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Downtown Atlanta Hit By Tornado; Sptizer's Problems Continue

Aired March 15, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. With daylight comes reality. Atlanta has a big mess to clean up after the storm. At least one apparent tornado ripped through the heart of this city. Take a look. This is what rescue crews have to sort through. This storm demolished buildings. Trees crashed through roofs and crushed cars. Still no word on deaths but dozens was injured.
Hello everyone, welcome to the NEWSROOM we've got a lot to cover for you throughout the metropolitan Atlanta area, something that very few have been able to see or witness in downtown Atlanta. For the first time it is believed that a tornado has touched down causing extensive damage in down town Atlanta. Chad Myers is in the Weather Center to keep a close watch on what happened and what could happen again.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. We have tornadoes on the ground right now, Fredricka. The tornado last night was an F2, over 120 miles per hour. We are worried about right now is Cartersville and Redtop Mountain area. This is actually north of Atlanta by about 40 miles or so. And there are more storms that will hit Atlanta later. But this storm as we move around, we will zoom in a little bit. We will give you a couple different versions of what this is going to be.

We will see the rotation near Cartersville, Red Top Mountain and eventually Lake Altoona and that tornado will be over the Lake Altoona area in the next ten minutes. For right now, there will be more rotation, more confirmed tornadoes near Aragon we had a confirmed tornado. Just to the north of Taylorsville. No reports of confirmation yet near Cartersville or Emerson. I am sure we will get that because that storm was rotating violently over Cartersville.

We are talking about the coming and the going of the colors. When you see two colors clash, it is called a couplet. That couplet is where one rain shower is going this way and the other rain shower is going this way. That can't happen unless there is something rotating. It has just moved right over I-75. Now, we are into the Emerson area. This is almost like Altoona landing area. We will get across toward 575. This is a major storm system for this area with rotation and damage already reported with tornadoes with this storm on the ground.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: What's interesting here too, Chad, is that while this area has seen tornadoes before, we have seen them twice within the past twelve years, that's how long I have been here in Atlanta and experienced that, to see it happen in the downtown area, which is very condensed, this is why we are seeing the kind of damage that is fairly widespread.

MYERS: It is. The deal is when you get this population density, whether it is Dallas or Oklahoma City or Memphis, you think about how much room out here there is to miss. There is all this area around Dallas, and, yes, people live here but there is a huge area between Cartersville and Dallas with only a few homes. The tornado doesn't know that Atlanta is there. It has no idea that Atlanta is going to get in the way. This storm was rotating over Rome, Georgia, which is well north, coming down the interstate over Smyrna, which is a northwest suburb of Atlanta and then right into the downtown area, it spun very quickly over the downtown area and the tornado was on the ground there from about the Georgia Dome right across to a little place called Cabbage Town.

What we are worried about now; there are a lot of windows that are broken that are barely hanging by the shreds of the caulk surrounding the windows up in downtown. Here are the big trees into that Cabbage Town area, basically in disrepair a few years ago, the housing prices have escalating. This type of damage demolishing at least 20 of these homes. We know now from the confirmation from the National Weather Service, this was an f-2 tornado, winds over 120 miles per hour.

Right through here is where that tornado went, right through downtown Atlanta. Here is where the storm is now, well to the north of where we were talking about yesterday. There are more cells developing here that will move into Atlanta later tonight.

WHITFIELD: When you define what an F2 means, 120, 130 miles per hour miles per hour winds. We can kind of understand what we are seeing. What preceded this too, I mean we had a lot of lightning, heavy rainfall and a lot of hail.

MYERS: There was a lot of lightning. That is very indicative of a tornado. When the tornado is spinning and sheering apart, you get lightning bolts. There was 150 lightning strikes in a couple of minutes with that storm. We do have or did, I will say, had a wind meter on top of the CNN Center at 118 miles per hour yesterday, it is now broke off. A 118 on top of our building. When we looked at the damage around the CNN Center, we knew that windows were blown out on the west side of the buildings, on the east side, on the south side of the buildings. We talk about these straight line winds. That happens when you just knock down trees in one direction. When you blow out windows on one side of a building, obviously, the storm is spinning.

