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At Least 50 Killed in Winter Tornadoes; The Latino Vote

Aired February 06, 2008 - 15:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just took the whole house, and I hung on to them and it just went over. And we thought it was a fire. And when we got up, there was no house left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The light of day shows one family's nightmare is multiplied in four Southern states.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And more than mere buildings are lost. At least 50 people are dead after a freakish outbreak of winter tornadoes.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don lemon live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Communities from Arkansas to Kentucky are smashed up, torn down, flipped over and they're without power all because of tornadoes that killed at least 50 people and hurt more than 100. We will have the latest from Arkansas and Tennessee and also Kentucky and we are bringing in some amazing photos sent by you, the CNN I- Reporter.

PHILLIPS: Speaking of amazing, we are going to hear from Matt Taylor now. He's that student that survived the tornado at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, literally sucked away from that tornado from his dorm room, thrown under a slab of concrete, but he survived. Here is his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT TAYLOR, INJURED IN TORNADO: We were a actually in the commons and we had been watching the weather on TV. And to get back to my room I would have had to go outside. So, I was just staying down there with them, and it started to hailing really bad and the door flew open.

And so, we were trying to get into the hallway in the R.D.'s apartment, but I wasn't able to get into the doorway before I was being sucked towards the door. And the lights went out and I was being sucked towards the door. So, I tried to grab a gumball machine. And the gumball machine came loose, and about the time I was sucked to the door, the whole building just collapsed on top of me. So...

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. And so were you completely under the rubble? Was it part of you?

TAYLOR: Yes. It was actually -- well, they said it was a two- car-length concrete slab and it was completely covering me. I could move everything except for my hips down. So...

PHILLIPS: Could you see anything?

TAYLOR: I couldn't. I could tell that I was outside, that the building had fell, because there was rain hitting my face and I was in water, but after that it was silent and I didn't know if anyone was around me, so I started screaming. And then I heard other people that were saying they were stuck, too. So...

PHILLIPS: And so how did you get out from underneath the rubble?

TAYLOR: Well, my roommate Aaron was the first (INAUDIBLE) They actually had made it into the hallway and they came out, but they were not able to get me out, because the concrete was so heavy. So I had to wait close to maybe an hour or hour and 15 minutes for emergency personnel to come and they used air bags to get me out and lift the concrete up.

PHILLIPS: How did you stay calm? How did you not panic? How did you not get claustrophobic?

TAYLOR: Well, I was a little panicked at first. I was more worried that it was -- because I hit my head pretty hard and I was bleeding and that sort of thing. But I couldn't really move, so (INAUDIBLE) panic about. I can't really go anywhere. So, but I was conscious.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: How did you stay calm?

TAYLOR: Well, actually, I was saying I had so many -- actually, Danny (ph) is one of the guys that we just sat there and just reminded each other -- we were praying for each other and just pretty much prayed the whole time. And then emergency personnel got there and said, we're going to get you out of here. And they were praying for us, too.

There were so many people around just praying and doing all kinds of stuff, and we never (INAUDIBLE) the whole time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, Macon County, Tennessee, is northeast of Nashville on the Kentucky state line.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is there -- Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, just devastation here, as we have been seeing all over the Southeast here in Lafayette.

This is what is left of the Macon County Veterinary Hospital, just completely trashed, splintered. You can see here where the wall down here was just pulled right off the building. We have been watching folks here cleaning up and all that. And, of course, the woman who runs all this and is in charge of all of the animals here, Dr. Lorraine Purchis.

Lorraine, tell me, when you first got here, were the animals OK? Were you...

DR. LORRAINE PURCHIS, RESIDENT OF TENNESSEE: I -- when I first got here, of course, what you see is pretty much what I saw, minus some of the stuff that was in here.

The animals that were in the clinic actually were fine, very unscathed, lots of insulation on them, but otherwise fine. I have got a separate detached boarding facility, and the animals that were in the boarding facility probably didn't fare quite so well.

I have two that we can't find. OK? And we are still looking. And we can't find them at all. And then I had one, that part of my block wall landed on her, and she has got a back injury, but now she does seem to be doing a little better.

(CROSSTALK)

DORNIN: And, at this point, where do you go from here? I noticed you have had a lot of neighbors coming in helping, that sort of thing.

