Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Bill Clinton in Defense of His Wife; Gun Battles on the Streets of Lebanon; Violence Erupted Near the Capital of Sudan; Huge Tornado around McAlester, Oklahoma; Hillary Clinton's Superdelegate Lead Now Down To One; Conspiracy Theories Surrounding the Death of the D.C. Madam; Deadly Tornadoes Around Oklahoma

Aired May 10, 2008 - 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: Tonight, he leads in states, pledge delegates and the popular vote but she leads in superdelegates. What is that stat tonight? We have new numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And wait a minute, you interrupted my speech. You let me talk, will you? (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: President Clinton in defense of his wife.

Incredible pictures. What happens if these rebels take this city?

In Myanmar, our crews hiding from the government has smack out these picture of bodies being dumped in rivers. Yet this is what the government is showing on television.

Why was this woman feared by so many men for what she could say about them found hanged? A special on the death of the D.C. madam?

And gun battles on the streets of Lebanon. Stay where you are. This is a jam-packed NEWSROOM.

And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. Unbelievably with all that going on, we're also going to begin tonight with some breaking news. It's just now coming into us. Go ahead, Claude, if you would and show us this picture. Coming in to us just a little while ago from KOTV and KWTV.

It's around the area of McAlester in Oklahoma. It's a huge tornado. That's not the only one that's been spotted or the only area that's been hit hard. Much of this information is still coming in. We understand there are about nine people now reported dead. Let's get right to Jackie Jeras. She's following this at the CNN severe weather center.

Jackie, what do you know?

JACKIE JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wow. Well, we know that there were at least 28 reports of tornadoes tonight, Rick. The worst event we'll show you here on radar. This has all been in Oklahoma, parts of Missouri and also into Eastern Kansas. And we took the radar back in time over the last couple of hours to show you those storms as they've move on through.

We'll zoom into the area that we're talking about. And this one was very likely the same parent storm, as we called it that caused all the damage. It started out over here into Oklahoma in the town of Pitcher. The National Weather Service at a Tulsa, Oklahoma is now confirming that five people died in that city because of that tornado.

It moved eastward towards Seneca, Missouri and killed three people there and also caused quite a bit of damage between Seneca and Neosho. And now we're just getting in reports from Purdy, Missouri which is right over here that's east of Neosho.

Purdy is now reporting one fatality there with at least four trailers damaged, a church damaged there as well. So we'll continue to monitor the situation as we get more information and video. We'll bring that to you. In the meantime, we've got ongoing severe weather as well. Nothing on the ground but we'll show you the warnings and the watches and what you can expect for overnight tonight and even continuing it tomorrow, Rick. We've got a long ways to go yet.

SANCHEZ: What we expect is going to happen over the next hour is that we're going to be getting -- in fact, we might be getting something now. I hear an announcement being made here in the NEWSROOM. We expect that we're going to be getting other pictures. As we get them, Jackie, we'll be in contact with you. You'll break it down for us all throughout the next hour here at CNN. Thanks so much.

Two other big stories, by the way, tonight. One, CNN has just confirmed within the last 30 minutes that Hillary Clinton's superdelegate lead is now down to one. Just one superdelegate. We're going to break that down for you in just a little bit.

But first, here's the other story. There are some photos that I want you to take a look at tonight. It's not about government, it's not about diplomacy, it's not about foreign aid. This is about people devastated by a killer cyclone. These individual snapshots from Myanmar tell the story as well as it can be told. But I need to tell you this as well. These are pictures that are also very difficult to watch.

Let's get started with very first one. Look at the man. You see him right there on the right of your screen. He's trying to stand up some of the pillars to put his home back together. Now look at this next one. This one almost needs no commentary. It makes you think, doesn't it? Let's go ahead to the next one now, Claude. Sticks become high ground.

These people are waiting for food drops from a helicopter. And that's the only place where they can do so. Let's go to another one. This is what is left of this old woman's home. Next, this is Yang Gun (ph) holding on to what matters most to her in a shelter. Next, this is Irrawaddy delta. You've heard so much about this delta because we've been reporting to it here on CNN. Hard to get pictures. This is the last we've seen. This is where floodwaters have killed possibly tens of thousands of people.

