-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello, again, i'm fredricka whitfield in for suzanne malveaux. this hour in the "cnn newsroom," a man laid off from his job

starts shooting outside of the empire state building, and in the end, 11 people are shot, and two are dead, including the gunman. >> this is a terrible tragedy and there's no doubt that the situation would have been even more tragic, but for some extraordinary acts of heroism. >> all right. let's get straight to it. tourists were lined up outside of the empire state building and workers headed to their offices on a friday morning in rush hour and then the sound of gun fire. when the chaos was over and the shooting stopped, two people including the gunman were dead and nine others wounded, but expected to be okay, and the police say that it all started over the loss of a job a year ago. maggie lake joining us live from the scene. maggie, what more are we learning about the gunman, and the planning that went into this, and his actions overall? >> yeah, fredricka, as you mentioned, 56 years old identified as jeffrey johnson.

a middle aged man, and nothing out of the ordinary from the witnesses who described what happened. he evidently worked at hasan industries on west 33rd which is a lady's accessory firm. he was a designer there, and when he was laid off a year ago due to downsizindownsizing, the say that the victim who was shot, and another person who is dead here is a former colleague 41 years old whom they believe that johnson had some sort of dispute with. and then an eyewitness just told us that we spoke to said he had a suit on, and after the shooting, he turned and started to walk calmly up the block. sort of concealing his weapon, but there were people on the street, as you can imagine, 9:03 on a friday and teeming with office workers on the way to the buildings with tourists and so people did see what happened and one bystander evidently did try to get a hold of him and another

identified him to the police, and pointed him out, and the police approach ed him. the police commissioner said he turned to fire on them and police fired back and that is how the other nine people ended up injured and not clear whether the bullets came from the shooter or the police, and that is something they are investigating. the entire area is blocked off, fredricka. >> so most of those injured, none of them are suffering from the life-threatening injuries, but i also understand that two officers may have been treated at a hospital? >> that is what we understand as well. police not giving out too many details just yet, but again, speaking to the witnesses, they say that some of the people who knew those injured said it is chaotic, and this is a noisy and busy team in the city, and people did not think of gunshots at first, because you would not expect that on a friday morning. some of the people shot may not have realized it, because they were grazed with bullets. one woman was walking with leg

bleeding and stumbled on the other people, and others fell to the ground, and not life-thre life-threatening and some officers are said to be wounded, but we don't have details on that. but it is kay ychaotic and one is that the police say that the police response is immediate. it is an area of high security, and the empire state building is an iconic building and tourists line upstarting at 8:00 in the morning the get inside of the building to get the tickets for the day, so there is a huge police presence here, fredricka and they seemed to have responded immediately to the incident. >> and looks like even though there are a number of streets around you, maggie, closed off, an awful lot of pedestrians have come out to watch the area as the investigators are trying to piece through and collect more physical evidence for advancing their investigation. all right. thanks so much, maggie lake there in midtown manhattan. some witnesses couldn't believe what was happening at first. anika basu was on a bus headed to work when she heard gunshots and i talked to her on the phone last hour.

>> we heard a bunch of rounds go off. i'm not sure as the stories are unfolding if it was also police fire. we heard a bunch of gunshots go off, and then people fall to the ground. i did not see the gunman, himself. and it was, i was just explained to others that it was absolute mass chaos and the street just went completely still and quiet for about a hot second. and then people started fleeing to the scene. >> what is happening on the bus there? you and others, did you all once you heard the gun fire kind of hit the deck or what was taking place? conversation? did it fall silent, what? >> it was silence. you know, in manhattan things like this, it is the scariest thing, and it rocks you to the core especially when the things are happening first thing in the morning and you are on the way to work, and especially outside of the empire state building. you just, it just brings you

back to down to reality after all of these things that happened in manhattan, but we, people in on the bus, it was silence and i don't think that a lot of us didn't know whether it was really was a gunshot or not and then we saw the victims on the ground, and we knew exactly what happened. i was on the other side of the bus, but i had a full view of it and low range, but i felt safe. it is absolutely scarying to see it happening right there in front of your eyes. >> eyewitness anika basu and veronica fox was also a witness and she works across the street from the empire state building, and she said she did not hear the gun fire, but she did see the chaos. >> i was basically getting my coffee, and guy and gallard and walking down fifth avenue, and i saw people running.

and i didn't know what happened and i thought that actually there was a celebrity sighting, but pretty far from it. i continued to walk down, and i did not actually hear any gunshots, because i had headphones in, but somebody said that there was a shooting, and there were several shots fired. so i walked across the street, and this is before they blocked off the crime scene. i saw that a woman had been shot on the corner next to the heartland brewery in the foot, and she seemed in shock, you know, of course, that she had been shot. and then i looked over in the middle of the street right across and right at the empire state building in front of the doors where you enter, and there is a man lying on the ground and police all around and they had shot him down. and a lot of this i heard from the aftermath that this man had been in pursuit of another man running down the street, and he had shot the other man next to the starbucks on 33rd street toward sixth avenue and shot him in the head and someone had shown me a picture of him and it

was grewsome. >> and they took -- >> and the man across the street at the empire state building, and i saw the police flip him over and then turn and i thought that his head moved like he was still alive, but people tell me that he is dead. that's basically what i saw. people are just -- it is a crazy scene. it is not that long ago that 9/11 happened, so i really had no idea. >> that was eyewitness rebecca fox talking to our carol costello earlier today. the area around the empire state building has a large security presence and police were on the scene within minutes. joining me on the phone to talk about the investigation is gill alba a former new york city detective and founder of alba investigations, so, gill, walk us through here, and the eyewitnesses see the gunman open fire and kill one man and then walk casually off before very vigilant construction worker followed that gunman, and then

when he saw counter terrorism investigators working the area, let them know, and they pursued this suspect and then gun fire ensued. so give me an idea now, once the gun fire ensued and that suspect was killed, give me an idea of where the investigation goes from here, because the investigators from police to fbi continue to collect evidence. what is the critical question or two that they are trying to answer by way of collecting more evidence? >> well, the immediate answer is how many gunmen, how many people are shot, and where were they shot? that is why they caromed off the area blocks away and checked the buildings out, because maybe shot somebody else in the building. to me, what this gunman tells me is that he was after his boss and trying to kill him and then trying to get away with it, because he was dressed in a suit and attache case and he was hiding the gun, so he is actually walking and trying to get away, so i don't believe it

