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American Morning
Another Tornado Scare in Joplin; Searching for Survivors in Joplin; Survivors Five-Minute Ordeal in IHOP Freezer; Five Dead In Oklahoma; Helicopter Used In Bin Laden Raid Returned; Fan Beating Lawsuit; Casey Anthony Trial Underway
Aired May 25, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi reporting live from Joplin, Missouri, where thousands of tornado victims just endured another night of hell. A night filled with the sound of sirens and warnings to take cover. Everyone bracing for another twister that never came. But they weren't as lucky west of Oklahoma City. Tornadoes tearing up entire neighborhoods. Five people are dead, dozens hurt and thousands without power.
In a moment, a Joplin woman whose home collapsed right on top of her. She lived to tell about it and she'll do just that, next, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: More terror from an already-traumatized city. I'm Ali Velshi live in Joplin, Missouri.
The city was forced to take cover again. I'll tell you about our harrowing experience last night. Plus, the latest on the search for hundreds of people who are still unaccounted for.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. Five massive tornadoes, five people dead, as new wicked storms rip through Oklahoma. Even workers at the Storm Prediction Center had to take cover during this one.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. It's also going to be a busy day for President Obama. He's in London. He's at 10 Downing Street right now, and a bit later he'll be holding a news conference with Britain's prime minister, coming up in just about 90 minutes. He'll make history also by addressing parliament. We'll have it all for you live on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us on this Wednesday. Good to see everybody this morning. You know, the pictures are coming in, new pictures, and the devastation continues for the Midwest.
ROMANS: That's right. Ali Velshi is in Joplin, Missouri, where they had a harrowing night.
Hi, Ali.
VELSHI: Good morning, Christine. Good morning, Kiran. And it is a better morning here. People counting their blessings.
A near miss last night here in Joplin, Missouri. Everyone taking shelter and bracing for another twister that thankfully never came. This city, as you know, is reeling. Forty-eight hours after the deadliest tornado in recorded U.S. history, the death toll now stands at 124 people killed.
The National Weather Service upgraded Sunday's tornado to an EF-5. That is the highest possible rating with winds above 200 miles an hour.
Now in Oklahoma, devastating storms carved up Canadian County, which is west of Oklahoma City. Five separate tornadoes touched down and five people are dead. Dozens more are hurt.
The Dallas area got pounded too. Texas Rangers fans had to evacuate the stadium for a time before the ball game returned. And several tornado sightings were spotted with heavy damage to homes in the Fort Worth area. And then there were two people killed in Arkansas, Franklin and Johnson Counties, were bearing the brunt there.
Now around here in Joplin County yesterday, it was the first time the weather cleared up. We had a chance to go up in a Black Hawk helicopter to get a sense of the destruction. It was really quite remarkable to see it from the air. There's certainly no -- you know, we can see the devastation around us. We got a real sense for what it was. But when you see it from the air, you really get the sense, it looks shredded. Homes look like they were shredded.
Look at those flattened trees. The homes that were destroyed actually looked like sawdust from the air. That's the medical center that you're looking at that's just up the road. But there were just entirely -- entire areas that were completely, completely flattened that didn't have the characteristics, the typical characteristics of a tornado, where it weaves in and out. These were just flattened areas entirely.
Now that was during the day yesterday. Then last night, we expected bad weather to roll in and suddenly late last night, after a little bit of rain started to show up, we started to hear the tornado sirens.
Now we were here in this position. This is pretty high ground. We decided to seek cover. But before we did that, we went to the last place where we had seen people. It was a Waffle House just off the highway very close to here. We decided to go back there and see how people were doing. This is what happened when we got there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: The last place we saw where there was a gathering of people was this Waffle House right here near Interstate 44. This is what they call sort of the hotel district in Joplin. A lot of new hotels and restaurants around here, so we just figured let's get a lay of the land, let's find out what's going on here.
This thing was absolutely full about 10 minutes ago. When we got here, it was all emptied out. People are starting to take shelter. Some of them went in the back. And now you can see some people are trying to make decisions as to where they should go. A lot of people have applications and are getting messages as to where the storm is, but there is some heavy electrical storms. As you can see, not much in the way of rain right now, but the storm is headed in this direction. And after what has happened here on Sunday night, I guess some people just don't want to take chances. Everybody is looking for shelter right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And, of course, we had heard at that point that there had been a touchdown of a tornado very close to where we were. People started to -- sirens started to go off and folks started to take cover.