Now I should tell you this. We do have a correspondent in Myanmar tonight. But for his safety, we're not announcing his name. We're not going to tell you where he is. It seems somewhat ridiculous, doesn't it? But that's how we have to cover this story. Again, we cautioned you that some of the video in his report is very graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the kinds of images the military rulers in Myanmar don't want the world to see. Dead bodies decomposing in the water days after cyclone Nargis ravaged the southern Irrawaddy delta region of this country.

This video was obtained by CNN from a villager who refused to disclose his name or the name of his village out of fear of government repression. This particular segment was filmed on May 5th, three days after the storm. Other parts show one of the few firsthand accounts of the cyclone and its aftermath. And they show the absence of government troops and the lack of aid as the villagers take matters into their own hands, struggling to get on one of the few boats taking them out of the area ravaged by the storm.

These pictures were also taken on May 5th, three days after the cyclone. As Nargis made landfall, those filming this video comment on the force of the winds.

The utter destruction becomes evident in the immediate aftermath. The villager who provided this video says he doesn't know exactly how many people were killed but said scores died in his town alone. And as the people begin cleaning up, it doesn't take them long to find some of the dead. Buried under collapsed houses or drowned by floodwater brought on by the storm.

The villager who shot this video says so far the people here have received no aid from Myanmar's military government. And that some have started private initiatives to bring food, water and medicine into the disaster area. CNN has no way of independently verifying those claims. But international aid groups are heavily criticizing Myanmar's rulers, who they say are dragging their feet while people in villages like this one are dying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: As you watched that report, you would think that Myanmar's military government would absolutely be consumed by this colossal human tragedy, right? They're talking about the possibility of 100,000 people dead, floating bodies, villages wiped off the map, hundreds of thousands of homeless citizens. We could not believe it today when we saw this.

This is how the storm is being covered there. It's Myanmar's state-run television showing patriotic music and smiling singers belting out lyrics about how happy they are to vote in today's constitutional referendum, which, yes is still going on. It's a vote that critics say would further empower the already hard line army rule in this country. Witnesses say some resources for victims are actually being taken away, diverted from those who survived the cyclone, to put into the campaign. And "The New York Times" is quoting a witness as saying that hungry refugees were kicked out of a shelter in order to use it as a polling place.

It does seem absolutely preposterous that international correspondents, including one of our own here at CNN, have been forbidden from telling this story to the rest of the world so that they can help from covering the story. Being forbidden by the Myanmar government. It hasn't stopped us here at CNN.

We've had two crews inside Myanmar, as difficult as that has been. One of our reporters, Dan Rivers, found himself a wanted man. Police carried his photograph. And if caught, he would have been arrested or worse. Dan is now out of Myanmar. Take a look though at this report he sent us. It's before he left. It's personal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The furious winds of Cyclone Nargis have ripped apart towns and villages. Tens of thousands were dead and the airports have been shut for two days. We were on the first flight in when it reopens and we were shocked at what we saw.

Yangon was choked with fallen trees. There were plenty of soldiers but many seemed to be standing doing nothing. And then there were the lines for fuel. Finding fuel for our car was also a nightmare. And all the while, we had to be careful we weren't being followed by the authorities.

(on-camera): It just goes on and on and on for miles really.

(voice-over): There was limited electricity and communications were flawed but we were still managing to report on what was happening. We have to change hotels every day. Now my reports were on air, I was a marked man.

(on-camera): We're having to sneak in and out of the hotels really backstairs so that they don't know I'm here. Because we understand that the authorities are now looking for me specifically. OK.

There were two guys basically sitting in a car outside our hotel. They look like they've been sitting, waiting and watching. It's difficult not to get completely paranoid and ridiculous here because you kind of feel like everyone is potentially military intelligence and they're all looking for you.

(voice-over): We spent more than eight hours driving to the worst affected area through torrential rain which was compounding the misery of survivors huddled in the debris of their own homes. The roads are terrible. There are also numerous checkpoints. We were forced to find another way in. We finally managed to get to the heart of the Irrawaddy delta where the devastation was appalling. We narrowly avoided being arrested and we were effectively on the run.

(on-camera): I almost got caught in the last town. The police have my photo and they took the rest of my team in and were questioning them and showing them my photo. And they were let go. And I caught up with them afterwards. We then drove down and hit a checkpoint, we got turned around. We decided basically that we were going to get caught so we pulled off the road. We've taken a boat up here and we're now stuck in the middle of the Irrawaddy delta with about two Snickers Bar and a (INAUDIBLE) fuel to last us.

