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CNN NEWSROOM

Senate Passes $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill; Hackers Issue New Threats At Sony Pictures; Manhunt Underway For Accused Murderer In Alabama; Remembering The Sandy Hook Elementary Massacre; Special Investigation Of "Hired Guns"

Aired December 14, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Now, in the coming days we might get a look at some of the stuff that was sealed in a box by Paul Revere himself. Look at what some workers found in the cornerstone of the historic Massachusetts statehouse.

This was just a few days ago. History buffs are convinced they found a time capsule intentionally put there by Paul Revere and then Governor Samuel Adams.

At first they talked about just leaving it there. But, come on, it's 220 years old. Of course, they are going to open it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA HATCHFIELD, BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: We actually don't know what's inside. There are some historical reports again. It's likely that there are coins and a plaque that was inscribed by Paul Revere. We are a little worried in 1855, it cleaned the contents with acid. So, we're a little concern that things may be deteriorated inside, so we want to preserve them as best we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: They are going to x-ray this box today. We'll probably crack it open sometime this week, we're told. A Boston official says they may even add some modern day items and then put it all in a new box.

We have much more just ahead in the NEWSROOM, and it all starts right now.

Hello again. And thanks for staying with us. I'm Ana Cabrera in for Fredricka Whitfield.

For Sony Pictures, the hack attack may not be over. The hackers just issuing new threats this morning, and they come in an email to journalists, under the title "Merry Christmas."

The email reads quote "we are preparing for you a Christmas gift. The gift will be larger quantities of data and it will be more interesting. The gift will surely give you much more pleasure and put Sony Pictures into the worst state."

We want to talk more about this with CNN senior media correspondent and the host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter.

Hey, Brian, let's start with do we know anymore about what might be coming?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: We don't know the specific as about what might be coming, but what we learned so far is when seeing the different documents that have been put online by these hackers, is that they access a wide range of material from Sony. You know, emails from top executives, budgets, salaries, all of that sort of content. Not to mention in some cases forthcoming films and scripts and things like that. Maybe they are saving what they think is some of the most damaging content for Christmas.

They are earlier on out "RELIABLE SOURCE." I talked to the one of the co-editor in-chief of "Variety," Andrew Wallenstein about the fallout in Hollywood. And here's what he said to me about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Andrew, what is the fallout been in Holly wood?

ANDREW WALLENSTEIN, CO-EDITOR IN-CHIEF, VARIETY MAGAZINE: This is all anyone has been talking about. It's just amazing. And you know, you have to wonder about the executives at the center of this. How this is going to impact their future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: We do have to wonder about Amy Pascal and these other executives. So far, no changes there. And what I hear from Sony is that the executives have support of the staff, but Sony has no comment on this newest threat from these hackers to release something more toward Christmas.

CABRERA: When you talk about fallout, do you know how Sony is doing in terms of business? Are they losing business?

STELTER: They say it's business as usual there. I'm not sure if we can entirely believe that because this was a crippling attack. It dropped computer connections off line for a long period of time. I still find the most reliable way for me to communicate with people at Sony is through text messaging because of issues with their corporate email and corporate phone systems. But they say productions have not been halted. You know, the shows are going.

What has been affected, though, are press tours of some of their upcoming movie like Kevin Hart's upcoming movie. They have decided to delay some of the press for that. In part because they don't want to have to answer some of the awkward questions that have come as a result of this. You know, for the premier of the movie "the Interview," the film that

has a North Korea plot line that some believe has been the cause of all of this hacking, for the premier of that film, there was no red carpet press. You know, you couldn't be asking questions on the red carpet the way reporters usually can, and that's because they've been avoiding questions on this.

I also wonder, Ana, how communications in Hollywood has been a chamber to this all?

CABRERA: Right. That's what I was just going to ask. You've been reading my mind. I have to imagine that business is going to change.

STELTER: I think so. I was just corresponding with Mark Cuban, who was one of the stars of "Shark Tank" on ABC. That's a show that Sony produces. And one of the many leaked email shows Mark Cuban complaining about his -- the offer for a salary for a future season. That he is saying that $30,000 per episode is not enough, and he has some other issues with the deal points.

