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Jane Velez-Mitchell
President Obama at Ground Zero; Child Accidentally Ingests Hallucinogenic Drugs With Dinner
Aired May 05, 2011 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, honoring the victims of 9/11, President Obama`s emotional first visit to Ground Zero. I`ll talk live to a survivor and victims` families about what they think is next for our country. And we`ll debate the latest shocking new information about the raid.
And stunning allegations of child abuse. Cops say a 5-year-old girl was made dinner in the same pot her mom uses to make hallucinogenic drugs. How the hell could this happen? We`ll tell you what happened to the child.
Also, a race against time in the search for beautiful missing 20-year- old Holly Bobo, the cousin of a famous country music star. Her brother says she was dragged into the woods by a man wearing camouflage. I`ll talk to a close family friend about the desperate hunt and new information just surfacing.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s just very hard! And I feel sorry for anybody that`s in this situation because I know how you feel!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: As horrific tornadoes and floods destroy entire communities, victims try to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. But help hasn`t even gotten to some of those in the worst shape. What can you do to help? And why is all of this happening so often? I`m taking your calls.
ISSUES starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are getting information about the possibility of a discussion of a plan to disrupt the railroad networks in the United States on the 10th anniversary of September the 11th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell reporting live from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. And we`ve got breaking news to bring you. This just hot off the presses. This is just in. You heard from Nic Robertson. The so-called motherlode of intelligence seized from Osama bin Laden`s compound is already revealing potential al Qaeda plots. CNN is now learning that al Qaeda discussed derailing the Long Island Rail Road system -- that`s right, the LIRR, as we know it here in New York -- on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. That is coming up this September, those anniversaries. And they`re supposed to be celebrated right here.
U.S. officials got information taken from bin Laden`s compound. We`re talking 10 hard drives, five computers, a whole bunch of cell phones and storage devices. Now, I want to stress this railroad plot was an idea on a piece of paper, not an operational plan. But guess what? Imagine if it had been allowed to fester? Imagine if we hadn`t taken out bin Laden? They could have continued plotting this.
Meanwhile, the White House does seem to be backtracking on details of this deadly raid. For one, guess what? There was no 40-minute firefight, it turns out, as we initially heard. U.S. officials are now saying that bin Laden`s courier shot at the U.S. Navy SEALs when they arrived from inside a guest house. They quickly shot him back. They killed him. From that point on, the Navy SEALs were not fired on again.
These accounts have come from people who should be in the know. So they`re different from the first set of accounts. Will that fuel a lot of the wild conspiracy theories that are out there now?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right at the early stages, the U.S. administration controlled the narrative. Now, of course, since then, some of the facts and the minutiae of the story have started changing.
I think it`s very important to seize an initiative and to control the message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, give me a call, by the way. I want to hear what you have to say about all this, 1-877-JVM-SAYS.
We`re very delighted now to go to Monica Iken, who joins me. She lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks. And thank you for joining us on this very windy corner. You met with the president of the United States today. What is your reaction to this breaking news that`s just in, of a discovery of a terrorist plot to blow up the Long Island Rail Road or to do something to disrupt the Long Island Rail Road on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, which was supposed to be celebrated and will be celebrated here in September?
MONICA IKEN, LOST HUSBAND ON 9/11: Well, we hope that`s really not true. And if it is true, we have to really focus on what`s important now, and that`s the 10th anniversary that`s upon us in less than 129 days. We really have to start focusing on that, and we can`t worry about other people doing other things to us here.
We really have to start paying attention to what we have to focus on. Right now, getting through the 10th anniversary -- it`s a very significant time for us families, and this is the most important time to celebrate their lives and their loss at this memorial. And it`s going to be amazing. I think people will be very pleased when they see it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did you feel a sense of catharsis when you met with the president of the United States? Tell us what emotions ran through you?
