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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Tornados Touch Down in Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska; Questions about Medical Examiner's Reports; NFL Commissioner's Report on Deflategate; New Details About Germanwings Crash. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 06, 2015 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good evening. Thanks for joining us. We begin tonight with breaking news in the dark skies over the central and southern plains, with tornados touching down in at least three states, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. The pictures tell the story. There have been at least 25 reports of tornados in those states and warnings are in effect for parts of Oklahoma Kansas city metro area right now.

I want to go out meteorologist, Jennifer Gray. She joins me live from the CNN weather center.

So, what is the latest?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we have seen very powerful and dangerous tornados whirl through just to the south of Oklahoma City. You with see tornado warnings still in effect and now seeing more tornado warning being issued at some of the exact spots we saw tornado touchdowns just a few hours ago. So areas that receive damage from those potentially another tornado headed your way. Just on the west side of Chickasha, there when areas that we have seen lot of activity, still a very active storm here, potentially tornado on the ground. We have had reports of the ground. So it has been an active one. It is moving to the northeast, about 50 miles per hour.

Newcastle needs to be on the lookout for that one as well and if it continues on this track, once again, we will be looking at places like Moore as well as the southern side of Oklahoma City. So we have that one. We also have the one little bit to the east of Oklahoma City.

And look at this, continuing on as we go to the late evening hours. Unfortunately, Anderson, a lot of these storms in the rain raft, you can't see them coming. And so, that is the danger in all of this.

I want to show you the storm that pass through earlier. You can see it. We were tracking it right between Moore and Norman and as it heads off to the north and east. And so, pictures will be coming out of there. But keep in mind, this is still a very fluid situations. We still have a very dangerous situation on our hands. Twenty five reports of tornados throughout the evening hours. And it is still going on.

COOPER: Wow, 25 reports. Now, some of these are populated areas, any reports of damage at this point? GRAY: We've seen a couple of pictures of damage especially on the

south side of Oklahoma City. We have seen damage outside the Wichita, Kansas area as well. Of course, we will see more as the evening progresses. But yes, we have had some early reports of damage already.

COOPER: All right, we are going to follow it through the area and bring you any update.

Jennifer, thank you.

And some more breaking news now in the investigation on the death of Freddie Gray. What seems Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced that six Baltimore police officers would be charged in Gray's death, there was a sense of relief inside the city of Baltimore. This wouldn't be another case of another young black man being killed with no consequences. But there has also been a lot of criticism of the way that Mosby announced the charges and the charges themselves. Tonight new questions about her investigation and the charges she brought.

CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez has been working his sources in Baltimore. He joins me now with breaking the news on a number of fronts.

A lot to talk to you about, Evan. Your sources are saying, they have questions about the medical examiner's reports, what have you learned?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, we are beginning to see the ways in which the fact there were two separate investigations. One, done by the police department and homicide detectives there and by the state attorney's office, to try to exploit their differences between the two investigations, and perhaps weaken the state's effort to prosecutor the six officers.

We're told that the investigators at the police department were under the impression that the medical examiner's findings are going to be short of a homicide. If you recall that is one of the key findings from the state attorney Marilyn Mosby. She said it was a homicide, that ruling from the medical examiner which led her to bring the most serious charges.

We're told that the police investigations, just simply do not support the most serious charges being brought against the officers. That is a second-degree murder charge. At most, what they were looking at was manslaughter. Now, I should add that the medical examiner's office has told us that they only reached one conclusion in this case and that this was a homicide. They had police officers there getting briefed along the way but they only made one conclusion. We also get a statement from Marilyn Mosby's office. Now, she says she is not going to litigate this case in the media and she defended her case, Anderson.

COOPER: And Evan, you are also getting some new details about Mosby's top investigator. What can you tell us about that?

PEREZ: Well, one of the top investigators, a man by the name of Avon Macel (ph). He is a former Baltimore cop. Now in 2009, he was demoted after he failed to follow up on some reports, some very serious crime reports in his central district here in downtown Baltimore.

Also in 2009, there was a drunken incident at his home in Baltimore count. The SWAT team had to come out according to a police report which we receive today. The SWAT team arrived and he was very upset. He had his gun in his hand. They had to use a taser to try to calm the situation.

Now, he was not arrested, Anderson, and -- but the question that arises from this is whether Macel (ph) has any kind of beef with the Baltimore police department and if that is why he was helping to bring these most serious charges against these officers.

