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Clinton's West Virginia Speech on Raising a Family and Health Care; Obama's Oregon Speech on Hard Economic Times; McCain's North Carolina Speech on Nominating Judges to the Federal Bench; Tornado Warnings for the Southeast

Aired May 11, 2008 - 17:00   ET

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

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A big picture here and that's a new tornado watch has been issued here, which includes Virginia Beach on up towards the Norfolk area and down through the outer banks. So, that's going to be ongoing well into the evening hours.
Now, the warning that we're talking about -- this is a cell that is continuing to push off to the east and just to the south of Hickory. So, Lincoln, Cleveland and Catawba counties are under a tornado warning. This is a Doppler radar-indicated tornado, so that means rotation is being detected in this storm.

We don't have any truth to this on the ground at this time. If we get that, of course, we'll bring that to you. But we keep in mind that this is north of the Charlotte area, as well, and it's also outside of the watch box. So, sometimes these severe storms don't stay within the confines of that outlined area.

We've also had a lot of action here across southern parts of Georgia, particularly around the Brunswick area, we've had a number of warnings here, no reports of any damage, and our most recent tornado warning has been expired, just some severe thunderstorm warning systems -- so, some damaging winds or some large hail will continue to be a threat right along the I-95 corridor.

The storm system is starting to weaken a little bit now as it's moving up to the north and to the east and as you take a look at the radar picture here, you can kind of see that spin where our main low pressure area is here pushing across parts of Ohio. This will continue to affect the Mid-Atlantic States in the northeast, well into tomorrow. But tomorrow we don't anticipate any severe weather.

As we take a look, Fredricka, down the pike, however, you know, we talked about how active this time of the year is for severe weather, may generally gets more tornadoes than any other month of the year, well, we tend to get the storm systems move in maybe every three to five days and we could be looking at severe weather across the plain states, again -- places like Kansas, places like Oklahoma, places like Arkansas and Missouri, that have already been hit could be seeing some more severe weather again on Tuesday.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Oh, man, heading for a rough week. All right. Thanks so much, Jacqui.

Well, President Bush is promising help for the thousands of (AUDIO BREAK) violent spring-time weather. Reported tornadoes struck serious blows in at least three of these states. The combined death toll in Missouri and Oklahoma, as I said, is at 21. Georgia now has one.

Well, it started early last evening in eastern Oklahoma, eight tornadoes there are confirmed. By first light of day, much of the former mining town of Picher was in ruin and seven deaths there have been confirmed.

Susan Candiotti is in Picher. Susan, how are the people coping there?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, amazingly well. I've never seen so many people have such an amazing attitude and spirit as they try to recover from the destruction here. This is about a 20- block swath where the tornado cut through in the town of Picher.

I'm going to give you a little sweep here, halfway across this particular development that you're looking at. A number of these homes were going to or in the process of being bought out by the government because of massive pollution here. It's part of a superfund effort to virtually buy back homes so that people could move out. The town has been dying (ph) for a number of years now and only to have this happened.

As we go on, I want to show you some exclusive video that CNN got hold of, of one of the funnel clouds that was in this area. This was shot by some folks and the guy driving the car, as this video was being shot, is Anthony Inmen (ph). He was driving along - they were on their way to Kansas from Oklahoma, so this was shot in Oklahoma, the Kansas border not far from here.

As you see this very thin funnel cloud, much skinnier than the one of the other video that we had also shown you exclusively on CNN, the one that likely hit this area. Well, both of these just amazing pieces of pictures to see, time and again, when we see these funnel clouds and how much destruction they bring to an area when they make landfall.

Right now, we're looking at the house that belongs to Sue Sigel.

And Sue, all afternoon -- thank goodness, first of all, you weren't here when this happened.

SUE SIGEL, PICHER, OKLAHOMA RESIDENT: That's right. I was in (INAUDIBLE).

CANDIOTTI: And you got word that nothing was left. They weren't kidding, were they?

