Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Search for Tornado Victims in Joplin; Couple Relive the Tornado Nightmare; Loughner Unfit to Stand Trial; Edwards' Lawyer Slams Justice Department; Suspected Serbian Military Commander Arrested; Farewell, Oprah; Dominique Strauss-Kahn's New Digs
Aired May 26, 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: Ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING, house arrest never looked so good. Former IMF boss, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, settling into his new home, a jaw-dropping three-story Manhattan townhome. We're going to show you what it looks like inside.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Tornadoes still tearing apart the Midwest. Dozens of them reported from Louisiana to the Great Lakes and in Joplin, Missouri, the site of the deadliest tornado on record, they're getting ready to release the names of hundreds of people still unaccounted for.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Also a new report about young adults in this country who have dangerously high blood pressure yet don't know it. The numbers are pretty shocking. The information you need to know, coming up.
VELSHI: And the worst credit cards you can own. Is it in your wallet?
Plus, John Edwards fighting back against charges that he used campaign funds to pay off his mistress. Coming up next on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: John Edwards' legal team on the attack. I'm Christine Romans.
Lawyers for the former presidential candidate are fighting back, insisting federal prosecutors got it wrong about alleged campaign funds paid to his former mistress.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. New tornado warnings overnight. Severe weather stretching from New York to California spawning new and dangerous storms along the line.
VELSHI: I'm Ali Velshi. The former IMF boss has a new home. Dominique Strauss-Kahn just moved into a sprawling 6,800-square-foot mansion townhouse with a spa and a home gym. We'll take you inside on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: And good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us on this Thursday, May 26th. Welcome back. What a whirlwind few days it's been for you right there in the heart of what was going on Joplin, Missouri.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: It's such a tragedy.
VELSHI: It is a tragedy. It continues. And more bad weather again today.
ROMANS: That's right. Now to another night of meteorological mayhem as tornadoes raked the nation's midsection. The threat of severe weather now stretches from Louisiana to the Great Lakes. Oklahoma's governor declaring a state of emergency in 68 counties hit by tornadoes. This video taken by storm chasers is about as close as you can get. At least 16 people were killed in the latest round of storms.
CHETRY: And in Memphis, Tennessee, tornado warnings ringing out again last night, the sirens sounding. You can hear them there as the sky grows darker by the minute. An ominous sky, a funnel cloud that appearing to form in the distance. You can see it there. The National Weather Service warned people in Memphis as well as Nashville to take shelter and in some cases evacuate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right there, you got it. We've got a photo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And that funnel cloud spotted as far west as California, believe it or not, near the town of Durham in the central part of the state. It appears the severe weather knows no bounds.
ROMANS: Right. Meantime in Joplin, Missouri, the search for tornado victims goes on. An estimated 1,500 people are unaccounted for. But city officials say many may have been out of town when the twister hit or they left right after.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: And that list is being compiled as people are trying to reconnect with those who might have fled the town.
CHETRY: Right. It may in some cases sound worse than it is. But at a news conference in just a few hours, state officials will release a list of people still unaccounted for. And again, that does not mean definitely missing. Again, the cell service and other issues are in play.
VELSHI: It's been hard to communicate, but they're going to make a distinction between people reported missing versus those who haven't been able to be reached.
As people in Joplin try to move forward, some are reliving the nightmare. Casey Wian is live for us in Joplin.
Casey, this is as people start to find out the condition of their homes and where their loved ones are.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ali. You were here. You know how bad it is. Imagine surviving one of the worst tornadoes in U.S. history by hanging on to a couple of dog crates while you're home collapses around and on top of you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN (voice-over): A beautiful house in a Joplin, Missouri, suburb reduced to a memory. It belonged to Jim and Stacy Richards who are just now telling a harrowing tale of survival. Jim was at work when the tornado struck.
JIM RICHARDS, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I started to come home. I got a text from my wife. The first couple were gibberish. And then finally it came through, saying, "Help, roof under."
WIAN: Then came a desperate voice mail from Stacy. Jim hasn't been able to bring himself to listen to all of it until now.
STACY RICHARDS, TORNADO SURVIVOR: My God. God. No! Jesus. (INAUDIBLE)
S. RICHARDS: There was this kind of pressure in my ears. And the next thing I know is that dirt and grit and stuff was hitting me in the face. I realized that the roof was coming off.
WIAN (on camera): And she was in between those two kennels?
J. RICHARDS: These two kennels, yes. She was trying to have -- trying to have one hand on top of each, one on each.
S. RICHARDS: I could feel the dog's crate lifting up. So I got went straight -- I got on the floor and I was holding the dog crates and I had one either dog under my arm. And things started to land on me. And I actually did get trapped. I remember thinking the next thing that lands on me, I'm going to probably die.