IKEN: Well, I was surprised that he was so genuine and so informal. And he was very -- he paid a lot of attention to the families. He went up to them individually. He talked to them. He wanted to hear about who they lost, who they were, where they worked, and was very consoling. I have to be honest, I was surprised, pleasantly surprised, at his demeanor. And he was so good. And there were some young children there -- well, not so young anymore, but they were young enough to understand and be so welcomed by him. And I think it`s a nice legacy for them that he was there for them.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You lost your husband. Tell us briefly, where was he when the terrorist planes hit the World Trade Center?
IKEN: He was in tower two, on the 84th floor. He worked for Euro Brokers. And he actually called me twice. He could have gotten out, but he stayed behind to help another co-worker named Susan with a couple of other co-workers who are no longer with us.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m so sorry. I`m so sorry. And thank you for being here...
IKEN: Thank you for having me.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... and helping us try to make sense of the senseless, really.
I want to go to Jay Winuk. You lost your brother in the 9/11 attacks. You also, I understand, met with the president of the United States. First of all, your reaction to the news of the foiling or the discovery of this terrorist plot to obstruct or do something violent to the Long Island Rail Road or rail system of the United States on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. This is information gleaned from the raid that killed bin Laden.
JAY WINUK, LOST BROTHER ON 9/11: Well, Jane, you know, I`m learning about it from you, actually. I had not heard that earlier today. It`s been a very busy day for all the 9/11 family members who were in New York, so...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s just coming in.
WINUK: It`s -- yes, I realize that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re just learning about it.
WINUK: It`s -- you know, it`s shocking, and you know, we`ll find out together along the way, you know, this evening and tomorrow more information about it. But it`s disconcerting, certainly. But you know, I don`t think hearing about more terrorism plans in the works, you know, should be that shocking to anybody, really. Unfortunately, that`s the post-9/11 world we all now live in.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Do you think maybe now we`re entering a new chapter, now that we`ve taken out the world`s number one terrorist and we`ve gotten this absolute treasure trove of intelligence information from the computers and hard drives?
WINUK: Well, you know, I mean, you raise a good he question. My hope, along with all reasonable people`s hopes, I`m sure, is that maybe we`ve entered -- maybe we`ve entered a place where the world will be just a little bit safer because bin Laden is no longer directly a threat to us. But I think it`s too soon to tell. You know, time will tell.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What more will we learn from this motherlode of potential intelligence that was seized from bin Laden`s compound? Again, we`re talking 10 hard drives, five computers, five cell phones, stacks of documents, more than 100 storage devices. They`re already revealing that al Qaeda discussed a Long Island Rail Road attack on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, which is obviously coming up this September.
I want to go out to Chris Heben, who is a former Navy SEAL. I`m most interested in the five cell phones because if you look at the calls out and the calls in, and you get dozens of phone numbers, isn`t that going to give us dozens of names of people who are directly -- not indirectly, but directly associated or a part of al Qaeda?
CHRIS HEBEN, FORMER NAVY SEAL: There`s no question about it. That intelligence is priceless. We are acting on it right now. Rest assured, we are acting on this at this very second. Those guys that did the hit, the DevGroup guys, they`re probably already planning their next operation, as are other Tier 1 assets. You can bet your butt that the Delta Force guys are probably already thinking about what they`re going to do. It could be tonight. It could be tomorrow. You never know. But that intelligence was priceless, and it will be acted on. I guarantee it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I got to wonder if they do identify individuals as a result of those cell phones, then does the United States unilaterally move in and grab those people, given that there`s so much concern about whether Pakistan was harboring and knew about bin Laden?
HEBEN: I think it depends on where those numbers lead to. If they`re numbers withinside (SIC) Pakistan, then we got to take a hard look and say, Do we want to divulge that information, or as you just said, once again just keep it to ourselves and act on it. I think it may be important at this point in time, if these sources are outside of Pakistan -- I mean, where these numbers lead to -- that we get other NATO nations involved so there is more of a holistic approach to this new information, rather than us going -- keep you know, initiating activity and doing it ourselves. I think that would be smart idea at this point in time.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. We are going to talk to an extraordinary woman on the other side of the break. She`s standing right here off camera. She survived 9/11. She was inside the towers. But her life was forever changed. And we`re taking your calls on this, 1-877-JVM-SAYS. Priscilla, California, hang on. I`ll get to you on the other side of the break.