PURCHIS: I have got -- actually, they are not neighbors. They're my clients. I have probably got the best clients in the world. And I have probably had 100 people come by today and ask me if they can help me.

And a bunch of them have pitched in and tried to start cleaning up this mess that we have gotten. And everybody wants me to rebuild. So, I guess we will rebuild.

DORNIN: All right. Great. Thank you so much, Dr. Lorraine Purchis.

PURCHIS: Thank you.

DORNIN: Good luck.

PURCHIS: Thank you.

DORNIN: And just one of the many stories of course. And Dr. Purchis lucky enough, of course, she was not in the building at the time and her house is OK.

But a lot of neighbors, a lot of folks in this area, which they call Brattentown (ph), part of Lafayette, with the houses completely destroyed. Many people are having time getting in because the rescue crews have asked people to stay out of the area until they can go through some of the debris and see if there are any other victims.

So, Don, just a lot of shell-shocked people right now trying to figure out what to do next.

LEMON: I know, Rusty, you have to stand there and talk to folks and do you job, but it just breaks your heart, doesn't it?

DORNIN: It absolutely does.

LEMON: All right. CNN's Rusty Dornin, thank you very much for that.

LEMON: One tornado took dead aim at a university campus in Jackson, Tennessee. It ripped apart dormitories, leaving some students trapped.

CNN's Sean Callebs has made his way to Union University.

And, Sean, we have heard the shocking story from Matt Taylor and his roommate, Aaron, and how they survived, and the fact that nobody has turned up dead, thank God.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is truly amazing.

And we talked to the university president earlier today, and that is the one thing that everybody here is talking about. A campus 3,300 people took a direct hit. Want to point your attention back this way just a little bit. This splintered area, the remnants of the dorm. And in the foreground, you can see some students milling around. This is something recent. Only in the last hour or so have we seen this.

These are people trying to make their way back into the dorm rooms, get whatever belongings they can. If you look up in the foreground here, you will see a woman in a pink fleece outfit. I have been watching her for some time. She has not moved. It has just been stunned silence from the people who lived in that dorm trying to determine what happened, because there were dozens of people in that facility last night when the roof was just ripped apart.

We know a number of them were hurt. Thankfully, none of those injuries were life-threatening, Kyra, as we talked about, but it is going to be a difficult period for this university, this founded back in the early 1800s, but it's going to be closed for a couple of weeks. All 3,300 students were told they are going to have to leave for a while as people here try to put the campus back together and figure out a way to get on with this school year.

And what is going to make it difficult here, Kyra, students here are from 30 different states in the United State. And also because there's a strong affiliation with Southern Baptists, there are students from a number of countries. And those people have -- it's going to difficult for them to leave and then come back.

But we know a lot of the churches are opening their doors, opening their hearts. And one thing we do see in even the worst of times, it tends to brings out some of the best in a lot of people. PHILLIPS: And that is true. John, just pointing out that the two students that I talked to, Biblical studies mayors, they said this was a true testament to their faith, to their major, and seeing just the power of God, as they say, in the fact that they survived such destruction.

CALLEBS: And also, this area has been hit hard by tornadoes. We talked to emergency management authorities here in the county, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003. Then they had a brief respite and now 2008 and in three of those years, there were fatalities here in this area.

So, Tornado Alley can really show its teeth at times, and it's certainly done that early in this season. We know it could be another busy one, like we saw last year.

PHILLIPS: Sean Callebs, we will keep talking. Appreciate the update.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

PHILLIPS: In the path of the powerful and deadly storm, if it was standing yesterday, it is probably not today. A Kentucky legislator joins us live on the state of emergency.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Three fifteen Eastern time right now. Here's three of the stories we are working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The New York medical examiner says an accidental overdose of six prescription drugs killed Heath Ledger. According to the report, the 28-year-old actor died from the combined effects of drugs used to treat pain, anxiety and insomnia.

We're just about two-and-a-half hours away from a Senate showdown on the House-passed rebate plan. Senate Democrats are hoping to add benefits for the elderly, the disabled, and the unemployed.

And the Defense Department says that this video shows just how far al Qaeda will go to recruit new fighters. It was seized during in Iraq and reportedly shows children 11 and younger training with pistols, AK-47s and grenade launchers.