WIAN (voice-over): Stacy was pinned for about 20 minutes, unable to contact her husband or son.
S. RICHARDS: My son texted me and said, "Are you OK?" And it was the most awful thing because I couldn't tell him, no, I'm not. And that was awful, laying there screaming and screaming and screaming and -- yes, it was horrible.
WIAN: Stacy and her three dogs survived, rescued by a neighbor.
J. RICHARDS: I have no idea how she walked out of this.
WIAN: Battered and bruised, she still has a sense of humor.
S. RICHARDS: No. I didn't feel like Dorothy in Kansas. I felt like Stacy in Joplin, where the house was ripping off from the foundations.
WIAN: They took refuge in a local hotel, enduring another round of tornado warnings Tuesday night. The next morning, Jim met with his insurance company to assess the damage.
STEVE PERRIN, AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE: We've got everything. We've got a three bedroom, two bath. We're into anticipating being able to get them paid either today or tomorrow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: Now the Richards haven't decided whether they're going to use those insurance proceeds to rebuild or relocate. What they have decided is the next house they live in definitely going to have a basement so they've got better protection from tornadoes in the future -- Ali.
VELSHI: As we saw while we were there, those with basements just had a better chance -- a substantially better chance of surviving.
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: Those that had flat, you know, flat to the ground, the houses were just gone.
Casey, we'll check in with you later.
CHETRY: Let's check in with Rob Marciano right now. We've been talking for days about the continuing situation where it seems that one area after another is under the gun. How about today, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Today looks a little bit lighter than the last two days. Last night was no picnic, as you know. Eighty-one reports of tornadoes yesterday. So far from what we can tell, no fatalities that in of itself a small miracle.
Here's where the storm is now. It's rotating slowly off to the east. The only watch and warnings that we've seen so far this morning. Down across Texas. So there you go, Corpus Christi or just north of east of Corpus Christi a little cell there that was at one point severe. That's been allowed to expire. That severe thunderstorm watch goes in -- stays in effect for the next few hours.
But here's the main system itself. It's centered pretty much right over Indianapolis and you can kind of see it elongating. It's beginning to weaken somewhat, but the threat for severe weather today will exist mostly just to the east of Louisville and up to Charleston. So along the Appalachians and as it tries to progress eastward over the mountains, it will get weaker still. But nonetheless, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 this afternoon the usual time period of the highlighted area you see there in red, that's where we think the severe weather will break out. Possibility of tornadoes but the way the winds are set up today, not as good of a chance as we've seen the last two days. And that certainly is hopeful. But a number of severe weather -- hundreds of severe weather reports yesterday with damage as well. But luckily, as far as we can see right now, no significant injury or fatalities.
We'll keep you updated on last night's situation and today throughout the morning, guys.
ROMANS: All right. Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: You bet.
VELSHI: All right. Confused, irrational and unfit for trial. That's part of a federal judge's ruling on suspected Arizona gunman Jared Lee Loughner.
ROMANS: He's the man accused of shooting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killing six others. It brought to the hearing -- the hearing was brought to a brief halt with bizarre outbursts in court. One reporter heard him say, quote, "Thank you for the freak show."
CHETRY: Ted Rowlands was there when it happened. He is live for us in Tucson this morning.
A very bizarre courtroom appearance as we said. What ended up happening, Ted?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kiran, it was a very dramatic day in court. Loughner was pulled out of court because of his outbursts and this happened just moments before the judge in the case ruled that he was unfit to stand trial.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Jared Loughner was pulled from his chair and dragged out of the courtroom by U.S. Marshals during a mental competency hearing Wednesday in Tucson. It happened following an outburst from Loughner that sounded like he said, "thank you for the freak show." Federal Judge Larry Burns then ruled he was incompetent to stand trial for the January 8th Tucson shooting rampage. The judge agreed with two mental health evaluations of Loughner that concluded he doesn't understand what's going on in court and can't help in his own defense. From here, Loughner will spend the next few months at a mental health facility where prosecutors say they're confident he can be helped enough to stand trial.
DENNIS BURKE, U.S. ATTORNEY: Our goal has always been and will always be to go to trial in this case. We're prepared to go to trial.
ROWLANDS: Loughner pleaded not guilty to 49 charges. The shooting rampage outside a Safeway supermarket wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, causing brain damage and killed six people including a federal judge and 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green. Several of the victims were in court, some clearly upset with the ruling. Others said they agreed with the judge.
ERIC FULLER, SHOOTING VICTIM: You don't have to be a professional psychiatrist to know that the boy is disturbed.
ROWLANDS: Criminal defense attorney Greg Kuykendall says there's a good chance Loughner will eventually be able to stand trial. But a jury may end up sending him to a mental hospital instead of prison.