[20:05:22] COOPER: It is interesting that this information is being leaked out. I mean, people clearly leak when they have a reason to leak or an objective or they want to get something across. So I guess it raises questions about why were people be leaking this information now or they are trying to certainly discredit, certainly in the investigator in this case who is working for the state's attorney. But I also understand, another defense attorney has filed the most demanding to see the knife that Mr. Gray carry?

PEREZ: Well, that's (INAUDIBLE). And what you are seeing happening is the beginnings of how the defense lawyers, frankly, for these officers are going to defend them. And as you mentioned again, this is a matter of the differences between the state investigation and the police investigation. The police investigation found that the knife that was found on Freddie Gray was a violation of the city code. If you remember, Marilyn Mosby said that the whole basis of her case, frankly, is a fact that these officers had no reason to arrest Freddie Gray because the knife he had on him was not illegal in the state of Maryland. So that is a discrepancy now that these lawyers are trying to exploit. They have already filed two lawyers represent two of these officers have filed these motions to try to get access to more information about the knife.

We also know another lawyer has filed a motion to try to get notes from the police investigation. Again, they are trying to figure out a way to exploit differences between the two investigations, Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Evan, appreciate the reporting. Thank you.

I want to bring in Baltimore criminal justice blogger and former deputy state's attorney Page Cloiter, also CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin who is we often disclose is friends with Baltimore's mayor, also Baltimore criminal defense attorney Dwight Petit.

Sunny, I want to talk about the knives first because there is a lot of questions. I don't quite get why already it wouldn't cut and dry whether this was a spring-assisted knife, whether it is illegal in Baltimore or not. We actually have two different knives here on the set. One, is spring assisted which you see just the ease with which it flips out and then there is this other knife is not spring assisted. You actually have to open it up like this. And you could see just from besides the size difference why there might be confusion between the two. Why is this so important?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it is very important because under Maryland state law, a spring assisted knife is legal. Under the Baltimore city code, the ordinance, that type of knife is illegal. So if, indeed, it was illegal under the Baltimore city's code, that would still make it an arrestable offense. And so I think what the defense is trying to show is the police officers acted appropriately in arresting him. If that is correct, most, if not all of the charges, filed against the two arresting officers, Anderson, would fail. That is a problem especially facing the criticism that she is facing that she sort of rushed the judgment here. That would be very sloppy, sloppy prosecutorial work.

COOPER: But Dwight, even if the knife was legal, if the police officers -- the two arresting or the arresting police officers acted in good faith believing the knife was -- was illegal, does that -- does that defend them? Does that defend their actions?

A. DWIGHT PETTIT, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don't think the good faith argument comes into play here. I think it is a factual argument of whether or not the knife was illegal under neither the Baltimore city code or the Maryland code. If it is illegal, then we have a problem or she has a problem because, in fact, that would in fact invalidate -- I mean if it is legal, that would in fact invalidate the search. If it is illegal, then she is on safe ground in terms of the search and seizure.

COOPER: Page, do you agree that that -- do you agree that the good faith argument that the police officers legitimately thought this knife was illegal would exonerate them?

PAGE CROYDER, FORMER BALTIMORE DEPUTY STATE'S ATTORNEY: Yes, I do. I think that first of all, they have qualified immunity for civil litigation if they in good faith act. And even the fact that police task force felt that this was a knife that was illegal shows that there is a legitimate difference of opinion and the officer did described that knife as spring assisted. The police task force appears to have agreed with that. At the very worst the police officer acted with good faith it was spring assisted. And therefore, it would be dangerous for the prosecutor to bring charges like this based on a mistake by the police officer.

That is one of my fundamental problems with the charging of the two arresting officers for not having probable cause. You are setting a president dent that any police officer who arrest without probable cause cannot we not just civilly sued, but criminally. These are people who are not lawyers. Lawyers disagree about probable cause. Judges disagree. And as long as officers are acting in good faith, they are not planting evidence, they are not lying. If they make a legitimate error in their judgment, to subject them to criminal charges is going to put a chill on the whole police department in which is why I said I would not want to be a Baltimore police officer right now, in an atmosphere where I could be charged for making a mistake over what is considered probable charge. [20:10:47] COOPER: Sunny, what about the history of Mosby's

investigate -- I mean, you heard it from Evan Perez. Now, does that -- is that jermaine (ph) at all to this or is that just trying to slander one of her investigators or kind of discredit him?

