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Tornadoes Rip Across Five States; Search Crews Racing The Clock; Defense Tries To Save Arias' Life; High School Dropout Inks $1.1B Deal; Show Must Go On For Miguel; Billboard Crowd Boos Bieber; Passenger Shares Harrowing Ordeal

Aired May 20, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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


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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, tornadoes rips apart more than 300 homes.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is it. I just said it, "this is it, we're gone." We thought we were gone.

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COSTELLO: But they're OK. But the severe weather, it isn't over yet. Also, watch out -- R & B star Miguel jumps and lands on a fan. We've got all the highlights at the Billboard Music Awards.

Plus a high school dropout 26-years-old could soon be a billionaire. No, he did not win the Powerball lottery. He created Tumblr and Yahoo just tumbled for his baby.

Speaking of Powerball, not quite a billion, but awfully close. Who is holding that ticket? We will take you live to Florida. Right now, you are live at the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning, thank you so much for being with me. I'm Carol Costello. This morning, a tornado touches in Missouri and millions of Americans brace for a possible repeat of yesterday's terrifying weather.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to go soon!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this shifts, we're done.

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COSTELLO: This tornado near Oklahoma City, a monstrous half mile wide. The National Weather Service desperate to convey its deadliness, issued this dire warning, you could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter. Tornadoes ripped across five states. At least one person killed. Hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed. Oklahoma and Kansas are the hardest hit. Illinois and Iowa are also cleaning up today. In all, there were some 50 reports of tornadoes over the weekend, entire neighborhoods now gone, many more without power. Those bright flashes are electrical transformers popping as they are swallowed by a tornado in Wichita.

With daybreak just a couple hours ago, crews are searching for victims. They're watching the skies because at any time a round of new deadly weather could strike. And just a minute, we'll look ahead to the threat of more violent weather today. But first, let's go to one of the hardest hit areas.

CNN's Nick Valencia is in Shawnee, Oklahoma, where it sounds very windy.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the wind starting to pick up, Carol. We just got a tour of ground zero. We went inside, most of the mobile home community reduced to rubble. Carol, there is devastation everywhere.

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VALENCIA (voice-over): You can hear the roar as this half mile wide tornado tears across the land headed straight towards Shawnee, Oklahoma. There were more than two dozen reports of tornadoes from Oklahoma to Iowa Sunday. More than 45 homes damaged at least one person killed and a dozen injured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's coming up on a row of houses right here.

VALENCIA: The hardest hit a trailer park near Shawnee, Oklahoma. Mobile homes toppled over, houses demolished. Our affiliate KFOR pilot, John Welsh, said he's never seen anything like it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you came over the Shawnee Trailer Park to begin with were you not a bit astounded at the amount of devastation there?

JOHN WELSH, KFOR CHOPPER PILOT: Yes. I'm used to seeing trees ripped up, but the house usually there. This, everything was gone. It was just gone like you took the house. You put it in a gigantic blender, turn it on pulse for a couple of minutes and then dump it out.

VALENCIA: The massive amount of rain dumped in the area had rescue workers scrambling to the devastation to reach the injured before sun down.

VITA SMITH, TORNADO SURVIVOR: The electricity went out and then it was hitting. Then tree limbs were flying we just kind of hunkered down and hoped for the best.

VALENCIA: I-40 was littered with debris as two semis were overturned. This 18-wheeler blew off over the overpass and was practically flattened. Overnight, video of the rescue crowd tossing debris around trying to find victims. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My brother-in-law called me. I was at home and he said that a tree fell on my mother's house and I needed to pick her up. She's 79 years old, she's diabetic and she's blind.

VALENCIA: Oklahoma Governor, Mary Fallon, declared a state of emergency in 16 counties. The residents fortunate enough to get underground were in utter disbelief when they surfaced.

CATHY TALBOTT, TORNADO SURVIVOR: We were in the storm shelter and it was like a water pressure in our ears and the top came off. There are 13 people living in our house and it ripped off the top of the storm shelter. It sound like a train and after all the noise and then when we came out the house and everything, the trees and the electric, we thought we would be trapped there all night.

VALENCIA: Tornadoes also ripped through three other states, Illinois, Kansas and Iowa. In Kansas, downed power lines and hail the size of golf balls cover the ground as this tornado blew through Wichita.

DARLA BRAUN, SURVIVED OKLAHOMA STORMS: It was very eerie, very dark. The sky got very dark. We went to the cellar and we were so thankful. We also had our brains and we knew to go.

VALENCIA: A sigh of relief as two missing resident from Shawnee Trailer Park had been found, but Oklahoma is not out of the woods yet as more storms are expected throughout the rest of the day.

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VALENCIA: Carol, a short time ago, I spoke to a resident, Kimberly Graham, who said she had her house completely destroyed, just wiped away. She came back early this morning only to find a bicycle, a bicycle of her 7-year-old, just thankful to have that.