WHITFIELD: Chad thank you so much. We are going to check back with you. Let's take a closer look at the damage we are talking about, what these winds can do and actually did. Historic neighborhood near downtown Atlanta was especially hard hit. CNN's Cal Perry reports from Cabbage Town, the community in Atlanta where at lest 20 homes are in ruins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): I was at a local restaurant called the Albert on Friday night with a couple friends watching the basketball games. A friend of mine that just had a baby; Ann called and said there were tornado warnings. She is from Minnesota and didn't know what to do. I told her, tornadoes don't happen in downtown Atlanta. Go figure.

Anyways, I was going to head over to her house to make sure she was all right. Cutting through Cabbage Town, I realized my house was actually hit. I really panicked, because my dog was here. My wife was out of town, thank god. When I came here, I could see the front of the house was all blown away. I thought my neighbor's house was really bad and just started doing a walk-through and couldn't get out my back door. So I couldn't assess the damage until today.

CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Talk about the damage inside of the house.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Mostly wind damage and my neighbor's chimney went right through our guest bedroom and from that it just blew all the furniture aside. We have got water damage in a couple of the bedrooms and from where the chimneys went through the roof. You can probably see where the storm went. We got lucky. Our neighbors got hit head on. The tree went left of our house. It would have gone right through our kitchen and our main dining room. We got lucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: This perhaps couldn't have happened at a worse time. Because downtown Atlanta was thick with people in town for various big events. Rusty Dornin explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Out of nowhere, the roar, ripping steel off roofs and demolishing a four-story condominium, the historic Cotton Mill Complex.

CHIEF KELVIN COCHRAN, ATLANTA FIRE RESCUE: It actually collapsed in what we refer to as a pancake fashion. We have not ascertained whether all the occupants were evacuated.

DORNIN: Nearby, Atlanta police said 20 houses were destroyed. The late-evening tornado blasted a downtown with thousands at a dental convention and the SCC Basketball Tournament. The game was exciting enough, Alabama versus Mississippi State in overtime. And then the tornado. Kath and Stephanie Pitts said it sounded like a heard herd of elephants.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): People started pointing and you could see holes.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): The whole roof was shaking, like there was someone jumping on the top of the dome.

DORNIN: Bill Logo (ph) was in the Omni Hotel lounge watching the game on TV right next to the window.

BILL LOGO (ph): All of the sudden, the plants starting flying across the room. The windows started breaking. We ran for the interior portion and got on the floor. DORNIN: Most of the people in the area, the hotel guests, had no idea what was happening. When it hit the windows, they were literally sucked out. After one unlucky guest ended up on the street.

Hotel guests had to be evacuated. Marty Weigh (ph) and his wife Terry saw the tornado hit the Georgia Dome from their room.

MARTY WEIGH (ph): We saw pieces of the roofing coming off in a circular fashion. Right after that, all of the windows blew in. We have a patio door that looked out on those windows. That blew in.

DORNIN: Darlene Masad (ph) was in a bus parked in front of CNN Center.

DARLENE MASAD (ph): The hail started coming and then all kinds of trash and glass started coming. This lady said, honey, this is a tornado.

DORNIN: Did that reassure you?

MASAD (ph): I said what?

DORNIN: At Georgia State University, a high-rise dorm was evacuated after a gaping hole was torn in the 14th floor.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): A huge wind for a minute. We are all crowded around the windows and looking and watching the lights and a parking sign fall over.

DORNIN: Rescue efforts went on through the night in devastated neighborhoods as a stunned Atlanta dealt with what was unimaginable, a tornado in the heart of downtown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Just about an hour and a half ago, city officials and experts made it very clear, assessing what kind of weather system swept through downtown Atlanta. Here was the National Weather Service moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANS ROTHFUSZ, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: This is all preliminary. We are still in the process of gathering all the statistics and evidence that we have got from the damage survey. This was clearly a tornado. We are going to be ranking it as F2 tornado, up to 130 miles per hour winds at its worst. The path link was about six miles long. There were spots where it went down and came back up again, but for the duration of the tornado, it was about six miles long, an F2, 130 mile an hour winds at its strongest. About 200 yards wide, at it's widest.