HOSTIN: Well, I think it could be Jermaine (ph), certainly because if she is sort of pegging her case to this investigators' findings on cross examinations, even during a preliminary hearing or quite frankly, a trial, all of this will come up. So I think that is something generally that a prosecutor would look at prior to making this person one of the chief investigators.

I also think though, that we have to keep in mind that this young man was fine -- he was running, he was able, until he became in police custody and now he's dead. And so to be sure, something happened. The question really is whether or not the charges that were brought are appropriate under these investigations.

COOPER: Dwight, as far as how Mosby handled the case so far, one major criticism si that she overcharged the officers. What do you think?

PETTIT: I don't think she overcharged because by bringing the murder charge in terms of second degree (INAUDIBLE), all she has to prove is that there was a high risk of danger or death that was created by officer that was charged and he more or less ignored that or, in fact, grossly ignored it. And in fact did not act upon it even though he was aware of the difficulties Mr. Gray was in.

And she could have brought, you know, if you went to first-degree murder, you would have to talking about intent, you would have to b talking about premeditation. This does not require specific content. This is a charge she can make basically on a type of gross negligence argument. And I think that is the same with the involuntary manslaughter and, of course, is the same with the false imprisonment.

Now the false imprisonment is extremely interesting because that is the first time we see circumstances where officers charge for violation of the constitutional rights of the defendant, in this case, the person that they were apprehending. That of they did not have probable cause then that charge can also be made. But let me good back to the --

Will you bet me go back to Page,because you are critical of the state's attorney. Do you think there was politics involved here. That she wanted to calm the crowd?

COOPER: I want to bring Page here, though. Because Page, I mean, you have been very critical of the state's attorney. Do you think there were politics involved here? That basically, she just wanted to t kind of calm the crown?

CROYDER: Well, I can't read her mind and I don't know her at all? But my position has been that her rush gives that impression. When she stood out there and said, I've heard your call, no peace, no justice. I'm going to give you justice. That gives the impression that she was rushing to get charges to have some impact on the crowd.

What would have been more appropriate and also ethical, the comments that she made really crossed the prosecutorial ethical boundaries. What it would have been better, would have been to say, I have received the police report yesterday. Today I received the autopsy report. I'm going to take this evidence to the grand jury. We're going to receive no stone unturned until we discover the truth. And when I come out with charges you can depend on me, your elected state's attorney to bring the most appropriate charges, instead there was a rush.

COOPER: Yes. I appreciate you being on. Dwight Pettit, as well, and Sunny Hostin as always.

A quick reminder, be sure you set your DVR. You can watch "360" any time you want.

Just ahead, other big stories tonight, the NFL commissioner report on deflate gate is in. It says Patriots employee probably deflated footballs on purpose. And that quarterback Tom Brady probably knew about it. And what the team is saying about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:15:00] COOPER: Major development in the world of sports, the involvement of one of the most successful franchises in America and its biggest star, the Super Bowl champion, New England Patriots and their quarterback tom Brady.

Today, the NFL release the findings of their investigation to the scandal that can't be known as the deflate gate when it broke back in January. As you might remember, the team and Brady in a press conference that today quickly became notorious were adamant they didn't intentionally deflate the team's footballs to gain an unfair advantage over their opponent in the playoffs. The findings of the NFL investigation, pretty much the opposite.

Gary Tuchman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prior to quarterback Tom Brady leading his New England Patriots to a Super Bowl victory over the Seattle Seahawks, he was asked by the press if he was a cheater?

TOM BRADY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOT QUARTERBACK: I don't believe so. I mean, I feel like I have always played within the rules. I would never do anything to break the rules.

TUCHMAN: He was asked that after allegations he knew about using deflated footballs in the AFC championship game, for deflated can be easier to throw.

BRADY: I didn't have any -- I didn't alter the ball in any way. I don't want anyone rubbing them, putting any air in them, taking any air out. I had no knowledge of anything. I had no knowledge of any wrongdoing.

TUCHMAN: But today an investigation ordered by the NFL said something else. The 243 page report declaring Brady was likely at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities and what were those inappropriate activities?

The report stated it was more probably not than Jim McNally, the official's locker room attendant for the Patriots and John Jascremski (ph), an equipment assistant for the Patriots participated in a deliberate effort to release air from the Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee. No other Patriot players, coaches or officials have been implicated.

