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Quake Felt in Southern California; More Job Gains Predicted; Supreme Retirement Decision
Aired April 04, 2010 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
If you are just joining us: breaking news tonight of a major earthquake on the West Coast. The number is big -- magnitude 7.2. The epicenter was near Mexicali, Mexico, but the shaking was felt throughout Southern California and Arizona.
CNN has confirmed at least one death tonight in Mexico. In addition, smaller aftershocks have rattled the entire region for hours.
Let's join Bonnie Schneider, our meteorologist here. She's in the CNN Severe Weather Center with the very latest on this -- 7.2, that is big.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is big. And it also was a more shallow quake than originally we thought, Don. Originally we had reports of over 20 miles deep, over 20 miles and then the USGS clarified and said no it was only 6.1 mile deep. So that's actually worse, having a more shallow quake; the deeper the quake the more the earth can absorb the shock.
And on top of that, the aftershocks have been coming in fast and furious, within the past few hours. In the immediate hour after the quake, we felt several aftershocks in Mexico and in California.
On Google Earth, I've been highlighting them for you throughout most of the afternoon. The red dots that you see here, well, these are the aftershocks that actually have occurred within the past hour. And that's what we're seeing now.
We're also tracking many aftershocks that have been occurring up into California. And those here, 3.6, you can see, some of them are so recent. And they've actually occurred across the border.
Here is a look as you can see farther off to the west, San Diego, no aftershocks right there. Most of them are closer to the original epicenter, which is down here. The largest city, right here, Guadalupe Victoria, where there's about 14,000 population, they definitely felt the shaking, but where the epicenter was located, we're getting more reports that it looks like this was a less populated area.
However, on another shake map I can show you, there certainly was the feeling of shaking far and wide all the way into Arizona, as far to the East as Winslow, Arizona, and further to the north, well into California as well.
So because of the intensity of this quake, Don, and because of its shallow depth, we felt the shaking far and wide, but luckily the damage seems to be more concentrated in the area where we had the epicenter, which is right here, down in Mexico in a less populated area. It could have been a lot worse, but not to just say that it's over yet, because when you have an intense quake like this one, you certainly can see numerous aftershocks for days and weeks to come.
We'll be monitoring this for you here, of course, in the CNN Weather Center.
LEMON: All right, Bonnie Schneider, thank you very much. We really appreciate it.
We've been seeing the pictures coming out of California, but as we know now, there has been at least one death in Mexico. And according to the Civil Protection officers there, the man's home fell on top of him in Mexicali. I want to go now to our Nick Valencia at our national desk.
Nick is getting more information on what's going on. Hey, Nick, what can you tell us? Are you hearing about injuries and also more damage?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL DESK EDITOR: Yes Don, let's update those numbers now. We just got off the phone with the Director Generale de Proteccion Civil, that's the civil director -- director of civil protection in Tijuana. He just spoke recently to members of the Red Cross.
They told him the injured toll has risen now. We are reporting 100 confirmed injuries as a cause of this earthquake.
We've been monitoring social media. I want to bring you in here a little bit to show what we've been working on, other than -- focusing on Twitter, focusing on social media. We're also -- let's get the map up here right now.
I'll go to Google. Mexicali is on the U.S. side of the border. They also felt some damage here. What we're really concerned right now, what we're really looking at Guadalupe Victoria. That is about 12 miles from the epicenter, where we're told that was the most -- that the earthquake hit the hardest there.
We still have not been able to contact anyone there in that region of Mexico. It's been terribly difficult to get in touch with anyone, really, on the Mexico side of the border. Power was down, it's been very difficult. I have family there as well. I have still not been able to get in touch with them, unfortunately, but right now, again, to reiterate those numbers, Don, we have one confirmed death, and according to the Red Cross, at least 100 injured.
Now, that could rise any moment. We'll be working the phones and we'll give you the details as soon as they come in -- Don.
LEMON: Nick, I certainly I hope that you will be able to get in touch with your family and they're ok. Nick Valencia, at our national desk, we really appreciate it.
And just to -- sort of piggy back off of what Nick said here, according to the Civil Protection Agency in Mexico, they say there were reports of more people trapped in homes in Mexicali and rescue teams with dogs and digging equipment are rushing to the city from nearby Tijuana to try to get some people who may be possibly trapped to rescue them.
Again, thanks to our Nick Valencia and to our Bonnie Schneider as well.
We want to turn now to CNN's Ted Rowlands, who joins us now by telephone from Southern California. When last I spoke to you, Ted, you were headed to San Diego from Los Angeles. How far have you gotten and what have you seen?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well Don, we're past San Diego now and headed to Mexicali. We're about two hours away from the Mexico border. We'll go in tonight to see what we see.