Well, he had a very smart response to all this. He contacted Business Insider. When Business Insider contacted him, he said from now on I'm going to communicate via cyber dust. Well, that's app that he has invested in. It's kind of like snap chat. It's a very private messaging service where, you know, the message comes and gets deleted right away. Apparently more secure than regular email. That he is trying to use this as an opportunity to promote his new app. I do think, you know, whether it's that or something else, we are going to see people communicate differently as a result.

CABRERA: I know the "New York Post" just have an interview with Bill Cosby as I take a little turn here. The comedian has been so silent pretty much since all of these allegations about sexual misconduct and drugging women have come forward, and he told the "New York Post" this. Black media, he expects to stay neutral.

Brian, I know you spoke to the reporter who put together this article who spoke to Cosby. What does he say about the interview?

STELTER: Yes. This is one thing I couldn't get on "RELIABLE SOURCES" today that I wanted to. This is a really interesting interview. This reporter, Stacy Brown, was able to call up Cosby's home phone number and actually get him on the phone. They didn't talk for very long, but Stacy Brown says he came away with the impression that Cosby really wants to speak.

Quote "it seems that he really does have a lot to say, and oddly enough, he did it in any way if you are worried about anything. To me he sounded like a happy individual without a care in the world."

So maybe we'll hear that from Cosby himself if his representatives ever decide he should give an interview.

CABRERA: We will see. Brian Stelter, thank you.

STELTER: Thanks. CABRERA: Right now, a manhunt is happening in Alabama. U.S.

Marshalls searching for an escaped inmate, Demarcus Woodward, who is facing murder charges. Now, two other prisoners who broke out of the jail with Woodard Saturday are back in police custody.

But listen to how they got out. Officials say it was a daring escape that began with the route. One man becoming physically sick, the other two calling out to a guard for help, and then when the jailer opened their cell, these men allegedly choke and subdued him and then took off. Would Woodard still at large, the state is on high alert.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a pistol, and I'm armed and ready.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Same here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tonight protect my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: The Alabama state bureau of investigations is helping in the search.

No government shutdown assuming the president signs this big spending bill that is headed his desk. The Senate got down to work last night and pass aid $1.1 trillion spending bill, and it keeps the government going until at least September.

CNN Erin McPike has been following every step of the way joining us from Washington.

Erin, as we have been talking about this bill had some real roadblocks on Friday night. How did they get all of it resolved?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, they did it by appeasing Ted Cruz and Mike Lee. Those junior Republican senators who wanted to get a vote on immigration.

What they did is allow them to have this vote to essentially make the point that President Obama's executive action on immigration is unconstitutional. Well, that vote failed. And in fact, 20 Republicans even voted against it and then they moved forward with final passage of the bill.

Now, it does sums the bulk of the government through September 30th, but it only funds the department of homeland security through February. That's the branch that the agency, I should say, that carries out the executive action on immigration. And so, that's says up a big clash in the coming months on immigration on Capitol Hill, Ana.

CABRERA: One of the other big stories in Washington during the past week sort of reignited the conversation today. Talking about the release of the e CIA torture report by the Democrats, and, of course, former vice president Dick Cheney has been one of the biggest proponents of this program. And he talked about it again today, right?

MCPIKE: Ana, he was on NBC's "Meet the Press," and he staunchly defended the Bush administration's enhanced interrogation techniques. Listen here to him defend that program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is this notion that somehow there's a moral equivalence in doing what the terrorists do and what we do. That's absolutely not true. We were very careful to stop short of torture. The Senate has seen fit to label the report torture, but we were making sure of that definition.

It worked. It worked now for 13 years. We've avoided another mass casualty attack against the United States. We did capture bin Laden. We did capture an awful lot of the senior guys of Al-Qaeda who were responsible for that attack on 9/11. I would do it again in a minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: And se slammed the report as partisan. He said that it was not done well, and it was not done thoroughly, Ana.

CABRERA: All right, Erin McPike in Washington. Thanks.

Anger and frustration spilling into the streets of New York and beyond as protester marched to police headquarter. But at one point, things got so heated here. Two police officers were assaulted. We'll have the latest on their conclusions next.

