good evening, everyone. tonight, prepare to laugh, cry and be inspired by a remarkable woman. a "360" exclusive. my interview with antoinette tuff who lovingly persuaded a would-be mass killer into giving himself up. she saved countless lives and kids and police officers and despite being held at gunpoint still feels compassion for the man who could have killed her. she tells me tonight she still wants to maintain a connection with him. my in depth conversation with her and her first face-to-face meeting with the calm, cool 911 operator who helped her save the day.

>> how are you doing? we made it! >> we did. oh, my god. >> made it they did. the most remarkable 911 call we've ever heard. together, they prevented a likely massacre, with kendra relaying messages to police. antoinette was inside, talking to the 20-year-old gunman that had fired you have half dozen shots and was carrying enough ammunition to kill hundreds. he told her he wanted to die and was ready to kill. calmly, sensitively and compassionately, she reached out to him and reached him, persuading him to surrender to police. >> they're coming. so just hold on, michael. go ahead and lay down. you just got your phone? okay, that's fine.

tell them to come on. come on. okay, he just got his phone, that's all he got is the phone. >> do not move, on the ground. >> okay. it's just them. >> hello? >> yes. >> i'm going to tell you something, baby, i've never been so scared in my life. >> me either. but you did great. >> oh, jesus. >> you did great. >> oh, god! >> oh, god indeed. antoinette talks a lot about faith tonight, because that faith saw her through. fbi hostage negotiator chris voss calls her performance amazing. president obama is also a fan. he called her just before she sat down with me tonight. i've been looking forward to meeting her since i heard that remarkable tape and i'm pleased to introduce antoinette and shortly kendra to all of you.

it's extraordinary to hear this tape, and there is such an outpouring of people saying how amazing you are. i just think you're incredibly heroic. that's a word that gets thrown around a lot, but you really are a hero. you saved people's lives. how did you remain so calm throughout this? >> i was actually praying on the inside. i was terrified, but i just started praying. knowing that if i got -- as hysterical as i was on the inside on the outside he would panic. >> inside you were feeling -- >> i was terrified on the inside. very scared. >> we hear that at the end of the recording a little bit, when once it's all over, you sort of -- this flood of emotion comes out. >> yes, because i knew then -- i knew they had captured him. so i knew at that point in time i could take a breather. >> i've heard you say that your pastor talked about being anchored in the lord.

is that something that got you through? >> yes. he had just started this actual series that sunday on being anchored. and i had told myself monday morning that i was going to get up and start studying that morning. so i studied monday morning and on tuesday. and he had been talking about how you anchor yourself, not allowing the cares of the world to overwhelm you, but allowing yourself to be anchored. >> that's what it means to be anchored, to be rooted? >> to be rooted and grounded in the word. not allow the situation that you are in dictate your actions. >> that was good timing of that sermon. >> really good timing. >> i want us to start -- i want to play some of the 911 recordings and get your thoughts. this first excerpt we're going to play is when the gunman basically has first entered the room. let's listen. >> okay. >> i'm in the front office -- oh, he just went outside and started shooting.

oh, can i run? >> can you get somewhere safe? >> yeah, i've got to go. no, he's going to see me running. he's coming back. hold on. >> put the phone down. >> okay. she said she's getting the police to back off for you, okay? okay, okay. stop all movement now on the ground, stop all movement on the ground. >> what's it like to hear that? >> ummm, realizing how terrified i was. and that was not his actual first entrance in the building. he had been in the building for a minute by the time that incident happened. he had shot before that. >> he left the office you were

in, we heard the shots fired and he came back in. >> that was the second time shooting. he actually shot the first time in the office with me. >> that first time when he shot, did you think this could be it? >> well, what he did is, he actually took the shot to allow me and the other person that was in there to know that this was not a game, and that he was not playing, and that he was serious. so then i knew then that it was -- i knew then it was for real and i could lose my life. >> how did he appear to you? did he seem -- when you first saw him, he's got this ak-47. how did he seem? what was the look in his eye? >> like he didn't care. and he made it clear to me multiple times that he didn't care. he knew he was going to die that day, and he came in purposely knowing he was going to die and take lives with him. so he let me know that from the minute he entered the building. >> when somebody says that to

