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Yahoo! to Buy Tumblr; Deadly Tornado Threat Continues; Hofstra Student Killed in Hostage Situation; New Missing Persons Task Force; Patriots Hold Clinic for Newtown

Aired May 20, 2013 - 09:30   ET

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

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: So in that quest, it's agreed to buy this blogging website called Tumblr for $1.1 billion. This would be the biggest acquisition for the company since Marissa Mayer took over the company last summer. Also this buyout would give Yahoo! access to Tumblr's coveted. younger user base. It would also give it over 100 million new blogs to sell ads on. We're watching shares of Yahoo! moving about 1.5 percent higher.

Overall for stocks looking like a pretty quiet start with stocks coming up a fourth week in a row of gains. Dow closed in a record high four of five sessions last week, which makes it 21 time this is year the Dow has closed at record highs. It's only May. And look at the numbers for the year. The Dow up 17 percent, NASDAQ up just under 16 percent. S&P 500 up just under 17 percent. It's really been quite the stellar year so far, Carol

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Certainly has. Alison Kosik reporting live from New York this morning.

Earlier this morning, North Korea fired two more projectiles meaning that in the last three days, six have been launched in to the waters off its coast. That's according to the South Korean Defense ministry. It's not clear whether these projectiles were short range missiles or a new kind of large caliber artillery rocket. North Korea says the launches were a, quote, "regular military exercise."

A hot air balloon crash in central Turkey has left one person dead and 18 others injured. Investigators say it happened after two balloons collided in a popular tourist region. In February 19 tourists were killed in a hot air balloon crash in Egypt.

A new threat of violent weather looms from Oklahoma to Iowa a day after tornadoes raked across five states. In all there are 50 reports this weekend including this monstrous half mile wide twister near Oklahoma City. Oklahoma's governor has declared a state of emergency for 16 counties. She will tour the area later today.

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GOV. MARY FALLIN, (R ) OKLAHOMA: We're still in the rescue and recovery stage trying to get through the various communities. You know we had so many different tornadoes throughout the state. It was difficult to keep up with all that was going on because it was all happening within about an hour to three hour time span. We unfortunately lost one person and certainly have people that have been injured.

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COSTELLO: But you know the warnings went out early and people heeded the warnings and they went to safe areas and we're thankful for that. Take a look at this video from Saturday and here's why we're thankful for that. This is a terrifying tornado caught on tape in Kansas. Let's listen for just a minute.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost too close. I can't zoom out to get the whole thing in the shot. Panning up the funnel, looking, almost right overhead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This is a strange-looking tornado right, it's a tubular tornado or - instead of one of those big funnel clouds that we showed you that struck Oklahoma, but just as frightening.

I just can't -- Indra Petersons is our meteorologist. I can't get over how big this is.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, unbelievable. When you have conditions like we've seen over the last several days, that's when you can get violent tornadoes that can be long-lived. And unfortunately today is no different. We have the potential out there again.

500,000 square miles, that's the amount of the area today underneath severe weather threat. In fact moderate risk once again exists today. It does shift a little bit farther to the east, so today we're also going to include portions of Missouri into the severe weather threat.

Look at all the metropolitan areas included. Detroit, Michigan, Chicago, and once again it looks like we're looking at Oklahoma under the gun. So that's what we're going to have to be watching. Unfortunately it looks like this will stay with us for a couple of days. Very slow moving system. So even by tomorrow, 70 million of you will still be having that threat for severe weather. Even in through Wednesday. Of course, we'll see that threat cone kind of diminish there, but still by no means a day to not be aware of your surroundings.

We'll be talking about the severe weather as long as the conditions remain in place. What are we dealing with? We have the moisture out of the Gulf. That banks of the very dry air, so where dry line is, that line that separates the two, you start to get a little bit of lift, you have the low and the strong winds way up high in the atmosphere that allows for that rotation. With all of this, another severe weather day ahead of us.

COSTELLO: Wow. Indra Petersons, we'll keep listening to you all day long. Thanks so much.

A shooting, and it had a terrible ending. A popular college student caught between the barrel of a police officer's gun and the man holding her hostage. When the smoke cleared, she was dead.

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COSTELLO: Graduation festivities at Hofstra University taking a somber turn this weekend as students, faculty, and parents took a moment to remember one of their own.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to express our community's collective grief and sorrow over the senseless and tragic death of a very young member of the Hofstra family, Andrea Rebello, a junior majoring in public relations. Please join us in a moment of silence in her memory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Such a sad story. Andrea just 21-years-old was killed during a shoot-out between police and a home invasion suspect. But the bullet that killed Andrea was fired by a police officer. Let's bring in Deborah Feyerick with more on this story. How did this suspect get into the house?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what's so interesting. For police officers, this is really one of their worst fears. A hostage situation that ends in tragedy. And according to the Nassau County police, pre-dawn Friday, what we're learning is that a serial criminal simply walked into the off campus home that Andrea Rebello shared with her twin sister and two other roommates. The intent was to rob them.

