[Johns:] Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. There's brand-new information this morning on the shooting death of former NFL quarterback Steve "Air" McNair. Police in Nashville are officially calling it a murder-suicide, and the circumstances of his death are leaving fans with mixed emotions. Here's our David Mattingly.
[David Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] NFL quarterback Steve McNair was behind one of the biggest moments in Super Bowl history, falling just a few yards short of taking the Tennessee Titans to victory in 2000. And nine years later, fans in Nashville still loved him, knowing him to be generous and approachable in public. But in private, McNair was taking a serious and unexpected risk. A married man with children, McNair was seeing 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi. These pictures of the couple snapped recently by TMZ. Her family said the relationship had been going for more than five months and that she was confident McNair was divorcing his wife and they would soon live together. But early Saturday, that ended with this 911 call from a friend of McNair's.
[Operator:] Tell me what happened?
[Caller:] I have no idea, sir.
[Operator:] OK.
[Caller:] I received a phone call that there were injured parties inside this apartment.
[Operator:] Is it male or female?
[Caller:] Two, there are two people.
[Mattingly:] That call came from this condo in a building not too far away from Titan's stadium. Police arrived to find the couple dead. McNair had had been shot twice in the head and twice in the chest. Police now say it was a clear case of murder- suicide and that McNair may have been asleep and did not know it was coming. [voice-over]: Police described Kazemi as a young woman in turmoil, reeling from financial pressures, complaining to her friends that her personal life was a mess and that she should end it. Early Thursday morning, she was arrested for DUI. That evening, police say she bought a nine-millimeter handgun.
[Chief Robnal Sepas, Metro Nashville Police:] We also have reason to believe that Kazemi recently learned before this day that she believed McNair was involved with another woman and that, too, participated in her state of mind, we think.
[Mattingly:] Former NFL running back Eddie George tells me the man who was murdered was not the Steve McNair that he had known since 1996.
[Eddie George, Former Nfl Running Back:] Not at all. He was in search of filling a void.
[Mattingly:] George believes his old friend was having a crisis of his own, maybe struggling with life after football.
[George:] What people fail to realize is that when you make a transition away from the game, emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually, you go through something. You change. And you're constantly searching for something.
[Mattingly:] And in Nashville, fans now search for ways to celebrate the life of a star athlete who brought them many fond memories while mourning his scandalous death. David Mattingly, CNN, Nashville.
[Chetry:] David, thanks. Well, it's 46 minutes past the hour. We fast forward through the stories that will be making news later today. At 9:00 a.m. Eastern, drug wars and your security. There's a hearing on Capitol Hill about the increasing violence and the rise of Mexican drug cartels south of the border. Allan Bernstein, the White House border czar will testify about how all of it affects our national security. Today also marks the 10-year anniversary of a bloody confrontation in Iran between students and security forces. That crackdown happened in 1999. Still resonates though today. Those large scale demonstrations being set to protest last month's disputed elections. Several marches are scheduled in Iran and throughout the world today, including one in London, outside of the Iranian embassy. That kicks off at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time. And Vice President Biden making the rounds today to highlight the progress of the stimulus. At 10:15 a.m., he'll be in Cincinnati. And later he makes a stop in Saratoga County, New York. So, which is better since you've done both shifts. Stay up very late or to be a morning person?
[Johns:] I used to think I was a real morning person. And then I started working at night, right? At 2:30 a.m., thank you very much. But now I think I'm an evening person. You can exercise more in the morning.
[Chetry:] See, it's very interesting because I love being a morning person. By 6:00 at night, I'm shot.
[Johns:] Yes.
[Chetry:] So, our Sanjay Gupta is going to joining us to talk about that. Night owls versus morning people. How it affects us and are we wired to be a certain way? It's 47 minutes past the hour.