Day of Mourning for Virginia Tech Victims
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.</s>HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come in to the NEWSROOM live on Friday, April 20th. Here's what's on the rundown. A day to mourn. This Friday set aside to remember the students and faculty who were gunned down on the Virginia Tech campus. A moment of silence set for noon.</s>HARRIS: Republicans hopping mad at the top Democrat in the Senate. They say Harry Reid's conclusion the Iraq war is lost undercuts the troops.</s>COLLINS: A seaside town watching helplessly as a cliff crumbles. One house already a goner, six more may slide. Life on the edge in the CNN NEWSROOM. A week of terror and grief. Today a day of mourning. The spotlight shifting from the gunman who launched the massacre at Virginia Tech to his many victims. Across the country, churches will hold vigils and services. Across Virginia, a moment of silence. CNN's Brianna Keilar is on campus this morning. Brianna, what is the very latest in the investigation now?</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, Heidi, this is the end of no doubt the most difficult week in the history of Virginia Tech. Right now evidence has largely been gathered, and authorities tell us that the information coming from the investigation is really going to slow to a trickle from here on out. What we will be looking for, especially in the coming months, the results of a review, how authorities handle themselves. Of course, this comes amid criticism that police and university officials should have shut down the campus after the first shooting. And this was a review requested by university president Charles Steger of Governor Kaine. We do understand that this panel will include the former head of the Virginia State Police. That's Colonel Gerald Massengill. And also another name you'll certainly recognize, Tom Ridge, former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, also former governor of Pennsylvania. And it will also include experts -- law enforcement, mental health, higher education experts. Now, as you said, today is a day of mourning. This was declared also by Governor Kaine. He has requested a moment of silence at noon across the state of Virginia to remember the 32 people who were killed here on Monday. This is also being called Hokie Hope Day. This is something being organized by the alumni association here. So you'll be seeing a lot of people, probably, Heidi, wearing orange and maroon. And this is just a way for them to show their solidarity with all of the people here at Virginia Tech who are coping with this terrible tragedy -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: Yes, we certainly are trying to do that here. I'm wondering though, Brianna, for a while we had heard that we might see something, a statement, or hear something from Cho's sister. But that has not happened. And I'm wondering if you've heard from Cho's parents yet.</s>KEILAR: No, we haven't heard anything from immediate members of Cho's family. We do know, according to the South Korean Embassy, that they had -- after a meeting with the FBI, they learned the Cho family is doing OK. And a law enforcement official said this was a meeting that -- so the FBI could assure the South Korean Embassy that they are prepared to deal with any threats against members of the South Korean community -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: All right. CNN's Brianna Kielar, coming to us from Blacksburg today. Brianna, thanks.</s>HARRIS: Experts say the shooter fits the model of a school shooter, a shy and bullied youngster who eventually lashes out. CNN's Sean Callebs is in Cho's hometown, just outside of Washington, D.C. Sean, good morning.</s>SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. We came here to find out more about this young man, to see if there were any obvious indications that Cho was indeed some kind of ticking time bomb that would eventually go off. We're outside where he went to high school here at Westfield High School in the town of Chantilly. We had a chance to speak with a number of people who went to middle school and high school with Cho, and one thing we did find out, yes, he is a loner; yes, he rarely said anything in school; and by all indications, no one knew him very well.</s>CALLEBS (voice over): This is how the world will remember him, sullen and snarling, casting a wide net and blaming those who he says pushed him over the edge.</s>REGAN WILDER, CLASSMATE: You've got to wonder what went so wrong in his life that this was ultimately the decision he made to get revenge for whatever it was.</s>CALLEBS: And now, Regan Wilder wonders if anyone really knew Cho Seung-Hui. They went to the same middle and high schools before moving on to Virginia Tech.</s>WILDER: If you ask anybody about him that graduated with him or went to school with him, he was just known as that kid that didn't speak. He just -- he never spoke. And that's how everyone remembered him.</s>CALLEBS: That is, until now. Cho was born in South Korea in 1984. His family moved to the U.S. in 1992, eventually settling here in Centreville, Virginia, where his parents worked in a dry cleaners.</s>EBRAM HAKIM, CLASSMATE: Well, you know, he was pretty normal, other than the fact I just thought he didn't know any English and that's why he never talked to anybody.</s>CALLEBS: Cho was quiet. Even though he was often at this local basketball court, refusing to join games. Cho did pick up a nickname walking to the bus stop each day.</s>JOHN WILLIAMS, CLASSMATE: We called him the trombone kid because he would just walk with his trombone all alone.</s>CALLEBS: But there were worse names leveled by others. Cho, they say, was often picked on and taunted because he was such a loner.</s>WILLIAMS: Such a quiet, shy kid like that is such an easy target. And he took it and took it and took it. And built up all that anger and whatever he felt inside. And then, you know, someone like that is going to explode. It's destined to happen.</s>CALLEBS: Boy, indeed, a tough week all over this state. Now, here at Westfield, a couple of makeshift memorials that propped up on these rocks. If you look closely, you see the name "Erin" painted in green. That for Erin Peterson, who graduated from the school last year. And also Reema, for Reema Samaha. We've heard a lot about her, the young, talented dancer. Cho is accused of, of course, killing and shooting both of those two former students here Monday at Virginia tech. Tony, it's just a very difficult time for the folks here. Really agonizing. And they simply are trying to cope with this like everybody else as best they can.</s>HARRIS: It's hard to know what to do and what to say. Sean, what more you have learned about what kind of student Cho was?</s>CALLEBS: Well, you know, despite the fact that he said nothing, virtually nothing in class, often put his head down when he was called upon, and had no friends, by the accounts we were able to gather, he was a good student. He took AP classes here at high school. And in talking to Regan, the girl we spoke with earlier in that story, about the average SAT score to get into Virginia Tech was 1300. So clearly, a bright kid.</s>HARRIS: Yes.</s>CALLEBS: But someone -- someone really, really, really troubled.</s>HARRIS: Yes. CNN's Sean Callebs for us in Centreville, Virginia. Sean, thanks.