you, who is heavily armed, later we now know he had almost 500 rounds of ammunition with him. did you -- what do you do? what did you think? >> when he said that, i actually was like, okay. so i just kind of started really getting afraid when he actually shot the gun, because at first i was like maybe he's just playing. but when he shot the gun and pointed the gun up to us, you know, up towards -- and made gestures with the gun, i knew he wasn't playing. at that point in time i started praying on the inside. >> were you afraid he was going to go in the classrooms and go after the kids? >> he did go to the door leading up to -- when the first person left out, he told them to go and let everybody know that this was not a drill. that this was for real. when that person went out, other people went out with her, because they didn't -- he didn't know that other people was -- there was another room around the corner.

and he didn't know people was there. so he started seeing all this movement. and he went to that door with the gun drawn to start shooting. and the media person was there and he looked him in the face and started drawing his gun up. i started saying, come back in, stay in here with me. don't go anywhere, stay in here. it's going to be okay. don't worry about anybody out there. you told her to go and do that, so she's doing what you told her to do. i just started talking to him, but he was unrational because he was agitated with everything that was going on at that time. >> we hear in the 911 call, at one point he's talking about wanting to shoot police officers. i want to play that part. >> he said tell them to back off. he doesn't want the kids, he wants the police. so back off. what else, sir? he said he don't care if he die, he don't have nothing to live for. he said he's not mentally

stable. >> that's the last thing you want to hear somebody say when they're armed to the teeth like that. he also talked about saying he should have gone to a mental hospital, that he was off his medication. >> correct. >> did that make you even more worried about who you're dealing with? >> yeah, because by the time he made that statement, he had already fired all of his rounds in his gun for the first time. i didn't know what was in the bag at that time, but he had then got the book bag and was filling up the magazines in front of him. >> so he was reloading? >> he reloaded every magazine he had in the book bag and put them all in his pockets. >> i was amazed too how kind you were to him and how compassionate you were to him. is that something you really felt? >> yes, it was. at one point i just started feeling sorry for him.

when he got to telling me that he wasn't on his medicine and everything that was going on with him, i really began to feel sorry for him. i knew that where he was at mentally was not a good place. but i knew that he was there for whatever particular reason that it was in life. he started talking to me and telling me that, you know, he wasn't on his medicine. he should have went to the hospital, you know, he hadn't taken his medicine in a while. so i knew i wasn't speaking to someone in their right state of mind. >> i want to play that portion. >> it's going to be all right, sweetie. i just want you to know that i love you. i'm proud of you. that's a good thing of you just giving up. don't worry about it. we all go through something in life. you don't want that. you gonna be okay. i thought the same thing. i tried to commit suicide last year after my husband left me. but look at me now. i'm still working and everything is okay.

>> it seems that really connected with him. you're willingness to share personal details of your own life really made an impact on him. >> yes. by that time he had actually called one of his family members, and he was talking to them and then they was telling him some things and things like that, what was going on. so i knew that -- i knew how he felt. i had been in that situation. i had been in that devastating moment when all of the things happened to me. so i knew that could have been my story. but because of god's grace and mercy, it wasn't. and i knew that i could help somebody. god sent people, my pastor and people and friends and family in my path to help me through, and i knew at that point in time that he needed me, and i was the only person there. so i just wanted to be able to

allow him to know that there was some hope. and even though what seemed to be devastating for me then, look at me now. i just opened up a brand new business, you know, god had brought me back from what seemed to be hopeless now to hope. and i just, you know, did a grand opening, opened up a motor coach company and a travel agency and just getting ready to start doing a nonprofit for kids. i looked at all that to be able to know that if i don't allow him to see what we need to do, it's going to be hopeless for him also. >> there's so much more we talked about. we'll be play thing interview for most of the hour. often in news we focus on the negative and so many people say they want to hear positive things when this happen. i just think this woman is extraordinary and has a message all of us need to hear. we'll play the moment when antoinette meets the 911 operator. we reunite them for the first time, only on "360" next.