Plus, later: Young, beautiful Holly Bobo vanishes. I`m going to +talk to her desperate family friend.
But first, what do the victims of 9/11 think about, well, what`s just been discovered, what has just been discovered as a result of the raid on the bin Laden compound?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There isn`t any closure for the families. This is just a beginning for us to continue honoring our loved ones, to making sure their memories are never forgotten.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF EDWARD KILDUFF, NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We had a great conversation, a little bit of Mets, a little bit of Yankees, a little bit of White Sox, a little bit of Cubs. And we think the president genuinely enjoyed his visit to the firehouse. Again, we`re extremely appreciative that he was able to join us today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell live at Ground Zero, where the president of the United States made an emotional visit today. This was not about taking out the world`s number one terrorist. Well, it was, but it was really about the firemen and police who were on the front lines on 9/11 and honoring them and honoring the victims and their families and the survivors. We`re going to talk to a survivor in just a moment.
But first, I promised Priscilla, California. And your question or thought, ma`am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Jane. I love you, been watching you since (INAUDIBLE) Number one is, why (INAUDIBLE) burial (INAUDIBLE) a lot of people that are upset. Why didn`t we bring him back to the U.S.? (INAUDIBLE) didn`t do already? And (INAUDIBLE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, I believe that you asked why didn`t we bring him back alive? Chris Heben, former Navy SEAL, address that briefly, if you will.
HEBEN: Well, they didn`t bring him back alive because he`d be sitting in some institution right now, probably in Guantanamo Bay, and the taxpayers would be spending millions and millions, if not billions of dollars on this whole situation.
The guy was already guilty. He admitted to it. There was no reason for a -- for any kind of a litigious situation. This is a guy that turned the entire world upside down on its axis. He affected everyone on this planet, which kind of makes we me wonder why are we even questioning the details of the whole operation. The more we do that, the more we`re going to be moored right now and we`re not going to be able to move forward.
To me and my buddies, it doesn`t matter if this guy was in the middle of an origami class. He needed to be taken out. He was taken out. Done deal. Let`s move on.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know what?
HEBEN: And also...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree with you.
HEBEN: Jane, I`d like to...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I do. I think...
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But let me -- let me say this -- go ahead.
HEBEN: I`d like to send a quick shoutout to FDNY and NYPD, SEAL Teams, we love you guys. Lieutenant Mike Murphy, Medal of Honor winner, he wore the patch for Ladder (INAUDIBLE) love you guys. Keep doing what you`re doing.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Thank you. And one last caveat, as far as the answer to that question. I read that the only way they would have taken him alive is if he was completely naked because there was always the chance that if he was wearing anything, he could have had a bomb device on him, a suicide device that he could have exploded.
HEBEN: That`s correct.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So he wasn`t naked, he was in his PJs.
All right, a new 9/11 documentary called "Rebirth" is just coming out before the 10th anniversary of the attacks. Here is a sneak peek. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Simply training cameras on Ground Zero in order to capture the, really, minute -- by-minute evolution of the site over time, knowing that at a certain point, when it was very different, that it might bring about a kind of feeling of hope and even resilience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I want to welcome an amazing woman, Leslie Haskin, a survivor from tower one of the World Trade Center. You were inside at the time of impact. I`ve got to get your reaction to this breaking news. I know you don`t know what it is. Sources tell CNN the Department of Homeland Security this afternoon issued an unclassified notice about rail security. Law enforcement said it`s tied to information gleaned from the raid on Obama -- excuse me -- on bin Laden`s compound. A source says that they found a plan to derail trains in the United States by placing obstructions on tracks. The plan was to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and Long Island Rail Road was mentioned. Your reaction?