The beginning place was on the order of Simpson and Burbank and went right across Georgia World Congress Center, right over CNN Center, Omni, right over the Equitable Tower and then from that point on went to I-85 and I-75 right at Edgewood and into the cotton mill. The cotton mill sustained the F2 damage quite by far the strongest. Although there was some near F2 damage in the downtown area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We will have much more on the southeast storms later on in the NEWSROOM. Meantime now to the stormy world of politics. Barack Obama addresses controversial comments made by his former pastor. We will get a live report from Pennsylvania as Hillary Clinton looks for votes and celebrates the wearing of the green. Stay tune "Ballot Bowl" begins at 2:00 pm Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Take a look. This is downtown Atlanta, all because of an f-2 tornado, that has been confirmed now, winds of up to 130 miles per hour, whipped through the downtown area last night and this is the results a lot of structural damage.

Fortunately, no reports of serious injuries or deaths. That is great news. Chad Myers is keeping a close watch on this to explain what happened. We are entering that spring, tornado alley, tornado trouble.

MYERS: I walked outside last night. It was foggy. We didn't get warning on this storm. People weren't really prepared. We didn't get the sirens going early enough, I don't think. Tornado watch till 7:00 tonight. New tornado warning here including Canton. The storm for a while when it got east of Emerson, that's when the storm lost a little bit of intensity. It is getting more intensity back. Anywhere in this pink box here that is where you want to be taking cover.

What does taking cover mean; taking cover does not mean finding a room on the third floor of your house if you have a three-story house that doesn't have a window. I want you to find the lowest level room, because you saw what happened to the lofts. Fred, do you remember those lofts?

WHITFIELD: Yes. I had a friend who lived in those lofts.

MYERS: Do you remember when it was being built what happened?

WHITFIELD: Yes, the fire. It seems like lightning strikes twice.

MYERS: That was the building the crane operator was stuck in the crane while the building was on fire below him. A helicopter came and picked him out of that crane. That was almost ten years ago. Now, they are having problems again.

I want you to be careful as we get into the I-5/75 area as the storm moves across the northern tier of Atlanta. Here is Atlanta proper. We are still talking 30 miles from where the damage is now. We are not seeing storms get anywhere near Atlanta. When we do, the winds are going to pick up. These pieces of glass that literally are hanging by a thread in all of these hotels are going to start to move and those pieces of glass are going to start to fall again, rain down on those people trying to clean up in the first place.

Look, when the wind starts to pick up, you need to get out of there and get out of that cleanup mode and just get inside. Everybody out there is wearing hard hats. That's what you need. We need this was a tornado before it was confirmed. Windows on the 70th floor of the Westin and other buildings were blown out. You can't get straight line winds to blow out one window here and one window there. This is was a storm that picked up debris, swirled with the debris and threw that debris into windows and broke those windows.

That is what we have now for you with in Atlanta. So far, if we can keep these storms away, the cleanup will go better and a lot safer.

WHITFIELD: What, if not a tornado, shaves the corner of a brick building off as we saw in the cotton mill?

MYERS: There were a couple of buildings down by Ted's Original Montana Grill that were flattened an all the bricks were just thrown on to the cars below. The only real saving grace about last night was that people were still in the basketball game. The basketball game was in overtime. If those people were out there with all that glass moving around, we would have hundreds of injuries, if not more.

WHITFIELD: Chad we will check back with you with in the hour, thanks so much.

On to the storm of politics now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMIAH WRIGHT, RETIRED PASTOR: Hillary never had a cab go past her and not pick her up because her skin was the wrong color. Hillary was not a black boy raised in a single parent home, Barack was. Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich, white people. Hillary ain't never been called a [ bleep ].

