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Terrorism Threat Level Raised for U.S. Armed Forces; Prison Break Takes Place in Baghdad; Mothers March in Washington D.C. to Protest Police Brutality; Baltimore City State's Attorney Accused of Conflict of Interest in Police Manslaughter Case; Jury Hung in Case against Accused Killer of Etan Patz; Investigation into Killing of 12- year-old Tamir Rice by Police Officer Ongoing; Colorado Restaurant Holds Controversial White Appreciation Day; Doctor Provides Health Care to the Homeless. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired May 09, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:08] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: American troops home and abroad now on heightened alert. The FBI stepping up its monitoring of suspected ISIS supporters, but is this enough?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: A new advance for North Korea, the rogue nation test-fires ship-based ballistic missiles. And it could be a significant step for its military program.

KOSIK: Plus, five months of waiting, the family of Tamir Rice wants answers. Will Cleveland police officers be charged in the death of a 12-year-old boy shot playing with a toy gun? We'll be talking with the family attorney.

BLACKWELL: And white appreciation day, a set aside to celebrate white people. A Colorado restaurant now fights back amid major controversy. What started as a joke is now leading to a serious discussion about race.

KOSIK: Good morning, everyone, I'm Alison Kosik in for Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. As always, good to be with you this morning. It's not 10:00 here in the east coast, 7:00 out west, and you're in the CNN Newsroom.

We're starting with the threat of terror attacks on U.S. soil. This morning the security threat level at U.S. military basis is at bravo.

KOSIK: That means an increase in predictable threat of terrorism. The Pentagon raised security conditions after growing concern over jihadist threats. Let's bring in CNN national correspondent Sunlen Serfaty. Sunlen?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Alison.

KOSIK: Why go ahead and raise the threat level if there's no imminent, if there's not specific threat?

SERFATY: Well, that's a great question, Alison. U.S. officials say that there were a number of recent concerns that when all pulled together contributed to making this decision to increase the threat level. One U.S. official telling CNN that it just felt like the temperature was going up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: With concern growing over ISIS-inspired attacks being carried out inside the U.S., the Pentagon has put all U.S. military bases nationwide on heightened alert. The threat level now raised to bravo due do an increased in predictable threat of terrorism according to the Pentagon. The concern, ISIS could target uniformed military and law enforcement. Security will be beefed up at all military bases, National Guard installations, and recruiting stations across the country, adding, according to the military's order, an element of unpredictability, surprise and random measures into the regular security procedures.

Former CIA official Phil Mudd says this is part of a change in who terrorists like ISIS, target.

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: What they're saying is there are people in the United States who are responsible for projecting American power overseas. Because they're projecting American power overseas and killing us in places like Iraq and Yemen, they are legitimate targets.

SERFATY: U.S. officials say the heightened level is not tied to a specific credible threat but a number of recent concerns contributed to the decision. The shooting in Texas this week highlighting the threat from ISIS supporters and after personal information, names, and home addresses of about 100 military personnel were posted online by ISIS-affiliated accounts last month. Increasingly, ISIS has been using social media to reach out and recruit people in the U.S.

LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: It really is an expansion of how the Internet had been used, frankly, for several years now, both in recruitment and radicalization of young people to join terrorist groups.

SERFATY: The FBI director warning there are hundreds, maybe thousands of ISIS followers online inside the U.S., saying it's almost if there's a devil sitting on the shoulder saying, "kill, kill, kill, kill" all day long.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: The FBI is increasing its monitoring of suspected ISIS supporters within the U.S. after Sunday's attack showed that one of those gunmen had some encrypted communication with an ISIS recruiter. Meanwhile, last night, the director of the FBI and Homeland Security secretary held a secure conference call, Alison, with local and state officials, urging them to beef up their efforts against ISIS.

KOSIK: Sunlen Serfaty, live from the White House, thanks.

BLACKWELL: New this morning, a South Korean defense official tells CNN that North Korea has fired three ship-to-ship missiles. This is coming after state TV reported that Kim Jong-un oversaw a successful test-firing of a new underwater ballistic missile. It's still unclear when and where that launch took place. News of the launch, several launches in fact, comes just days after the country threatened to open fire on any South Korean naval ships that entered disputed waters.

And we have this just in to CNN, a huge manhunt under way in Iraq after a major prison break near Baghdad -- 40 prisoners, 40 of them, some facing terrorism charges, escaped after a riot broke out with prison guards. But 30 other prisoners and five police officers are dead.

