situation room," my interview with will ferrell. we also get into the ron burgundy thing a little bit. i think you'll have fun. 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." thank yous for watching. "newsroom" continues right now with don lemon. thanks for joining me, everyone. we're going to begin with what appears to be a rogue cia mission, a diplomatic bombshell that top officials say iran has likely known for some time. robert levenson, the longest held american hostage, was working for the cia when he disappeared visited iran seven years ago. the associated press and washington post found he was gathering intelligence for an analyst in a rogue operation that led to the firing of three cia employees. and post and ap report that they paid $2.5 million to levenson's family to avoid the publicity of

a lawsuit. his wife and son said last month the former fbi agent had been on a business trip when he vanished. >> we have seven children. we were living the american dream. we had a happy family, and bob had business. he was running his own business. and doing well. and then this happened. and our whole world fell apart. >> and this man, your husband did work in the fbi, but this wasn't an fbi caper gone wrong. this was a business trip just to make that clear, is that correct, ann? >> correct. bob retired from the fbi in 1998. >> so the associated press first learned of levenson's cia link in 2010 and agreed to held the story three times on the possibility he could be freed. in the last hour, the white house decried the story. >> believe it was highly irresponsible to publish, and

which we strongly urged the outlet not to publish out of concerns for mr. levinson's safety. i'm also not going to say anything that would further harm our efforts to bring him home safe, which has been the goal for the six and a half years he has been missing. >> i'm going to talk to a cia officer in a moment, but first, i want to bring back in wolf blitzer. you just finished covering it. what i wanted to get from you is your expertise on this. what do you make of the white house denying this now? >> it's sort of a technical denial. they issued a statement saying he was not a government employee, if you will. now, private contractors who may be getting some money, contract funds from the cia or other government agencies are technically not government employees. so i'm not exactly sure it was a hard and fast complete denial. there's a nuance here that i certainly understand. i certainly appreciate the

nuance, and clearly, the white house is not happy that the associated press decided to go ahead and report extensively on this connection he had with this, what they described as this rogue element inside the cia. >> wolf, i want to ask you this because we're saying that this is a bombshell. and we know that the "washington post" held off on reporting it for a while. was this sort of in the cards, or were people thinking about this? you have covered this more as a washington correspondent and anchor, that it could be a possibility that he had some sort of involvement that most people didn't know about. >> everybody knew he spent nearly 30 years as a senior official in the fbi. he was an fbi agent, worked for the u.s. government, for the fbi. so that was widely publicized. that was widely known. that certainly was no secret. i don't think it was necessarily widely known that he had some sort of connection, that he was getting some sort of contract, if you will, he was getting some funding from these analysts at the cia, as described in the

a.p., washington post story. i don't think that was necessarily widely known. but that he worked for the u.s. government for so many years, that he had retired and the notion that he was in private business. so what does that mean? private business? if you're a private businessman, but you have a contract with the u.s. government, is there a connection there? is there not a connection there? if in fact he was receiving as a private businessman funds from the cia as part of a contract for analysis or whatever else he was doing, he was getting paid by the cia for his private business dealings, whatever that was. it gets a little murky in that world of washington -- washington. as tom fuentes told me in the last hour, the former fbi assistant director who worked closely with levinson closely over the years, was not a spy, was not involved in espionage, but he was trying to do something in iran, and he was getting some money from the cia. >> all right, wolf blitzer,

thank you. wolf, i'm going to avlg you to do what you ask reporters. can you stand by? i want to get to breaking news out of kansas. the fbi is about to hold a news conference there talking about a terror plot. this is just in to cnn. it's a foiled bomb plot in kansas. an fbi sting operation has learned the arrest of one person accused of plotting a terrorist attack. cnn's joe johns joins us with the information. you're in washington, but this is about explosives at the wichita airport? >> that's what we understand. a law enforcement source confirms there was one suspect. the case was motivated by the desire to set off an explosive, we're told, at the wichita airport. the source wouldn't confirm, nor would the source deny that it was a suicide bombing that was being contemplated. but when i asked flatly for the source to deny that, he refused to comment. we're also told that this was a

terrorism-related situation. in other words, there was no real plot. but no one was in danger. multiple charges were expected in this case, including but not limited to a charge of material support for terrorism. as of a little while ago, charges had not been filed, and one suspect who has been arrested had not been presented before the magistrate. federal authorities had been billing this as a matter of national security. and they thought enough of it that the governor of the state, sam brownback, decided to attend that news conference. back to you. >> all right, joe johns, stand by in washington. joe has the details on this. i want to get to the former assistant director of the fbi, tom fuentes who joins us all the time. you heard what joe johns had to say about the foiled plot. we hear about the plots at airports, but usually at much bigger airports. this appears to be a much smaller airport. what do you make of the news? >> it doesn't sound like an

earth shaking plot at this point, but we don't know. i think it will take a little bit of time to have more of the details come forward. especially in the charging documents, when they actually bring the formal charges against him. so i think at this point, if he was planning to do any kind of a bombing, even in a small airport, it certainly would be an act of terrorism, a national security matter, but at that point, we need to learn more. >> i want to get to that news conference. let's listen. >> a white male, age 58. an avionics technician who works at the airport. the defendant was arrested this morning at approximately 5:40 a.m. at the airport. he faces three charges. one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. one count of attempting to damage property with explosives. and one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. if he's convicted of these charges, he faces a maximum

penalty of life in federal prison. the criminal complaint which was filed today in u.s. district court, alleges he spent months developing a plan to use his access card to the airport to drive a car loaded with explosives to the terminal. it's alleged he planned to pull the trigger on the explosives himself and die in the explosion as a martyr. agents arrested him at about 5:40 a.m. as he attempted to use his access card to enter the tarmac and deliver the vehicle loaded with what he believed to be high explosives. in fact, those explosives were inurt, and it was not a bomb that would ever explode. members of the fbi's joint terrorism task force took him into custody without incident. now, i want to express in the strongest terms possible that at no time was the airport perimeter breached, and that at

no time was any citizen or a member of the traveling public in any type of danger. no one was placed in any jeopardy. i also want to add this. we have no indication that the defendant was involved or working with any members of any religious community in wichita. and his actions in no way reflect anyone else in our community. let me tell you a little something about the investigate itself. this man had been under investigation by the wichita joint terrorism task force since early summer of 2013. he made some -- actions to advance his plot. according to the affidavit filed with the complaint, it alleges

that mr. loewen studied the layout of the airport and took photographs of various access points. he researched flight schedules to determine when there would be a maximum amount of individuals at the airport. he assisted in acquiring compoemants which he believed were part of the building of the bomb. he talked about his commitment to this crime and his commitment to martyr himself as part of this horrific event. this morning, as i said, when he went to the airport to detonate the bomb, he was taken into custody when he attempted to open the security gate with his pass. he was taken into custody when that security pass failed to operate the gate. as i say, he was taken in without incident. no one was harmed. fortunately. the fbi evidence response teams are processing multiple locations right now for evidence. and although the investigation is ongoing, we do not anticipate any additional arrests at this

time. i was talking with the governor earlier, and in this day and age of cynicism about government and cynicism about law enforcement, i want to tell the members of our community and folks in our state that this is a shining example of how good law enforcement, how well they work together. >> you're listening to fbi officials in wichita, kansas, talking about a plot they foiled at the wichita airport. apparently, an employee there was going to use his access card and drive a car onto the terminal with explosives on it. the fbi got wind of the plot. they said all of the explosives or potential explosives were inert. at no point, no time, was anyone in danger. they are saying, and they don't intend to have any more arrests. tom fuentes, this is very serious anytime you have anyone who has access to the tarmac, to the inner workings of the airport, and would have the possibility of driving a car

full of explosives onto the tarmac. that's pretty serious stuff. >> sure, don. you would have a lot of people that would be in that position to be able to do that at many, many airports across the country. the question is, does that individual have the ability to assemble the bomb and have it go off once they've gained the access? at some point, this guy apparently was trying to get other people to help him carry out what he wanted to do, which obviously, he wanted to carry out a bombing but didn't have the technical still to do it all by himself. that's the point when someone reaches out for point, that people report that to the authorities, report it to the fbi, and they're able to introduce somebody who is going to compromise his plan and keep the public safe. >> tom fuentes, former assistant director of the fbi, thank you very much. i want to tell our viewers, fbi in wichita, kansas, announcing they foiled a plot by a man and arrested him, who was seeking to go onto the terminal at the

wichita airport and set off explosives in a car. one person arrested. we'll continue to monitor the story for you on cnn. in the meantime, tonight is the night. everyone will be taking a look at their lottery tickets, but as the mega millions jackpot rises, wait until you hear the odds of winning. >> plus, beyonce shocks everybody and drops an album without warning. but isn't she supposed to drop an album? is this how we're going to get our music in the future? >> and john boehner is on a tear. he's fed up with the tea party, but he's not the only high-profile republican criticizing their party's extreme faction. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief

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okay, look who is trying to take ov. don't you have your own show? >> i'm trying to fix you up. i do, but the chance to be with you, i can't pass it up. did you buy your lottery ticket? >> i did, the whole team got them. >> are you going to win? you have to share. if you win, you share. >> we win by participating. >> get out of here. i'm meet you. >> you see how i did the jump interview. got to respect it. >> i'll see you later for the party. >> when the show is over. >> oh, sorry. i'm sorry. jeff zuker. we better get to this. see you. thanks, boss. the definition of frenzy, is wild excitement or derangement. welcome to the mega millions drawing. the jackpot estimated at $425 million. >> someone is going to be lucky. >> a lot of people's lives will be much better if i win. >> well, people who have never played the game like these in reno, nevada, are buying tickets at a record pace. they're hoping against hope and

reason for a shot at winning, but the odds are extremely long. 259 million to 1. 259 million to 1. all it takes is one, though, and in fact, you're more likely to be crushed to death by a vending machine or have identical triplets. why do we do this stuff, and much more likely to be killed by an asteroid. that's not stopping people from lining up. alexandra joins us from new york. you hear chris has gotten his tickets, the whole new day team has theirs. do you have yours? >> yeah, and i got some for you, don, but i'm going to hang on to them after the drawing and then i'll give you what you won in a very fair way, of course. this prize money has rolled over 20 times now without a winner. that's how we got to the jackpot of $425 million. its consider the second largest in mega millions history. the cash payout is $208.2 million.

that's why so many people are dreaming big even though the odds of winner are very, very, very small. do you usually buy lottery tickets? >> no, it's friday the 13th and i'm going wild. >> i enjoy the what if before the big game. oh, we can take trips here and there. so it's all about that, really. >> what would you do with this money? >> shire it with cnn. >> i'm going to hold you to that. >> that much, that's a lot of money. >> all right, well i am not spending any of that yet because the odds now of hitting the jackpot are 1 in 259 million. that's up from the old odds of 1 in 175 million. that's because mega millions changed the format of the game back in october. >> oh, boy. better chance of getting hit by an asteroid. we'll be watching. i want my ticket, too. appreciate it. coming up, disgraced cyclist lance armstrong telling cnn if he had it to do all over again, he would still chance. oh, lance. you're going to hear his reason

why. >> next, queen of pop beyawonce dropping an album in the middle of the night with no promotion, no fanfar, yet it's got everyone talking. is this the future of marketing? around here you don't make excuses. you make commitments. and when you can't live up to them, you own up, and make it right. some people think the kind of accountability that thrives on so many streets in this country has gone missing in the places where it's needed most. but i know you'll still find it when you know where to look. anncr vo: introducing the schwab accountability guarantee. if you're not happy with one of our participating investment advisory services, we'll refund your program fee from the previous quarter. while, it's no guarantee against loss and other fees and expenses may still apply, we stand by our word.

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like mom used to say, if your friends jumped off a bridge, would you? if you're lance armstrong, sure, of course you would. the cyclist telling cnn if he had to do it over again, he would still cheat. he would still dope because everyone else was, too. his team wasn't doping as much as the other guys, that why he nench thought he would be caught. in the interview, he called himself an a-hole and thought he was targeted and stripped of his titles because he took on and battled his accusers. more in the next hour here on cnn. okay, 14 songs, 17 sidios and virtually no one knew about it until now. we're talking about beyawnsy's new album, just released on the sneak tip overnight.

>> there was absolutely no prepublicity about it. queen bey, right, not queen bee, surprised her fans. you can call her queen bee if you want, surprised her fans on instagram with the announcement. it's entitled beyonce. it's her fifth release and the first since she gave birth to blue ivy. the frenzy over the new music is not just about her new album. it's how she did it on her own terms in an exclusive deal with itunes. no pre a & r, no listening parties. she just dropped it on social media. is this a new model for doing business in the music industry? here to talk about it veteran entertainment pr strategist. beyonce surprised everyone by not doing the traditional thing. is this the new thing?

>> it's the bey thing. beyonce and jay-z are the most potent music brand in the history of music. so no, we don't suspect other artists will follow the model, the carters' model, but beyonce can do this. this further differentiating beyonce's brand from everyone else. it showed that she's potent, relevant, and it showed she has the power and gravity to shock the music world by releasing a record with no advance notice. >> people are saying there's no middleman. still, there is some publicity. we're talking about it. is this the publicity, the shock of it, like wait a minute, what happened? >> this is a very oaudacious move. the silence speaks volumes. the silence of this move, jay-z and beyonce together as a family, as the carters, are the most potent brands in music. this showed that they have the power to do whatever they want to do in music. >> is this a smart move? >> it's a smart move because she

further differentiates herself from everyone else in music. no one of beyonce's caliber can do what she did. and it shows -- >> can gaga do it or madonna? >> they can't do it. they don't have the loyal audience. jay-z and beyonce are creative masterminds, it showed they can create and distribute music on their own terms. >> i love the anchorman, right, being on television news. i love anchorman. i'm so sick of the promotion. everywhere i turn, i'm like, okay, enough. i just want to see the movie. stop with the promotion. and this is the exact opposite. are there people who feel like me, like stop with all the promotion? >> promotion is important in raising awareness, but beyonce has her soldiers doing the work for her. she creates the property, the content, and her soldiers and fan base has done the work for her. so the potency and currency that beyonce knowles has is evident in the fever and epic proportion

in which she released the album. >> everybody said, she released an album. i was like, she sings. she's supposed to. >> normally, they release records with months and months of promotion. it's working magically. >> always good to see you. happy holidays. coming up, we're going to talk about kanye west now comparing himself to police officers and soldiers. and now a real cop is responding, telling kanye, you better check yourself before you wreck yourself. and later, speaker of the house john boehner is fed up with members of his own party. he said some of the tea party groups have, quote, lost all credibility, so i'm going to go ahead and ask. the gop chief suddenly unafraid of the extreme right wing? stay with us. ♪

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oliver has more than 94,000 likes on his department's facebook page, but none of his famous posts have gone as viral as this one when he took on kanye west. >> what i simply said in the post i wrote was i'm calling for you to immediately retire from your entertainment act and join the military and be deployed. if you do those things, then maybe you'll get a firm grasp on what it's like to be in the military. >> the whole thing started when west told saturday night online how dangerous he thinks his job is on stage. >> this is like being a police officer or something, like war or something. >> i was offended because i just don't think that any entertainer can compare what they do to ducking bullets for a living. >> chief oliver knows first hand how dangerous police work is, but he's more offended by the military comparison. this is a man who invited thousands of veterans to brimfield in september to march

in a parade. kanye west really wasn't on his radar until now. he heard his name, but didn't know about baby north west. >> no idea until somebody said his daughter is named after a compass. >> mike says he didn't know much about him either. >> said he's married to kim kardashian. >> three hours after the post, nearly half a million people had seen it, and abc was calling. >> good morning america says hello. >> for the facebook chief, as he's called, just another day at the office. >> debra lee from our affiliate, wews. and up next here on cnn, political tensions are rising inside the gop. speaker of the house, john boehner, lashing out at the tea party. we'll talk about the sudden change in tone. plus, here's a question for you. you're going crazy about this on social media. i just asked a question. what color is santa claus? what about jesus? a fox news anchor says they're both white.