LESLIE HASKIN, TOWER ONE SURVIVOR: I don`t know.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sad. I see you welling up. I know. I`m sorry. I`m sorry. I`m sorry. Yes, it`s rough. It`s scary.
HASKIN: I don`t know that it`s scary so much as -- I think with all the celebrating, people are forgetting that those of us who lived through it, we haven`t moved on! And there`s always -- I`m sorry. There`s always a sense that something else is going to happen. It`s taken me 10 years to get to where I am! It`s taken me 10 years to get to where I am, and the thought that it can start all over again -- I don`t know what to do with that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I didn`t mean to shock you with that information. I`m so sorry if I did.
HASKIN: I don`t think that I`m really shocked about it. It`s almost a confirmation. I don`t think I`m really shocked. It doesn`t go away. I mean, you have to have been in that building, where I was. You have to have lived and walked in my shoes and smelled what I smelled. I was homeless afterwards. I had post-traumatic stress disorder. I couldn`t work.
I couldn`t even think. All I thought was about bin Laden. All I thought about was surviving in that building. And now you get a glimpse that maybe it`s over, and then you find out that it`s not. I don`t think I`m shocked. I think it`s a confirmation that, you know, something`s always going to knock the wind out of us, you know?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re a very brave woman and I thank you for sharing your incredible story. We`re going to get back to you in just a little bit.
Well, that kind of says it all. We don`t know what it`s like to have gone through the terrorism.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC BAKER, NEIGHBOR: It`s bad enough that you`re doing this, but to keep it where your child can get to it, or whatever, that`s uncalled for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Addict nation out of control, a Connecticut mom facing charges after her 5-year-old allegedly -- are you sitting down? -- eats a dinner laced with PCP. Cops say relatives were baby-sitting the little girl and they cooked some noodles for her to eat, not knowing they were using the very same pot the child`s mom used the night before to cook "wet," the street name for marijuana laced with embalming fluid. The 5- year-old started acting strangely, becoming hyper, distracted, hallucinating, saying she had four noses. She was raced to hospital. That`s when it all came together.
Joining me now, Howard Samuels, founder and CEO of the Hills Treatment Center in LA and addiction specialist. Howard, this child could have been seriously hurt.
HOWARD SAMUELS, ADDICTION SPECIALIST: Yes, I mean...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: How can -- first of all, what do you cook in a pot? What is -- what is PCP? Do you cook it in a pot?
SAMUELS: You know, Jane, this is one of the most unpredictable and dangerous drugs out there. It used to be used for -- in animals as an animal tranquilizer, but it was so dangerous, it is now discontinued and it is only made in illegal laboratories. So this drug -- you use it, you can put it on parsley, tobacco, and you use pots in order to do that. So for this mother to do this and then the child eats out of it is just horrific crime. And you know, I -- as you know, Jane, I`m sober 26 years and -- you know, and I used to smoke PCP.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did you ever try PCP? Really?
SAMUELS: Absolutely. I mean, it was -- it was a horrible experience. I would smoke PCP and then I would crawl. My whole body would go numb. I couldn`t walk. I would have the worst hallucinations. It was just a horrible experience. And you know, this drug is not that popular today. So when I hear this report that it`s still out there being used, it is just -- it`s a crime, absolute crime, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The 26-year-old mother told cops nobody in her family knew she was cooking PCP. And guess what? The neighbors had no idea she might be using PCP, either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MONICA REYES, NEIGHBOR: Sometimes mistakes happen, but this is a pretty big mistake, so -- overall, she`s a good mother. I see her with her kids all the time.
ANTOINETTE HUMES, NEIGHBOR: She (INAUDIBLE) and the 5-year-old (INAUDIBLE) took good care of them. She`s a working mom also, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: How on earth, Howard, can a woman be hallucinating, allegedly, on PCP and the neighbors and nobody notices? What?
SAMUELS: Yes. Absolute crime, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Howard?
SAMUELS: You know, but this is where addiction takes us.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: How do they not notice? How do they not notice? How do they not notice if you`re hallucinating?