(voice-over): We tried to push further into the delta. But just after this video is shot, we're detained by the police. Somehow we talk our way out and decide it's time for me to leave. I'm left feeling angry the junta has spent so much time hunting us while the bodies of tens of thousands of poor souls are abandoned and decomposing. We even filmed bodies being carried and unceremoniously dumped in the river. Perhaps this is why the regime is so keen to keep us out. Dan Rivers, CNN, Myanmar.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Really, so truly unbelievable reporting by Dan Rivers under the worst of circumstances. By the way, for those of you who want to help, go to cnn.com where we have a special page that we've set up on Myanmar. There you can connect to aid agencies. It's how you can impact your world. And as this story changes, we are going to bring it to you.

There is another story that we brought you just a little while ago that's changing. We understand we're getting some new pictures now. Again, most of the information coming in just about a half hour before we went on the air of this massive tornado that we showed you a while ago. It hit the area around Oklahoma. This is from McAlester, Oklahoma.

We want to thank our affiliate there, KWTV, as we dip into these pictures. You see some of the first glimpses of the damage that has been caused by this tornado. Five people, we understand, have been killed in Oklahoma. That may be a preliminary number. All in all, nine people are now reported dead as a result of this weather system. We're going to be staying on top of that for you as information comes in. We will share it with you as well as pictures.

Now to a new development in Lebanon. For four straight days Shia and Sunni militants have shot each other up on the streets of Beirut. Well, tonight, knock on wood, it's somewhat calmer but look at this.

Calm still hasn't prevailed since gunmen loyal to Hezbollah basically seized control of mostly most of West Beirut. More than 30 people have died in street battles since Wednesday. Again, these are pictures we've been taking in tonight. Look at this. Lebanon's military initially did not intervene in the clashes but today the army ordered both troops to do a ceasefire. See the man holding onto his grandchild. And look at the look of concern on her. It appears they did -- parts of Beirut bear the familiar scars of door-to-door fighting again. The Hezbollah-aligned lawmakers say that the militants will stop shooting but will not behave themselves so long as Hezbollah is kept out of the government's decision-making process.

All right, there's another note from overseas that I want to share with you now. Violence has erupted near the capital of Sudan this weekend. These are Sudanese soldiers here. They're celebrating the reported defeat over a rebel group that brought its dispute with the government closer to Khartoum than ever before. That's the capital. These rebels are usually confined to the war-ravaged Darfur region. That could be a real trouble spot if it happens.

Witnesses say the fighting was heavy. It was machine shotguns and explosions. And Sudanese officials are saying that a rebel leader was killed. Sudan accuses neighboring Chad of supplying and supporting those rebel groups. So again, the idea of being -- maybe some of those rebels are moving to the capital, that would be a problem. We are watching it.

Coming up, --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You interrupted my speech. You let me talk, will you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Bill Clinton in a heated moment in defense of his wife. You have got to see this one for yourself. But how will he defend this? Senator Clinton's superdelegate lead, we have just learned, is now down to one from 16 a week and a half ago.

And a special report on the death of the D.C. Madam. A woman who powerful men feared for what she knew about them. Was it really suicide? The internet is going bonkers with this one. So we'll look into it for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Breaking news coming into us now. Take a look at these pictures. That is the tornado that may very well be a killer tornado. These are pictures from McAlester, Oklahoma. Flip the picture now, Claude, if you would there in the control room to the shot of the actual damage. Now this is the very first pictures of damage that we're getting in tonight. Again, that's from McAlester, Oklahoma.

We're kind of looking at some of these unedited and you're seeing it for the very first time just as we're seeing it. Look at what happened to that giant tree and the house that one would think used to be there. Looks like some of the people in the area are just getting to the damage now as well. We don't know how vast this is. We do know that five people have been reported killed as a result of this tornado there in Oklahoma. We're also hearing four other people have been killed in adjacent areas or adjacent states. So you do the math.

It's a total of nine people now dead as a result of the weather system itself, not necessarily any one particular tornado. There is another picture that we're following as well. Again, we expect this story could change throughout the hour. As it does, we will be bringing you the updates and bringing you some of the latest developments.

