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Fires Devour Homes in Colorado; Storms Hit Midwest; Man Paralyzed After Rescue Attempt

Aired June 13, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Thousands forced to leave their homes behind as the flames are moving closer. And the not-knowing is taking its toll on families.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

The feds say this actress sent ricin-laced letters to the president and Michael Bloomberg, then, tried framing her husband. Well, that husband is about to tell me his side of the story.

A debt collector for drug cartels says he's killed 30 people across America. We're on the case.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These disclosures have caused significant harm to our nation and to our safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The man who leaked NSA secrets is still on the run, but the FBI suggests, not for long.

And one of America's most famous directors predicts an implosion of the movie industry. And it would forever change how you go to the movies.

Good to see you. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks so much for being with me.

I want to begin with the thousands of families right now wondering whether their homes are still standing. Folks in Colorado very much so on edge as nightmare wildfires burn out of control. At least 360 homes have been destroyed, 13,000 people evacuated. A result of the biggest fire, this is how they're describing it, the worst in Colorado state's history. CNN's Victor Blackwell is live for us in Colorado Springs.

And, Victor, just tell me what's happening right now there?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a -- just a little bit of good news. And this community certainly needs it. It has been reported by the sheriff's office that there have been no fatalities, no injuries, but there was one missing person. Well, just a few moments ago, the sheriff's office announced that that missing person has been found. No other details, but some good news.

But what you said at the top, that this is now the most destructive storm in Colorado history, no one expected that 12 hours ago when the sheriff had announced that 92 homes had been burned by the Black Forest Fire, compared to more than 300 that were burned coincidentally this time last year near this area by the Waldo Canyon Fire. Now at 360, it is the most destructive.

I want you to listen to a conversation I had with the sheriff yesterday one on one as he compared the two storms and how this is so dangerous. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY MAKETA, EL PASO COUNTY, COLORADO, SHERIFF: There was no wall of fire that did it like we saw last year. It was just a steady, continuous burning fueled by -- by breezy winds. Nothing real exaggerated until later in the afternoon. But really similar in that there's a lot of dry fuel, try ground. We didn't get the snow pack we'd hoped for or the spring rains.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And one other difference that makes this so destructive. Last year, the Waldo Canyon Fire started in a really forested area, not many homes, and then moved into a residential area. This fire started in a residential area and then moved into an area that was even more densely packed with residents and homes.

BALDWIN: What about this, Victor, the winds? I know the winds have been pretty tough for the firefighters fighting it this time around. Is that expected to change hopefully for the better in the next couple of days?

BLACKWELL: Unfortunately, no. I mean the winds have really picked up in the last 10 minutes or so. Gusts are expected to exceed what they were yesterday at 30 miles an hour. And there's a storm forecast. So you think a storm, good news, rain is coming. Unfortunately, no, because it's not going to be a lot of rain. There will be the two things they don't need, lightning, which could start other small fires, and stronger winds, unfortunately, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Victor Blackwell for us in Colorado Springs.

Thank you, Victor.

Next hour we're going to talk to a woman. She's lived in this home for 41 years. It is gone. Stay tuned for that.

While the fires rage in Colorado, heavy rains hammering the Midwest. Take a look at this new video we just got in here at CNN and you will see terrifying moments here. There are three people. They're trapped in this raging floodwater. The SUV totally swept off the road. This is into a flooded ditch. And you see the rescue crews. Look at this little one being pulled out from the window, hooking her up to the zip line and pulling her to safety over those floodwaters just in the nick of time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. DANIEL SHAFFER, WORTH COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: A torrential downpour with very heavy rains, poor visibility, poor surface conditions. This vehicle went off the road into a flooded ditch. Several different fire departments worked together and were able to rescue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Chad Myers joins me now.

Chad, the video, that's pretty incredible.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know we usually say don't drive into floodwaters, right?

BALDWIN: Now we know why.

MYERS: Well, she didn't even drive into floodwaters. She just drove off the road. She was on I-35. The rain was so heavy, the wind was so strong, she couldn't even see where the rest of the road was. Drove off the road and this is the side of the highway they got down into. So if you can't handle what you're driving, slow down or stop and whatever, get the flashers on, because this is what can happen if you have, you know, just overdrive the sensation of the car.

Here's the storm. It was a big one. No question about it. This storm had baseball-size hail just to the northwest of Albert Lee, Minnesota. Drove itself right across I-35 and that accident was right there.

And where's it going to go now? Where's the rest of all this going? Well, it's going to the southeast. Brand-new severe thunderstorm watch for Nashville, all the way back into the Piedmont, upstate of South Carolina. And there's Raleigh and Virginia Beach. You don't see tornado watches today. I don't believe we have a huge threat of tornados today, but certainly we will have the threat of more than that.

