vegas casino and ran off with $17.5 in chips. we'll go live to las vegas on this stunning crime straight out of the movies. early this wednesday morning, of the movies. early this wednesday morning, december 15th, 2010. captioning funded by cbs clear and cold here in the big city this morning. we'll get to that winter railroad weather in a moment. good morning, everybody i'm harry smith. >> i'm betty nguyen. >> i tell you, this video from panama city yesterday right in the middle of the school board meeting, this guy shows up, orders everybody out and can you imagine being -- staring down the barrel of that gun. the video, of course, is quite dramatic. you'll be seeing it several more times as this morning unfolds. if you have sensitive folks in your house, you may want to -- ints point-blank range. >> -- exactly. you may try to avoid this for the next little while anyway. let's get right to that shoot-out in a panama city, florida school board meeting all caught on tape. however the only person injured was the gunman himself shot by a security guard and took his own life. in a moment we'll speak to two survivors of yesterday's near-tragedy but first mark strassmann has the story. again, we warn you the video is quite graphic. >> this will be the first -- >> reporter: at the school board meeting, no one saw it coming. a man named clay duke, angry and mumbling suddenly spray-paints ad red "v" on the wall then turned dangerous. >> please. >> reporter: the 56-year-old residents of panama city pulled out a small-caliber handgun and took the entire school board hostage. >> you can leave. you stay. >> reporter: he told everyone to leave except school board members. female board member ginger littleton snuck in and tried to disarm duke with her purse. >> reporter: no luck. duke forced littleton to the floor but didn't fire. he started complaining. about a recent local sales tax hike and claimed his wife had lost her job. >> she was fired. >> reporter: then said ominously. >> i'm gonna die today. >> reporter: he was right. what follows is shocking video not suitable for all viewers. >> will you let them go? >> reporter: as the superintendent tried to talk the gunman down and end the standoff peacefully. >> i don't want noib get hurt and i've got a feeling that what you want is the cops to come in and kill you because you're mad, because you say you're gone that die. but why? >> reporter: suddenly duke raised his gun. >> please don't. please don't. >> reporter: fired several shots at point-blank range. miraculously, all missed their targets. then a security guard named mike jones, off camera, exchanged fire. duke fell woundeded. the only person hit. and lying on the floor, he fired one final shot, killing himself. on his facebook page clay duke posted what he may have intended to be, his final words writing some people, the government sponsored media, will say i was evil, a monster. but, people in this room saw him more simply as a disturbed man with an apparent death wish. >> joining us from panama city, you just saw both in that jid yo bay county superintendent of schools bill hotsfeld and member ginger jts ton who tried to stop the gunman hitting him with her purse. good morning to you both. >> good morning. >> good morning, harry. >> have you had a chance to di jest this yet? does this all feel like what happened yesterday was real? >> it was very surreal but we're slowly digesting it as we government we're just going to take it a minute at a time right now. >> i think "surreal" is the term i'd have to use, yeah. >> yeah. >> ginger, i got to say this moment in the tape you're starting to exit the room. it's clear to me you ptd, you know, something in your mind said i've got to take one shot at this guy. you go after him with your purse. you fall to the ground. did you think, at that moment, your life was over? >> yes, i did. i knew that he had the gun right there. there wasn't anything i could do. my plan a was to try to get the gun away from him. unfortunately, because i'm probably not smarter than the average bear, i did not have a plan b. >> boy. but, do you know what it was inside you that said, i've got to at least take a swing at this guy? >> we were so volleyball. their shield was a three-ring binder and lethal weapon was a ballpoint pen. they were lined up like ducks in a pond. and this guy was very scary. so, i could either leave and i knew something bad was going to happen. i could either leave and try to live with myself if it did or go back and try to at least delay or divert until we could get some help. >> bill, there's the portions of this tape where you're really trying to communicate with mr. duke, trying to talk him down, as it were. as you look him straight in the eyes, what did you think was on his mind? >> he had that look that, you know, it's very hard to describe, but he knew what was going to happen. he