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john boehner has a message for tea party republicans and their hard-line conservative backers. four words, take a quick listen. this goes by fast. >> are you kidding me? >> i love that. can you play that again? no? can you rerack it? all right, we're going to rerack that. i love that. >> are you kidding me? >> nope, not kidding. that's house speaker john boehner going off on some of the

tea party republicans. fellow republicans, the ones who helped scuttle the budget talks last september. again, i should add, and they got blamed for the shutdown. boehner has he finally had enough of these tea party folks? i want you to listen again. >> they pushed us into this fight to defund obama care and to shut down the government. most of you know, my members know, that wasn't exactly the strategy i had in mind. but if you'll recall, the day before the government reopened, one of the people -- one of these groups stood up and said, well, we never really thought it would work. are you kidding me? >> wolf blitzer is here with us in washington. no further introduction necessary for wolf. wolf, he was very animated. is this his declaration of independence from the tea party really staunch conservatives on the right? >> i think it's a very strong, bold statement on his part that he's not going to take it anymore.

he had serious problems going into the government to shut down the whole fight, shut down the government and demand concessions on obomb al care that almost everyone knew the president was not going to make in terms of delaying or defunding or major revisions, at least going into the october 1st start of that rollout. and he thought that was a big miscalculation because most americans blamed -- more americans blamed the republicans than the democrats for the government shutdown, the pain that endured over those nearly two weeks and he wasn't going to go through that again. that's why paul ryan got his full support. the republican chairman of the house budget committee. they worked out a deal together with the democratic senator of the -- the democratic senator from the budget committee, patty murray, and got a deal that whoever whe overwhelmingly passed the house of u.s. representatives yesterday. only about 65 republicans voted against it. the majority went along with john boehner and paul ryan. >> i'm glad you mentioned paul ryan.

he has been considered sort of the tea party darling. at least he's liked by the tea party, but his name is all over the budget compromise, and the tea party hates that, wolf. i want you to listen to him defending the budget from an attack from the lighright. >> you have said this budget deal, quote, advances our principles. marco rubio said this, though, last night. quote, your deal is going to make it harder for americans to achieve the american dream. >> well, what would you say to marco? >> read the deal and get back to me. >> listen, wolf, boehner says, tells the tea party, hey, are you kidding me? and paul ryan smirks and says get back to me. i guess they realize that they took -- their brand took a real hit in this government shutdown. and this is the turning of the corner? i'm assuming. >> yeah, paul ryan and john boehner, eric cantor, they didn't want to go through that

fight, another government shutdown in january, that would certainly take away from what they think is a positive hand they have in dealing with the affordable care act right now. so they weren't going to go through that again. that's why they came up with this compromise, a bipartisan deal, words you don't often hear in washington these days. it's intriguing to me as a political reporter. i'm sure to you as well, just imagine if marco rubio and paul ryan are the front runners for the republican presidential nomination in 2016. that's going to be a lively republican debate that's going to unfold, in part because of this current fight they're having over this two-year spending deal as far as the government is concerned. >> yeah, and wolf, we'll be watching at 5:00 in "the situation room." 5:00 eastern, wolf will be discussing that and much, much more. >> before i let you know, you know what else we have in "the situation room" today? >> do you have anchorman? >> yes. >> i knew what you were going to talk about. >> will ferrell is joining us in "the situation room." you know, he plays ron burgundy.

when you became an anchor, you studied ron burgundy, right? >> of course, i did, i'm don lemon? who put a question mark in the prompter. i can't wait to see the movie. it's a little too much promotion. we just talked about that with beyonce dropping her album with no promotion, and then this one. it seems like he's everywhere, but it will probably work. that's what movies need, right? >> having fun. you can't just eat spinach. you need a little ice cream. >> whenever i come on your show, and it's my mission from your producers, i shouldn't tell you this, to make you smile. they'll say at the end, nice job. you made wolf smile. thank you, wolf. i'll see you and ron burgundy at 5:00 eastern in "the situation room." a moment now to recognize a minnesota woman named gloria. every day doing her job. she shows an uncommon goodness that makes her a stand-out in her profession. it's a profession made up of people dedicated to helping others. nurses. she gives full-time care to kate, a little girl who suffers

from a rare genetic disorder. she goes to school with kate, helped her with her medication, personal hygiene, and much more. she's also learning sign language for kate. now, johnson & johnson has recognized her as the 2013 amazing nurse. she explains how it's kate who has helped her. >> kate has left a lasting impression on my life, and i'm so, so proud to have known her because she inspires me every day. the reward of nursing is making the difference in people's lives. it is a great thing to make a difference, to make a change, to bring that change to a person's life. it's a puzative change, and also, when you do positive things, it reflects in your own life. >> she's indeed a hero, and this weekend here, the story of another hero, his name is don. cnn's hero of the year. s see how he works to combat the global water crisis. santa claus is white, and so

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that's what ameriprise financial does. that's what they can do with you. that's how ameriprise puts more within reach. ♪ all right, this is -- everybody is waiting for this segment. grab your popcorn, turn the volume up in your office, close the door, sit down. here we go. if you thought santa claus or jesus christ were anything other than white, fox news anchor megyn kelly wants you to know you are wrong. kelly says both were white and that's a fact. as you can imagine, a lot of folks disagree with her. and they're letting her have it

online. so this is what got kelly to make those comments. this article. it is by alicia harris on slate.com. harris says santa should not be white anymore. she wrote from here on out, santa claus should be a peng wj. that's right, a penguin. why, you ask? for one thing. making santa claus an animal rather than an old white man could spare millions of non-white kids the insecurity and shame that i remember from childhood. well, kelly took issue with harris' article on her show this week, and some people think kelly should have kept her comments to herself. >> when i saw this headline, i kind of laughed and i said, this is so ridiculous. yet another person claiming it's racist to have a white santa. you know, and by the way, for all you kids watching at home, santa just is white, but this person is just arguing that maybe we should also have a black santa. just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change. you know, i mean, jesus was a white man, too, but it's like,

we have -- he was an historical figure, a fact, as is sant raw, i want the kids watching to know that. >> sorry about that. everybody's kind of laughing here. i want to bring in jamel, a staff writer at the daily beast, and the coedter of the belief blog, eric. listen, i put this online, guys, and i said, what color is jesus, what color is santa claus? everybody is going crazy. what color are you, what's wrong with you? that's the most responses i think i have gotten in a year on social media is when i put that question up. when i posted something last week about someone who looked like jesus selling christmas trees, the internet went crazy. so jamel, in an article you wrote, you said kelly thinks the idea of a racially inclusive santa claus is utterly ridiculous and she's wrong. why is she wrong? explain that. >> i think she's wrong because

there's already racially inclusive santa clauss. i grew up with a black santa claus. all our santa clauss were black. not every family has a white santa and that's perfectly line. i think isha harris's idea is fine, since there's so many americans, maybe we should take race out of the question isn't bad at all. if we're trying to err on the side of exclusivity, it makes sense, but to get outraged at the idea there's non-white santas is ridiculous because i guarantee you right now if you walk into the home of an african-american person almost anywhere in the country, you would find a black santa claus and a black angel and a black jesus. >> i think you would find a black santa claus in every home because santa claus is black in black homes and santa claus is white in white homes. santa claus is mexican in mexican homes. so let me just tell you, santa claus to me is a black man.

now, eric, i want to ask you this. i was with her. i understood what she meant in the beginning, i think what she meant. i don't want to put words in her mouth. but if you look at the depiction of santa claus, the popular representation of santa claus, if you look at kriss kringle, it's a white depiction. i understand that. there are many who question the authenticity of santa claus and jesus. where she lost me was the jesus thing. what do theologians say about the color of jesus' skin? >> you're talking about somebody from the first century who lived in the middle east. he would have had an olive complexion, in all likelihood. we don't really know. what we do know is how art'ings have depicted him over the years. like santa claus, oftentimes it's almost a mirror of who is doing the depiction how jesus turns out. when you go to countries in asia, you'll see an asian

looking jesus. >> i want to say, eric, to eric and jamel, when you mentioned, jamel, santa claus in black families, you're talking about ornaments and pictures. but not every house i went to there were some white santas hanging up. as i was researching this, i was researching santa in africa, the traditional american depiction of santa stands even in countries that are black. so isn't it kind of up to people to decide who their -- what their santa and jesus looks like, jamel? >> i think that's absolutely right. you know, what your santa or jesus looks like is up to you, whatever you feel most comfortable with. i would agree that when you're talking about the historical jesus and kelly during her segment, she took a moment to say that we have historical evidence of what jesus looked like. an olive skin mans because he was from first century palestine. he likely had close cropped dark hair and dark eyes and looked

like his peers and contemporaries. on that, kelly is just incorrect, misinformed. >> anyone who has studied the bible and anyone who knows about the heritage or roots of jesus knows he was a dark skinned person and wasn't a white man. not probably, wasn't a white man. he was a darker persuasion. >> he didn't come from europe, didn't come from north america. so saying that is just wrong. >> okay -- >> with all due respect to ms. kelly. >> i wrote something this week saying christians should lighten up with what color jesus is because he's kind of whatever. is that a fair assessment to say, or do you think we need to broaden our perspective and get a handle on, okay, jesus is black. let's all come to a consensus about that. and okay, santa claus is black, white, hispanic, or whatever you want him to be? jamel, and then eric. >> well, i think if we're talking about historical jesus, he likely looked one way.