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CABRERA: Well, we just learned one person is now under arrest after protests took a strange turn in New York City. Now, this was one of several cities across the country where Demonstrators filled the streets calling for an end to police brutality and racial profiling. We have some time lapsed video taken from the streets of Manhattan and this is incredible.

I mean, look at the sheer mob of people who came down the street yesterday protesting. These demonstrations were mostly peaceful, all across the country. But there were some exceptions.

Let's bring in CNN's Alexandra Field joining us from New York.

Alexandra, you were among those protesters in New York getting their perspective yesterday. We now know two police officers were hospitalized during all of that, and an arrest has been made.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was such a different sort of counter point to what we saw through the day. The thousands of people really being incredibly peaceful, just chanting and walking until a much smaller winter group broke off from that path. They marched over the Brooklyn Bridge, and that's when the conflict happened.

Two police officers were assaulted according to the NYPD. They say that their officers were kicked, punched, thrown to the ground when they tried to stop a man who was throwing a garbage can into the roadway. They say that the officers' radios were taken and that somebody was trying to take off their police jackets.

The suspect has been arrested. He was a 29-year-old who was arrested overnight. Police also think he left a bag behind. They found a bag out there on the bridge. And it was packed with three cameras and (INAUDIBLE). They know that belongs to the suspect who they did take into custody.

But again, Ana, this is just such a different sort of scene than what we saw for so much of the day. And when you look at the video of those crowds who are just flooding the streets of Manhattan, it's pretty amazing and overwhelming to think that so much of this went so well, so according to the plan of organizers who laid all of this out. In fact, there was just one single arrest made during that big margin that was an arrest for disorderly conduct.

CABRERA: And again, that was -- we're talking about the protest in New York. But we've seen that there were protests all around the country, and it does seem that these protesters want to disrupt the status quo and some people take it to that level of violence because it wasn't just in New York where people were arrested yesterday.

FIELD: Yes. And there's definitely a conflict out there between the protesters and demonstrators. Because a lot of people see this as an incredible moment where they got national attention, where they want to use that attention in a really productive and powerful way. And a lot of the people who we spoke to out there are activists and organizers who are joining forces and they want to try to affect positive change and reform.

You do, of course, in these situations, also have people who have an entirely different purpose which is to disrupt and to attract attention in a very negative and frankly dangerous way.

And you did see some of that in Boston, some 3,000 people marched. They left from the state capital. There were about two dozen arrest made there for disorderly conduct.

In Oakland, that scenario we have been watching closely over the last week, Oakland, California and they have a number of problems with violent outbreaks during protests and demonstrations there.

Saturday night, 45 people were arrested, and, again, police are reporting vandalism, small fires being set, windows being broken, so, you know, it is very different from what we see in most major cities. Washington D.C. had a peaceful march, but certainly there is a small faction that seems to be to blame for this.

CABRERA: Are the protesters going to be quiet now? Or is there an end game that they're going to continue to push for? FIELD: You know, I don't think that anyone who is out there in the

crowd there in New York city last night has any intention of quieting down now or feeling like they have done their peace? These people were out there for three, four, five hours. They did a long march for a couple of miles. But they were really very thoughtful about wanting to be there. They had planned this for more than a week. A lot of the activity was generated through social media, and this wasn't just about, you know, a march to one police plaza which where they ended up. This was about really kind of joining forces and taking an opportunity to meet with other activists and talking about what they can do to pursue reforms as they move forward.

So when you talk to the people out there, you see one frustrated, some of them are fearful of police. And all of them seems really committed to making this more than a march, turning it into a move movement.

CABRERA: All right, Alexandra Field, Thank you.

This is the ski run that might make you little dizzy or woozy, straight down the side of the cliff, more of this video that pretty tough to believe next.

But fist, our look into the future. This week renewable energy in the sky.

Here's Richard Quest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For centuries the humble windmill has been used for pumping water and grinding grain. It grew when the wind turbine was created. Today around 2.5 percent of the world's electricity is produced by wind.

TOM KIERNAN, CEO, AMERICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION: We are 30 times more efficient than several decades ago because of the use of information and computer technologies.