GREG KUYKENDALL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He's clearly got a diminished mental capacity right now. And I think there's a strong argument that he had a deeply diminished mental capacity at the time of the crimes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: We reached out to Gabrielle Giffords' office for comment. They said they're not commenting on this at all. They haven't commented on Loughner up until now. They don't plan on starting with this ruling. For Loughner, he'll go to Springfield, Missouri, for the next few months, then he's expected back here in Tucson, back in court in September -- guys.
CHETRY: All right.
ROMANS: All right.
CHETRY: Ted Rowlands for us this morning. Thanks so much.
VELSHI: So the question is what happens now with Loughner. Can he be rehabilitated? Can he even face trial?
We're going to take a closer look at this at 7:10 Eastern this morning. Former prosecutor Sunny Hostin and clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere will be with us. We'd love to hear from you, your thoughts on the matter.
ROMANS: All right. President Obama left London overnight touching down in France about an hour ago for two days now of meetings at the G-8 summit. Leaders of the eight largest developed economies in the world will be tackling issues like Europe's debt crisis, America's budget deficit and global inflation and food prices.
CHETRY: As expected, the Senate rejected the House Republican budget plan put forth by Congressman Paul Ryan. Forty Republicans voted yes for the measure which includes a big point of contention, a provision to overhaul Medicare. Votes that are sure to make their way into campaign commercials in the next cycle.
VELSHI: And justice for Elizabeth Smart. Brian David Mitchell sentenced to life behind bars. The homeless street preacher was convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting Smart in 2002. The horrifying ordeal lasted nearly nine months. Yesterday, Smart faced her abductor in court and said although she could never get those nine months back, she was confident that Mitchell would be punished.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH SMART, KIDNAPPING VICTIM: I told Brian David Mitchell today in court that whether he received his just sentence here on earth or after this earth life that one day he will have to be responsible for his actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Smart said she couldn't be happier with the sentence.
ROMANS: New research exposing an alarming problem among young adults. A study out of North Carolina found nearly 20 percent of 24 to 32- year-olds have high blood pressure. That's a much higher number than once thought.
And get this. Almost half of those young people have no idea that they have hypertension.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: High blood pressure's linked to early heart disease and stroke. A dangerous situation if you see that many --
VELSHI: It's not always obvious to somebody that they've got high blood pressure.
ROMANS: That's right. That's right.
VELSHI: And it's not typical for young people.
ROMANS: Especially young people, right?
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: They're saying that kids -- I mean, Sanjay has done stories about giving, you know, blood thinners to kids --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: -- at ages as young as 8 because of diet and lack of movement.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: That's a dangerous trend.
Anyway, keeping your hand obsessively clean, a lot of people like to use a squirt of the hand sanitizer.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, it actually may cause you to fail an alcohol test. A University of Florida study showed that repeated use of hand sanitizer, alcohol-based hand sanitizers can lead to a positive urine test for high alcohol levels.
VELSHI: If you drink it or just use it on your hands?
CHETRY: You use it in your hands it goes through the skin.
VELSHI: Wow.
CHETRY: But the researchers say that hand sanitizers don't impair you in any way.
ROMANS: Everything has its price. It turns out most women would pay almost anything to be beautiful.
A Kelton (ph) research poll found nearly 25 percent of women would turn down winning a million dollars in the lottery -- CHETRY: In exchange for David Beckham?
ROMANS: For their dream body. We're talking about J. Lo's curves or, I guess, Beyonce or Halle Berry's figure.
CHETRY: Yes. And the poll one step further, asked the question beauty or age. Almost half of women polled said that they would rather be their ideal weight and five years younger. By the way, whoever cut this, I love the pictures.
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: Well, here's --
ROMANS: Keep this up. Keep this us.
VELSHI: Here's the question for you. We're just trying to whet your appetite here.
Here's the question of the day. Which would you pick, the perfect body or a million dollars? The perfect body for life. Is that not -- was that not the question?
ROMANS: That's true. And what we don't know is if it's a million dollars before or after taxes.
VELSHI: There you go. So don't overcomplicate the question. Would you rather have a perfect body for life or a million bucks?
Send us an e-mail.
CHETRY: Or a million post-tax dollars. Anyway, send us an e-mail, a tweet, find us on Facebook. We've all made our decision, so we're going to hold off judgment.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: And --
ROMANS: Let's say a million dollars in small unmarked bills tax-free. OK.
VELSHI: Fair enough. A million clean bucks.
ROMANS: A million clean bucks.
VELSHI: Versus the perfect body for life. All right. That's settled.
ROMANS: All right. Meantime, lawyers for former presidential candidate John Edwards are defiant in the face of possible federal charges. We'll give you the latest on the John Edwards' legal saga.
CHETRY: Also, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, as we know, he left the one pad and now has a luxurious new apartment on -- it was on the real estate sites for, what was it, 14 million bucks? ROMANS: Wow.