is a random shooting. where he wanted the shoot other people. then he was confronted, of course, by the police when this construction worker told them. so the police are station ed there, and stationary there all of the time because it is a landmark building, and of course, you nknow, 9/111 and homeland security and everything else is looking at the building at all times, and plus, there's hundreds of cops there all around that area, and that is a very crowded area. macy's is there, and department stores and crossing the streets is a hassle because of all of the people. so there is a lot of people around. so they have to, detectives and the police department have to find out exactly who shot who and how many other people got shot, because at the beginning, it looked like this one gunman was going crazy and shooting everybody, but obviously, you know, he pointed the gun at the police officers and they shot him. you know, when you shoot, those bullets hit the walls and the

cement and go flying all over the place, and that is why i'm sure other people are, or were hit with the bullets. but now, of course, now, the fbi has to respond, because it is a landmark building and it could be a terrorist, so they are there, but you have almost every agency around there, and every police agency, and new york city police are so prepared for something like this, they will respond in seconds if not minutes. so they were there right away, and they caromed off the whole ar area. they have everything under control right away. it made everybody feel a little bit more comfortable. >> and gil, what is fascinating here, too, and we have 30 seconds left or so, that the suspect, jeffrey johnson was wearing a suit, had a briefcase and, you know, reach ed in the briefcase and got the handgun out and shot that one former coworker, and then he casually walked off. one would suspect then that he would think that he could plend

in on the escape just as he was able to blend in just prior to the attack, however, when confronted by police as you say, you know, he apparently according to the police are reached for his weapon and that is why they shot him. >> yes, that is true. he is a construction worker and to me, he is a hero, somebody like that. that is how the police department works. you need the civilians and the police to work together especially in new york city. >> it underscores the cooperation between the citizens and the law enforcement. gil alba, thank you so much for your time from new york. and we continue our coverage of the shooting outside of the empire state building throughout the hour. we are also tracking tropical storm isaac which is closing in on haiti and we will show you where the storm could potentially end up hitting the u.s. ♪

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ergonomics. [ male announcer ] tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. [ female announcer ] for more information or to find a retailer near you, visit tempurpedic.com. to the breaking news outside of the empire state building where a gunman opened fire and killing two, including the suspe suspect, and wounding nine. our reporter rose arce was there right after the shooting and joining us by phone. rose, a lot of the streets are still blocked off and the

investigation continues and trying to collect evidence, but many can't believe in the aerre the morning commute or standing outside in line to go up in the empire state building, unfolded the way it did. was this kind of utter chaos or, you know, were people really panic-stricken or did they seem to kind of remain calm during this course of action? >> yes. fredricka, the body of an armed gunman lying right outside of a new york city landmark is dramatic. people when i got there were shaken up by it, particularly, because most of this shooting, well, the shooting started right around the corner of the front entrance of the empire state building. and ended with the gunman shot dead right in front of the doorway where people come in to go to the observatory of the empire state building. so this is a lot of bullets being fired in one of the busiest areas of new york city, and a place crowded with tourists, so, yes, people were rattled. >> and the fact that many people have still turned out to kind of

watch investigators do their work instead of people dispersing seems that people have gathered at those kor dond o -- cordoned off areas with crime tape to get an idea of what is happening now? >> well, a lot of people work in that area, and not until long ago, you had bodies lying there, and really, it is pretty extraordinary when you are in a tourist district and also sort of close to the garment district and the people are working inside and they have outside of their door down the street or whatever, and you know, tarps trying to block the view of a body lying on the street. so, yeah, it is pretty dramatic thing to look at and very active police investigation going on, and you see the little yellow markers lying around outside of the sidewalk of the empire state building, and i counted 17 of them marking what is evidence and predominantly bullets that the police officers will tell you next to the body not far from the hand of the body is a

black bag which was described in the press conference as a bag that they believe that the weapon was conceal in. there are several witnesses who i spoke to who have pictures of all of this and it is a very, very dramatic scene. >> rose arce, appreciate that. of course, the empire state building is one of new york's most iconic landmarks and a major tourist attraction, and chad meyers is giving us a look at the area, and the building is located on 5th between 33rd and 34th streets and always very busy in that area whether you are standing in line to goup the building or not. >> and you would be in probably times square and the hotel there as a tourist and walk down broadway and get to 34th street and go, wow. it takes your breath away how big this old building is. we realize we can build big buildings now, but you think about when this is built and it is impressive. you walk down 34th street, and you think that you will get in 34th street, and no, you have to

go down the 5th street because that is where the entrance is and then you go over to the corner and find the overhang and get into the building. there you go, flying in, long island and new jersey and not those familiar, because it is south midtown and people think of midtown in the 30s, but this is still midtown. so this is central park and the hudson river and the east river and there's the building in all of its glory right through there, and clear i will the tallest thing around because for the longest time it was the tallest thing ever. here is 34th street and 5th and 33rd where the shooting occurred and right down there is the p t portco that you walk into, and this is google earth where someone drew the picture, but you can go down the street view and show you what it looks like twl when the google car drove down there, and this is what it looks like literally right now, lots of yellow cars, all cabs going up and down the street, and

obviously down fifth here, and over here is the entrance and right where you would buy the tickets right through here, and keep spinning around to 34th street, and you look down and there you go. people like this all of the time, and at 9:00 in the morning, many people that work there were obviously in their building, but this is the normal traffic pattern, and this is how many people live, work, walk around this neighborhood all of the time. let's go ahead and keep spinning, monica, and go all of the way up and look on up fifth avenue, because it is amazing how great these pictures are. this is actually at the top of the google vehicle, a three-dimensional all of the way around view. you can view up, down, and exactly what it looks like when you are standing there. >> this is an amazing view. >> of the empire state building. fifth avenue and broadway on the other side and this is 34th and you would notn't know, because there is a dewayne reed on every corner and starbucks. >> yes, we know that is new york city. a good portion of that is closed right now. and what is interesting, too, chad s while the building put out a statement, it is saying

