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Kansas Town Surveys Tornado Damage; Bill Richardson Imterview

Aired May 06, 2007 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: New pictures of a storm experts are now saying is as big as it gets, a deadly storm that has wiped out an entire town. Tonight, Kansas on edge with weather ripe for more tornadoes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's too late for us, but we're concerned about your five-year-old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A license plate for child molesters only. Talk about personalized plates. Green means sexual predator, like a scarlet letter. But will it work? We debate.

And this ueklele lately playing billionaire is one of the richest men in the world. Warren Buffett wants to tell you what he knows. And he's looking for a successor. Reason enough to watch? All this from the CNN NEWSROOM.

And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez here in B control with some extraordinary pictures to show you right off the bat. More proof of the immense unstoppable power of nature.

This is Spencer, South Dakota, one of at least 20 reported tornadoes that has crashed in that part of the state. This is just in the past couple of hours, by the way. Utility poles are snapped like popsicle sticks, as it's described to us. Homes and buildings are shredded, some of the new video that we're getting in now.

Here's what's really good about the story at least at this point. We're fearing at this point that not one person has thus far been reported injured. Let's go over to Jacqui Jeras real quick because we understand that there may be some more watches going on out there. What's the situation right now, Jeras?

JACQUI JERAS: Well, we're still looking at the threat of tornadoes, though it's not quite as extreme as it was last night. But all it takes is one, right, Rick? Watch is in effect from central Kansas, extending down to central parts of Texas. And these will be ongoing through the middle of the night. So tonight's another NOAA weather radio night.

We're particularly concerned about these cells down here into western Oklahoma and these new cells, which are developing off to the east of the area, especially the ones ahead have some potential for rotation. We've got a warning effect in Reagan County, Texas, and also for Seminole County, Oklahoma. Doppler radar indicated a tornado. If we get anything on the ground, we'll bring that to you.

SANCHEZ: We're going to be all over that, Jacqui. And we're going to be hoping to join you many times throughout this newscast so you can explain to us exactly what's going on in this region.

Let's do this right now. Let's go to Kansas, southwest corner, Coyoa and Pratt Counties. That's the area that's been affected. In fact, I think we've got some of those pictures in that area as well.

Ten people were killed. A town -- 1600 people utterly destroyed. And you know what? They can't even think about what to do at this point there because of the insane weather that could still be coming into the region. In other words, they can't deal with what they have to because they've got to start thinking about what could happen if there's another tornado. They don't even know at this point if there's possibly more victims than we told you about.

(BEIGN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. RON KNOEFEL, KANSAS HIGHWAY PATROL: With all the massive amount of rubble that we have, it's going to take quite a period of time before we can make determination of, you know, if there's still anybody within the rubble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's show you this now if we can. I think we've got a shot of Greensburg from the air. There it is. See that? It's almost as if a giant just walked on the town and stomped everything flat. And there's a reason for that. It has to do with width of this particular tornado. Every home, every business, every church, every school. Let's get the ground view now. CNN's Jeff Flock has been following the story. He's there on the ground and has been right in the middle of it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOU TOMLINSON, TORNADO SURVIVOR: That was my favorite shirt.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not anymore.

Lou Tomlinson, 20 plus years in the Marines, Korea, Vietnam.

TOMLINSON: Ricocheted.

FLOCK: Looks like you got one that's -- that one there almost looked like it needed to be closed or something. Jesus.

TOMLINSON: Yes, I don't know.

FLOCK: What was happening? Stuff was plying off your head?

TOMLINSON: Yes, everything from the building was bouncing off my head, I guess. FLOCK: These battle scars are from the Greensburg tornado. What hit you in the eye?

TOMLINSON: I have no idea.

FLOCK: Tomlinson ran from his F-250 truck carrying his two dogs into this convenience store in the center of Greensburg just as the storm hit.

TOMLINSON: Just as I got around the wall, three-quarters of the western side just totally disappeared.

FLOCK: He dropped to the floor, sheltering the dogs under him, as a wall fell on him.

TOMLINSON: Is this the first you've seen of it since you left it?

FLOCK: Yes, this is the first I've seen my truck.

We gave Tomlinson a ride from the shelter where he was staying, back to retrieve what he could from the wreck.

TOMLINSON: Medications.

FLOCK: What he most need was still there.

TOMLINSON: And they're dry.

FLOCK: And they are dry.

But you haven't been taking your medication.

