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Severe Weather Across Country; Man Arrested in Alleged D.C. Metro Terror Plot; Digital Voting Test Reveals Hacking Threat; Looking Into Concerns Over Voter Irregularities; Colorado Senate Battle; Severe Weather on the Move

Aired October 27, 2010 - 16:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And with that, here we go, top of the hour. Want to welcome to the men and the women watching us right now on American Forces Network all around the world. We're going to hit you fast this hour. So let's go.

First here, scary weather situation in all of the Southeast today. You have tornado warnings. Watches have been scattered across Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, spawning huge backups at the nation's busiest airports. And even if you're not in the path of these storms, folks this could impact you. Why? This is part of the same storm system that hit the Midwest yesterday with those 10 -- 10 -- confirmed tornadoes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN SCHROEDER, RESIDENT OF INDIANA: All of a sudden, the wind kicked up. (INAUDIBLE) was trying to hold the glass door shut, blew him through the glass door, slid us back into the foyer about five feet. It was like a bomb went off. You heard no -- you didn't hear the tornado. I would probably say it sounds like a freight train. You heard a little whistle, and it was like an explosion of glass everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Obviously, we're all over this story here at CNN, as is Chad Myers. He will have an update for you out here momentarily, some of those trouble spots out there.

Meantime, next, a Virginia man under arrest for an alleged attempted terror plot, the FBI coming out today and saying the plan involved attacks targeting Metro stations in the D.C. area, four of them. The suspect is a naturalized citizen named Farooque Ahmed. He was born in Pakistan. And he's accused of plotting to assist people he believed were affiliated with al Qaeda. And if he's convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.

Next, French authorities taking very, very seriously the new warning allegedly from the head al Qaeda. A male voice on this audiotape broadcast on Al-Jazeera TV claims to be this man, Osama bin Laden. The man threatens to kill French troops if they don't get out of Afghanistan, withdraw. France has more than 370 troops currently stationed there. CNN has not been able to confirm if in fact that voice is bin Laden's.

Next, flags are half-staff across Argentina today, the country mourning the loss of Argentina's former President Nestor Kirchner. He died today of an apparent heart attack. He served as president from 2003 until 2007. He is the husband of the -- Argentina's current president, Cristina Fernandez. The 60-years-old Kirchner was expected to run for president again in 2011, when his wife's term ends.

Next, a former TV celebrity chef pleads no contest in that murder plot against his wife, murder-for-hire plot. California prosecutors say Juan-Carlos Cruz tried to hire homeless men to kill his wife. The homeless men then alerted police. Police then set up this whole sting operation, videotaped Cruz plotting with these homeless guys.

The 48-year-old Cruz faces up to nine years in prison when he's sentenced in December.

Next, New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie officially pulling the plug on that multibillion-dollar tunnel project. After what he is calling a careful review, Christie says the project would be too big a burden to taxpayers in his state. The Trans Hudson ARC project, which stands for Access to the Region's Core, an acronym, would have created a tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York City. It would have been the nation's largest infrastructure project and could have created 6,000 jobs.

Next, former first lady Laura Bush describing life beyond the White House. She told audiences there at the women's conference in Long Beach, California, that the former president is adjusting and that she doesn't cut him any slack if he doesn't pick up his socks or those wet towels. You know we want to move those off of the floor. She also showed off a memento from her days at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FORMER FIRST LADY: And as for me, it's come to this. This is the Laura Bush bobblehead doll.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: I got this from a friend of mine who found it in the gift shop of the Constitutional Center in Philadelphia a few weeks after the election. It was on the clearance shelf.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Oh, the clearance shelf.

Now to a developing story here out of Washington.

Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joining me now with some story involving problems at a site where U.S. nuclear missiles are controlled.

Chris, what can you tell me?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brooke, this is Warren Air Force Base. It's out there in Wyoming.

And basically what happened was, There was a problem on Saturday that disrupted communication to about 50 nuclear missiles. To put that in some perspective, this Air Force base has about 450. So you're talking roughly a little over 10 percent of the nuclear stockpile there had some problems for over an hour now, we're told.

Here's what happened, basically. A computer at one of the launch control centers continuously tried to keep talking to the missiles out in the silos when it wasn't supposed to. The Air Force put it to us sort of like think of five people with a walkie-talkie, except one guy keeps his hand on the button, which doesn't allow any of the other four to communicate. That's what happened.