that it is fully operational at this time, and clearly, no one is lining up able to go to the top of the building it would seem, because the investigation continues right around the periphery of the entrance and all that you showed us. >> unless they are allowing the people in a different way, and there are many ways into the building to get into buy the tickets, you really would not be able to get as you straight walk in there to get into the ticket booth. so maybe they are allowing the people to come in off of 34th street which is a usually one way in and one way out for employees typically and many other ways, so if this spot is cordoned off, there are other places to get in from three streets to get in therek, but i don't know if they are letting them in that way or saying open for business or people that work there. observation tower may not be. >> we have to find out, because there are an awful lot of people who come to new york city for that occasion and maybe this is their only shot in which, or opportunity i should say, to do that. >> and whenever i take somebody, you have to go there. to go the extra, extra six

floors to go to the extra top thing may not be worth the extra money in my opinion, but the regular place is amazing and you have to go once. >> and chatd, when we come back we are going to talk about something else threatening the caribbean and south florida and who knows what else. we are going to talk about isaac when we come back. >> okay. it took a mighty machine, and plain old ingenuity to go where no fifth grader had gone before. ♪ and she flew and she flew, into the sky and beyond. my name is annie and i'm the girl who dreamed she could fly. powered by intel core processors. ♪ [ male announcer ] you work hard. stretch every penny. but chances are you pay a higher tax rate than him... mitt romney made twenty million dollars in two thousand ten but paid only fourteen percent in taxes... probably less than you

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tropical storm isaac is heading for haiti and when it does hit, hundreds of thousands of people will be in tents, and that is where they have been living since that massive earthquake in 2010. we go right to meteorologist chad meyer in the cnn severe weather center and what is devastating about haiti is that it does not have vegetation and you will end up with mud slides. >> and i have taken off the weather hat and put on the google earth hat. when you go there, you will see the dirt in haiti and the trees in the dominican republic and they have cut the trees down to use for charcoal to cook with and that is the natural resource, aed that is what they use, and because they cut the trees down, there is nothing to hold the dirt back.

there are many organizations trying to replant haiti and it is a big place. you can't get it back in one spot. something else i want the talk to you about is puerto rico, and i don't have a flood warning there for san juan yet, but it is a lot of rain coming in and one mass after another, and getting over to the virgin islands as well. but san juan, you are getting the rainfall all of the way down to el jianga and raining hard in ponce, but this rain will eventually drive itself to the dominican republic where we are expecting the rain to go next. eventually it will get to haiti, but look at the big white spots here, fred, because it is 10 inches or more in the big cities and right where we don't want the rain. big hills through here and 15,000 or 14,000 feet high and all of the water will run down the hill and make some flash flooding for the dominican republic, and obviously the wind and the rain in haiti won't do anybody any good. that is how is it going to go. the storm has organized itself a little bit and we have lost some color in the last couple of hours. we are not worried about that. what we are seeing is the strayation lines and the lines out here, and we talked about

them last hour, but nay are important. they are saying that it is a healthy storm. not basically a weak storm. yesterday, i will go back here, because most people were not watching when i was doing this, but for a while this storm had three or four centers of circulation, and not one. so when they all tried to rotate around each other, they never got to be one good eye, but a big mass of circles going around like if you put four dogs in front of the bowl of food, it is four small dogs, but one dog, it will get fat, well, we never had one dog, but four dogs eating food, so we never got one storm going, but now it is getting organized and it is going to run over port-au-prince and 100 milmile miles south when it comes here, and then on the cuba. cuba is another problem with a awful lot of topography that could cause flash flooding as well. let's get to it and move it along, because it has changed a little bit right to the west here to guantanamo bay into cuba

and into another area of flash flooding there with another least 10 inches in cuba. this is the big story, fred, when it is off of cuba, what happens? cuba is going to tear it up and it is going to be terrible and sunday morning, you will say it is looking terrible and that is because it is over land and cuba affecting it all week long, but then it gets in warm water south of the keys and through the straits and probably a run through key west or maybe even out toward the dry tortugas, but miami, you are not out of this, and keep your eye on this, because it could go to the right. remember, i said, when it goes over cuba, all things are off. anything can happen over cuba and then the official forecast is looking for it to go somewhere up in the florida panhandle, but over to new orleans possibly. if you have to understand if it is in the water this far, it is a much bigger storm in new orleans than over here where it would not be in the warm water as long. how much time it is in the warm

water in the gulf will depend how big the storm gets and we don't want it to go to new orleans, because we know what happens there. >> yes, and we know that we will be watching a because the warm waters could be treacherous and help it to pick up speed. thank you so much, chad myers. >> and still in florida there, and people are gathering for the the republican national convention and they are watching the skies and wondering if the storm will dampen the party in tampa. our political director mark preston is there, and mark, what is the plan b, if it were to look like isaac or was going to make a direct hit, and in tampa. >> well, we know right now, that is very unenlikely and i'm sure that chad can speak more to it later, but the storm may stay to the west of tampa, but the question is will there be flooding that is driven in? will we get lots of rain? where i stand right now, because of the way that it works is that the water would rush up through tampa bay and rush here to the convention center and certainly not enough to cancel the convention, but it could cause some problem nos question about

that. and fredricka, if it does not hit in tampa, the convention organizers have to be concerned because if the storm crashes into the florida panhandle and goes over the new orleans and causes death and destruction, it would put a damper on the party and also take the messaging for the romney campaign and what they hope to get out of the c convention, it would take it all, all of the air out of it. we saw it happen in 2008 when the hurricane hit the gulf coast, and john mccain had to con kael is the convention by one night and had to try to get it back on track, but it is a big, big issue, fredricka. >> but does it mean that even, you know, the romney camp is trying to determine the best night for him to make, you know, his appearance on stage, that formal nomination moment all pending the progress or lack thereof of isaac? oh, mark, can you still hear me? all right. looks like we might have lost

audio there with the mark preston. we will try to reconnect if we can. okay. so sunday on the eve of the republican convention, cnn's coverage begins and kicks off 8:00 p.m. eastern time with a profile of the presumptive republican nominee mitt romney with a preview followed by the convention at 8:00 p.m. that eveningch and then monday, live coverage of the rnc from tampa, florida, beginning at 7:00 p.m. right here on cnn. er mo on the shore on the sh the empire state building after this. and don't forget, you can watch cnn live on your computer at work and head to cnn.com/tv. [ male announcer ] this is sheldon, whose long dy setting up the news starts with arthritis pain and a choice.