QUEST: Squeezing more energy out of thin air involves equipping the turbines with lasers that allows them to communicate with each other as operators, keep a watchful eye in high-tech control centers like this one in San Diego.

KIERNAN: We can then communicate with the utilities so that they can effectively manage wind on to the grid.

QUEST: Worldwide, there are now more than 200,000 turbines. The future is to take wind energy to new heights.

Imagine, if we could un-teether the turbine and send it up into the air where it could then adjust its location and catch the strongest winds.

Altaeros energy in Boston is preparing one self-structure called the bat (ph). BEN GLASS, CEO, ALTAEROS ENERGY: By going up to 2,000 feet, you have

typically running eight times as much power available in those winds as you would have per turbine closer to the ground.

Altaeros hopes to launch the first bat in Alaska in 2015 targeting remote areas where energy is elusive and expensive.

GLASS: I think the bat has the potential to transform those communities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Welcome back. It's not officially winter for another week, but those of you in the Rockies or the central plains are about to get a lot of fresh new snow.

And Karen Maginnis has a look at what's to come from the weather center.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is going to be a very interesting next 24 to 48 hours as we have got two weather system that really bare watching. This particular system moving into the central plain, could trigger some thunderstorms. Then on the back side some heavy snowfall, and then we've got another storm expected to wall-up the west coast over the next several days.

But in the meantime, we've got that warm, moist air coming up from the gulf of Mexico. Deep area of low pressure just kind of ejecting out of the Rockies. So, ahead of this, that's where we can expect some thunderstorms. Maybe hail, high winds, isolated tornado. And on the back side, well, just wait. The next several days, a dramatic turn.

Chilly temperatures dropping to below seasonable levels. We started out 60s, 70s, we are dropping off into the 40s and 50s by the middle of the workweek. You head towards the Midwest, and this is going to be even more dramatic where temperatures plunge by Tuesday and Wednesday in some cases only into the teens. And the snowfall is going to pile up. In some areas around Colorado and into the central plains, we could see more than a foot.

Here comes one wet weather system for the west coast. And another one right on its heels.

Back to you.

CABRERA: Some people might actually say it feels a little more like Christmas is in the air with those colder and snowier temperatures and weather.

Well, it's being called the most insane ski line ever. Professional skier Cody Townsend cheated death as he plunged down a nearly vertical and narrow slope in the Alaskan wilderness.

Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What you are about to see is no mere ski slope. This is a man eating crevice.

CODY TOWNSEND, 31-YEAR-OLD: I'm getting nervous.

MOOS: 31-year-old Cody Townsend is about to descend.

TOWNSEND: There is no exit plan. There is no escape.

MOOS: The plunge down this Alaskan crevice lasted about 15 seconds, and at its narrowest point the walls were only six feet apart. Check out the helmet cam view, top speed 65 to 70 miles per hour.

TOWNSEND: We see that you are going really fast. You see that the walls are really close to you.

MOOS: But Cody says he was very Zen.

TOWNSEND: It's almost as if time slows down. Holy (bleep)!

MOOS: Cody's run makes James Bonds' exploits on skis look almost wimpy. Child's play compared to this. So a crevice like that must have a terrifying name, right?

TOWNSEND: Yes. It does have nicknames, but I would blush if I had to tell you what the nicknames were.

MOOS: Cody's run won him powder magazine's best line of 2014 award.

TOWNSEND: So psyched.

MOOS: His fellow skiers gushed.

TOWNSEND: That was the sickest line I've ever seen.

MOOS: The trickiest part was at the end of the narrowest section where there was a slight turn.

TOWNSEND: Possibly the turn of my life to not hit the wall that was in front of you.

MOOS: So what does he get? Great exposure and a Red Bull documentary, the kind of fame that leads to even more endorsements, but cash?

I just assumed they gave you a chunk of money to do that.

TOWNSEND: That would be morally wrong to do that, I think. No, we do it because we love it.

MOOS: You think that's scary to watch? Imagine Cody's mother, the first time she saw it.

TOWNSEND: She did cry, which I kind of felt bad about. MOOS: Cody didn't celebrate by partying. He contemplated

accomplishing a life goal while taking in an Alaskan blood moon.

