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New Day Sunday

Police Officers Killed; One Dead as Tornadoes Rip Through Plains States; Super Typhoon Noul Slams Philippines; Pope Meets Raul Castro at the Vatican. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 10, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:14] VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: A traffic stop turns deadly. Now, the suspected cop killers are in custody. We've got a live update.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: And severe storms after a deadly outbreak across Tornado Alley. More than 32 million people could be in harm's way.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

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

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell and we're starting with the breaking news.

A traffic stop in Mississippi goes terribly wrong. Two police officers are shot and killed there in the line of duty. Authorities say that the officers Liquori Tate and Benjamin Deen were killed late last night. Officials have arrested two suspects.

This new photo shows one of the suspects -- we'll have it up in a moment, here he is -- of being taken into custody.

And today, I spoke to Ryan Moore, he's a reporter in WDAM there in Hattiesburg, and he took the photo. Listen to how he describes this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN MOORE, WDAM REPORTER (via telephone): That suspect, who is Curtis Banks, he was the final suspect to be apprehended. They actually got him at a local apartment complex in Hattiesburg called Plantation Place. Whenever he was pulled out of the car, he was continuing to scream. I was actually able to get close enough to him to ask, did he do it, and in turn he said, "No, sir, I did not." And they continued to take him away inside for questioning at that time. Right after the incident, a female suspect was also taken into custody from the suspect's vehicle, but we do not have a name on her as of now.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: All right. Let's bring in CNN's Rosa Flores. She has been digging to get more details.

Rosa, what you have learned?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Victor. You know, we hear from law enforcement experts all the time -- there is no such thing as a regular traffic stop. And this is exactly what turned out to be the case in this particular case in Mississippi.

Now, here is what we know from authorities. Like you mentioned, two police officers now dead and now, two suspects in custody. Here is what we have learned from authorities as to how all of this went down, and so these two police officers made a traffic stop, the next thing you know, shots are fired. These two police officers are sent to the hospital and they later die at the hospital.

Now, so, what transpires back at the scene? What we learned from authorities, is that these two suspects allegedly stole the police vehicle, that police cruiser, and used it as a getaway car, and then, you know, disappeared. Well, of course, with some police work, police were actually able to find them to apprehend them.

The local paper there, actually, the "Clarion Ledger," telling us, you know, reporting that Marion Banks was actually found at 1:15 a.m. and that hew was apprehended at a motel, that Curtis Banks was later apprehended, about 3:00 a.m. And now, we don't know all of the circumstances around how they actually found these men, these men, but we do know that there was a woman that was also arrested, this woman is in custody, but we don't know the relationship between these two Banks suspects and this woman.

But I've got to go back, Victor, to these two police officers, because we have learned more about these police officers.

Benjamin Deen, he was officer of the year in 2012. We know and understand that he leaves behind a wife and two children. It's Mother's Day, let's not forget that. This wife now waking up today without a husband, and she has two children.

Liquori Tate, the other police officer, a recent grad of the academy. We understand that he is not married but, of course, he is probably surrounded by family that are hurting today, and think about his mother, again, and it's Mother's Day.

And so, all of these different elements just bring the complexity to the heart, Victor, the fact that it is Mother's Day and two mothers are probably thinking about their sons.

BLACKWELL: Yes, bringing this tragedy home for us. Rosa Flores, learning more and we'll continue to push forward to get more on this breaking news. Rosa, thank you so much.

FLORES: You are welcome.

KOSIK: And now on to some severe weather. We have seen the country under -- tornadoes ripping through parts of Colorado and Texas yesterday, cutting a path of destruction that leveled buildings and left power lines knocked down.

[08:05:01] And it wasn't just the high winds doing the damage, areas across the plains saw hail the size of your fists along with severe thunderstorms.

Alina Machado is live in Dallas this morning for us, where the city -- I understand, Alina, is under severe thunderstorm streets?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Alison. We are right now here in Dallas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area under a severe thunderstorm watch. We've also just learned that north of here in Denton County, there is a tornado warning. So people there are taking cover and being careful, keeping the eyes on skies because the tornado could possibly form north of here.

But yesterday, this area was largely spared from the brunt of the storms, the violent storms that we saw just two hours west of where we are in Eastland County, Texas, that's where we heard of one confirmed tornado. That tornado tore through Cisco, Texas, killing one person and critically injuring another. There was damage that has been reported. There's also been some downed power lines, and also some street flooding in the county. We also know that there were some confirmed tornados in Colorado and in Kansas, so yesterday was a very difficult day in terms of violent weather throughout this area.

Today, again, there is the threat for more severe weather in this area, so we are definitely keeping an eye on the skies and making sure that everybody is safe -- Alison.

KOSIK: All right. And, Alina Machado, we do wish that you'd be safe as you continue your work there under a thunderstorm threat there in Texas. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thirty-two million people -- thirty-two million could be in the path of severe weather today, and there are also, don't forget the tropical storm hitting the Carolinas right now.