CHETRY: If you can pay for it, I guess you can do it. Right? We're going to show you more on that.
Fourteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Lawyers for John Edwards defiant in the face of possible federal charges.
CHETRY: You know, what prosecutors are claiming is that the former presidential candidate used campaign money to pay off his former mistress Rielle Hunter so that she'd keep quiet about their affair and the baby that he eventually admitted fathering while married to Elizabeth Edwards.
VELSHI: So what we've learned in CNN is that an indictment or a plea deal could come very soon.
Jim Acosta is live in Washington with the latest on the long legal struggle that's been going on behind the scenes. A lot of people, Jim, that may think this has come out of the blue, but this has been going on for a very long time.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ali, guys. This has been going on for months and months, years and years really since that book came out from one of Edwards' former staffers Andrew Young, which have basically laid out what appears to be the government's case at this point.
From what we understand, CNN has reported on this, that - that the government has given the green light to federal prosecutors to seek some kind of indictment in this case. What is going on behind the scenes right now is that advisers to John Edwards and John Edwards himself are sort of debating whether or not it - it makes sense to go forward with the trial or somehow try to get out of this situation that he's in, try to come up with a plea agreement that will satisfy federal authorities. It's not clear at this point whether or not that's going to work out.
And there was a pretty glaring statement that came out from John Edwards's attorney, a pretty powerful attorney here in Washington, Greg Craig, who is essentially saying that the government is just not putting together a very strong case, essentially saying that this is really an FEC matter.
And basically to lay it out for you, here is what the government is looking at, based on some of the claims coming from Andrew Young. And that is that campaign money from various donors to John Edwards - and we have sort of a graphic that can lay this out for you - campaign money from John Edwards' donors somehow went to Rielle Hunter to keep her affair with John Edwards quiet. Now, some of those donors have been contacted by various reporters over the years. They have said through their attorneys they did not know that that money was going to Rielle Hunter.
But last - last night, yesterday, late - late in the day, Greg Craig, John Edwards' attorney put out a statement. I want to read it for you, because it's pretty interesting. It's actually quite emotional statement. It says, "John Edwards has done wrong in his life and he knows that better than anyone, but he did not break the law. The government's theory is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law." That from Greg Craig.
They really feel like if you were talking about campaign contribution, we're talking about donations going to John Edwards, then this is really a matter for the FEC, the Federal Elections Commission, and not a matter for federal prosecutors, guys.
VELSHI: All right. Jim, thanks very much. A very - it's a complex story but it's one you're on top of and we'll follow it with you. Thanks, Jim Acosta.
Hey, coming up soon, we're all kind of fascinated by these new digs that Dominique Strauss-Kahn is living in.
CHETRY: Because it's a far, far cry from Rikers Island.
VELSHI: Yes. It's a -
ROMANS: Oh, yes.
VELSHI: -- luxurious digs.
We're going to take you inside. We're going to show you what it looks like inside.
ROMANS: The monthly rental on a place like this is like more than the average family in America makes in a year.
VELSHI: Absolutely. Yes.
ROMANS: And when you think about how much money it takes -
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- to put yourself in a big townhouse in Tribeca. We'll tell you all about that.
Also, the worst credit cards. Do you have these credit cards in your wallet? Because you don't want them. We're going to tell you why and what they are right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It's 24 minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" now.
Sony posting a $3.2 billion loss for the past fiscal year, the biggest in its 16-year history - the biggest loss in 16 years for the company. The company was hard hit by Japan's record earthquake and the tsunami back in March and then these recent hacker attacks we've been tell you about.
Your kids Christmas list may cost you more this year. Experts say Chinese toymakers are paying more for labor and materials. Those costs will eventually be passed on to consumers just in time for Christmas.
AT&T announcing the first cities to get its high speed 4G wireless data network. The service will be available in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and San Antonio this summer. AT&T plans to add another 10 locations by the end of the year.
Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo will soon follow - or allow customers to transfer money from their checking account to another person's account using an e-mail address or a cell phone number. Right now, PayPal dominates the electronic cash transfer system.
A credit card comparison website is out with a list of the worst credit cards on the market. They include the Visa Black Card. It has a $495 annual fee and includes the vague promise of luxury gifts. Also, the First Premiere Bank Credit Card requires. It requires a $95 security deposit just to get a $300 credit line. It also has a $75 first year annual fee and then that fee jumps to $120.
And promising news, if you just got your college diploma, a national study finds three out of four companies plan to hire new grads this year. Twenty-three percent plan to hire more graduates than they did last year - Kiran, Christine.
CHETRY: Well, that's a little bit of good news.
ROMANS: A little bit of good news.
CHETRY: Because (ph) we talked about how difficult it is for incoming, you know, coming out of college and trying to find a job.