SIGEL: Not too much. I did get a little bit. Last year, a lot of stuff that -- you know, mean a lot to me, Christmas stuff and I don't know if all this stuff's mine. I wonder if it's some of my neighbors, you know, because they'd just put (ph) these in there.

CANDIOTTI: All right. So, some of it, you don't even recognize. SIGEL: Right.

CANDIOTTI: Let's walk over here and give people as we look up a little bit, the foundation. I mean, it is just, it's blown to smithereens. Isn't it?

SIGEL: Right.

CANDIOTTI: Now over here in this chest, this is something special to you, isn't it? Can you come over and show us this? All right.

SIGEL: This has a lot of important papers in it and, of course -- Mickey Mantle and I had a ball that he had signed to my son.

CANDIOTTI: Autographed by him. And, of course, he's from the area.

SIGEL: Yes, he used to live across the street from his wife. So, they'd come back and visit, and all that, you know. So, I had a display down in the basement with all of this stuff, too.

CANDIOTTI: So, I take it that you will probably be accepting what the offer was and move away from here?

SIGEL: Probably, yes. I teach school here, so it's just kind of up in the air about that now. So...

CANDIOTTI: You do. I know the governor stopped by here this afternoon and had a word or two with you. What did he say?

SIGEL: That they were just doing all they could to help the people around here, and a lot of people were not as fortunate as I was, and, you know, there are some that didn't have insurance and some of them lost their lives and I just feel very lucky with what I have here. You know, I have my family and that's what's important to me.

CANDIOTTI: Thank you very much.

SIGEL: Thank you.

CANDIOTTI: We wish you well and carrying on in the future.

SIGEL: Thank you.

CANDIOTTI: Obviously, a lot of cleanup to be done here. The process is already well under way and these people do feel as though they will be able to go on, even if they have to move away from this area forever. Back to you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Susan Candiotti, thanks so much -- in Picher, Oklahoma.

While so many people were picking up the pieces in those four states hit by tornadoes, you heard Jacqui say earlier in the hour that the tornadic activity isn't over. This time North Carolina is in the bull's eye. Let's check in with Jacqui now.

JERAS: Yes, we just told you about that warning, Fredricka, it's for Lincoln, Cleveland, and Catawba counties. Now we have official word that there is a tornado on the ground, with this, it is near the town of Vale. The police officer confirms a tornado on the ground in Cat Square area. Again, that's in Lincoln County, North Carolina.

And there you can see the cell highlighted on our Doppler radar and this storm moving to the east at about 30 miles per hour. The town of Crouse is also in the line of this storm. You need to take shelter immediately. This is north of the Charlotte, North Carolina, area. If we get any reports of damage or any injuries, of course, we'll pass that along to you as we get more information -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Jacqui, we'll check with you.

Meantime, let's talk about Oklahoma being one of the states that was hit hard. You saw Susan Candiotti's report moments ago there in Picher. Well, the governor, Brad Henry, has gotten a chance to assess the damage for himself. He's joining us now on the line.

And, governor, what have you witnessed?

GOV. BRAD HENRY, OKLAHOMA (through phone): Well, Fredricka, it's nice to be on with you. We have just finished an aerial and ground tour of the damage here in the Ottawa County and specifically in the community of Picher.

You know, we had our share of tornadoes in Oklahoma and certainly toured lots of tornado damage. It's some of the most extensive but if not the most extensive damage that I've seen. This, obviously, was a big storm. It looked like it had a swath of about half a mile wide and it hasn't been classified yet, but I would suspect it's probably at least an F4, maybe even an F5 tornado.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that is extraordinary. Well, just looking that images, that would be very convincing that some homes, particularly even brick homes were simply obliterated. And just interviewing a lot of the folk there's in Picher, the neighbors are out, people are trying to pick up the pieces as best they can but what can you, governor, do to help mobilize this state to try and get to the heart of the greatest needs of people?

HENRY: Well, we're doing that right now. And, of course, I've already been on the phone with President Bush and Secretary Chertoff and we're coordinating with FEMA and we'll have FEMA teams on the ground tomorrow to begin to assess the damage.

