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Cowboys Practice Bubble Collapses; Italian Automaker Fiat Could Become New Owner of U.S. Automaker Chrysler

Aired May 02, 2009 - 17:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We start with a developing story out of Texas. It is just coming into CNN. Here is what we're hearing: we are hearing that the air supported bubble over the Dallas Cowboys training facility has collapsed. It collapsed moments ago during a thunderstorm.

Again, this information is just coming in to us, and we are just reading here from off the wires and also from our CNN affiliates and associates down there. They said an ambulance was seen at the scene, arriving just a short time ago. So far, no reports of injuries, but it is just happening. We have reporters and personnel that have been dispatched to the area. And we are going to keep following this developing story and we're going to bring you details.

But here's what the information that we're getting here at CNN -- and this is according to the affiliate WFAA. They're telling us, because of bad weather, the reports that an air bubble over the Dallas Cowboys indoor practice stadium -- you are looking at a live picture of downtown Dallas. Apparently some bad weather is moving through the area. Because of that, an air bubble over that practice stadium, indoor practice stadium, collapsed during a severe thunderstorm.

It happened really about a half hour ago or less. Police, of course, fire officials on the scene. I want to look over real quick to see what the Associated Press is reporting, because something is coming off of the wire from that. Again, the update from them is that emergency medical technicians were seen entering the portion of the double, and they're still trying to figure out if anyone is inside.

But we have no reports now of any injuries.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: And just getting word also from our national desk that Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, says the players and the staff have all been accounted for. The owner was at the Kentucky Derby, interviewed just moments ago about that. Ail the staff and the players accounted for. Again, rescue teams still on the scene there, in Irvine, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, about this bubble at the practice stadium collapsing just a short time ago. We are going to stay on top of this story, and bring you the very latest. Again, players and staff accounted for. Not sure if any other folks were in there.

Now to a legal case that crosses so many emotional fault lines in our society. Also a developing story here tonight, the economy, race, the justice system, immigration and equal treatment under the law. It happened late yesterday in a blue collar town in Eastern Pennsylvania. Two teens acquitted of murder and hate crime charges in the case of a late night brawl that left a Mexican immigrant named Luis Ramirez dead.

The teens and their friends, who joined them in the July fight, are all white, as was the injury. The brawl included facial epitaphs shouted at Ramirez. The verdicts are in, but the debate is far from over.

I want to bring in now Joscelyn Moes, of WFMZ. She covered the verdict. She who joins me now from Allentown, Pennsylvania. As I understand, this has been a very emotional few hours here. Some people agree with this verdict. There were cheers in the court room. But the family of Mr. Ramirez outraged at this point.

JOSCELYN MOES, WFMZ PENNSYLVANIA: Yes, people on both sides, Don. After the verdicts were read, the defendants hugged each other. Their friends and family cheered and clapped. But some other community members were left in disbelief.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was right from the start. That's my comment.

MOES (voice-over): Emotions ran high as the defendant's friends and family came out of the courtroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank god The jury listened carefully.

MOES: The jury reached its verdict after seven hours and 40 minutes. Seventeen-year-old Brannon McCarsky (ph) was found guilty of simple assault. He was acquitted of all other charges, including third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation. Nineteen-year-old Derrick Donchack (ph) was also found guilty of simple assault. He was acquitted of aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation.

The verdict left some community members disgusted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope they are going to live with themselves for what they did.

MOES: The charges stemmed from the beating death of 25-year-old Luis Ramirez in Shenandoah County last July. Prosecutors have called Ramirez's death a hate crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a long case and the jury has rendered their verdict. And they took a long time and deliberated in the case, and we respect their verdict. At this time, we have no further comment.

MOES: All along, defense attorneys called Ramirez the aggressor and said the brawl was a street fight that ended tragically.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In my mind, it was the lack of evidence to tie these kids to these serious charges they brought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOES: As for what's next, a Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund is calling on the Justice department to take action. Don?

LEMON: Joscelyn, tell us about the community. I know it's a town of about 5,000 to 6,000 people there. It is very racially polarized, especially when it comes to Hispanics and whites in the community. Talk to us about the tension there, because we understand there is some tensions, more tension brought about by this verdict.

MOES: Absolutely. We talked with folks in Shenandoah this morning and there are some who believe the jury made the right decision. They believe justice was served. They say it was a street fight gone bad. Then there are folks on the opposite side who say that justice was not served in this case. And now they are asking the question who is going to pay for Ramirez's death?