SAMUELS: Well, this is where America needs to be educated because so many people are out to lunch when it comes to people on drugs. That`s why we need to talk about it. That`s why we write books like you, Jane, on it. If we don`t educate people in order to help people about this disease and this crisis that`s going on in America, we`re all lost. Families are lost. And children are harmed, you know, to such a degree, it`s just horrible.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree. All right. Well, one shocker after another. On the other side of the break, we`re going to talk once again to the woman who survived being inside the World Trade Center.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A race against time in the search for beautiful missing 20-year-old Holly Bobo, the cousin of a famous country music star. Her brother says she was dragged into the woods by a man wearing camouflage. I will talk to a close family friend about the desperate hunt and new information just surfacing.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) -- for anybody that is in this situation because I know how you feel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: As horrific tornadoes and floods destroy entire communities, victims try to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives but help hasn`t even gotten some of those in the worst shape. What can you do to help and why is all of this happening so often?
I`m taking your calls.
ISSUES starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It`s some comfort, I hope, for all of you to know that when those guys took those extraordinary risks going into Pakistan, that they were doing it in part because of the sacrifices that were made in this station. They were doing it in the name of your brothers that were lost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell live at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan, site of a very somber ceremony today with the President of the United States. He will cap off this remarkable week with a visit to the Navy SEALs who carried out the raid on bin Laden on Sunday.
Now once again, I`m very honored to be joined by Leslie Haskin who was inside Tower One on 9/11. Leslie, you did not get to meet with the President is that correct?
LESLIE HASKIN, 9/11 SURVIVOR: That`s correct.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you are a survivor? Do you feel a little cheated and if so, why?
HASKIN: I do. I think that we are the forgotten bunch of people. I mean, there`s several ways to lose your life. There are -- the people that lost their live also on 9/11, who lost their lives physically and then there are those of us who lost our lives in other ways.
I lost my home. I lost my job. I lost my mind. I almost lost my son. And I think that there are others like me out there who also need to feel that it`s going to be ok. We also need the President and the Armed Service and somebody to reach out to us as well. We are just kind laid in the back.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I hear you were an insurance executive with a company that went out of business and then you ended up homeless as a result of --
HASKIN: That`s right. Sure.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Where -- what floor were you on?
HASKIN: We were on the 36th floor of Tower One and our offices were on the same side of the building where the plane came in.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You saw dead bodies?
HASKIN: We saw dead bodies. I saw -- from the moment of impact -- two, three minutes later, there was furniture and debris and bodies falling out of the windows from above us.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I am so, so happy that you got out alive.
HASKIN: Thank you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What would you have said to the President of the United States, had you had the opportunity to speak to him?
HASKIN: I don`t know, but I would have liked to have heard him tell me, I`m sorry for your loss. I think it`s more about what I wanted to hear him say.
I love the President. I think he is doing an amazing job. I just want to know that he sees me, too.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Because you`re a survivor?
HASKIN: Because I`m a survivor. It`s been ten years and I`m still surviving and it will be ten more years. And with the news that you just told me, I have to survive. When these cameras go off and everybody goes home and the world moves away from this I have got to figure out how to get past September 11th again.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I know you take the Long Island railroad and that`s one of the reasons why that shocked you so much, hearing that they uncovered an al Qaeda plot involving LIRR.
HASKIN: I`m a commuter. I`m a commuter. I know a lot of people on that train and I ride the train as well, so knowing that there is another plot 00 found doesn`t mean foiled. It means that there could still be other things out there that I have to deal with. And this is my life.
And this is why I say all the time, in order to survive, I`ve got find something every day that`s bigger than what I see out here. I can`t depend on what I see. I have got to find something in here and live beyond that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I want you to know that we want you to become a survivor`s expert and appear on ISSUES regularly because you have survived and you are one of my heroes and I want to say congratulations.
HASKIN: Thank you. Thank you so much.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You didn`t get to meet the President.
HASKIN: I`m sorry for your loss.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m a very poor, poor, poor substitute. I just want to say, I am so sorry for your loss.