We also hear that Governor Mary Fallon will be touring the damage area at ground zero just to our left here. She is going to be touring in the 11:00 a.m. Eastern Hour. We will bring you more when we have it -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Nick Valencia reporting live from Shawnee, Oklahoma this morning.

We want to bring in CNN meteorologist, Indra Petersons and Indra, before you layout the day ahead, I want to take another look at this because it's so frightening. It's so huge. It's mesmerizing to see such a powerful force of newer. That tornado was estimated to be a staggering half mile wide. I cannot imagine getting close to something so terrifying -- Indra.

INDRA PETERSON, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, unbelievable. When you look at footage like that you can really see the conditions we have out there. We are talking about these long, lean tornadoes. I actually want to show you what we saw on Saturday. This was video of the Rozel. What we saw here is this is actually a stovepipe tornado. Look at -- when you have conditions like this. You can see these long live tornadoes. They're very violent out there, but one thing I want to point out. A lot of times we see tornado footage, we think, I will see a tornado if it's coming. In this particular case, it was in an open field and it was not rain wrapped. It was very well defined. That's not always going to be the case.

So something to keep in mind as you look at today's forecast of the conditions that could potentially be out there today. What we're talking about today is an area about 500,000 square miles underneath a severe weather threat. In fact, a moderate risk as well today, so 55 million of you under a slight risk, another 5 million of you looking at a more moderate risk.

The difference between today and yesterday is we are seeing that moderate risk area a little bit more of an enhance area, just a little bit farther out towards Missouri. Look at these metropolitan areas that are included. We are talking about Detroit, Michigan, Chicago, and even Oklahoma City are currently in that zone.

Now keep in mind as we go through Tuesday and Wednesday, this is a very slow moving system. So with that, this unstable weather is going to be remaining with us for several days. Now keep in mind, it's not about the tornadoes. Also we're looking at large hail and even some strong winds in the forecast.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Indra.

We could see Jodi Arias take the stand today in the penalty phase of her murder trial. Jurors are considering whether to give her life in prison or the death penalty. The jury already found Arias exceptionally cruel in the murder of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander clearing the way for the death penalty decision.

HLN legal correspondent, Jean Casarez is covering the trial in Phoenix. Welcome, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, HLN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. Good morning. You know, this is probably the most important day in this trial because we are into the heart of the death penalty phase in this case. And in this part, it is the defense has the burden because they have to try to show that there are mitigating circumstances or reasons why she should live that outweigh the aggravating circumstances of why she should die. It's all in the jury's hands ultimately.

They must find a decision unanimously. But today, the defense will put witnesses on the stand. We believe Darryl Brewer, who was the boyfriend, a serious boyfriend of Jodi Arias' for four years. They purchased a home together. We believe he will take the stand.

Now here's one interesting thing. The other witness is supposed to be Patty Womack, a childhood friend that can talk about the person Jodi Arias was as she grew up in her life, maybe alleged abuse that she undertook at the hands of her parents.

She does not want to be shown. She does not want her voice to be heard. That signifies that she is scared for some reason to testify and so I think one big question is, will she actually take the stand for Jodi in defense for her life.

COSTELLO: And from what I understand, defense attorneys are also going to show the jurors, Jodi Arias' artwork. I mean, honestly, could that factor into this?

CASAREZ: That is what we heard. Now, I think Jodi Arias, foundationally, she has to show the artwork. So they are going to bring in paintings. Now here's the big question. We have Jodi Arias we know is going to speak to this jury. What is Jodi Arias going to say? We heard an opening statement. She is going to talk about her life, what she wants her life to be and then we also heard about the artwork.

Normally, when someone of Jodi's stature, a convicted murderer, alocutes, speaks before the jury and the court, they beg for mercy. They beg for their life. They apologize for what they have done. So, the question is, what will she say? Will she actually ask for death, which is a possibility and will she be a witness for the defense, which means once again she can be cross-examined or just make that statement to the court, a lot of questions this morning.

COSTELLO: So I know you have been watching this trial like forever. On a scale of 1-10, how likely is it that Jodi Arias will take the stand?

CASAREZ: I think in this case we have learned anything is possible at all, absolutely anything, including Jodi Arias begging the jury for death. I don't think she will do that, though. The question is, what does the jury think of Jodi Arias at that point? I think the death penalty is a possibility here. They could unanimously find for that.

COSTELLO: Well, even her attorneys said they don't really like Jodi Arias much.

CASAREZ: Now, I've heard that argument quite a bit. Because when it gets to the defense side and you got a defendant that is not likable, you can stand up and argue to the jury, I don't like them either, but you got to base your decision on the evidence. So that can actually be a routine argument.

