returning to Iraq. What a Valentine's Day gift. That beats any flowers or chocolates that you could get.
HOLMES: I can actually relate when you said you got goose bumps. The Valentine's Day dance, the whole thing. That's really nice.
NGUYEN: Terrific.
HOLMES: Now let's turn to Reynolds Wolf. You got some harsh weather to talk about here, nothing sweet about it.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Things are popping out there today. Thank you, Reynolds.
Outrage over the rampage. Josh Levs is looking at your comments on cnn.com about the shooting at Northern Illinois University.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, people all over the world are weighing in on this rampage at the university. They're talking about what it says about our culture and also issues like gun control. How you can join that conversation coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well of course we're continuing to get information on the campus killings in Illinois, but there's also a wealth of I-reports and condolences you can check out on cnn.com.
NGUYEN: Josh Levs at the dot com desk has been looking through them and especially when you go on to some of these sites, whether it be I-reports or some of the Internet sites, you can really get an idea of who these people really were.
LEVS: You can and you know it's interesting in the wake of a tragedy, look we are a news agency, but people really want to share. They want that sense of community and one of the places they come to do that is cnn.com. And I want to start off showing you some photos that we've received through our I-report system. It's been really powerful images. This one comes from a student, Mikael Hirka (ph) showing the snow and crosses there set up to represent the victims and our Don Lemon reported this morning that this actually now one as well for the alleged shooter that's facing backwards.
Let's go onto the second photo as well. This is students gathered around consoling each other, but you can also see video cameras there. I wanted to show you all this, because that's part of a school's reality in the wake of a tragedy. Not only are they suffering from this, but they're also surrounded by media everywhere they go. That's part of the story.
One more here, all these emergency vehicles that just showed up in the wake of what happened, I mean students -- the campus was just surrounded by every kind of emergency vehicle you can imagine, lots of them are still there. And those students who have actually remained on campus which isn't that many we're told are seeing those everywhere they go.
Let me show you the sound off, because we're hearing from a lot of people on some of these major issues that they want to discuss in the wake of this, for example, gun control. Let me show you some statements that we have been getting from people submitted through the I-report system. William Ma, Whitestone, New York The only common thread between all the campus shootings is the availability of guns. These shootings happen so often in the United States because anyone can get a hold of a gun. Gun control is the only answer.
The opposite view now from Wayne Ellis of Allen, Texas. This is a perfect example to support allowing licensed people to carry guns on college campuses even into classrooms as well as anywhere else. The shooter would have been killed before he could have gotten off more than two shots if other people there had been allowed to carry weapons legally.
All right, a couple more here. Jeff Tormala, it's not guns. Our society has glorified violence and dysfunction for the last 40 to 50 years and we are reaping the fruits of it.
And finally this from Jan Owens. These people are saying to the world see me and feel my pain, but instead of seeking help, they pervert their way. They become what the world hates, which is a terrorist.
We're getting major traffic on the site. You can't miss it. Go to cnn.com, it says right there on the main screen right, here's how to share your photos, your views, your ideas and it is in a sense serving as a community right now for people to sound off ideas, share opinions, views and kind of help each other through what is a national tragedy.
NGUYEN: Those are some really strong views. But I guess on the whole too it allows them to heal, because getting that information out and getting that off your chest and weighing in on the issues is a way of moving past it.
LEVS: That's right, exactly.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Josh.
Here's a question for you, it has nothing to do with what we have been talking about. What does Willie Wonka and super delegates have in common? Maybe too much of a good thing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, we turn to politics now where Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have apparently put Valentine's Day behind them because the love is gone. It's kind of ugly here and of course it's still a really, really close contest.
NGUYEN: Both candidates are trading new insults. Obama is accusing Clinton of being indebted to lobbyists, while Clinton says Obama is just giving speeches with no substance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's a big difference between speeches and solutions, between talk and action. I have the highest regard for my opponent. I just believe that if you are hiring a president, I would be the one you would hire for this job.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Her argument I think yesterday was, well, Obama's a talker and I'm a doer. He makes speeches, I offer solutions. Now I understand, you know, as we get further and further along in this process, that some of the arguments get sillier and sillier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Told you, it was getting tougher out there. Well up next for the Democrats is the Wisconsin primary and the Hawaii caucuses. They both take place on Tuesday.
HOLMES: I would campaign in Hawaii. The Republicans, they are really taking it easy today. John McCain spoke last night at a Reagan day dinner in Milwaukee, but today he's got no big events on his schedule. We said they were taking it easy. Mike Huckabee is taking it easy to a whole new level. He is a long way from the campaign trail. The man is in the Cayman Islands giving a paid speech so we're told.
NGUYEN: It's for the kids.
HOLMES: It's for a youth group happening there tonight. He says he's still got to make a living and he's applying for a job right now and right now it doesn't look good for him getting that job. He did have this speech in the Caymans planned quite some time ago. He's expected back actually in Wisconsin tomorrow.
NGUYEN: Well, it's no vacation on the Democratic side where super delegates are being hunted for their votes.
HOLMES: Hunted down pretty much, but as CNN special correspondent Frank Sesno reports, that it's not all bad being a super delegate. It's kind of like being the candy man.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK SESNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What if you were the kid who like Willie Wonka suddenly had all the candy, you would probably have a lot of new friends, kids who ignored you before but think you're cool now. But if what the Democratic convention's like that, where the super delegates are the cool kids, the ones with the candy, the votes that will decide the nominee. It's starting. Suddenly super delegates are suddenly very popular, lots of attention, e-mails and phone calls. Gosh Madeleine (ph) Albright's been dialing for Hillary. Tom Daschle has been working the phones for Obama. Chelsea and Bill have been on the line.
NANCY LARSON, SUPER DELEGATE FROM MINNESOTA: They're all trying to say why they are electable and then which one will be the better president.
SESNO: What if you were going to the convention as a super delegate? You might already be losing sleep over it.
SAM SPENCER, SUPER DELEGATE FROM MAINE: I just feel uncomfortable with the idea that the super delegates could play a decisive role in the election.
SESNO: But if the primaries don't produce a clear winner, you will have to decide. Will you go with your personal favorite, the candidate you think can win the White House or the person your district or your state is supporting? And what if you're accused of overturning the will of the pledged delegates. You may be accused of tearing the party in two, maybe even along racial or gender lines.
LARSON: They never anticipated that we would have two superstars locked in a dead heat. I'm hoping the decision gets made before we have to step in.
SENSO: You may already have visions of the divisive '84 convention when super delegates helped Mondale beat Hart. Democrats know what happened after that. Remember Willie Wonka, sometimes having candy is no fun at all. Frank Sesno, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And ballot bowl is back again this weekend. Your chance to see the candidates unfiltered in their own words. That all comes your way at 2:00 Eastern time today.
NGUYEN: And if the ballot boll isn't enough, which I know it's not, you want to join us for the next Democratic debate. Campbell Brown hosts CNN Univision debate live from the University of Texas at Austin where I went to school. That's coming up Thursday night 8:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: The school has not been the same.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxantshop.com