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more now on my conversation with antoinette tuff, perhaps the coolest, calmest person on earth, certainly in this situation. precisely when and where those qualities were needed most. even though she says she was scared and praying on the inside, she and the 911 operator were partners in preventing a massacre at the school where antoinette works. the interview left me with a lump in my throat more than once and a smile on my face. antoinette seems to have that effect on a lot of people. here's part two of the interview. sometimes people say things to convince somebody, but i feel like you really believe it, and that authenticity, you're using your own example i think made a big difference. >> yes, it did. i believed it from the heart.

that's something we had been taught in our ministry, and i owe that all to my pastor. he has trained us. we've had classes and he sits down and teach us how to deal with people and how to deal in desperate situations and how to pray. we practice that at church. to all i was doing is carrying out what i'm taught every sunday and wednesday. >> do you still feel compassion for him? do you still feel sorry for this man? >> i really do. i would like to go back and visit him. >> you would like to maintain contact with him? >> i would. i would like to go back and contact him and just see how he's doing. i mean, i know that it's beyond what he sees. he's a hurting soul, and to if i can help him and allow him to get on the right path, we all go through something. and i believe that god gives us all a purpose in life. and i believe he has a purpose and destiny for that young man also.

>> i want to have you on my speed dial. whenever i'm down, i want to talk to you. my gosh. you're great. >> thank you. >> i want you to call me sweetie and tell me it's going to be okay. >> it's going to be okay. >> it's going to be my ring tone with your voice saying sweetie, it's going to be okay. >> yes, and it is. i believe that. through everything i've been through. i was actually telling god that even though it seemed like i've been through hell and back, i promised him december 31st that if he allowed me to live, that in 2013 would be heaven for me. and so i know today that all that i went through was actually for that one perfect day. and that was to save that young man's life and to make sure that 800 and something children and also all of our staff would be able to know that god is real. and even all of those who don't believe, they're able to see a

god in action. so if i don't do anything else, i know that god was seen on that day. >> you weren't even meant to be sitting in that seat in that place, right? >> correct. >> that's just extraordinary, that it just happened to be you. >> right. as a matter of fact, we just had someone that was hired in that position. and really by the time that he came in, i would have been leaving that seat to go back to my desk. but i was actually late getting up there to relieve her, because i just got devastating news myself. and i had sat at my desk for about ten minutes trying to not getover wheemed by the news i just got. and so it made me late to relieve her. and so then i -- i'm sorry. >> it's okay.

>> ummm -- i got there, ummm, late, because, umm, i was meant -- the news i got was devastating. i know god had me to be late to give that news and to put all that aside that i just got, to be able to help that young man. because if i had got there the time that i was supposed to get there, and actually leave the time that i was supposed to leave, she would have been there. and i would not have been there. i would have been relieved her and been back at my desk. >> did you know you were capable of this? we're all tested at times and you never know how you're going to react. some people think they'll rise to the occasion and they fall. and some people think that they would run, rise up.

they are strong in ways they never anticipated. did you know you would be able to be this person? >> no. i didn't know i had it in me. if somebody told me i was going to be doing that that day, i wouldn't have believed it. didn't know it was in me. but god has a way of showing you what's really in you. no, i didn't believe that. >> you must feel like anything moving forward, you can do anything. i believe you can do anything. you have been through not only in your own life and personal things devastation, but this situation. you've survived unimaginable things. >> yes. i have this new thing that i say to myself, it's called push past the pain. my pastor's wife did that teaching in a women's ministry last year. and she titled the message, push past the pain.