But as you mentioned earlier, this was felt all the way through Southern California, San Diego, Los Angeles, a lot of frayed nerves because of the duration of this earthquake. It got to that sort of 30-second pivotal level.
A lot of times one will pop up and then you realize, oh, it was just a Mother Nature reminder here. But this one went a little bit longer and it was much stronger than a lot of people have felt, especially down in San Diego. People in San Diego, some of them lifelong Californians said it was the strongest they've felt in their lives.
A lot of shaking, pools were sloshing back and forth, you had things falling off shelves, some minor damage, nothing major. Every fire department in Southern California went on high alert. The airports went down to check the tarmac right away. Amusement parks, a number of them here in Southern California were all shut down. Rides were shut down and things were checked out.
The bottom line is, the damage, minimal, but the amount of nervousness throughout this region, very substantial and I suspect a lot of people will remain sort of on edge throughout the evening tonight and for the next couple of days, just because it could be another -- more activity.
LEMON: Ted, you were saying, so far, minor damage. That's in California. That is State-side, because where you're headed to we are hearing that there are at least 100 people injured. We know that's where the death was of the man his home fell on top of him in Mexicali. They are rushing people from Tijuana with digging equipment and dogs to try to see if there are some people who can be rescued. Not a lot of resources there, not a big media center, so we may not be seeing some of the damage.
As you head there, and you have dealt with this before, sometimes we find damage after situations like this hours after it happened, because there are no cameras in the area.
ROWLANDS: Yes, absolutely. And the idea that a lot of times we'll report, oh, there's no reports of damages or injuries, well, the reason is that nobody in those areas reporting it and the communication is down. So we will be there soon enough within the next few hours and see firsthand what the situation is over the border.
LEMON: And we certainly hope that everyone is ok and it would be -- if it could just be left at this, with one person who died and some minor injuries, we would -- everyone would be grateful.
Safe travels to our Ted Rowlands, who is headed now to -- he's past San Diego, going now to Mexicali and Mexico, which was very near the epicenter of this earthquake.
And you see the video there, some frightening moments on this Easter Sunday. But, you know, Los Angeles, no stranger to earthquakes. So when the tremors started, first responders jumped into action and luckily there was no major damage, as our Ted Rowlands said, but one fire official says communication is the key after an earthquake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. STEVE RUDA, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: We're ok here in Los Angeles, but that's part of your plan. Who do we contact, in case all of our cell sites are down here in Los Angeles, which they're not, but who do we contact in other areas, other states that we can call our families and let them know that we're ok.
So if we can't call each other here in Southern California, well, we can call out of state, everyone can be accounted for. And that's one of the things we teach in the preparations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Continuing coverage of the breaking news out of California and Mexico; a 7.2 quake killing at least one person and injuring many, many more.
Also, we're going to take you to Washington tonight to see how the First Family celebrated Easter. And what about this, one of the cornerstones of the Catholic Church -- confession, so many are wondering, why the -- the Pope didn't talk about the scandal that's rocking the church -- sex abuse.
Also, we want to know what's on your mind tonight. Will you log in and join us? We're having a great conversation on Twitter and Facebook right now. All of these people who log on, a lot of them helped me out in the early hours of our coverage, sending pictures, videos, and sending personal statements about what they saw. And we got it on the air, maybe your comment will get on too.
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LEMON: Well, you know, this is, of course, Easter; the holiest day on the Christian calendar. Our coverage begins in Washington, where President Barack Obama attended Easter services at the Allen Chapel AME church in southeast D.C. First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia joined him there.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until you go down those --
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LEMON: American troops in Afghanistan attended Easter services in a tent at Camp Leathernet.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Face to face in all of --
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LEMON: And just across the Potomac, from the nation's capitol, the faithful were greeted this morning with inspirational songs and a sermon at Arlington National Cemetery.
Many Catholics in particular are waiting to see if Pope Benedict XVI would address the child sex abuse scandal on this Easter Sunday. But the Pontiff remained silent on the subject during his Easter mass at St. Peters Square. Cardinal Angelo Sodano defended Pope Benedict from what he described as gossip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARDINAL ANGELO SODANO, DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS (through translator): Holy Father, on your side are the people of God who do not let themselves be influenced by the petty gossip of the moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Cardinal Sodano's tribute to the Pope was a rare departure from the Catholic Church's traditional Easter Sunday rituals.