Thinking quickly, one of the roommates says she's going to get cash at an ATM and the gunman says okay, but if she's not back quickly, he'll kill her friends. She leaves and calls 911 saying there is a robbery going on. Well, two officers arrive, one of the enters the home, the gunman that you see there, 30-year-old Dalton Smith, a serial offender, is holding a gun to Rebello's head and he's using her as a shield as he tries to leave by a back door. The gunman points the gun at the officer and police say that the officer feared for his life, fires eight shots, seven of the bullets hit the perpetrator, but one struck Andrea Rebello. Both she and the gun man were killed. Anthony Kourtessis' (ph) son, John, was in the house during the ordeal. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY KOURTESSIS, SON WAS IN HOUSE WHEN ROBBERY TOOK PLACE: I believe that the perpetrator was about to kill the lady. And so the police officer tried to safe her after saving my son's life. The police officer saved my son's life and I owe a great deal of graduate to the gentleman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And there are words of praise being spoken today for the police officer. Police have refused to identify him. He is on sick leave, he is reportedly inconsolable, he was a 12 year veteran. The question is why was this man, Dalton Smith, who had a long criminal record, robbery with a gun, he was violating parole. Why was he out on the street? Carol.

COSTELLO: There are so many questions surrounding this case. Deborah Feyerick, thanks so much. Joining me now for some perspective is Chris Voss, he's a former lead international kidnapping negotiator for the FBI and CEO of The Black Swan Group, an advisory firm that focuses on negotiations. Welcome, Chris.

CHRIS VOSS, FMR. FBI HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: Oh, you're welcome. Such a disturbing case. We don't know exactly how it went down. But we do know one of the people in the home escaped and called 911. You heard Deb Feyerick say that. At that point, a police officer approached the house. He reportedly went inside. He found the suspect holding the victim in a headlock with a gun pointed on her head. Is it proper protocol to enter the house in these situations? He thought it was a robbery.

VOSS: Absolutely followed the proper protocol, and as horrific as this outcome was, if they hadn't gone it, it could have easily been a trail of bodies that was left behind. This was a serial criminal as has been observed. And he was acting completely irrationally and was convinced that no matter what happened, he wasn't going back to jail. He didn't care how many people he killed.

The very last thing they could have allowed to happen would have been for him to escape with that girl which he most likely would have done and then one can only imagine what would have happened to her had he taken her and what he would have done to the others before he left.

COSTELLO: As you said, the gunman allegedly said he was going to kill the girl and then he turned the gun on the police officer. The officer fired eight shots. Seven hit the suspect. One of them hit the girl. Now, I realize this isn't "Law and Order" and things don't work out perfectly, but why do you think the police officer fired eight shots?

VOSS: Well, he had to. He eliminated the threat. It's very interesting as to what the suspect said. Because this is what we know is an unconditional threat. He didn't tell the police officer to get back or he'd shoot her according to the report that I've seen. He simply said I'm going to kill her. That's an unconditional threat and the victim's life is absolutely in harm's way. Couldn't be anymore high risk at that moment. And he took the only action that he could have taken.

COSTELLO: I just can't imagine what that would be like. And I hope I never have to. The officer now is on sick leave while an investigation is completed. Is it unusual for a police officer to be placed on sick leave in these instances?

VOSS: It's the department's procedures. Whatever their procedures are and the type of leave that they need to put him on to both properly investigate the incident, do all of the due diligence, and then also have the respect and regard for the professional that is a member of their own ranks and make sure that they treat him properly, as well. So it sounds perfectly within their procedures to me.

COSTELLO: Chris Voss, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

VOSS: My pleasure.

COSTELLO: A new push to find missing people follows the rescue of three women who had been held captive for years in a Cleveland home. Officials are launching a new program to make sure the missing don't become the forgotten.

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COSTELLO: At 46 minutes past the hour, time to check our "Top Stories."

The Midwest bracing for possibly more severe storms today. Tornadoes slammed five states and left behind widespread destruction. Oklahoma was among the hardest hit. One person was killed, about 300 homes either damaged or destroyed. There were 50 reports of tornadoes across the Midwest this weekend.

And it was a big night at the Billboard Music Awards for Taylor Swift who took home a whopping eight awards including top artist. Fans choosing to honor Justin Bieber's with three awards but his reception was a tad mixed.

COSTELLO: You hear the boos in the crowd, right? Yes the Biebs is getting boos while accepting an award for artists who achieved music chart milestone. And one of the night's more memorable moments, singer Miguel leaped -- he's going to leap -- but he lands on the fan's head. Not worry. Billboard reports the woman was a-OK and even got to meet Miguel back stage. Her head has been tacked.

In Dallas, serious news now, a firefighter is missing in a massive condo fire. According to affiliate WFAA the firefighter went missing three hours ago after being heard on the radio saying, quote, "I'm trapped." More than 100 firefighters on the scene now -- they're trying to help. No word yet on what caused the fire.

The dramatic rescue of three women held captive for years in a Cleveland home has brought new focus to finding people who have been reported missing. Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus were kidnapped between 2002 and 2004. Some of their own family members thought they were dead.

So what if anything can be done to keep the spotlight on missing people long after their names have stopped making headlines? The Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald has announced a new initiative he hopes will help. And he joins me now from Cleveland. Welcome.