TOMLINSON: I haven't, no, not since Friday, I haven't had any.

FLOCK: It seems time stopped for all of Greensburg on Friday, the moments after the storm hit frozen, a slipper in the debris, string of pearls, a bizarre window blind sculpture. Where buildings stood, there are now seas of bricks. Where there were homes, piles of splintered lumber. We even saw three goats wandering in the debris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unsafe, enter at your own risk, do not occupy.

FLOCK: What hasn't been destroyed likely will soon, so they can start again. And if there was any doubt, Greensburg will be back. Listen to the man who directs Kansas emergency management.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've heard people say, well, you're in the hurricane zone, you know, you shouldn't build there. You know what? This is America, we build where we want to build. We live where we want to live. And we understand the risks. The people live on the coast know that. The people in Kansas know that. We don't like it, but when it happens, we deal with it and we build back.

FLOCK: Back at Lou Tomlinson's truck... TOMLINSON: Maybe they're down here somewhere.

FLOCK: These were your maps, were they?

TOMLINSON: Yes.

FLOCK: We try and help him find his insurance papers. They're gone.

TOMLINSON: The only thing I saved was my two little dogs.

FLOCK: You don't have anything else, but?

TOMLINSON: That's it.

FLOCK: Carrying what he can, the veteran of now three wars heads off to a friend's house and an uncertain future. He is not alone.

I'm Jeff Flock, CNN, in Greensburg, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Now we've been focusing on Greensburg and we'll continue to. But the tornado, as we should note, did not stop there in Greensburg. In fact, there were lot of them.

Here's a look now at another town. This is in Coya County. This is in Bennington, Kansas, by the way, where a woman died after a twister shredded her camper last night. The sheriff says that the storm caused extensive damage and leveled about 30 homes in all. At least it's a little more calm there this hour. We're told no less than 75 tornadoes were spotted on the ground last night. And that's just in Kansas and Oklahoma, by the way.

And here's a look at one of them now. This is a massive tornado that barreled into Sweetwater, Oklahoma last night. Emergency managers spent today trying to assess the damage. There's a lot of it. They say it's going to cost $2 million to repair a local school. No one sure where classes will take place in the morning. And listen to what this woman had to say about realizing for the first time that the storm took everything that she owned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Indescribable. You can prepare yourself all you want. But until you come home, it's gone, it's hard.

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SANCHEZ: Tough to watch. Tough to listen to the people all day long as we've been getting their stories. Any type of cleanup is on hold right now, as we mentioned as we follow the story tonight because again, there's another wave of thunderstorm. It's bearing down on that part of western Oklahoma as well. And we've got Jacqui and crews following that for you should anything happen. But this has really been the clincher over the last 24 hours. This is the video that a lot of people have been talking about. In fact, here, I'm going to let you listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the northeast about 30 miles an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut your door, shut your door, shut your door! OK, go, back up! Back up! We're OK. We're OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are spotters on the ground. Emergency management has trained spotters on the ground. We do not want you to be out looking at the dangerous hazardous storm in this South Ellis County area now, highway 283, that would be (INAUDIBLE) and to the west.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're good. Hold on!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four miles south of 51.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: It is amazing to look at that and then consider - by the way, that's Reed Timmer. He put himself in harm's way to get those pictures. We should let you know stormresearchers at tornadoes.net. They shot that footage there. You see it going through.

I mean, those are trees, by the way, that it's taking out and literally snapping in two or picking up in the air. Look at the cloud. Look how it goes straight up into that funnel cone as they call it.

Jacqui Jeras, let's go to you real quick, because you know what I'm thinking about as I'm watching this, that tornado looks certainly ferocious, but much smaller,much more compact. I was just thinking, imagine this now a mile and a half wide, right? Isn't that what they got hit with in Greensburg?

JERAS: Yes, difficult to believe. You know, even though this is a small tornado doesn't mean that the strength is small, by the way. You can have a pretty small vortex that can cause a lot of damage. But the tornado that hit Greensburg is what we call an EF-5 tornado, the grand daddy of all tornadoes. Winds were estimated at 205 miles an hour. We call it the wedge tornado. So when you see that video like Rick was talking about, it looks like an upside down triangle.

But when you get an EF-5, a wedge tornado on the ground, you cut off basically the bottom half of that triangle You don't see it. It's just a big mile and a half wide.