in spite of what things you may go through in life, just continue to push. and to every time things come on, i always say to myself, push past the pain. it's going to be okay. so i know today that no matter what, i can push past the pain. >> you have given me so many things to write down. i'm just going to tell myself in the years ahead, push past the pain. >> yes. >> everything is going to be okay. >> just call me, we'll push past the pain together. >> i like that. was there -- for you wharks was the scariest moment? >> when he was reloading the magazines. because at first i knew he had the book bag, but i didn't know what was in the book bag. i just seen him with the gun. and i didn't know -- when he opened it, i was just thinking the oh, you've just got a couple of bullets. but inside the book bag, he had another bag. so he had bullets inside the

book bag and in another bag. >> did you know how many rounds he had? >> no, but i knew it was a whole lot. he sat there and loaded up like three magazines, changed the magazine and bullets in his pockets. pants pockets in his jacket pockets. he had bullets everywhere on top of magazines. so i knew when he made that last call that he was going to go. because he had loaded up to go. >> when you were talking to the 911 operator, did her calmness give you strength as well? >> she was talking, but to be honest with you, he was doing so much and so unstable, i don't remember what she was really saying. because he was in the building, out of the building, going out and shooting at the police, going out and trying to go out where the kids were.

and just moving. so i was talking to her and he would tell me to call channel 2 news. so i was like back and forth, you know, trying to listen to all of his demands and get on this phone with this person and trying to figure out where he was at all times. >> have you talked to the 911 operator since then? >> no, i haven't. but she was really calm. >> do you even know her name? >> no, i don't remember. she may have -- i don't remember. it was -- i don't remember her name. i think she said it, though. but i don't remember. >> her name is kendra mccray. >> oh. >> and i have somebody i would like you to meet. >> okay. okay. >> come on in. >> oh. >> this is kendra mccray. >> hi. >> oh, great!

>> how are you? >> how are you doing? >> we made it! >> we did. oh, my god. >> oh, thank you. oh, wow. >> it was really a moment. >> it was. >> oh, i thank you. oh, wow. >> thank you. >> sit down, kendra. we've got to take a quick break but we'll be right back. 0's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans,

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welcome back. it's truly incredible that antoinette tuff was able to remain so calm. she even expressed concern about his feelings. having met her, i'm no longer surprised by that. during the entire ordeal, her link to the outside world but police operator kendra mccray. tonight these great women met face-to-face for the first time. back now with our "360" exclusive interview. kendra, what do you think of the job that antoinette did? >> she is a true hero. she missed her calling. she should have been a counselor or somethi. you did so great. >> thank you. >> i never had a call where the caller was so calm and confident in what you were saying and so personable. it was great. you did a great job. you made my job a lot easier. >> thank you.

>> the situation that antoinette was in having to listen to what this gunman was saying and also listen to what you're saying and kind of be the conduit between the two and calm him at the same time as trying to keep yourself safe. i don't know how you did it. >> i don't either, but god. i can't give the credit to even myself. that was nobody but god's grace and mercy. i can truly tell you i was terrified inside. >> and yet talking to you, it didn't sound like that she was terrified. i was amazed how calm she was. >> she was very calm. myself the same. i was terrified. coming on that line and hearing those gunshots and you asking me those questions, should you run? >> yeah. >> and my hands were shaking so bad. >> i have such respect for 911 operators.