And there is no smoking gun. But there is much circumstantial evidence including videotape of locker room attendant McNally removing game balls from the officials' locker room. And many text messages between him and Jascremski (ph) in which they sometimes talked about Brady's unhappiness with the inflation level of Patriots' game balls.

After a game earlier in the season, the report indicates that McNally texted this to Jascremski (ph). Tom sucks. I'm going to make that next ball a blanking balloon. Jascremski (ph) responded, talked to him last night. He actually brought you up and said you must have a lot of stress trying to get them done.

Could those two men have done all of this with Tom Brady not knowing. The report states, we believe that it is unlikely that an equipment assistant and locker room attendant would deflate game balls without Brady's knowledge and approval.

Note worthy in this report, Brady's lack of full cooperation with investigators. Brady declined to make available any documents or electronic information including text messages and emails that we requested, even though those requests were limited to the subject matter of our investigation.

When deflate gate first broke, many, including the Patriots' head coach tried to blame weather or other environmental factors for the football deflation. But we visited the Willson sporting goods center where all the NFL footballs are made and the employees there said no way.

[20:21:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This ball will not leak, unless you put a needle in it and let the air out.

TUCHMAN: And indeed, that is what this report concludes is the likely scenario.

The owner of the Patriots released a statement exclaiming, to say we are disappointed in its findings, which do not include anything controvertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs of the AFC championship game would be a gross understatement. But Robert Kraft says the team will accept the findings of the report which are expected to lead a substantial discipline against the team and its star quarterback. BRADY: I think you can just go out and try to be the best person you

can be. Deal with people with respect with honesty, with integrity, you know, have a high morale standard.

TUCHMAN: A quarterback who is accused of violating what her says he stands for.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Want to join two people who know about this, "Boston Globe's" sports columnist Dawn Shaughnessy and the columnist who broke the deflate gate story Bob Kravitz and Indianapolis TV station, WTHR.

Bob, I mean, you say that the base on the Well's (ph) report is fair to assume that Brady and the Patriots not only cheated, but have been cheating for a while. You call the Patriots in fact, them a recidivist organization.

BOB KRAVITZ, COLUMNIST, WTHR: Absolutely. I mean, you go back to spy gate, now you look at this. And you know, if I'm the Baltimore Ravens who the Patriots beat in the previous game to the colts game, I'm furious. If I'm anybody who lost to the Patriots, I'm absolutely furious, especially in bad weather games where deflating the ball makes it easier to grip it and to throw it. So, you know, it would be kind of ridiculous to believe that this is a one-off type of situation. Clearly this has been going on for quite some time.

COOPER: And Dan, you wrote, before the super bowl that the Patriots have already lost the game that mattered, that this controversy was bad for their legacy. What about now? What does it mean for Brady and for the Patriots?

DAWN SHAUGHNESSY, SPORTS COLUMNIST, BOSTON GLOBE: This is a big hit. I mean, locally, everybody is still bend themselves into pretzels to explain that they can't prove this, they don't have anything on them. This looks really bad. And when Bob talks about systematic cheating, it does make you wonder about that because of the trail of texts and priors and the history of 2007. We know this organization will do anything to win and leave no stone unturned and this is, once again, a Nixonian Watergate feel to it, doing something they didn't have to do.

COOPER: You know, Bob, Tom Brady, I mean, I want to zero in on him. I want to listen to some of his past responses to these allegations. I just want to play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRADY: I didn't alter the ball in any way. When I picked those balls out, at that point, to me, they are perfect. I don't want anyone touching the balls after that. I don't want anyone rubbing them, you know, putting in the air in, taking the air out. I would never do anything outside of the rules of play. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I don't know what happened. I -- I have no explanation for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Bob, it is interesting, the way the report is written. They dance very carefully around coming out and definitely saying Brady ordered the balls to be deflated.

KRAVITZ: Well, in this source of reports, all you need is a preponderance of the evidence. This is not a legal case. So, you know, clearly Brady was not forthcoming there. It's I think this is devastating for the Patriots. It is devastating for the National Football League because this is their franchise, franchise. This is a team that won four super bowls. But I think once again, there is something of an asterisk a-fixed to this championship even though the balls were perfectly inflated well within the rules in the super bowl game.

COOPER: I mean, Bob, it is interesting that Brady refused to hand over any of his texts. I mean, you think if he hadn't to hide, he would happily give Wells anything they wanted.