Once the Air Force was able to isolate that one launch control center with that computer, the other four were able to kick in and take control. We're told that the president never lost the capacity to order a launch, if he had to do it. But we're also told this is a problem that cropped up about 12 years ago at a couple of other nuclear sites. So, it's something that the engineers are on site now, they're looking at. When you're talking about this kind of weapon, even a small problem has to be thoroughly, thoroughly investigated, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. Chris Lawrence, thank you for bringing that to our attention.

Chris, thank you.

Meantime, take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nine million voters vote on a machine just like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And yet you programmed it to play Pac-Man?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You heard her right, Pac-Man. Are hackers hijacking your vote? You need to hear this. This most definitely affects next week's midterm elections. That's ahead.

Also, urgent warnings here as monster storms sweep across several states. We're going to tell you where they are, where they're going, and what they're leaving behind. Stay there. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: What a messy weather day, or really I should say weather days.

You're looking at -- this is a live weather cam here in Atlanta. A system of ferocious storm cells triggering tornado watches and warnings across parts of the Southeast. Something to remember here as you look at some of these pictures, Atlanta is a vital national air travel hub. So delays here at Hartsfield International can most definitely create a domino effect. And that's precisely what's happening today.

Flights heading into Atlanta are being delayed an hour or more if they're even getting off the ground. So this is day number two here of severe weather across much of the Eastern portion of the country.

And we're not just dealing with one storm, rather a system of storms.

So let's go to Chad Myers here over at the wall taking a look at what's swirling.

Yesterday, the story was kind of Midwest. And now we're talking it it's moving eastward.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, eastward and southward just charging with the cold front, just naturally as it is.

Here is the low right there. Impressive. Impressive enough that yesterday at this time the pressure was low enough that if it was over the ocean, if it were over the ocean and if it was a hurricane and not just a low pressure, it would have been a Category 3 hurricane.

BALDWIN: Oh, wow.

MYERS: Impressive. Impressive. I can't even tell you. It's the lowest pressure ever recorded right up here in Minnesota, the lowest pressure ever recorded by a low by a sensor in the United States period. As long as we have been taking pressures, it's the lowest, and the deepest, and the most impressive storm, as the cold front is something like that right now.

So, it's even occluding, as we call it, spinning up so much. But from D.C. down through in to the Carolinas and all the way down into Georgia, that's where the weather is right now.

So let's get to it here. Washington, D.C., you had a monsoon of like rain earlier. That's now moved across over toward Dover and even into toward Wildwood. Richmond, Virginia, we have weather back out to your west from Cumberland. There's a tornado warning for that cell. That's well west of the west end, but still you get the idea.

Then toward into Greensboro had tornadoes west of Winston-Salem earlier today. Make the picture just a little bit bigger. Here's Atlanta, Georgia. And we have seen cell after cell affect the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport all day long.

And look at them now. They're all the way west. They're Tuscaloosa, all the way back here. Here's Peachtree City, then the line back up here toward Gainesville, big storm south of Athens. And it continues on up -- this line of weather continues to affect airport travel all across the Deep South, at least for now, and it won't be for long, but all planes, 110 planes are headed to Atlanta.

This has happened over and over today, where planes are released. The air traffic controllers say, OK, get in, get in, get in. And they're landing them as fast as they can. Then, all of a sudden, another line of weather moves in. And then the planes do little circles out here, another little circle out here, another little circle out here, and out here.

And they all get into this holding pattern and these holding patterns have been going on and off all day. To think of how many didn't hundreds of flights didn't make it in and out of airports, not only Atlanta, but even Newark, up into La Guardia, JFK, because the wind has slowed down the pattern up there as well, there are travelers, I'm afraid, Brooke, that will spend the night in those lovely chairs that have the arms in the airport, so you can't lay down, because they prohibit you from going one way or the other.

BALDWIN: So lovely, aren't they? You would think they would come up with something better these days with all these delays, right?

MYERS: Yes, that's the floor.

BALDWIN: Chad.

We also have some other amazing weather video. I hope you can join me later on in the show, and a highlight I'm looking for is windsurfing in Michigan as a result of all of this. So, that's my little tease for you. We hope you stand by as well. Thank you, Chad.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Now I want you to take a look at some footage. This was taken moments before two foster parents were brutally attacked. Now, those intruders, you can see them on the left coming in the doorway. They made their way to a safe. Then they made a deadly decision. This is the latest chilling revelations in that trial in Florida, details ahead on that.