COSTELLO: All right, Jean, thanks so much.

Checking our top stories at 11 minutes past the hour, commuting nightmare in the northeast this morning, many people who usually take trains are having to find another way to get around. Crews in Connecticut are trying to rebuild 2,000 feet of track and overhead wires. They were damaged in Friday's commuter train collision, repairs could take several days.

To Dallas now where a firefighter is still missing after a massive condo fire. According to our affiliate WFAA, a fire fighter went missing two-and-a-half hours ago after being heard on the radio saying, quote "I'm trapped." More than 100 firefighters now on the scene are trying to help. No word yet on what caused the fire.

The U.S. Supreme Court could issue rulings on several high profile cases including affirmative action and same sex marriage. Earlier, the court announced it will hear a new case regarding prayer and government meetings. Stick around. We'll have live updates for you.

How is this for a bit of encouragement this morning, a 26-year-old high school dropout just inked a deal worth a billion dollars, David Carp has agreed to sell his popular blogging site, Tumblr to Yahoo. Alison Kosik is in New York with more on today's wonderboy. Wow!

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he is. Actually, you can see on Tumblr that some users are a little worried about Yahoo's acquisition of it may make it uncool. Now you can -- what is Tumbler because everybody wants to know. It's a blogging web site.

You can post pictures and you can post comments about -- just about anything. Now Yahoo is doing its best right now to reinvent itself after being left in the dust by Google. In that quest, it's agreed to buy Tumblr for $1.1 billion. What this buyout is going to give Yahoo! is access to Tumblr's coveted younger user base. Translation, Carol, ad dollars.

COSTELLO: Ad dollars. I just find this young man's story fascinating. So he's a teenager when he creates Tumblr. He is living with his parents as normal teenagers do. Tell us more about him.

KOSIK: Yes, his name is David Carp. As you said, he dropped out of high school, but this isn't your typical high school dropout. He left one of the best high schools here in New York City when was 15 to be home schooled. He began learning web code at the ripe age of 11. By the way, he never bothered to go college. At 20-years-old, he founded Tumblr and this was back in 2007.

Today, his company is worth over a billion dollars. Now he is not just the CEO of Tumblr though, his personality and the personality he's injected into Tumblr is really a huge part of what yahoo is buying. Both companies have been clear that they want Tumblr to maintain its individuality.

You know, as carp said to his 175 employees, he said, we're not turning purple, meaning Yahoo's colours our headquarter isn't moving. Our team isn't changing, our road map isn't changing. What's new is that tumbler gets nor resources so the site can improve faster. We'll see if that happens, it can maintain its individuality when a company like Yahoo steps in -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I know. How long the existing team will actually last? Because you always think a big company buys into these smaller things. They say, everything is going to stay the same and then months later, big changes.

KOSIK: Who knows? I mean, a lot of people Yahoo could be interested in the people in Tumblr because it wants to maintain that flavor that Tumblr currently has. That is possible that part of this is buying the people. That's a very expensive way to buy people, I think -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I think so. Alison Kosik, many thanks. In entertainment news this morning, R & B singer, Miguel, well, clearly the show must go on, even if this happens. Yes, during the performance, nationally televised Billboard Music Awards show. He landed on that woman's head. He didn't even ask her if she was OK. You know that had to hurt. Miguel did not miss a beat or two. He kept going on with his hit song "Adorn."

Entertainment correspondent, Nischelle Turner joins me now from Los Angeles. Tell me that fan still has her head.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I have to take up for him a little bit because I think when he grabbed the blond lady. He thought that was the fan that he had fallen on top of. So that's why he kept singing. He thought he was doing a solace by grabbing her.

You know, Carol, we're three hours later, when this happened, Twitter was ablaze. I didn't really know what was going on, but then I saw it. I saw that the Sunday Billboard Music Awards turned into Monday night WWE Raw. Now I can't get enough of this video. So we have been showing it over and over again all morning. I think we have a slow-m- o. We will let it keep playing.

Because you see him go and run this, take this flying leap. There he goes. He lands right on the head of that fan. He also cold cocks the next to her. They're both hurt and then he grabs the blond. He starts singing to her.

Here's the good news, the one girl he falls on top of her head, she's OK. She went back out to the mash pit for the rest of the show. She didn't want to miss anything. Someone saw her back stage with an ice pack on her head. The other girl he cold cocked, we don't know what happened to her. Presumably, she's OK, as well.

COSTELLO: She is waiting for that big black eye to get better. No kidding. Let's talk about something good. The night's big winner, Taylor Swift, man, she was amazing.

TURNER: She was. By the way, I think Miguel's performance was very good. I just think he failed on the jump. Yes, Taylor Swift was great. She walked away with eight awards last night including top artist, top female artist, top billboard 200 artist. I think she may have won just about every artist award.