Right now, our focus is on search and rescue, and making sure that the people on the ground are safe and have a place to spend the night and have their most basic needs met. That's our first focus and I think we're doing that. Tragically, we lost, we now confirmed seven, seven fatalities. And our hearts and prayers go out to the family and loved ones of those who perished in these storms. You know, one loss of life is a tremendous tragedy, but, you know, we've got some challenging days in the days and even months ahead in terms of the cleanup and Picher is kind of a unique community because we begun a buy-out program because of the zinc and lead mining that occurred here for decades.

WHITFIELD: And what is going to happen, in fact, to those people within that community who were made those offers to sell their land because of the continuous risks?

HENRY: Well, I can tell you this. You know, Picher and Cardin and other communities have been on the number one, the number one site on the federal government's superfund environmental list, really, since the inception for 20 some odd years. I made it a focus when I became governor to do something about it and we're doing something about it. And I'm going to see that through.

We have a good relationship with our federal delegation and I talked to them this morning and we're all committed to seeing the buyout to its conclusion. This storm actually may hasten the process if nothing else.

WHITFIELD: We heard from one of the homeowners there who said she didn't like the amount in the offer that was initially given to her. So, now that this area has been devastated, does that change the figures for people?

HENRY: No, it shouldn't. And some of those details are going to be worked out, but, obviously, in a buyout program of this nature, we would -- and we have plenty of data and comparable appraisals to use. So, a home that was destroyed could still be appraised at its pre- storm value. That's not really an issue.

And, you know, whenever you're moving people out of an area, you're going to have people who are just upset. It's a very tough, emotional thing. And not everybody is 100 percent happy. We certainly understand that, but we're going to strive to make sure that everybody gets what they need.

WHITFIELD: Well, Governor Brad Henry, thanks so much for your time out of Oklahoma and all the best on your continued search and rescue missions, as well.

HENRY: Thank you so very much.

WHITFIELD: Well, of course, some tornado survivors did say they've lost everything, but at least they're glad to be alive. More images now and more stories from one of the hardest hit spots on the tornadoes itinerary, a live report coming up

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: To Seneca, Missouri, now. Emergency workers are spending much of the day searching fields for possible victims. The twister that hit that area now is being blamed for at least 10 deaths.

Joanne Moore is with the Missouri Red Cross. She joins us now by phone from Springfield.

Ms. Moore, you guys, have your hands full here with so many needs. Which needs do you address first?

JOANNE MOORE, MISSOURI RED CROSS (through phone): Which needs do we address first?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MOORE: We are making sure that we have damage assessment teams out in the field today and they are out there in the affected areas and they're going to get back to us with a report by the end of the day. And possibly shortly here in the near future, we will be opening up a service center, and that is when we will be meeting with clients on an individual basis.

WHITFIELD: So, are you prepared for your -- are you prepared to first try to assist people who need a place to live because so many homes were damaged or is an issue of trying to comfort people right away while we try to figure out the next step?

MOORE: Yes. At the present time we do have one shelter open in Neosho. That is one of the areas that was severely affected by the tornado. And we will provide a place for them to stay tonight, if they wish to stay there and there will be food and water provided for those victims.

WHITFIELD: Because there were three counties that were hard hit, all right next to one another, but, still, quite a wide path. Do you have the resources to help everyone out in all of those counties or will you be asking for like national assistance from the American Red Cross, for instance?

MOORE: Yes, we probably will have people joining us from national headquarters, but at the present time, we do have enough people out in the fields for the damage assessment and we do have quite a few volunteers that have been on hand today. We have volunteers that are returning from Arkansas that we deployed last week to help with people that were affected by the tornadoes there and they are some of our top leadership and case worker volunteers.

WHITFIELD: And for you folks that are on the ground already, and talking with people, trying to assess their needs, what are they saying survivors/victims are saying?

MOORE: Well, at this time, I don't have any comments from any of the people yet because no one's reported back to us yet, as far as our people are out in the field that are assessing.