HASKIN: Thank you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.
HASKIN: Thank you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.
Wow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you so much. Please try to get home us to and if anybody knows anything about her, please. Please help us find her. She is just so precious. You just don`t even know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, fear turns into desperation as the search for missing nursing student Holly Bobo. The cousin of country singing star Whitney Duncan vanished from her family`s home three long weeks ago. And if investigators are right, people in the small town of Parsons, Tennessee, population 2,500 know the person who took Holly Bobo. He is one of them, one of them in the area, in the neighborhood. Who is he?
Holly`s brother says his sister was dragged away by a man dressed in camouflage. Clint Bobo says he thought it was Holly`s boyfriend but Clint says he became suspicious when he found blood on the driveway.
And what about that blood? Hasn`t there been time to determine if it is from Holly or not? Nobody`s talking. The cops aren`t talking.
Here is Holly`s cousin, country star Whitney Duncan on "Good Morning, America". Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITNEY DUNCAN, COUSIN OF HOLLY BOBO: The family right now is trying to be strong. You know, it doesn`t seem real, you know? That`s the last phone call you ever expect to get, you know? And it is a close family so we are just trying to hold it together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Investigators believe whoever has Holly is a local person who knows the area well, but how can a local pull off something like this in a town where everybody knows everybody? It is a very small town?
Straight out to Holly Bobo`s cousin, Kristin Smith; first of all, thank you for so much joining us, Kristin. I know this has got to be extremely difficult for you. We are trying to help find her.
What do you know? What new? I understand that there was a new piece of evidence that was discovered on the side of a road that was found when they were doing a search recently, but cops won`t say what that new piece of evidence is. What do you know?
KRISTIN SMITH, COUSIN OF HOLLY BOBO (via telephone): Honestly, we do not know much. I can speak and say they are hearing the rumors and everything just like the local community. And the cops and all law officials that are -- (INAUDIBLE) -- are being very tight-lipped, even to the family.
So we are hoping that there is a reason behind that. We do know there`s new evidence collected on the side of the road. I do not know at this moment what that evidence was. We are all just trying to hold it together and (AUDIO GAP) honestly.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we want to help do something to solve this case. Maybe somebody out there knows something. They should call authorities. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation or TBI, does have a couple of new clues to work with.
Once again, Holly`s -- well, Holly`s lunch box was discovered just three days after she disappeared about eight miles away from her house. And then last week, another item belonging to Holly was found. Cops won`t say what it is.
I want to go out to Levi Page, host of "The Levi Page Show" on talk radio. You have been studying this case. What do you know?
LEVI PAGE, HOST, "THE LEVI PAGE SHOW": Well, Jane, I do know that I talked to Kristin Helm from the TBI last week, she is the spokesperson for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and she told me that everyone that the TBI has spoken to on this case has been cooperative. I also asked her if anybody has been given a polygraph exam in this case. She did not divulge that information.
But what we do know, Jane --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, who are you talking about there? Who would be good? Who would be a good person to give a polygraph to? I would think the brother -- not to the say that anybody is a suspect, he is not -- and neither is the boyfriend. But the brother, certainly, he is the last one to see her and the boyfriend, apparently, wore camouflage regularly because he is a hunter and the person seen leaving wore camouflage. Again, he is not a suspect but it would be good to know -- to be able to eliminate those two, right, Levi?
PAGE: I agree, Jane. And they are not being very forth coming with information. I hope there is a very good explanation for why they are not doing that. They said that they have -- that they`re not releasing who they have given polygraphs to. We don`t know if they have or not; they`re not divulging that information.
But one thing I wanted to point out we did hear some reports that the brother claimed that Holly Bobo was dragged to the woods and then it changed that she was led away to the woods. The TBI went to the home and they did not detect any drag marks at Holly Bobo`s home.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now, here is my big issue tonight: a stranger among us. Cops believe the person who abducted Holly Bobo is a local.