Her friend Justin Bieber had a good night, too. You know, Carol, he performed twice. I also thought he did a good job last night. He also won three awards including the first ever Milestone Award. This is for ingenuity and innovation.

But I guess some people didn't quite agree with him winning because when he walked on the stage, you heard some boos. Then Bieber, well, he had a few choice words. Listen to what he had to say.

TURNER: You can hear the boos there.

COSTELLO: Didn't he say, I'm 19 years old. I think I'm doing a pretty good job, so leave me alone.

TURNER: Yes, basically. Then he went on to say, look, here, I'm an artist. All of this other bull should not be spoken of saying all of this wearing his sunglasses inside, I love that. That's my favorite fan moment.

COSTELLO: I don't think Taylor Swift was his friend because as I understand she was sitting by Selina Gomez and Selina Gomez used date Justin Brieber and they were not making --

TURNER: They may still be dating because a little bird told me that Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez may have taken in the love show in Vegas, the Beatles show on Friday or Saturday night and may have been there together so.

COSTELLO: They're playing us.

TURNER: It may not be completely over.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Nischelle. Always fun.

Coming up next in the NEWSROOM, a mom facing what she thought was the end.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I kept thinking of my kids, my husband. Sorry.

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COSTELLO: She is a plane crash survivor. You'll hear her story next.

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COSTELLO: Imagine this. You are on a plane, the captain yells out, "crash, crash, crash!" That is exactly what happened aboard a U.S. express plane this weekend. It made an emergency belly landing after part of the landing gear failed to deploy.

CNN's Pamela Brown joins us now with her exclusive interview with the passenger who survived that fatal ordeal. I can't imagine the pilot yelling that over the speaker.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's any passenger's worse nightmare, Carol. All U.S. Airways she wanted to do is get on the flight from Dallas back home to Newark. When she couldn't get a direct flight, what turned off as a simple kink in her travel plans turned into a horrifying trip.

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BROWN (voice-over): Thirty four people sat aboard this U.S. Airways flight as it made this dramatic emergency belly landing at Newark Airport due to trouble with a landing gear. Linda Demarest was one of them and never thought this could happen to her. LINDA DEMAREST, U.S. AIRWAYS PASSENGER: Thought it was it, went down. Basically, it was a controlled crash, but it was a plane crash. You see it on the news all the time. Not many people survive plane crashes. That was my thought.

BROWN: The mother of two said she was exhausted as she was making her way back home to New Jersey after training for her new nursing job in Dallas. The flight was going smoothly until --

DEMAREST: The captain comes out of the cockpit with a flashlight and he starts looking at the wing. At this point, everyone on the plane knew something was going to happen.

BROWN: Moments later, the crew confirmed her worst fears.

DEMAREST: The flight attendant told us that there's a mechanical problem. You could see the flaps opening for the landing gear on the right side, but the left side the flaps wouldn't open.

BROWN: Demarest first thought contact her family.

DEMAREST: I wrote to my husband we can't land. One landing gear went down. They are trying to fix it before we make an emergency landing. Then I wrote to him no announcement from the captain yet. I love you. Then I wrote we are crashing. That's when I turned off the phone.

I kept thinking of my kids and my husband -- that they would lose me then I thought back about 9/11 how families left messages for their loved ones so I texted each one of them that I loved them and I turned the phones off not knowing.

BROWN: What she heard next she said she will never forget.

DEMAREST: So about 200 feet before we hit. The captain comes on the speaker yelling crash, crash, crash, crash while she's yelling stay in position, head down, keep in position, head down so we're like this on the back of our seats.

BROWN: With sparks flying the cabin of the turboprop quickly filled with smoke. Emergency chutes deployed. Passengers evacuated. The plane was quickly foamed. Demarest said those minutes felt like a lifetime.

DEMAREST: I just kept saying to myself stop, stop, please stop. When you finally stop it's like elation. You made it.

BROWN: U.S. Air Ways says nobody on the plane was injured, but Demarest says for her and her family, the gravity of what happened still hasn't sunk in.

DEMAREST: I was joking with somebody I should have played the Mega Millions, but then I thought you know what? I already won so I don't need to play. I have my family and that's what's most important.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BROWN: And Demarest says she wants to give a big thanks to the pilot and the crew and the pilot is the, quote, "captain sully of land." A U.S. Airways Spokesperson Devian Anderson told CNN that the incident is quote, "a testament to how our crews are trained to respond and act with the utmost professionalism." That's for sure.

COSTELLO: You are not kidding. It's just an incredible story. I'm glad she's OK. You always wonder what you do in that situation. I think I'd do exactly the same thing. I don't know. Thanks, Pamela. We appreciate it.

There is at least one new multi-millionaire among us. Someone has the winning Powerball ticket worth there are a $595.95 million. Now, everyone is wondering who won.

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