you all have to remain calm and stuff you never know what's going to be on the other end of that line. you never know what the situation is going to be. i want to play just a little bit more from the 911 recording. >> we're not going to hate you, baby. it's a good thing that you've given up. we're not going to hate you. >> ma'am, you're doing a great job. >> let's do it before the helicopters and stuff like that come. you hear them? okay. do you want to go ahead and tell them to come on in now? okay. he's getting everything out of his pockets now. >> i love how you say baby. nobody is going to hate you, baby. did you know -- i mean, how did you know what to say to him? how did you know the right things to say? >> to be honest with you, i didn't. while i was there, and she was talking to me and he was saying things to me, i was just praying on the inside of myself saying

god, what do i say now? what do i do now? i just kept saying that on the inside, because i knew that i had no words to say. and i knew i was terrified. that is one reason i said to her one time, can i run? but then i knew if i ran, he was going to go in the hallway and it's an open hallway. he had already had all the ammunition on him. >> and he could have gone for the kids? >> he would have went straight for the kids. he already went out that door a couple times. i knew that. >> are you typing all this information and it's going to police? >> yes. every word that she gave me, every demand, every request, i was trying to get it in as quickly as possible, and remain calm for her. >> that's important for an operator, to remain calm for the person on the other end. >> yes. if i'm calm, she's calm. she's hysterical -- or if i'm hysterical, she's hysterical. >> you don't have eyes on the scene.

so you're hearing everything through antoineette and sending messages to police but you're not sure where the police location is and how they're interpreting the messages. >> in this situation, it felt like i was there, like visualize what she was seeing and going through. it's like i could see the gunman right there at the door. she said he's right here at the door. it was like i could see him through her words. >> did he look at you a lot? did he -- was he kind of connecting with you a lot? >> not in the beginning. in the beginning he wouldn't even give me his name. all he said -- kept saying is, i'm not on my medication, i'm not stable. i'm on probation. he told me to tell her to call the probation officer but he couldn't give me the probation office number. told everybody to stop moving.

so in the beginning he wasn't. so then i had to say okay, what am i going to do? because now he's getting agitated. and he really got agitated the last time he went out, because the last time that he went out, the police officers started shooting back at him. and i don't know if you remember, i asked him could i go to the bathroom. >> i don't recall that. >> i don't know if i hung the phone. >> you might have put it on hold. >> i had to go to the bathroom so bad. >> sorry to be laughing, but in all the things to be in your mind. >> i mean, so bad. i was just sitting there literally shaking i had to go to the bathroom so bad. >> is that the real reason you were shaking? >> i mean, i was just shaking so bad. he had just went out there to shoot at the policemen and they were shooting back at him. and the bullets was coming from everywhere.

i said come back in here, don't worry about it. i said come back in here, we're both going to be safe. i said bullets don't have no name. if they shoot you, they're going to shoot me. so come back in here, we're going to work this out. he came back in -- >> that's amazing that you were encouraging him to come back in the room where you were. a lot of people would be happy that he was out of the room. but you said come back into the room. >> yeah. he was firing bullets and they were firing back. i knew they were going to kill him. and i knew that he was not in his right frame of mind and he had all those magazines on him and i knew he was going to light it up. >> i want to play another part of the 911 tape where he's put everything down. let's play that. >> okay. she said stay right there where you are. he wants to know if he can get some of his water right quick? yes, michael.

you said michael hill, right? guess what, michael? my last name is hill too. my mom was a hill. he said, what are you waiting for? what's taking them so long to come on? >> when you started telling him your mom's name was hill, i was like, god bless you. you're having a conversation with him. you were just relating to him. >> i was. and my mom's maiden name is hill. >> i believe everything you said. i didn't think you were making up a word of this. but i just thought again, it reflects on the kind of person you are. you didn't have to, in that very moment, you know, continue to connect with him. but you really -- i just think it says a lot about the kind of person you are. >> he started getting agitated and he got up. i'm like okay, if they don't come on. i started coming, because he started getting up, and i'm like okay, lay down. they coming. he said, can he have some water? i don't think you responded back to me. i just said yeah, you can have some. >> because at that point, when

