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Rains, Floods Kill 6 in Texas and Oklahoma; Baltimore on Edge: 35 Killed in City's Deadliest Month Since 1999. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired May 26, 2015 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:03] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Memories matter. Steve's Memorial will be open to the public in his yard through May 30th.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: So beautiful.
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN HOST: I'm sure he'll get a lot of visitors.
CAMEROTA: All right. Thanks so much for that. Now "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.
PEREIRA: Hi, Carol.
CAMEROTA: Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much. Have a great day.
NEWSROOM starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, deadly flooding.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The relentless tsunami-type power that this wave of water can pose for people.
COSTELLO: Millions at risk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I kept calling him over and over, and I was like, are you OK? Are you OK? And he was, like, I don't know if I'm going to make it, but he's like, I love you.
COSTELLO: Rescues by air, by boat. But help coming too late for some including a high school senior heading home from the prom. Who's in the danger zone this morning?
Also called out for not having a will to fight? Right now Iraq is launching an operation to take back Ramadi and more from the grip of ISIS.
And --
B.B. KING, MUSICIAN: I said, good evening, ladies. I came back.
COSTELLO: Was blues legend B.B. King poisoned? Two of his daughters think so.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They want to know and they want to be at peace.
COSTELLO: But is there any evidence to support their claims?
Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
In Texas and Oklahoma, record rains come down, deadly floodwaters rise up. That is not a river, that's a freeway running through Houston, the nation's fourth largest city. Today Houston is virtually cut off, floodwaters swallow interstates and major roads, schools are closed, public transportation is shut down, and the worst may be yet to come.
Here is a reminder of the flood's breathtaking surge in Houston. 150 calls for help in a mere two-hour timeframe. In just one county outside of Austin, the numbers are another cruel measure, 12 people still missing in Hays County, and for most there is little cause for optimism.
As many as 400 homes have been swept off their foundations and washed away. One survivor watched in horror as his home broke in half and his wife and children vanished in the raging floodwaters.
So let's begin in Hays County with CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray.
Good morning.
JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning to you, Carol. We are now seeing the scope of this devastation. Now that there is a little daylight, you can see the Blanco River just behind me raging past. In fact the floodwaters rose three times the flood stage, and you can see on the other side, the banks, the trees that are completely bent over. The water got that high.
And let's whip around here because I want to show you the river rose 43 feet, homes on top of hills where we're standing, normally completely fine with any type of flash flooding. Not in this case. It was so bad this home was completely washed off of its foundation. 200 to 300 homes destroyed here in the Wimberley area, some just like this one, wiped off the foundation and unfortunately, still, 12 people missing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRAY (voice-over): This morning, record-breaking and deadly floodwaters continue to wreak havoc across central Texas and Oklahoma.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The challenges are not over yet. There's going to be more rain to come.
GRAY: Nearly 40 counties throughout Texas now under an emergency disaster declaration. A dam rupturing just east of Austin unable to withhold the historic amount of rain, flooding a highway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not over. The rain is still here.
GRAY: Family members desperately wait on dry land.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I kept calling him over and over, and I was like, are you OK, are you OK?
GRAY: As rescues continue by air and water, the National Guard called to rescue 13 people, including three children trapped in a rental cabin in southeast Oklahoma.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The water came up quicker than expected, and the road washed out and we couldn't pass by it.
GRAY: In Wimberley, Texas, around a dozen people are still missing, including two families with children.
JULIE SHIELDS, LOOKING FOR MISSING RELATIVE: When she wasn't there I knew something was very, very wrong.
GRAY: Julie Shields recalls the last phone call she received from her sister, Laura McComb.
SHIELDS: Call mom and dad. I love you, and pray.
GRAY: Along with her husband and two children inside McComb's vacation home was swept away by the floodwaters. Her husband found 12 miles away says he tried desperately to save his family but the cabin split into.
SHIELDS: She is with her babies and she will always be with her babies always in heaven. And we know that as a family.
GRAY: The death toll in both southern states continues to rise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was at prom at her date, and, you know, laughing and dancing next to her.
GRAY: Eighteen-year-old Alyssa Ramirez was on her way back from prom just south of San Antonio. Her car stalling out in high waters just a couple miles away from her home. She called 911 and her father, but it was too late.
[09:05:09] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were unable to find her until this morning when crews were out there. And she has her place in heaven and they'll meet her again soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRAY: It's times like these that you remember when it comes to weather, more people die in flooding than anything else. It's scary how quickly the water can rise when you're dealing with a flash flood of course. The river has crested here in the Wimberley area. It should continue to go down. We should stay mainly dry today and tomorrow, but it's not over yet, Carol, because all of this water is flowing downstream. That's where we're seeing those massive flooding pictures out of Houston this morning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Jennifer Gray, reporting live this morning. Thanks so much.