[20:25:57] KRAVITZ: Absolutely. I mean, and that was reflected in the wells' report, you know. I think the guy who looks the worst here clearly is Tom Brady. You know, just listening to those quotes, I'm reminded of Rafael Palmeiro during the steroid hearings when opponent to a congressman or a senator, somebody at the hearing. And you know, waved a finger at him as if to say, you know, how dare you ask me? I'm not guilty of these things.

So I think Brady is the one who takes a hit here. And I think there is going to be a suspension.

COOPER: Dan, what about that? Do you think there will be a suspension? I mean, what kind of other punishment would there be for the team and for Brady?

SHAUGHNESSY: I think Brady is the one that is definitely going to get some sort of a sanction because of all the important mention things. And clearly, the NFL, the Wells people think he was not been forthcoming with them. And there was a little bit of (INAUDIBLE) on the part of the Patriots on their legal people not being forthcoming. And they pay the price that.

The big issue to me is that Brady is going to get something. A game, four games, I don't know. I wonder what they'll do for the Patriots if they'll go to loss of institutional control or priors or how this will reflect on the organization.

COOPER: That will be interesting to see. Dan Shaughnessy and Bob Kravitz, guys, thank you very much. Interesting stuff.

Just ahead, investigators reveal new evidence suggesting the copilot who crashed Germanwings flight 9525 into the French Alps rehearsed his deadly plan just hours before he actually did it.

Plus, an update on our breaking news, we are keeping a close eye on tornados threatening a wide swath of the Midwest tonight, millions of people in their path. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:30:29] COOPER: Well, tonight heard disturbing new details about the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525. Our preliminary report released by French authorities says the first officer suspected of deliberately crashing the airplane, appears to have rehearsed the fatal dive just hours earlier. The report says he repeatedly set the plane's altitude to 100 feet during the outbound flight to Barcelona. When the captain left the flight deck, he was gone less than five minutes. Investigators say the maneuvers captured by the plane's flight recorder went unnoticed by air traffic controllers, because they'd already instructed the plane to begin a moderate descent. In a moment we're going to dig deeper into the new details. But first, I want to show you just how unthinkable it is for most pilots to even consider setting a plane's altitude that low. Kyang Lah went inside the flight stimulator to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Locked - the physical lock on the door. You take this to lock, it's going to totally - lock out those doors.

KYANG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So begins what is the likely descent of the German Wings flight. We are in A220 simulator with pilot Buck Rodger who currently flies for the commercial airline.

BUCK RODGER, COMMERCIAL AIRLINE PILOT: You just dialed in, an altitude here, you got the (INAUDIBLE) going down.

LAH (on camera): That motion of hitting 100 in this situation is unthinkable for you?

RODGER: Absolutely. Why would I do that? It goes against every grain in my body. There is no reason why I would do that.

LAH: Do you know the consequences of that action?

RODGER: Absolutely.

LAH: If you had to step in this young man's mind, do you think he understood?

RODGER: It is a very difficult subject for a pilot because we are, again, here to keep our passengers safe. To keep the airplane safe, to keep our crew safe. So to go where this young man went, it is hard for me to go there.

And by saying, I'm good to fly, that means I'm good to go. I'm waited to take on this airplane.

LAH: And all the lives that are in the back.

RODGER: That's right.

LAH (voice over): Approximately nine minutes later --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull up.

RODGER: So, now we would ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: terrain, terrain ...

RODGER: Pull up and react.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull up. Pull up.

RODGER: This is not a situation I've ever been in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull up.

LAH: Tackling to your hands after that crash?

RODGER: They are sweaty, and you can see it. And in all of the years I've been flying in a simulator, I've never seen an airplane hit the ground. We recovered the airplanes before that happens.

LAH: So that was unthinkable?

RODGER: Yeah. Hard to see.

LAH (voice over): Rodger takes us through a manual scenario explaining that German Wings pilot likely did not do this based on the controlled descent?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull up.

LAH (on camera): It is uncomfortable?

RODGER: It is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull up.

RODGER: In fact. Can we come out of this ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull up. Pull up.

RODGER: Let's just get out of this. There is just no need to take us through that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull up.

LAH (voice over): Even in a simulator, in a scenario we've asked him to do for the purposes of this story, this pilot cannot stand it.