[10:05:06] Let's bring in CNN military analyst Major General James "Spider" Marks. General, good to have you back. Is this indicative of a larger security prison in Iraq's jails, or is this an isolated incident in in your opinion?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: No, I think there's a fundamental breakdown of how the Iraqi government is really getting its hands around its requirements to provide for overall security. This prison break was not an accident. When you read the accounts of how it occurred, it really was instigated from inside. It wasn't accidental. And you can't really believe in the fact that coincidence would have brought all the confluence of all of these interests to have these potentially ISIS fighters escape.

So Iraq really has to beef up its security requirements across the board, professionalism throughout the force not only in law enforcement, but internal security, as well as their military. But they know that. The United States knows that. And there's a great partnership to try to correct things like this.

BLACKWELL: There was this major jail break in 2013. If the Iraqis know it and the U.S. government and military knows this, why has this happened again?

MARKS: You know, Victor, it's like the guy who spins all the plates, you know, you got to pay attention to all of them all the time. It's not a notion of boiling the ocean, but you have to establish priorities. And in Iraq, the priority is security. You have to be able to maintain the viability of the government in Baghdad. You have to provide governance throughout the country. And when you emanate that further out of Baghdad, you start to lose that capability.

But a prison like this that holds ISIS fighters, that has known terrorists, clearly should be a priority, and it simply was not in this case.

BLACKWELL: Yes, still so many challenges there. General Marks, thank you so much.

MARKS: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Monday on CNN we go inside, deep inside ISIS. Who are they? What do they want? Fareed Zakaria holds "Blindsided, How ISIS Shook the World." That's Monday night at 9:00 eastern right here on CNN.

KOSIK: There's been a bombshell outcome in a case that changed how America treats crimes against missing children. Etan Patz was just six years old when he vanished from a New York city street in 1979. His face was one of the first missing children to appear on a milk carton. This man confessed to killing him. But in a stunning twist, a lone juror on a 12-member jury refused to convict him. That forced a judge to declare a mistrial. CNN's Rosa Flores joins us now. Good morning, Rosa. Can you tell us which juror held out? I mean who is he? And did he give a reason?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, here's what we know about this juror. His name, Adam, juror number 11. And he says that the deliberations were very respectful, but that he quite frankly did not feel there was enough evidence to convict this man. He said that it was all circumstantial and that he didn't buy the confession. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SIROIS, HOLDOUT JUROR: For me, his confession was very bizarre, no matter how many times it happened. It got more and more bizarre. And I feel that the initial confession there were lots of issues surrounding custody, surrounding Miranda rights, surrounding the fact that it wasn't videoed for six or seven hours. And I just felt -- I felt like mental health issues were a huge part of this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: You know, and that's a point that the defense also brought up, and that was mental illness, that this man had a personality disorder. That he was not keen or cunning. That he should have not been on trial for this.

And then you've got the -- the prosecution saying you know, at the end of the day, the district attorney saying that too much time has passed and that that's one of the reasons why it's difficult to have actual physical evidence in this case, because, let's not forget, a body has never been found. This boy has never been found. All of this, as you can imagine, very difficult for the family to be listening to over and over again. For the police to be saying that Hernandez allegedly lured this boy into a basement, killed him, and then disposed of his body. So imagine the agony that the family is going through. Here's what Etan Patz' father had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STANLEY PATZ, ETAN PATZ'S FATHER: I don't understand why the jury couldn't come to a verdict. But I'm convinced. I heard the evidence just as they did, and I'm convinced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now a court hearing has been set to set another court date in this case, and that hearing is set for June 10th. Alison?

KOSIK: So agonizing for the family. Rosa Flores, thanks.

FLORES: You're welcome.

[10:10:00] BLACKWELL: The Million Moms March in D.C., live pictures here, it's about to start. These mothers, many of them, they say that they've lost children at the hands of police or their children have been injured by police officers. So they're marching to the capital to make demands. We'll hear what they believe the federal government needs to do.