LEMON: The race for the White House one day after Super Tuesday. As the smoke clears, Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are both celebrating wins across the country, with one state, New Mexico, still too close to call.

Clinton came out on top in eight states, including the big prize, California, and her home state New York. She also won American Samoa. Obama won 13 states,including his home state, Illinois.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it would be a problem if Senator Clinton's voters disliked me or my voters disliked Senator Clinton. I don't think that is the case.

I think that our voters are passionate about bringing about change. And the numbers that I mentioned earlier, Dean (ph), 10 million people choosing Democratic ballots vs. six million choosing Republican, indicates the degree to which the Democratic nominee, I think, will be able to consolidate the Democratic base, and, if I am the nominee, bring independents and some Republicans into that base, in order to do extraordinarily well in the general election.

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Together, we are going to take back America, because I see an America where our economy works for everyone, not just those at the top, where prosperity is shared and we create good jobs that stay right here in America.

I see an America where we stand up to the oil companies and the oil-producing countries, where we launch a clean energy revolution and finally confront the climate crisis.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Republican front-runner John McCain emerged from Super Tuesday even further out in front with wins in nine states, including California and New York. Mike Huckabee won five states, four in the heart of the South.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Do we have a lot of work to do to unite the entire party? Sure. I have been involved in many, many campaigns. And, after the campaigns are over, you have always got the task of uniting the party behind the nominee, whether it be a congressional race or whether it be a Senate race or whether it be a presidential race. And I have spent my political career in doing that. And I am confident we will do that with the Republican Party now.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we did last night was win in states a Republican has to win in order to capture the White House, and we did it going against the headwinds of talk radio and the pundits saying that I had simply disappeared, I was not even relevant, didn't matter. And people had to go out to vote for me, and vote really in the wind of all of that kind of noise that they were hearing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: For Mitt Romney, a less-than-super Tuesday. He has been meeting today with his campaign advisers to plot his way forward.

Romney picked up wins in seven states, but fell far behind in delegates. The all-important delegate count, well, somebody will have to get 2,025 votes to win the Democratic nomination. Here is where it stands right now, on the Democratic side, 818 total for Hillary Clinton and the rest for Barack Obama.

On the Republican side, the magic number is 1,191. Here is where the race stands for the GOP candidates, 680 McCain, 270 Romney, 176 for Mike Huckabee.

PHILLIPS: Leading our Political Ticker, at least for now, the Latino vote is helping Hillary Clinton stay ahead of Barack Obama. Super Tuesday exit polls shows that Clinton got almost two-thirds of the Latino vote. She ran especially well among the older Latinos and women.

And I know you have been wondering what the heck happened in America Samoa? Well, Hillary Clinton got 57 of the vote in yesterday's Samoan Democratic caucuses, good for six delegates to the national controversy. Barack Obama got 42 percent and three delegates. Now you know.

And if you would like to see the complete breakdown of how America voted state by state, check out CNN's Election Center at CNNPolitics.com. You can also see the contests ahead, analysis and much more at CNNPolitics.com.

LEMON: Every time somebody explains those delegates and super- delegates to me, I get it, and then I don't get it. I'm like, wait a minute. Explain that to me again.

PHILLIPS: You are supposed to get it.

LEMON: I'm supposed to get it. No, I do. I do.

PHILLIPS: That's not a good thing.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: I do get it. But it is -- it's sort of confusing when you consider factoring in this goes to the convention and what you do, and whatever.

PHILLIPS: All right. You just confused me.

LEMON: Yes, there you go.

Well, he may be way out in front, but that doesn't mean all Republicans are behind John McCain. We will look at the candidate's long-running conflict with conservatives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS REPORT)

LEMON: Latino voters, a growing force in American politics. So, did they line up as expected in the Clinton/Obama race yesterday? We will ask our panel of experts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: A wide swath from Arkansas to Kentucky -- well, it's smashed up, torn down, flipped over and without power today. And it's all due to an angry weather system that spun off tornadoes that killed at least 50 people and hurt more than 100.

Well, a neighborhood in Atkins, Arkansas was ground zero for one of the first tornadoes. Three people were killed -- all family members, all in one family.