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Up until a few months ago, that man was Barack Obama's pastor. Right now, retired Minister Jeremiah Wright is off the Obama campaign and drawing a strong rebuke from his friend of 20 years. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux with the Obama campaign today in Plainfield, Indiana. How much or is Senator Obama trying to distance himself from his former pastor?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, this is the most challenging and frustrating time for the Obama campaign. I have spoken to numerous Obama campaign insiders who say that they hope they have addressed this and they have moved on. There really is a balancing act here. On the one hand, Obama says that this is somebody whom he has had a relationship with for nearly 20 years. He is a former marine and a biblical scholar and he is somebody is very well-respected in the religious community as well as the nationally black community.

This is a man who officiated at his wedding and baptized his two daughters and brought him to Christ. The select passages that we see on the Internet as well as on television do raise some questions about his values, about faith and about his relationship to his pastor. Obama looked at this and said, these are the kinds of sermons and comments that he had never seen, that he had never heard when he was there sitting on those Sunday services. He repudiated those specific criticisms, those controversial remarks. He did say as well if he had heard such a thing and he heard it repeatedly that he would have left the church. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What is undeniable is that these are a series of statements that I can't object to strongly enough. Had I heard those in the church, I would have told Reverend Wright that I profoundly disagreed with them. They didn't reflect my values and they didn't reflect my ideals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Fred, this became an issue a year ago when he first decided he was going to run for president, for the nomination of president. He was made aware of some of these comments. He was asked why he didn't leave the church at that point. He said this was someone who was on the verge of retiring, of leaving in the first place. He wasn't aware of the broad scope of some of the criticisms that he has made, that it wasn't really worth of. This is a church that he has been part, it is a congregation, and he has very deep roots, some 6,000 folks whom he worships with. They didn't see this as so much of an issue.

He also says that he certainly hopes that this is not going to be a continuing problem, that if there are more tapes that people take a look at his words and what he has to say and not necessarily that of his pastor's and make a decision on whether or not they believe he can be president.

I also want to tell you one thing here. When you look at the potential fallout, we will see if there are additional questions, there are some black ministers I do know who are organizing and are very angry with Barack Obama, because they feel like he dissed his own pastor. They are going to come out and denounce Obama and see if that has any impact in the larger black community and the support he has gotten so far.

WHITFIELD: Wow, this is getting very complicated. Suzanne Malveaux thank you so much for that update. So you have to wonder is Senator Clinton's campaign seizing on the words of Reverend Wright.

Hillary Clinton is taking part in the St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Pennsylvania today. CNN's Jim Acosta is there in Scranton, any word from the Clinton campaign as to this controversy involving the Reverend?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, after a week of controversy, not just Reverend Jeremiah Wright on the Obama campaign, by Geraldine Ferra the former Vice Presidential candidate has some explaining to do, she was working on behalf of the Hillary Clinton campaign, I think both of these campaigns are hoping to move these behind them and get back to the business of campaigning in this state. After all this battleground state is looming very large in this presidential election. It is five weeks away. These candidates are not taking anything for granted. Hillary Clinton is in Scranton today, she will march in the St. Patrick Day's Parade with the Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell. She did the same thing earlier this morning in Pittsburgh. She is making the case that whoever wins Pennsylvania is in the best position to win in the general election this fall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Pennsylvania is key, key not only to this nominating process but to our eventual victory in the fall. I don't see how a Democrat wins the White House without Pennsylvania; no Democrat has since 1960 without winning Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a micro kosom of the entire country. This is our sixth biggest state and it has every kind of issue you can find anywhere in America. I am committed to campaigning hard over the next six weeks here in Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: When Hillary Clinton was asked this morning by reporters about the Jeremiah Wright controversy in the Obama campaign, she did point out that she and Senator Obama had a conversation earlier this week in which both candidates agreed that they need to move beyond these surrogates and some of the remarks they have made and get back to the issues on this campaign. Let's make one minor point as we are standing here in the St. Patrick's Day parade, there is not only Irish pride here, there is political pride on display. We have seen Hillary signs, but we have also seen Obama signs. I should point out, that is O', apostrophe, Bama for Barack Obama.