KOSIK: And why does it seem to take so long for the Department of Justice to investigate police shootings like the incident in Baltimore and others around the country? We're going to ask the former spokesman for Eric Holder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right, live looks now at Washington. In about 45 minutes in the capital, the Million Moms March against police brutality will begin. This is, again, a live picture there. I believe that's the mall. This is in response to a tumultuous couple of years in this country following the deaths of unarmed black men. You've got Tamir Rice who was just a 12-year-old boy, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, most recently Freddie Gray. The Million Moms March is organized by Maria Hamilton. Her son was killed by a Milwaukee police officer last year. The officer was not charged, but he was fired by the department for not following the rules in the moments leading up to the shooting. I spoke with Ms. Hamilton and her son Nate earlier. I asked them what they wanted to see happen after today's march.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold these police officers accountable for killing our children. There's no accountability in none of these police departments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a cause that -- that has swept the nation, not by storm, because these things have been happening. But right now it's just really hit a head where it's people really opening their eyes to the things that's happening. And we see police officers get off with it, you know. It's racial profiling. It's discrimination. And we need to make sure these things stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:15:17] BLACKWELL: All right, so let's talk about this, some of the demands put forward by the group organizing this, Mother for Justice United. We've got with us Matt Miller, a former spokesman for the Department of Justice under Eric Holder. Matt, good morning.

MATT MILLER, FORMER DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SPOKESMAN: Good morning, thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: So let's go to some of the demands that this group has put forward. One of them is that DOJ will review all deaths that involve police officers. Is that a reasonable demand? MILLER: It's a reasonable request from families who are obviously

dealing with great tragedies. But, unfortunately, it's not something that's really either realistic for the department to accomplish based on the resources that they have available for them or really under which they have -- for which they have the jurisdiction under federal law.

If you look at what's happened in last six years under first Attorney General Holder and then in of course in the last week and a half under Attorney General Lynch, the department has brought more investigations into police departments than at any time in history. But even with that aggressive level of enforcement it's a mistake to think that the federal Department of Justice can be a substitute for local oversight of police forces. They don't have the resources to oversee every police department and they don't have the authority or jurisdiction of the law to do what must be done at the local levels.

BLACKWELL: Let me get in here and ask you about how the department then chooses which cases will be investigated, some of the high- profile ones, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin even. And I think people at home know the names. Is there in these cases, is there any indicator that must be present? Or are these investigations simply a response to the protests and the calls for an investigation?

MILLER: There are two things they do. In individual cases like that they look for facts that would appear to show that police acted either with an intent to use more force than was necessary or an intent to discriminate. And they especially will look at cases like that when there's an appearance that for whatever reason, often a conflict of interest, local prosecutors aren't effectively doing their job in investigating these cases and potentially holding police officers accountable. When the Department of Justice sees those factors at play, that's when they're likely to step in and investigate themselves.

And then of course there are other instances in which they see beyond any individual case a pattern of abusive practices by the police department where they're systematically discriminating, systematically using excessive force in policing. And in that type of situation the department will come in and conduct broad, sweeping investigations.

BLACKWELL: You know, Matt, I don't know that many people expected in the case of Freddie Gray, when the state's attorney Marilyn Mosby came out on that Friday and announced criminal charges, I think many people were surprised bit speed of that investigation. But on the other side, we hear from so many people, these investigations are taking months, years in some cases. Explain why are they taking so long?

MILLER: These are very difficult cases. Certainly at the federal level the standard is so difficult. If you look at the district attorney's case, she was able to bring manslaughter charges against several of the officers. That's something that's not available at the federal level. They have to show an intent on the behalf of the officer. That takes time. You have, in many cases, witnesses who offer differing accounts. You have forensics evidence. You have ballistic evidence. There's a lot to go through, a lot to sort through. And it just takes time to get to these answers. What we saw in Ferguson, oftentimes when you look at the outcome of the investigation, they bear very difficult results than what people expect, and it's difficult and complex and the government has to wade through all of that.

BLACKWELL: All right, Matt Miller, thank you for helping us understand what's on the other side of the curtain. We'll have live coverage of the march next hour. Thanks, Matt.

MILLER: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: And coming up later in this hour, we're going to be talking with the lawyer for the family of Tamir Rice. He's the 12- year-old boy shot and killed by Cleveland police back in November while playing with a toy gun. More than five months later, they wait to learn if the officers will face any charges.

Plus the road to the White House runs right through South Carolina. That's where many of the contenders are today, with one notable exception. That's next.

Plus, white appreciation day, a Colorado restaurant now fights back amid major controversy. What began as a joke now leads to a serious discussion about race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:23:20] KOSIK: Republican presidential hopefuls are spreading out across the south today. I wanted to take a live look at where Jeb Bush is expected to speak today. In Lynchburg, Virginia he's expected to give the commencement address at Liberty University. And while the stage at the South Carolina Freedom Summit is going to be packed with Republican presidential hopefuls, you're not going to see Jeb Bush there.