ROMANS: Things are a little bit better for this class than there was for 2009 and 2010. So that is a little bit of good news to those (ph) kids who are going to have to work really hard to find a job.
CHETRY: Maybe to get free internship first.
ROMANS: I know.
CHETRY: Try to pave the way (INAUDIBLE).
ROMANS: Start a business.
CHETRY: Well, outrage in New York this morning on the cover of all the papers here. The former IMF chief DSK accused of attacking a maid at a luxury hotel. Police now moved into digs even more luxurious. We have the pictures and the stories still ahead.
ROMANS: And our question of the day getting a lot of buzz. Which would you pick, the perfect body or a million dollars? Send us an e- mail, tweet us or find us on Facebook. We're going to read some of your answers in just a few minutes. Wow. Some of the responses on Twitter are hysterical. So please weigh in. A body or the money?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Breaking News right now out of Serbia. Police in Serbia arresting a man suspected of being former Serbian Military Commander Ratko Mladic. He is the highest ranking war crimes suspect still at large from the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. Apparently, this man has been arrested in Srebrenica, which is in Bosnia because he was the - the chief of staff of the Bosnian Serb army, thought to be responsible for really what was a genocide. They killed 7,000 men and boys, Muslim Croatian men and boys.
ROMANS: And bringing this man to justice -- to face justice has taken years and years, in part because there has been suspicion that inside of Serbia, there has been those within the military perhaps --
VELSHI: Hiding him.
ROMANS: -- who were hiding him.
CHETRY: Because they had a $10 million bounty on his head, and international manhunt. And still he's found right there, at the site where prosecutors claim it all happened.
All right. Well, we'll continue to follow the latest on this as we get new details, a new information on exactly how this capture took place.
ROMANS: Ratko Mladic -- someone they think is Ratko Mladic arrested in Serbia. We'll have more for you.
Also, the old IMF boss waking up this morning in spectacular new digs. Dominique Strauss-Kahn spending the night in style perhaps, settling into a sprawling three-story townhouse while he waits for his sexual assault trial to begin.
CHETRY: Yes. And here it is. We have a live look this morning at Strauss-Kahn's 6,800-square-foot luxury townhouse in the Tribeca section of Manhattan. If you're looking at it and you're not from New York, you're thinking, what, that's luxury?
ROMANS: That looks like a garage.
VELSHI: That's just unheard.
CHETRY: It looks like a garage. Right. The amount it costs even to rent this room, complete with a spa and home gym.
VELSHI: Deb Feyerick is with us this morning.
Deb, if you're going to be under house arrest, I guess this is the house you'd like to be in.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, the very rich simply live differently than the rest of us. Let me tell you about this. Yesterday., I got a text around 7:30. It said DSK on the move. Dominique Strauss-Kahn receiving the type of police security, take a look there, not unlike that given to presidential candidates. Ironic, given that he was France's leading contender up until weeks ago.
Now, a black Lexus SUV took him about 30 blocks north, that's a mile and a half, to Tribeca and a 6,800-square-foot townhouse, a $50,000 a month rental. That's a rental, $50,000. That is on top of the $200,000 that he's paying for his own court ordered security, a condition of his home detention. So, he's paying a quarter million dollars altogether every month.
Now, although it is near some of the best restaurants in the city including De Niro's hot spot Nobu, Strauss-Kahn's movement are largely confined to court, religious services and meetings with his lawyers. The townhouse, you can only see the outside there, three-story, got its own garage, boasts a state of the art in-home theater, with six leather recliners, a gym, spa, roof deck with a grill and wet bar in the master bedroom.
So, really, who needs to leave home anyway? But in all fairness, Strauss-Kahn was turned down by one building, they didn't want him, and then was kicked out of another. A "New York Post" columnist calling him the Parisian pariah.
The former IMF chief is out on $6 million bail. The courthouse is in easy walking distance, though he'll likely drive. It's scheduled to be there next on June 6. It appears the district attorney has added some senior prosecutors to its team. And the alleged victim has added some heavy-hitters to consider a civil suit.
CHETRY: One question people were asking, do taxpayers foot anything, foot the bill in any way, shape or form? I mean, even with security?
FEYERICK: They do not. All the security -- that was one of the conditions of home detention. His wife is very wealthy. Her family is sort of an art family, sold Picassos, a lot of these famous paintings, before these painters were famous. So, no. She's got the money.
But it's not costing taxpayers.
VELSHI: Is there some --
(CROSSTALK)
FEYERICK: And because they're heavy hitters, it would cost more than it normally would have.
VELSHI: But is there something other than just liking to live in luxury that's important about this place that he's chosen? Because you can't -- I mean, the rental markets actually, you know, there are places available in Manhattan that don't cost this kind of money.