(on camera): Does it exceed pilot instinct? Is it human instinct to pull up a stick at that point?

RODGER: Yes. I'm thinking about the safety of my passengers and my crew and that airplane and that is what I do as a pilot.

LAH: Is that why this incident has to disturbed the people of your profession? RODGER: That's unthinkable that a pilot would take an airplane and

drive it into the ground. It is not something that we would ever think about.

LAH (voice over): Kyung Lah, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Unthinkable. And yet it happened. As we said, French Air investigators believe that the first officer was rehearsing his deadly plan on the outbound flight to Barcelona. A lot to talk about with CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest. He joins me tonight.

So, Richard, the co-pilot changing the target altitude to 100 feet, is there any doubt in your mind that that was a rehearsal for what was to come?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there is a certain doubt, Anderson. Because we just don't know. Was it, for example, a rehearsal, a practice, was he learning how the aircraft would handle dialing in 100 and seeing what would happen, would air traffic control notice? Would there be the alpha protections that would prevent it what the aircraft fight him in doing it? Or, as some might suggest, was this actually an attempt at doing the suicide run, an attempt which he subsequently stopped and failed at? So look, I think it is academic at one level because the final result was the same on the return flight, but all we know for a fact is that he did make these adjustments. He changed the target, only altitude and the rest, as they say, is history.

COOPER: It does show a certain amount of forethought, it shows that this was not just a completely impulsive act, as some suicides are, that this was more than that, this was something clearly he had thought about at least somewhat before?

[20:35:13]

QUEST: And no question about it. And if you take that with the further evidence of the ripped up medical notes at his apartment, the online searches for suicides and researching cockpit doors and the locks on the cockpit doors and then you add in all of this, I don't think there is any doubt we're talking about the actions here of a very sick and a very deranged mind in what he did.

What we don't know, Anderson, and this is something that we will again, we will never know, is were the crew able to use the emergency override to get into the cockpit or did they not -- did they not do it? There is no evidence on the cockpit voice recorder of the noise that you would have heard as they would have tried to do it? But again, we don't know how he locked them out? There is a whole load of issues that we will never know about this. Unfortunately, the core fact remains. That's a very sick man was allowed to fly an aircraft and that will be the subject of the investigation going forward.

COOPER: Yeah. And, of course, I should have said not just suicide, but mass murder as well. Would anybody on board have been able to feel at all -- either the pilot or the passengers, that he was testing these things out?

QUEST: No. And this is the reason. When he set the auto pilot altitude to 100, the plane was already descending. Now, it doesn't matter if you've asked the plane to descend to 10,000 or you've asked it to descend to 100, it will still continue the trajectory unless you change the speed or you change one of the other parameters. He didn't do that on the test. The plane is descending. It's carrying on its descent, instead of descending to, say, 10,000 or 20,000 it's now descending to 100. That was in some ways, when I say the cleverness, the trickiness of what he did when he did it. He chose to test it out when the plane was already in descent so no passengers nor the captain, nobody ...

COOPER: No one in air traffic control either, for that exact same reason. It's incredibly disturbing. Richard, thank you very much.

Just ahead, more breaking news, the latest on the tornadoes that are pushing - putting millions of Americans in danger tonight. Those are lives pictures. You are looking at 25 twisters touching down in three states. Dramatic pictures there. We'll show you more when we come back.

And a millionaire murder suspect who's already been convicted twice for killing his wife, both convictions overturned now. He's on trial again for the same crime. If he's convicted again, the question is will it stick?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We are watching severe storms threatening a wide band of the Southern and central plains tonight. Tornadoes touching down in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, photos of the damage are starting to come in. Video as well. This is a hotel in Norman, Oklahoma, the front desk clerk says she called guests as the storm approached and moved them into the storm shelter. Take a look at the video shot by a man in Harding, Nebraska. Incredible pictures of the tornado there. Joining me now on the phone is Jeff Tice who took that video. So Jeff, the video that we're seeing, what was going on when you first saw that tornado?

JEFF TICE: Honestly, we saw basically, the initiation of the storm just east of a small town named Harding, Nebraska. It quickly took shape and we saw it unfortunately destroy a farm stead just northeast of the small community.

COOPER: I mean you look pretty close, Jeff, was it moving towards you or were you worried it was going to head ...

