Shock and Grief after Workplace Killings; Ahmadinejad Survives Attack; Assessing the Damage; Gay Marriage Ruling Expected; Prison Convict-Turned-Coach
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, you guys. Good morning everybody. Thanks for joining us. We begin with, well, was it a grenade or a fire cracker? Was it a failed assassination attempt or a prank? We're trying to find out what happened to the presidential motorcade in Iran. Nuns find themselves in the debate over immigration. One of their own might still be alive if an illegal immigrant with a long record hadn't gotten behind the wheel again. And look what turned up in the back of the freezer. An incredible look at 1853. It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. I'm Kyra Phillips and you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. So what made him snap and what would drive a Connecticut man to pull out a gun at work and unleash hell?</s>WILL HOLLIDAY, SUSPECT'S UNCLE: He said I killed the five racists that was there, that was bothering me. He's so laid back, calm demeanor, never provoked anybody or anything like that, and to see something like this happen just totally out of the blue.</s>PHILLIPS: Omar Thornton's own family is hard pressed to explain. Just before he killed eight people then himself, Thornton had been forced to quit his job. Security cameras had caught him stealing beer from the warehouse where he worked. The racism claim? Teamsters officials say that Thornton never filed a complaint either with the union or a government agency. And you can imagine it's hardly business as usual today at that beer distributorship. Bosses, workers and family members of those eight victims forced to move ahead. CNN's Alison Kosik is in Manchester, Connecticut. So, Alison, how are they dealing with all this?</s>ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, it's a very difficult morning for them. This is what local residents are waking up to. The headline, "Workplace Terror." It just gives you an idea of what those employees must have been going through behind me in the warehouse yesterday around 7:00 in the morning. Today, of course, company officials and employees at this warehouse will be meeting at a local union to start this grieving process. There's going to be crisis intervention there and crisis counseling to help these employees get through what happened yesterday. There's also going to be a special church service later today for family members and employees. But at the same time, we are getting a kind of, you know, fly-on- the-wall perspective as to what exactly happened in the moments leading up to those gunshots that were fired inside the warehouse. And we're getting this perspective from the CEO of the company, Hartford Distributors. The CEO is Ross Hollander, and he tells us that in the morning around 7:00 a.m., there was a scheduled disciplinary hearing for 34-year-old Omar Thornton. He is the gunman. And he was scheduled to have a meeting with a union official there and company executives to focus on the issue as to whether or not he was stealing beer. Now the company did present video showing him apparently stealing this beer off a truck. They sat down, showed him this video, and they gave him a choice. You can either be fired or you can resign. And the CEO tells us that he went ahead -- Thornton did -- and went ahead and signed a resignation document. He then got up, and they escorted him out of the building. Just before he did get out, however, he said he was thirsty, went to a water fountain, but instead he pulled out a gun and started shooting. And as you said, Kyra, eight people were -- were killed. Of course, the gunman turned the gun on himself after that. And now it's up to this family-owned company to try to move on after this, to try to put the pieces back together. And regroup. Because this really is winding up to be one of Connecticut's deadliest workplace shootings -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: Alison Kosik live in Manchester. Alison, thanks. Eight lives snuffed out just like that. Loved ones who went into work and never even came home. People like Victor James, 30 years on the job. Set to retire soon, spend more time with his four grandkids. Victor's mother recently moved in with him. He kissed her goodbye before he left for work yesterday.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He liked his job, you know. But he was getting tired of it. He worked there 30 years. And he was ready to retire. Everybody liked him. He was just -- he had that personality, you know. Just loved people.</s>PHILLIPS: Today the company meets with employees and will twill try to get them what they need to get through that tragedy. Now a developing story that we're following this morning. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has survived an apparent assassination attempt. Media reporting say that a grenade exploded near the president's convoy in western Iran. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wasn't hurt, but there is much more to the story. CNN's Reza Sayah joining us live from Islamabad, Pakistan. So, Reza, he was headed to this speech when this happened. So was it a potentially deadly explosion or was it what Iran's media advisers now saying that it could have been a child's firecracker?