Senior reporter for CNN politics Chris Moody is live at the Freedom Summit. Chris, we've got the list here. Governor Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, all front and center taking the stage today. But will any of these folks use the platform to launch anything new? What will we hear new today?

CHRIS MOODY, SENIOR REPORTER, CNN POLITICS: Well, we're not expecting any major announcements in their speeches today. But we are expecting them to really work hard to fire up the crowd. Look, South Carolina is a key piece of the Republican primary puzzle. It's the first primary in the south, and it's really a gateway for a lot of these candidates to the second phase of the primary contest, especially for conservative candidates who might not have done as well in Iowa or New Hampshire. Doing well here in South Carolina really gives them a breath of fresh air to go on to future election contests in the long primary that we have.

KOSIK: So once again we're not going to be hearing from Jeb Bush at the Freedom Summit where are you, but where he is expected to speak once again, the commencement address at Liberty University. Why that university? What is the significance there for him? MOODY: Well, as you can see, he is not here in South Carolina. He's

already been kind of mentioned, not necessarily by name with some hisses and boos a little bit. He's not necessarily welcome among a lot of the conservative candidates. But in Liberty, it's the largest evangelical university. It's where Ted Cruz gave his announcement for president, and it's a great opportunity for him to meet a lot of the similar voters he would have reached here in South Carolina, particularly the conservative evangelicals.

[10:25:13] KOSIK: You said he's not welcome. Why specifically is that? Could he be the new face for the Republican Party to sort of veer off the conservative line?

MOODY: I'm sorry, can you say that again?

KOSIK: You said he was greeted, when his name was mentioned, there were hisses and boos. Why is that?

MOODY: Well, he's known as what Republicans call a RINO, a Republican in name only. They see him as a bit of a moderate, as someone who won't hold the line. Now, he's pushing back on that, of course. At Liberty University today he will talk, he will talk about religious liberty, a lot of issues that are important to evangelical conservatives.

KOSIK: All right, Chris Moody, thanks so much. It's loud in there, I'll let you go.

MOODY: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: The calls are now growing louder for Baltimore's prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby to step aside in the case against the six charged police officers. New court documents filed against her now. Will she remove herself from the case or with will a judge remove her from this case? We're live in Baltimore with the latest developments.

Also, then to Cleveland where a family who lost their son to a police shooting five months ago is still waiting for answers. Tamir Rice was 12-years-old when he was killed. We'll talk to the family attorney, next.

KOSIK: But first, this week's "Ones to Watch" looks at photography and one man who mixes photography and choreography to produce some eye-catching results.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The set is the Chateau de Longchamps, the HQ of the World Wildlife Fund in France. It's the story of the battle between conservation and consumer excess.

NICOLAS HENRY, PHOTOGRAPHER: I'm always looking at the light, the time that at which time it will be the night. At which time we have this good direction. First when I choose a place, there is, it can be a beautiful tree, it can be a nice house, I don't know, if there's a set. But for me, inside the light of the sky, that is very important. When you used to create the frame, there is all this point, how will

be the light at this time of the day. How I can have a perspective that will open and give inside the eyes of the spectator, a dimension of a world for the subject. You can control the frame the light, the color. But after all, you have this human part that will come in in one moment, and here you have a magical moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: And you can check out the full show at CNN.com/OnesToWatch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:31:33] BLACKWELL: It's 31 minutes after the hour. Former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak will soon be a free man. He could be released from prison within hours. That's according to Egyptian state media. A Cairo court of appeals has upheld a three-year sentence against Mubarak on corruption charges, but they also credited him for time served. Mubarak has also been slapped with this multimillion dollar fine for embezzlement.

KOSIK: In Savannah, Georgia, nine deputies have been fired in connection with the death of a college student. A police spokeswoman says Matthew Ajibade died in an isolation cell on New Year's Day. His family says he was Tased, handcuffed, and put in a restraint chair. They say he suffered from bipolar disorder and they say police knew that and should have taken him to a hospital. The district attorney is investigating.