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all right. updating the breaking news out of new york. a shooting near the empire state building leaving two people dead and nine others wounded.

we understand now a little bit more about some of those who were wounded. six are actually being treated at bellevue hospital. three of them men and three of them women and all suffering gunshot wounds and we understand none of them are life-threatening and the ages range from 20 to 43, and they are all in stable condition as far as we know. so police say that all of this happened when a disgruntled ex-employee of hasan imports near the empire state building killed a former coworker at that workplace outside. new york mayor michael bloomberg spoke to reporters about the shoot shooting that happened next. >> the earlier this morning a little after 9:00 a.m. a man who had been fired from his job about a year or so began shooting near the empire state building. but out on the street. he killed one person and at least nine other people were shot, and some may have been shot accidentally by police

officers who were responding immediately and while confronting the suspect and fatally shooting him. unfortunately, there may have been other victims as well. all of those are not seriously wounded, and there's no expectation that any of them will do anything other than recover quickly. i ask everyone to keep the victims in their thoughts and in their prayers. this is a terrible traj dirks and there's no doubt that the situation would have been even more tragic, but for some extraordinary acts of heroism. everyday as you know, our police officers put their lives on the line to protect us, and they did so again today responding immediately, and they were joined by a number of civilians whose bravery and assistance probably saved lives. >> one of ttoof the civilians w alerted police to the gunmen was a construction worker. then the police confronted the shooter. earlier i spoke to law

enforcement analyst mike brooks about how that confrontation unfold unfolded. >> it is two officers on duty there in front of the empire state building as part of the anti-terrorism details, because it is one of the icons and the construction worker says, hey, there's the guy who shot the guy over there on 33rd street. he pulled the weapon and they pulled their weapon to defend themselves and shot him dead. >> we will keep you posted on that investigation, outside of the empire state building. lance armstrong says he is giving up the ticket to defend himself against doping charges. now he faces losing seven tour de france titles. creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark chocolate flavor. plus, 10 grams of protein. so it's energy straight from nature to you. nature valley protein bars. so it's energy straight from nature to you. so what i'm saying is, people like options. when you take geico, you can call them anytime you feel like saving money. it don't matter, day or night. use your computer, your smartphone, your tablet, whatever. the point is, you have options.

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to learn about a free trial offer. cycling star lance armstrong was today banned from his sport for life. and that decision from the u.s. anti-doping agency coming hours after armstrong said he has g e given up fighting the charges of doping. he says that quote, there is a point in every man's life when he has to say enough is enough, and for me, that time is now, end quote. mark mckay takes a look at the lengths that lance armstrong has gone in an effort to clear his name. >> reporter: it is a script to make a hollywood writer jealous. a cyclist gets cancer, doesn't die, and comes back to win a world race a record-breaking seven times and by the way, he starts a cancer foundation which has raised $325 million and provided inspiration to millions

around the world. but hovering above this true-life story is a dark cloud that has never blown past. suspicions and allegations that lance armstrong used performance enhancing drugs or peds to accomplish the incredible feats. in 2000 after winning the second tour de france, armstrong and the cycling team were investigated by the french authorities for using peds, but cleared. then a book came out where the authors accused him of using illegal drugs, and armstrong sued for libel, but later dropped the suit. and after winning the last tour de france, a newspaper accused lance armstrong of using peds after winning his first tour de france. and then floyd landis and another cyclist said they

witness witnessed him using peds. in both instances he denied the allegations, and said that both of them have admitted in the past to being drug cheats. then the federal government launched a criminal investigation of whether or not lawn armstrong was involved in a doping agency, and later dropped the charges. then there was a another federal probe pick up in june accusing him of doping, and through it all armstrong has denied the allegations saying that he has passed more than 500 drug tests. and on to another story, the young man accused of shooting up a packed movie theater in aurora, colorado, was in court yesterday. james holmes, investigators say they heard threats earlier that were reported to the campus police. he is accused of killing 12 people, and wounding 60 others. the tennessee valley

authority is on the hook for a major environmental spill back in 2008 when 1 billion gallons of poisonous coal oil ash waste spilled into the indian river in east tennessee. the judge ruled that the tva fail failed to fix a problem in a dam that burst, and nobody was killed, but the long-term health effects are not known. and the stocks are up today and let's check the big board with the dow up 81 points, and the dow and the s&p 500 are all in the positive territory. and when we come back, more on tropical storm isaac, and what places it continues to threaten. hi, there, here on the help desk today, we are helping you to pay for college. with me is liz miller and doug flynn. doug, this question is for you. >> i have two kids going to college and don't qualify for any financial aid. what's the best way for me to pay for college, because i don't have $200,000 sitting around

either in the banning. >> now, that is a pickle to be in. >> yes, the sort of financial planning board came out a study that said that more people are interested in saving for the vacations than college and so this is a problem, and this is a situation where you make too much accordingly to get a aid but you haven't saved forrer whatever reason. so it comes down to loans. and education is something that you can borrow for unlike your retirement which you cannot, and that is what it comes down to. i don't know what the home equity situation is, but put it in perspective the difference of sending your child to a $20,000 a year school and $40,000 year school just because they get in not so much the extra $20,000 it costs, but it will add $500 additional student loan payment for the child for 20 years so the $40,000 a year school, will it give you $10,000 a year of before-tax income on top of what you would earn at the $20,000 year school for the rest of your life just to cover the loans for 20 years and then have a return on investment? and this is down to

affordability. if you have is nothing saved, look at the community colleges and the state schools and things and don't send your kid to a $40,000 or $50,000 school just because you get in, because you will saddle them. >> well, that is a debatable question on the quality of the school for your child, but there are ways to pay for it, too, and education you can borrow against a 401(k) and the child will get student loans and you can get the loans and borrowing from the 401(k) is nice, because you pay yourself back and the interest does go back to yourself, so i see you concerned, but those who do it actually are makeing thei deposits in the 401(k) and putting themselves in a perfectly good retirement place and paying themselves interest instead of a bank. >> unless you get fired. >> yes. >> and if you have an issue that you want the experts to tackle, upload a 30-second video to the help desk to ireport.com. people with a machine.