TOWNSEND: So I just kind of sat there and basked in it.

MOOS: Better a blood moon than a bloody wreck.

TOWNSEND: Oh my God.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN.

TOWNSEND: That was the scariest thing I've e done.

MOOS: New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Talk about guts. Well, some good news for Carolina Panthers fans. Your star quarterback Cam Newton is at the stadium right now in front of his hometown crowd. He is on the sideline, however, and nobody really expected him to play today against Tampa Bay because he was in a crash just few days ago, and he has two fractures in his back. In fact, this is what's left of his truck after it flipped four times on Tuesday. This happened in charlotte.

Now, Newton says he feels lucky just to be alive. NFL insiders say he might suit up for next week's game against the Cleveland Browns. And we wish him well in his recovery.

As you pack up and maybe prepare to hit the road to see you family for the holidays, there's some good news for your wallet. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back. I'm Ana Cabrera. Here are the top stories crossing the CNN news desk right now.

A trillion dollar spending bill is headed to the president's desk. The Senate passed this bill last night. But not after a couple of junior Republican senators define an agreement between Senate majority leaders. The money will keep this government funded through next September.

A manhunt is underway for an accused murderer in Alabama. This is Demarcus Woodward still at large after breaking out of jail with two other inmates yesterday. Now, just hours ago police apprehended one of his accused cohorts also accused of murder, a third inmate was captured yesterday. Now, the jailbreak all started when one man apparently became physically fit that moved just part of the route then when the guard opened its sell, all these men stormed and overpowered him and fled.

Take a look at some really stunning images from our CNN i-reporters. These are their views of the Geminid meteor showers, and all of this light, big show really happens every year around mid-December. Last night, it was the showers predicted peak of up to 120 meteors per hour. Again, it's the Geminid meteor shower. It is not over yet. You can still catch it tonight.

Gas prices keep on dropping. The average national price is now $2.56 a gallon. That means the price dropped ten cents in the last week. Last year at this time the national average was $3.24 a gallon, and AAA says we could see prices hit $2.50 by Christmas.

Today marks a sad anniversary. Two years since the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in the town of Newtown, Connecticut. They are not planning any public commemoration. In 2012 20-year-old Adam Lanza opened fire in the school. Twenty students and six educators died before he turned the gun on himself.

The shooting outraged the nation and reignited the debate on gun control. And among those leading the push for tighter gun control law, the Senator Chris Murphy at Connecticut, as Democrat, has been relentless ever since the Sandy Hook massacre that happened in his home state. And month after month, he takes to the Senate floor to detail the growing number of people killed by gun violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D), CONNECTICUT: I could never imagine that I would be standing here in the wake of 20 little kids have been died in Sandy Hook or six adults who protected them.

What I'm intending to do is just come down to this floor week after week after week until we get our act together and do what the American public wants us to do. A chart that shows you how many have died since December 14th is almost unreadable.

Each one of these little dots is an individual figure representing people who have been killed in this country since December 14th. It's time for those victims' stories to be told.

Ronny was one of the 3300 people that have been killed by gun violence. Felix Dejesus III, five different people were shot in Detroit.

Matthew, over and over again. Margareta Gomez.

Carlos Navarro Franco.

Devante Jackson.

Gerardo Hernandez.

Just kind of happens every week now.

Reports are emerging of another school shooting today.

It should be a source of great embarrassment the United States and House of Representative that we have not moved the ball forward one inch.

Javier Martinez.

Mr. President, I'm coming down to the floor today for just a few minutes.

George Holland.

(INAUDIBLE) lost her two sons.

Mr. President, I imagine that this debate will continue.

The United States Senate doesn't do anything.

Another community ravaged by a school shooting the 37th of 2014.

We just expect any to pick up the newspaper and read about another mass slaughter somewhere in this country. We wonder why it's happening.

Sixteen-year-old boy named Torins Gamble (ph).

In the two years since Newtown, there's been 95 different school shootings. I yield the floor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: The threat of another government shutdown appears to be out of the picture, at least for now. The Senate passed the $1.1 trillion spending bill, but it wasn't an easy vote, only 56 to 40.