LEMON: It couldn't have come as a surprise to the people there that, no matter which way this verdict was, there would be some outrage. Were there any precautions taken? What did people talk about in this community, honestly, really, about this verdict, as you have been hearing over the last couple of hours?

MOES: A lot of people -- when the verdict came down last night, there were a lot of concern as to whether -- what was going to be taking place. It was pretty calm last night. We heard reports that were some people who honked their car horns, and there were some people who came out into the streets yelling. But that was really about it.

As for the rest of it, it's really just people on both sides. I think we talked to someone who was concerned that this could cause further risk in the community.

LEMON: All right. Let's hope that doesn't happen. Joscelyn Moes of WFMZ, our affiliate there. We appreciate it. There's a lot more to talk about in this case. I want to get to criminal defense attorney Richard Herman. He joins me now by telephone.

Mr. Herman, thanks so much for joining us. Originally, this was -- I guess they tried to pursue this as a hate crime or ethnic intimidation crime. As it turns out, that didn't happen. Tough to prove?

RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Don, they did bring charges of ethnic intimidation, as well as aggravated assault and murder. And the two defendants were acquitted of the three degree murder, the aggravated assault, and the ethnic intimidation.

At first glance, an all white jury, six white men, six white women, you might say, oh, this is a racially motivated jury. They came in. They protected their own. A small mining town; a Mexican immigrant, undocumented, by the way. They are looking at all these white boys that were involved in this melee.

The problem with the government's case is the two witnesses that they brought in, one of them pled guilty to ethnic intimidation, and acknowledged throwing racial epitaphs at the victim here, Mr. Ramirez. And the other defendant testified that he actually punched Mr. Ramirez in the head after Ramirez came back after walking away from the brawl.

LEMON: Stop right there. Because you said after Mr. Ramirez came back. I wasn't sitting there during the court procedure. But when I read Mr. Ramirez came back after these guys, that may have been the thing that the jury may have decided well, he went after them. They may have called him names and hit him, but then he went back after them. And so maybe it wasn't as intentional as many made it out to be.

HERMAN: Right, Don. I think that's how it unfolded. There was definitely a ruckus. There were punches thrown. And Mr. Ramirez allegedly was walking away from the scene when one of the government witnesses antagonized him with racial intimidation or ethnic slurs. And then Mr. Ramirez came back to the melee, when further fighting ensued.

Now the one defendant, Brannon McCarsky, he was charged with delivering the fatal blow to the skull of Mr. Ramirez, which the coroner said that was the cause of death, blunt trauma to the skull.

LEMON: I just have one quick question for you, that you can answer, because there are some groups there -- and the group -- let's see, it's an Hispanic -- the American Legal Defense and Education Fund, who attended the trial. They are asking the Justice Department to look into this for justice for Mr. Ramirez. Do you think that this will end up going to the Department of Justice? And do you think it will have a much bigger platform after this?

HERMAN: I think it will absolutely go for an evaluation to the Department of Justice for civil rights violations. However, you know, the jury has spoken here. The way the facts came down as a read them, beyond a reasonable doubt is a very high standard. Apparently, the government's case was not persuasive enough.

LEMON: It would be federal charges if this does happen. That is going to be very interesting, because immigration is going to come up, the economy, all sorts of things, race. This will be interesting to watch. WE thank you very much for joining us, Richard Herman.

HERMAN: Sure Don. It's a tragedy. Any way you look at it, it's just a tragedy.

LEMON: It certainly is. We want to talk to someone who covers these cases a lot and has a lot of experience with this. We are going get to her in just a little bit. Our Ashleigh Banfield works for True TV. She was joining us on the phone a second ago. We're going to try to get her back.

According to Ashleigh, in trials like this that she has covered, it is very tough to prove when you have a number of people, of defendants who have been charged with these things, and you have so many people or two of them -- it's tough to figure out who exactly did what at what time. And there is no federal hate crime law in this, makes it much more tough to prove.

Ashleigh, not sure if you heard what I said. I understand you are back. Ashleigh is the anchor and legal correspondent for True TV. Ashleigh, when you have a number of people like this involved, these are tough cases to prove, because you don't know exactly what happened, who threw the fatal blow or what.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, TRUE TV: You're right. I think if you ask most prosecutors who are dealing with multiple defendants -- in this particular case, there were at least four. It is extraordinarily difficult to clear the fog of a fight. I have covered cases before were there were a number of, believe it or not, off duty police officers involved with beating up a young man. The evidence was overwhelming that they were involved, but not one of them could can get a conviction, because it was too difficult to determine who did what.