So let's head to Houston right now. Highways submerged, the fast- rising water grid-locking, traffic overnight, drivers stranded since 11:00 last night.
The city's mayor, Annise Parker, is joining me now on the phone.
Welcome, Mayor.
MAYOR ANISE PARKER (D), HOUSTON: Thank you. Good morning.
COSTELLO: I know you have a tough job on your hands today. How many people remain trapped on the roadways, do you think?
PARKER: We're not sure. We had 130-plus high water rescues last night, and now with daylight, mostly we have cars that are bobbing in the water. I think we've gotten those folks out. We are actually experiencing a two-stage flooding event. Last night was torrential rain, you know, 11:00 to 1:00, say, a lot of folks on the road, low water areas they just -- or high-water areas and low spots on the road just filled up, and a lot of folks kept driving as the water was rising.
A different situation today and that is that we're the narrow point of a big funnel, and there's a lot of water moving through Houston in addition to lots and lots of rain that fell on us last night and so the rivers that run through Houston, and that's one of our defining features, are all at capacity, and several of them are at full flood, and so we have two areas of Houston that are -- we know we have a lot of homes underwater and the water continues to rise.
COSTELLO: Mayor Parker, I know that there were curfews put into place but should there have been a travel ban instituted?
PARKER: People have to understand that this is a -- the city of Houston is actually 640 square miles. So much of the city is fine, and we're -- generally, if you are in this area, know your way around this area, you know where the bayous are, and we give regular updates on freeway situations. Again last night --
COSTELLO: But, Mayor, Mayor, people are still trapped in the Toyota Center and they can't leave.
PARKER: Downtown is not underwater. They can leave the Toyota Center. Whether they can get to their homes, I can't answer that question. I was at the Toyota Center last night with those folks, with our Rockets playing the Golden State Warriors, so I was there. Most of the folks who were there made it home, but, again, across the area --
COSTELLO: But, again, Mayor, there are still people at the Toyota Center, and if they can't get to their homes, maybe that game should have been canceled. PARKER: Well, I don't know what -- I don't know what to say to that.
There was not -- flooding did not occur prior to the game. We did not have -- we had no problem. The vast majority of the folks at -- and I don't know at this point that there are anymore still at the Toyota Center, and we have shelters available for those who cannot reach their home, but downtown in the immediate vicinity of the Toyota Center is high and dry, and was last night.
COSTELLO: Yes. We're going to talk to someone who was still supposedly trapped inside the Toyota Center very soon, so apparently there still are people inside the Toyota Center.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Right.
PARKER: I just want to comment about the phrase trapped in the Toyota Center because many of the roads in Houston are passable and downtown Houston is no way under water and the Toyota Center was not in danger. What we had last night was a torrential downpour just as the game was ending and a lot of folks were asked to stay until the rain let up and there was localized street flooding. Very, very different and very significant event today, which is the bayous leaving their banks and -- it's just been flooding may increase throughout the day.
COSTELLO: And just to be fair, this is unprecedented for Houston. You've not experienced this before.
[09:10:05] PARKER: Respectfully, yes, we did in Tropical Storm Alison. I think that was in 2001. Worst flooding in Houston history. We had some 30 inches of rain in about a 24-hour period, and much of the area that is under water today and in fact a vastly large area was under water in Tropical Storm Alison. Because we're a low-lying city and we have so many small rivers or bayous running through the city, in a significant rain event, we often have street flooding. What is rare is to have property flooding.
COSTELLO: All right. Mayor Parker, thank you for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.
The rate of rain is simply astonishing. Check out the Brays Bayou near downtown Houston. These images taken just 30 minutes apart. By 3:00 a.m. water would be spilling underneath the fence.
Chad Myers is in Atlanta. So you heard what the mayor said, but this kind of rain is unusual for Houston, right?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, four inches an hour in any place is unusual.
COSTELLO: Houston, right, I'm wondering.
MYERS: Yes, absolutely, Carol. Four to six inches in some spots per hour. This is what the map looked like. This is radar accumulation as of 8:00 at night. Downtown, you talk about the center. Not much rainfall, a couple of inches of rain, I'm sure Houston handles that every time, but now watch what happens in the next 30 minutes, all of a sudden we have areas here of six inches of rainfall, and then two hours later, we have areas here in the Sugarland and also back up towards the bayous she's talking about.
That was 10 inches of rainfall and that all happened between four and 10 inches. That happened in three hours. And it rained all night long. Houston here. Here's the Hunters Creek Village. There is the bayou, I'm going to show you right now. Down here, down here right around about 8:00 at night it was eight feet deep. Later on that night it was 36 feet deep in two hours.