Also, election Day, you know this, right around the corner, plenty of time for hackers to steal your vote. We're looking at those threats and it has a little something apparently to do with Pac-Man. What's the connection? Stand by for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Six days now until election day and talk of hanging chads, you remember, from the 2000 presidential election, pretty much over and done with here, but they've been replaced by electronic voting machines, paper ballot scanners, and even Internet voting. But is Internet voting completely safe yet?

Deb Feyerick did a little digging. She found several university professors who tested the new technology and what they discovered may alarm you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In order to test its new Internet voting system for military and overseas ballots, the Washington D.C. Board of Elections publicly challenged outsiders to hack in.

J. ALEX HALDERMAN, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: Thirty-six hours after the server went public, we were in. We had complete control.

FEYERICK: For Professor J. Alex Halderman's team at University of Michigan, it was like picking a cheap lock.

HALDERMAN: We could reprogram the system to do essentially whatever we want -- steal all the ballots, find out how everyone voted.

A security guard was unable to tell by looking at the box that we had hacked into it.

FEYERICK: They also discovered apparently they were not the only hackers.

HALDERMAN: We found evidence that real hackers from China and from Iran were also trying to penetrate the system.

FEYERICK: D.C. election officials quickly suspended Internet- based voting days before the election, but only for the time being.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found some vulnerabilities so we scaled back.

FEYERICK: Those who support Internet voting and voting by electronic machines say it's more efficient, more reliable and easier to use.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of voters are flocking to the touch screen voting equipment.

FEYERICK: But computer scientists like Halderman and colleague Ariel Feldman say electronic machines are just as easy to tamper with as the internet.

(on camera): Nine million voters vote on a machine just like this?

ARIEL FELDMAN, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Yes.

FEYERICK: And yet you programmed it to play Pacman?

FELDMAN: That's right. FEYERICK (voice-over): That's right, Pacman.

FELDMAN: When you have a general purpose computer, if you replace its software, you can completely change what it does.

FEYERICK: The brain of the touch-screen machine --

FELDMAN: Take it out and this is just an ordinary memory card.

FEYERICK: And if that gets infected, watch out.

HALDERMAN: We have found that we can make a voting machine virus that will spread from machine to machine and change the election outcome across a whole county, a whole state. This is very, very scary and it's a realistic threat today.

FEYERICK: And unlike the University of Michigan hackers who deliberately left their fight song as a fingerprint, real hackers would strike, disappear and likely leave no fingerprint at all.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: So fight songs and hacking and Pacman aside, you know, the other issue here, voter watchdog groups. They're out, they're looking for those scams and schemes. So, so is "The Best Political Team on Television." Tom Foreman on the voter irregularities beat today for us. He has more on our election coverage you will want to tune into all day long. Tom Foreman, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Six days here and counting until election day. If we just watched that piece, we just showed you really how vulnerable somebody casting ballots online can be, but that's not the only pitfall awaiting voters in the midterm election.

Tom Foreman is on the voting irregularities beat, and Tom is watching out for some of the problems as we head to election day next Tuesday.

Tom, what have you found so far?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we found so far is a heightening sense of concern, as there is in and especially when you come into a very contentious election like this.

Look, no matter where you live in this country, I will guarantee you that within 50 miles of where you are, some people on both the left and the right very concerned about the integrity of the vote.

And their fundamental concern on the left, for example, is that people will be driven away from the polls, they'll kept away from the polls, they'll be manipulated away from the polls or scared away. On the right, the concern, generally, is that people will get to the polls illegally, who either don't belong there or they'll vote twice or they'll be carried into a place where they don't belong to create a false vote. Those are the general concerns.

And I want to show an example, Brooke, here, this is something quite interesting. This is up near Milwaukee. This is a billboard that's appeared around here. You can see, there's a little shadow on there. It's by a liberal group -- a liberal group there up there called One Wisconsin now that sent a picture of this billboard.

What it says is, "Voter Fraud is a Felony" and it shows people behind bars there and it says, "we voted illegally." It's a three years, $10,000 fine. Well, liberals up in that area are very upset about this, because they say, look, the purpose of this sign -- they don't know exactly who put it up, but there are a fair number of them around Milwaukee -- they're saying the whole point of that sign is to make minority groups and young people who aren't so experienced in voting, that sort of thing, a little bit afraid to go. They suggest it to mean that if you do something wrong or you don't belong there, you can wind up in jail. So they're just howling about this saying this is voter intimidation to keep people away.