In fact, I just talked to Dan Mccarthy at the storm predictions center. He's the warning coordination meteorologist there. And he was out at the site today. And he said in rural areas before the storm ever even hit Greenburg, it was as much as two miles wide. The length of the damaged path was 22 miles. Just incredible.

How significant is this really? Well, like I said, it's the top on the scale. The last time we've had an F-5 tornado was May 3rd, 1999, the Moore, Oklahoma tornado. And I'm sure you remember that one that was just incredibly devastating. So it's been more than eight years.

Since 1950, 51 reports of F-5 tornadoes ever. So it is an extremely rare occurrence. I want to give you an idea of what kind of damage and EF-5 can do. This is from Greensburg. This is a picture of a very well built brick constructed drugstore. This is what it looked like Friday morning.

Now look at these pictures. You can't even see some of the buildings that were adjacent to it. So it can just level very well constructed homes. It can wipe a house completely off the foundation.

Also another big thing, Rick, about yesterday was the sheer number of tornadoes. I don't know if you can see this from the XPC, but 93. That's preliminary numbers, but that is a big, big day. On a two-day event, maybe on a big outbreak, you'll see 50 to 60 tornadoes. From Friday to Saturday, we had reports of 125.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and you're right. That's the real test. It's one thing to take down a wood frame home. It's quite another to take down a brick building.

JERAS: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: Big difference in that. Jacqui, thanks so much.

This bears repeating. We'll continue to check in with Jacqui throughout this entire newscast. We know that there's severe weather in the Plain states. So every time we get a chance to update you on it, we'll take you there and give you the very latest.

Meanwhile, he's one of the richest men in America. And he's looking for a replacement. Any takers? Do you have what it takes to fill Warren Buffett's shoes? Not kidding here. He's actually seeking his own American idol and giving advice.

Then some call him the most qualified person to work in the Oval Office. Some would say he has the pedigree, but is it really going to happen for Bill Richardson? He's in our Sunday spotlight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I just heard the plane coming in. And we turned around and we saw it hit the top of the trees and then took the chimney off our house.

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SANCHEZ: First though, it's an unexpected visitor literally dropping in on a man's house. And we'll tell you how this happened and what happened to the pilot. It's all next right here. Stay with us. You're in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And here we go. We welcome you back. This is the incoming area, where we've got a lot of video, hot videos, hot stories that come in through the weekend. Got a couple of them lined up for you.

First of all, this person that you're about to see walking out of this hotel right now is the pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. That is Julio Matteo. Police say after his game against the Yankees last night, went back to his hotel, and he beat up his wife. In fact, they say she has five stitches across her face. That is why he's been suspended. And that's also why he's being charged there with assault on his wife.

We also have this story. Look at this video. You'll see in a little bit the pilot, you see him right there, he's being taken away. He was obviously injured in this unbelievable story. He crashed his plane right into the roof of this house, leaving a hole there next to the chimney. Thank goodness, there was no one home at the time. No one hurt other than the pilot. We'll be checking on his condition. We're told he was taken to the hospital. And he is still there.

Also, this story. This one's coming out of Ohio, by the way. It's a man who's driving his car down the highway, when suddenly, he thinks he's going to be able to get his wife to the hospital, but uh- oh, not in time. Baby wanted to come out. And baby did just that. In fact, two things. First I want to let you hear the 911 call. And then I'm going to let you hear an interview they did with the mother at the hospital shortly afterwards. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT: Boy, I hope someone is coming soon.

DISPATCHER: They have been dispatched.

MATT: I'm not too good with this. I might pass out myself.

DISPATCHER: OK, well, don't pass out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was screaming at Matt, telling him you got to hurry, you have to hurry. And then the next thing you know, I told him my water broke. He called 911. We pulled over and this little man decided to pop out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Mom and baby and dad are doing just fine, we understand because when the baby says it's time, it's time. Bill Richardson wants to be the next president of the United States. He also says he's the most qualified. Why? Because he says he's talked to Saddam Hussein, he's talked to the Taliban, he's been to North Korea and talked to them as well. We'll talk to him when we come back right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We welcome you back to the CNN NEWSROOM. Obviously, this is always one of the most important stories of the day. And it's the fight for Iraq.

It claimed the lives of 12 American troops and dozens of Iraqi civilians in the past 72 hours.

The most brazen attack happened today in Samarra. That's just north of Baghdad, by the way. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a police headquarters. 12 officers were killed, including Samarra's police chief.