Also this story. By CNN calculation, Senator Clinton superdelegate lead, which we've heard so much about is now tonight as of about a quarter hour before we began this newscast, down to one. That's how it changed and when it changed.

Several months ago, she had a solid lead. But there has been a lot of movement on this. A lot of defections. By our account, Senator Clinton has 273 superdelegates in her corner. Barack Obama has 272. There's about 800 total. If Barack Obama overtakes her in this category, he would then lead in virtually every other category necessary to gain the nomination.

Coming up, nobody is trying harder to get Hillary Clinton elected than her husband. Even if it takes arguing with voters one at a time. And we mean arguing. You have got to see this shout down.

Also, these fires are a must-see. This is video we've been getting in within the last couple of hours before we went on the air. We'll tell you where it is.

And then the controversial case and now death of the D.C. Madam. Why did she leave two suicide notes? We're checking into the conspiracy theories. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. (INAUDIBLE) important things together for you. As you can see there. I'm Rick Sanchez. I want you to take a look at this exchange which really says as much about the man as it does the moment. I've interviewed former president Bill Clinton and I can tell you two things about him. He's at his best when he's challenge and he never walks away from an argument. Like this one with a heckler at a campaign speech Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Just think about it. Every time you make a health insurance premium, you are contributing -- what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much health care was there when you were president?

CLINTON: And do you know why I was defeated? Wait a minute. Are you -- wait, wait, wait.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

CLINTON: Wait, wait, wait a minute Ma'am. We had rallies all over this country. She worked 40 --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before the election and after the election.

CLINTON: No, you're wrong. You're wrong. Wait a minute. I can't believe you're saying this. There are millions of pages of documents that we have released showing the exhausting work that was done. The tens of thousands of people that were consulted. The rallies and movements we had all over the country. Now, wait a minute. I listened to you. You interrupted my speech. You let me talk. Will you?

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

You interrupted my speech. You interrupted my speech. Wait a minute. This is one of the problems -- one of the problems of this whole presidential campaign is how many things that people have said that are flat untrue.

She worked her -- she worked her fingers to the bone. I worked my fingers to the bone. We got beat because Robert Dole, who promised to work with me on it, got a memo which said, you will never be elected president and the Republicans can't win the majority unless you keep them from adopting anything and they filibustered my health care bill. That's what happened.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right. Staying on top now of the severe weather situation we've been telling you about. It's fire as well burning out of control, destroying some homes along the way. Look at this. This is a grass fire. This is east of Colorado Springs. It scorched at least 9,000 acres. It's burned ten structures. No injuries we reported.

We understand flames are burning near an Air Force Base. Houses around there are under a mandatory evacuation tonight. We'll continue to check on it. The fire zero percent contained as of now. Zero percent.

Jackie Jeras, what a busy night you are having for us.

JERAS: Yes, a lot going on tonight. And this is going to go on all night long, Rick, and last throughout much of the day tomorrow. This is an extremely potent storm. It's impacting millions of people. And when that severe weather threat goes on overnight, it's particular tends to be deadly because people are asleep and don't always hear those warnings. So make sure you've got your NOAA weather radio on tonight when you go to bed so you do hear it when it goes off. All right, let's turn now and show you the threat area that we're talking about, first of all, where conditions are favorable for tornadoes to develop. Everywhere that you see the red boxes there, that's where we have tornado watches in effect. And we're still very concerned about this one in the middle across parts of Arkansas and Southern Missouri. That's what we call a PVS watch or a particularly dangerous situation where we see those large tornadoes that stay on the ground for a long period of time, just like what we saw in parts of Oklahoma and to Missouri tonight. That picture you see on the right there, that's of the tornado in McAlester that caused some damage there.

That was not the fatal tornado. That one did cause quite a bit of damage though. Lots of homes down that we've seen and some barns and some outbuildings due to that one. And there you can see how that tornado kind of ropes a little bit. So that's indicative that that one also was a smaller or weaker tornado.

On the left hand side of your screen, the purple boxes, that's where we still have warnings in effect at this hour. In south-western parts of Arkansas, that storm has a history of producing some funnel clouds. So everybody in Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Little (ph) and Pike, Polk and Sevier Country are all under tornado warnings.