if you're talking about the theological jesus, the christ as it were, race doesn't have anything to do with it. paula tarsus tells us there's no greek or roman in christ. so if i were -- if i were, you know, if i were someone speaking from religious perspective, i would say, you know, no reason to talk about jesus being black or white or whatever because it doesn't matter. >> yeah, i have less than ten seconds, eric. >> jesus was not white, fact. >> i love it. can we back the prompter up. i want to show you this before we move on. this is from josh barrow. he's at business insider, and he tweeted this with a caption that reads, don't tell megyn kelly but a whole foods santa is black. that's pretty funny. jamel, eric, thank you. m megyn, good luck tonight.

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top of the hour, everyone. i'm don lemon in for brooke. thanks for joining me today. a foiled bomb plot in kansas. an fbi sting operation has led to an arrest of an employee at wichita's midcontinent airport. he's accused of trying to drive a car packed with explosives into the terminal. >> spent months developing a plan to use his access card to

the airport to drive a car loaded with explosive s to the terminal. it's alleged he planned to pull the trigger himself and die as a martyr. >> joining me, joe johns. joe, they were his plans. but it was all a set-up, so how did it all come undone? >> well, he got set up by a pair of fbi agents, apparently. though he thought he was about to detonate a car bomb, but when he tried to enter the airport with the vehicle, he ended up arrested. the governor of the state of kans kansas, mr. brownback, was there at the news conference and he essentially talked about what the government did in the situation. listen. >> in our ongoing war on terrorism, the good guys won one today. a joint operation of federal, state, and local components camtured a would-be terrorist before he caused any harm.

this is the way your government is supposed to operate. united and effective. and it happened today. lohan. this guy's name is terry he's apparently a practicing muslim. he works at wichita airport. he's charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, and providing material support to terrorism. the fbi and the attorney's office said he had an online chat with someone and said he wanted to engage in violent jihad on behalf of al qaeda. but what he didn't know is that he was chatting online with an fbi employee, don. >> tell me a little more about this, the charges. any more expected? this is a lone wolf, right? >> it sounds like a lone wolf, sounds like no one else is involved. the only people he apparently talked to were fbi employee number one, who pretty much set him up and talked to him in the

chats, and employee number two, who supposedly was going to go along with his ride to jihad, and nobody else apparently involved. >> joe johns, thank you for that. >> i have breaking news i want to get to here. i want to read it, just in to cnn. all schools out of littleton, colorado, currently on lockdown. that's cool to the school district's security office. we're told it stemmed from an incident at a high school in a nearby town. they haven't revealed a reason yet, but we're going to get updates as soon as we get them. an unidapdate as seen as we get but all high schools in littleton on lockdown, and getting information into cnn. now to the diplomatic bombshell that top officials say iran has likely known for some time. robert levenson, the longest held american hostage was working for the cia when he disappeared in iran seven years ago. the associated press and

washington post found he was gathering intelligence for an analyst in a rogue operation that led to the firing of three cia employees. the post and the a.p. also report the cia paid $2.5 million to levinson's family to avoid the publicity of a lawsuit. his wife and son last month said the former fbi agent had been on a business trip when he vanished. >> bob had business. he was running his own business and doing well. and then this happened. and our whole world fell apart. >> and this man, your husband, did work in the fbi, but this wasn't an fbi caper gone wrong. this was a business trip, just to make that clear. is that correct, ann? >> correct. bob retired from the fbi in 1998. >> so just within the last two hours, the white house decried the story. >> believe it was highly irresponsible to publish, and which we strongly urged the outlet not to publish out of

concern for mr. levinson's safety. i'm also not going to say anything that might further harm our efforts to bring him home safe, which has been our goal for the 6 1/2 years he's been missing. >> talk about this more now. cnn's national correspondent, susan candiotti joins me. levinson, what was he doing for the cia in iran. >> according to a famy fend wh is a lawyering working for the family, he said bob was gathering information on iran's nuclear program and also hezbollah. now, this man that i have been speaking with, david mcgee is his name, has been closely working with the family for years. and he said that he was one of the people that got to the heart of this information after he and a paralegal he was working with, was able to gather information from levinson's own files and e-mails showing he was in contact with a cia employee who was helping to organize the work he was doing.

is that jay carney, what t out you heard him just say that vin the government. in fact, you have to watch the words carefully. in fact, a contract employee is not the same as a government employee. so of course, there is a difference there. he was making that clarification, but you have to keep in mind, levinson, technically, that was true. he was a contract employee according to mcgee. >> let's listen. >> bob levinson was not a u.s. government employee when he went missing in iran. >> okay, so again, more specifically, what you're saying is read between the lines. it's more about what he's not saying than what he's saying. >> that's right, words are chosing carefully and for a reason. what's important to remember is all of this is a delicate situation. the family, of course, very concerned about bob levinson, at the same time, they say we have

been lied to. we have been lied to for a very long time. we want bob to come home safely. some people, they say, in the u.s. government, have been trying to work very hard to get him back. but others, they felt, have not been doing that. >> all right. thank you very much, susan ca candiot candiotti, our national correspondent here. all schools in littleton, colorado, have been placed on lockdown. we're trying to gain information as to why, but we're hearing from officials there, and that's the only information we're getting. littleton r, colorado, all schos placed on lockdown. we're gathering more information. we should have it on the other side of the break, hopefully. t. open to innovation. open to ambition. open to bold ideas. that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it.

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okay, just a little bit more

on the breaking news we have been reporting on cnn. all the schools in littleton, colorado, currently on lockdown. that's according to the security office. we're told it stems from an incident in centennial. no reason is revealed, and of course, we know that is the sight of the columbine high school shooter, littleton, colorado, so we're keeping a close watch on that. it stems from an incident at arapahoe high school in centennial, colorado. all public schools in the littleton area on lockdown, according to a district security officer there. we'll keep you updated as we get more information on the story. okay, you know that uncle, a little too opinionated, risque, and a show stealer at holiday dinners. we all know that guy. kim jong-un can sympathize, so he killed him.

ordering the execution of his uncle. a purge of the kim family dynasty with a swift and violent end to a man long considered one of the country's most powerful men. why? well, state-run media says it's because he's, quote, despicable human scum, worse than a dog. joining me now is cnn's international anchor and correspondent. >> yeah, they don't mince words, do they? >> i was like, why don't you say how you really feel there, kim? tell us what exactly, his name is sjeng song cheec? >> what went down? >> he was always kind of the loner. he was a very extravagantman. he had a luxurious lifestyle, he was a womanizer, some say the old leader, kim jong-un's grandfather, did not want this man in the family.

he's always had this style, rambunctious style, the one who had a contact with the south korean businessman, a contact with chinese businessman. some say he used drugs. the whole point is he may have gone too far. he was purged back in 2004 and spent two years out in the cold. and he was then brought back, rehabilitated, but suddenly, he has apparently crossed across some line, this may be evidence of a power struggle. more purges to come. so you know, as we look at it right now, this guy was well known to everybody. he had a lot of the contacts that were going on. there are rumors that some of his aides may be seeking shelter at the south korean embassy inside china. we don't know if that's true or not, but a lot of people are thinking -- >> jim, sorry, i have to run. i was looking down on camera, the viewer was wondering why.

i'm trying to get information. from my producer in my ear and looking on my e-mail here. i'm told that this story out of littleton, colorado, we have been telling you about, the schools on lockdown, there's a shooting in arapahoe high school in centennial, colorado. two people? two people believed to be shot. the suspect still inside of the school. this is in centennial. and we're trying to get more information on this, but again, according to the information that we have from sources here at cnn, there's been a shooting inside arapahoe high school. and i want to bring in -- let's talk to jane velez-mitchell. you covered columbine, right? >> of course. >> the normal security measures. let's talk about that in schools in that area and schools across the country. >> this is gut-wrenching. and every time we hear one of these stories, you know, it gives me a pit in my stomach because i remember newtown and

how it started and how it was started just the same way. oh, there's been a shooting and we don't really know what's happened. and then it got worse and worse and worse. i pray, i pray that whatever happened here, as horrible as it is, is limited and it is not a mass shooting of any sort. unfortunately, with gun violence in this country the way it is, we wonder what -- how bad is it? that's the first thing we wonder, how bad is it? i know obviously parents in that area have got to be concerned. i know everybody will stay calm. i know law enforcement, the height of professionalism in these kinds of crises. and they respond with calm and with courage. and they go and they put their lives on the line, and they go in to situations where they don't know what the outcome will be. so i hope this is something that's very limited and maybe we'll find out that it's not as bad as even you have reported.