In Baghdad, a car bomb destroyed an outdoor market. It killed 33 people, wounded twice that many, by the way. And also, six U.S. soldiers died when a roadside bomb went off northeast of Baghdad.

Let's take you now to Boise, Idaho. About 200 airmen and officers in the Idaho Air National Guard's 124th wing. They left today on the wing's second combat tour in Iraq, replacing an air guard unit from North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. RICH JOHNSON, IDAHO NATIONAL GUARD: This time, it's another normal rotation that we do periodically, if you look based on 120 months rotation.

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SANCHEZ: These men and women fly and maintain the A-10 thunder bolt. We're told to expect to be - we're told that they will probably be relieved in about oh, four months. And we certainly wish them well.

Blogs, those online diaries, too many to count. Tonight, military members blogging from the world's war scone zones are dealing with tough new regulation. It's tightening the rules on how they post.

Now this is a gathering of military bloggers, in fact, this weekend near Washington. The new regulation requires service members to let their commanders know that they're putting information in a public forum. Well, the Pentagon says it's not meant to restrict free speech, but to protect operational security. Most bloggers say that they're skeptical about that. We'll be keeping an eye on it, by the way.

Tornado threats still there. We're going to be taking you back to the Plain states to get the very latest, both from the scene there on the ground and from Jacqui as well if anything changes.

And this story, Warren Buffett, when he talks, certainly people listen, right?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUFFETT: There are some out there that are looking for my job. And I just hope they don't get it too soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You heard him. But could you replace him? Literally looking for it. Find out next. More on that.

Then, an American jailed for murder in Central America. I've been following this explosive story. And this week, I finally I got talk to the man himself. You're going to hear what he says later in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rick Sanchez.

By now, you're probably used to hearing about rising gas prices. You don't want to hear it, but here it is. Well, you probably haven't heard anything like this, in fact. The price of gas has hit a new record high in the United States. Here it is, no drum roll. $3.07. That's according to the Lundburg Survey that tracks the industry. That's the average, mind you. I know that there's a lot of folks in the western states and in the Northeast that are paying a lot more than that.

Been there. Lundburg blames problems at oil refineries worldwide. Some are doing scheduled maintenance, but others suffered accidents that limited production or shut them down completely, at least that's the reason they're giving. Also, Americans are driving more in the warmer weather they say. And they say that is boosting demand.

And then there are those places you just have to go, like Omaha, Nebraska. And that's where Berkshire Hathaway held its annual shareholders meeting this weekend. And one of the world's richest men was ready to talk about everything, including his own exit strategy. Here is CNN's Susan Lisovicz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He is a ukulele playing billionaire. And he's not ashamed to dance among crew. But for the throngs following Warren Buffett's every move, the annual pilgrimage to Omaha, Nebraska is about hearing the investment guru talk. From the decline in home prices

BUFFETT: Housing is sick and housing will stay stick for quite a while.

LISOVICZ: To rising gas prices in the U.S.

BUFFETT: And gasoline here, of course, is still cheap compared to the cost around the world.

LISOVICZ: And on the bull market that has taken the Dow to over 13,000.

BUFFETT: Get 5.4 percent of gain per year, the Dow will have to end this century at $2 million. So you better get used to announcing your little milestones...

LISOVICZ: Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, long known as a Woodstock for capitalists, drew nearly 30,000 shareholders whose wealth owes much to oracle of Omaha.

A $1,000 investment in Berkshire back in 1965 when Buffett first took over the company is now worth more than $7 million. Berkshire Hathaway doesn't make anything, but it does own more than 70 companies that sell everything from cowboy boots and motor homes, to ice cream, and auto insurance.

(on camera): And all those brands in Warren Buffett's portfolio are not only on display at the annual meeting, they're for sale, transforming Berkshire shareholders into Berkshire consumers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of like you recirculate the money into your own pocket through your shares.

LISOVICZ: But this year, even a man universally acclaimed for his stock picking and his ethics is under fire. Some shareholders want Buffett to divest shares in a Chinese oil company whose parent does business with the government of Sudan.

BUFFETT: There is zero connection between our investment in Petro China and what is happening in the Sudan.

LISOVICZ: The 76-year old Buffett, who last year pledged the bulk of his $44 billion fortune to charity, recently said he was looking for a new chief investment officer to replace him. And there has been no shortage of candidates.

MOHNISH PABRAI, SHAREHOLDER: If he asked me to sweep the floors, I'd be happy to do that. If he asks me to - you know, take the trash out, I'll be happy to do that.