In this case, Mr. McCarsky, it was alleged that he was the who delivered the fatal kick, but the other defendants had suggested otherwise. One said one thing and others said another.

LEMON: We have been talking a lot about hate crimes. This was initially deemed as a hate crime. What do they call it there, Ashleigh? Is it ethnic intimidation?

BANFIELD: Ethnic intimidation. Every state can have a different version of the wording, but essentially it's the same thing.

LEMON: For Pennsylvania, it's ethnic intimidation. When it comes to hate crime laws, as I was saying to our viewers before you joined us, it's really tough to prove because there is no federal law. How long has it been since Matthew Shepard? That legislation is still languishing.

BANFIELD: It is. It's been 10 years since Matthew Shepard died in Laramie, Wyoming. And since then, his mother Judy has forged an incredible fight to try to get some kind of federal legislation in place. It's been languishing only because it's had several go arounds within the House and the Senate. And no one seems to be able to come to some sort of a consensus.

There was even giant news made this week about a Republican Congresswoman named Virginia Foxx of North Carolina who even went so far as declare that the Matthews Shepard might have been a hoax, with regards to hate crime legislations She said she chose the wrong wording. But what she meant to say was that since Matthew Shepard's case wasn't a hate crime, because it didn't exist in Wyoming, that perhaps this wasn't necessarily the right case to peg federal hate crimes on.

LEMON: Ashleigh, as someone who is on both sides -- you cover the legal part of it, but you are also a journalist as well. People may be wondering, why are they spending so much time on this? It's because this case involves so many aspects of our society when it comes to hate crimes, race, the economy, a number of different issues here. If this goes to the Justice Department, these are going to be federal charges, and it could set a precedent for other cases like it.

BANFIELD: Let me tell you something, there is another defendant in this case who actually already pled out on this. And he pled to federal civil rights violations. So, number one, I think there may be potential for further litigation in this particular case, with regard to civil rights violations.

Number two, you bet your bottom dollar, Don, that I will bet you someone is going to come up with some kind of civil case against these former defendants. One thing is for sure, there's no double jeopardy. You can't try them again on these same crimes. But they can certainly find themselves in a civil case.

LEMON: Ashleigh Banfield, anchor and legal correspondent from True TV, we appreciate your expertise. Go back and enjoy your weekend now.

BANFIELD: Good to talk to you, Don, as always.

LEMON: Thank you very much for that. We want to know what's on your mind tonight about this story and also any stories that we are covering tonight. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or IReport.com. We will get your responses on the air and answer your questions from our experts.

More states reporting more cases of H1-N1 flu. And we're going to have the very latest for you in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's talk about the other big story we have been following here on CNN. More cases of H1-N1 Flu are being confirmed around the world. It doesn't mean more people are getting sick. It simply means that as more suspected cases are analyzed, more tests are coming back positive for the illness commonly called Swine Flu.

The World Health Organization says, so far, it has identified 658 cases in 16 countries. More than half are in Mexico, with 16 deaths. Right here in the United States, 160 cases have been confirmed in 21 states, including one death. The World Health Organization has started sending antiviral medicine to more than 70 nations.

Leading health experts around the world warn that this virus has the potential to become much worse. For that reason, the Obama administration is taking no chances here. I want to go now to CNN's Elaine Quijano. She's at the White House, where the president talked about the outbreak in his weekly address.

What's going on now? We have certainly seen a big response every day from the administration. They want to stay on top of this.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. The Obama administration is continuing this delicate balance, trying not to stoke fears, on the one hand, that this flu virus will get worse, but, on the other hand, also taking precautions in case it does.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice-over): In his weekly address, President Obama walked a fine line on the flu outbreak. Between reality --

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a new strain of the flu virus. Because we haven't developed an immunity to it, it has more potential to cause us harm.

QUIJANO: -- and reassurance.

OBAMA: I would sooner take action now than hesitate and face graver consequences later.

QUIJANO: Trying to ease fears, the president stressed his administration's flu-fighting steps so far, prepositioning millions of courses of anti-viral drugs, his 1.5 billion dollar request to Congress for pandemic response and preparedness, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending that schools and day care with confirmed cases of H1-N1 close for up to 14 days.

DR. ANNIE SCHUCHAT, CDC SCIENCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAM: Children are very common reservoirs for infectious diseases, including infectious viruses like influenza. They tend to have lots of social contact, more than adults. And they also shed the virus longer than adults to.