WHITFIELD: Is there difficulty with telephone lines down, et cetera? Is that hampering things, as well?

MOORE: I'm sorry, would you repeat that?

WHITFIELD: Downed power lines, downed phone lines -- has that hampered communication in any way? MOORE: Well, it has not hampered any communication amongst our volunteers and here at the main chapter. We also have moved some of our headquarter operation to the Joplin area, which is very close to the areas that have been affected by the tornadoes.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right, Joanne Moore of the Missouri Red Cross. Thanks so much for your time, we know you guys have a lot to handle at this point. We appreciate it.

MOORE: Yes. Thank you, we appreciate your help.

WHITFIELD: Meantime, in Georgia, the same storm system struck just before dawn. One person died in a town south of Macon and then in a nearby county just outside of Atlanta, well, the twister tore through a suburban neighborhood and you can see the pictures right here of the damage of many of the homes there.

CNN's Nicole Lapin is there in the town of Ellenwood -- Nicole.

NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Fred, actually, when we first rolled in to Ellenwood, we were so amazed by these beautiful homes, newly constructed housing communities. We're in one of three housing communities that were very badly hit. You can see (AUDIO BREAK) the damage (AUDIO BREAK) five years ago and you can see side of the (AUDIO BREAK) the kitchen -

WHITFIELD: All right. Clearly, we're having some problem there with the connection. We'll try to resume that, if we can.

Meantime, in all, it has been a very destructive weekend weather- wise and Jacqui Jeras will be telling us more about the severe weather, North Carolina, even the bull's eye and we'll have much more straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Killer tornadoes have swept through the south, and in Georgia, at least one person is dead and we go to Nicole Lapin who is in Ellenwood, Georgia. Not where the death occurred, it happened in a neighboring town, but where you are, it's still very windy, it's still the after effects of what has been a pretty devastating system in the last couple hours, Nicole.

LAPIN: Indeed, Fred, it has been devastating. And like you just said, the winds are still pretty fierce, really blowing a lot of this debris around the area. And, you know, this is a newly built housing community, five years ago, actually. These new homes were built and you can see some of the extent of the damage of some of these custom homes.

I want you to take a close look at the roofing, actually. Some of that crest wood, obviously, destroyed this home, but also it jumped over to the neighboring house and that's what we're seeing some of the residual effects of the damage. Connie Banks' house, actually, and she's in the process of just trying to tarp everything up before nightfall. Connie, what was it like this morning when it hit? CONNIE BANKS, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Very frightful. We, my husband said, "Get up, we got to go." And it sounded just like a train passing by our bedroom windows.

LAPIN: And the damage to your roof, that's where your bedroom was.

BANKS: Yes. That's right over our master bathroom and our closet.

LAPIN: And it wasn't actually from the tornado itself but it was from your neighbor's house which you normally can't see because of the roof.

BANKS: Oh, we were told that it came from another subdivision.

LAPIN: Really?

BANKS: So, it wasn't the damage from our neighbors, it was just damage from another subdivision.

LAPIN: What's now? What are you doing next?

BANKS: We're going to a hotel for tonight. Red Cross provided us with room and food and shelter for tonight and clothing. All our clothes were totally damaged.

LAPIN: But everybody is OK?

BANKS: Yes. We're a little worried about my dog.

LAPIN: The dog, of course, part of the family, but everybody is just fine. Connie, thanks so much for checking in with us and good luck with the tarp right now -- because, Fred, this is what it is all about right now. A lot of people helping people, neighbors helping neighbors before night does come and then these folks have to go to hotels.

We heard from officials earlier today, 175 homes almost destroyed, but it's really these individual stories that paint the picture -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, indeed, it does. Nicole Lapin, thanks so much, from Ellenwood, Georgia.

Jacqui Jeras is in the severe weather center. Last check, you were telling us about some pretty frightening potential activity in North Carolina. What's happening with it now?

JERAS: Yes. We're still tracking that storm, Fredricka. And right now, it's putting down some monster hail, we're talking about the size of an egg, at least, about two inches in diameter. So, a tornado warning continues for this storm which includes Gaston, Lincoln, and Catawba counties.