In a few minutes, I'm going to talk to a woman whose house is just a couple of blocks from where we are. She survived after her house collapsed on her and her husband. She'll be here to talk about how she was found and how she was rescued. One of the lucky stories here in Joplin. But again with so many people unaccounted for, we are uncertain as to where those people are, whether they remain trapped or whether they got out of town and were just having trouble communicating with their loved ones. We're still trying to get answers to that -- Christine, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Ali Velshi for us.
Wow. Some harrowing moments captured on tape. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning as you update us on the situation. It seems like one hit keeps on coming you just can't get a break.
ROMANS: That's right. And then here you've got the national -- you know, the national center that predicts these storms, the national Storm Prediction Center. Well, you know, the weather is extreme when they have to actually evacuate as well. And that's exactly what happened last night, too.
CHETRY: Yes. It's in Norman, Oklahoma, and a tornado was coming right at them. It missed, but others weren't so fortunate. I mean, here you see that funnel cloud just tearing a path of destruction. Five people were killed in Oklahoma. The National Weather Service says at least five tornadoes touched down.
Our Ed Lavandera is live in Piedmont, Oklahoma, this morning. You know, they had warned about this, they were talking about the extreme threat of these tornados and sure enough, we saw them unfold yesterday.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, here in Piedmont where you're talking about is where those five deaths occurred and the sheriff here in this county says that he expects perhaps that number could increase. In fact, there's a 3-year-old boy that is still missing after the storm rolled through here late yesterday afternoon. Many of these storms caught on videotape. Storm chasers following these tornadoes as they touch down and carve their way across the state of Oklahoma.
It's been a treacherous, long sleepless night for thousands of people not only across here in Oklahoma but down into the Dallas area as well. And if you look at this one house here in Piedmont, this was a two-story home before the tornado rolled through here yesterday afternoon. And you can see that the difficult part here out in this, we're northwest of Oklahoma City, rather rural area in this town of about almost 4,000 people, and the search and rescue here hampered. Just look out at it in the darkness there in the middle of the night. The search and rescue efforts had to be suspended as the darkness hit this area last night. They will resume here as soon as the sun comes back up this morning.
So, this is what they're facing here. And as we've driven around over here in the overnight hours to get to where we are right now, you've seen in many of these places where these tornadoes come through and basically just carved off the top of treetops, power lines down as well, and homes that in many situations, in many cases look just like this, Kiran.
CHETRY: Unbelievable. Any update or any word on whether more people are missing?
LAVANDERA: Well, what we do know is of that 3-year-old boy, and obviously that will be, we suspect here in the Piedmont area, one of the areas where they quickly resume that search here this morning. And as the sheriff mentioned, they believe that death toll number here in this area could go up. So those search and rescue efforts because they had to be suspended here, I mean it is absolutely dark once you start getting away into some of these rural areas. It makes it virtually impossible for these teams to really get through -- some of the -- you can see through some of the treacherous terrain and wooded areas to be able to do any kind of reasonable and thorough searching. So they're going to need that daylight to be able to make any headway in that.
CHETRY: So tragic. All right. Ed Lavandera for us this morning in Piedmont, Oklahoma, thanks.
ROMANS: Tornado watches are in place right now in St. Louis, Chicago and Memphis. Those could be today's targets. Rob Marciano is here with more on that.
Three days now of very extreme weather and tornadic activity as they say in your business.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And, you know, last night, I feel like -- we had such strong storms rolling through Oklahoma and Kansas and even through Arkansas and Missouri. Some of those storms, luckily, dodged some of the more populated areas. And, you know, that hasn't been the theme this year, has it? I mean that's why we've had so many fatalities.
We've had big storms. We've had big tornadoes but they've rolled through populated areas like Tuscaloosa and like Joplin. Here's a look at the storm reports, part of yesterday, or since about 8:00 last night. And in total, 56 tornado reports, over 600 reports of wind and some of those reports stretch all the way to the northeast as well.
We're looking at tornado warnings right now, just north of St. Louis. It looks like the last one was allowed to expire. Southwest of St. Louis and east of Springfield and these are all rolling through the east. We have a tornado watch that's in effect for the next few hours here. You can see this well-developed storm system now pin wheeling its way slowly off to the east. So the entire storm that has spawned this severe weather the past few days is now beginning to push off to the east and under the gun will be folks who live in Indianapolis, St. Louis, back to Little Rock, Memphis.
Moderate risk for seeing severe weather today. That's just one notch down from what we saw yesterday across parts of Oklahoma. But more populated areas, it's going to be a dangerous afternoon and a dangerous evening for sure as this storm continues to push itself up. It's going to be tapping moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Of course, that humidity is going to increase things as well and the heat also. So it's another day and then this will push off to the east tomorrow and it will weaken somewhat, but still we're not done with this system just yet. It's a big one.