>> we hope so. i remember, i was on -- the first person to report on the anchor desk about newtown, and about sandy hook elementary school, and at first, it was just a principal, we thought, a school official, and a lone gunman and it had been taken care of. by the time i was in washington, back to my hotel, we heard about the 20 children who had died. we don't know if this incident is as serious as that, but we are told through officials in colorado that at least two people have been shot in arapahoe high school, and the gunman is still inside the school. according to officials there, there's been a shooting at the school. believe there are two victims and the suspect is still inside the school. arapahoe high school is in centennial. this is in the same district, the littleton public school district, as columbine. >> we know schools have developed protocols and they train and they drill on what to do in situations like this. and teachers have been told to

get their students out of harm's way. and i know parents who have talked to me personally about drills their kids have gone through at school. it used to be, back in the '50, you would do a drill by hiding under the desk. now we do drills that hopefully will get kids out of harm's way, out of the school, and into a neighboring property or into an area within the school that they can be safe from harm. >> again, if you're just tuning in, we're getting reports now that out of littleton, colorado, all the schools are on lockdown. it's apparently because there's been a shooting inside arapahoe high school, which is in centennial, colorado. there's been a shooting there. at least two people have been shot. we're told the gunman is still inside of the school. and we're working on getting you pictures and more information coming from centennial, colorado. again, littleton on lockdown. we all remember the columbine shooting there. and as has been reported, the number of people who died. we don't know, again, if anyone has been killed in this, but we

do know that two people have been shot. that's according to reports from officials there near arapahoe high school, and the gunman, again, still inside the school. jane velez-mitchell joins us. we were here to talk about a totally different story, but both of us have covered school shootings. both of us covered newtown, the columbine high school shooting, and i remember vividly covering that story. that was sort of the beginning of this wave of school shootings that we have been seeing recently. >> it's absolutely horrifying. the problem is if there's a shooter inside that school, well, the imagination runs wild because we don't know how many rounds this person may have, what kind of weapons this person may have, what their motive might be, whether this is something where they have a gripe or they're mentally ill or both. so this is really a big question mark, and a big unknown. and again, as soon as we get any information, that will help us

tailor our sense of what actually is the magnitude of what's happening there. but at this point, we do not know whether this is something that is relatively minor and is something we can sort of say, ooh, thank god. you know, it's okay, or if it's something much more major. >> anytime, though, there is something like this happens inside of a school, it is serious. whether one person or no one gets injured because to bring a weapon inside of a school and to expose people there who have no idea that you're coming into the school with a weapon -- >> well, take a look at this. it's big. a big school. >> most of the high schools are big now. i was surprised when we were in danvers just a couple months ago, just how big the school is. this is a big high school. arapahoe high school. it's in centennial, colorado. again, all schools there in the area, which is the littleton

area, have been placed on lockdown. again, two people dead inside of the school. excuse me, not two people dead. two people shot. scratch that, two people shot inside of the school. we're not sure of injuries yet. and that is all we're learning. getting information from my producers now and working to get information from sources and from officials there on the scene. jane velez-mitchell, the host on hln joins me now, and jane, as i said, we were going to talk about a completely different story. since you're here, we can talk about this story. >> take a look at this from the air and you see that there's a parking lot. there's a baseball diamond. so there are areas where if the students can get out of the building, they can really run and make a break for it. and i don't know if it's something that is necessary, but i would assume that that would be something you would want to do, is get those kids out of there. get them away, and as far away

from the facility as you absolutely can. now, we saw in newtown there were teachers who performed so heroically and put themselves in the line of fire to protect the students. the students rely on their teachers to guide them in situations like this. and of course, you have the issue of cell phones. this is a high school, so these are not little kids. these are high schoolers who have the capacity to text and the capacity to call. and the capacity to e-mail other adults and let them know what's going on. so we may be getting information from inside the school. >> let me read the information i'm getting from the producers here at cnn. it's saying arapahoe county sheriffs told one of our affiliate said there has been a shooting at arapahoe high school. he believes there are two victims and the suspect is still in the school. arapahoe high school. it gives the address there. part of the littleton public school district. there are 70 different

classrooms in the high school, which covers about 254,000. it's a big school, jane. 254,000 square feet, and there are 2200 students, at least, that attend the high school. the school was built back in 1964. again, all of this information just coming to us here on cnn. the schools are on lockdown, according to a district security officer. she wouldn't give her last name, but this is from the office, and she said it stems from an incident at arapahoe high school in centennial, colorado. for those of you just watching this, this is a serious story. we never know how serious these will turn out to be and if this will be a dire situation, but we hear there are two people shot at arapahoe high school in centennial, colorado. jane velez-mitchell joins me. i'm don lemon. 3:21 in the east. go ahead. >> you know police, ems, firefighters, every able bodied

man and woman who is trained to respond to situations like this, is descending on this school as we speak. and they are surrounding it, and they know the layout of the school. this is part of the training. while the students inside have trained on how to get out with the help of their teachers and the principal and the other administrators, the cops and the ems teams are trained how to get in and how to help. so what you would have right now, even though we're looking at a google earth, in real time, this school is going to be surrounded by law enforcement, and they and the s.w.a.t. teams, the highly trained s.w.a.t. teams that are deployed in situations like this, are finding their way into the school if they're not already in the school. and these are the heroes who put their lives on the line, going in, not knowing what they're going to face, what kind of weapons the suspect has, what the aim of the suspect is, and whether or not the suspect is mentally ill or somebody with a grudge, a former student. we have no idea.

and so to deal with the unknown, here we are sitting here, talking about this, dealing with the unknown. imagine the courage it takes to go into the building while dealing with the unknown. this is what they're trained to do. >> imagine the students inside of the school if the gunman is still inside. if there are students still inside, in colorado, it's still early, 1:00 in the afternoon, so there would still be students inside the school for the most part unless they're out for christmas break, which i think it's a little too early for that. then the staff as well. there would be people who are inside of the school, and as you said, it would be the brave men and women who rush to the school, going in, and without knowing the complete circumstances, not knowing if there's just one gunman. they think there's one now. >> there are lockdown procedures. they try to limit the ability of this individual to move around the school. that's part of the training. they try to create areas, safe zones, where the students can go, even if they can't get out of the building, where they can

lockdown. for example, a high school cafeteria or a gym where they can get all the kids in that area and then protect them from, and limit the area where the suspect can roam within the school. easy to say on paper, easy to say in training. a lot more difficult to do in real time when there's a crisis unfolding as it is now. >> if you're just tuning in, you're watching cnn. don lemon here with jane velez-mitchell from hln. we're getting information from colorado, specifically, centennial, colorado. part of the littleton, colorado, school district. we know that's where the columbine school shooting happened in 1999. we're told in arapahoe high school, the school you're looking at the google earth representation of, inside the school, two people have been shot, and the gunman, according to officials, still inside of the school. and we're waiting to get more information to find out the extent of the injuries and obviously who the gunman is and whether or not they have the situation under control, but this is all just coming in to