I want to check some other headlines for you this hour. Deadly violence in Baghdad today, suicide car bombers set-off three blasts within five minutes of each other, killing at least 30 people. Hundreds of others were wounded. There are new concerns that insurgents are trying to capitalize on political uncertainty in the wake of recent elections. And updating a story we first reported to you last week. Workers in northern China have pulled at least nine more people from a flooded mine. The rescue comes two days after tapping was heard from within the mine. Rescuers have already reached 108 mine workers; 144 remain unaccounted for.
All systems go for tomorrow morning's launch of the space shuttle "Discovery"; takeoff now on track, 6:21 Eastern time. "Discovery" will carry seven astronauts plus loads of supplies, equipment for the International Space Station. It is worth noting that the 13-day mission marks the first time four women have been in space, I should say, at once.
And check out "Discovery" there. That's live pictures. It's always so beautiful. The nighttime shots are really always gorgeous, but that's the space shuttle getting ready for a 6:21 a.m. departure tomorrow. All systems go so far, so make sure you stay tuned to "American Morning" 6:00 a.m. They'll have it for you. Tune in to CNN.
Beautiful shot tonight.
A top White House economist is predicting more slow but steady growth in the labor market. But economic Adviser Lawrence Summers had a word of caution today on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE SUMMERS, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: We've got a long way to go. We've inherited a terrible situation, the most pressing economic problems since the Great Depression in our country.
It is the president's preoccupation to put people back to work. That's what the Recovery Act was all about. That's what the legislation he signed into law to give incentives to businesses, to hire people who have been out of work was all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Summers' remarks come two days after the announcement that 162,000 jobs were added in March, the biggest job gains in three years.
Were going to get back to our top story tonight -- a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hitting Southern California and also bordering Mexico. We have crews on the way to the scene. We spoke with our Ted Rowlands, who is just hours away from there. One person is dead in Mexico and they are still trying to assess the damage. They are rushing equipment from Tijuana to Mexico to try to get some people who may be trapped in their homes.
One man also trapped under his home, he is -- when his home collapsed on top of him. He is the man who died in Mexicali.
The breaking news after this break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Listen. We have some breaking news when it comes to the weather now. Bonnie Schneider, take us through this. We're hearing -- is there a tornado warning in southern Illinois, different from the one that you had before.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. And it's really the same storm system, Don, because now it's just pushing a little bit further to the east. So, southern Macoupin County under a tornado warning until 10:30 Central Daylight Time; it's right here.
And we just got a new one the computer is printing out right now, so tornado warnings are going to be a problem in southwest Illinois, straight into the evening hours. And with that said, a tornado watch extends all the way, not just in Illinois, but back out to Kansas into Kansas City and a severe thunderstorm watch for St. Louis.
Now, this will all go through the evening hours until at least 11:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time. A lot of volatile severe weather breaking out particularly just south of Springfield, north of St. Louis.
So be careful for those of you that are out driving tonight, heading home from Easter. You might be just relaxed, not thinking about the weather, but it's a dangerous situation. These storms are producing large hail as well.
LEMON: And we're on live an hour later tonight because you've got to get that warning in and tell people how to get to safety.
SCHNEIDER: Yes.
LEMON: Yes. Thank you, Bonnie. We'll check back with Bonnie Schneider.
Ok, more breaking news. Now we're going to talk again about the earthquake. Much of the damage from today's powerful earthquake is in northern Mexico.
A building crumbled to the ground in the city of Mexicali, killing one person. At least 100 people injured and there are reports that more people are trapped in damaged homes.
Our senior Latin American affairs editor Rafael Romo is tracking developments out of Mexicali for us.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: There's been indeed one fatality in the city of Mexicali, or Mejicali as it is known in Mexico; at least one fatality at this point. They're also talking about widespread problems when it comes to water, electricity, telecommunications, water main breaks. All kinds of power lines down and also cell phones and conventional phones not working at this time in Mexicali, just to give you an idea.
That's across the border from Calexico, California. This area that -- the pictures that you're seeing right now come specifically from that city of Mexicali and you see the devastation. Here you see the Chamber of Commerce in that city, broken windows, big structural damage, and also this hospital that had to be evacuated right away after the earthquake hit this area. Patients had to run out of there.
You also see stores were -- the shelves were basically left empty, because they fell off during this earthquake, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. That's the situation right there in the City of Mexicali, Don.
LEMON: Thank you very much to our senior Latin-American affairs editor, RAFAEL ROMO. And as we have reported, the quake originated in northern Mexico, but residents across southern California and Arizona could feel it too.
Here's how one woman in Altadena, California, describes the tremors.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LYNN SAMESHAMA, ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: It was pretty strong. It was more of a swaying motion, as if I was on a boat or something. I was on the computer and my chair started to move. And I thought, gee, that's strange. You know, it just kind of started to roll, and I thought, my goodness, am I getting dizzy?