LISOVICZ: Buffett, ever the populist, says it's the search is going to be modeled after "American Idol."

Are you the Simon Cowell or the Paula Abdul?

BUFFETT: People think I'm a little more like Simon, I think.

LISOVICZ: And when he picks Berkshire's next idol, Buffet can look forward to spending a little more downtime.

BUFFETT: Oh, this is wonderful. LISOVICZ: Susan Lisovicz, CNN, Omaha, Nebraska.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Also coming up, take a look at this. It's a green license plate for sexual predators. Several states want to make it happen. We're going to debate it right here live for you. What do you think?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL RICHARDSON: I've got executive experience that I believe no other candidate has.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That's Bill Richardson, running for president. He's our Sunday spotlight next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Did you kill Doris Jimenez?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: An American jailed in the brutal killing of a Nicaraguan woman. And that's actually me asking him the question in prison. Finally got to talk to him. Hear his answer, coming up from the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: If you want to be president of the United States, you have got to come to our "Sunday Spotlight." Another man who wants to be the next president of the United States is doing just that. He is a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a former energy secretary and currently the governor of the State of New Mexico. If he wins the White House, he would also be the first Hispanic-American president. He is Bill Richardson. And he believes he's also the most qualified. Here's why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: When you say you're the most qualified, sell us on that.

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I have got the most foreign policy experience. I've been an ambassador, I've negotiated with foreign country, I've dealt with the North Koreans, Iraq. I was secretary of energy. I traveled the world to try to lower energy prices. I know foreign policy well. I've negotiated as ambassador to the United Nations.

SANCHEZ: In fact, you've negotiated with Saddam Hussein directly. RICHARDSON: That's right. I got -- 10 years ago, I got two American hostages out. I know the region well. I know the Middle East. I know the Persian Gulf. And I've also been a governor. I know how to manage. I run a state. I created jobs, I made schools better. I have got executive experience that I believe no other candidate has.

SANCHEZ: Well, you know, it's interesting because you're talking about sitting face to face with Saddam Hussein, sitting face to face with the Taliban, with the North Koreans. Certainly a daunting task. If you were able to do that, would you argue we should be doing the same thing right now with the Iranians, with Ahmadinejad, with the Syrians?

RICHARDSON: I would talk to the Syrians directly. I would talk to Iran directly. I would not to Ahmadinejad. He seems to be a little irrational. I would look to moderate clerics. I would look to foreign ministry types. I would start talking to the people of your Iran, to students, to business groups.

SANCHEZ: But do you worry that the moderates in Iran have been somewhat cloistered by our actions and by our words about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, essentially making him bigger in his own country, as some foreign policy experts have argued?

RICHARDSON: Well, yes. I do believe that threatening Iran and saying we have military contingency plans is not the way to get him to the bargaining table. We don't want Iran to have nuclear weapons. We want them to start (ph) messing in Iraq as they're do -- with terrorists. They are a major energy power.

I believe we need talk to them in a tough way, find common ground. I believe if we're looking at the Israel-Palestinian issue, trying to resolve it, you have got to engage Syria and Iran. If you are trying to resolve the Iraq situation, Iran is a big part of the problem with some of the funding to some of the terrorist groups.

I believe you need a comprehensive approach to the Persian Gulf and the Middle East and Iraq. You can't just isolate Iraq and deal with it just with the religious groups in Iraq. You have got to find their funders, those that are giving them terrorist assistance.

SANCHEZ: All right. Let's move on to Iraq to then. The Democrats and the Republicans have been having a tough time trying to figure this one out. What do you think should happen in Iraq and at which point, if at all, do we start thinking about setting up a quote "timetable" to get the troops out?

RICHARDSON: Well, I would set it, Rick, right now. I would say the troops out by the end of the calendar year, no residual troops. But I would accompany that with diplomacy. I would say there has got to be a reconciliation of the three religious entities sharing a power, that there has got to be an all-Muslim peacekeeping force.

SANCHEZ: Well, how do you do that with people who can't stand each other? RICHARDSON: You get them in a room and use say the leverage of the withdrawal, and you use American leadership, Rick. You use American diplomacy, the strength of our nation, I believe, can bring people together. We haven't been practicing diplomacy in Iraq. Every solution is military. There is no military solution, it's a political solution.