told us he was going to die. and in many different ways told us we were going to die and, you know, ginger -- we're all very close. she's been on the board for eight years. and, you know, we all work very well together. and so, she was trying to help us. and, you know, she was putting herself on the line for us. but, when that didn't work, the only thing we had, like ginger said, we didn't have anything. it was us and the desk there. and so, you know, we knew our safety officer was in the building. i'd already seen him. and we knew that everybody was calling 911. so, the only thing we had was time to try to get. and we just tried to do everything we could to talk to him. but he had that look in his eyes. he decided this was not going to end well. >> he opens fire, i mean, h you. as i looked at the tape i'm trying to figure out, is he really trying to hit you or is he just shooting? >> uh, he was as close to me as the camera is right here and he was pointing it right at me. and i'm just going to tell you, harry, god blocked the bullet and i'm not saying that facetiously. i really believe that. i knew that there was going to be somebody was going to be killed in there. and he really had decided that he was going to die. i mean, there's no doubt. and ginger saw it just the little bit of time she got to see him in there in the boardroom but there's no doubt, looking in his eyes, you know, there was going to be -- somebody was going to be killed and, you know, he had -- he'd made it very clear that he wanted to kill me and the rest of us in there. and so, i don't think he was trying to miss. i -- i believe what i said and i think that that's what his intent was from the very beginning. >> wow. and then your safety officer comes in, begins to take fire -- you know, shoot at mr. duke. unless he comes in at the time that he comes in, i guess maybe this would have had a completely different ending. >> mike jones is our safety officer. he's a retired police detective with the local police department. he's the hero in all this. and, you know, i can't say enough. his timing was perfect. he wanted to make sure we were safe and everything was fine. the minute he heard that first shot, he came in. and, you know, he was trained to wait for backup but he knew once that first shot was fired he didn't have time to wait anymore. so, he came in. if you notice in the video, i'm sure you've seen the video, he -- he kept shooting and mike started shooting at him and that's when he turned. i'm going to tell you it's by the grace of god you tell me how somebody wasn't shot in there besides him. i mean, you know, you can use whatever excuses you want but there's no doubt in my mind that there was a lot of protection going on in that. but, mike jones is definitely a hero to all of us. >> mike was magnificent. he did everything right. >> ginger and bill, thank you both very, very much. what a saga in the last 24 hours. and the tape just really is extraordinary. and there are a lot of people i'm very sure are very thankful that all of you managed to survive this thing. thank you very much for taking the time to tell your stories. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> all right. betty? >> extraordinary story there. to the latest on this winter blast crippling half the nation and just won't go away. once again this morning we're seeing below-freezing temperatures as far south as florida and the worst of it is in the midwest. cbs news correspondents cynthia bowers is in chilly chicago, i should say downright cold, freezing chicago this morning. good morning, cynthia. >> reporter: good morning, betty. negative one in the suburbs. you know in northern climbs like this one cold can be relative but this cold is that unwelcome relative especially since winter hasn't even started yet. four of the five coldest starts in december in chicago history have happened in the last five years. the pre-winter assault continued across the midwest yesterday dumping two feet of snow outside cleveland with nine more inches expected this morning. and as the slow-moving storm continues to move east, there is more snow for pennsylvania and new york. on a snow-bound highway in ontario, military choppers had to rescue motorists. >> actually, i've lived here 35 years. i've never seen it like this. >> reporter: more than 300 people were stranded in snow and ice for over 24 hours. >> it's a storm that we generally don't get and it's just blowing and keeps on snowing. so, got no visibility hardly sglort the northest is experiencing and arctic blast that has temperatures plummeting. >> freezinging cold. i should have wore another jacket on top of this. >> reporter: the bone-chilling temperatures stretches as far as south as florida, a cold snap experts say is unusual this time of year. >> for the beginning of december, this has been an extreme one. >> reporter: while most some central florida slept, local crit krus growers held vigil hoping the thermometer would stay above 28 degrees to avoid cop damage, part of florida's $9 billion a year citrus -- >> two or three more hours, we would have lost this crop. >> reporter: temperatures plunged 30 degrees below normal, record lows in atlanta, 14 degrees, vir row beach, 26, daytona beach, 24. more seasonal temperatures are expected to come back starting tomorrow. boy, and we are glad those citrus crops will be okay. now here locally, our temperatures are going to go up the thermometer today, all the way up to around 25 degrees but not much time to enjoy that, betty, because snow comes in tonight. >> oh, man. all right. get ready cynthia bowers joining us live in chicago, thank you. >> we'll get a look at weather with dave price in minutes but first we check with whit johnson at the news desk. >> good morning, everybody. violent protests this morning in athens, greece. the demonstrators with -- battled with police officers, smashed cars and tossed gasoline bombs during a massive labor protest against the government's austerity measures. the violence escalated outside parliament. about 20,000 protesters marched to parliament during a general strike today. the senate is expected to easily pass a package of tax cuts today. democratic members of the house want to revise the plan but republican leaders warn a deal is a deal. cbs news congressional correspondent nancy cordes has the latest from washington. nancy, good morning. >> whit, good morning. all the house democrats held a meeting late last night trying to figure out if there's a way they can change this deal without killing it. house democrats say even if the tax deal passes in the senate today, they still want to change provisions they don't like. such as a cut in the payroll tax which they say robs the social security fund and a cut in the estate tax, which they consider a hand-out to the wealthy. what's most troubling to many of them is the cost. >> biggest hypocrites in the world. we have a deficit all the time and want to -- $700 million in the next ten years doesn't make sense. >> reporter: republican senator leader mitch mcconnell who hammered out the deal with the white house issued this warning to those across the aisle. >> this agreement is not subject to being reopened. >> i don't think we're basing what we want to do on a threat by mr. mcconnell. >> reporter: house democrats don't have much time to figure out their next move. all these tax cuts are set to expire in just 16 days, whit. >> everybody watching very closely. nancy cordes in washington for us, thank you. tragedy near australia this morning after a boat-full of people seeking asylum sank. at least 27 drowned when a small wooden boat with about 70 people aboard smashed apart on jagged rocks and heavy seas on christmas island. in recent years asylum seekers have come from afghanistan, iran, iraq. generally they first fly to indonesia and continue to you a stral why in camped boats. wikileaks founder julian as sauj remain behind bars in london even though he has been granted bail. he appeared in court yesterday fighting extradition to sweden accused of sexual assault. he was granted bail but returned to prison while sweden appeals. his next hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. if you've got a lot of holiday shopping left to do, you're not alone. the national retail federation says 37 million people just like me have not even started shopping yet. that's almost 17%. so, saturday may be a very busy shopping day. be sure to plan ahead. about 10% only have completed their holiday shopping. recovery efforts are under way this morning in a small oregon town ransacked bay rare tornado. the twister touched down just before noon yesterday in aumsville, south of portland. the storm ran down main street. there were no serious injuries but shops and homes were destroyed. the roof of a barber shop was ripped off. >> when the roof came off, it just started swirling and glass started breaking and the tv come down and the air conditioner went with the roof. >> air conditioner went with the roof and everything. all right. it is 15 past the hour. time for a check of the weather. dave price is here. tornados in oregon. >> no state immune from the dangers of tornadoes. >> what's next? >> good morning, whit. we have a lot going on we heard about at the top of the program cold air continues. let's break it down right now and talk about the cold temperatures. here's that jet stream once again. you can really trace it by looking at the temperature variation. but we are going to see things moderate as we head towards tomorrow. there will be a bit of rebounding. it's not going to be warm but certainly we'll see a change in temperatures as the jet begins to retreat a bit. let's move on. we've got problems, as we head he