Now, the flip side is that other groups, conservative groups will say, look, we're making the point, don't get in bed with some liberal scheme to get you to the poll ifs you don't legally belong there. Don't get tricked into voting twice or intimidated to voting for someone just picked for you, that sort of thing.

So these are the real issues here, Brooke, and there really are different ways in which it can happen. People are intimidated, for example. You could have a very strong company in a town that might lean on its workers to say, you really need to vote this way. Or you might have a very strong union that will do that to people. Or you may have individuals or campaigns that can do that. You have people who essentially buy votes. There are many different ways.

People can be scared away from the polling place. Or when they show up there, they could have people who effectively tell them, you need to vote this way, targeting people like the elderly, for example, who might be more easily confused at moments like that, or led down some path in some way.

So these are the concerns. And I have to tell you, Brooke, the concern about this has been growing deeper and deeper at every election. And at the end, invariably there are investigations into all of these claims of what has happened.

And as far as I can tell, the investigations rarely satisfy anyone, because both sides end up saying you didn't find the truth. You didn't find that this many votes for suppressed or that this many votes were illegally permitted. Because there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of success in proving grand voter fraud anywhere, but that doesn't seem to satisfy either side.

I'm not suggesting parity, because each side has their own complaints and I'm only giving case (ph). One side may have more validity to the complaints than the other. But either way, they're not very satisfied about them.

But this is going to be a big issue in this race, especially, especially because it's contentious. And if you live in one of those places out there that has a very tight race where it's --

BALDWIN: And there are several.

FOREMAN: -- probably or possibly going to come down to a recount -- oh, my gosh, yes. Can you imagine what it's going to be like out there, Brooke, in some of these places?

BALDWIN: I know, and you get to be our voter regularities guy, Tom Foreman. I hear we get to have you down in Atlanta next week. So we'll look forward to that.

FOREMAN: That's right.

BALDWIN: Listen, I've been getting some information in my ear as I've been listening to you. So, Tom, thank you.

I want to take you to this women's -- this is a violence against women event. The vice president was just speaking, he just introduced the president. I want to listen in, but just remind you this is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and both of these gentlemen you see here, they co-sponsored the Violence Against Women Act back in 1994.

Let's dip in just for a moment.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- Judge Susan Carbon, the director of the Office of Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I want to thank my secretary for Health and Human Services, Secretary Sebelius, who is helping to coordinate our efforts.

And finally, I want to thank everybody who is here today for the work that you're doing to stop domestic violence and to help it's survivors. You've got champions like Senator Frank Lautenberg and Congresswoman Donna Edwards who've done extraordinary work in Congress.

You've got leaders like Mayor Mitch Landrieu in New Orleans. And I think you already heard about some of the interesting work that they're doing down in that city.

There's so many organizations that are represented here today. We're very proud of you and what you do.

I'm thrilled to see Joe Torre, who's here, you know, who understands this issue personally and deeply, and for him to lend his name to this is extraordinarily important. And we hope that the Dodgers do better next year.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: My White Sox are not doing so hot either so -- .

As you all know, domestic violence was, for far too long, seen as a lesser offense. As Valerie said, it was frequently treated like a private manner. Victims were often sent home from the hospital without intervention. Children were left to suffer in silence. And as a consequence, abuse could go on for years. In many cases, this violence would only end with a death of a woman or a child.

And we've come an incredibly long way since that time. We have changed laws. We have made progress in changing the way people think about domestic abuse. As Joe pointed out, we've reduced the incidents of domestic violence.

We've done so in no small part because of advocacy of your organizations and the willingness of victims to tell their own stories even when it's difficult. And if there's one group I want to thank, am grateful for, it's people who are willing to tell their stories, cause it's hard -- it's hard stuff.

When Joe Torre talks about growing up in an abusive household, about being afraid to come home when he saw his dad's car parked in the front of the house and finding a refuge in baseball, that connects in a way that no speech by a politician can connect. As a consequence, he started Safe at Home, a foundation for children going through what he went through and it's helping kids all across the country.

We're joined by Lori Stone (ph) and Ruth Glenn (ph), both of whom were victims of years of violent abuse in their marriages. And they're sharing their stories in the hope that nobody else has to experience the pain and fear that they lived with every day.