We did have a report by law enforcement that a tornado was on the ground when this went through the town of Vale. Right now, we're just seeing rotations still on Doppler radar, but a tornado still could drop out of this storm at any given time. It's pushing off to the east, and notice you've got Concord over there, but it should stay well up to the north, though, of the Charlotte area.

So, still, some dangerous situations going on. We've got watches across the Carolinas and through the outer banks and on up into Virginia, and this is going to be ongoing into the evening hours -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. We know you will keep us posted, thank you so much, Jacqui.

Meantime, the Democratic presidential candidates - well, they're just days away now from another primary. BALLOT BOWL featuring the candidates unfiltered is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, this is Jessica Yellin with the CNN Election Express in Charleston, West Virginia. We are here looking ahead to Tuesday's primary here where the Democrats will go to the polls. Senator Clinton already is significantly ahead of Barack Obama in the polls here in West Virginia.

But a new development today: Barack Obama is reining on her parade a bit. He has caught up with her in the superdelegate total. As of today, Barack Obama and Senator Clinton both have 273 superdelegates pledged to them. Now, recall that Senator Clinton was ahead by 100 superdelegates at just the beginning of the year and you see how quickly he has narrowed the gap.

The total now: Barack Obama 1,865 delegates. That's pledged and super together. Senator Clinton, 1,697 delegates. All of that as both candidates try to get to that magic number of 2,025 delegates to become the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.

Now, Senator Clinton is here in West Virginia today. She is stumping hard on Mother's Day while Barack Obama is taking a down day with his family. Senator Clinton was in Crafton, West Virginia, the home of Mother's Day. In fact, Mother's Day was created, history has it, by a woman who lives there and lobbied hard for a day recognized in the contributions of mothers around the country.

Senator Clinton today in her comments with Chelsea by her side talked about how hard it is to raise a family and also how important it is to have health care for all family members. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is hard raising children today. There are so many demands. The jobs don't pay what they used to, which means that usually you have to have both parents working, don't you? If you're a single mom, honestly, I think you're a miracle worker to be able to manage the family and the job at the same time.

I think we should do more to help young families. I'd like to see us experiment in our country with what other countries have and that's not only expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act so that we protect more families in times of emergency, I'm very proud that millions and millions of people have taken advantage of that, the first bill that my husband signed. But we need to expand it because right now it cuts off at 50 employees. We need to bring that down to 25 employees because when you have a newborn baby or adopt a baby or your spouse or your spouse are sick or your parent is sick, it's terrible having to make a choice between losing your job and taking care of your loved one.

I just worked to pass legislation, which we have passed to extend the Family and Medical Leave to the families of wounded soldiers. Because so many of them when they're brought back to the country they need extensive and lengthy care. And they need their families by their side. So, we're going it make sure we protect their jobs and I'd like to be available for more people. Here in West Virginia, that would help a lot of West Virginians.

I also want to push for something that is not available in very many places today. That is some form of paid leave for limited purposes because what happens now with unpaid leave is that if you can't afford to go from your job, you can't take it, even if it's available to you. If we had a small limited program of paid leave that the federal government would work with the states to provide, 490,000 workers in West Virginia in the private sector might be eligible.

I also think it's important we look at the end of life and the beginning of life together. We need more child care for families. We have 64,000 children under 6 in West Virginia that don't have good child care. But we also have many, many families taking care of loved ones and they don't get much help doing it. The average family in America taking care of a child with a disability, a spouse with Alzheimer's, a parent with Parkinson's will spend at least $5,000 out of pocket taking care of that loved one. I think we should give a $3,000 caregiver tax credit so that families are not put at a financial disadvantage for doing what they're doing out of love and dedication.

I also would like to see us make it easier and less expensive to buy long-term care policies. It's one of the biggest concerns families have. What happens if my parent or my grandparent or my spouse is no longer able to take care of him or herself and I can't physically do it any longer and I don't have any help to do it? How can we get long-term care in had home or some other setting. I think we should have a long-term care tax credit, as well, so people can buy long-term care insurance.