CNN's Dan Lothian takes us to the heart of that community.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cleanup in this community already underway. You can see people are removing debris, cutting down a lot of these trees that fell down in this yard. This house here, an amazing story -- a family of six people. They huddled in the bathroom in the middle of that home, in the center of that home. The home around them was destroyed -- the roof blown off, a wall collapsed but they survived -- amazingly.

Across the street here, where the cleanup -- you can see all the equipment here. You have power crews who are working on power lines and gas crews who are trying to make sure that there is no gas that's leaking here. This home over here, the people who owned it lived not far away a few years ago. Their home was destroyed by fire. Now they move here and this home has been destroyed by a tornado.

Right next to them, this looks like a landfill. In fact, three generations of one family live here. There were three homes, two main structures and then a trailer home. Of course now, everything has been demolished. Earlier, we were out here when the family members were digging through the rubble, looking for anything that they could salvage -- pictures, clothing. It's very difficult for people who have lost everything. This particular family not sure if they will rebuild.

That's the very latest from here. Now back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That tornado outbreak is one of the deadliest in years. President Bush has already been in touch with the governors of Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a bad storm that affected a lot of people in a variety of states. The administration is reaching out to state officials. I've just called the governors of the affected states. I wanted them to know that this government will help them. But, more importantly, I wanted them to be able to tell the people in their states that the American people hold them up and hold those who suffered up in prayer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The Federal Emergency Management Agency is working with its local and state offices to help those who need it.

Let's go to Jacqui Jeras in the Weather Center, where she's tracking those deadly storms -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Kyra.

Yes, the threat of tornadoes has been diminished now. We're really starting to focus on the winter aspect of this storm. And Chicago is just getting hit extremely hard at this hour. There you can see a live picture from CLTV. The downtown area not so bad. The streets are relatively clear. But you just get on the north side of town and we're getting storm reports of snowfall at least 10 inches. So it's sandwiched from the north side of Chicagoland up toward Milwaukee, where we're getting the worst of it.

But notice those flags kind of flapping in the wind a little bit. The winds have been very strong and gusting between 30 and 40 miles per hour. There are major delays at Chicago O'Hare. We're talking about three-and-a-half hours to arrive and I'm sure there have been many cancellations, as well. So use a lot of caution traveling with the northern tier of this storm system.

And there you can see some of those heavier bands up toward Waukegan and heading up toward Milwaukee. We just got some reports out of West Bend, right up there. About 11 inches of snow on the ground. And there's going to be quite a bit of blowing and drifting with those strong winds -- around 30 miles per hour. That's sustained, not to mention some of those strong gusts.

In addition to Chicago O'Hare, we have many other delays, like New York City/La Guardia, Newark, San Francisco and Eagle Airport there in Colorado looking at just some minor delays there.

We do expect a lot of treacherous travel all across the Midwest and the Northeast. So even though the severe aspect of the storm winds down, we still maintain a lot of thunderstorms here along the Gulf Coast and into southern parts of Georgia. Damaging winds remain a possibility -- 60 to 70 miles per hour. And there you can see in orange where we have some of those severe thunderstorm warnings, which remain in place.

We also have some isolated storms becoming much more widespread in Eastern Kentucky on up into Ohio and into West Virginia. Isolated severe storms will be possible here throughout the rest of the afternoon and then stretching toward the mid-Atlantic. And we're not even going to die down with this thing, by the way, guys, tomorrow. The Northeastern Corridor will see the rain -- freezing rain and snow. But the Southeast will be faring much better.

PHILLIPS: Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much.

And if you see severe weather happening in your area, send us an I-Report. All you have do is go to CNN.com, click on I-Report or type ireport@CNN.com right into your cell phone and you can share your photos or video with us. LEMON: Super Tuesday gave John McCain a big boost in the Republican delegate count. But for Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the race is still close. Earlier in the CNN NEWSROOM we talked about Super Tuesday's results with Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez and Democratic commentator Carl Jeffers. Among the key issues, the Latino vote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Latino voters are proving to be swing voters. They are open-minded, independent. The base of support that she's earning is definitely older Hispanics, people that are part of the established, kind of Democratic primary process. But that being said, these are critical states that have an emerging Hispanic population that wants to get engaged.

LEMON: OK. So on the Democratic side, Latinos favored Hillary Clinton, which helped her in California and then also in Arizona.

Why -- why not -- and I'm going to let you talk about this first Leslie, and then we'll get Carl to can jump in.