So you can't imagine a river, you're looking at it, it goes up 28 feet in two hours? I don't care where you are, whether you're in Kentucky or Louisiana, or Houston, you get a river to go up 28 feet in two hours, people are going to be in the way, and they are still in the way right now, obviously.
Some of those pictures that we're seeing live from Houston. Trucks not going anywhere, cars on the highway. And these are people that have left this morning. They knew it was flooded. Yet they tried to get to work and there's just no chance of it because a lot of the roadways are completely under water.
The rainfall moves into Atlanta. Here's late tonight, here's 3:00, heavy rainfall in Atlanta. There could be some flooding here in the city that I'm talking to you from, Atlanta, Georgia. At least two to three inches of rainfall coming down per hour for Atlanta, and we're also lacking one more spot, I'm going to take you to one more spot, Detroit, Michigan, Cleveland, Cincinnati, all the way down to maybe Columbus, could be some severe weather today up there -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Chad Myers, thanks so much.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, protesters outside Baltimore city hall. Why? You might be surprised. We'll take you there next.
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[09:16:20] COSTELLO: In Baltimore, as the city struggles with a surge in violence, outrage over the governor's plan to spend $30 million to build a new youth jail while cutting funding to city schools. You're looking at live pictures from a protest against that plan. The demonstration comes as we learn that 35 people have been killed so far this month. It's the deadliest month in Baltimore in 16 years.
A spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake tells "The Baltimore Sun" she is disheartened but believes police will be able to stop the crime. But at least one officer says the unrest could be blamed in part on cops who have in his words, stopped being proactive.
Here's more from CNN's Miguel Marquez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And morale -- where is morale for the police officers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's in the sewers. It's down. It's the worse of the worse I've ever seen in my career.
MARQUEZ: A Baltimore police officers some dozen years on the force says the spike in murders and gun crimes here is the direct result of a coordinated police work slowdown.
Why do you think there's an increase in the murder rate and numbers of shootings in the town?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officers stopped being proactive.
MARQUEZ: Not patrolling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not patrolling, just stop being proactive.
MARQUEZ: Not talking to the community?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not talking -- stop being proactive. I believe it's a direct result from officers holding back.
MARQUEZ: With the murder rate skyrocketing, up 47 percent this year, guns being fired here in even bigger numbers, nonfatal shootings up at least 66 percent -- the killings and shootings not limited to West Baltimore where riots broke out last month. Areas across the entire city have seen the most serious crimes on the rise.
At a recent gathering limited to local press only, Commissioner Batts acknowledged an issue with some officers exists, but claimed it was only in Baltimore's western police district where they were experiencing the problems.
COMMISSIONER ANTHONY BATTS, BALTIMORE POLICE: We are making very good arrests. We're doing search, searches and seizures. So, throughout the city the organization is doing well. What I have a concern about in talking to officers is the epicenter of the rioting, which is the western district.
MARQUEZ: But this officer who isn't in Baltimore's western district say they lost confidence in leadership who aren't protecting them, saying cops citywide hear one thing in daily briefings, then do another.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After shift call, we get together ands say again, "We're just just going to back each other up and answer 911 calls for our dispatcher.
MARQUEZ: So, no matter what commanders tell you --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's in one ear and out the other.
MARQUEZ: The officer says police here are only responding to 911 calls. No walking beats, no engaging the community, no investigation, just responding, the bare minimum of policing. And then, only the serious calls get immediate attention. Some calls says the police goes hours with no response, and when police do respond, they will only go in pairs, sometimes three and four officers per call, their own safety the priority.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As officers we're saying, hey, we've got to have each other's back.
MARQUEZ: The officer worked the recent protests and looting and violence, the darkest day this cop has seen. On one score, the officer agrees with the protesters.
What do you think about their claims is right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Baltimore City have a certain mentality. Stat driven. They want arrests. They don't care too much about moving violations. They want arrests. The command staff believe that arresting people is the way of deterring crime.
MARQUEZ: This officer who's now looking for other job says things are so bad only one thing will change everything.
[09:20:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not believe in Commissioner Batts or his command staff. We want them to go.
MARQUEZ: Miguel Marquez, CNN, Baltimore, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: All right. So, if you need an example where there is no trust between the community, the city leadership and police, it would be Baltimore at the moment. So, let's talk about that.
With me now, Baltimore peace activist and host of "Listen Up" on WEAA Radio, Faraji Muhammad.
Welcome back, Faraji.
FARAJI MUHAMMAD, HOST, WEAA'S "LISTEN UP": Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Faraji, what do you make of the supposed police slowdown?