WHITFIELD: Jim Acosta thank you so much from Scranton. Well, the Republican contender wants another point to be made very clear. Are terrorists watching the U.S. elections? John McCain seems to think so. Republican presidential candidate says Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups may step up attacks in Iraq in a bid to influence the race. They still have the ability to stage strong attacks in Iraq despite the great success of the U.S. troops surge. McCain is scheduled to visit Iraq this weekend.

In the meantime, the CNN "Ballot Bowl" is your chance to hear the candidates, unfiltered. "Ballot Bowl" kicks off today 2:00 pm Eastern, 11:00 am Pacific. You don't want to miss it.

Out gunned along the U.S. Mexican border. Offices describe it like a war zone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

I think most of us feel scared just to bring this with us. But this is what we use to defend ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: U.S border with Mexico often erupts in violence without warning. Law enforcement officials on both sides of the border are often outgunned by drug cartels and their weapons of choice can be easily purchased in the U.S. For this report, CNN's Drew Griffin headed to Juarez, Mexico.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's the largest caliber weapon you can legally buy a 50-caliber shooting palm-sized bullets that can blast through car doors and bullet proof vests with one deadly pull of a trigger.

There is your exit wounds right there that went right through that car door.

Which is exactly why the 50-caliber rifle has suddenly become the gun of choice in a war erupting south of our boarder. You believe four had already gone south by the time you guys intercepted this.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Absolutely, four or five.

GRIFFIN: And those 50-caliber guns are showing up on the streets of Mexico. Like this street, next to a daycare center where a commander of the police department coming out of his home and getting in his car was gunned down right here with the largest weapon you can legally buy in the United States. I assume he is your friend?

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): "Yes, he was the person behind me, the second in charge here."

GRIFFIN: Vonantonia Garcia (ph) is the police director. His friend the director of operations before he was gunned down by drug traffickers. He talks openly of a war between police and the drug cartel. Police operations here even roadblocks like this one are carried out in military style. Street cops know they are outgunned by criminals who have gone north to buy bigger weapons in the U.S. where they are much easier to obtain.

GARCIA (ph): "I think most of us feel scarred just to bring this with us. This is what we use to defend ourselves."

GRIFFIN: Since mid February, five high-ranking members of the police forces in Mexico have been gunned down, many with large caliber weapons. Weapons illegal to buy here in Mexico. Where are they coming from? Call it the worst free trade imaginable. Mexican drugs easily flow north. American guns and ammunition easily flow south.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): These weapons are being used by drug cartel members and people involved in drug trafficking in a war they are having with Mexican authorities, be it the military and Mexican police. In some of the battles, they are winning.

GRIFFIN: An illegal trade that former ATF agent, former New York cop here says it is like nothing he has ever seen. The ATF is trying to stop the drug trade heading south. Labeled "Operation Gun Runner," agents stake out some border gun shows going undercover. They wait to find people buying large quantities of big guns. Girl friends on phones who bring cash or potential straw purchasers. Illegal dealers buying huge amounts of ammunition. This Phoenix gun show netted a few arrests, weapons and ammunition.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Think the ammo's for that?

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Yes, yes. In fact, the last time we worked one of these shows we seized 8 rounds of this ammo and firearms.

GRIFFIN: All of these guns were confiscated in one storage locker near the border. It included ak-47, hundreds of rounds of 50-caliber bullets but most dangerous of all, the dozens of handguns with one special purpose.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): It fires the 5.7 by 28 millimeter round, which is technically a rifle round but what is interesting and why it is in high demand, it has a nickname in Mexico which means cop killer. This is a Romanian AK 57 knockoff all in boxes. 30 of these guns found in a u-haul pulled over in a road near phoenix headed south towards the border.

GRIFFIN: Out on the firing range, the power of these ak-47's fully automatic is incredible. In Mexico, the fire power has become overwhelming. Police yards filled with trucks and cars rid ld with bullets. Drug lord's aren't just killing cops. They are sending a message with U.S.-purchased guns that they are the ones in control.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Juarez, Mexico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Right now 32 minutes after the hour. Here is what's happening right now. The National Weather Service confirms that a tornado hit downtown Atlanta last night. No deaths were reported in the wake of the storm, but dozens of injuries and widespread devastation. As you can see right there, at least 20 homes destroyed in Atlanta's historic Cabbage Town area.