SANCHEZ: All right.

LEMON: What is it? Is there some sort of a chasm or something between African-American voters and Latino voters? Why don't they support Barack Obama as much as they support Hillary Clinton?

SANCHEZ: I think it's generational. I think a lot of people want to say that that's going to be the case -- and in some communities, some niches of the Hispanic community, that may be so. But look at how diverse the Hispanic community is -- 23 three different nations, multiple languages.

If you're looking at the fact, she got support from elderly or more senior Hispanics and newer immigrants. She was out moving a message, (SPEAKING SPANISH), with the United Farm Workers, which is the 1960s civil rights movement. That doesn't apply and really connect with young -- what I would call young bloods...

LEMON: OK.

SANCHEZ: ... mainstream, economically conservative Hispanics, who are very interested in John McCain and Barack Obama.

LEMON: Carl?

CARL JEFFERS, DEMOCRATIC COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that we're being very generous here in toning down the degree of the schism here. The reality is there are major problems in the country between African-Americans and Hispanics that go beyond, really, just the politics.

You have gang wars in Texas and in California. You have the competition for jobs. You have a situation where both groups have generally been at the bottom of the ladder -- socially, economically and politically. So the opportunity for one to perhaps reach to the very top as a nominee for president of the United States may, in fact, engender some jealousy or resentment by the other.

LEMON: Mike Huckabee seems to be sort of the surprise in all of this. No one thought he was going to do as well -- at least if you look at the pundits, or it you at least look at the other candidates -- did not think he was going to do as well as he did. And probably Mitt Romney is the one going hey, what happened?

SANCHEZ: I would -- I would say that that's very true. You know, what Governor Huckabee does is he evangelizes voters. He has a constituency that is very much based on a grassroots operation that is mobilized on the themes of social values he talks about. You cannot discount that. I think that's something that John McCain and Huckabee both have, is grassroots operations. When McCain was getting those endorsements from the governors, they were able to mobilize in those competitive states.

LEMON: Carl, what do you -- does this -- what does this mean for Mitt Romney? I mean might he be thinking -- obviously, he is probably the only one in this -- or one of the only ones -- actually, the only one on the Republican side, because McCain had run out of money and Huckabee not a multi-millionaire like he is. Romney -- what do you think, is he that to use his own money to stay in this race or do you think it's -- this may be done for him?

JEFFERS: Well, it's interesting, Don, because Mitt Romney has actually already invested $35 million of his own money in this race. And none of them expected that Mike Huckabee would remain in the race to this degree, to actually be hurting Mitt Romney versus hurting John McCain. And that's what's happening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, what is next? Four contests on Saturday in Louisiana, Washington State, Kansas and Nebraska.

If you'd like to see the complete breakdown of how America voted state by state, check on CNN's election center at CNNPolitics.com. You can see also see the contest ahead, analysis and much, much more. That's at CNNPolitics.com.

PHILLIPS: He may be way out in front, but that doesn't mean that all Republicans are behind John McCain. We're going to look at the candidate's long-running conflict with conservatives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Several presidential candidates are heading off of the campaign trail and onto the Senate floor for a showdown over economic stimulus. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been summoned back to Washington for a pivotal vote. Senate Democratic leaders are trying to make changes to the House-backed rebate plan, but the vote is expected to close.

Republican John McCain is also expected back for the vote. Earlier today, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged the Senate to stay close to the House bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: I am increasingly concerned that in the Senate, the bazaar is open and the special interests are coming to the trough and that when I'm reading about and hearing about things like tax rebates for coal companies, the benefits for oil well drilling and things like this, I'm concerned that it's going to get bogged down. I'm concerned if we see things that aren't stimulus and aren't going to get money to the American people quickly, it will get bogged down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The Senate vote is expected about 5:45 p.m. Eastern time.

LEMON: Well, if you listen to the airwaves, you might think it is a war. Conservative radio talk show hosts -- well, they've taken dead aim at presidential Republican frontrunner John McCain. They don't think he is conservative enough. Are they now turning on Mitt Romney too? Here's the latest from CNN's Carol Costello.

I don't know what to think when I'm listening to the radio. I'm like, who is mad at who this time? It just keeps going and going and going.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, conservative talkers just don't like John McCain...