cnn as we speak. and we're checking with our sources and with officials there in colorado to try to get more information. jane has been telling you about the procedures that are used when schools are put on lockdown and how these officers and officials go inside to try to figure out, to get control of these particular situations. and since columbine, since newtown, since all of these shootings, sparks middle school, that we have been going over, talking about the particular incidents. there have been measures put into place. >> absolutely. >> to try to figure out what to do, first, to stop the incidents from happening. but if they do happen, to figure out how to handle them. >> you have to wonder, in light of all we have been through in the nation with tragedies and horrors and violence in school, how someone can still get into a high school with a gun in this day and age. obviously, it's hard to turn them into essentially prisons where kids are traumatized by having to go through metal

detectors to go into school. >> and they're locked in, basically. >> that has to have an effect. where do you find the balance? >> tom foreman was a reporter in colorado and is familiar with the colorado area. tom, do you know anything about arapahoe high school or the centennial area? >> i lived out there for about ten years. we lived about four miles, i would say, from columbine high school. we knew people inside columbine high school when that happened. i'm not that familiar with arapahoe other than passing it. i know there's been a lot of sensitivity in the area ever since columbine, to not only school security, but how a community reacts to incidents inside of a school. jane mentioned a minute ago the officers who are now doubt dealing with the school right now. one of the criticisms that came up after columbine is perhaps officers could have moved into the school more quickly to secure it when the shooting was going on because many of the victims at columbine were shot

near the end of the standoff because the shooters were in the library and barricaded themselves in there. i don't remember the entire timeline, but there was a sense that even though officers have to be careful -- >> some were shot leaving. >> that was early on. the other part was in the library of the school where they were basically stuck there and officers were outside trying to get in but trying to be very careful. here's one thing you really do have to bear in mind. when something like this happens, it would be nice if all the students who are not involved or not caught up in it, could somehow get out of the school, but they can't. it's simply impossible. there's too much chaos, too many people. even doing that often exposes people to danger. what officers told me after the event is when they went into the school, there were students hiding everywhere. it makes it incredibly hard to go in and find the alleged shooters. >> tom, stand by. i'm going to keep you here. these are the pictures now. are these live, eric?

these are live pictures now from centennial, colorado. you can see folks there, the traffic has been blocked off. these are mostly officials. you can see the police emblems on the side of the car or the sheriff's deputies. you can see the official labels on the side of the car. that's the amount of emergency workers you have showing up to this particular school, as well as in that traffic, you see some civilian vehicles as well. i would imagine the traffic in the area has pretty much been brought to lockdown. there may be a few cars who are able to leave the area, but getting into the area, you most definitely cannot. this is arapahoe high school, in centennial, colorado, part of the littleton, colorado, school district. we know littleton was part of the columbine school shooting or massacre, really, that happened back in 1999. i'm don lemon here with jane velez-mitchell. tom foreman joins us as well as

mike brooks, cnn's security contributor. so mike, talk to us about security. jane has been talking about it as well and what happens in these particular situations. >> you know, don, after columbine, everything changed on the whole first responder community. of police, fire, ems, on how they would respond to active shooters. you know, just recently, i was in philadelphia at the international association chiefs of police, and this is something we were talking about, had to do with active shooters. shooters inside of schools. we're coming up on the anniversary of the sandy hook shooting. i guarantee you, law enforcement here, everything changed after columbine, the way they would approach a shooting like this. you have now departments that trained their officers to put together three to four officers as an active shooter team instead of waiting for a s.w.a.t. team to get there. and schools practice this, along with the local law enforcement. and that's why many times you'll go to schools, and you ride around the school and see

numbers on doors. this is all part of the preplanning, don, that was done after columbine when things changed greatly on the response to these kind of things. you have to make sure on the fire and ems side, if you do have victims, you want to make sure that the area is secured, that law enforcement maybe has this person in custody, have them maybe confined to one area. contained inside the school. again, we don't know what's going on inside the school right now. we're looking at pictures. >> these are pictures, and we want to be very sensitive. we're not controlling these cameras, so if they get in on the kids' faces, this is our affiliate bringing these in. you see kids coming out of the school with the hands up. that's part of the procedures we learned, jane, after columbine. there's an officer there telling them where to go. you can see they're out on that track field that you see right there. to the top right of your screen. they're walking on that running path. around that track field.

i'm don lemon. you're watching cnn. 3:30 in the east. you're looking at live pictures of arapahoe high school in centennial, colorado. there's been a shooting there. two people so far we know from offici officials, have been shot. it's believed the gunman is still inside. we don't know who the gunman is. we don't know what type of weapon. we don't know the extent of the injuries. we do know that all of the public schools, all the schools in the littleton public school district are on lockdown right now. that's according to a district security officer, because of this shooting, and this particular school is in that littleton school district where columbine happened back in 1999. jane velez-mitchell. >> and there are 2,229 students that attend the high school, so you're talking about a lot of kids. now, that picture we just saw, that video of kids milling about, they appear extremely calm. they do not appear panicked. they're not running, and i would

be interested to know from mike brooks what that indicates to you. just to me on a gut level, it seems comforting that they're not, you know, racing. >> hang on. we'll get that from mike, but i want to go to cnn's joe johns. joe, you have new information for us. >> just a sliver. talking to law enforcement officials in washington, d.c., especially the fbi, we're told at this stage, they're just monitoring the situation, watching it because it's not clear how serious this is, as mike said. it appears to be that the law enforcement officials on the ground, at least for a while and maybe still, are treating this as a potential active shooter situation. but fbi officials caution that the first reports that come in on things like this are often not right. we know from past experience, very recent past experience, even, that there have been occasions when people thought that there was an active shooter

inside a school building or on a university campus, as happened in washington, d.c. just two days ago, and it turned out there was nothing found or the shooting that people thought occurred on the campus actually occurred off the campus. so there are 100 different questions before assuming the worst. so let's keep our fingers crossed as we watch this, don. >> stand by, joe. eric, what were you saying? sorry, a lot going on. we're going to go to mike brooks. listen, mike, as we look at the pictures, jane velez-mitchell had a question for you. you're looking at pictures of law enforcement sources on the ground. i want to point out this is december 13th, the anniversary of newtown is december 14th. >> right. >> yes. >> here we are reporting this. >> that says something. >> and jane, what you were talking about is the way the students were coming out of the school, very, very orderly. it's important that law enforcement is there because there could be potential witnesses there. keep in mind, also, don and jane, there are cameras inside

of these schools. most schools now have some kind of surveillance camera system so the officials can go in and hopefully take a look and see exactly what happened. how this -- how these persons or person got there, their movements inside the schools. again, right now, it looks like there might have been at least two people injured. we don't know if the subject is in custody, if the subject has fled, but we're looking at the live pictures, and again, our viewers are always very careful because during columbine, some of the live footage showed the movements of the first responders going into the school, of the kids leaving the school. we want to be careful not to show any of that like we had been doing. we're very, very careful not to show the movements. we see the kids here, very orderly. again, don, one of the things they're going to do, what did you hear, what did you see, what happened? they want to put together a timeline of exactly what happened and who was responsible for this. >> these kids, jane pointed out, they appear to be orderly, which

is what the officials there want. i'm sure i would be freaking out inside. i want to quickly get to cnn's tom foreman who is a reporter, was a reporter in colorado, and has knowledge of this particular town. as you look at these pictures, tom, what information are you getting as well? >> i would say, too, the orderliness of this, i'm going to guess, reflects one of two things. it could reflect things in the school are somewhat better, but it shows exactly what mike was talking about. there's no question law enforcement around this country, but especially in colorado, and in these communities, went over the case of columbine, over and over again so they would be ready for this day. look at the search that's going on with the students coming out here. in the days after columbine, mike knows this, we went through days where there were debates, was there a third gunman, a fourth gunman. did they get away among the students? how do you keep that from happening? you can see right now, right

there, these officers in an orderly fashion, enacting the very policies that came out of columbine. >> and doing pat-downs. this reminds us of columbine. do you remember the pictures, tom, if you were reporting? i reported on it. we remember the pictures of the kids coming out with their hands up. the kids in columbine were running out of there. listen, for some reason, because of littleton, colorado, we think columbine high school, but columbine high school is not in the same district athis. it's in the jefferson county. >> but they're close, don. >> right there. >> it's very, if you were to drive from columbine as did many times before, over by arapahoe, you're covering a half dozen miles or more, but it's all through the same kind of suburban neighborhoods of denver, same shopping district. very, very similar. in fact, i believe in size they're fairly similar, because there was debate at the time, also, about how much the size of schools and the potential for