KOSIK: Yes, the tropical, Ivan Cabrera, it's not quite hurricane season yet.

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, we're three weeks away and it just made landfall in Myrtle Beach. We'll get to that in a second.

I do want to quickly update you on the situation there in Dallas. Basically, what we have is a squall line moving through and that straight line wind damage potential here with torrential rain and frequent lightning. What happens with these squall lines, out ahead of it, sometimes you get a spin up here as far as a tornado, we did have a tornado warning briefly issued just to the north of Dallas.

What has happened now is that rotation has fallen apart. It's still a straight line wind damage, and they have issued now a severe thunderstorm warning. So, we're not as concerned about a spinning a storm here, as much as straight line winds situation. But all of this is about to move through the Dallas Metroplex, and they're going to get hit pretty good.

And as we widen out the view, be able to see that this is a threat that not only continues for Texas, but this storm system is just quite expansive and it connects up to an area of low pressure that is up and bringing blizzard conditions. Yes, you heard right, 12 to 24 inches of snowfall across portions of the plains as well, and into the Rockies.

But what we have today is another threat by later this afternoon, just like yesterday if you were with us, we had morning thunderstorms and then we had a redevelopment through the afternoon. So, as these storms begin to move off to the north and east, you see it on the trailing backside of it, these storms are worrisome by later this evening, those could develop into super cells, which are the ones that could put down tornados. So, we'll watch that closely, and all of this pushes into east, not just into Texas, but into portions of Iowa as well.

Those are the bull's eye for the worse of the weather into Dallas, into Iowa, and then everywhere in between we have the potential of severe storms, that continue and as I mentioned, as we did have landfall now officially occurring in Myrtle Beach, tropical storm Ana, it will continue to weaken, but just some leftover rain over the next few hours, and even into tomorrow. But the threat there will be diminishing.

BLACKWELL: All right. We'll watch it. Ivan, thank you so much.

KOSIK: Plenty going on. We are also following a breaking weather story in the Philippines. A Super Typhoon Noul makes landfall, forcing evacuations and landslide warnings there.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the storm is packing sustained -- not gusts, but sustained winds of 160 miles per hour. A live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:12:40] BLACKWELL: You know, it's hard to even imagine what 195- mile-per-hour wind gusts feel like, but for people in the northeastern -- northern Philippines, that's what they're dealing with, they've been dealing with this morning. Super Typhoon Noul made landfall just a few hours ago.

We've got storm chaser James Reynolds on the phone with us right now from the Santa Ana in the Philippines.

James, tell us, what are you seeing there?

JAMES REYNOLDS, STORM CHASER (via telephone): (INAUDIBLE), it has been a very long and grueling afternoon, ferocious winds have been lashing the town for four or five hours now, and it's dark. So, it's very difficult to really get an idea of what's going on except that it's very noisy, and there's rain, and really, it's difficult to get an idea of what the damage is being done as well, so we won't have an idea until tomorrow. BLACKWELL: You know, James, often the sad truth is that these

typhoons, the super typhoons hit areas with weak infrastructure and literally weak structures. Give us an idea of the homes and buildings there and the support systems that were in place before this storm hit?

REYNOLDS: Yes, you know, you are absolutely right. The infrastructure in this part of the world is very basic. A lot of people lived in just shacks, really. These structures just have no chance of surviving storms like this. I even heard a report in the local media of some people having to be rescued from (INAUDIBLE). So, that will give you an idea of how vulnerable a large section of the population, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Are you feeling the most intense part of the storm now or is it dying down?

REYNOLDS: From the satellite images I have been looking at for the last couple of hours, I'm inclined to believe that the absolute worst of the storm just actually missed this area and was just offshore, the (INAUDIBLE) part of the storm, so to speak, as we're looking at it. We're actually being by the most severe conditions, but we believe that the worse just missed this area, Victor.

[08:15:01] BLACKWELL: Well, good fortune for you, but unfortunately it's somebody else's misfortune. They got the very worst of het storm.

Storm chaser James Reynolds on the phone with us. James, thank you so much.

A quick break and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: This week, the Pentagon increased security at military bases here in the U.S. because of ISIS activity, and this morning, the threat level remains at force protection Bravo, meaning an increased and predictable threat of terrorism. What are U.S. lawmakers saying on the move to ramp up the security?

Let's ask CNN's Jim Sciutto. He's hosting "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning.

Jim, I know you're going to be talking with the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee today.

What are they going to be looking for?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Alisyn. You know, we've had a lot of talk about boots on the ground in Iraq to fight ISIS there, and now you have this threat against 3,200 military installations around the U.S.

And the fair question is, is this the new front line of the fight against ISIS here on the homeland? And what is the military, what is law enforcement doing to protect American soldiers here really from really a threat, from lone wolfs and others in this country that's really hard for intelligence and law enforcement to track and keep from carrying out acts of violence?

[08:20:10] KOSIK: And also on the show, you've got President Obama's point man to fight ISIS. What are you expecting to hear from him?