</s>REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latter, Kyra. This doesn't seem like a serious incident. Of course, there was a lot of conflicting reports that have been coming in over the past several hours. It got a lot of attention, but about an hour ago I spoke to an adviser for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and he told me everyone should calm down because no one tried to kill the Iranian president. He described this item that apparently blew up as a toy firecracker. He said this was someone playing with a firecracker. The kind children play with. The kind you use when you want to celebrate. This was a toy. And there were no injuries. But the western media made it bigger than it is. We should point out that initially, it wasn't the western media that reported this, it was two Iranian government-linked Web sites that said the Iranian president had arrived in the city of Hamedan which is about three hours west of Tehran. He got to the airport, got in his motorcade, and he was heading to city sports stadium to address a gathering when someone blew up a handmade -- a homemade hand grenade. The report said he wasn't injured, but some reporters who were accompanying him may have been injured. The reports also said the person who lobbed this explosive device was in custody. What's interesting, Kyra, is just yesterday, in another gathering, President Ahmadinejad said that Israelis were plotting to kill him. So maybe because of that statement, this incident today got some attention. But, again, the president's adviser telling us that this was no assassination attempt, and we shouldn't blow it out of proportion.</s>PHILLIPS: And, of course, the media advisers would want to play this down if indeed it were something serious. Now Ahmadinejad is despised by many people in his country. Do you think this attack or alleged attack, you know, could enforce more attacks, and we might see a domino effect?</s>SAYAH: Well, again, we should emphasize that based on what we're hearing right now, from the most credible sources in Iran -- that's his adviser and Press TV, which is the state-funded news organization -- this was nothing but a firecracker. And keep in mind, Iran would love to take an opportunity if indeed this was an attack to win some favor and sympathy for the president. But apparently they're not doing this. Can it inspire some more attacks? The biggest opposition that the president has is the Green Movement. This is the opposition movement that still insists the president tried to steal away -- did steal away the election last year. But this is a widely peaceful movement. So I doubt that this type of attack would inspire that movement. The more radical movements. But again, based on what we're hearing right now, this was a firecracker and not an assassination attempt.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, Reza Sayah, live from Islamabad. Reza, thanks. And we've got this statement now from the White House. Quote, "White House aides are aware of the conflicting reports and are seeking more information to sort out what really happened." And for the first time in 106 days, we have reached a major milestone in the Gulf oil disaster. It looks like the end may finally be within reach. BP officials say that the static kill operation appears to be working. Crews have stopped pumping mud down the well and are now monitoring it to make sure that the sealed leak is holding. If so, the next stop would be to permanently plug it by pumping concrete through a relief well. That's still several days away. Meanwhile, lawmakers are demanding answers on how that spill has been handled and whether dispersants have created a danger all on their own. The Environmental Protection Agency will be in the spotlight at the joint Senate hearing which gets under way next hour. And at the top of the hour, we're expecting the government to make a rather startling announcement. As bad as the environmental damage is, it's not likely to get worse. Let me show you why. Here's a breakdown of where the oil has gone. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration actually crunched the numbers and gave a sneak peek to the "New York Times." NOAA says that one-fourth of all the oil that's gushed out of the ruptured well has been captured. It was recovered through the containment cap, the skimming operations and the controlled burns. Now another 25 percent has evaporated or dissolved, and that's considered a lowball estimate, by the way. Now 24 percent has been dispersed, it's broken into smaller droplets, either by natural means or the chemical solvents. Now that leaves 26 percent of all the oil that has poured from that leak. It has either washed up on shore or still remains at sea, either on the surface of that -- of the ocean or of course beneath it. Now CNN's Jim Acosta is joining us live from New Orleans. So taking all of this into account, and reading this NOAA report that was released to the "New York Times," is the impact as bad as we thought, Jim?