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people are on edge in haiti as the tropical storm isaac gets closer. many are not equipped the ride the storm out safely at all. cnn's gary tuchman is in port-au-prince. >> fredricka, a lot of concern here in the nation of haiti not only because of the tropical storm on the way, but the tropical storm isaac, but because so many people in this nation still remain homeless from the catastrophic earthquake of january 12th, 2010. at least 400,000 people are still living in tents or rickty home homes, and that is 10 million people who live in haiti and that many people still homeless,

and the problem is that a lot of people have made the destigs they will not go anywhere. when we arrived in port-au-prince yesterday, we had to inform people in a tent city that a tropical storm or hurricane isaac was on the way. they had absolutely no idea. but once we told them, it was not like they were shelter one . the people who seem to be going to the shelters are people with mean, with homes, the television and internet. the people who live in the tents are literally staying in their home and making the decision to stay in their tent homes because they are afraid someone will take their home or tear them down. a lot of people are saying we dealt with the rain before. four storms came through haiti and 400 people died. 3,000 people died. there hasn't been a tropical storm or a hurricane since the

earthquake. that means they've never had a tropical storm or hurricane with so many people living in tents. we're very concerned about that. we also have the cholera outbreak. there's all kinds of problems in this country. >> thanks so much. it's a mysterious new disease doctors are racing to understand and only seems to hit the asian population and the symptoms look a lot like aids. you've been busy for a dead man. after you jumped ship in bangkok, i thought i'd lost you. surfing is my life now. but who's going to .... tell the world that priceline has even faster, easier ways to save you money. . . on hotels, flights & cars? you still have it. i'll always have it. so this is it? we'll see where the waves take me. sayonara, brah!

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antibodies that attack their immune system. more than 100 cases have surfaced in east asia. all are of asian descent. cnn has learned that three u.s. marines were injured in a shooting south of mexico city. it's taking place earlier this morning. the servicemen were on a diplomatic mission. it's still unclear what the motive to that shooting or attack may have been. we'll keep you posted as we get more information. (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go,

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we'll continue to update you on the shooting near the empire state building in new york that left two people and nine others wounded. it started with a disgruntled employee killed a former co-worker.

here is how witnesses describe what they saw and heard. >> i looked in the middle of the street right at the empire state building in front of the doors where you enter and there was man lying on the ground. there were police all around like they shot him down. a lot of this i heard from the aftermath that this man had been in pursuit of another man. he shot the other man. i saw blood on the pavement. i looked halfway down the block and saw man had been shot. he was laying on the ground. there were cops surrounded him. i assumed he was the shooter and someone else confirmed that to me. it appeared he was alive. >> i saw woman had been shot in the foot. she was in shock sitting there. i looked halfway down where across where you go into the building and there was a man lying on the ground face down. >> heard a bunch of gunshots g e off and people fall to the

ground. the streets went completely still and quiet. we saw the witnesses, the victims on the ground. it's absolutely scary to see it happens riging right in front or eyes. >> we'll continue looking into the investigation. "cnn newsroom" continues. it's a busy day. i'm don lemon. a bizarre moment to tell you about t about. it's happening on the campaign trial. it's sparking immediate reaction from both camps. a short time ago mitt romney appearing to make a birther joke while stomping in michigan. listen to this. >> i love being home in this place where ann and i were raised, where both of us were born. ann was born in henry ford hospital. i was born in harper ford hospital. no one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. they know this is the place we were born and raised. >> yes, he did say that. you know the birth certificate

issue is really sensitive given the controversy surrounding president obama's birthplace. this one out of new york. the city is on edge just after a mass shooting outside the empire state building. crowds were waiting to get into the world famous landmark when a gunman opened fire after 9:00 a.m. new york city police reacted fast and killed the suspect. man dressed in a business suit carrying a briefcase. police say 58-year-old jeffrey johnson had already shot and killed a former co-worker. nine others were wounded in the gunfire. a new yorker saw the chaoschaos. >> i was scared and shock andshaking. someone said there's been shots fired. man had been chasing another man down the street and had shot him dead on the corner. when i walked across the street,

i saw a woman was shot in the foot. she was in shock sitting there. there were cop cars and ambulances in 30 seconds. i walk across the street like nothing and i see there's blood on the corner. a woman's woman was covered in blood on the corner. i looked across and there was an ambulance and people were taking another woman in there into the ambulance. >> the mayor of new york city is michael bloomberg he said the gunman went after police officers. >> he tried to shoot at cops. whether he got off any bullet, to be determined. how many he shot earlier to be determined. we know the cops fired back. the tape shows the guy has the gun out and trying to kill the police officers. >> maggie lake has been tracking this story from the beginning. tell us about the weapon. he used the gun and police say he had extra ammunition in his

briefcase. >> that's right. it's our understanding don. that was a ..45 caliber gun. the mayor taking great pains to explain that police were responding to shots on them because those nine other people that were injured as part of this, it's not clear whether the bullets came from the gunman or police. you can imagine it was a scene of chaos and fear and a great deal of confusion. that's in the height of rush hour in midtown manhattan. an extremely busy area of the streets. many of the eyewitnesss said they didn't realize what was happening. they thought there was a celebrity in the area. when it became apparent there were police running it was something more serious. one of the witnesses said it seemed right out of csi. there was a lot of disbelief on the part of eyewitnesss. some bumped into people who were bleeding and didn't realize it. the 58-year-old man being

described as a disgruntled worker. he went with the intention of doing harm. excuse me one minute. we have a lot of activity in the area. they are beginning to clear the area and try to get traffic running. they had blocked off the yier as they investigation. the suspect shot his co-worker at point-blank range. a construction worker who witnessed it said jeffrey johnson who was dressed in a suit calmly turned and started to walk down the block conce concealing his weapon trying to blend in with the crowd. that wasn't possible. other people saw what happened. they notified police who approached him and that's when the gunfire was exchanged. >> i want to know about the surrounding area where you are. if you can tell us what's going on behind you. are the streets closed? what's happening? >> reporter: there are a lot of tourists in this area.

they are going about their business. they are stopping and asking us what happened. those who were not in the area. if you go right beyond me, that entire block a major thoroughfare for new york is still closed off. we understand that they are attempting to try to open that area to get the traffic flowing as we head into the afternoon rush hour. that was not the scene here this morning as you can imagine. >> absolutely. the biggest time of the year for tourist, this and christmastime. if there's one person on a warpath urging stricter gun laws it's new york's mayor michael bloomberg. he was having his weekly radio address and talking about gun control just before the shooting happened. it's no surprise that he slipped in a few words about the subject during his news conference about the shooting today.