Now those stories remind us of how cruel, how menacing domestic violence can be because it happens at home, the place where you should feel safe. Because the abuse comes at the hands of the people who are supposed to love you and trust you. Because escaping domestic violence is not only associated with a great deal of fear, but also incredible financial and legal challenges that often leave victims of abuse feeling trapped.

That's what we have to change. And I say that not only as a president, but as a son, as a husband, as the father of two daughters.

Now, we made a great deal of progress in recent years. But everybody in this room understands that our work is not yet finished. Not when there's more to do to help folks start their lives and achieve financial independence. Not when there's more to do to ensure that the victims of abuse have access to legal protection. Not when children are trapped in abusive homes, especially when we know the lingering damage and despair that this can cause in a child's life. Not when one in every four women experiences domestic violence, and one in six women are sexually assaulted at some point in their lives. It's not acceptable. And I know that Valerie and Joe spoke about some of our efforts in detail. But I want to highlight a few key parts of what is a new, coordinated effort to protect victims and break the cycle of abuse.

We're helping the victims of violence to overcome the financial barriers they often face getting back on their feet. And Lori's experience serves as an example. Lori had not only suffered abuse at the hands of her husband physically, he also destroyed their credit. She had to spend her limited savings on legal representation to keep custody of her children.

So, we're going to take steps to connect survivors with jobs, to keep them save to make it easier to help rebuild their credit. To make sure that no one has to choose between a violent home and no home at all. And -

(APPLAUSE)

BALDWIN: You heard him. President Obama at the White House really highlighting this administration-wide effort, initiatives here in combating domestic violence. He mentioned two Joes. The Joe you saw sitting behind him, the vice president who spearheaded the Violence Against Women Act back in 1994. And Joe Torre. He was the Dodgers' and the Yankees' manager who was abused as a young boy. He spoke as well.

But keep in mind, you know, the president speaking here six days before election day. Women, a key voting demographic come Tuesday. And also he's touting very much so some of the initiatives from his health care legislation.

So, as the president still speaking at the White House, there's also some brand-new information coming in from the world of politics. Gloria Borger with The Best Political Team on Television, standing with the latest from the political ticker. Gloria is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Six days now until election day. CNN has all your latest political news with The Best Political Team on Television. CNN equals politics. Gloria Borger joins me now from New York.

And Gloria, what do you have? You have something about a local radio station. And one candidate very upset.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Well, Christine O'Donnell is back in the news, probably in a way she'd rather not be. But she did an interview in Delaware. And what they did was they videotaped it while she spoke because she wanted to put it up on their Web site. Well, when the interview was over, she and her campaign said you have to give us that video because we didn't authorize that you could take the video.

She later threatened to sue the radio station, long story short. The lawyers get involved. And Christine O'Donnell's campaign ends up apologizing. There is something called the First Amendment. The radio station was well within its rights to do that. So, that was a bit of a problem for them.

Switching gears to another political woman, Sarah Palin, she's going be back home in Alaska. And you know who she supports in this race, Brooke. She supports Joe Miller. She and Todd will be out on the campaign trail for Joe Miller, talking up a storm.

It's been kind of interesting. Because you know, there's really a family feud going on with Senator Lisa Murkowski. Sarah Palin has never liked Lisa Murkowski. Lisa Murkowski's father was the governor of that state. Appointed his daughter to fill a vacant Senate seat instead of picking Sarah Palin back in 2002. So, a bit of a problem there.

But also -- and you know this, is like a reality TV show. But also, there have been some problems between Joe Miller and the Palins because when he was asked repeatedly, would he endorse Sarah Palin for president, he kind of sort of punted on it. So, they're not really getting along that well now. But she's out there because clearly, she wants him to win.

And you have to stay tuned to 5:00 because we're having some really important statewide polls we're going to be releasing with our partner, "Time" magazine. Here's one important one that we can preview for you, Brooke. It's in the state of Ari --Nevada, excuse me -- where Harry Reid is at 45 percent behind Sharron Angle who's at 49 percent. And that's with likely voters. The likely voters are the ones we really poll at this time in an election because they're the ones that are important. They're the ones that are going to get out there and vote.

So, not really good news for Harry Reid's campaign. Of course, it's still very close. So, there's plenty of time to make it up. But she's probably happy about it.