Let me bring in Errol Louis. He is the CNN analyst and politics anchor at New York One News. Also with us, Brian Morgenstern, a political strategist and a fellow at the National Review Institute.

Gentlemen, thanks.

Errol to you first. Finally, a bipartisan compromise, who is the big winner here?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN ANALYST: Well, I think probably the American people are the big winners because the government is not going to shutdown, obviously. Politically, it starts to fall apart right after that.

The president arguably is a winner. HE has shown not only that he is relevant, but that he commands the leadership of his party. And that even those who didn't want this bill to pass, kneed to sort of take the White House into account.

There were good partisan reasons for Democrats to want to kill this thing and maybe put the blame for a temporary re-shutdown on the Republican opponents. The president, I think, doing his constitutional duty said, no, we're not going to do that. Along the way, the president picked up about 20 appointees that he might have had a hard time getting through before. In part, because of some of the missteps on the Republican side.

So President Obama and the American people, big winners, I think. CABRERA: Brian, there were a couple of junior Republican senators,

Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, who tried to throw a wrench sort in this deal in the final hours. And with Republicans now about to take control of the Senate, is this a sign of things to come?

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, FELLOW, NATIONAL REVIEW INSTITUTE: Well, it certainly maybe. But you know, you mentioned senators Cruz and Lee and their maneuver. Let's not forget, first of all, what they are sticking up for which is stabbing the president's unilateral immigration action which is very unpopular in polls.

But the other issue that I want to point out is how powerful Senator Elizabeth Warren looks like in all of this. She was almost able to kill the bill in the house by basically raising a red herring, this derivatives push offs issue which that had passed with 300 votes in an earlier vote, and former fed chairman Ben Bernanke had said was difficult to implement and did nothing to secure the financial system. But she really raised her profile in this. And that is interesting that she was able to convince Democrat members of Congress to buck the president and say no to his personal phone calls and side with her instead.

CABRERA: Now, Errol, is Elizabeth Warren emerging as for the liberal leader?

LOUIS: Well, she is certainly a factor. I mean, there is no question about it. And frankly, the democratic leadership acknowledged it by essentially creating a position for her as a freshman senator so that she'll have input into what's going on.

I mean, honestly, Ana, you've got people marching in the streets. You know, hundreds of thousands around climate change are around low wage workers, you know. And 190 cities, fast food workers and other low wage workers went out on strike across 35 states. This is something real. This is something the Democrats need to take into account.

Elizabeth Warren is their best hope of at least importing some of this notion into the democratic platform. Because people are, you know, the Democratic base frankly is getting away from some of the leadership.

CABRERA: Brian, let's talk 2016 and kind of fast forward here when we talk about the leadership on each side. Jeb Bush said today, he plans to release thousands of emails from his time of governor in Florida. And he is also going to release an e-book about his philosophy on governing. What should we be reading in to this about a possible run for the White House, Brian?

MORGENSTERN: Well, you know, there are a couple of points. A couple of schools of thought on this. Number one, he is famous. He could have a operation up and running in no time. He is a very popular and very effective governor. Of course, there are drawbacks to a primary campaign. His positions on immigration might not necessarily play well with the conservative base's position on education with the common core. We also saw some emails coming out about his private equity ventures. But you know what, he is obviously a name brand and in a crowded

primary field, and that is a huge factor. Your ability to raise money, have a high profile already, and obviously a successful political history. Many are thinking he is about to jump in.

CABRERA: Errol, your thoughts?

LOUIS: He is, I think, doing the responsible thing by sort of about floating out there the idea that he is going to be a very different candidate than many expected. I mean, we don't want to pass over the fact that his private equity dealings is a fascinating piece in Bloomberg right now about how extensive they are. This is sort of like the second coming of Mitt Romney.

CABRERA: But yet, it doesn't seem like somebody who was wanting to be a candidate would be, you know, going on with these foreign ventures, right?

MORGENSTERN: You know, I want to --

LOUIS: It's also legal, and, you know, I mean, unless there's something absolutely improper about it, there's nothing wrong with it. Now politically, it's going to be kind of a tough sell, so I think he is going to float the idea and see what both the party leadership and the public at large think about it. I don't think it's going to be a very positive reaction, but he is right to float the idea now.