>> new york city is the safest big city in the country. we're on pace of record low number of murders this year. we are not immune to the national problem of gun violence. >> here is what's going on. today's shooting is one of at least three mass shootings we've seen this summer in a very short period of time. after the movie theater massacre in colorado mayor bloomberg gave his view. >> i think everybody wants to preserve the right of people that want to use guns for sport, hunting or target practice to have the right to do so. that doesn't mean you have an assault weapon. that doesn't mean you have a rifle that's advertised as able to bring down a commercial airline or bullets designed to go through bullet resistant vests. >> i want to bring in mike daily from the daily beast. he's been following mayor bloomberg's views on gun control. thank you for joining us.

it seems after each of these shootings we hear bloomberg allow and clear on gun control. he's pretty determined. >> it's not just after the shooting that get everybody's attention, it's day-to-day. i've watched him become more and more passionate on the subject every time he went to an emergency room to see a police officer that's been shot or to meet their family. this is the safest big city in america but it's one horror after another. right after the thing in colorado, you had a 4-year-old up in the bronx got shot in the head just running around playing. >> the mayor mentioned that. he said we're the safest big city in the world. here is what the mayor has said as the shooting was happening. he said there's too many guns on the street. this is on wor radio. the argument that guns don't kill people, people kill people is one of the most disingenious

things you can say. it does take a person to pull the trigger. >> it does. the other day at city hall, a guy went nutty. instead of a gun he hit someone in the head with a hammer. well, people jumped on. >> the mayor was criticized after the aurora shooting. people said it's not time. he always talks about it. a month ago he called on the president and mitt romney to do more on gun control and face the nation. listen to this. >> somebody's got to do something about this and this requires in a presidential year the candidates for president of the united states to stand up and once and for all say yes they feel terrible. yes it's a tragedy. yes we have great sympathies for the family. it's time for this country to do

something and that's the job for the president of the united states. >> the mayor is part of a coalition of mayors. mike, you heard what he said there. very rarely do we hear from any of the candidates anything to do with gun control unless they are speaking in front of the gun lobby or what have you. >> if you saw the president he was out in colorado and came out and talked to the one girl that pressing her finger on the wound. he started talking about violence and he am got to the point he was going to talk about guns. he stopped. bloomberg has been talking to people in those circumstances a hundred times. if the president or candidates had to go in the emergency room every other day to see one with a gunshot they'd be talking about it. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you for having me. moving on. tropical storm isaac taking a slight western curve but still

predicting to hit haiti later today with high winds and rain. new information just out. we'll bring it to you. we're just getting word of another shooting. a shooter near mexico city and the attack involves u.s. marines. we're gathering the facts. nk co. design something totally original. do it again. that's good. call in the engineers. call in the car guys. call in the nerds. build a prototype. mold it. shape it. love it. give it a starting price under 16 grand. take it to the track. tweak. tweak. tweak. stop. take it to the car shows. call the critics. call the marketing team. get a celebrity endorser. he's perfect. i am? [ male announcer ] yes, you are. making a groundbreaking car -- it's that easy. ♪ who dreamed she could fly. like others who braved the sky before her, it took a mighty machine, and plain old ingenuity to go where no fifth grader had gone before. ♪ and she flew and she flew,

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thnchts this is just in. three marines injured in a shooting south of mexico city. we're just gathering the information. what do you know about this? >> the city south of mexico city, apparently this marines were in diplomatic commission. they were riding in an suv with diplomatic plates when they were shot. what we have seen is that many times there's a vehicle that looks like a mexican federal police and it's a vehicle being used by criminal organizations that are posing as the real federal police. we don't know a motive behind

the shooting. there was an incident this which two i.c.e. agents were shot. one of them was kill ed. >> american servicemen on a diplomatic mission. >> exactly. >> what more do we know? >> there was a confrontation on a highway that connects mexico city. that's a favorite tourest destination. they were shot from a vehicle used normally by the mexican federal police. >> you don't know if this is part of the trend. you're thinking this morning and now this. >> we've seen it in the past. we don't really know what happened there. >> we'll keep watching. thank you. we appreciate your update.

the national hurricane center has issued an update on soon to be hurricane isaac. going to get chad meyers. chad, what are they saying now? >> winds are still 60 miles per hour. it did get a bit closer to haiti and the dominican republic in the past couple of hours. the pressure is going down. that means it's getting stronger. it's getting its act together. this thing has been just a mess. it doesn't look that great right now. the center although it looks like there's a bunch of convection down here, the center is close to the southeast right there from port-au-prince. this is where it looks like the hurricane is but there's the dot. that's the south coast of haiti. we are seeing santa domingo. more to come from the u.s. >> stand by.

i want to bring in martin savidge. where are you and what exactly are you seeing where you are? >> we're on the southern coast of haiti. it appears that isaac if not here, very close to being here. the rain has turned torrential. we have not got the strong winds but we've got heavy rain. that is the greatest fear they have here in haiti. we're located about 30 miles to the south of port-au-prince. you have several hundred thousand people living in tents. that's the result of the aftermath of the earthquake from 2010. they are very much in jeopardy as a result of this storm because of just the limited housing they have over their heads. we passed through port-au-prince and it did not appear that anybody was making preparations

and that's the concern of emergency officials. >> given the lack of infrastructure that you talk about and hundreds of thousands of people live in tent, what can they do to prepare for this storm? >> that's part of their attitude. exactly what you just said. it's like they have been told the storm is coming. there are announcements that are being made on radio. they are driving through the streets of cities warning people to get ready. stock up on food. the truth is they don't have any place to go. there are storm shelters but storm shelters are not their concern. it's the flooding. this is a very mountainous country. they are expecting a feet or more of rain. it comes blasting down the mountains. where we are has flooded in the