FEYERICK: Yes, exactly. This is what they could get. Really, this is what they could get.
VELSHI: Because people knew they had -- FEYERICK: It had to be a sort of self-contained. OK. That means it was a townhouse. It had to not have a back exit. It had to be in a controlled environment. And his security people signed off on this. And the judge OK'd it. So, he didn't just sort of move willy-nilly.
CHETRY: Right.
FEYERICK: The judge had to sign off, saying OK, does this meet every single criteria in terms of making sure he does not get out.
CHETRY: And the other question, too, as you said, he has a roof deck. I mean, technically that's outside. Is that -- I mean, can they stipulate what's off limits, alcohol. I mean, you said there's a wet bar in the bedroom. Can they make those parameters?
FEYERICK: Technically not. Again, he says that he will be exonerated, he's going to plead not guilty to these charges. And he's got the money. So, technically, no --
VELSHI: Right. And he can live wherever he wants.
FEYERICK: He can live wherever he wants. He just can't move at ease anymore.
ROMANS: All right. Deb Feyerick -- thanks, Deb.
New testimony painting a disturbing picture of the Florida mom accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter back in 2008. Casey Anthony's former boyfriend testified yesterday that Casey seemed happy and having a grand old time the day prosecutors allege she killed her daughter Caylee. A neighbor also testified Casey asked to borrow a shovel.
Meanwhile, there was a heated exchange between the Anthony's attorney and reporters. Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we ask if you plan to invite Casey to the stand there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, guys. (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the way. Get out of the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys know we're here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With an outburst like that, that's kind of unacceptable, Jose, don't you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't push us out in the street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your hand off of me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jose, so you're pushing people around now. Is that what you're doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out of my way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're committing an assault.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm not. Your thug here has --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Anthony is back in court today.
CHETRY: He referred to the security guy as a thug. I guess the camera -- it appeared that the cameraman accidentally tripped him, which sort of set off the defense attorney. But this is the type of publicity --
VELSHI: This is a case that is truly remarkable. By the way, we've got full coverage on HLN and --
ROMANS: People are obsessed with this case right now. I mean, there have been three years of sort of conflicting stories, now a bombshell defense.
VELSHI: Right, because we hadn't heard this type of --
ROMANS: And now, if you weren't sucked into that case by now, a tragic end, twisted case. Now a lot of people are.
VELSHI: Well, the search for the missing goes on in Joplin, Missouri, the missing an unaccounted for. There's an estimate right now from officials there that there are 150 people still unaccounted for following last Sunday's deadly tornado. Missouri's governor has dispatched additional state troopers to Joplin to help speed up the process of trying to identify remains and also assisting those still looking for missing loved ones.
That storm killed 125 people in Joplin.
VELSHI: All right. Check out this video showing the force of the Joplin tornado. Here's a family's backyard trampoline. Some toys can be seen. It could be a backyard anywhere. Now, look at it being ripped apart by the tornado.
Trampoline picked up and shoved against the house. Just look at the wind hurling objects at the camera. Really get a sense of how cars and people were just sucked up and thrown hundreds of yards.
According to the time codes on this video, the wind started picking up at around 5:39p.m. The landscape forever changed. Five minutes later at 5:44. Pretty amazing.
ROMANS: Wow.
Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines. For that, we have Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center.
And you look at every piece of debris flying around there, Rob, always says that is so dangerous, the smallest little piece of debris. This is how people get injured and killed by these ferocious storms.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And, you know, when we talk about these storms and we talk about one town getting completely demolished or one house getting wiped down, then another one being left unscathed, it really -- a lot of it has to do with luck. I mean, case in point, last night, we had 81 reports of tornadoes. I mean, that was an outbreak that we had last night. A lot of these tornadoes were pretty big as well, and at very, very populated areas.
As of right now, zero fatalities from last night's storms. So, that right there is something to be thankful for. And it gives you an idea just, you know, how hit and miss this kind of activity can be.
All right. We're going to start to ratchet back now as to the severity of the storms that we're forecasting for today, and especially as we get over the weekend.
Here's the storm. It's winding itself out just a little bit. Right now, there are no watches out and no warnings out. OK? That's another thing to be thankful for.
I don't know if this is going to last all day. I think we've got a pretty good chance of seeing some severe weather, some storms across parts of the Tennessee Valley heading to Huntsville, and to north Georgia. These aren't severe yet. And as this moves through and the sun heats up the ground again and the actual cold front starts to push off to the east, that's when we'll see the threat for severe weather start to get a little more intense later on today.
So, here you go, we're starting to elongate this system, and push it off towards the east. As it makes its way over the Appalachians, that's when it really lose a little bit of its punch. But today is going to be another day. We've got a slight risk of seeing severe thunderstorms. I have to ask for the Storms Prediction Center.