violence gets -- general violence, gets higher when you pass the 2,000 mark in terms of students. so very similar, even though they are separated by a bit of distance. no question that in this community, people are thinking about the proximity. >> a bit of distance, but they border each other. it's just a line, a simple line that distinguishes them. jane velez-mitchell, again, i want to remind the viewers, the one-year anniversary of newtown is tomorrow, and here we are. >> it's chilling. you know, it says something. it says something about our country that we're talking about this at this juncture, and certainly, i hope that we focus in on some of the root causes of these incidents. going back, though, to the pictures that we were looking at, and i believe those were live pictures we were looking at, students milling about. i was curious to know from mike brooks, based on the procedures that you're aware of, what would it indicate that the students are milling about and that there

is this pat-down procedure in effect? and orderly. >> you see some running. i would be. >> but not in the manner you would expect if there was horrific violence unfolding. again, we have no idea what's going on inside, but is there any way to extrapolate, with caution, we can never assume, but what this might indicate. they're doing thesis pat-downs with these patterns in this manner? >> it's hard to tell. you want to get the students away from where the immediate threat could be in the high school, because high schools have windows and you want to make sure all the students are in a safe location. i can guarantee you, they have drilled this. high schools all around the country, especially in the suburban denver area after columbine have been drilling. they drill for fire drills, for bomb threats, for active shooters. and it's a coordinated, you know, training exercise, if you

will, between police, fire, ems, the school districts there. you know, as tom foreman said, this is a short distance from there because it was the jefferson county sheriffs who took a lot of heat on why they didn't go in immediately when they got to columbine. again, a lot of things have changed, i mean, dramatically, in the first responder community, especially law enforcement. from what i'm seeing here, this looks like something they have drilled before, and they're going through the procedure. you see where the school is, where they're taking the students. you know, you drill on where to take the kids in reference to where there's a possible threat. because again, you want to get the kids away from any possible threat that might be still inside that school. >> mike brooks, i need to report this. just in from the producers here, we have been in contact with littleton hospital, and they're telling us one victim was brought into that hospital, and it is a minor. we don't know the condition, and many times they don't give out a

condition obviously for patient confidentiality. but littleton hospital, one victim has been brought there. that victim is a minor. according to the reports we got initially and we're getting on cnn, two people shot at arapahoe high school in centennial, colorado. pictures you're looking at are pictures shot just moments ago. when you see the school, it's a very typical colorado town, tom foreman, snow on the ground, very big high schools. and lots of land. and you see the facilities there. i believe these are live pictures we're looking at now. and these are students who are exiting the school. appear to be in an orderly fashion. tom foreman lived there and reported from denver, colorado, this area for years. and tom, take us behind the scenes here. this is very typical of high schools in denver, colorado. >> yeah, it is. this is -- look, these are suburban neighborhoods south of denver where truly, we still have a great many friends back

there. many people move here specifically because they love the peace and quiet and beauty of colorado. and they love these communities down there. and truly, many of them have ever since columbine, they have struggled to get past it. we lived close to columbine. we had friends in the school when it happened. it was difficult for people in the community to get past it because there was so much a sense every community has of how could it happen here? i want to go back, and i want to point out, this is not terribly far away from the aurora movie theater where the other shooting happened. it's closer to columbine than it is to that school, but you could drive to the aurora scene in about 25 minutes. >> we drove there when i was there covering it. >> i would argue there may be no community in this country better prepared to handle all of this than denver and its suburbs

simply because they went through it, and there's an institutional knowledge among the police officers, among school officials, among the state officers. they do know how to handle this and have an idea how to handle it. of course, nobody wants to deal with it, but they have been ground zero for this for really quite a long time. and they know it's a hard thing to deal with, but they do know how to deal with it. i think you can see some of that here. >> i want to update our viewers. when people hear breaking news, they tune in. a shooting at a high school, this is arapahoe high school. it's in centennial, colorado. you're looking at live pictures right now. this is in the littleton, colorado, school district. very close to columbine high school, where that school shooting happened back in 1999. not far, as our tom foreman has been telling us, from the aurora movie theater where the shooting happened over a year ago. we're just in the anniversary

tomorrow of the newtown school shooting. and again, we're looking at live pictures now coming in. we're told that two people have been shot. the gunman is believed to still be inside of the school, according to one hospital there, there is one victim that was brought into the hospital so far, and that victim is a minor. i'm here joined by hln's jane velez-mitchell, cnn's tom foreman is here as well, our justice correspondent joe johns is here as well as mike brooks, a security expert. i want to go to joe johns. joe, you have information for us. what do you have? >> again, just a sliver. the fbi, as well as colorado state police, now headed to the scene there of this shooting at arapahoe high school. of course, this is a community, as i think tom has said before, very sensitized to two of the most horrific mass shootings that have occurred in this country, columbine as well as

aurora. so some of those people who were there, at least for the shooting at the movie theater, are certainly reliving some of this, even though we don't have all the facts, don. >> all right, joe johns standing by in washington. jane velez-mitchell, listen, we don't know the severity of this, but for some reason, the kids are calm, it appears, it provides some comfort, at least to me. >> oh, yeah. >> that this is not going to go on much longer, we hope not. >> i think about the parents, parents who are finding out about this in the area with 2,229 students. parents obviously going to be very concerned. and generally, as i have seen covering these cases, they tell the parents, don't come directly to the school because what happens is they don't want to clog the roads for the emergency personnel to get in. so they say, go to a staging area, and sometimes they'll name a specific location. >> we need to listen in to a reporter from kusa on the ground. >> to come on the site closer to

the school from the police tape. it appears they're just trying to make sure they account for and interview every student possible to make sure that everyone is accounted for here. mark, sheryl. >> again, that is a reporter from kusa reporting from the ground there. we're still monitoring our official -- our affiliate's air there, and as soon as they get information, we get information from them and from officials in the centennial, colorado, area. we'll bring it to you here on cnn. what you're looking add, viewers, this is the track field around the football field there at arapahoe high school. listen, tom foreman and i were talking about the beauty of this particular town and it's very representative of colorado towns, as you look at your picture and see it, i don't have to explain it to you. and in the background of those beautiful geese, you see kids who have come out of school with their hands up. and many of them being patted down by officials, security

officers there, making sure that they don't have weapons on them, themselves. we know there was a gunman inside of that school. we don't know who the gunman is. we know there is the hug. you vsee that in the middle of your screen there? we don't know who the gunman is, and we know at least according to officials, there have been two people who were hurt in all of this, shot. one of those taken to a littleton avents high school. it's a minor. we don't know the condition of the minor. >> you have to applaud these young people for being as calm as they are. they are so calm that it almost looked like a drill at some points, because there was no hysteria, and you see some hugs, but essentially, these young people, and this has got to be stressful, no matter what. look, having to have their heans above their heads, i'm sure their hearts are pounding and

they're confused, and they're probably wondering about their parents, and their parents are trying to get information, but generally what they say in situations like this, and what they usually do is provide the area for the parents to go so that thousands of cars, if there's more than 2,000 students, there could be plenty of parents and other relatives who want toon find out, ooh, how is my child? racing in there, and that blocks the emergency personnel who need to go in and out. i'm wondering what is going to happen in terms of informing the parents where to go, so they can get the information they need and reunite with their child safely and calmly. >> you see the officers there. if you look to the bottom left of the screen, just the thing that says newsroom, you can see the kids being patted down. you see that? moving to the top, you see everyone in formation in a single line with their hands up as they come out to the track field, and those are police officers, security officers, sheriff's deputies, i'm sure, school safety officers, all out

there, all patting these kids down. and making sure probably that they're okay as well. this is really just the beginning of this investigation. and again, we don't know if it is over inside of the school. at last word, we were told that one gunman was still inside of the school. two people had been shot. this coming almost to the day, just if it had happened tomorrow, it would be the same day as the newtown sandy hook shooting. but this area is no stranger to these situations. tom foreman, we had this, we had columbine, we had aurora. and on and on. >> yeah, it's interesting, i will say something about that, don. the area is no stranger to it. but it's worth bearing in mind, all these young people we're seeing right now, they are strangers to it. columbine happened, what is this, 14 years now?