past. so far no evacuations. no far it appears no one else besides the mayor is worried about the rains here. >> back to chad. you showed us approximately but do you know where it's going. we're talking about the convention in tampa. earlier in the week it was headed that way. >> we always worry about tampa because we had so many nonfloridaians to tampa. here is what marty did all day. drove this road to the south coast of haiti. here is port-au-prince. marty, if you still have us on the line, worst weather is coming. if you think it's there, it's not there yet. the big cell is still to his southwest heading right at him. he'll get winds at 60 miles per hour. see that right there. that's what i'm afraid of that's

going to reat a time right into port-au-prince in about three to four hours and that will make big time problems for the coast there. >> on the right side that's the stronger side, is that correct? >> always as you move this way. correct. it moves across cuba and makes its way toward florida. we don't have any evacuation for the keys yet. it's going be a lousy weekend. stay home. then it goes here way west of tampa. i know this says only a cat 1 storm. that could be a two or three if it spends more time in that very warm water. it's going to fwget bigger. >> listen to rick scott and i want you to respond. >> everybody is comfortable. the delegates are going to have a bit of experience. they're going to see a bit of rain and wind. they'll see how nice people are in florida.

we're going to have great convention. >> a little rain maybe or we don't know. >> what i'm worried about, i don't have very many seconds left. see all these models turns to the right. what if they are a bit too late and it's supposed to turn right here. i'm not comfortable with that yet. tampa is still in the cone. >> okay. there you go. thank you. >> to find out how you can hip those impacted by the storm going to cnn.com/impact. okay. mitt romney just days away from the republican national convention and the presidential nomination. he talks about business and birth certificates. >> i love being home and this place where ann and i were raised were both of us were born. ann was born in henry ford hospital. i was born at harper hospital. no one's ever asked to see my

birth certificate. they know this is the place we were born and raised. >> enough said. you'll hear more from the campaign trail. both campaigns reacting now. that's next. creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark chocolate flavor. plus, 10 grams of protein. so it's energy straight from nature to you. nature valley protein bars.

yes. mitt romney went there. a short time ago in front of a large crowd of supporters in michigan, romney attempted a birther joke. i won't spry to explain. >> i love being home in this place where ann and i were raised. ann was born in henry ford hospital. i was born at harper hospital. no one has asked to see my birth certificate. they know this is the place we were born and raised. >> so, i want to get right to cnn's jim acosta because at the end of that he said no one asked for my birth certificate. he is following the campaign. he's in michigan right now. jim, romney keeps saying he wants to focus on the economy and he says what he says today. was it a joke or --

>> reporter: it sounded like a joke and the crowd took it a as joke. there was a lot of laughing and applauding in the crowd here in michigan. the romney campaign says that the gop contender was not working off of his prepared remarks. that's from a source inside the romney campaign. i have to tell you, don, what he said there completely overshadowed his message for the day. he was coming out to talk about the economy. this also comes as the romney campaign is trying to re-introduce mitt romney to american voters. ann romney was choking up here at this event today about her michigan roots. she almost started to cry at one point. all of that got drowned out by this remark that romney made. there's been statements flying back and forth from the obama campaign and the romney campaign on this. i think clearly this is not what mitt romney wanted to get out there today but it's out there. he went there. having said all of that, president obama also likes to joke about this. he's joked about this at white

house correspondent dinners. you can go there now and buy a birth certificate mug. it says born in the usa. the president has had fun with this too. what it sounds like is this was not an intentional joke. there were no teleprompters here. he was add libbing. >> listen, i am all for free speech. they say immediacomedians somet joke just a joke. sometimes they say too soon. jim, quick reaction from the obama camp. he said throughout this campaign governor romney has embraced the voices in his party in stead of standing for them. it's one thing to give the stage to donald trump but he enlists himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter and we get this.

he said the governor has always said and repeatedly said he believes the president was born here in the united states. he was only referencing that michigan is the state he himself was born and raised. differing there. if it's a joke, i get it. it's just right before the convention and he's trying to get away from this particular issue and focus on the issue and there you go. >> reporter: exactly. the romney campaign and gop convention officials had a news conference talking about how they're going to try to re-introduce romney to the american people. ann romney is slated to talk on monday night. on thursday night, the romney campaign will be diving deep into romney's mormon faith. they will be bringing people up on stage to talk about when mitt romney was the leader of the mormon church and how he helped them out at times.

this could have been what everybody was talking about today but because of that one comment we're all talking about the birth certificate again. that's why i think this was not intentional. >> how he is responzing and people are wondering if it's a dog whistle. make sure you stay with cnn sundayight for romney revealed. it is at 8:00 p.m. eastern. it will be followed by a preview of the convention itself. on monday live coverage of the gop convention begins at 7:00 eastern right here on cnn. okay. the empire state building, the scene of a tragic shooting today. >> right at the empire state building in front of the doors. where you enter. there was man lying on the ground. there's police all around. it's like they shot him down. >> we're going to catch you up on the shooting at one of the nation's top tourist attractions. one...

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an american landmark is now the site of a crime scene. a mass shooting outside the em spire state building. >> reporter: we're looking down at 34th street where you see two people being taken off in a stretcher after being shot. >> new york city's mayor says a total of ten people were hit including the man who ignited it all. michael bloomberg says the shooter named jeffrey johnson gunned down a former co-worker and then police gunned down johnson who was 58 years old. an eyewitness talked to cnn poppy harlow. >> did you talk to anyone else who witnessed the shooting? >> i did. he had a photo of the person the shooter shot in the head. i knew that he was dead from the photo. >> what did that fellow witness tell you? >> he just said a man had been chases another man down the

street by the starbucks and shot him in the head and the police shot him. >> the eight others took a bullet, there could be more. there were apparently at the wrong place at the wrong time. >> earlier this morning a little after 9:00 a.m., man who had been fired f ed from his job ai is a began shooting. he killed one person and nine other people were shot some may have been shot accidentally by police officers who responded immediately and while con fronting the suspect and fatally shooting him, unfortunately there may have been other victims as well. all of those are not seriously wounded and there's no expectation that any of them will do anything other than recover quickly. i ask everyone to keep the victims in their thoughts and in their prayers. this is a terrible tragedy and