The storm shattered windows and high-rise buildings. It also ripped apart the roof of a crowded sports arena disrupting a college basketball tournament. Fortunately, no injuries were reported at that tournament. Let's take a look at some of the damage on the ground here in Atlanta. Look at that right there. The tornado cut a path about 200 yards wide. In that path, broken glass, mangled trees. Some areas of downtown resembled what some might think to be a real war zone.

Some of the huge pillars lining the city's Centennial Olympic Park were lying on the ground in pieces. Chad Myers in the Weather Center. A lot of folks have never seen anything like this in downtown Atlanta. It is the first for downtown Atlanta to be hit by a tornado, but not the metropolitan area. There have been other tornadoes that have swept through parts of Georgia.

MYERS: Right. I watched this show "Myth busters." This is a myth story, because the myth is that tornadoes cannot hit populated areas, there are buildings, a heat island, and the storms will go around. Absolutely not true. It has all been a random event where it hits my farm in York, Nebraska, because it is way out in the middle of nowhere. Because you are not hitting Omaha or Lincoln or Grand Island, you are saying it always hits western Oklahoma. That is because there is so much farmland or tree land, forest land, that eventually somebody looses the lottery.

You couldn't get more zeroed into downtown than what we had last night. Right there at the George Dome. People were still watching the game and they weren't out and about moving around. This is the World Congress Center. The tornado actually injured or destroyed a wall and moved into a water main and the water main, all that water was coming down from a broken water main inside the building. This is classic tornado damage. We knew it as soon as the sun came up this morning it was going to be a tornado. We didn't know it last night.

We knew there was damage in a lot of places but you can't see the swirl, the two different sides of the same building were hit by the storm. Now, let's focus in on what's going on right now. We still have a tornado warning north of Atlanta in Rozwell, Sandy Springs, and Marietta. As we move on up here in Ball Ground, this is what we are seeing here, there is still rotation, just to the southwest of Coming, talking about Duck town and Freeholm (ph), here is where the storm is right now. It is such a massive event with hail coming down as well.

We are going to flip over to what we call our Doppler colors. Doppler is when you sit there and a train crosses, you hear the train coming. When it is coming and when it is going, that siren is two different sounds. It sounds different. It's a higher pitch and then it is a lower pitch as it comes. The Doppler radar picks up that same pitch. The pitch of the wind speed, so the wind is moving one way and one is moving the other way. Just to the north of Coming, I would put it now, getting a little bit disorganized. We call them couplets. When we see red and green next to each other, we know that is swing. We use this all the time. When you look at a Doppler radar and you will see it on your local TV stations, think of the red as being a taillight, because taillights always move away from you. This is a green. I know we don't have green headlights but the green is moving away from you. We are looking for the spin. We look for that storm and then we look for a wide spin, which could be five-miles wide.

We look for that to taper down into a very small column. You can see the column is getting smaller. The last picture was fairly large, maybe three or four miles wide. Now, it is only a couple miles wide. This is what happened last nigh. It went from three-miles wide to a small one-mile wide over downtown Atlanta.

WHITFIELD: You know Chad, you know how a bit ago you warned of dangling shards of glass that may be a problem.

MYERS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Apparently, we are getting a report already because of winds or gravity, Georgia power building, which is not quite mid- town, not quite downtown, somewhere in between, huge sheets of glass from those windows are, indeed, falling. It looks like I got somebody who is going to talk more specifically on it now. Matt Sloan, who is with CNN, a producer. Matt give me an idea of what is happening.

MATT SLOAN: We were driving downtown, a whole bunch of streets blocked off. We just happened to drive by the Georgia Power Building. We heard a bunch of crashing. We turned around and looked and there were a bunch of windows falling. Everybody was running for their cars. It is not that windy out here now. It does look like debris is falling.