So, on all of these issues it really does matter whether we are going to care for one another. And I think it's interesting that this holiday we start today was the idea of a woman right here in Grafton. And, you know, Anna Jarvis prevailed against the odds. If you were to come up with an idea right now for a national holiday and you persevered for nine or ten years like she did, it would be a labor of love and that's what it sometimes does take to take the changes that will benefit us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: And Senator Clinton here in West Virginia and the home of Anna Jarvis who, as she said, created Mother's Day.

One historical note, Jarvis eventually said she regretted creating Mother's Day because it had become so commercialized. That is the history of Anna Jarvis here in West Virginia.

I can also mention that Senator Clinton today among her comments said one person sent her a letter recently telling her not to quit and saying, quote, "It's not over until the lady in the pant suit says it is." That's something I bet you will hear a lot about between now and the vote on Tuesday here in West Virginia.

Now, while Senator Clinton is focusing her attention on this state, Barack Obama spending some time across the country. Oregon will vote in just over a little over a week. A week from Tuesday, they hold their primary. And Barack Obama is expecting to finish very strong there, a heavy lead over Senator Clinton and is expecting to actually overtake her in the pledged delegate lead after that state's primary. So, he was campaigning hard there.

He was hitting especially hard on these economic themes we've been hearing so much from both candidates and their efforts to reach out to working Americans who feel they are struggling and falling under during these tough, economic times. Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not just what's going on overseas that present such a challenge because we are challenged here at home. I don't have to tell you -- I'm sure the people of Bend are going through what people all across the country are going through. People are working harder and harder just to get by.

We just went through an economic expansion in which, for the first time in our recorded history, the incomes of the average family actually went down during this economic expansion. The average family had $1,000 less while the economy was growing and corporate profits were up and the stock market was up. It's never happened before. And it's a signal of something wrong here in America.

There's something wrong when people work as hard as they can and, yet, still, can't live out their American dream.

There's something wrong when you've got 47 million people without health insurance and if you've got health insurance, you've seen your co-payments and deductibles and premiums going up and up and up.

There's something wrong -- there's something wrong when people have worked all their lives, have a retirement and a pension, they think they can count on, and suddenly a bankruptcy court erases everything that they've worked for and they find themselves vulnerable.

There's something wrong when we see jobs shipped overseas. And people who had put 20, 30 years of their lives into a company, not only lose their job, but lose their health care and lose their pension and lose their sense of place and sense of meaning and dignity because they no longer have work that can support a family.

There's something wrong when there are children all across the country who, despite the slogans, are being left behind because they can't afford a decent education.

So, in such circumstances, I decided we could not afford to wait. We couldn't wait to fix our schools. We can't wait to fix our health care system and we can't wait to end global warming. We cannot wait to save our rivers and our streams and our forests. We cannot wait to end this war in Iraq. We can't wait and that's why I'm running for president right here and right now. Can't wait. We can't wait. We can't wait.

Not only did I think we couldn't afford to wait, but I also believe that the American people were ready. They were ready for something new. I believe that the American people were tired of the politics that were about tearing each other down. They wanted a politics about lifting the country up. And I was convinced that the American people were tired of spin and P.R. They wanted somebody who would talk straight to them about how we were going to solve problems.

And most of all, most of all I was convinced that the American people wanted to be able to come together and be reminded of what we hope, we hold in common. That we're not just a collection of red states and blue states, that we're not just black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, that we are Americans. That when we can unify, when we come together and recognize those common hopes and common dreams and common struggles that we have, there is nothing to stop us. There's no dream we can't achieve, no destiny we cannot fulfill. I was convinced that the American people believed that.

And after -- after visiting 47 states and speaking to hundreds of thousands of people and shaking hundreds of thousands of hands and kissing hundreds of babies, I'm here to report that my bet paid off. My faith in the American people has been vindicated because everywhere I go, people are standing up and they are saying we are ready for change. We want something new. We want to turn the page. We want to write a new chapter in American history and now, Oregon, it is your turn.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: Barack Obama, slightly pivoting there into general election mode outlining the kind of candidate he will be up against his Republican opponent John McCain, should he become the Democratic nominee.