SCIUTTO: We'll be talking to Brett McGurk. He's the State Department's man on a fight against ISIS, on the ground in Iraq, in Syria. We're going to ask him how is the fight going there. We are several months in, and they are just beginning to train moderate Syrian rebels.

But the fact is, but when you look at the map there, as you have there on the screen, that map hasn't changed a lot in the last several months, are Iraqi forces with U.S. backing, are they winning this? Are they just managing to hold back ISIS on the ground? When will that change?

This is a fight. Whenever I talk to anyone, Alison, about this war against ISIS, we're not talking in terms of months. We're talking in terms of years.

When are we going to see progress on the ground?

KOSIK: All right. It sounds like you'll get some good headlines out of the show today. Jim Sciutto, thanks.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

KOSIK: And "STATE OF THE UNION" begins at the top of the hour, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

The pope met with Cuba's Raul Castro at the Vatican this morning. We're going to tell you what they talked about and why this is such a key meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM STILES, ELVIS TRIBUTE ARTIST: Hi. I'm William Stiles. I'm an Elvis tribute artist from Memphis, Tennessee, and I want to show you my city.

When you think of Memphis, you think of Beale Street, you think of barbecue, and you think of blues, and most of all you think about Elvis.

(singing): Well, since my baby left me --

This is where it all began, Sun Studios.

MARIA STONE, SUN STUDIOS: Elvis Presley started recording here in 1953. Other than Elvis, artists like Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis.

STILES: Where did the King stand?

STONE: He stands right about here.

This is one of the original microphones that we used back in the '50s to record.

STILES: This is the exact microphone.

(singing): Are you lonesome tonight --

STONE: The acoustics, the ceiling tiles are all original. The floor tiles are all original, it's very special because it does have that same quality of sound that they would have back in the '50s.

STILES: Sun Studios have really cool old style malts. You want some of this?

When I'm in town, Beale Street is where I want to be.

Here I am, all time favorite place to eat, Blues City Cafe. It's hotta hotta (ph) barbecue.

Man, that was awesome.

The best place to party that I like is at BB King's. This is BB's first bar. A lot of musicians have rolled through there.

Look, man, don't be a fool. If you want good music, come to Memphis, Tennessee. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:42] BLACKWELL: All right. Close to the bottom of the hour now. Here's a look at stories developing right now.

KOSIK: An important meeting in Rome this morning. Cuban leader Raul Castro meeting the pope at the Vatican to thank the Catholic Church for helping mend U.S./Cuba relations.

BLACKWELL: Well, the church has maintained good relationship with Havana, later this year, Pope Francis will visit Cuba, becoming the third consecutive pope to do so.

KOSIK: Michelle Obama gave an impassioned commencement speech this weekend on the trials she's faced as the first African-American first lady of the United States, telling Tuskegee University graduates that she was held to a different standard than other candidate's wives during the 2008 campaign because of her race.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: While we have come so far, the truth is that those age-old problems are stubborn, and they have not fully gone away. So, there will be times just like for those airmen, when you feel like folks look right past you, or they see just a fraction of who you really are. The world won't always see you in these caps and gowns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Mrs. Obama added that she has since learned to focus on her own truth and suggested that the graduates of Tuskegee University, a historically black university, will have to do the same in life.

Prince's much song dedicated to Baltimore is out. It's an up tempo song where he talks about Freddie Gray who died in police custody last month and Michael Brown who was shot dead by a police officer last year.

(MUSIC)

KOSIK: The song is called "Baltimore", and in another part of it, he says. "Let's take all the guns away." Prince released it a day before performing in his Mother's Day concert in Baltimore, happening tonight.

BLACKWELL: The Orioles are headed back to Baltimore. The riots broke out last month, forcing the team to play a game at Camden Yards with no fans in the stands, and now, the cities beloved baseball team will return home to face-off the Toronto Blue Jays. Some fans and families promoting Monday's game as re-opening day and encouraging locals to come out in droves to pack the O's.

KOSIK: Oh, yes.

BLACKWELL: Paul Pierce reminding everybody why his nickname is "The Truth". The Washington Wizards look like they could blow a 21-point lead against the Atlanta Hawks, but with five seconds left, Pierce dribbles, dribbles, and takes an imbalanced jumper, with a second and a half, the ball hits the glass, then hits the net, goes through, and with that trailing 103-101 win. The Wizards lead 2-1 in the best of seven series.

KOSIK: And comes down the confetti. I love that!

BLACKWELL: I'm just saying, that was part of my job, Atlanta. We are right next door to the home of the Hawks, just doing the job. Not celebrating, just doing the job.

KOSIK: I just want to say happy Mother's Day to all those moms out there.

BLACKWELL: Yes, happy Mother's Day, mom. Happy Mother's Day to you!

KOSIK: Happy Mother's Day, mom.

"INSIDE POLITICS" begins right now.

BLACKWELL: They put a flower up behind us.