And the Memphis area, we've been watching this area real closely tonight. Memphis, really getting off easy as everything has been skirting down to the south. Watch out Clarksdale, as the part of the storm that could produce the tornado moving through your area as we speak.

So Rick, we've got at least nine people dead tonight, confirmed due to tornadoes. One from some straight line wind damage, caused a tree to fall down and fall on a trailer home. So this is going to be a rough night still ahead of us and hopefully everybody is going to stay safe tonight.

SANCHEZ: It's unbelievable. And I guess, in the end, a death is a death from a weather system like this, whether it was the tornadoes or the winds that preceded it. Unbelievable.

Jackie, we will continue to check back with you as we get more information on this. We expect that the system could cause some more problems throughout the night.

By the way, there is also some unbelievable video that's coming out of Leighton, Alabama for us tonight. This is west of Huntsville. This is a tornado that tossed these parked cars around like toys on Friday. Sweeping them up and throwing into the air. Look at that. Look at that. That's surveillance video. It came from a parking lot of an equipment company. And it was provided to us by our Huntsville affiliate, WAAY.

All right, coming up. No story has captivated the bloggers of late like the conspiracy theories that they are writing about when it comes to the death of the D.C. Madam. This is her suicide note we are about to show you right there. See it? It is just one reason for those theories. We're going to show it to you and look at the real story. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And we welcome you back now to the world headquarters of CNN. I'm Rick Sanchez. Tonight, we drilled down on conspiracy theories surrounding the death of a woman who thousands of men may have feared for what she knew they did, that they didn't want others to know. That is why the reported suicide of Deborah Jean Palfrey, the D.C. Madam, has a lot of people asking a lot of questions.

Palfrey spent 13 years running a sophisticated escort service that catered to the rich and powerful in Washington, D.C. When she was busted, she threatened to expose those men, her client list. But last week, she was found hanging from a nylon cord in her mother's backyard shed. We begin our special coverage with CNN's John Zarrella from Florida where the suicide was reported.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The body of Deborah Jeane Palfrey was found by her mother in a small storage shed outside her mobile home.

CAPT. JEFFREY YOUNG, TARPON SPRING'S POLICE: Blanche Palfrey discovered her daughter, Deborah, had apparently hung herself using a nylon rope from a metal beam on the ceiling of the shed.

ZARRELLA: Police say several notes were found that made it clear the woman known as the D.C. Madam wanted to take her own life. Author Dan Moldea who is working with her on a possible book said he wasn't surprised.

He told "Time" magazine, quote, "She wasn't going to jail. She told me that very clearly. She told me she would commit suicide." Unquote.

Palfrey was to be sentenced next month for running a high-end prostitution service in Washington. Something she continued to deny.

DEBORAH JEANE PALFREY, D.C. MADAM: No promises or claims directly or indirectly was ever made to a client that he should expect the associate to perform illegal acts for hire.

ZARRELLA: But authorities say she ran the business for 13 years hiring polished college-educated women and coordinating it all from her home in California.

She allegedly brought in millions of dollars, most of which she spent on her defense. The 52-year-old Palfrey hinted at her current state of mind in a recent interview with CNN Radio's Ninette Sosa.

PALFREY: I am looking at 55 years in a federal penitentiary, and at my age, that is virtually a life sentence. John Zarrella, CNN, Tarpon Springs, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: There's a couple of things we want to do with this tonight. One of them is we want to look at the suicide notes that police say the D.C. Madam left behind. You are actually looking at copies of the letters that she left for her mother and her sister.

In this note to her mother, Palfrey writes, "I sincerely apologize for any pain which I have caused you in this lifetime. Additionally, I can't sufficiently express to you how badly I feel for this burden I am leaving you with here."

She goes on, "However, I cannot live the next six to eight years behind bars for what both you and I have come to regard as this modern day lynching only to come out of prison in my late 50s a broken, penniless and very much alone woman. Sure you will not live long enough to see any possible release and Bobbie likely will be able to shoulder the responsibility of a sister who will be nothing but a mere shell of her former self."

So those are the notes. One of Palfrey's call girls died the same way recently. So that means two women are dead and perhaps thousands of men are breathing a sigh of relief because of what they took with them to their graves. Think about that. Tonight, a look at what Palfrey said she knew and the men who were busted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PALFREY: Look, we're going to use some, if not many of these 10,000 people who used the service for the 13 years as defense witnesses. Do you really want this to happen?