BALDWIN: We'll wait with bated breath until 5:00. You guys always get the good poll numbers after five. We'll wait for that.

BORGER: Yes. Sorry.

BALDWIN: No. I get it. It happens. Gloria Borger, good to see to see you. Thank you.

Want to remind you, we'll have another political ticker update next hour. You can also get the latest political news. Go to the ticker at CNNpolitics.com or @politicalticker on Twitter.

So, security cameras. They captured these gunmen approaching a home moments before killing the two foster parents. You know the story out of Florida. Well, for the first time, we are actually taking you inside the home. First time any of us have seen the pictures where one of the foster children, you see her, know something is terribly wrong. That's her bedroom. We'll take you inside, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: I'm about to show you some eerie video from that ninja home invasion murder trial. At least, that's what they're calling it. The ninja trial. This is happening in Florida.

The videos played in court show the night the couple, known for adopting all of those special needs children, was killed. Byrd and Melanie Billings had more than a dozen cameras set up all around the home, to keep tabs on the kids who lived with them. So, we're seeing some of this video with you for the very first time.

So, watch with me. You can see this red van out the window pull up outside. One of the children sleeping in her bedroom. There she is. She's in bed. She's sleeping. She hears it. She hears the commotion as the men then break into the home. You'll see in a second. She does finally get up. Briefly. There she is starting to get out of the bed. Short time later, she then hides under the covers and pretends to be asleep.

Let's go to another camera. Another camera trained on the living room. And you can see -- I know it's grainy and dark. But bear with me here. Byrd Billings, that's him without a shirt. And that's his wife, Melanie at the bottom of the screen here. Check out the men, upper left, two guys in dark dress -- dressed as ninjas as they break in the front door. One of the men hovers over Byrd Billings. Sort of towards the top of your screen. Jumping on him. Shoots him twice in the leg.

The men later leave the couple upstairs to the master bedroom, and that's where the Billings were both shot to death. Nine of the special needs children were in the home at the time. In fact, one was inside the bedroom when the Billings were killed, as in the same bedroom. Saw the whole thing.

Both videos were played in this trial -- started yesterday, the trial did -- of the alleged ninja ring leader. His name is Leonard Gonzalez, Jr. And prosecutors say the men were looking for the family safe, which somehow they thought there was $13 million inside of it. They ended up taking a smaller safe, just have some of the family papers, prescription medicines, and some jewelry.

A ferocious, ferocious weather system firing up tornado warnings from Atlanta to Washington. And emergency officials, man, they have their hands full today. As if yesterday wasn't enough. Damage assessments, still coming in. This is still a fast-moving story.

Chad Myers all over it. He'll have an update for you in just a couple of minutes. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It's a question as old as time itself. Is time travel possible?

According to a YouTube video posted by George Clark, not only is it possible, he says he's got proof. You've got to see this. Watch with me. this is a movie clip from 1928. From this is a movie premier for Charlie Chaplin's "The Circus." And you see the woman walking in the background with her hand to her ear? We're trying to zoom in so you can see it here.

There's a woman talking on a cell phone. But wait -- cell phones didn't exist 82 years ago. So you see the dilemma. You see her hand up to her ear. She's talking.

Who's she talking to? What is she talking on? We don't know.

Others say, no, that's not a cell phone. You know, she's holding a hearing device. Others are saying she traveled back in time. The clip here has gone viral and it's causing quite a stir on the Net.

Hearing device, cell phone? Hearing device, cell phone? I'll let you be the judge.

Money and politics. You have heard how issues are defining many races across the country, but how is cold, hard cash playing a role?

Wolf Blitzer is next with that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Election night in America six days away here and counting. And if Republicans are going to have any chance of taking over the Senate, one of the states they must, must win here in Colorado. And it's there that the Tea Party movement-backed Republican Ken Buck leads Democratic Senator Michael Bennet in what appears to be -- you see the numbers -- very much so a neck-and-neck race.

Wolf Blitzer joins me from New York.

And we're going to talk money here, Wolf, because I first just want to show our viewers just how crucial this race is really when you look at the nationwide picture.

So let's -- I want to show our viewers a number. And this number is greater than $29.3 million. So that dollar figure is the amount of money that outside groups have poured into the state of Colorado.