she said he was getting agitated, i had to put my phone on mute. i'm hollering across the room, he's getting agitated, we need to move. >> in a situation like this, is everyone else in the room listening to you? >> well, there are still calls coming in, so other people are on calls right next to me or across from me. they're on different calls. they're not on the same call i'm on. so it's loud. we have call takers on one side. then the dispatchers on the opposite side. so we have the supervisors that are -- in this situation, they were back and forth trying to make sure the information got relayed from my side to the dispatch side so they can quickly notify the police as to what i was saying. >> there's one more part of the tape i want to play once the police have come in and it's all over. let's listen. >> get on the ground, do not

move. >> it's just him. i'm going to tell you something, baby, i ain't never been so scared in all the days of my life. >> me either. but you did great. >> oh, jesus. oh, god. >> you can really hear there the strain that this put on you. >> oh, yeah. >> that moment when the police finally came in and he was taken out, what goes through your head? what goes through your heart then? >> i realized then that they actually -- when they came in, they came in with guns when he told them not to. so once they came in with the guns, because now remember, his gun and all his weapons were not too far from him, and so when they came in, i was like okay, lord, don't let him move. don't let him get up and get that gun. and so by the time they all just

swarmed around him and realized he didn't have anything, because i told him to put his hands behind his back and all that, behind his head so they would know he didn't have anything. when i seen that police officer put their hands on him, you know, they were all surrounding him, i knew i could just breathe. >> and go to the bathroom. >> and go to the bathroom. i was like, if i go to the bathroom, them bullets don't have no names on it. they're going shoot ugs us all. nobody is going to know i'm in the bathroom. >> this is also really a teachable moment it seems in how to respond in an emergency situation. antoinette, you know, this tape could be played in classes in terms of how to remain calm and the importance of remaining calm in an emergency. >> yes, and just being yourself and being personable with the person and sympathizing with the person. we get a lot of calls with people in the same condition that he's in, but a different situation.

and that's what we're trained to do, to sympathize with them and keep them calm until help gets there. and no situation where we want anyone to get hurt. that was my biggest fear. >> as i said before, i think a 911 operator has such difficult job, and i want to thank you for what you did in this situation and what you do every day. so thank you. >> thank you. more of our conversation next, including antoinette's reaction to a call from president obama. he called her just minutes before she came out. one other note, antoinette has set up a page to help underprivileged kids. it's something she believes strongly in. the web address is gofundme.com/41fqvw.

you can find the link on our website at ac360.com or my twitter account. we'll be right back with more of antoinette. fffgggganaúúú÷úga9gg @ progresso.

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back with our "360" exclusive interview tonight. antoinette tuff, learned in the worst possible way that she's a natural born crisis counselor, when a gunman stormed the school where she works, she talked him down without seeming to break a sweat. 911 dispatcher kendra mccray helped her out. they met face-to-face in our studio for the first time tonight. just before our interview, antoinette got a call from president obama. you got a call right before you came out here tonight. >> i did. >> who called you? >> president obama. >> oh, wow. >> is that right? how was that? >> in the makeup room. awesome. oh, god, it was awesome. >> what's that like when you hear the president is on the

phone? >> i was like, president obama, it's really you. you get the call and somebody tell you the president is on the phone, it's like okay. but then you hear the voice and you know it's the president. so it was the best voice that i could ever hear. couldn't have a better leader in place at this time. >> i appreciate you too. but i learned from the best. the best president in the world. no, that's me. you can't get any better when you've got a great leader in front of you. >> what did he say to you? >> that him and his wife and family was very proud of what i did and everybody wanted to thank me. and they were happy and glad for what i did and that it was just for me being a hero and hopefully one day he would get to meet me. so that would be -- just to see his face was awesome. to hear his voice, but to see his face would be more awesome. >> if the president wants to

meet you, he can figure out how to make that happen. >> he figured out how to call me. awesome, awesome, awesome. that made the night. we can turn the phone off. >> what do you think the lesson is for people? what do you want people to take away from this? >> to know that god is real. to know that it wasn't me. it wasn't nothing that i did that was so special. >> do you not feel like you're a hero? >> no, not really. i feel like i helped somebody in need, that god was able to use me. and it was an honor to be able to be used. i feel like i was in the rht place, and god needed me to be there to be a vessel for him. >> it's interesting that even