CHETRY: It's amazing how many of those twisters that were caught on camera throughout yesterday. How -- I mean we just have so much visual evidence of the destruction.
MARCIANO: Oklahoma City, they don't mess around in that television market. The choppers get up in the air and they fly around these tornadoes. It's really remarkable. And the residents of that state know what they're doing.
ROMANS: A little more practice.
ROMANS: They do. I mean, it's part of their daily lives. It's kind of like brushing their teeth, you know, get in the storm shelter or get inside your home and get away from the windows when the storms come through. And they certainly know how to cover it and warn their residents as well. And that's another reason that there weren't as many fatalities as we could have had.
ROMANS: Look at those pictures. You know, the funnel cloud is very narrow and powerful. Others we've seen big monster-wide storms. Is there a difference of how they behave, the destruction or just, they're just different?
MARCIANO: You know, they're kind of like snowflakes, everyone is different. The wider ones, the wedge ones, they can have multiple vortices within them.
ROMANS: Right.
MARCIANO: Like the type that rolled through Joplin, those are certainly the most dangerous. ROMANS: Right.
MARCIANO: But the smaller ones, they don't look as bad but they pack a punch as well. So --
ROMANS: You see them explode a barn, pick up a car, it's amazing.
MARCIANO: It's truly remarkable.
ROMANS: All right, Rob, Marciano. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, officials say it is unlikely that Iceland's volcano will blow again, but right now the ash cloud is disrupting international air travel this morning. There's a look at it. I mean, you can see just how wide, how dense the ash is at this point. Germany shutting down two airports. Ended up canceling 700 flights because of it. Some good news, though. European Air Traffic Control Agency says things could return to normal later today if the ash cloud continues to break up and dissipate.
ROMANS: And today is day three of President Obama's tour of Europe. He's in London right now. Last night, he and the first lady went to a lavish state banquet hosted by the queen, but the president's toast was accidentally interrupted when the orchestra started playing a bit too soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To her majesty, the queen, to the vitality of the special relationship, between our peoples and in the words of Shakespeare, to this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. To the queen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron will hold a news conference in just over an hour. AMERICAN MORNING is going to have live coverage of that event beginning at 7:35 Eastern Time. We're expecting them to address Libya, Afghanistan, the relationship between these two countries and a whole lot more.
CHETRY: Yes. The whole global economic situation as well.
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: Well, listen, there's a huge interest in this trial that's been going on, three years in the making and a bombshell in the Casey Anthony case as opening statements in the trial in Florida.
The attorney for Casey Anthony basically accused -- who she is accused of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. Her defense attorney told the jury that the toddler drowned accidentally in the family pool and that Casey's father helped covered it up. The defense also claimed that Casey Anthony was sexually abused by her father starting at the age of 8 and that this is a family that is used to covering up lies.
We're going to be talking to Sunny Hostin about this defense. She is facing -- Casey Anthony is facing capital murder in this case. So we're going to talk more to Sunny Hostin, our legal contributor, coming at 6:40.
ROMANS: A judge rules against New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's state education budget saying it holds back students in poor communities. The state's Supreme Court ruled Christie's school cuts are unconstitutional because they don't meet funding requirements. Now, Christie must include another $500 million in education aid back to the schools.
CHETRY: A first look at NASA as NASA unveils its new space vehicle. We're going to show you exactly what it looks like coming up.
ROMANS: And we'll tell you more about Oprah's final farewell. New details about her last how show. It was really remarkable and unconventional. We'll tell you a little bit more about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Good morning. I'm Ali Velshi in Joplin, Missouri.
I want to just tell you where I am right now. I'm in front of a church that starts over there behind the camera and - and extends all the way over here to the library of the church. There's a classroom, and goes all the way over there behind me. This whole area, we're on a hill, was a church that - that has just been destroyed.
We're in the midst of this area in Joplin that's been destroyed. In fact, the only building that's still standing and very, very badly damaged is that medical center that we - we have been showing you for the last couple of days in which a number of patients died.
We've been looking at all this. We've been surveying this all from the ground, but yesterday I had a chance to get up on a U.S. Army Black Hawk and take a look around the damaged area and it's really quite remarkable. That's the medical center.
But let me just give you a sense of the - the damage around here. It - it's about three quarters of a mile wide and about six miles long and doesn't have the characteristic, you know, some of the - some of the houses are destroyed or others are not. The tornado wrecked everything in its path and - and most of those houses are just shredded.
You can see that there's - some of them are just entirely, entirely flat. The foliage is gone. The trees have been entirely knocked over, if not stripped bare. The Wal-Mart that we showed you picture of - pictures of and the Home Depot, also completely laid bare. A number of bodies have been pulled from the Wal-Mart - from the Home Depot. I'm sorry. But this is the kind of - this is the kind of devastation that the - the storm has brought.