Now, we will hear from John McCain on the other side of this break.

But, first, we have breaking weather news and I want to go to Jacqui Jeras who has an updated tornado warning -- Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We have been tracking the storm for nearly an hour now, Jessica. It has a history of producing a tornado and very large hail. The warning now has been extended and this includes UNC, charlotte. So, you need to be seeking shelter if you live in Caberras (ph), Lincoln and Irerdale (ph) Counties. We've looking at cities like Huntersville, Cross, UNC, Charlotte and Lowe's Motor Speedway and Harrisburg. Should be arriving there by 6:25. There you can see the storm. It's moving near the I-77 corridor right here and pushing off to the east. Law enforcement confirmed a tornado on the ground when it moved through Vail. And Lincolnton reported funnel clouds and tennis ball-size hail.

If we get any reports of damage, we'll bring those along to you. And we'll continue to track this storm.

In the meantime, we'll take a quick break. And we'll be back with BALLOT BOWL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

YELLIN: Welcome back to BALLOT BOWL. I'm Jessica Yellin in charlotte, West Virginia, with the CNN "Election Express."

Republican presidential nominee John McCain is down this Mother's Day. He's in Arizona. But this past week he was busy fighting on two fronts. First, trying to sort of define who his campaign clearly thinks is a presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. And then also still working to shore up support among his conservative supporters, the conservative base at the Republican Party.

John McCain specifically was in North Carolina earlier this week talking about an issue so important to the conservative voters and the Republican Party, the federal bench and the kind of judges he would nominate to be on the bench. John McCain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For decades now, some federal judges have taken it upon them selves to pronounce and rule on matters that were never, never intended to be heard in courts or decided by judges. With the presumption that would have amazed the framers of our Constitution and legal reasoning that would have mystified them, federal judges today issue rulings and opinions on policy questions that should be decided democratically. Assured of lifetime tenures, these judges show little regard for the authority of the president, the Congress and the states. They display even less interest in the will of the people. And the only remedy available to any of us is to find, nominate and confirm better judges.

Quite rightly, the proper role of the judiciary has become one of the defining issues of this presidential election. It will fall to the next president to nominate hundreds, hundreds of qualified men and women to the federal courts and the choices we make will reach far, far into the future.

My two perspective opponents and I have very different ideas, very different ideas about the nature and proper exercise of judicial power. We would nominate judges of a different kind, a different caliber, a different understanding of judicial authority and its limits. And the people of America, the people of America, voters in both parties whose wishes and convictions are so often disregarded by unelected judges, are entitled to know what those differences are.

Senators Obama and Clinton have very different ideas from my own. They're both lawyers themselves and don't seem to mind at all when fundamental questions of social policy are preemptively decided by judges instead of by the people and their elected representatives.

Nor have they raised objections to the unfair treatment of judicial nominees. For both Senator Clinton and Obama it turned out that not even John Roberts was quite good enough for them.

Senator Obama, in particular, likes to talk up his background as a lecturer on law and also as someone who can work across the aisle to get things done, but when Judge Roberts was nominated, it seemed to bring out more of the lecturer in Senator Obama than it did the guy who can get things done. He went right along with the partisan crowd and was among the 22, 22 Senators to vote against this highly qualified nominee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: Senator John McCain making it clear, he and Barack Obama would nominate very different judges to the federal bench, making his campaign against Barack Obama already very clearly outlining the beginning of that race.

Stay tuned to CNN. We're going to bring you more severe weather and the latest updates from around the country on the other side of this break

And also don't forget that on Tuesday night, we are going to bring you complete coverage of primary returns from West Virginia. "CNN Election Center" will begin at 7:00 p. m. eastern and bring you all the latest details and analysis. So, keep it tuned to CNN for your election central.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD: CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome back to "the NEWSROOM." I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Here's the new images coming in from hard-hit Picher, Oklahoma. This is an area that saw a string of tornadoes. Now you can see that widespread swath that was devastating that community and nearly wiping that small community off the map. Seven deaths were reported there, as well. New images coming in and we continue it gets more images in from not only Oklahoma, but from Missouri, another hard-hit state where at least 14 people were killed, and even Georgia where one person was killed, as well.