SANCHEZ: Let's move on to immigration now, because it is certainly something that affects you as an Hispanic-American. As an Hispanic-American right now, do you believe that given the sentiment in this country, which seems to be tilting towards anti-immigration, that being Hispanic helps you or hurts you?

RICHARDSON: Well, it helps me in primary states, Rick, because there's a huge primary votes in very important early states. But I suspect in a general election, I can just see Republican Party members saying, here's a Hispanic governor, he's the nominee, he's from a border state. He's going to open up the border. I would not do that. I would increase security at the border, Border Patrol. But I wouldn't have this silly wall that Congress wants to construct.

SANCHEZ: Why not?

RICHARDSON: Because it's not going to work. First of all, they didn't fund it. Secondly, it's a terrible symbol for America, a wall? Remember what Ronald Reagan said, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall. That's not America. What I believe is needed is, yes, more border security. Yes, more Border Patrol agents. Yes, more technology.

But I believe you have to attack the problem. I would also say to Mexico, hey, you have got to do something. You're not doing hardly anything to deter your people from coming here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Governor and presidential candidate contender, Bill Richardson in our "Sunday Spotlight." And each Sunday we will spotlight a different newsmaker. Most Sundays we talk to people who are running for the presidency.

Well, should child molesters have specialized license plates? I want you to look at this. You see that right there? Some lawmakers say that's the way to keep your children safe. Others say it is just a gimmick. The key is the color green, because that means they're a sexual offender, convicted. There is going to be live debate coming up. It is straight ahead.

Then, of course, Jacqui is still tracking some of that really severe weather that we have been following for you. What's going on, Jacqui? Anything happening out there?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We just got a new tornado watch that was issued for eastern parts of Kansas and Oklahoma, and just a sliver of western Missouri. We'll have the latest on the severe storms plus your I-Report. Let's show you one right now. This is from Brent Lacy (ph). He is from Amarillo, Texas, but drove up to the north into Sweetwater, Oklahoma, where a tornado touched down and destroyed this house that you are looking at, also damaged a high school. We will look at more I-Reports in your forecast coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

And we welcome you back. This is the face of one of America's most wanted. He is now captured. Forty-four-year-old Kenneth Freeman (ph) from Seattle is accused of raping his daughter, making a video of it and posting it on the Internet. Hong Kong authorities arrested him last week after 13 months on the run. He fled the U.S. last year, months after his 17-year-old daughter said that he had assaulted her four years earlier. Wow.

In Michigan, another alleged child molester is behind bars. Police say this man, Timothy Jeffrey, took a sleeping 8-year-old girl from her home and molested her on a rooftop patio just a few blocks away. Now there was an officer who came upon them and was able to bust him on the scene. I had a chance to talk to him just a couple of hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. SEAN HOYDIC, SOUTH LYON POLICE DEPT.: I told him to get up off the couch and I had to order him to pull his pants up. And...

SANCHEZ: Oh, my goodness.

HOYDIC: ... walked backwards towards me and interlace his fingers, hands atop of the head. And when I went to handcuff him, that's when the fight ensued. He rushed me and tried to push me backwards towards the ledge of the rooftop, and to avoid going off the ledge with him, I went down to the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The bottom line is he caught him in the act and had him arrested. After the fight, Jeffrey was in fact charged. Tonight, he's being held on $5 million bond.

There is no question, it's stories like that that make all of us who are parents --makes our skin crawl a little bit, doesn't it? What can we possibly do about it? Well, there are some people are thinking about that.

Lawmakers in three states now want to force molesters to put a lime green license plate on their car so that everyone who sees them driving down the road can look at them and say, there goes a child molester, a child abuser, and spot them immediately. Interesting idea but controversial. Joining us tonight, Wisconsin state representative Joel Kleefisch who sponsored the bill in the state.

Thank you so much for being with us, Mr. Kleefisch.

Also with us, one of his main critics, fellow lawmaker Mark Pocan. He has also been looking into this bill.

Did I get your last name -- is it POcan or PoCAN?

MARK POCAN (D), WISCONSIN STATE ASSEMBLY: POcan.

SANCHEZ: POcan. Thank you. Well, since I got your name right now, let me start with you. Why not? What is wrong with this idea?

POCAN: Sure. Well, let me say right off the bat, there is no type of crime that is probably more universally disgusting to the general public than sex crimes. But having said that, we should be very serious about what we're doing to provide real public safety. If instead we provide a sort of bumper sticker solution, or in this case, a license plate solution, that sounds good on the surface but does really nothing to protect the public and actually has a lot of negative unintended consequences.