Now, a woman I wanted to introduce you to, I still will a little later in the show, lived in a house just nearby here. She went into her basement to - to wait this tornado out. The entire house collapsed upon her and her husband, but they did have a little bit of space and their neighbors actually pulled them out. She actually went back to her house yesterday and got her pet bird that had also survived.
So there are stories of survival in here. However, there are still a lot of unaccounted for people. The list, according to the latest, we just spoke to emergency workers here, about 1,500 people. Now they are - they are cautioning that they don't know that there's anything wrong with those 1,500 people. They don't know that they're hurt or trapped or dead. They are just people whose families have contacted authorities to say that they don't know where they are.
It's entirely possible they've left the area, but all through the day yesterday and through the night, we are still having trouble communicating with - with people on the cell phone service because of the damage, the number of cell phone towers were put out, plus there are a lot of emergency workers and media in here. So we don't know the state of those people.
Right now, the death toll still standing at about 123 people in Joplin, Missouri, and the recovery continues. Christine and Kiran, if people want to find out more, they can help those devastated by the tornadoes in Missouri, we can - go to CNN.com/Impact. We're also going to link you to disaster relief in the other states that have been affected. This is a list of organizations and the ways you can help those in need. CNN.com/Impact -- Christine, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Ali Velshi for us out there today. Boy, another day of devastation, another day of uncertainty. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning. Thanks, Ali.
ROMANS: Meantime, a former friend and aide of Sarah Palin has a new tell-all book. What he's saying about Palin as a possible presidential candidate.
CHETRY: With the same time the NBA is trying to put a campaign forward telling people to watch what they say. Joakim Noah, the - the latest player to use a gay slur. We're going to talk about his punishment and why it was less than what Kobe Bryant got for doing the same thing.
Twenty minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Twenty-three minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" now.
It appears Americans are all work and no play. According to a survey by Expedia.com, he average U.S. worker gets 18 vacation days but uses only 14 of them. One expert says the reason, some folks simply want to eliminate the temptation to spend money.
Fewer Americans are falling behind on their credit card bills. Credit reporting agency, TransUnion, says late payments have fallen to their lowest level in 15 years. One reason for that decline - consumers are cautious about carrying debt. They've been paying down their credit card balances.
NASA unveiling its new space shuttle. The multipurpose crew vehicle is based on the Orion Capsule, the spacecraft originally designed to take out astronauts back to the moon. The new spacecraft will be designed by Lockheed Martin.
Google and Citibank are going green. The two companies announcing they will each invest $55 million into a California wind farm. Once the project is complete, it will be the country's largest wind farm able to power 450,000 homes.
And the best part of waking up will cost you more. The maker of Folgers announcing it's raising the price of its coffee products by 11 percent. J.M. Smucker says the price hike is needed to offset high coffee costs.
And a group of high school students in Washington State wanted to illustrate America's $14.3 trillion debt. So check this out. They laid out 14,300 pennies, each of those pennies represents $1 billion.
AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back to Joplin, Missouri, where thousands of already traumatized tornado victims had to endure another night of terror. Tornado warnings and the sound of sirens have people running for shelter last night. But this city was spared a second direct hit. Sunday night's tornado left 124 people dead. Search and rescue teams continue to look for survivors. Fifteen hundred people are unaccounted for this morning, but those may be people who just have not been able to contact their loved ones because of difficult cell service.
The twister that wiped out 30 percent of this city was an EF-5. That is the highest rating for a tornado. It's been upgraded now. It had wind speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour. And when everything is added up, the damage from the deadliest tornado in recorded U.S. history could total $3 billion.
And Mother Nature's assault on America's heartland also targeted Oklahoma last night. Five people there were killed in twisters. The National Weather Service confirmed five tornadoes touched down. Most of the damage was done to Canadian County, which is west of Oklahoma City.
When the tornado hit, the dinner - the dinner shift was in full swing at a local IHOP here in Joplin. Casey Wian was out there last - yesterday. He joins us this morning with a story of 30 customers who wanted out of that - those very tight quarters. Casey, tell us the story.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali. We met a man yesterday who refuses to admit that he was a hero, but he played a big role in helping 36 people who were eating and working at an IHOP survive after the tornado hit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY KHATIB, IHOP DISTRICT MANAGER: We're going to start to just clean some of the debris around, you know?
WIAN (voice-over): Danny Khatib is the manager of this demolished IHOP restaurant in Joplin, Missouri. He was on duty when the tornado struck Sunday.