CNN I-reporters have been assisting, as well, by delivering a lot of images, videos as well as still photographs.

And Josh Levs has been monitoring all the images coming in and deciphering what we're seeing.

JOSH LEVS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's amazing stuff, Fred. I'm standing right here in the middle of the CNN NEWSROOM. People working on all sorts of stories following this story, the storm all day long.

Let me take you over here to the board. I want you to see the latest pictures we're getting on the ireport.com. These are really powerful images that we're starting to get from Picher, Oklahoma.

We have with us Jim Koontz, who took these photos.

Jim, are you there?

JIM KOONTZ, CNN I REPORTER: Yes, I'm on the line here, Josh.

LEVS: Talk to me about what we're seeing here. I understand you're a retired pilot and you went into the sky and took these pictures?

KOONTZ: Yes, Josh. We left early this morning. The weather was too turbulent yesterday evening to get up, even though it was daylight. So as soon as we could acquire an airplane this morning out of Grove, Oklahoma, we flew up, took some around 80, 85 aerial photographs and starting with the Picher, Oklahoma, area and working back east. That is the triage center they set up on Highway 43 between Seneca and Joplin.

LEVS: OK. Jim, I know you're able to see what we're looking at right here. Talk to me about this. This devastation is incredible. Look at this image. I almost feel like I can feel the wind when I'm seeing this picture. Where did you take this? And what was this structure before the devastation?

KOONTZ: Josh, that particular one there was taken east of Highway 43 south of Joplin there on Highway BB, as we were following the debris trail as it led off towards the east and points towards Monett. Actually, that house because there were so many homes that were totally devastated and the damage, it's impossible for me to tell you exactly what happened.

LEVS: Sure. It was a private home that you're looking at here.

KOONTZ: Yes, that's a home and there was just too many and no way I could photograph all of them.

LEVS: Look at this. And look at this. All the trees are down, every single one. This was a structure, apparently a home. I you look very closely, you can see this is ireport.com and you can see almost covered a truck down there. This seems to be the one thing that survived. I'm going to flash through this really quickly. All this devastation is very powerful imagery.

And, Jim, you're right there on the border so you were able to see this for miles and miles. In are your life, have you seen this kind of destruction? Is this the kind of thing you get in this area?

KOONTZ: Occasionally, in this area, Josh. But I was a professional pilot, say, for 40 years and I have never seen so much devastation. It is one of the few times I was able to catch it so soon after it actually moved through.

That's the town of Picher there on the southeast corner of town.

LEVS: Jim, thank you so much for sharing these.

Everyone else who has more images share them with us at i- report.com.

And, Fred, I'll tell you, we've been getting images like this all day. We're seeing it all over it here right in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: Right.

And search and rescue teams are right on the ground in areas directly hit by these tornadoes. While we have some assessment of those injured and the properties damaged and so far at least 22 killed, the fear is there really could be more damage that is surmounted on top of this. And, of course, Jacqui Jeras following this story throughout the next hour, as well, in the NEWSROOM with Rick Sanchez because North Carolina now is in the bull's eye, as well. LEVS: And we're staying on top of all this, the latest tolls and the latest information on the destruction, all of it right here on CNN.

WHITFIELD: All right, Josh Levs, thank you very much.

LEVS: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Rick Sanchez in the "Newsroom" next hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then the walls, as we were moving, the walls started leaning back. And we ended up right there under that door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN NEWSROOM: Just one description, there are hundreds like it. And thousands may be lucky to be alive today after a massive tornado system has moved through three states. The path of destruction, unbelievable -- fallen trees, blown roof tops, overturned cars. We'll take you live to the center of it all.