And when you think of big money states, you also think of Nevada, California. And you have to think, you know, the whole impetus in doing that is simply so Republicans can effect the balance of power in the Senate.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: They need to win 10 seats, as you know, Brooke, the Republicans, if they want to be in the majority in the United States Senate. They're probably going to get close. A lot of experts suggesting maybe six or seven.

But if there is a tidal wave, if there's a real tsunami, as they're calling it, then they can get to that 10. And that would be an earthquake, obviously, in Washington. Colorado is critical. By the way, at the top of the hour, we have a brand new poll that we're releasing, CNN and "TIME" magazine. Colorado is one of the states that we did the polling. Nevada, another state.

I think our viewers will be interested to see the numbers. Gloria Borger and Joe Klein, they're here, and we're going to digest these new numbers.

We have five states we're looking closely at, and the correlation between the president's approval numbers and how the Democrats are doing in those states. David Gergen is going to assess that for us as well.

But as you correctly point out, money is a critically important factor, but not necessarily the most important factor. There are other factors as well.

BALDWIN: Money and politics, we know, hand in hand here.

Wolf Blitzer in New York.

Wolf, we'll see you in eight minutes.

Now, though, we're all over this story here. Weather one of the huge stories of the day, as you see this video of a car just smashed likely because of winds. A dangerous, stormy day really from Atlanta to Washington.

Who should be on alert tonight? What do you need to know? Can travelers expect all of those extra headaches?

We're going to check in with Chad Myers. He's watching this whole loop there. We'll talk to Chad here.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Back to weather. We really can't go too far from it here. Day two of severe weather across much of the eastern part of the country.

Take a look at these pictures with me. We just got this in. This is Middlesboro, Kentucky, where a small tornado damaged several buildings there, as you can see.

Folks, we're not out of the woods yet.

We're going to bring in Chad Myers here in just a minute. But first, as promised, I have a couple of snippets of video I want to show you. Some of the different CNN affiliates giving us some great stuff covering these storms.

First to North Carolina and WSOC's Ken Ward.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEN WARD, REPORTER: KSOC TV: I'm standing on a brick stoop that used to lead to a mobile home. You can see behind me here, that mobile home is no longer here.

I'm going to show you what happened to it. I take a look to my left here, you can see a trailer that's been knocked on its side right into what's left of the mobile home.

Now, a little further to the left this, is a refrigerator, giving you some idea of just how powerful this storm was. We all know how much these things weigh. A little further to the left, this is a tree that's been completely snapped in half. And a little lower, you can see an electric rain (ph) that's been thrown about like a toy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Like a toy. That was North Carolina.

Let's go to Indiana. It got slammed very hard with several confirmed tornadoes there and a whole lot of high wind damage.

Here is how WISH-TV's chief meteorologist covered the action there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE BRAY, WISH-TV CHIEF METEOROLOGIST: So here's the direction the storm was moving, from southwest to northeast. And the reason why Tucek believes that this may have been a tornado is because the splatter of the insulation. Let me show you.

So this is the north wall. Notice all this insulation that is stuck to the wall. There had to be some kind of circulation that whipped it back into this wall. And the west side of this structure, again, a storm moving from southwest to northeast in that direction. Where did all of this insulation come from?

DAVE TUCEK, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: And my understanding is there is really no other structure to the southwest of here that that would have come from. So there certainly are some hints there that this does look tornadic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Now, not everyone is running for cover. You know we always have to show these videos, but we show you some guy or gal who's enjoying themselves.

I want to take you to Lake Michigan. The turbulent water there right now is a magnet for wind surfers.

Take a look at this report. This is from Jeff Alexander of WBAY. This is Green Bay, Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ALEXANDER, REPORTER, WBAY (voice-over): What's dangerous for boaters, though, is heaven for these guys.

HERBIE CUENE, WIND SURFER: The bigger the waves, the better.

ALEXANDER: Right next to the Coast Guard station in Two Rivers the best kite surfing beach on the western side of Lake Michigan.

CUENE: Today, like this, you can go out and rock 'n' roll. And the adrenaline buzz, it's really good.

ALEXANDER: For wind this strong, they come from all over the upper Midwest to catch some serious air, sometimes 40 feet off the water.

WEST HANSEN, WIND SURFER: Hopefully today not too high, because you might just keep going. You know, you'll be looking for a flight plan or something.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

Now I want to send it up to Wolf Blitzer, who is in New York with the Election Center with "THE SITUATION ROOM."