ED FITZGERALD, CUYAHOGA COUNTY EXECUTIVE: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So tell me, what is this plan? FITZGERALD: Well basically as you mentioned we want to make sure that no cases fall through the cracks. Or just through, you know, in a very busy justice system that over time the spotlight gets off them. And so we've dedicated through our sheriff's office which covers not just the city of Cleveland but 59 cities in northeast Ohio, we're having a dedicated unit that just focuses on these cases.

So really they never really do go cold. That there it's always a case that has really attention from law enforcement just to make sure that nothing -- nothing falls through the cracks.

COSTELLO: Well with this -- how would -- how would this -- how would this have helped Michelle Knight? Because -- because as you know at some point police simply stopped looking for her. She didn't get the attention the other two women got when she went missing because she had family problems. And -- and she wasn't a juvenile. So how would your new initiative have helped Michelle Knight?

FITZGERALD: Right well, a couple different ways. Number one is for the first time our part of Ohio is going to have a comprehensive Web site where these cases are focused on. So for her family and her friends, because they hadn't forgotten about her, they would have been able to track all of the developments and they would have been able to continue to see that progress as it went -- went through the system.

And for the detectives themselves because they're dedicated to those cases specifically, they're not balancing those cases with whatever comes in that week. And that's what's so important I think Carol is to make sure that you have dedicated police officers that aren't just responding to whatever the crisis is over the moment, but again, no matter how old a case is, that case is constantly being reviewed.

COSTELLO: Well in Michelle Knight's case, though, her family thought at first she was a runaway and even they didn't keep track of the case any longer.

FITZGERALD: Well again, once a case is opened, it needs to be closed. It needs to be closed in a way where that person is located. And until that person is located, it has to continue to be a priority. I can tell you as a -- as a former prosecutor, prosecutors and law enforcement agents usually focus on -- on whatever the -- the pressing case is of the moment.

And you have to have dedicated personnel who are specifically focusing on a missing person's case.

Now, until that person has been conclusively identified and located, that case needs to remain opened because what happened with Michelle Knight's situation, I wish I can tell you that never happens, but sometimes when somebody is facing multiple challenges and there's multiple issues within a certain situation in a family, that that -- this isn't the only case where that's happened. And it's -- it's just very important not to write those cases off.

COSTELLO: Just a final question. Who is running the Web site and where is the money coming from? FITZGERALD: Yes, we are doing this through our county sheriff's department. Now that covers not just the city of Cleveland but also 59 cities in Cuyahoga County and it is being funded by our own law enforcement initiative that we actually started working on through county government about six months ago. It's just that we've gotten so many national attention that we expedited how quickly we rolled it out. We were originally planning on bringing it out by the end of the year. We expedited it in light of the recent events regarding Seymour Avenue.

COSTELLO: Ed Fitzgerald, Cuyahoga County, Ohio executive. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

FITZGERALD: Sure thank you.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

The New England Patriots give hundreds of Newtown, Connecticut kids a day they will never forget. "Bleacher Report" is coming your way next.

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COSTELLO: People in Newtown, Connecticut still trying to heal from that deadly school shooting. The New England Patriots they're doing what they can to help. Andy Scholes joins us now with more and "Bleacher Report". Good morning -- Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Good morning, carol. Well the kids of Newtown, Connecticut have definitely have been through a lot over the last six months. But this weekend they got the chance to just be kids again and play a little football. Ron Gronkowski along with over 30 members from the Patriots franchise where on hand Saturday at Newtown high school stadium to hold a football and cheerleading camp. Now the field was packed from sideline to sideline as youngsters got a chance to learn from the pros and play some fun games as well. Over 500 kids attended the one day camp.

But what do you get a star NFL quarterback for his wedding? If it's Robert Griffin III apparently he can just go to bed, bath and beyond. RG3 and his fiancee Rebecca are set to tie the knot on July 6th. And get this, Redskins fans have been hitting up their online registry for fulfilling all sorts of orders. Now RG3 tweeted thank you for the fans with a picture of him laying on top of all the empty boxes. Griffin says he didn't tell Redskins Nation about the registry, the fans found it on their own.

Well this may be the best non homerun catch by a fan all season. The Cubs and Mets game yesterday a home run heads for the bleachers. This guy goes for the ball while trying to protect his wife. Not only does he not get the ball, his wife pours her beer on his head. In an interview after the game, his wife said she got mad because he bumped into her causing her to spill beer on herself, so it was only fair that he got beer spilled on him. It didn't seem very fair to me.

All right Carol, your Tigers lost last night in Texas but what a game Miguel Cabrera had. The reigning ALMBC crushed three homeruns. Look at where this one lands, 450-feet into centre field and Cabrera is the first player ever to go 4 for 4 with three home runs and 5 RBIs in a losing cause. You know Carol, he won the Triple Crown last year and he could very well be on his way to another one this season.

COSTELLO: He's having a better season this year than the last when he won the Triple Crown. It's insane.

SCHOLES: Incredible.

COSTELLO: I stayed up to watch that game. I'm exhausted in more ways than one. Thanks, Andy. I appreciate it.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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