WHITFIELD: I guess fortunately Matt that is an area where unlike downtown you have a lot of people are just kind of on the sidewalks walking. There seems to be I guess a real buffer between the glass on that building and the sidewalk. So, perhaps no one is in any immediate danger. Is that what you could see?

SLOAN: Actually, it looked like a lot of people close to the building. The police and fire department were trying to keep folks away. I did see a whole bunch of civilians running. The fire department was trying to get everybody out of the way. I am guessing that's not the only building having issues.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chad, why don't you weigh in on this? The Georgia Power building, it is the one I am thinking of, it is right there, there have been people in the area walking around. That was frightening.

There are thousands of people in this town this week for a dentist conference, an optimoligist conference. A lot have people cot moved in for the SCC Tournament, all the teams playing in the Georgia Dome. Those games have been canceled. I went to the Omni Hotel, which is attached to the CNN Center, the line for the valet, people were just saying, I'm out, forget it, I'm leaving. The line was over 200 people long. As soon as you would give the ticket to the valet man, he say, look, it's going to be two hours before I can get your car because we have so many ahead of you. So what did those people do? They said, OK. Then, they went for a walk. They went out for a walk in downtown Atlanta.

A lot of people don't realize that, with glass, also comes nails. There are things that you can step on that make for a very dangerous setting, even after a tornado has already passed. A lot of injuries happen after the tornado has passed. Not necessarily all the survivors from the tornado.

MYERS: I was walking around a little bit ago. Insulation is still flying around. You don't want to breathe that in either. Just stay inside.

WHITFIELD: Good point Chad. Thanks so much. We are going to keep tabs on this weather situation throughout the hour and through out the day here on CNN. Much more of the NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The cleanup and the assessment begin after an f-2 reported tornado sweeps through downtown Atlanta causing lots of damage. Shards of glass, the morning after, are falling from some buildings, at least one building in downtown Atlanta. We will keep you posted on all the developments there.

In the meantime, straight ahead here in the NEWSROOM, a lot of legal cases this week we want to delve into. Our regular legal guys are here. They can't wait to talk about former New York Governor Spitzerer and what kind of charges he may be facing. Avery and Richard, you ready?

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Yes.

WHITFIELD: OK. We will see you right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS MCGINNIS, EXPEDIA.COM: We are finding that a lot of people are getting scared off from going to Europe because it is so expensive with the very week dollar in Europe. And they still are having a yearning for international travel and they are heading south of the border.

The most popular destinations for Americans in Latin America are Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, which is, by far, the most popular country in Latin America for Americans to go to. The whole idea of travel in Latin American is changing. The days of dictatorship and machine guns are really fading away. It's a region full of culture, peace; a lot of people really enjoy the European feel. It is less expensive to fly to places like Puerto Rico or Mexico or the Dominican Republic than it is to fly deep into South America.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Something new for the my space, face book crowd, a new social cyber college kid will say anything about anyone, the meaner the better in fact and it is all anonymous, it is called juicy campus. It is a hot campus trend; it fields rumors and can be downright cruel. What kind of legal ramifications are there when something terrible is written about you? We have Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor good to see you.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Richard Herman is a New York criminal defense attorney. Good to see you as well. I missed you guys.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Sunny and in the 50s up here, I don't know what is going on in Atlanta.

FREIDMAN: Just the stay dry. That's all you can do.

WHITFIELD: It's ugly down here. We will build into that some more. This is ugly too, this juicy campus. Now, you have license to say whatever you want, naughty or nice, on the Web about your fellow college students. What happens when your feelings are really hurt? You claim you have been defamed. Avery, do you have any legal recourse?

FRIEDMAN: Probably not.

WHITFIELD: Because of public domain?

FRIEDMAN: Let me explain why. This Website was set up seven months ago where you can put your opinion about other people on there. Up to this point, it's nothing more than opinion. Opinion is protected speech. It is unlikely there can be a claim. But, if someone said something that, for example, one has been convicted of a crime or engaged in improper, illegal activity, that may make the provider of juicy campus liable. We don't have a test case yet. It's coming down the pike.