there's no doubt that the situation would have been even more tragic but for some extraordinary acts of heroism. every day our police officers put their lives on the line to protect us. they did so again today responding immediately and they were joined by a number of civilians whose bravery and assistance probably also saved lives. >> what was the alleged shooter's gripe. johnson and his apparent victim who police are not yet identifying had a history involving workplace harassment. >> johnson had been employed for six years at hazan imports as a designer of women's accessories. during a downsizing at the company about a year ago johnson was laid off. in a dispute with the former employees of hazan in front of the building, johnson produced a

pistol and fired at close range striking his 41-year-old victim in the head. >> now people are taking note the time of mass shooting. just this morning mayor bloomberg talked about gun violence. >> it's too many guns on the street. the argument that guns don't kill people, people kill people is one of the most disingenuous things you can say. we are the only developed country in the world with this problem. >> the mayor giving his weekly address in new york city. tropical storm isaac bringing torrential rain to haiti. chad meyers is keeping watch. storms on certain path has tampa and republican national convention leader making precautionary plans. that's ahead. plap

rick scott is ensuring republicans at the national convention in tampa won't be derailed by isaac. scott said this afternoon that tampa might get a little wind and rain but local officials aren't letting their guard down yet. brian todd is there. >> reporter: i'm standing right by bay shore boulevard here in tampa. eight weeks ago a major portion of this road was flooded because of tropical storm debbie. that created a storm surge that led to flooding. look how close that is to the convention center. it's a low lying area. you can see it's right by water. tampa bay comes in as a funnel right up to this area. it's close to areas that could be affected by storm surge the tropical storm isaac comes this way or even if they get outer bands of it as a tropical storm or as a hurricane. another question here, evacuations. you have 50,000 added people downtown here who normally wouldn't be here. most are from out of town.

how you going to get those people out if you need to in the event the storm closer than they think i might? which it might. >> we are used to moving people. obviously, the buses would be available to move folks. the key is to get folks from the low lying areas into the higher ground. the heart of that depends on the track of the storm which dict e dictates which bridges are use and how people are moved to the middle stieft. this is our world. we do it every year. we prepare for it. our people know what to do. >> reporter: another major concern, a possible shortage of law enforcement officers here for the convention. many of the law enforcement officers are coming in from out of town. if the tropical storm hits along the florida coast, even if remnants hit and cause problems in those jurisdictions, those

officers may not be able to make it here but the mayor told me they have contingencies of national guard troops to make up that difference. >> thank you very much. brooke baldwin will be at the convention. she's still here. she'll be anchoring this show live from tampa. it kicks off on monday right here on cnn. overseas now. the violence in syria. it's like a plane crash every single day. we're keeping our focus on the civil war as refugees seek a peaceful place to live. hey. looking to trade the old girl in?

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more than year now we've been showing you images out of syria always with the warning they are graphic and disturbing. but now a different picture but just as graphic and disturbing. 168 people killed on monday. on tuesday, 230.

wednesday, 184. thursday, 200 people dead. today, the toll so far 130. we know 25 of today's victims are children. look at the tote als. it's like an airliner going down every day this week. right now there's no sign of it ending. lance armstrong may be getting closer to losing his seven tour defrance titles. he will be stripped of all seven titles. this after he said enough is enough and decided to end his battle against the doping charges. he said he's innocent of all allegations but he's not going to fight it anymore. he's done with it. a turf war between sports councils may be erupting. other cycling agencies may weigh in on if he should lose his titles. one way to get through a difficult circumstance is to

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in just eight days the penn state nation will gather for the first football game since joe paterno's death and jerry sandusky's sentencing. cnn just finished interviews with current players. you'll hear from them. mom: ready to go to work? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ every mom needs a little helper. that's why i got a subaru. announcer: love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. ♪

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next week penn state takes the field for the first time since jerry sandusky was found guilty of child sexual abuse. the legacy has been tarnished. today we hear from a few of the players that remain on the team. they sat down in an exclusive interview. what's their reaction to what's happened to their program, jason? >> reporter: there's so many different reaks. it's depending upon what direction you're going. i asked some of the five players who sat down with what they thought of the the man joe paterno and one of the players said this is man who i respected for many, many years. another player said this is a man who my father played with. i still respect him even given what happened later on in his

career. it was interesting to hear and also hear the point of view post ncaa sanctions. penn state hit with very heavy sanctions. the team took a hit because of the those sanctions. nine players decided to leave the team. i asked the players what they thought of that. they said it hurt. the seniors said they reached out to some of the other players. some of the players on the fence, they talked to them. they are now focusing on the team members who are here. they feel as though they are a stronger team. they feel they are closer given the crisis and are ready to take on ohio come september 1st. >> they are getting support. they're supporting each other. there are many people who thought the program should be shut down altogether. do they feel they are getting broader support from outside of penn state beyond the fans? >> reporter: well, i know you've been following this story very closely.

you've heard critics on both sides. there's been a number of people out here not necessarily directly here around penn state in this community but throughout the country. they feel as though the program should be been shut down. the football players we spoke with said they were very aware of that. they were aware they would not have a team. they said they received e-mails from all over the country. one player said he received e-mails who found way to contact him lending support. they feel like they have the support of the community behind hem. they feel like they have a stronger team in place in terms of moving forward. >> all right. you can see that interview on "the situation room" at 4:00 p.m. we told you more than 900 people have been killed in syria but survivors are looking for shelter. jim clancy has some of their stories. >> reporter: the death toll continues to soar with activists

reporting more than 150 people killed on friday alone including large numbers of women and children. the rockets fired into civilian areas and tanks moving in on the ground in many places across the country. the battle has centered not only on the large cities like damascus and on many smaller towns where the free syrian army has held sway for months. all young men have gone. all the young men have been burned this woman shouted. their voices filled with grief and anger. they trudge along. the smoke from fires smeared the skyline from behind them. video posted shows residents of the town leaving their homes, escaping with their lives but little else. some carried bags with food or belongings, perhaps a single bottle of water. many cradle children or infants in their arms.

some appear to be injured or exhausted after days of fighting in iraq. as they appear to abandon their town many curse bashar assad. the determined drive by syrian government troops left those who supported the uprising in despair. this man was comforted by passers by but couldn't contain his emotion. hirak is located where syria's uprising began 17 months ago. the town had long been used as a base by the free syrian army. this week it's 20,000 residents paid the price. video purports to show the burned out shops and obvious signs of damage from tank fire which may have set the buildings