SANCHEZ (voice-over): For months on end, Deborah Jeane Palfrey did not hold back. Frequently, she threatened to name names. The story became its secrecy.

PALFREY: The clientele was very influential and very powerful. This is Washington, D.C. You know, call me a snob, but I think I had the best agency in town.

SANCHEZ: From K Street to Capitol Hill, people were captivated, some downright scared waiting for Palfrey to reveal the high profile clients of her defunct escort service.

The first shoe dropped when she offered up Harlan Ullman, a Defense Department Consultant, whose claim to fame was the Bush administration's "shock and awe" war strategy. Ullman said the allegation didn't merit a response and media critics like Howard Kurtz agreed.

HOWARD KURTZ, MEDIA CRITIC: Toll story makes me queasy because ordinarily journalists don't publicize on a national basis the names of clients of an escort service. SANCHEZ: But the story would not go away and neither did Palfrey. She attempted to sell her phone records, eventually giving "ABC News" 46 pounds of documents. Some of the phones numbers were traced to military officers, corporate CEOs, lobbyist and officials at the World Bank, NASA and International Monetary Fund members. Titles, but no names. Then, enter David Vitter, a U.S. senator from Louisiana. He publicly apologized last year for his involvement with Palfrey's service.

DAVID VITTER (R), LOUISIANA: I am completely responsible and I am so very, very sorry.

SANCHEZ: This week, the Senate Ethics Committee announced it will not pursue the Vitter case. In part because he wasn't in the Senate when his involvement with Palfrey's service occurred. Then there is former deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias. He resigned one day after admitting he, too, had used Palfrey's service. He says he only got a massage. Ullman, Tobias and Vitter did not respond to CNN's attempt to contact them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By putting this information up on the website also includes naming some of the clientele?

PALFREY: Yes, yes. Well, the clientele was going to be named regardless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And as this fluid show changes, we should tell you that we just got information there may be another death as a result of those weather systems that we've been following tonight. So that would bring the number to ten now.

Also, coming up, new conspiracy theories about the names, the phone numbers and the threats of the D.C. Madam. Palfrey, herself, said she was being followed and targeted. Conspiracy theorists say they had evidence that points to murder. Do they really? I'll break it down for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rick Sanchez. Here's the question. Did this D.C. Madam, Palfrey, kill herself or did somebody kill her? Now, we posed that question because it's being posed by hundreds of bloggers, if not the thousands that are responding to those blogs. We've asked Josh Levs to check into this for us. And he's joining us now, live.

Actually, break this down for us. Josh, take it away.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Rick. One of the most prominent blogs taking a look at this is right here it's called prisonplanet.com. And they've been talking about this very frequently at times, everyday.

They have, for example, this one piece that says her friends said that that's not her signature on the suicide note. Let me scroll down a little bit and show you the kind of things that are going on online. They're putting together a signature that they've seen from her rather -- a piece of handwriting they've seen of her before and her handwriting on her suicide note. They're saying, was she forced to do this? Is it even really hers?

Also, this same site at another point talks about look, they say, even "The Washington Post" said that after she went to jail, she would have been able to make all this money. She would have been famous. There would have been book deals, movies. Why would she possibly do this? So these are the kinds of things people were batting back and forth in saying hey, does it even make sense that she would have committed suicide?

SANCHEZ: Well, you know, when it comes to handwriting, I can tell you just from some of the studies that we've done in the past say there is no actual definitive way of breaking down what somebody's handwriting looks like. But let me ask you about something else. I've been reading a lot about it and that is that she's a woman and she hanged herself and that's uncommon. Women usually don't hang themselves. True or not true?

LEVS: Right. Well, actually, the numbers are about the same. Let's take a look at this. We put together this list here because that actually is one of the big arguments we're seeing.

We put together some of the big arguments people have for why -- in this site, why they think she did not commit suicide. One of the first one that they are saying is look, powerful people wanted her silent. They know that and that's a fact.

Another one is that that women rarely hang themselves. And that she allegedly hanged herself and so did a woman who allegedly once worked for her. So I pulled up those statistics that you're asking me about. This right here is from the National Institute of Health. And what it shows is that when it comes to suicide, men and women hang themselves at about the same rate. 23 percent for men and 20 percent for women.