BLACKWELL: Attorneys for the Baltimore officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray want the city's prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, to step down immediately. There's this new motion filed just last night that objects to Mosby's continued involvement, spelling out five conflicts of interest, one of them her friendship with an attorney for the victim's attorney, or at least his support for her. CNN's Sara Sidner is live in Baltimore with the latest for us this morning. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. Yes, when you look at this, 109-page document, there's a lot in it, but essentially about five different things, all of them having to do with conflicts of interest that they allege that Ms. Mosby has as the state's attorney. Some of them include the relationship with her own husband, Nick Mosby, who is a council member who lives in that district and represents that district. She also lives in the district. They're saying there's financial and personal gain, political game for him in that she is now prosecuting a case of his constituents wanted that to happen, wanted those charges to go forward.

There's also an allegation that she has personal relationships with some of the potential witnesses, that her office indeed investigated this case, as well. And there's the last one, that her -- her relationship with the attorney who represents Freddie Gray's family, that she has a personal relationship with the attorney, that he's a former attorney of hers, and that creates a conflict.

All of these things coming out, some of them we heard before because the police union also mentioned a couple of these things early on. But this is all about the process. We should have expected something like this to go forward just judging from what the police association says. This is the defense starting its case, if you will, trying to find its place and start its case looking at how it can defend these six police officers who are charged in the death of Freddie Gray.

We ended up talking to Ms. Mosby about all of these allegations, at least a few of them, some of these conflicts. We talked to her on Sunday after the police association made their stance on this, and here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARILYN MOSBY, BALTIMORE CITY STATE'S ATTORNEY: There is no conflict of interest. I mean I'm going to prosecute. I'm the Baltimore city state's attorney. My jurisdiction covers every district in Baltimore city. There's a number of crimes that take place in Baltimore city, and, unfortunately, in the district that we live. Where is the conflict? What, I have to, to take myself away from every case or crime that takes place in west Baltimore? That makes absolutely no sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:35:01] SIDNER: And we should be clear that Marilyn Mosby will likely not try this case herself. It will be the veteran prosecutors in her office who have done many, many trials in the past. But, you know, at this point this is the allegation going forward, and she'll have to answer this in court. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Sara Sidner live for us in Baltimore. Sara, thank you.

KOSIK: In Baltimore, it took Mosby less than two weeks to bring charges against six cops. But in Cleveland the family of Tamir Rice has been waiting more than five months, five months, for answers. Last November, the sixth grader was shot and killed by a cop while he was playing with a pellet gun. The police officer was responding to a 911 call, about a guy with a pistol that was quote, "probably fake." But within two seconds of arriving at the scene, Officer Timothy Loehmann fired fatal shots at 12-year-old.

Walter Madison joins us now for an exclusive interview. He's an attorney for the Tamir Rice family. Good morning, Walter, thanks for joining us.

WALTER MADISON, ATTORNEY FOR TAMIR RICE FAMILY: Good morning.

KOSIK: Why do you think it's taken so long for this family to get any answers?

MADISON: Well, it's just clearly avoiding responsibility. And the city hopes in time that this matter will be swept under the rug or that people will forget.

KOSIK: Do you have any idea when a grand jury may even review the case and decide whether or not to, to hand over an indictment? MADISON: You know, I wish I did. The pace is simply slower than

molasses in the wintertime. And when the county sheriff's office has indicated that timeliness is not a priority of the investigation, it's very disheartening. It's been reported less than two seconds, let me be clear -- it's 792/1000s of a second that Officer Loehmann from exiting the car, that's the amount of time that passed before he chose to shoot Tamir. So in less than a second a decision was made to take Tamir away from us. But we are forced here to wait close to six months.

KOSIK: Will the Rice family continue with a lawsuit against the police department while this official investigation is ongoing?

MADISON: We're hopeful that -- there's been a motion to stay. We're hopeful that the court will deny that motion. What I'm speaking to specifically is about the motion. But the whole crux of the matter is that there's tremendous public interest in this matter. The social justice issue is the hottest issue in the country. There are -- our governor has taken a stance and created a police advisory board, first state in the United States to take such a lead. So it's hard to say that delaying this matter would serve any public interest or promote the integrity of the process.

KOSIK: And what kind of community reaction have you seen about what happened?

MADISON: Well, you can feel it. The city is on edge. And you know, it's just quite interesting how we're trained to see and interpret and describe violence. The city is claiming to take proactive measures with clergy and community leaders to prevent violence, but I submit to you that the violence already started. When they shot a 12-year-old in less than a second at a park, they started the violence. When they caused a death of Tanisha Anderson, they started the violence. The matter that's in trial now with Mr. Brelo and the 137 shots, they started the violence. And it's just really, it's almost laughable to suggest that the commencement of violence may be a people who are not empowered resisting against those who are in power who are actually the aggressors.