MUHAMMAD: You know, it comes down to, as that officers say, Carol, it comes down to trust. I think we are seeing a breakdown in the police department in the morale of the police officers in Baltimore because the community has lost trust. We heard the Commissioner Batts has said that now, for routine stops, they have to allocate the resources, more officers on scene because while more of the community members out in full force with cameras and what not really scrutinizing the police.
And I think it comes back down to the fact that our city, Baltimore, my city, has lost the trust in the police department here, and at this point, there has to be some dramatic changes that need to be done to not just --
COSTELLO: Before we get to that, you know, it's vice versa, because why should police go out of their way to assist the community that they feel is out to get them?
MUHAMMAD: Because that's their job, Carol. I think at the end of the day, the police are sworn to an oath to serve and protect, everybody is not going to like the police, however, if the police operated on the basis of truth and justice, then they don't have to worry about people getting in their way of doing their job. If the police operated in a better moral conduct and a more engaging manner as the officer said with the community, then the community will start to make some changes. But at this point it's an us against them mentality, and it's justified, absolutely justified.
COSTELLO: Even on the police's part, because they would say why should we go out of our way to make a difficult arrest when we may face criminal charges and no one will stand up for us, including the commissioner and the mayor?
MUHAMMAD: Well, you know, the police have to be very cognizant about the time they are living in. All across this country, police brutality and misconduct is the hot button topic. So, police officers cannot kind of walk in a vacuum and assume that they -- you know, that no one is watching, no one is listening like in the past. This is a new day, and especially for community police relations.
So at this point, the police have to know that you have to do your job and you have to do your job well and you have to do it professionally, but most importantly you have to do your job based on an honor code that you say you are sworn to uphold and uplift. And if their honor code is not present in your job, then you are going to get backlash. And, you know, that's one of the things that we are seeing after Freddie Gray and even at this point?
COSTELLO: Here is the thing, Faraji, gun crime has spiked, and homicides are up, and if the community doesn't want police in their face, shouldn't they get out there and find a way to kind of stop it? Shouldn't the protesters be in those communities pushing those intent of committing violence out of the neighborhood?
MUHAMMAD: Absolutely. And that's what we're doing.
COSTELLO: Why aren't they there?
MUHAMMAD: But we're doing it in an alternative way.
Well, you know what, we are doing it in an alternative manner. At this point, we are talking about building those relationships not just by those impacted by violence but those who are bystanders of violence, those who are some even perpetuated violence, we have to do a holistic approach to community policing. But it all starts with proper relationship building.
COSTELLO: I understand that. But you guys -- some protesters are out protesting the governor's cuts in education, and I totally understand that and that's important. But why not go into the neighborhoods and protest the criminals running rampant at the moment because police don't feel the need to do quite do their jobs? MUHAMMAD: You know what here? You know, the black community in my
city, we understand that we are hit with two threats, we have an external threat coming from the police department, and then there is also the internal threat dealing with those, the members of our community. So, we are fighting on two fronts to make sure our community is well-sustained.
I think that if we bring in certain individuals and certain organizations and groups that have a track record of working within the community and built in those new relationships, and we start engaging the street organizations and getting to the churches and faith organizations and the mosques and whatnot, and if we start looking at how we have all of these resources in the community, there's actually a small number of young people or people that are in the community, quote, unquote, "being the troublesome group", and there is a small number.
Baltimore, we want to live in a city that is safe.
[09:25:01] Baltimore, we are not a city that wants to continue to languish in violence and in unrest. So, if you're talking about attracting the hearts and minds of the people, then you've got to do it in a way that shows them love, and you got to show that there's a spirit of love and unity, and that essentially that look, we are trying to rebuild our community. We're going to do that and we are working to do that. But it's -- the police presence has to be more of a support effort versus coming in and imposing the will of law enforcement on the community.
COSTELLO: Faraji Muhammad, thanks for your insight. As always, I appreciate it.
MUHAMMAD: Absolutely. Thank you.
COSTELLO: Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: Iraq says vast operations are underway to reclaim Anbar province from the hands of ISIS. Yes, Iraqi forces are going to retake Ramadi. Seriously? We'll talk about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
I want to take you to Houston, Texas, for just a minute, because they are having terrible problems with flash flooding there still. Many cars are submerged on the highways. People are still trapped.
We are understand people are still in the basketball arena, and they were watching the game last night and the rain came down during the game and they just can't make it home, because look at the condition of the highways right now. It's astoundingly bad. People are missing near Austin, Texas, 12 still missing due to the raging floodwaters, 400 homes in Hays County knocked off their foundations and simply washed away.