We'll have hail. We'll have wind and a lot of lightning. A 2 to 5 percent chance of some tornadoes, small ones today. The big threat, again, here you go, there's the hail and then large hail. Some hail could be, again, up to tennis ball size all the way from the tide water back down south.

D.C., you're just in it. You're not in tornadoes right now. You're not in the moderate risk. You're only in the slight risk. So that's a little bit of a reduction from where you were because you had rain this morning that cooled your atmosphere, that lowered your chances for big weather.

But, look, we could have weather - we could have severe weather all the way back even into Jackson, Mississippi. So this is kind of a widespread event today. I'm centered and focused on the Carolinas, but this will be widespread all the way across the deep south, Brooke. BALDWIN: All right, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: In just about a half hour, the FBI director will be giving a private briefing to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. But Robert Mueller already has shared some public details on the National Security Agency gathering your private information. He testified before members of the House today and told them this, that gathering information on your phone calls is legal, it is effective, and the more we talk about the details of this, the more we compromise the whole purpose of doing it in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: I can tell you every time that we have a leak like this, and if you follow it up and you look at the intelligence afterwards, there are persons who are out there who follow this very, very, very, very closely. And they are looking for ways around it. One of the great vulnerabilities that terrorists understand is their communications. And they are consistently looking for ways to have secure communications. And any tidbit of information comes out in terms of our capabilities and our programs and the like, they're immediately finding ways around it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: What about the FBI's progress in bringing in the man who leaked the documents? Mueller had this to say about Edward Snowden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUELLER: As to the individual who has admitted making these disclosures, he is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. These disclosures have caused significant harm to our nation and to our safety. We are taking all necessary steps to hold the person responsible for these disclosures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Those disclosures are bringing out international demands on the U.S. government. Today a lawmaker from Hong Kong reacted to the claim that Snowden made to the "South China Morning Post" that we told you about yesterday, that the U.S. has been hacking computers in China and Hong Kong for the last couple of years. Snowden said this, quote, "we hack network backbones like huge internet routers basically to give us access to the communications of hundreds of thousands of computers without having to hack every single one."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERT HO, HONG KONG LEGISLATOR: According to Mr. Snowden, it appears that our right to privacy may have been systemically violated by the American National Security Agency. Now, I think we're entitled to know the truth and we're entitled to seek an account from the U.S. administration. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Snowden fled to Hong Kong reportedly in late May. And a rally is planned there Saturday in support of him. The lawmaker also said extradition of Snowden from Hong Kong could take as long as five years.

We are also following very closely this major explosion and fire near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And we have just now learned that at least one person has died. You see the pictures. It was a chemical plant that exploded this morning, sending this thick, black smoke into the air and workers dashing to safety.

Look at this. The factory produces chemicals used to make plastics. We're told people who live in the area have been told to stay indoors, stay away from the potentially toxic fumes. Ascension (ph) Parish officials tell CNN there were no fatalities reported from the blast. That's what they told us initially. A Louisiana state agency is reporting at least 33 people were injured, three in critical conditions. But the details, they're still being sorted out. Meanwhile, the scene is still active. People are being told, as we said, to remain in their homes.

Coming up, remember the big story, the Letters laced with this poisonous chemical ricin mailed to President Obama, mailed to the mayor of New York City? Well, this woman, an aspiring actress, is now under arrest, but the original suspect here was none other than her husband. He says she framed him. I'll talk with him about this bizarre case and whether they ever talked about ricin or politics. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The husband of ricin suspect Shannon Richardson is moving on and now speaking out. And he say he's not angry with her for allegedly trying to frame him for sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama, Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Shannon, a mother of five, not only tried to allegedly pin it on him initially, but after investigators focused on her, she told them she sent the letters because he told her to. Shannon is an actress who had bit parts in TV shows "Vampire Diaries" and "The Walking Dead." And just a short time ago I talked to her husband, Nate Richardson, who had his attorney, John Delph (ph), by his side. And Nate told me his wife's arrest came from out of nowhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATHANIEL RICHARDSON, WIFE OF RICIN SUSPECT: I wasn't present for any of her being arrested. They actually came to my work to speak with me.

BALDWIN: What kinds of questions were they asking you?

RICHARDSON: I can't go into specifics of the questions they asked. It was just kind of random questions that I -- I've been tossed in this, didn't have a clue what was going on.

BALDWIN: How about just how are you feeling right now? Are you angry? Were you surprised that this happened?

RICHARDSON: I was extremely shocked. Anger, to me, is very wasteful emotion. It drains you physically and mentally.