TICE: No. We were at a safe distance in the opposite direction of the movement of the storm and obviously you can see that it wasn't rain-wrapped. Those are very dangerous situations that we were trying to avoid. We are honesty, myself and a couple of friends just recreate the amateur storm chasers. Then luckily or unluckily, we got on this storm this afternoon.

COOPER: And when you say it is rain-wrapped, for those people who haven't, you know, been following tornadoes as much as you, explain what that means.

TICE: Basically, in rain-wrapped situation, it's as simple as what it sounds. There's rain surrounding the entire storm obviously that's a very dangerous situation ....

COOPER: And it makes it hard to tell, which way it's moving, where it's dying.

TICE: Absolutely. Fortunately, with the great rate on technology that's available on cell phones and obviously, social media, you can see the immediate impact.

COOPER: You talked a little bit. You said - homestead that was - that was damaged. Did you see much else?

TICE: No. Just basically, this is a rural area in south central Nebraska right on the Kansas and Nebraska border, so - there was a little damage. Now, I've heard there was a train derail from this storm about 20 miles north, you know, 10 or 15 minutes after the events you are - here.

COOPER: And have you gotten any word because we are trying to gather information about the extent of damage may be from these 25 tornadoes. We've just gotten some pictures, I should tell you, Jeff, that we are showing our viewers right now, which show some damage on the ground. I'm not sure of the exact location of this, but it looks like - certainly some - this is from Oklahoma, it's some damage to property there. Have you gotten a sort of a big picture sense at all?

TICE: You know, I think we were pretty fortunate here. Once again, it, you know, went through mainly agricultural areas. We stopped at the Farmstead, obviously, as soon as we saw the damage occurred. But I believe, it was a working farm because we saw several tractors and farms damage but the actual outcome that I believe, that, you know, no longer in use so that was very fortunate.

COOPER: That is good news.

TICE: Jeff, listen, I appreciate your work. Thank you very much, Jeff Tice. I want to get the latest on other stories we are following. Amara Walker has a "360" bulletin. Amara.

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, a chilling threat on Twitter.

[20:45:00]

WALKER: A top hacker for ISIS seen here who may have been in touch with one of the Texas gunman warns you may have seen nothing yet. Authorities believe he may have been inspired, who may have inspired the two men who shot and wounded a guard outside an event featuring cartoons on the prophet Muhammad. Both gunmen were shot and killed.

New audio released from air traffic control revealed what was happening in the cockpit when a small plane crashed in western Kentucky in January killing the pilot, his wife, one of their daughters and a niece. The other daughter, a seven-year-old was the lone survivor and walked through the dense woods to get help. Here is what her father said just moments before the crash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PILOT: Both engines are malfunctioning. Everything forward was running perfect. I have fuel. I just don't know. The right engine is out.

TOWER: NovaRay, 1291 register, how many persons on board?

PILOT: I have five on board. And I see the airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: And terrifying moments there. And a Florida man accused of holding his girlfriend hostage at knife point along with her three children. Authorities say they were rescued after the woman ordered a pizza online during the ordeal and in the comment section asked for help and told them to call 911. Anderson.

COOPER: It's really brave of her to do that. Amara, thank you.

Up next, the millionaire murder suspect accused of killing his wife, the mother of his four children and why he is facing his third trial on murder charges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Once again, the fate of a millionaire murder suspect is in the hands of a jury in upstate New York. Cal Harris, a car dealership owner is accused of killing his estranged wife on the night of September 11, 2001 when the world was focused on the terror attacks that morning. Nearly 14 years later, and Michelle Harris's body has never been found and Mr. Harris has been convicted twice for the murder, and both convictions were overturned. And here we are again, a third jury is now on the case. Randi Kaye reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAL HARRIS: I would never hurt the mother of my children. And I was never trying to hurt ...

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A rare public statement from a man who has good reason to hide from the spotlight. Cal Harris is accused of killing his estranged wife. Michelle Harris mysteriously disappeared almost 14 years ago. At the time the couple was living together on their 200 acre estate in upstate New York living separate lives while trying to finalize their divorce. At stake, Cal Harris' $5.4 million net worth.

(on camera): Did your client have reason to kill his wife to avoid a costly divorce settlement?

BRUCE BARKET, CAL HARRIS' DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely not. Divorce was ending on family terms and ending on Cal's terms. KAYE (voice over): Michelle Harris was last seen around 11 p.m. on the night of September 11th, 2001. The next morning, Cal Harris said she hadn't returned home and called the nanny who found Mrs. Harris's vehicle at the end of the driveway.