KOSIK: All right, and we'll continue to follow the story. Walter Madison, thanks so much for joining us.

MADISON: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: It's been a dangerous week weather-wise for Oklahoma and Nebraska, Kansas as well. And it's going to be a tough weekend for tornado alley. At least 17 million people possibly now in harm's way. Oklahoma, has already seen, look at this, golf ball-sized hail. And more could be on the way.

KOSIK: Plus, Christi Paul, she has got a message for all the moms out there this weekend. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, we want to give you a chance to give your mom a shout-out this Mother's Day. Go to our Facebook page, Facebook.com/NewDay, and send a message to your mom this Mother's Day. Also you're going to hear from me. I want to share with you a couple of things that I've learned from other moms that I think are really valuable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:43:16] BLACKWELL: All right, get ready, because giant hail could be in the forecast for parts of Texas all the way up into Oklahoma, Colorado, many parts of Kansas as well.

KOSIK: It may be time for a hard hat or something. The giant hail was the reason the University of Oklahoma had to put off the commencement program last night. But so far the commencement program looks like it's back on for today. And we've got -- we've got more on the forecast. I mean, we've got hail, we've got tornadoes. I mean, what else is going on?

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: How about some snow?

KOSIK: Why not?

CABRERA: We'll just throw it into the mix. And then we've got tropical storm Ana about to make landfall Sunday morning on the coast of the Carolinas, incredible stuff. Look at the hailstone yesterday. This is the kind of hail potential we're talking about for today. That can cause some damage. We're going to want you to be very careful today.

Here is the latest. The severe thunderstorm watch boxes were already going here. Of course, this is dangerous for Oklahoma and into parts of Kansas, but this is not the main event. That will come later this evening. Those are the thunderstorms that I think are going to be more severe and are going to be the ones that are going to be likely dropping down tornadoes. We're going to watch that very closely.

Because of the spin in the atmosphere, we have the upper level that's already going, more moist air coming up from the south, cool, dry air from the north. We get that clash. Without this low you would just get a line of thunderstorms. Because of the low, we have the spin vertically, and that's when we talk about the potential for some tornadoes.

But where are we here? Well, central Texas going up into Oklahoma City into parts of eastern Colorado and into western Kansas as well. Don't ignore the yellow, that part is still under threat. But I think the biggest threat for tornado action and also for the biggest hailstones will be where you saw the orange there. So we'll track this.

Some of the thunderstorms that have developed, those will be moving out of the way. Nothing going on here. And as we put this into motion, watch the cells begin to pop up. Those are the ones that could be super cells. Those are the ones that could develop into tornadoes. We'll watch it from 4:00 to about 8:00 p.m. local time, and then everything begins to wind down as we head to the overnight. [10:45:15] Oh, yes, and there's this. How about some snowfall here in May, 12 to 24 inches of snowfall. This is unbelievable, and it just shows you what a dynamic weather pattern we have. And by the way, we'll be with you here today and tomorrow, for the threat just expands and moves a little further east tomorrow. So a bumpy weekend, no question.

BLACKWELL: Mother's day gets snow and hail and a tropical storm.

CABRERA: That could be interesting, a little snow on Mother's Day. Not the severe one.

KOSIK: Still, the love will be there.

BLACKWELL: There will be. Thank you, Ivan.

So I want to you stay with us for the next story, stay with us through the break, because it's about a discount, and everybody likes to save money. This is a discount for one day for customers at a barbeque restaurant. But this discount is for whites only. There are vocal supporters of this whites-only discount and others are outraged.

Well, I'm going to ask the owners why they think this is a good idea, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: You know, everybody likes discount. You got ladies night, senior deals, discounts for military members. It's really nice to save a buck, right?

[10:50:00] But what about a discount based on race? White people only, the owners of a barbeque restaurant in Colorado have sparked some outrage after announcing they plan to offer discount to white customers one day, just one day next month. We have the owners with us, at least one of them, Mexican-American. They say they believe all Americans should be celebrated. Joining us, one of the owners behind white appreciation day Edgar Antillan. Edgar, thank you for joining us this morning.

EDGAR ANTILLAN, OWNER, RUBBIN BUTZ BARBEQUE: Thanks for having me.

BLACKWELL: So first, tell me, how did this idea for white appreciation day come about?