MORGENSTERN: I do want to play devil's advocate a little bit on that, because it highlights the drawbacks of the complex regulatory structure in the United States and the tax structure, which is leading businesses to go overseas, and that's been a talking point for Republicans for a long time and Jeb Bush obviously has that experience directly that he can peek speak about. And he could say something like I would love to bring all this money back domestically. But it doesn't make business sense for my investors. I want to encourage business by changing these regulations and make them more business friendly are in fact to be a compelling argument.

CABRERA: We've got to leave it there. Brian Morgenstern and Errol Louis. Thanks to you both.

LOUIS: Thank you.

MORGENSTERN: Thank you.

CABRERA: They're hired to protect, but they sometimes end up killing. I'm talking about arms security guards. Wait until you hear what CNN Drew Griffin discovered in a yearlong investigation into these hired guns.

But, first, we have a preview of the CNN documentary called extraordinary people. And it features the man who helped stop a terror attack at the Canadian parliament.

Here's CNN Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH WINGROVE, REPORTER, GLOBE AND MAIL: As the shooting began, I moved behind this pillar.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, AC 3602: Josh Wingrove is a reporter with the newspaper, "Globe And Mail." He captured the most dramatic video of the incident inside.

The prime minister was right over here.

WINGROVE: Prime minister right in there. So you know, 300 people, 300 was probably in total, just in neither door wing. You know to have chairs being piled. There s a makeshift barricades against these doorways.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Knowing that the doors couldn't be locked and hearing that much firepower was really shocking.

COOPER: Freeman was one of those parliamentarians.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was an intense moment for everyone within the room. We, you know, hid under desks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great. No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we were all afraid for our lives.

COOPER: Afraid until Kevin Vickers made his stand.

EVAN SOLOMON, REPORTER, CBC: At that moment after the first exchange just down another hall is the sergeant at arms, Kevin Vickers.

COOPER: Evan Solomon is a reporter and host network CBC. He contained exclusive details of how the incident transpired.

SOLOMON: Kevin Vickers in his office, he grabs the pistol from his lockbox, and he immediately exits down his hall, which is very close to where Bevo is. He goes right to the other side of the pillar. So you have to imagine this. On one side of the pillar now is the shooter. On the other side of this pillar is now Kevin Vickers with his gun.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: A year-long CNN investigation has uncovered some disturbing details about people who are hired to protect, but I end up killing. You see them everywhere. Private armed security guards at banks, at malls, at public facilities. No one keeps track, though, of how many of them have guns, although we know the number has been increasing in recent years.

Well, now an investigation by CNN and the center for investigative reporting finds a troubling pattern, uneven training and standards for background checks leading in many cases to deadly consequences. We're talking about armed guards with mental ill issues. Others who are prohibited from having a weapon, but somehow manage to beat the system, to become one of the country's hired guns.

Senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) was gunned down in the parking lot of a Miami strip club in June of 2012. He was unarmed sitting in a pickup truck when he was shot and killed by an armed security guard.

This is that guard being brought into court now charged with murder and facing a father who can't understand why his son has been taken away from him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You murder my son, man, for nothing. He was trying to get away from you. Try to get away from you, man. You kept doing it while his back was under. You kept shooting him, man. You kept shooting him in the back. His back was tied to you, man.

GRIFFIN: Lucas Shane Kendall (ph) has a history of alcohol abuse, a Dui conviction. He was kicked out of the Navy. After the shooting, the jail psychiatrist diagnosed him with antisocial personality disorder. And a recent diagnosis by court-ordered psychiatrists of unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorder.

Yet, on the day Donald Burg's (ph) son shot and killed, Lucas Kendall was fully licensed by the state of Florida to hold a badge and a gun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you've got a little young security guard, they get any kind of opportunity to use their weapon. It's death, you know. It's death.

GRIFFIN: Details of the shooting, as chilling as the moment Donald Burg (ph) met his son's killer in court. Kendall arrived on duty early seen here in this surveillance video on that June 9th. (INAUDIBLE) and friend Michael Smathers (ph) were already sitting in a pickup truck in the parking lot. Kendall told police he thought they were rolling marijuana. He approached the truck and claims Burg (ph) and Smathers (ph) were looking menacing. One of the men threatened him, he says, and both car doors opened.