BALDWIN: Since you can't go into the nitty-gritty of the questions in the investigation, let me just ask you this, because if your wife is ultimately convicted of sending a ricin-laced letter to the president of the United States, she could go to a federal prison for a long, long time. But -- did the two of you ever talk about frustration with government, with the president, with Mayor Bloomberg, specifically?

RICHARDSON: No. We never really had any kind of political discussions of any time. It was mostly, you know, kids got to do this, kids got to do that. We've got a trip coming up. You know, just stuff like that.

BALDWIN: So how long have the two of you been married?

RICHARDSON: October it would be two years.

BALDWIN: So in the two-year time, not once did Shannon mention the president or anger at the government?

RICHARDSON: No.

BALDWIN: Were there any signs around the house? Anything said from your wife that showed what she was allegedly up to?

RICHARDSON: No. The way -- if I would have saw anything or there would have been a red flag of any type, this would have been stopped long, long ago.

BALDWIN: Do you know what ricin is?

RICHARDSON: Well, I've learned about it from the FBI. I had no clue that it had to do with beans or anything. I was even pronouncing it improperly. I thought it was licin. And they had to, you know, correct me on that, of course.

BALDWIN: What about this? Because investigators say that your wife had told them that you told her to type the letter and to mail the letters. What's your response to that?

RICHARDSON: Well, I mean, really that's just her grasping at straws. I mean, I didn't have anything to do with this. I'm an innocent man. That's why I've come to speak with everyone. That's just, like, last resort, I'm going down, I guess I'll take you with me. At least that's the way I see it.

BALDWIN: So what about anger, not your anger, but Shannon's anger? Because apparently, you know, she told law enforcement officials once she was arrested, she was very angry with you. And I just want to ask, as we thank you for your candor, were there issues with your marriage? Had she expressed anger at you before? Or you, for that matter?

RICHARDSON: Well, our marriage was definitely not perfect. We had lots of troubles. But anybody that's been married, you know it's not always smooth sailing. You're not always going to see eye to eye. Anger-wise, most of us tried -- either one of us, you know, we tried to come to an agreement or a compromise. You know, a lot of lines -- across the lines of that.

BALDWIN: Nate, if Shannon were sitting in front of you right now, what would you say to her?

RICHARDSON: Nothing.

BALDWIN: Not a word?

RICHARDSON: No, ma'am.

BALDWIN: Why?

RICHARDSON: Well, I'm -- I'm focusing more on me and what I'm going to do with my life from this point on. And basically goals to get back to a normal, just regular life that I had.

BALDWIN: As you do that, let me ask you, though, just about her personality. I know that she had, you know, bit roles on -- as an actress. "Walking Dead," "Vampire Diaries." Did she ever talk to you about really becoming a big actress? What did she say about fame?

RICHARDSON: Well, she'd always wanted to be an actress. She had tried to get other roles past "Vampire Diaries" and "Walking Dead." I always supported her, but really we didn't discuss much about it.

BALDWIN: Can you, Nate, describe Shannon's personality for me? What's she like?

RICHARDSON: Very intelligent. Very strong willed. Just very stubborn a lot of times. Basically I can do anything myself kind of deal.

BALDWIN: I read that she is pregnant with your child, correct?

RICHARDSON: Yes, ma'am.

BALDWIN: And she has five children, several of whom have been living with you all. How old are they, Nate?

RICHARDSON: Well, starting at the oldest, 19 is Brandon (ph). And then there's -- he didn't live with us. He still lived in Georgia. And from this point on, those children lived with us. Allen (ph), he is 15. Then there's Taylor (ph). He's 12. Then there's Ethan (ph). He's 8. And Logan (ph). He is five.

BALDWIN: So 19 all the way to five. Do they understand where their mom is? What's going on?

RICHARDSON: I have not had any contact with the boys since she had been arrested. I was very worried and, you know, worried about their safety as well. And, you know, I've been trying to figure out where they are, but, you know, I have heard they're in child protective services and I'm sure they're helping out taking care of them the best they can. BALDWIN: What is next for you?

RICHARDSON: Getting back to normal. You know, just doing what I like to do and relaxing and just, you know, job, and so on and so forth.

BALDWIN: OK, Nate Richardson, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate it.

RICHARDSON: Yes, ma'am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Coming up next, a good Samaritan is paralyzed while trying to save his little girl from drowning. Thing is, he doesn't have health insurance. We'll tell you what's next for him, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A Georgia man is paralyzed from the chest down after he dove into this creek trying to save a four-year-old little girl. Michael Patterson does not have any health insurance. Good news is, here with the little girl, she's doing just fine. Diana Davis with our affiliate WSB has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA DAVIS, REPORTER, WSB-TV (voice-over): The water is shallow, but fast. And in just seconds, four-year-old Javea Jones was swept away.