</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boy, that's a good question, Kyra. I have to say that, you know, we've heard a lot of these good news announcements in the past. And, you know -- and then a couple of days later, a parish president will come out and say, but look at all this oil that's washed ashore. So I think, you know, these reports that are coming from BP and from the federal government are going to be met with some skepticism down here, so simply because of the ordeal that they've been through over these last 106 days. But no question about it. You know, we went out to see the Deepwater Horizon site yesterday during the static kill procedure. And we were really taken aback by just how amazingly clear the Gulf of Mexico was out at the site of this major disaster. It was blue water almost as far as the eye can see in every direction. There were some few patches of oil here and there, some oil streaks here and there, but no question about it, a dramatic -- a dramatically different picture of the Gulf of Mexico versus what we've seen in the last several months. So I think that the folks down here will meet this good news with perhaps a little bit of skepticism but also some hope. As you mentioned overnight, BP put out a statement essentially saying that they feel like this was a significant milestone. That that mud that was pumped into that damaged well over the course of about eight hours has simply taken control of that damaged well. That the mud that has gone into that well has stabilized the pressure inside that well, and that is something we haven't seen since the beginning of all of this. So certainly some good news there -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: OK. Jim Acosta from New Orleans. Thanks, Jim. Also got a developing story in California, and the stakes couldn't be higher for gay couples looking to get married. Today a federal judge decides whether California's ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional. Parts of that ruling expected to be released just hours from now following years of legal back and forth on that issue. Here's a quick look at how we even got to this point. You might remember back in May of 2008, the state Supreme Court voted 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to get married. Then six months later, Prop 8 passed with 52 percent of the vote. It outlawed same-sex marriage, saying California only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman. But then in January, two gay couples headed to court saying that that ban violates equal protection and due process rights that are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.</s>SANDY STIER, FILED SUIT AGAINST PROP. 8: This case for us is about how we as Americans just want to be treated equally by our government. And under the law. And today we'll be going to court with that very simple request.</s>JEFF ZARILLO, FILED SUIT AGAINST PROP. 8: All we're asking the court to do is ensure that we are protected under our constitution, like every American is supposed to be.</s>PHILLIPS: Now it's decision time. But both sides say that no matter what happens, this isn't the end of the fight. Jean Casarez is a correspondent on "In Session," shown on truTV. She's joining us live from New York. So, Jean, what exactly is expected to happen today?</s>JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION" CORRESPONDENT: Well, the judge will issue his ruling. It actually will be put on a Web site. But this ruling is critical for so many reasons. First of all, it can affect other states. It will affect California. And it also can affect the voter going to the ballot box, believing that their vote will truly count. In the one corner, you have the gay couples that have filed this suit, believing that constitutionally they have a right to marry. And if that is not given to them, that that's a violation of the 14th Amendment, of equal protection, and also their due process rights. But on the other hand, you have the rights of the voters in California. And that's what makes this so decisive.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. So, Jean, you know, right now, depending on where you live, you know, as you mentioned, the laws are different state to state. So what could be the overall impact here? Could the California ruling cause other movements, changes in the law across the nation?</s>CASAREZ: I think the first thing is, this is going to be appealed. I don't care what side you're on. This is going to be appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the very same court that will be hearing the preliminary injunction ruling out of Arizona. They will be a very busy court. From there, it definitely will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and that will have a very large impact. It is states rights, but it is also the right -- the constitutional right to marry if you are of a same-sex union. Now the California Supreme Court finally got this case after Proposition 8 was passed. It said it was valid law in California to change the California constitution. But many believe that the chief judge for the U.S. district court of the northern part of California will rule otherwise. But I don't think we're going to know until that decision comes down later today.</s>PHILLIPS: Got it. We'll probably be talking again. Jean, thanks so much.</s>CASAREZ: Thank you.</s>PHILLIPS: And as Jean mentioned -- you bet -- the story is going to be developing throughout the day, so keep it tuned in here to CNN for the latest on the ruling, the fallout and what could come next. Missouri voters weigh in on health care reform and strike a blow to President Obama's overhaul. We're going to tell you what they think of mandatory health insurance.