LEMON: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... basically because he's reached across the aisle and he's included some Democrats in his plans and ideas for the country, but, you know, listening to the radio this morning, conservative talkers, and watching that image of McCain, you know, declaring victory on Super Tuesday, it was like watching a part of their world view die.

And like I said, Rush Limbaugh, for instance, says that McCain's win was really a win for liberal Democrats because part of McCain's platform was to reach across party lines.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: And what we want is to defeat those people. We view those people as threats to the American way of life as we've always known it.

LAURA INGRAHAM, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Before people start writing again the obituary, whether it's to talk radio -- blah, blah, blah, we've heard that before -- or the obituary of conservatism, remember what was happening last night. In state after state, John McCain wasn't winning conservative votes. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And you heard Laura Ingraham there at the last. And she's right. John McCain did come in third among conservative voters. But, you know, his victory on Super Tuesday, you know, it brought about this talk of McCain/Huckabee ticket. And that is something that really sent radio talkers into a tizzy, in fact, most of them saying this morning that if that happened, they would just cast their vote for Hillary Clinton. Although when all is said and done, most conservative voters who called into those shows this morning said if that happens, they just wouldn't go out and vote -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. I heard some of that. And to hear some of the conservatives say that they would, you know, remember the election and when the Clintons were in the White House, that they would vote for Hillary Clinton, that's saying a lot, Carol Costello.

Any silver lining for the evening, though, for the conservative talkers?

COSTELLO: The only silver lining was that John McCain did come in third among conservatives. So that sort of meant that the conservative push for conservatives not to vote for John McCain worked -- although they never thought Mike Huckabee would be as strong as he was last night, you know, literally pushing Mitt Romney from the picture -- almost. We'll see what happens later today, whether Mitt Romney stays in the race.

LEMON: Carol, it's always a pleasure to have you. You should come by -- drop by more often and say hello to us.

COSTELLO: Any time.

LEMON: All right. And you can catch Carol -- we watch her every day, watch her full reports in "THE SITUATION ROOM." It's straight ahead right at the top of the hour, 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

PHILLIPS: We've heard from two Union University students out of Jackson, Tennessee. We've heard their harrowing escapes from the tornado damage there. You'll hear it again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All morning we've been talking about these storms. They've just stampeded across Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. Now we're getting word the death toll is rising. Fifty-two lives taken in the storms -- 28 of those lives in Tennessee. A direct hit. It doesn't get more direct than this.

Students on the campus of Union University in West Tennessee were warned about the chances of tornadoes, but nobody expected dorms to collapse and people to be trapped in destruction on this scale. We spoke a short time ago to a student who rode out that tornado.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AARON GILBERT, SURVIVED STORM, DORM COLLAPSE: Actually I was in the Waters Commons. It was -- it's the meeting place where the R.A. desk is, around the dorms. Me and my roommate were going to check on everybody. We made sure everyone was in the downstairs rooms and in the bathrooms. And then we ran into the girl's complex to make sure the girl R.A.s were OK.

Then we saw the clouds starting to drop and things started to pick up. And we ran across to the back of the Waters Common. Then we saw clouds starting to drop. And I had called my boss, the R.D., Mario Cobo, over to look at everything. When he ran over, we opened the door and the wind picked up really big. And we started yelling at everyone to go in -- go inside and get in the hallway.

We ran and got in the hallway of the Waters Commons. And then my roommate yelled out I've got to go shut the door. We forgot to shut the door. It won't shut itself. As then as soon as he said that, my boss got in the hallway with us and then it was as if everything blew up. It's -- I mean like the building imploded on itself. And me and some other guys were sitting there in the fetal position and a door had fallen on top of us and wedged itself between the wall and us, stopping the ceiling from coming down on us.

And we -- my ears pressurized and we heard the windows bust out. And then I waited. And then I realized what was going on. And I remembered that my roommate and my friend had run out to go shut that door. And so after everything was over, we started to yell for him. And he was screaming and he was under -- he was trapped under about two layers of concrete. And we went over there and found him. And we waited until the fire crew got there so they could find him. And then we found out there was about seven soccer players or so trapped in what used to be the bathroom area.

And we waited then. And then me and another friend went and assessed the damages and made sure everyone was out before we came back, to try to help as much as we could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: About 50 people from the Union campus were treated for injuries, but nobody was killed there.