Kendall claims he felt his life was in danger and believed one of the men had a weapon. He fires at least 12 shots killing Burg (ph) eight times including four shots in the back as Burg (ph) crawled under the truck. The shooting left Burg (ph) dead and Michael Smathers (ph) paralyzed. Police say no gun, no weapon was found in that truck. Kendall calmly called 9-1-1.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was anyone shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, two people are shot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where's the gunman now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am the gunman. I'm the security officer here.

GRIFFIN: Security guards, even though many look like police officers, by and large, don't have arrest powers and don't report to the public.

An investigation by CNN and the center for investigative reporting finds the armed security guard industry is kind of like a wild west when it comes to oversight. You could become an armed guard in 15 states with no firearms training. Nine states don't bother to run FBI criminal background check, 27 states don't even check to see if someone is banned by federal law from carrying a gun.

Unlike police officers, the requirements to become a licensed armed guard across the U.S. can be so lax. In Kentucky, you can become an armed guard simply by arming yourself and calling yourself one.

PAT ALEXANDER, SECURITY GUARD INSTRUCTOR: There's no training requirement. There's no licensing requirement. A security company simply needs a business license. Just like the florist down the street has. But instead of selling flowers, they're selling yard service.

GRIFFIN: Security industry veterans Pat Alexander and Steve Cabalero run a security guard training school. They blame security firms more interested in making money than paying for proper training.

STEVE CABALERO, SECURITY GUARD INSTRUCTOR: They need warm bodies to put on the street to make money by the hour. They don't want to have to go through all of the training procedures to wait to get that body out there.

GRIFFIN: Only four states require security guards to pass a psychological evaluation. Florida is not one of them. Keewon Burg's (ph) mother, Arlene, surrounded by his father and sister, believes Florida granted an arm security guard license to a man who was crazy.

He feels justified in saying that he was defending himself.

ARLENE, VICTIM'S MOTHER: He's sick.

GRIFFIN: Kendall could have been disqualified from becoming an armed guard for getting discharged from the Navy after several alcohol- related offenses, but he didn't disclose that on his application and the state issued him a license. So who did hire Lucas Kendall? This man. Bell Grave Arellano, is the owner of the new defunct security company that hired him.

Drew Griffin with CNN. How are you doing?

BELL GRAVE ARELLANO, HIRED LUCAS KENDALL: Hi, Drew. How are you doing?

GRIFFIN: Good. How are you? I'd like to talk. Why did you hire Lucas? Did you do any screening of him?

ARELLANO: Excuse me. We are leaving right now. It's nice to meet you though. Have a great day. Thank you.

GRIFFIN: The Kewon Burg (ph) killing isn't the only case involving one of Arellano's armed guards. His former business is fighting a lawsuit in connection with another fatal shooting by one of its security guards. Two other lawsuits alleging his guards were negligent have been settled. Arellano's attorney says Lucas Kendall had all the required training and background checks when he was hire. But in Florida, that's not much.

Security guards are required to attend one week of training and three and a half more days to carry a gun. Kendall told police it was self- defense and told the court he didn't want a lawyer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is it that you expect to represent yourself?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I refuse to participate in this charade.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would advise you to do things the easy way. You want a trial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want a trial. It's just a charade.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

GRIFFIN: Kendall has been ruled incompetent to stand trial. Kendall's mother, Chris, claimed her son had no mental issues prior to the shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son is the victim in this whole thing. He's been attacked in jail several times, beaten, ribs broken, his head has stitches on his face. They had to put him in isolation for longer than 15 months. Isolation. Nobody stays normal in isolation in that amount of time.

GRIFFIN: It has been two and a half years since Arlene Burg's son was killed. The family is still waiting for a trial.

ARLENE: My son was crawling underneath the truck trying to get away and he stood there and continued to shoot. But still he fell for his life. How? How?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Again, our Drew Griffin reporting. The next hour of NEWSROOM begins after a short break including new information in the search for an escaped prisoner wanted for murder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)