KHATIB: Started getting dark, it was hailing outside, a lot of rain. And the siren went off and we sensed it, you know, a tornado watch. We used to this kind of stuff usually, I mean, kind of. So, it wasn't very scary in the beginning, but after that, just kept getting worse and worse.
WIAN: Inside, 30 customers and six employees.
KHATIB: Debris started hitting the windows and stuff, and you could hear the noises before the window breaks and stuff. Everybody got scared and stuff. We thought the best way to go, go to the back and hide.
Everybody went through this way inside to the back, just away from the window, away from any glasses or, you know -- so nobody would get hurt.
WIAN (on camera): What were you hearing?
KHATIB: Just a lot of noises like a train passing (ph) through and a lot of noises. People gathered. And they are too many, so they were crowded up here. They managed to get inside the walk-in and inside the freezer. So as you see, it wouldn't fit many people.
WIAN (voice-over): Fifteen in the refrigerator, 15 in the freezer, and the rest huddled outside.
(on camera): Imagine being one of the 15 people who were crammed inside this walk-in refrigerator, waiting out the tornado. It had to be even scarier because there was no light and they were in here for about five minutes hoping and praying.
(voice-over): Once the noise stopped, customers and employees got out and surveyed the damage. It had to be shocking to see near total devastation alongside plates of food that remained on the table.
KHATIB: You got lucky, no one got hurt, and everybody was fine.
WIAN: Khatib's house was also destroyed. Yet two days after the tornado, the Syrian immigrant has nothing but kind words for his adopted town.
KHATIB: We will come altogether and they make through it. So, I'm very proud of Joplin people in our community here.
WIAN: As for the future of the restaurant? (on camera): Is it going to be rebuilt?
KHATIB: Definitely, it's going to come back better than before.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: As it turns out, two of the diners in that restaurant who survived the tornado were members of the Missouri state legislature, Ali. Just some of the incredible survivor stories that we're still learning about every day -- Ali.
VELSHI: Yes. And, Casey, you and I have been running into a lot of that around here. A lot of confidence that they're going to rebuild, they're going to get back. While there's a lot of sadness around this town, there are a lot of people who are very, very hopeful. Casey, we'll chat a little later on in the show.
Also, we've just spoken to emergency services in the city here and we do want to confirm the latest death toll is now 125 people dead from this devastating twister in Joplin -- Kiran, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Ali. Certainly a sad update on the death toll. Thanks, Ali.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, the House Appropriations Committee approving $1 billion in disaster relief money for communities hit hard by the recent spate of natural disasters. This is a proposed increase to FEMA's budget. It would be paid for by cutting a program that promotes the development of energy efficient vehicles.
ROMANS: And upset in Upstate New York. Democrat Kathy Hochul won a special congressional election yesterday by campaigning against the Republican Party's plan to transform Medicare. The seat had originally been considered safe for Republicans.
Yesterday's election was to replace former Republican Congressman Chris Lee. Lee resigned back in February after a shirtless photo he e-mailed to a woman who was not his wife appeared on the Internet.
CHETRY: One-time member of Sarah Palin's inner circle blasting the former Alaska governor in a tell-all book. Frank Bailey started working with Palin during her 2006 governor's campaign. In an interview with both CNN and ABC's "The View," Bailey said Palin loves to play the victim and her, quote, "leadership style was absolutely chaotic."
He also weighed in on whether she plans to run for president in 2012.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK BAILEY, FORMER AIDE TO SARAH PALIN: I believe she is very ambitious and I believe she is seriously considering it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isn't that terrible for the country if she run?
BAILEY: I believe it would be a disaster for the country. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, an adviser to Sarah Palin's political action committee also released a statement saying Mr. Bailey has an ax to grind and abandoned truth in his book.
ROMANS: He was found guilty and today, Brian David Mitchell learns his fate. The homeless street preacher was convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting Elizabeth Smart back in 2002 and holding her captive for nine months. Smart managed to escape during a trip to Walmart. She's expected to speak at the sentencing. Mitchell faces life in prison.
CHETRY: Chicago bulls center Joakim Noah paying the price for an anti-gay slur he made during the game. The league fining Noah $50,000 for using a term to respond to a fan during Sunday's playoff game against the Miami Heat. Noah says the fine is fair, it is half of what Kobe Bryant got for making an anti-gay remark to a referee, all of this happening as the NBA has been trying to crack down on offensive language.
This is a PSA. You may remember, we talked to Grant Hill, the Sun's star, last week about it. This is a PSA for the league sponsored Think Before You Speak campaign, aimed at cutting down on gay bullying.
ROMANS: Yet you still hear these words in moments of heat on the court.