ANTILLAN: Well, it started off as a joke realistically. It's something that we were talking about black history month and how we as Mexicans have we have Hispanic heritage month. And we started going through everything and we figured a white people don't have a day where we can just simply say, hey, let's appreciate the white community as well.

BLACKWELL: You know there are lots of people who are critical of white appreciation day, and the argument for those months historically have been these groups, African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, women as well, have been omitted from school curricula, textbooks, the national conversation about the social fabric, so these have been dedicated to highlighting these contributions. But you understand that, right?

ANTILLAN: I completely understand that. I get it. I've been a victim of racism. It's not like I don't understand that it doesn't exist. However, our intention was not to highlight, oh, let's put people, white people on a pedestal. Our intention was merely to fight fire with fire and eliminate the need for all of that. We're all Americans. We all have a history, bad, good, indifferent. We all have that.

For us it was about moving past that and understanding that we're all the same. We're all equal. One class of citizens shouldn't be treated differently than another class of citizen. We're all human beings. We're all Americans. We should all love each other and understand each other. That was really our true intention behind all of this. It wasn't just about white people. Yes, that's the way we presented it. But, again, it was just to fight fire with fire.

BLACKWELL: So are there going to be days to honor black appreciation day, Native American appreciation day? Are those coming?

ANTILLAN: Again this came off as a joke. It started off as a joke. So we didn't have anything planned for anything beyond that on that day if Mexicans come in, if black people come in, if Chinese people come in, they won't be denied a discount. Part of our sign says all Americans should be celebrated. So we're not going to be hypocritical. And if a black person comes in and says, I want a discount, we're not going to deny them a discount. You're an American, absolutely you deserve a discount.

We are an amazing culture here in the United States. It's the melting pot, and that needs to be celebrated. And we should include white people in there. Not just Mexicans, black people, minorities. It should be everybody. We're Americans.

BLACKWELL: Edgar, let me ask you this. There have been concerns about safety, and you're getting threats, right?

ANTILLAN: Yes, absolutely, I'm getting threats. It's uncomfortable, it's unfortunate, and I just want people to understand. First of all, my apologies to the city of Milliken. It is a fantastic, amazing community. They don't deserve this. It's something I did. And those threats, there's other people in the community, the previous owners are receiving threats as well. And they don't deserve that. This is about me. I'm the one that did this along with the other co-owner of the restaurant. We did this. If you're going to threaten anybody it should be myself, not the town of Milliken, not the previous owners. If anything, we wanted --

BLACKWELL: Edgar, let me ask you this question, you say there are these other months in highlighting the contributions of others. I don't know that anyone is arguing there is a shortage of highlighting the contributions of white people.

ANTILLAN: Well, I get that. But you're asking the wrong question. What you should be asking is, is why should I be segregated to one month, because that's really what you're doing to me is segregating me to one month. I should be celebrated every year. All day long, 365 days a year. But so should white people, so should black people, so should Chinese people and Japanese people. We should all be celebrated all year long. It's American history, it's not just black history, Mexican history, white history. It's all of our history.

BLACKWELL: All right, Edgar Antillan, thank you so much for discussing this with us, and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:58:45] DR. JIM WITHERS, CNN HERO: Street medicine is bringing medical care right to the homeless where they are, under the bridges and along the riverbanks, abandoned buildings.

Safety net, anybody home?

It's going to the people.

Can you make a fist? That hurt?

I've been walking the streets of Pittsburgh for 23 years to treat the homeless. When I started, I was actually really shocked how ill people were on the street. It was like going to a third world country. There were runaway kids, 85-year-olds, pregnant women, and they all had their own story.

What hurts the most?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This knee is so swollen.

WITHERS: Once you get to know the folks out there. I knew I had to keep going.

Are you doing OK medically?

And now we've managed to treat over 10,000 people.

Did they put staples in or stitches?

Infections, diabetes, cancers, the list goes on and on.

I'm glad we saw you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: And if you know someone who should be a CNN hero, let us know at CNNHeroes.com.

Thanks for watching.

BLACKWELL: We've got more ahead in the next hour of the CNN Newsroom. Let's turn it over to our colleague, Ana Cabrera in for Fred today. [11:00:02] ANA CABRERA: Fred is getting her first Mother's Day

weekend off, she told me.

BLACKWELL: Well-deserved.

CABRERA: Indeed. Good to see you. Have a great rest of the weekend.