WHITFIELD: Richard, your home state, New York, it is fiery there. Let's talk about former Governor Spitzer and that case. What kind of charges are we talking about? What might he be facing, illegal activity and crossing state line?

HERMAN: Oh, what a tangled web we weave. His political career is over. He is facing charges for transporting a prostitute from New York to Washington. This is from white slavery from 1910. So this a stretch to get him on that one. Public corruption, if he had state troopers guarding him in the hotel that night, if the state was paying for his hotel --

WHITFIELD: OK, so a lot of people are culpable you are saying?

HERMAN: Yes. He is going to have a problem. I talked the other day to one of the assistants. So far, no charges. It is a political -- it's an election year. He may go down on this one.

WHITFIELD: Funny choice of words. There are going to be a lot of deals being made on this one. Avery, Richard, I can always count on you to give all of us a nice chuckle.

HERMAN: You are turning red.

WHITFIELD: We are out. We are done with the segment. Chad Myers will have the latest tornado warnings in three minutes from now. Then, on patrol with the high-tech crime fighting machine.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Reynolds Wolf, a look at today's cold and flu season report. And on the map behind me. You see many states that are shaded in bright red. There are two exceptions, Mississippi and New Mexico, where are we only have regional cases to report. Hope you are feeling better. That's a look at today's cold and flu season report.

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RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): its midnight on the streets of Atlanta. Our own Rufual Terra (ph) is on patrol with his crime-fighting partner. One he created himself. To others, he is robo cop. At night, this is a hangout for drugs, prostitution and the homeless. By day, a preschool. Lydia Meredith runs the daycare center.

LYDIA MEREDITH: This whole square is enveloped with homeless people and drug dealers, urinating, prostituting. DORNIN: Since Terra (ph) he is on the daycare board, he decided to take matters into his own hand. He mounted a chicken smoker on a three wheeled scooter, covered it in black rubber. But if you are up to no good, it is a lot more than that.

RUFUS TERRA (ph): This is your public address system. This is an infrared camera. It has a super, duper super soaker.

DORNIN: Terra (ph) says he only soaks the extremely stubborn.

TERRA (ph): It is awfully cold out here tonight.

DORNIN: But is he going too far? Some people say by using this water gun, you are breaking the law.

TERRA (ph): I am not assaulting anybody. If you are on the sidewalk, I am not bothering you. If you are on my private property, I am going to bother you.

DORNIN: Terra (ph) says most of the time, he turns the spotlight on and people scatter. Homeless advocate Edna Battie (ph) who runs the near by shelter has a problem with robo cop.

EDNA BATTIE (ph): I think the whole robo cop spraying people is a little freaky. We really need some police protection in this neighborhood.

DORNIN: Bar patrons say they have seen a difference.

(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): It does scare people. I am grateful for it.

DORNIN: It doesn't always scare people. He says his robot helps fill a void when the cops aren't around.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Atlanta.

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MYERS: I am Chad Myers again here back in the Weather Center. I want to talk to you about where the next storm is going. The National Weather Service called the storm an F2 tornado. The biggest rotation is right over Lake Lanier moving into Gainesville Proper. I need you to be taking cover if you are in Gainesville. That is what this pink square is here, as the tornado warning for you in Gainesville Proper. All the areas that surround Lake Lanier, a little bit north, if you are up in that area that is where your tornado is right now.

No reports of it being on the ground. It certainly was. Even some damaging to Cummings, a town a little farther to the south. More weather developing to the south and southwest, remember, the entire area, including Atlanta is still in a tornado watch. A watch means that something could develop. When you get the warning, like these boxes here, those are tornado warnings that are occurring, the Doppler is showing rotation or a spotter has seen the tornado on the ground or a funnel cloud in the sky. That's why you put out that warning box. Watches last a long time. Warnings only last a little bit of time only for one or two counties. They are still north of Atlanta. We are watching for any storms to develop here. If that happens, all of those loosely hanging window panes could be in trouble of falling down.

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