QUIJANO: While authorities in Mexico are suggesting the virus may be stabilizing in that country, here in the U.S., the CDC warns Americans are not out of the woods.

SCHUCHAT: While reports from Mexico are -- appearing to be encouraging, and some are cautiously optimistic, we can't afford to let down our vigilance. We have information that this novel virus continues to spread.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: Now President Obama spoke by phone to Mexico's president about this new flu strain, to share information about how each country is working to limit the spread of the virus. The White House also says, Don, that the two leaders talked about the importance of close U.S./Mexican cooperation.

LEMON: Elaine Quijano, thank you very much. OK. So much of this has been reported. We just want to give you the facts, just the facts. The Swine Flu is serious, of course, but let's take a second here to keep things in perspective. I want to put it in perspective for you, because the H1-N1 virus has a long way to go to match the impact of the seasonal flu, that we are all familiar with.

The CDC says every year, on average, anywhere between five and 20 percent of the American population comes down with seasonal flu. More than 200,000 people are hospitalized with flu-related complications. Get this, 36,000 people in this country die from the seasonal flu every year, 36,000. Keep that in mind.

You can see more on the flu's global impact and learn how to protect yourself from the H1-N1 virus. Just check out our website here at CNNHealth.com.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning you to stop using HydroxyCut. The popular weight loss product is now being linked to liver damage. The company is voluntarily recalling products. The FDA has received 23 reports of serious liver injuries linked to the dietary supplement. Other reports include the 2007 death of a 19- year-old man and liver damage that resulted in a transplant in 2002.

LEMON: On now to the severe weather that is happening in a big part of our country, and the breaking news we told you about at the top of this show. Apparently, there was a collapse of a bubble over the Dallas Cowboys practice facility. We are going to have the very latest for you. Also check in with our meteorologist to see where other severe weather may be happening and if you are in the way. Just moments away, an update on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Check this out. This just in to CNN, our story that we reported at the top of the show. We are just getting some live pictures in now of that practice air supported bubble at the Dallas Cowboys training facility. It's in Irvine, Texas.

It collapsed during a thunderstorm. Boy, oh, boy. Just look at those pictures. Can you imagine being inside of that facility as it collapsed and that weather rolled through.

The latest information we have now is that an ambulance was seen on the scene arriving a short time ago, transporting some folks to the hospital. Reporters and staff from our affiliates as well as CNN, dispatched to this. And as soon as we get some information from the area on the ground, we will bring it there.

The "Dallas Morning News" is reporting four members of the Cowboys support staff have been taken to a hospital. The "Dallas Morning News" says no players were hurt. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at the Kentucky Derby today. Here's what he told NBC, their race broadcast folks there, that all players and employees were accounted for. You can certainly see the pictures from a frightening scene outside of Dallas in Irvine, Texas.

Severe weather rolled through. That is believed to be the cause for this collapse.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Those pictures coming out of Dallas, live pictures. We want to show them real quickly, to show what's going on there. And also according to some of the wires, the Associated Press here, rescue crews are still going through that debris to make sure that everyone is accounted for. Jerry Jones says that all staff and all players have been accounted for. Four staff members taken to the hospital again.

Again, don't know the extent of the injuries, but the rescue crews are going through there. Also, that's very heavy. Even though it's supported by air, it is very heavy. There aluminum frames covering a 100 yard football field. It's a very big structure and it can cause a lot of damage and a lot of hurt if it falls on someone. We will continue to follow this developing story for you, as well as the severe weather that's rolling through that area and moving further. You need to know if you are in the way.

Meantime, if you are looking for a new car, should you consider a Chrysler? We will find out. Plus this.

That's me behind the wheel. You may want to get off the road. I got behind the wheel of a classic Chrysler. It's interesting. There is a classic Chrysler show right here in the Atlanta area. We take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Let's get to the economy. We're going to talk about the ailing auto industry. Specifically, Italian car maker Fiat could soon be the owner of U.S. auto maker Chrysler. They are expected to file a motion in bankruptcy court possibly today to sell its assets to Fiat. That would not include eight manufacturing plants, five of which Chrysler plans to close by the end of the year. The Obama administration hopes a Fiat-owned Chrysler can emerge from bankruptcy within two months.

A lot of people have strong nostalgic feelings for Chrysler. I want you to check this out.

(VIDEO CLIP)

You guys wanted to get that one in.

That's me earlier today behind the wheel of a 1971 Hemi 'Cuda. It's a classic muscle car from Chrysler's glory days.