CHETRY: And the defense from both of them, from Kobe and Joakim was, oh, I didn't mean it like that. I just said it in anger. But was -- that's whole the point of the PSA, is that you got to think before you speak.
ROMANS: Right.
A judge giving Warner Brothers the "go ahead" to release "The Hangover II." A tattoo artist tried to stop the release of this film because of the Mike Tyson inspired ink on the actor, Ed Helms, his face. But the studio is not in the clear yet. The judge did rule the copyright infringement lawsuit can continue to move forward. And, of course -- I know.
CHETRY: I know. I saw it last night, by the way.
ROMANS: Was it funny?
CHETRY: I was not the biggest fan of "Hangover I." This one I thought was funnier, actually. I mean, the same formula but they were pretty creative. And any time you throw a monkey into the movie --
ROMANS: Have you seen "Bridesmaids" yet?
CHETRY: No, not yet.
ROMANS: A lot of people say that's better than "Hangover II." But, (INAUDIBLE) I don't see that one yet.
All right. A courtroom bombshell by the defense in the Casey Anthony murder case. This is -- this is an about-face, quite frankly, and how could this impact the prosecution's case. Sunny Hostin is going to stop by with these stunning developments in this case.
CHETRY: It's also the long good-bye. Oprah's final farewell. Some new details about her last show coming up.
Thirty-seven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour right now.
Some courtroom drama in Florida after three years of Casey Anthony murder trial finally had their opening statements. She is on trial for allegedly killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee back in 2008.
The defense dropped a few bombshells in the opening statements yesterday. Anthony's attorney saying that Caylee wasn't murdered as prosecutors contend, but rather that she accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool and that Casey's father helped cover that up. Not only that, the defense also went on to say that Casey was sexually abused by her father since she was 8 years old.
George Anthony, her dad, was called as the first witness. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF ASHTON, ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY: Have you ever sexually molested your daughter Casey Anthony?
GEORGE ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY'S FATHER: No, sir.
ASHTON: Were you present in your home when Caylee Anthony died?
ANTHONY: No. When I heard that today, it hurt really bad.
ASHTON: Did you dispose of the body of your granddaughter?
ANTHONY: No, I did not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Again, some very gripping testimony and live questioning.
Sunny Hostin is a legal contributor for "In Session" for truTV. She's been following this case from the very beginning and joins us now. Thanks so much for being here.
SUNNY HOSTIN, "IN SESSION" LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Sure.
CHETRY: Jose Baez, Casey Anthony's attorney, really shocked the courtroom. First, this whole allegation of the incest, even brought the brother in at some point.
HOSTIN: That's right.
CHETRY: And also that everything you've heard is completely wrong. This baby drowned accidentally in the family pool and everybody knew but the grandmother.
ROMANS: This is out of the blue.
HOSTIN: It is. And bombshell I think is the right term because we -- I've been covering this case and watching this case from the very beginning. I was riveted by his opening statement. He told "In Session" that he would explain the 31 days, because that's the behavior everyone is talking about, right? Kid is missing for 31 days.
CHETRY: Without her reporting.
HOSTIN: She never reports it. My kid is missing for 31 seconds, I'm going to report it to someone. He said he would explain it in the first minute of his opening statement and that's what he did, Kiran.
He basically says, hey, listen, she didn't report her because she wasn't missing. She died. She died accidentally, tragically. But she wasn't murdered. She died by drowning in a swimming pool.
Why does that make sense? This is Florida. In Florida, drowning deaths for children under 4 is the top cause of death. And so, this defense could certainly resonate with a lot of those jurors.
CHETRY: The part hard to believe, you hear all of those conversations when she's in jail and all of the phone calls between her mother and her father.
HOSTIN: She mentioned sexual abuse, though.
CHETRY: But why in God's name if it was something as tragic but, quote, you know, "non-nefarious" as a drowning, what she not say that?
HOSTIN: Of course, and that's the question.
CHETRY: Three years go by.
HOSTIN: That is a question. According to the defense, it is because she was sexually abused by her father from ages 8 on. They talk about the fact that she would have to go to school after being sexually abused and he said sexual abuse changes you. She, after this accidental death, she was so traumatized, she just went into her corner and tried to live life as if her life was different. Having prosecuted child sex crimes, and I've met with many victims of incest, sex abuse does change you.
And so, again, it's a defense. I'm not saying that it's true. But it's a defense that could resonate with some of the jurors.
ROMANS: Which is why it's a brilliant legal strategy. But if you're the prosecution you're trying to say this woman has been lying over and over and over for three years.
HOSTIN: That's right.
ROMANS: And in the end, you have a 2-year-old little girl who is dead and her mother was partying around for 31 days without reporting her missing.