into sections of missouri, kansas city, over to st. louis then down to memphis, tennessee, watch it from kansas all the way through missouri into memphis into the carolinas, just a quarter inch of ice can really wreak havoc on the roads you may see wednesday and thursday. we'll keep an eye on it. mine not into far go, minneapolis, we sheared cindy baur talking about it into chicago overnight. one to three inches, more in some sections. only warm place really in the country really look at that >> at 7:17, our first look at the weather. we'll see you again in minutes. folks, over you to. >> thanks very much, dave. >> yeah. >> still ahead a motorcycle bandit holds up a famous las vegas casino and runs off with a million and a half dollars' worth of chips. find out how he did it. >> also the chilling confession on tape by the mother of missing gabriel. we'll have the exclusive story. we already see how tough winter driving can be. we'll tell you how to stay safe on snow and ice as "the early show" continues. hi. chili's tonight? do i know you? yeah. your mother's brother went to summer camp with my uncle's friend's accountant. we're practically family. jason? who? my mom's brother's accountant. yeah. that guy is a maniac. okay. i love jason. isn't 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( chirping ) honestly simple. you love the "oceans 11". >> the movie is great. >> george clooney, so good. all that elaborate planning. this was not exactly elaborate, not quite the same. guy comes in wearing a motorcycle helmet says give me your chips. they give him a million and a half dollars worth of chips. look at it, he's getting away. the story doesn't end quite as well, though. >> no. >> we'll have that for you. >> announcer: this portion of "the early show" sponsored by kay jewelers. every kiss begins with kay. there's one word every man should know. - leo. - the leo diamond, certified to be visibly brighter, at kay, the number one jewelry store in america. - yes. my bliss? lips that feel soft, smooth, kissable. my blistex? silk and shine. real silk extracts. with a touch of shine. discover bliss. discover blistex. we like these people. we're very impressed, with their costumes, as well. >> standing out there in such cold weather today. >> welcome back to "the early show." early why err this year, a story grabbed national headlines, you remember this, we first told but a missing arizona baby named gabriel. now, there is a new twist in the case. it is not good. she -- we find gabriel's father, in a tape, was told by the baby's mother that she killed the baby. we're going to have that tape exclusively this morning and hear that from the mother's own words. >> also, it's not just snow that makes winter driving dangerous. it is black ice and other hazards, too. coming up, we'll take toum the consumer reports auto test center in connecticut right there for important tips to help you stay save on these treacherous winter roads. first, though, to a daring late-night robbery at a big-name las vegas casino where an armed bandit walked in and stole at least $17.5 million in chips. cbs news national correspondent ben tracy is in las vegas with the latest on this. good morning, ben. >> reporter: good morning, betty. this is really quite a story and all happened here at the bellagio casino in las vegas. a lot of people come to vegas to push their luck at the gambling table but it's an entirely different gamble to think you can run into a casino and make out with more than a million bucks in chips. but, that's exactly what this guy did. with his helmet still on, he looked more like an astronaut than armed bandit but he brazenly held up a table of gambles at the bellagio casino making occupy with $1.5 million in chips. famous for its dancing water fountain it is a top tourist destination and also the back drop for several hollywood films. >> casino security cannot be beaten. >> reporter: including the 2001 casino heist "oceans 11" starring george clooney and brad pitt. the robbery in the film was a high-tech whodunit requiring nearly a dozen men, whereas tuesday's lone gunman required just a helmet, motorcycle and about two minutes to pull it all off. >> he then entered the casino and went directly to a kraps table, where he confronted several patrons with a firearm. he told everyone not to move and he took approximately $1.5 million worth of casino chips. >> reporter: this is the tenth casino robbery in las vegas this year. police believe tuesday's crime was committed by the same man who made off with an estimated $20,000 from the sun coast casino on december 9th. >> he was carrying a handgun in both events and last season wearing a white motorcycle helmet with multiple stripes on it wearing a black jacket, black pants and black gloves during both events. >> reporter: unlike money, casino chips are only valid to certain properties so t