We have more images from Jackson, Tennessee. I-Reporter Tracy Weidner says that she took these pictures near Union University, which, as you know, took that direct hit. This Exxon station across from the university also was heavily damaged, as was the medical office just beyond the hospital. Authorities say they still can't believe that no one was critically injured.

If you see severe weather happening in your area, send us your I- Reports. Just go to CNN.com, click on I-Report or type I-Report@com into your cell phone and share your photos or video.

LEMON: Central Arkansas -- mile after mile of destruction. Reporter Heather Crawford is with our Little Rock affiliate, KATV. She's about 70 miles away, in the town of Atkins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEATHER CRAWFORD, KATV CORRESPONDENT: I am standing on a concrete slab. Until yesterday, this was someone's home. They'd actually just moved in on Saturday and were renting this house. Five people in a closet -- they survived the storm. They made it out alive. They held tight in a closet and when the storm passed, there was nothing left. They were buried underneath this rubble.

And it's stories like that -- right across the road, a woman was inside her mobile home. That mobile home is now gone. She was thrown outside of the mobile home and was laying on the ground there. It took emergency crews, I'm told, from residents here, about an hour to get in here, because there were so many downed trees and power lines. When they got in, they had to MediVac her. And she is now one of the six people who we're told who is in pretty bad condition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, we do have word today from Atkins, Arkansas that a couple and their 11-year-old daughter died in their home there. They reportedly stayed behind to take care of their horses.

PHILLIPS: Storm clouds over the East Texas brought more than rain. The towns of Lindale and Tyler saw hail the size of ping pong balls. It came down so hard, it punctured the roofs of two school buildings, flooding the insides. Needless to say, classes are cancelled today.

LEMON: Kitty catches a purr -- (LAUGHTER) -- I can't help but think about that anchorman squirrel video when I see this. Hang loose. You're going to watch her hang 10 -- or should I say 20?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Time now to check what's clicking at CNN.com -- some of our most watched video.

Tales from the tornadoes -- a college student describes how he and his dorm mates rode out last night's storms.

Natalee Holloway's father responds to that shocking video of suspect Joran van der Sloot. He told Nancy Grace he was shell-shocked by the hidden camera comments.

And lots surfers are hot doggers. But this one is a pretty cool cat. She regularly hangs 10 with her dad in the waves off of the coast of Peru.

That makes all of that top 10 list of everything, at CNN.com. You think Wolf can surf like that?

PHILLIPS: Wolf Blitzer can do anything.

Isn't that right -- Wolf Blitzer? WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I can't surf. I never learned how to do that.

LEMON: Oh, Wolf.

BLITZER: But one of these days, you never know. I'm not a big...

PHILLIPS: I'll teach you. I'm a California girl.

BLITZER: I know you are. All right, guys, stand by...

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: ... because coming up at the top of the hour, Mike Huckabee -- he says he's energized by his multiple wins in Southern states.

But what's his strategy for the long haul? I'll ask him. He's standing by to join us live right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM".

After nearly half the nation voted, the Democratic race remains incredibly close. What will it take for one of these candidates to pull ahead?

And the deadliest tornado outbreak in more than a decade. Dozens of tornadoes ripping through the Central U.S. the death toll climbing today. We'll have the latest.

All that, guys, coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM".

LEMON: Wolf, do you...

PHILLIPS: How about roller skating?

LEMON: Oh, jeez.

PHILLIPS: Wake boarding?

LEMON: He's not going to -- he's not answering.

PHILLIPS: Not roller skating. Wake boarding?

LEMON: Hey, Wolf...

BLITZER: None of that. No.

LEMON: You sound rested, my friend. Did you get some sleep?

BLITZER: I rested. I slept. I exercised this morning. I feel good.

LEMON: Yes, good. It was a -- it was a crazy night last night and you handled it pretty well, my friend.

BLITZER: Yes. Thank you.

LEMON: All right, thanks, Wolf. We'll see you at the top of the hour.

PHILLIPS: The closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street.

LEMON: Susan Lisovicz is standing by with a final look at the trading day -- numbers up or down, Susan?

LISOVICZ: The numbers are down and they've been down all week, after the best week of the year.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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