HOSTIN: And they did a great job, the prosecution, in their opening statement, they said now is the time to tell the story of Caylee Anthony. And that is, as a prosecutor, what you need to do.
As you said, Christine, a 2-year-old girl is dead -- and let's not forget that. This is a tragedy. The victim is going to be in the courtroom because of the prosecution every single minute, every second of that trial.
CHETRY: From the way that yesterday shaped up, it's going to be a long, long trial.
HOSTIN: Two months I'm going to be watching every single day.
ROMANS: Let's switch to another one -- let's switch to the DSA case, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. So, earlier this week, a lot of speculation and rumors about maybe the DNA evidence is back, what does it show?
Where do we go from here with this case? Once the DNA evidence is officially back, who's going to see it and what does that do for the case?
HOSTIN: Well, you know, I haven't been able to confirm that the DNA evidence is back. But this case is not really about forensics, because the defense in this case is, either it didn't happen or it was consensual. So, that's not the issue.
The issue is the credibility of this victim. If I'm the prosecutor, I want to take care of my victim. I want to make sure that no defense investigators are getting to her. I want to make sure she's not being bribed or trying to be convinced out of testifying. I want to make sure that my victim is OK. I want her --
ROMANS: And getting counseling, right?
HOSTIN: -- counselors, psychologists. I want to protect her.
CHETRY: Certainly, she's going to obviously headline any type of, you know, case that they have.
HOSTIN: It's not a case without her.
CHETRY: Right. But the other question is: what about the potential for blood evidence and for other bodily fluid evidence, and how that would shape the argument on either side.
HOSTIN: Certainly, it helps, right, especially if it corroborates any part of her story. She said that this was a violent attack. So, if there are pictures of scratches on her body, if there's any evidence of forced sexual contact, that is going to be important. But again, it's really her story versus his story.
And I will say, I don't think the prosecution and the New York Police Department would have yanked someone of his stature off of a plane going to France if they didn't believe that she was credible. So, it's all about the victim.
ROMANS: So, let me talk about the leak. So, wide reports earlier this week of a DNA match, which we have not confirmed. So, how does that affect the prosecution? Where does something like that come from and who's leaking stuff like that and why?
HOSTIN: Yes, I mean, certainly, I've reached out to the D.A.'s office, and they haven't confirmed anything like that. I'm sure that they are not going to prosecute this case in the media. This is a sex crime case, and so, they want to protect their victim. They want to protect their evidence. Leaks like this do happen. Sometimes, they come out of the DNA testing lab. Sometimes, they come --
ROMANS: Out of the lab?
HOSTIN: Out of the lab. Sometimes, they come out of law enforcement agencies, but it certainly isn't coming from the prosecution. It may not --
ROMANS: Trying to keep complete control of the situation as much as they can.
HOSTIN: This is crime sex. This is a serious, serious matter, and they will not be trying this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: All right. We'll be talking about it.
ROMANS: Jinx.
CHETRY: Sunny Hostin, great to see you as always, legal contributor for "In Session". Thanks.
Oprah's final farewell. Some new details about her final show coming up. It's 47 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: It's 48 minutes past the hour right now. Time to get you caught up on this morning's headlines.
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CHETRY (on-camera): The devastating weather situation continues for parts of the Midwest. This is Oklahoma. Five people dead in Oklahoma, a three-year-old missing, after a devastating night of extreme weather there. Five tornadoes touching down in the state. Most of the damage done to Canadian County, west of Oklahoma City.
Pakistan turning over the wreckage of the military helicopter damaged in the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. It arrived in the U.S. over the weekend. Special Forces destroyed that chopper after it malfunctioned ahead of the raid.
An Arizona judge expected to rule today about whether Jared Loughner is mentally fit to stand trial for murder. Loughner is accused of the fatal shootings of six people and wounding 13 others in Tucson, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
The family of Bryan Stow, the Giants fan, who was severely beaten in the Dodgers Stadium parking lot is now suing the team and its owner, Frank McCourt. The suit alleges a lack of security and inadequate lightning contributed to the attack. Stow remains hospitalized. A suspect has been arrested.
And right now, "Endeavour" astronauts making the third of four spacewalks on their final mission. They're laying power cables and adding a robot arm attachment outside of the international space station. "Endeavour" will return to earth next week.
And fun and games for President Obama and British prime minister, David Cameron. They played a game of Ping-Pong yesterday, but the two will get down to business in less than an hour. They're going to be holding a joint news conference in London. We'll begin our live coverage at 7:30 eastern this morning.
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CHETRY (on-camera): You're caught up on the day's news. AMERICAN MORNING is back after a quick break.