Here are the signs to look for. Investigators say the suspect may have been unaccounted for the day of the abduction, may have missed work or other appointments in the last three weeks. He may have excessively cleaned a car or an ATV or suddenly sold a vehicle or reported it stolen and maybe showing signs of stress or anxiety.
HLN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks, this is a very, very small town; what is it doing to the people in this town to think that one of us could be responsible or is responsible for her disappearance?
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, that`s one of the things they were doing, Jane. You have law enforcement out there handing out fliers about the same time that they believe the abduction happened along the road where her house was. Because, you know, local people, especially a small community like this; they`re going to notice something. Whose truck is that? Whose jeep is that? They`re going to notice things that are out of place.
Right now, they are not saying anything at all. What kind of evidence do they have? We don`t know. They are being extremely like this, as Levi said, they`re being very, very tight-lipped, holding their cards very close to the vest.
But the camouflage, a lot of people up in that area, Jane, they wear camouflage on a regular basis.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So that absolutely proves nothing.
Tammy Randy (ph), you are a friend of the family, we have actually run out of time but I want to assure you and Kristin that we are going to do everything to keep this story alive. We are not going to let it go.
Coming up next, tornadoes and floods destroying communities; and what`s causing all this extreme weather? I`m taking your calls.
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REBECCA MARTIN, HOME WAS FLOODED: I want to get the things above my closet, which is old pictures of the family and stuff and that means a lot to me.
This is (INAUDIBLE) and I feel sorry for anybody that is in this situation because I know how you feel.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, devastation and heartbreak in the wake of last week`s deadly tornado outbreak in the southeast. The hardest hit states, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, 350 people killed. Officials say the outbreak may have been the largest in American history.
Last week alone there were more than 300 twisters; estimated damage, as much as $5 billion, with a b. But statistics they don`t mean a whole lot to the people whose lives were totally destroyed, their homes were completely pulverized by the killer weather.
Check out this woman who lost her husband.
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CHERYL SMITH, HUSBAND DIED DURING STORM: My husband was a wonderful, wonderful person who truly loved his children and grandchildren. And he died doing what he loved the best, and that was trying to protect his family.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Meantime, you know this if you live in the southeast or along the Mississippi River you`re experiencing it for yourself. The tornadoes may be over but now it is about severe flooding caused by the tornadoes and the heavy rains it is a nightmare for anybody touched by these disasters.
Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS, have you experienced it?
Let`s start with Lucy Sikes from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Lucy, thank goodness you and your family lived through the tornado swarm, but, wow, did you get clobbered? What did you go through? Describe what you experienced.
LUCY ARNOLD SIKES, TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA: Well we did. We knew a bad storm was headed our way --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You are looking pretty good. I must say you look better than I do right now. I`ve got -- I`m in a wind tunnel. You look very, very neat. But can you hear me? Can you describe what you went through?
SIKES: Well, we watched the storm coming through Tuscaloosa on the television, which is what was so amazing and then ran toward our bathroom.
The house started shaking. We started hearing a lot of noise as well. I don`t know exactly what was going on outside. I just remember a lot of noise.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Listen, what I`m going to do is jump in and talk to Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel. Jim, you`re a legend.
I got to ask you this. I think a lot of people are wondering and this is -- is my big issue, is this weird weather? I mean, essentially is this something that is happening not just vis-a-vis these tornadoes and floods and heavy rain. But essentially more intense weather around the globe and could it be connected to climate change?
JIM CANTORE, WEATHER: Absolutely. I do believe it is absolutely connected to climate change. You have extremes showing up everywhere, like you mentioned. You go back to the Russian heat wave last year; you go back and look at all-time record highs set around the globe in so many cities. And even our country, you go back to the winter, we had 30 feet of snow in some places over the tops of buildings. And that jet stream, it`s trying equalize everything. It just kind of worked its way into April where we have had extreme heat and drought across Texas and southern plains, meeting up with this jet stream and this has just unleashed a phenomenal record.