probably the oldest kid in the school was probabmaybe 3, mayben it happened at best. they probably have only the faintest memory of that, and most of the memory is probably through the drills they've gone through in school and the knowledge they've been taught in school about how to respond to such a thing. i think this is a very different experience right now for the adults in that town. the people who are over 30 years old, than for people who are younger, because the younger people, to them, this is a distant event that happened a long time ago in the past. for the adults, they know what it's like. >> it's something they read about and something the older people have experienced. to them, it might not be real, but it certainly is now, tom. >> absolutely. it's a different experience. i will say that, you know, when we talk about the coincidence of something like this happening near a date. when columbine happened, there was a tremendous amount of discussion about whether the was

triggered by a date but the thing is, the more we have events that happen at schools, at movie theaters, at malls, all over, the more statistically you get closer to any one of these events happening near the anniversary of something else so until we have some proof about having a link, we can't make much of that. >> the reason tom foreman speaks with such expertise is he lived in the denver, colorado area which is close to here and knows about these particular districts and schools. he may not be absolutely familiar with arapahoe high school but certainly it's in his purview that he covered school districts in that area. also joining me is mike brooks, a security expert. mike, we see what's happening there. we see what's happening -- we don't have mike brooks, i'm sorry. joe johns is joining us. we see what's happening on the ground, we see the school surrounded by police officers, surrounded by security officers, and i'm sure parents are driving to the school freaking out and

i'm sure they have set up zones, safe zones, to go and meet their children as well. there are procedures i place, joe johns, for this. >> right. there are a lot of procedures in place. for the authorities, there a a lot of procedures as well, including trying to get a sense of what every person who came out of that school saw and heard and if anything that they saw or heard might help the authorities figure out whether this is an active shooter situation or what's happening there on the ground. >> hate to cut you off, i'm getting instructions in my ear. this is -- look at this. this is an armored vehicle, again, arriving on the scene here. not sure what that is an indication of, if anything, but i wanted to point that out. i also wanted to get to our affiliate kusa. >> reporter: obviously law eforcement's first priority is to take care of that and then they will communicate the information. we have not heard anything

confirmed about that person with the gun, or people with a gun. you might be seeing a lot on twitter at this moment, but there's a lot of unconfirmed information floating around out there right now. >> exactly. they are trying to control these parking lots at the moment. as you can see, i'm guessing those are a lot of parents, perhaps a lot of onlookers now right there near the chase bank, just across the street, kind of watching this and monitoring it, and they're trying to control the parking lots as best they can. >> reporter: i want to share some breaking information from pete williams, nbc, has law enforcement sources that have told him the danger is over, that law enforcement has the suspect. that suspect is wounded or down, as they described it. again, this is a huge relief. the danger is over. >> okay. i guess we lost that information that was coming in. that was our affiliate kusa reporting on information that's coming in to them. whatever they're reporting that they have about the danger, cnn

is not confirming that, i would imagine that they are an affiliate of whatever news source is reporting that particular information. here's what we do have. we do know that just about an hour ago, we got word from colorado officials that two people had been shot inside of arapahoe high school and that the gunman was still inside, and that all the schools in the area, in the littleton, colorado area were on lockdown. we want to get now to a news conference in progress. >> -- south metro area assisting us. we cleared the school and secured all of the students very quickly. while we were securing the school we found one additional student with a minor gunshot wound. that student has also been transported to a local hospital. while we were securing the school and ensuring the safety of the students and staff in that school, we located the individual that we believe to be the suspect and the active shooter. that individual is currently

deceased and he apparently killed himself. that will still be part of the investigation. we know the identity of the suspect. i am not going to release it at this time. i want to again repeat to you the suspect has been found inside the school and he has deceased as a result of what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. we are slowly and methodically clearing the school and ensuring that all of our students are safe. they were safer inside their locked school room classes than they would have been had we allowed them to exit and that was part of our strategy and part of our protocol. we are now slowly but methodically allowing students to leave the school in groups. we are bringing them to a location that's directly east of where we're standing. they will be boarded on school buses and transported from there to a church just south of here called shepherd of the hills. at shepherd of the hills is where we will reunite families with their students. we have now directed all

families to go to the shepherd of the hills church so that they can be reunited with their families or with their students within the next half hour to 45 minutes. i will also tell you that the response protocols around active shooters were put into place immediately. the first deputy sheriffs and police officers that were on scene immediately entered the school to engage the shooter if they could locate that individual, and also keep these students absolutely safe. before i will take any brief questions, and they will be very brief, i will tell you that i will do another very detailed brief at 3:00 p.m. and i'm not sure of the location, but we will put out an all media release and let you know exactly what -- where that 3:00 p.m. brief will happen. again, at 3:00 p.m., i will give you additional details and i will let you know where our investigation stands. from this point, i will tell you that i will allow media trucks

and media representatives to place themselves in the westbound turn lanes on dry creek road just east of university. i know this is a confusing site right now and in order to accommodate your needs, if you want to put your trucks and vehicles in the turn lanes, westbound dry creek just east of university, that's where we will set up for you to have your vehicles. >> [ inaudible ] can you tell us about that? >> i will share that with you at 3:00. at this point it's a precautionary measure. we know the suspect was a student at arapahoe high school. we have his identity and we are currently in contact with his family. one at a time. go ahead. [ inaudible question ] >> the student was transported by littleton fire rescue in serious condition. steve? [ inaudible question ] >> we had a pio and he immediately initiated the active shooter protocols on his own waiting for -- didn't wait for

assistance. he immediately implemented and went after the threat. >> there are reports the shooter had some sort of device. >> the injured student was found while we were clearing the school that had been locked down and again, that individual is suffering a minor wound, and very frankly, we are not sure that it's a gunshot wound. >> how long ago did the shooting take place? >> we will talk about it in a little more detail at 3:00. >> how long did it take to find the suspect? >> it happened very quickly. the time of call on this was 12:33 p.m. today. we had information on the radio that my deputies believe they had the shooter down inside the school within about 14 minutes of the initial call -- of the call. >> you have a student who was hurt. how seriously injured is that student? >> again, we have one student that was transportd in serious condition with a gunshot wound. i can't go into any further detail on that. we have a second student that

had a wound but again, we don't know if that was a gunshot wound or exactly what the cause of that was. i'll have that information for you at my 3:00 news brief. hold it. >> any evidence that he was acting alone? >> at this point in time we have not been able to locate a second suspect but that's part of our ongoing investigation. that's why we are dealing with family and colleagues of the suspect to identify any other potential suspects. we will assume other suspects until we know differently, and that was certainly the focus of the deputies and police officers that entered the school to alleviate the threat. [ inaudible question ] >> no weapons found other than the one weapon that was used in the shooting. >> how many shots, sir? >> we won't go into that at this point. [ inaudible question ] >> that's something that will be part of our investigation. the student identified a specific teacher at arapahoe high school that he was interested in confronting and that teacher was informed of the situation and exited the school quickly. >> how did he name that teacher?

>> won't go into that right now. [ inaudible question ] >> we have had no threats, no issues that we had concern with at this school this week or in the immediate past. i will take two more questions and then i will close, please. >> what's the message you want to get out to the parents? >> most important message right now is we have the shooter is dead. as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. there are no other threats at this time. we have one student sadly that has been injured. we are trying our very best to ensure that we have immediately notified the family of that student. >> welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we are following the breaking news out of centennial, colorado this hour. let's listen. >> -- which is located on south university directly south of dry creek road. thank you all. i will see you at 3:00. we will notify your newsrooms where we will have that briefing.

>> let's go right now to ana cabrera, cnn reporter in colorado. the police making several announcements in that press conference. sum it up for us, if you would. >> reporter: to the most important information right now, the suspect in this case is deceased. sheriff robinson is saying that they believe that he is dead from a self-inflicted wound of some sort. there were two other students who have been transported to the hospital, one with a gunshot wound and as he describes, transported in serious condition to the hospital. and a second student who they found as they were trying to get the school all cleared, who had a minor wound, as he described it. he could not specify that was a gunshot wound. here's what we know led up to this situation. it sounds like there was a teacher inside the school, again, according to sheriff grayson robinson, that entered the school, had identified a specific teacher that he was looking for who