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CHETRY (voice-over): Fifty-two minutes past the hour right now. Biggest names in music and entertainment and sports coming out for Oprah Winfrey's farewell spectacular. After 25 years, the Oprah show ends today.
ROMANS (voice-over): And that's the big glamorous event recently, but they taped the final episode yesterday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS (on-camera): And as our Alina Cho tells us, it wasn't the big, huge, fanfare that we've already seen. This was a more intimate affair.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, listen, every single star seemingly on the planet was there. In fact, Jerry Seinfeld came on, and at one point, he said, this is an exercise in finding out how much one person can take.
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: Everybody was there. As I said, seemingly, every star on the planet kissed the ring that is Oprah over the last couple days. A lot of people now are wondering like the two of you, what will the final show have in store. So, this is a spoiler alert. Consider yourself warned.
CHETRY: Pause.
CHO: Because we have found out -- pause, pause, pause -- that the final show will be Oprah herself on stage, talking, and saying goodbye to the 13,000 fans who were in the audience at the United Center, and, you know, it was really interesting because a lot of people thought, who will be on the stage with her. It will just be Oprah herself, after 25 seasons, 5,000 shows, and countless lives changed.
As I mentioned, it was taped at the United Center. It was the house that Michael Jordan built, and you saw him there on the stage a moment ago. So, here's what it was like to be there in the audience. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really emotional. I had tears in my eyes myself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said off the bat. I'm not giving away any cars, no guests.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were there but in the audience.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I sat right on the side of Stedman and also Gayle was on the other side of there and Maria Shriver and in the back of me was BeBe Winans and Sicily (ph). Tyson was right on the other side. She had so many guests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Imagine the whiplash if you were right there in the audience. Now, in case you were one of the few who missed the last couple of shows, you missed Madonna, Will Smith, Aretha Franklin, Usher, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, that's just to name a few, but one of the most moving moments certainly for Oprah, she calls it one of her favorite moments of all time, was this moment here and you see the -- look at that.
Four hundred plus men from Morehouse University walked on to the stage carrying candles while the Broadway star, Kristin Chenoweth performed. Now, Oprah put all of these students through school. And keep in mind, this is just a fraction of the thousands of people she has put through school over her 25 years. It is the only time I saw her nearly sob like that.
You know, we spoke to Dr. Oz and Nate Berkus. Oz, of course, some are calling him the next Oprah, about what he learned from Oprah Winfrey and his greatest lesson he says from her was to listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MEHMET OZ, HOST, "THE DR. OZ SHOW": My biggest weakness of all, without any question, I'm a guy and I'm a surgeon, that's two strikes. I mean, I don't listen well. And so, as soon as you come to me, I want to fix the problem before I even heard it. You can't fix a feeling until you hear it.
So, Oprah early on said, take a step back, assess (ph) the issue, empathize what's going on, and then, once they've been heard, they'll want to hear your thoughts on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: That is why Oprah calls him America's doctor, and that's part of his gift, you know? And it certainly was Oprah's gift is she would always say Oz said, let the audience surprise you. If you listen and you let the audience surprise you, they will. You know, I asked Oz what he thought her greatest gift was, and he said, you know, she's ordinary and extraordinary.
So, she understands what it's like to be on food stamps and why that's important, but she can also sit on a couch like this and talk to the biggest stars on the planet.
CHETRY: And for her rose (ph) crystal.
CHO: It's hard to imagine.
CHETRY: The school, I mean, just seeing all those kids that she put through school, I mean, her greatest legacy, and she said just before, people always say why didn't I have children, I view all of these as my children.
CHO: That's right.
CHETRY: I mean, from the school in South Africa to what she's done here, I mean, she's made this one of, but, I mean, a huge cause of advancing young people and helping them get ahead.
CHO: We spoke to a young man who actually watches Oprah's speeches and learns from them and has never missed a show, and he said the one thing that Oprah said years ago that I remember is she said, God said to me, use me until you can't use me anymore, And I took that to heart. And that's what she's taught millions of people around the world.
ROMANS: Fascinating stuff. All right. Thanks, Alina, and I can't wait to see just her saying goodbye. That will be beautiful.
All right. Let's go down to Joplin, Missouri now. Ali is there where he's still following the aftermath now of those tornadoes and another really rough night last night. Hi, Ali.
VELSHI: Yes. Really rough night last night. Tornado sirens, heavy, heavy weather. There remains hope in this town and across the heartland this morning, and when we come back, I'm going to have a conversation with a woman who sought shelter in her own house, the house collapsed on top of her, but her neighbors got her out. She's with me live on the other side. We're in Joplin, Missouri. This is AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