I mean Jane, when you look at April`s tornadoes alone what we had in April was about a half a year`s worth, on average, in one month.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But let me ask you this. I live in New York City.
CANTORE: Right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: This past winter, we had the freakiest winter. I have ever never seen that much snow since I was a child. I have never seen that much snow. It actually looked almost bizarre, like this is too much snow. This is something out of a horror movie. And it did set a record in one of the months.
Do you think that there is anything happening here that has simply becoming -- crossed the line into not just, oh, we have had a bad year weather-wise but there is something else going on?
CANTORE: You know, if you`re asking me if we have tipped the bucket over too far where it can`t come back, I don`t know that, as a scientist. But I can tell you as a person who is watching this go on just like you; something is a little out of whack in the atmosphere, absolutely. So we are seeing more extremes globalism.
I mean just in our country alone, again, the southern plains drought; you have to go all the way back to the Dust Bowl era and potentially even some cases before that. We have never had a period of drought like we are seeing in Texas and New Mexico.
The Mississippi flood --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: More on the other side of the break. We are taking your calls.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole house started breaking apart. Then I felt it lift off of the foundation. It was like we were shot out of a cannon and then I eventually blacked out then and woke up in a field 50 yards from my house staring up at the sky.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: That man survived the tornado outbreak which is being called the worst natural disaster in U.S. history since Katrina. Some people think it`s even worse than Katrina. It really is unbelievable devastation. Take a look at this.
Now I want to go to Melissa from Alabama. Melissa, you survived a tornado? Tell us.
MELISSA, ALABAMA (via telephone): Yes. Yes. I -- we were -- we came home from work from 12:30. I came home and I took a nap. And when the sirens started to go off, I was asleep, and I woke up. I grabbed my dog and I got in the hallway and the house started shaking. And there was green air right outside. And I -- it lasted about 15 minutes. And I come back outside and everybody is just kind of like looking around like -- but we knew this was coming. We knew this was coming.
But there`s a lot of trees down and everything around my area. But two blocks down, it is gone. It is just devastation. You might see -- if you see a house standing, it`s like one house every seven houses or so. And there`s clothes hanging in closets, you know, just hanging perfectly and everything else is gone. It`s terrible. But the --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me --
MELISSA: Go ahead.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You said you grabbed -- did you say you grabbed your dog and took off?
MELISSA: Oh, no, I grabbed my dog and I took off into the hallway, and I screamed and I prayed to Jesus to get us through this. And I know that tornado was over us for about 15 minutes. It was awful. It was awful.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You mentioned -- yes, Lucy Arnold Sikes you home was also damaged by a tornado. Will you describe -- I`ve seen tornadoes from afar. I`ve covered tornadoes but I`ve never been inside. What exactly happens? When do you realize, oh, my gosh, this is a tornado?
SIKES: Well, we -- of course, we`re in the bathroom during the tornado. After the house quit shaking and we came out, we came out to find a pine tree through our living room. When we opened the front door -- well, I shouldn`t say opened because the door was already opened. It was blown open. Our front yard looked like a forest. It was covered with trees.
And my car which had been parked on the curb near where I`m standing now had been tossed into the air and into the front yard. My car was laying on its side. It was almost surreal. And I`m really just grateful that my family is ok.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Jim Cantore, what is the specific explanation for the tornadoes and, sadly, we only have a couple of seconds.
CANTORE: Yes. Well, the atmosphere just reloaded almost on a daily basis. You know, you had the perfect jet stream winds. You had the perfect heat and humidity that you would normally see in May or June coupled with a strong March-like jet stream. And that combination reloading every day was a recipe for disaster. That`s why we had a half a year`s worth of tornadoes in one month.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. Well, I just -- my heart goes out to those who lost loved ones, who lost property, who lost pets. This is an absolute disaster and we hope that everybody who sees this pitches in and does what they can to help. They need help.
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OBAMA: What happened on Sunday because of the courage of our military and the outstanding work of our intelligence, it sent a message around the world but also sent a message here back home that when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say.
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