Hundreds of fans turned out to show off their babies at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. That's what they call them, their babies. They love them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARREN: It's a 71 Hemi. The engine's 654 cubic inches.

LEMON: Wow.

So, Darren, what do you think, you've got this great Chrysler product. It's a classic and now they're restructuring?

DARREN: It's frightening. It's absolutely frightening because I hate to see them go away. They've been part of American culture for so long, it would be a great loss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They will emerge better. Look at the airlines. They went into bankruptcy and emerged stronger than they were before. The new business model and the old don't fit. You have to do something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way I look at it is, they emerged from bankruptcy once before. Hopefully, they can do it again.

LEMON: That's what people like about the American cars when you talk about the muscle cars, the big, the loud. Do you think that's still viable though, Lonnie?

LONNIE: Oh, yeah. You have people like myself, I like horse power. You're 440's. I'm a big block guy.

LEMON: But In new cars, when they are talking about efficiency?

LONNIE: We still want something -- we still want something to rock and roll, you know? We want to save fuel in the other. You have another car you save fuel in and another car you want to get in and rock and roll in. Everybody wants power. Even though you want to save fuel, you want horse power.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Beautiful cars there today. That guy, Lonnie, said he had a 1971 Chrysler, his first muscle car, and he loved it, red on red. Lonnie. OK, he said it was a chick magnet. That was a quote from him.

Chrysler is filing for Chapter 11. It was not a surprise. We knew about that. But it sent shock waves through the auto industry. I'm going to bring in Lauren Fix. She is an auto expert, to explain what bankruptcy means to you and me.

I think, Lauren, we heard it there with the guys who are really die-hard Chrysler fans and supporters. To them it's about the economy and worrying about parts and those sorts of things. It's nostalgia for them.

LAUREN FIX, AUTOMOTIVE ANALYST: Absolutely. It's nostalgia for me too. I learned how to drive in a 1970 Barracuda 383 convertible. It is a part of the fabric of the U.S., but we have to realize that this is Chapter 11. This is not dissolving the company and sending it away in pieces. This is not Chapter 7. It's Chapter 11. We're going to restructure. Whether they come back stronger is another case.

LEMON: That's different. Those guys are car -- I guess you could call them fanatics.

FIX: Yes, I do.

LEMON: They will be able to figure out where to go for their parts. Because they know so much about cars, they may not be as concerned. But for the average consumer, what do you do? Do you buy or not buy a Chrysler? And what do you do about parts and maintenance and so on and so on and so on?

FIX: I'm not concerned about parts. There are tons of aftermarket suppliers who are supply not just muscle car parts, but also new parts out of salvage yards. And there will always be parts in the system. That's not a concern. Warranty is not a concern as long as they don't dissolve.

I am concerned about the government claiming they will back a warranty because it opens up a whole can of worms of who will be backing this warranty, and do I have to pay up front, and is it to get money back from the government? You know how it is, typical government stuff.

LEMON: You said that part, the warranty, but you wouldn't be concerned. Let's talk about this. Remember, it was Daimler-Chrysler and then the whole thing? Listen, percentages of what Fiat -- because Fiat is going to take it over. I have a short time here. Explain that and then I one more question for you quickly. What is Fiat going to own? And how will it help or hurt them?

FIX: First, Daimler is gone and they are out of the picture. So is Cerebus (ph). Right now, the UAW and the VIVA fund will own 55 percent of Chrysler, which is huge. Fiat is 20 percent and they get 5 percent increments based on different criteria bringing in small chassis and new technology, better fuel efficiency, up to 35 percent.

LEMON: OK, Chrysler needs help. But what Fiat, what about service? What about Maintenance? What's their record?

FIX: Right now, as far as -- service is out of picture. So you're looking at just Chrysler, Fiat as a merger partnership. I think you will be OK when it comes to service as long as they are going. But remember a good idea to lease, not a great idea to buy. Resale value will be affected.

LEMON: I have to go. I'm like 10 seconds over.

FIX: OK.

LEMON: But you said 60 days and you don't think this is going to happen?

FIX: Not a chance. I can't imagine a bankruptcy attorney I've talked to -- you are talking 90 to 100 days. And this is a judge who knows what he's talking about. I think we will see a lot of interesting things in the next few weeks.

LEMON: All right, we wish them the very best. Hey, Lauren, thank you. I feel I'm more muscular now since I got behind the wheel of that muscle car.

(LAUGHTER)

FIX: You should. You should. I named my daughter Shelby for a reason.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: I don't need to go to the gym now. Thank you very much. We appreciate it.