We do have some delays to talk about. If you are traveling right now, 30-minute delays or 40-minute delays I believe in Chicago. It could get up to an hour there. Rain in Detroit and Cleveland, 30 to 60- minute delays there. Thunderstorms later on this afternoon in Atlanta, you can expect delays there 30 to 60-minute delays, with thunderstorms of the non-severe variety expected across parts of Dallas.
Here you go. Here's our storm making its way slowly off towards the east. Very warm and humid ahead of it, that's going to be the main driver I think because the winds aren't quite set up as well for tornado. And then we're looking at another system rolling into the Pacific Northwest.
The whole thing that started this event was a very cold, strong upper low system that unusually this time of year, that moved into the West Coast late last week and now traversing across the rest of the country.
Sixty-one for the high in St. Louis today. It will be 81 degrees in Atlanta and 79 degrees in New York; 90 for the high temperature in D.C. Any thunderstorms that get there later on tonight and tomorrow. Well, that may feel good and hopefully won't be quite that severe.
Guys, toss it back to you.
VELSHI: All right. Rob, thanks so much.
We're covering two pieces of international breaking news. A man thought to be Ratko Mladic, the chief of staff -- the former chief of staff of the Bosnian army when the Srebrenica massacre took place in 1995. A man thought to be Ratko Mladic is now under arrest in Serbia.
Also, some violence in Yemen breaking out. Separate incidents. We're going to go to Zain Verjee after this break to find out what's going on in the rest of the world.
Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Military operation that killed bin Laden is increasing the mistrust between the U.S. and Pakistan. No surprise there. Former president, General Pervez Musharraf, is now calling President Obama arrogant. And he says the mission to take out bin Laden was, quote, "an act of war."
Here's more of what he told Piers Morgan in an exclusive interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIERS MORGAN, HOST, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": President Obama said this week on British television for his state visit to Britain that if the same event arose again, he would do the same. And if it happens in the future with other known terrorists in al Qaeda, he'll take the same action.
So, we have a clear now flash point between Pakistan and America.
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, FMR. PAKISTAN'S PRESIDENT: I think this is putting the Pakistan leadership and government on the dock. And I think it's not a very responsible statement.
MORGAN: You think it's irresponsible for President Obama to say that?
MUSHARRAF: Yes, indeed.
MORGAN: Because it basically implies that America has rights in terms of taking action on the sovereign soil as in Pakistan with bin Laden, that it has a right to do that when you say it has no right to do that.
MUSHARRAF: Yes. Certainly, no country has a right to intrude on any other country. Actually, I mean, if technically, legally, it's an act of war. So, therefore, I think it is an irresponsible statement. And I think such arrogance should not be shown publicly to the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That's Pervez Musharraf with "Piers Morgan Tonight" at nine o'clock Eastern.
VELSHI: It's worth noting that Pervez Musharraf was largely ousted by the current government that's in there with U.S. support. The U.S. forced him out. So, it is -- he's --
CHETRY: He also came to power with U.S. support, too.
VELSHI: Right. So, he's got a bone to pick with the U.S. at the moment, and it's useful for him to look like he's speaking very strongly on behalf of the Pakistani people, but I look forward to watching that whole interview.
CHETRY: Yes. It's also easier when you're out of office to not be as diplomatic. I mean, what we've heard from the current administration in Pakistan is a little more --
VELSHI: Tempered.
CHETRY: Yes, tempered. Pervez Musharraf probably had the strongest language out of anyone --
VELSHI: He's an important man in the whole issue of the U.S. relationship with Pakistan. He's still very influential, so --
ROMANS: Meantime, breaking news.
CHETRY: Yes. It looks like there is an arrest made in somebody who's been wanted for more than a decade.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Because of Serbian war crimes, that massacre.
VELSHI: The Srebrenica massacre took place in 1995. You'll probably all remember it, 7,000 to 8,000 --
ROMANS: Men and boys.
VELSHI: Men and boys were rounded up, walked into the woods, and shot. And many people are saying it was the worst act of genocide since World War II.
CHETRY: Since World War II.
ROMANS: And as the west uncovered as those mass graves were uncovered slowly sort of the horrors of this war in the region came to light, and officials have been hunting for people who led these --
VELSHI: This is Ratko Mladic, by the way, who we're talking about, former chief of staff of the Bosnian Serb army who is said to be responsible for this. CHETRY: Right and said to be now nabbed. And we're going to tell you more about where this took place and some of the other details and why this is important today. Forty-seven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Breaking news this morning following breaking news out of Serbia. Wanted for more than a decade now, police in Serbia are arresting a man suspected of being former Serbian military commander, Ratko Mladic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): He's the highest ranking war crimes suspect still at large from the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
Lawyers for John Edwards blasting the justice department's theory that the one-time candidate for vice president used campaign cash to hide an extra marital affair. CNN has learned an indictment for plea deal could come soon.