It is true overall that most women who commit suicide don't choose to do it by hanging but it's not that big a difference from men at all. So that in of itself is not, you know, a very super striking element.

SANCHEZ: Here's another one though that I've got to hit you with because we've been reading a lot about this. There's a condo director down in Orlando who says he had talked to her several times. And that she told him that she was concerned because -- and let me get the right verbiage here -- someone had been following her.

LEVS: Right. Yes and I'm glad you said that actually, because when we look at where the other big arguments are that's one right there. The suggestion in a report out of Florida that she had been followed and that she was being concerned -- she was concern that she was being followed. And also, there's this in addition to that. Rick, I'll show you one more big one that she once said she would not commit suicide. In fact, we can hear her say it. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALFREY: No. I'm not planning to commit suicide. I'm planning to go into court on April 7th, if indeed we do have the trial, and I plan on defending myself vigorously and I plan on exposing the government in ways that, you know, I do not think they want me to expose them. I want them to explain to me in open court why they came after me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: That's from Alex Jones radio show. And in fact, this is his blog right here. Now, obviously, that is one of the big arguments we are hearing. I will tell you to balance it all out, someone that you are familiar with, that you'll be speaking with right here. This is a "Time" magazine article in which author, Dan Kadlec, says you know what, she did say that she would commit suicide before going to prison.

Also on all these fronts, Rick, everything we've talked about, the suggestion that she was followed, questions about handwriting, all of these, I spoke today with CNN's law enforcement expert here. A law enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks, and here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE BROOKS, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: You know, the first time I heard it, Josh, I said, is there something sinister here? But after looking at the suicide notes, looking at as what the police department said, they looked at other investigative avenues, because I think they also were thinking it could possibly mean something sinister, but after looking at all the evidence, there is nothing to say that this was anything but suicide by hanging.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: And Rick, I spoke with the police in Florida. They said there is absolutely no suggestion of foul play at all. There's nothing -- quote - "There's nothing to suggest it was anything other than suicide." So while there are these elements the bloggers are talking about. The authorities are saying, look, they don't have anything substantive to back that up.

SANCHEZ: Josh, thanks so much. Always good to look at the facts and break them down for us.

All right, joining us now and Josh mentioned this while we're talking is one of the last people to see Palfrey alive. Dan Moldea has been planning to write a book about the D.C. Madam. He's good enough to join us now.

Dan, I understand that you had lunch with her just a few days before she died. How do you find her?

DAN MOLDEA, AUTHOR: Well, actually, I had lunch with her with a friend of mine, Jim Grady (ph), a few days before her conviction here in Washington. She was fine. She was very upbeat. She confided in Jim and I that she and her attorney had decided that they were going to claim that the prosecution had not made its case and they were going to rest. And she was onboard with that. She was very upbeat, was convinced that she was going to be acquitted.

SANCHEZ: Given that, do you think she killed herself?

MOLDEA: There's no doubt in my mind that she committed suicide. She told me on no fewer than three occasions that in lieu of going back to prison where she had spent 18 months back in the early 90s, she would commit suicide. As soon as I heard that, I immediately went to her attorney, who was probably her best friend and most loyal friend.

I said, listen, I think we've got a problem. He said, I know, I know, I know. It's a real problem. I was not the only person she told that to.

SANCHEZ: What do you make of all these conspiracies then? I mean, the blogosphere is absolutely jam packed with them as I'm sure you've notice.

MOLDEA: I'm now calling it not the Internet; I'm calling it the defamation zone. Because I'm being accused of either participating in a murder of Jeane or at the very least participating in a act of cover up of the circumstances of my friend's death.

Let me say, first of all, that I liked Jeane. She was a kind person. She was very smart. She was a funny person. Legal or moral considerations aside, she was a good person. With regard to the conspiracy theories, let me break a little news for you right now.

SANCHEZ: OK.

MOLDEA: I received information from a very reliable source in this matter. That -- and I gave this information to the police yesterday morning. That Jeane had tried to kill herself prior to this after her conviction. She had gone to Orlando shortly after she had returned to Florida. She had taken an intentional overdose and it failed. In the wake of the failure of her overdose to end her life, she went back to Tarpon Springs and she hung herself.