SANCHEZ: But why do you say it does nothing to protect the public? I mean, isn't being able to actually spot and target a sexual offender half the battle?

POCAN: Well, there are a lot of studies in the last few years. And I've been on corrections for eight-and-a-half of my 10-and-a-half years in the legislature. That we can now identify the people who are most likely to have recidivism that we should be putting what the corrections...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Well, how -- wait a minute, wait a minute. How much more can you identify than someone who has already done it? I mean...

POCAN: The problem is, Rick, it's too universal. We can provide what the correction officials want, which is lie detector tests, extra supervision, in some case GPS for the people that we really have to supervise. But to take a shotgun approach and say, we're going to put this license plate on and in some cases have vigilantism, in some cases we're going to encourage offenders not to drive. And if they don't drive and don't have a job, we know that is one of the most likely things that is going to make you have recidivism, it really doesn't provide a solution.

SANCHEZ: Got it. Joe Kleefisch, let me bring you in.

JOE KLEEFISCH (R), WISCONSIN STATE ASSEMBLY: This sounds like a whole lot of apologizing for the person who has committed the sexual offense in the first place. Let's be honest. Forever child sexual predators have been watching our children. It's about time we have an opportunity to watch them back.

This is one tool, it will be used against the worst child predators who have been convicted of raping an 11-year-old or younger. They're going to be on Wisconsin's GPS tracking system. And it gives parents and community members a tool to say this person is a dangerous, serious sex offender... SANCHEZ: Well, why don't we try -- hold on. Just -- I'm sure the viewer has questions so let me try and get him in there before we run out of time. What are we tracking, them or their vehicle?

KLEEFISCH: Well, you know what, sex offenders and child sex predators work under the condition of anonymity. We know who they are, they are on sex offender registries. We know where they live. We know what they look like. We do not know who they are when they leave their homes and they are in their cars.

SANCHEZ: So you're saying what? Put some kind of device on them that they have to wear or just their car?

KLEEFISCH: That's right. Wisconsin passed one of the most serious child predator tracking bills in the nation. We are already putting GPS tracking on the worst sex offenders who are out of prison. This says that they will also have to have this license plate.

SANCHEZ: Got it.

KLEEFISCH: And they show up at a park, and you're there with your son or daughter, and you know that's not somebody I want to be around at the park.

SANCHEZ: Mr. Pocan, you say what? It is in defiance of what, their civil liberties, their privacy?

POCAN: We keep doing solutions like this. In Wisconsin, not only are you on a sex registry, but every minute a GPS knows where you are at in this state. And to say that this is an extra protection when in reality there's no corrections professional who will say, if you want to make the public safe, let's give people icky license plates.

(CROSSTALK)

POCAN: ... want real resources and I can't get the real resources we need to take care or those offenders.

KLEEFISCH: ... his true colors coming out.

SANCHEZ: You're saying it is just not going to work. I got it. We thank you both for your arguments, you have presented both points of views and quite well in fact. Joel Kleefisch and Mark Pocan, thanks for both being with us.

We are following any developments out of the weather -- severe weather situation that we have been telling you about across the Plains states.

Also, we have got this for you, an American is tried and convicted in the brutal murder of a Nicaraguan woman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Did you kill Doris Jimenez (ph)? (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: His answer. We have been following the story here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Finally got a chance to catch up with Eric Voles (ph). He talks to us from inside his Nicaraguan prison. It was not easy. We will bring it to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Rick Sanchez back here in B Control now because we understand we might be able to hook up with John Roberts. John, obviously going to be hosting "AMERICAN MORNING" and he is going to be doing so now from Greensburg, out in Kansas where there has been these horrendous tornadoes that we've been telling you about. This might be a little iffy because he's using BGAN, which is a new technology that we work with here at CNN. And it is raining there, which might put a hamper on things.

John, can you hear me? John Roberts, Rick Sanchez, can you hear me?

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Hey, Rick, how are you? You're right. There is still -- I can hear you, Rick. There is still a lot of thunderstorm activity in the area, as you said, a lot of heavy water continuing to roll through. We got into Wichita tonight at about 6:00 and drove out here to where tornado warnings in a couple of towns, one by the name of Inman.

Tornado sirens, apparently, according to some local reports went out there. And they have closed down the town of Greensburg now for the night. Curfew that went into place at 9:00. The searchers are going to continue looking through the rubble of these homes until about midnight, then they will knock it off and come back at first light.