CALISSA JONES, MOTHER OF 4-YEAR-OLD GIRL: I was terrified. That's it. Just terrified. I mean, it's my daughter.

DAVIS: Her mother screamed for help.

C. JONES: She's under water. All you see is the top of her head.

DAVIS: Michael Patterson, a father himself, dove in to help.

C. JONES: He jumped in head first. And after i grabbed her, we looked back and he was floating on top of the water.

DAVIS (on camera): Patterson was paralyzed the moment he hit the water. And his nine-year-old son saw it all happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And his little son was over here. And he goes, like, you OK, daddy? And he wouldn't wake up. So I -- four men and me went down there and picked him up and they brought him right here and the ambulance came and they tried to do CPR.

DAVIS (voice-over): Patterson was rushed to Redman Medical Center in Rome. He is in intensive care, paralyzed from the chest down. And though he's been told about his paralysis, his mother told me he still hasn't grasped how badly he's hurt.

VICKI JONES, MOTHER OF MICHAEL PATERSON: I just want to wake up from this nightmare. DAVIS: Patterson, a sheet rock hanger, just started a new contracting job so he does not have health insurance. His father is also hospitalized, dying of cancer. His mother told me she doesn't know where to turn.

V. JONES: Pray and have a lot of faith. That's all I can do.

DAVIS: She's hoping somehow a fund will be set up, but so far details have not been worked out. This is the second time in two weeks Michael Patterson has jumped in to save a life. He and another man pulled the driver of a tanker truck to safety after his rig was hit and burst into flames.

V. JONES: He said he did what he thought -- what he hoped anyone else would have done for him. and that's just not a very common thing anymore for anyone to care about someone they don't know.

DAVIS: Javea Jones is still scared but unhurt. Her mother is heartsick about Michael Patterson's injuries, but thankful.

C. JONES: He's a hero. An angel.

DAVIS: A hero who now needs his own angel.

From Floyd County, Diana Davis, Channel 2 Action News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Michael Patterson's selfless attempt to try to help this little girl has touched so many people. I want to talk to Alison Kosik about this in New York.

And just to think that he pulls a guy out of a burning rig one week and tries to save this girl the next, you know.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

BALDWIN: And I know the details haven't been worked out in this case. But how can someone in Patterson's situation handle the mounting medical expenses?

KOSIK: Oh, yes. You know, Brooke, hospitals, they're required to actually treat patients who come in with an emergency because that's the law. Now, Patterson is being treated at the Redman Regional Medical Center that's located in Rome, Georgia. And like many hospitals, Redman offers a charity plan for patients who don't have insurance. It actually provides free care for people who are a certain amount below the federal poverty level.

Now, keep in mind, we don't know Patterson's financial situation, so we can't know for sure if that's something he'd be eligible for. But again, like many hospitals - like many other hospitals, it also has a plan in place for patients who don't quite meet that charity criteria.

Now, in Redman's case, it gives uninsured people a discount which varies from procedure to procedure. Patterson would then likely have to get on a monthly payment plan to pay the bills back. And these bills are going to be huge for him. But most experts say that the important thing here is to pay something and to keep in mind that you can often negotiate how much you pay. You can often negotiate with the hospital.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: But even with the plans, with the hospitals and the negotiating, I mean, ultimately hospitals do have a bottom line.

KOSIK: They do. And there are numbers on this. The American Hospital Association says the country's 5,000 community hospitals, that they've provided more than $40 billion, with a "b," $40 billion in care that wasn't paid back in 2011. That works out to almost 6 percent of their total expenses.

And to balance their books, they've got to make it up somewhere. So some hospitals are raising rates on people who do have insurance or delaying the replacement of equipment for the hospital. Now, the hope in Patterson's case is that maybe enough people are going to step in to alleviate some of the pain of these bills and make sure both parties are squared away. There's even been a FaceBook group set up, Friends of Mike Patterson. It's got more than 15,000 likes right now. It's growing by the minute. It's actually set up a donation fund at River City Bank in Rome, Georgia, for anybody looking to help. PayPal and just give the account. Those are being established.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Gosh, paralyzed from the chest down for trying to help someone.

KOSIK: One of those bittersweet stories.

BALDWIN: It's tough. Alison Kosik, thank you.

KOSIK: Sure.

BALDWIN: Coming up, this man says he is a gangster and that he has killed more than 30 people for drug cartels. But that's not all he's revealing. That's next.

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