(on camera): He went to work that day, though.

BARKET: He did. When he woke up that morning, he thought that Michelle just was with her boyfriend or without drinking - as she had done on numerous occasions before.

KAYE (voice over): Michelle Harris' body was never found, nor was a murder weapon. But that didn't stop prosecutors from charging Cal Harris with second degree murder back in 2005. Investigators had found what they believed were about ten drops of blood in the house and garage. Prosecutors suggested Cal Harris struck his wife when she came home. Then got rid of the body and the weapon he used.

Cal Harris was convicted in 2007, but five months later, a stunning reversal of that verdict. The judge overturned it after this man came forward claiming he thought he saw Michelle Harris in her driveway with another man the morning after Cal Harris had allegedly murdered her. He spoke to CBS's "48 Hours."

KEVIN TUBBS, TRIAL WITNESS: There is a man in the back of the pickup, there's a woman at the side of the pickup. It's a woman I believe was Michelle Harris.

KAYE: Even so, Cal Harris still wasn't off the hook.

Two years later, in 2009 he went on trial again for his wife's murder and once again was convicted. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. But after serving about four years the New York court of appeals overturned that conviction, granting his defense team's appeal that one juror had preconceived notions about the case. The court ordered yet another new trial for Cal Harris.

Michelle Harris's family told us she feared for her life removing guns from the home and sleeping with her car keys for a quick escape. Her family says the evidence shows she made it home where the only person who ever threatened or hurt her lived. Still, the couple's four children say their dad is innocent.

KAYLA HARRIS, CAL HARRIS'S DAUGHTER: We need to know what really happened to our mother. We know our dad had nothing to do with her disappearance.

KAYE: In February, Cal Harris, returned to court for his third murder trial. Among the witnesses, his wife's hairdresser who testified he heard the defendant threaten the victim during a 2001 phone call. Drop the divorce proceedings. I will kill you. I can make you disappear. He said he overheard. And now after 11 weeks of testimony, Cal Harris' future is once again, in a jury' hands.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And we'll let you know what that jury decides. Randi joins us now from the court house. Is the jury any close to a verdict?

KAYE: It doesn't appear so, Anderson. This is day five of the jury's deliberations, and they came out today and has to see more documents, they want to see that nanny's testimony again. She was the one who found the victim's vehicle at the edge of the driveway. Yesterday, they came out, Anderson, and told the judge that they were deadlocked and the judge ordered them back to the jury room. Yesterday they asked to see pictures of the blood stains, they also asked to see the divorce documents and they requested a magnifying glass maybe to see those pictures of the blood stains more clearly. And all of this, Anderson, is going on while Cal Harris and his four children are here milling about the courthouse outside today. We saw them - they've been here every day. And I do want to point out that if he is acquitted this time around, he cannot be tried again.

[20:55:00]

KAYE: That would be double jeopardy, but if he is found guilty, and it doesn't stick, Anderson, he could be brought to trial once again.

COOPER: Fourth time. Continue to follow it. Randi, thank you very much. We'll be right back with the latest on the tornadoes in the Midwest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We want to show you some live pictures. We're watching tornadoes in three states tonight, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Millions in the path of the storm system. You see some of the damage there now from KFOR. Some of the damage on the ground. I want to bring in our meteorologist Jennifer Gray with the latest. Jennifer, what are you seeing out there?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, we have seen some pictures like that coming in and unfortunately, some of the areas we've seen the damage. We are now seeing more storms start to come through those same areas. In fact, we have another tornado warning. This is the newest one and it does include Oklahoma City, the downtown area. Bethany also included in that, War Acres and Woodlawn Park. Of course, we still have this tornado warning. That's a little bit to the southwest of that. And that is going to continue to push to the north and east. This includes Grady counties, Bridge Creek, Tuttle. We've already seen damage in Bridge Creek and we are seeing more storms come to that same area. Huge concern as well, Anderson, is going to be the flooding. When you have this much rain with storms in the same areas as before, you are going to get a lot of flooding. So, that is another concern.

[21:00:00]

COOPER: Jennifer, I appreciate the update. We'll continue to follow it throughout the night.

That does it for us. We'll see you again at 11:00 P.M. Eastern, another edition of "360". "ANTHONY BOURDAIN: PARTS UNKNOWN" starts now.