But it really is extraordinary. When you drive up across and you see the amount of open territory, the fact that this F-5 tornado, with winds of 205 miles an hour could just zero in on this town, almost like it looked at it and said, that's exactly where I want to go.

The tornado itself was up to a little more than mile-and-a-half wide, a path of destruction some 22 miles long. And think of this, you're in the basement of your home or you're huddled in an archway or something trying to make yourself as safe as possible, and it took 15 to 20 minutes, Rick, for this storm to make its path of destruction all the way through Greensburg. Just incredible the amount of destruction and devastation.

There literally were only a handful of structures that escaped this storm. And for a storm to wipe out a town like this is something that we rarely see but we saw here in Greensburg.

SANCHEZ: John Roberts, just really getting to the scene. He's going to be prepping for really coverage throughout the night and then bring you the very latest on "AMERICAN MORNING," of course, right here with his co-host, Kiran Chetry, weekdays starting at 6:00 Eastern. That's great of John to be able to hustle out there and bring us that report as you soon as he hit the ground running, as he usually does.

Another story that we have been following for you. You've been watching on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" is the Nicaraguan -- or pardon me, the American in Nicaragua who is a prison, convicted of rape and murder, sentenced to 30 years. We investigated this story and found it is almost impossible for him to have done it.

We finally get a chance to talk to him. And you'll hear that interview when we come back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right. Let's bring you an update now on the story of Eric Volz, he is American citizen serving a 30-year sentence in a Nicaraguan prison, convicted in the murder of his ex-girlfriend. I traveled to Nicaragua to try to get to the bottom of Volz's story I investigated. And during my visit, I was denied visitation even though I had a court order signed by a judge.

Voles is in a maximum security prison where he shares a single cell phone with about 90 other inmates for just a three-hour period one day a week. When he finally got his turn, I got mine. And we talked.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Did you kill Doris Jimenez?

ERIC VOLZ, JAILED AMERICAN: No. Absolutely not.

SANCHEZ: Why weren't you able to prove that?

VOLZ: I did prove that. Many times, several times. If anybody doubts it, it's because they just haven't had access to the right information.

SANCHEZ: Do you believe that there was a vendetta against you and that the courts have put you in prison unnecessarily?

VOLZ: The judge found me guilty because she was scared of losing her job, it was a realistic threat. I mean, there was another judge who had previously ruled in my favor by giving me house arrest and he lost his job.

So I wouldn't call it a vendetta. I think it was definitely a result of public pressure and her not feeling protected or insulated enough by her superiors.

SANCHEZ: Are you confident that you could be able to win on appeal?

VOLZ: You know, sometimes. You know, there are only a few people that really understand what I'm up against here. And you know, again, sometimes I feel good and sometimes it's hard to feel good. I mean, I'm still in prison. I know there's a lot of support out there for me. SANCHEZ: What if you have to spend many, many years in prison, are you prepared to do that?

VOLZ: No. There's no way I will accept anything except complete liberty and absolution of the sentence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: I talked to as many as five of 10 witness who say he couldn't have done it because he wasn't there. Volz has appealed his sentence. His fate now lies in the hands of a three-judge panel in Nicaragua. They have the option to set him free, grant him a new trial or uphold his conviction and his 30-year sentence. And you can certainly expect an update on this story and get more of it on my reporting as well on week nights on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." We will have it for you.

Well, when come back, we are going to check with Jacqui Jeras, get an update on what is going on the Plains states. She is in the severe weather center. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

SANCHEZ: By the way, this, final note, I spent much of this week in Camp Pendleton preparing a special that we're going to bring you this Memorial Day about the brave men and women who have given their lives in Iraq. Don't let anybody tell you, by the way, that it's only the desperate and the destitute who can find no other jobs who go into the military and end up in Iraq. You're going to see just how wrong that is when you hear the story of the fallen who could have been doctors or writers but they chose to fly helicopter rescue missions.

Well, this week, in an early symbolic reminder of how much we're losing, there is this. In its current format, the memorial place on Capitol Hill's Rayburn Building is to honor the fighting men and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. It can only hold, though, another 130 names.

Guess what? Since November, there have 500 who have died. We're literally running out of room on the monument in Washington.

I'm Rick Sanchez, now stay tuned for CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT report, "James Brown: The Real Story." And thanks for being with us.

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