SANCHEZ: Dan Moldea making news for us here or should we say sharing it with us. We thank you for your insight into this story. Thanks again, Dan.

Thank you.

SANCHEZ: The D.C. Madam died over the issue of prostitution but should prostitution be a crime? Well, that's the question we're going to put before our panel. That's coming up next.

And again, the deadly tornadoes we've been following for you since the beginning of the newscast. Pictures continue to come in for us. We are now getting some indication the number -- the death toll has risen again. We believe it's around ten. If it changes, we'll bring it to you. Stay with us. We're going to be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And now this part of the story. The D.C. Madam case begs the question that should prostitution be a crime at all? I want you to hear from three panelists we've put together. Jason Itzler, a former pimp joining us From Miami.

Martha Nussbaum, law and ethics professor with the University of Chicago, who believes prostitution should be legal. And Norma Ramos, totally disagrees with that. She is with the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women.

Martha, start us off, if you would. You say prostitution should be legalized. Make your argument.

MARTHA NUSSBAUM, LAW AND ETHICS PROFESSOR: You know, what I'd like to see is the world where women have adequate education and adequate employment opportunities. And then if they choose to engage in sex work, they would not be penalized for it or exploited by pimps or subject to the harassment of the police. I think it actually criminalizing prostitution makes the life a lot worse for women. Any illegal industry has those features.

Norma?

NORMA RAMOS, COALITION AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN: Well, actually the world experience going down that path now is very clear. When you legalize prostitution you actually make it a whole lost worse. The conditions under which the prostituted women are exploited under actually don't change.

The nature of the prostitution remains the same. They are subjected to a full range of abuse and violence. And the nature of prostitution is just not changed as to whether you make it legal or illegal. What we have to do is what Sweden has done. Sweden has recognized prostitution to be a violation of women's human rights and has said, governments shouldn't be in the pimping business. Government should be fostering the equality of women. And that women and girls are human beings, therefore cannot be bought or sold.

SANCHEZ: John, you were actually a pimp.

JASON ITZLER, FORMER PIMP: My name's Jason. How are you, Rick?

SANCHEZ: Sorry about that Jason.

ITZLER: I ran New York Confidential, a large escort you see in Manhattan. Probably the biggest (INAUDIBLE).

SANCHEZ: Does that word offend you when we use it?

ITZLER: A little bit. I'm a businessman. I'm an attorney. I ran a business.

SANCHEZ: An escort service? ITZLER: An escort service. There's a big difference between the finest escort agency in America and a guy in a corner with the $20 an hour hookers.

SANCHEZ: All right. That's fair. That's why I wanted to ask you directly. Tell me, though, where do you weigh in on this idea whether prostitution should be legalized?

ITZLER: Well, I did go to law school. I am intelligent. And I think whenever something is legal in parts of America but not all of America, you have to wonder should it be not legal at all or should be legal everywhere? And much like gambling wasn't legal at one time and then legal in one state, eventually it became legal. I mean, it feels like it is legal everywhere now gambling, probably 30 states. I think prostitution should be treated similarly.

SANCHEZ: Do you think -- let me ask all of you guys this because we're running out of time because of these tornadoes that we're following. But do you all agree the way it's treated now is whether legal or illegal, sexist? That it's harder on the women than it is the men.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, absolutely.

SANCHEZ: Do you agree?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. Absolutely. The women being --

SANCHEZ: Jason, you agree too?

ITZLER: I think I agree. I don't think any of them should get in trouble. I think sex is a wonderful thing. You probably do, too, Rick. But the women are being punished. The men are not being punished. I don't think either one should be punished.

SANCHEZ: Yes, got it.

ITZLER: Got it.

SANCHEZ: By the way, I do too. With my wife, I should add. Thanks to all three of you for being with us tonight. Interesting conversation. Something I'm sure we'll be continuing to follow in the future.

Deadly storms again turning parts of Oklahoma and the Midwest into real trouble state. We've got the latest now. There you see it. At least the tornado in its original form. We'll be right back to break that down for you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right, let's go to Jackie Jeras now. Jackie, I'm actually reading notes here saying that the death toll changed while I was on the air. We were reporting nine. It's actually up to ten now, right? JACKIE JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We have at least ten and that number could go higher, Rick.