FIX: Anytime, Don.

LEMON: Let's talk about rebranding the GOP. A lot of talk about that. It can be done. And Jeb Bush said it has to be, and a number of other people as well.

And from wine to water, a "CNN Hero" quits his day job tending bar to help people get clean drinking water. We're going to show you how he does it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is a small company trying to bring big fun to the world. And guess what? Business is booming. Our Richard Louie has more in tonight's "Small and Global."

(CNN SMALL AND GLOBAL)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We wanted to show you this. I was just looking at the information that's coming in. Pardon me here. The video of that collapse of that bubble stadium in Dallas just coming in to us. I want to play it now. Take a look at it and I will you about the story as we look at the new video that is just in here to CNN. OK. It's a rookie training camp in Irving, Texas. The bad weather rolls through, as you can see.

Can we back this up from the beginning of the video at the top?

We are going to back it up to the beginning.

(VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I want you to know -- I want you to hear this.

Leave the sound up.

This is the beginning. There was a part in the beginning that we saw -- and I'm sure we have this -- when the lights started rattling.

Do we have the raw tape of this? We don't have that.

Initially, there were photographers there on the scene, as we looked at this raw stuff just seconds before we came out of the commercial break. There were photographers were there on the scene. It's a rookie training camp that started yesterday. It's supposed to last for three days. About 28 guys there, plus the staff. So the weather came through.

We can take router 31, I'm hearing. Is it 31, Tom? 33, take router 33, Roger. There is some video coming in on that. They were there and the press was there and they were interviewing some people. As they are interviewing, the weather started rolling through and the lights started shaking. The people, the photographers and everyone in this bubble looked up at the lights and said, what the heck is going on. They started videotaping as the lights were rattling in the building started rattling.

Again, as I said, you are looking at this as it's coming into us. We are looking at it just as we came out of break here. That was the reason for the pause.

Seconds after that, the whole thing collapsed. It collapsed on top of these folks. One person was trapped. The staff and the team members tried to help out, to remove some of this tarp or bubble along with the aluminum bracing that held it up. You can see them there. It was chaos. Many of them were running around trying to find places to escape or exit as the weather rolled through. This is the aftermath that you see.

Again, this is all unfolding. And I'm going to give you the -- we are going take it from the beginning. I'm going to show you the lights and we will play this because it's interesting videotape here. Here we go.

They are practicing. You see that the lights start moving and they say what is going on. Listen to the wind. They can hear the wind and the rain outside. They know something is up because this is unusual. Rain on this -- you can hear it just like when you have a tin roof. I grew up with an aluminum roof and you can hear the rain. But this is out of the extraordinary. Listen.

Everything is collapsing around them. One player is saying someone is trapped over there. You can see it. I mean, chaos ensues, and why wouldn't it? You would be wondering what the heck is going on as well. Everyone started running for the exits and looking for people who may have been trapped. Again, the staff and the players were trying to help out. You can see people trying to escape from this wreckage. That's in Irving, Texas. That's just outside of Dallas.

We will look at more videotape and get new details on the story. One person trap and four staff members taken to the hospital. All the players accounted for as least as of now. New information in just seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, developing news in to CNN coming out of Irving, Texas. We told you about the collapse of this air-supported roof at the Dallas cowboy's training camp. It started yesterday, a three-day training camp. Bad weather rolled through. And you can see what happened. That's just the beginning of this video tape. We're getting new information in, new pictures about the people possibly injured and exactly what caused this. This supported by aluminum, and also it's a huge, huge tent here and a huge collapse. New information. But first, we want to share this with you, and then we'll get back. Our "CNN Hero." Take a look.

(CNN HERO)

LEMON: All right, remember, all of our heroes are chosen from people you nominate, so tell us about yours. Go to our web site and you can log in there and check it out.

OK, look, we want to bring you this developing story. It's incredible pictures. It's happening in Irving, Texas just outside of Dallas at a Dallas Cowboys training camp. Look at the aftermath. Live pictures from our affiliate WFAA. Can you imagine being trapped inside of that? There were people who were. An update on the other side of a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(FIT NATION)

LEMON: All right, thank you, Dr. Gupta.

I want to get you back now to our breaking news story that's happening in Irving, Texas at a Dallas Cowboys rookie training camp, a mini training camp. Look at this video and listen for just a second. That roof collapsed as they were training. We will have new information on this story about injuries and what went on after that.

I'm Don Lemon here in Atlanta. More at 7:00 p.m. eastern on this breaking story.

Meantime, "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer begins right now.