Accused Arizona gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, has been ruled mentally unfit to stand trial for mass murder. Loughner will be treated and perhaps medicated with hopes that his case could move forward then in a few months.
President Obama has touched down in France for the G-8 Summit. Leaders of the world's eighth largest developed economies will be tackling global inflation and the debt crisis facing Europe and the U.S.
It's still a search and rescue mission in Joplin, Missouri. An estimated 1500 people remain unaccounted for following last Sunday's tornado that killed at least 125 people. Missouri's governor is sending in more state troopers with the families.
The swollen Mississippi River is letting up. U.S. army corps of engineers closing three of the 17 open flood gates at the Morganza Spillway. The open-based protected cities down river by diverting flood water to farmland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (on-camera): You're caught up now on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING is back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-one minutes past the hour right now. Quarter century on air, Oprah Winfrey now signing off.
ROMANS: An emotional Oprah sat on her own Chicago stage. There were no free cars, there were no wedding gowns, there were no dream vacations. It was Oprah sharing something much more special with her loyal fans.
VELSHI: Yes --
ROMANS: Like her advice really.
VELSHI: It was just a very, very intimate moment. Alina has been covering this for the last few days. It really is the end of an era.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is. I mean, think about it. Twenty-five years, 5,000 shows. I mean, it was a little Tony Robbins, very spiritual, you know, after two days of star-studded farewells at the massive United Center in Chicago. Oprah went home to her own studio for her final show, and the only celebrity there was Oprah.
And for her final bow, she did what she's done best for all of these years. She spoke directly to the audience with messages that have made her famous, sounding a little bit like a motivational speaker at times, a spiritual leader and, well, just Oprah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, HOST: Nobody but you is responsible for your life. Everybody has a calling. And your real job in life is to figure out what that is and get about the business of doing it. Your being here, your being alive makes worthiness your birthright. You alone are enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: It's hard to believe she won't be in our living rooms every weekday anymore, but as I mentioned 25 years, 5,000 shows, millions of viewers. She also took a walk down memory lane, no surprise there, and she talked about some of her most memorable moments including the courage to talk about how she was abused as a child.
It took some time for her to have the courage to do that, but it ultimately freed her to have others share their stories including this show with 200 men carrying photos of themselves as children when they were abused. It was quite a moving moment in the show. One of the most memorable, I have to say. And finally, when it came time to say goodbye, she gave this emotional message to her followers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WINFREY: It is no coincidence that a lonely little girl who felt not a lot of love even though my parents and grandparents did the best they could. It is no coincidence that I grew up to feel a genuine kindness, affection, trust, and validation from millions of you all over the world. From you whose names I will never know, I learned what love is. You and this show have been the great love of my life. I won't say goodbye. I'll just say until we meet again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: So, no cars, no stars, no favorite things, just Oprah. And Ali, I know you were there at the United Center for the final two shows -- VELSHI: Right.
CHO: Before the final bow, but -- and I know you know her. I had an opportunity to interview her.
CHETRY: I still remember. Instead of Barack Obama won the election.
CHO: That's right.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: She's intimidating. Even for those of us who have been in this business for a long time. She's just a different force.
CHO: She is, and yet, at the same time, she's so warm. And as Dr. Oz pointed out to me when I spoke to him, I said, what makes her so special, and he said, she's at once ordinary --
VELSHI: Yes.
CHO: And extraordinary. She understands why food stamps are important to people in their lives.
CHETRY: Right.
CHO: And yet, she can sit with huge stars --
ROMANS: She's a life force. There are cynics growling saying, oh, wait, the last show was an hour-long lecture, Geez.
VELSHI: Those men you talked about yesterday, those Morehouse men or these men -- we often think of her as somebody who's influenced women. She's empowered people to be themselves.
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: And I think that's a bigger message than, sometimes, we hear about.
CHO: It is.
CHETRY: When she says, until we meet again, what's she doing?
CHO: Of course, she has not just a show any more but an entire network on cable.
ROMANS: So, she's not gone.
CHO: She's not gone, not by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, can you imagine Oprah being gone? No, she's going to be able to focus more on OWN, Oprah Winfrey Network. And you know, truthfully, it's been struggling in the ratings a bit. They've had a little bit of a management change at the top. And so, it needs her attention and her love. And so --
ROMANS: All right. CHO: So, stay tuned for that.
ROMANS: Thank you, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
VELSHI: All right. We're going to have more on the breaking news out of Serbia. Wanted for more than a decade, police arresting Ratko Mladic. He is the former Serbian military commander in Bosnia, or at least, they're arresting a man they believe is Ratko Mladic after ten years. Details ahead. It is 56 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