now, you're talking about helping this young man, helping this man with a gun. that's, again, i think that says something about you. >> yes. >> did you know that the kids were being evacuated during all of this? >> no, no. because what i did, he had me to get on the intercom and to let them know, you know, to give the kids -- because the time he came in, that's how you know god was in control. the time that he came in really was a dismissal time for us. one of the busiest times of the school day. so if it had been business as usual, we would have had multiple parents and multiple children in the front office trying to go home. and not one baby got hurt. that's the awesome part. not one baby and not one adult.

that was the whole key, to be able to have everybody come out safe and go home to their families and know that god did it all. >> you just say to me one more time, baby, everything is going to be okay. >> baby, everything is going to be okay. >> thank you so much. >> you are so welcome. you are so welcome. >> baby, everything's going to be okay. a reminder, antoinette mentioned her work helping underprivileged kids see a world they might otherwise miss. so she set up a website. gofundme.com/41fqvw. we'll have the links on our web page and my twitter account. she's hoping to raise like $1,500. hopefully she can raise more than that if folks are wanting to donate. let's get the latest. susan hendricks has a "360" bulletin. susan? deliberations today in the court-martial of major nadal hasan. hasan, who represented himself, declined to give a closing statement.

bradley manning says he plans to live as a woman while serving time in a military prison and wants to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. the army does not provide hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery. and former nfl player aaron hernandez was indicted today on six counts, including first degree murder in the shooting death of odon lloyd. he has pleaded not guilty to the charges. anderson, back to you. just ahead, hannah anderson speaks out about her kidnapping. why she doesn't consider herself a victim anymore. morning because my back hurt so bad. the sleep number bed conforms to you. i wake up in the morning with no back pain. i can adjust it if i need to...if my back's a little more sore. and by the time i get up in the morning, i feel great! if you have back pain, toss and turn at night or wake up tired with no energy, the sleep number bed could be your solution. the sleep number bed's secret is it's air chambers which provide ideal support and put you in control of the firmness.

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up close tonight, hannah anderson speaks out. new details have come out, including cell phone calls she and her abductor made to each other shortly before she disappeared. this morning on nbc's "today" show she talked about those calls and thinks of herself as a survivor, not a victim. details from stephanie elam. >> reporter: one thing she wanted to clear up, she knows people have been speculating about those 13 text messages she swapped with jim dimaggio. she wanted to clear it up and here's what she had to say.

>> the phone calls weren't phone calls, they were texts, because he was picking me up from cheer camp and he didn't know the address or where i was. so i had to tell him the address and tell him that i was going to be in the gym, not in front of the school. just so he knew where to come get me. >> reporter: she got choked up remembering her mother and her brother and having to prepare herself for the memorial that's going to happen here on saturday. and one other thing i want to mention, anderson, i just spoke with the aunt of jim dimaggio. she says that she believes her niece, the family member that's asking for the dna test to be done to find out if jim dimaggio is actually the father of hannah and ethan, she thinks that niece is just after the money because she's not getting the insurance policy. so another interesting twist here in this bizarre case. >> we wish hannah and her family the best. we'll be right back. ( bell rings ) they remind me so much of my grandkids.

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before we go tonight, i want to repeat the information the gofundme page antoinette tuff

has set up, with donations to help underprivileged kids. it's gofundme.com/41 fqvw. "early start" starts rigtd now. allegations of a chemical weapons massacre. u.n. investigators trying to determine if the syrian government poisoned their own people. we'll take you live. >> hail to the hero. the school employee who helped prevent tragedy at an elementary school explains how she talked down a gunman. a soldier revealing a shocking secret about himself. >> good morning and welcome to "early start" this morning. i'm christine romans. >> i'm poppy harlow. it is 5:00 a.m. on the east coast. >> good to have you here. let's begin s