And then I stood up and I totally lost my balance. And then I was looking around the room and the vertical blinds were really swaying and the lamp was swaying. There was a fan and then there's this thing that you pull to put the fan on, that was really swaying. And there was this thing that you put all the kitchen pots and pans on that hangs from the ceiling. That was just like swaying back and forth.
And I thought, uh-oh, we're having an earthquake. Until then, I thought it was myself; I was just totally losing my balance trying to walk in my house.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LEMON: A lot of folks are feeling that out there. We're also getting a lot of information coming in from the social networking sites. Some of our very first pictures did come from that.
We can show just a couple comments of people who have been writing in and I have gotten literally -- no kidding -- thousands here.
Here's what one young lady says, "This is my first quake. I'm visiting L.A. for the first time. Heard the hangers in my hotel closet, started banging into the wall."
And then another person says, "Yes, we felt it, and how," in San Diego. Thank you for your comments today. Thank you for sending in the pictures and the video. We always appreciate our folks on social networking sites and our viewers' comments. Thank you again. Listen, another opening coming possibly on the Supreme Court. We're going to check into that. How would a nominee fare on Capitol Hill? No surprise, it could be tough. And our CNN political editor Mark Preston joins us to tell us why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A changing of the guard could be close at hand for the Supreme Court. Longtime liberal justice, John Paul Stevens is hinting at retirement, telling two major newspapers and our own Jeffrey Toobin that he is considering stepping down after almost 35 years on the bench.
Stevens says he wants to do what is best for the court and says he'll surely depart during President Obama's term. Stevens will turn 90 years old on April 20th.
I just spoke with, a couple minutes ago, CNN political editor Mark Preston what Stevens' potential retirement would mean in today's politically-charged climate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: He was first appointed to the court back in 1975 by President Ford. I think he wants to go out on his own terms and I think that's what we saw him say in the last couple of days to "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" and, of course, our own Jeffrey Toobin as you said has actually spoken to him as well.
So with him leaving, it does offer this opportunity for President Obama, Don, to really put his imprint on the Supreme Court.
LEMON: It is not going to change the balance as far as liberal and conservative, even though Stevens believes he's a conservative, he is seen by the majority of people as a liberal. It won't change the balance, but what people are more concerned about rather than balance is ideology.
PRESTON: Yes, really. And the way the court is made up right now, nine justices, one of them, of course, being the Chief Justice, five of them are considered conservative, four of them are considered liberal. And of course, Mr. Stevens, Justice Stevens is one of those who is considered on the liberal end.
So President Obama, of course, is going to choose somebody of his ideological stripe. That would very likely be somebody who is a Democrat, somebody who is liberal and would, of course, keep that in line.
But Don, as you said, this has a lot of political implications. We're heading into a midterm election year. Of course a lot of people will look at the midterm elections as really a yardstick to determine how President Obama is being viewed by the public and by voters.
And, of course, if he has to fill a vacancy on the court, there is going to be a big fight. You're going to see interest groups pouring tens of millions of dollars into this, trying to persuade President Obama or more likely to persuade voters to try to persuade President Obama to go one way or the other in his choosing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Political editor Mark Preston tonight.
Severe weather moving through the Midwest tonight; several tornado warnings have already been issued. We'll check back in with our meteorologist, Bonnie Schneider. She's on top of it.
Also, the earthquake shakes in southern California; a 7.2 earthquake originating in northern Mexico. We're going to get a science lesson from Bill Nye, the Science Guy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Ok. As we have been reporting to you all evening, about 7:00 Eastern time, we first came on the air with reports of this quake and southern California really bracing for aftershocks right now after that magnitude 7.2 earthquake rattled northern Mexico.
Let's examine the science of the quake and what residents of California and Mexico can expect in the coming days. For that we turn to Bill Nye. You know him as the Science Guy and he joins us from Los Angeles.
Hey, listen, good to talk to you. You were, what, hanging out with a friend in a restaurant and then what?
BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: Well, the light fixture started to shake and I was moving across the bench of a restaurant booth and everything was moving. I've been through a few earthquakes. I have not really had to suffer -- I've not really been traumatized by an earthquake. I've been driving and you miss them.
But the thing is we are in southern California, we're 300 nautical miles from the epicenter of this quake. But a magnitude 7 on any earthquake scale is doggone big thing. I mean it's -- you might have a 50th of the energy that the Chilean earthquake had but it's a tremendous amount of energy. And if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, as you saw with those buildings, it's traumatic.
LEMON: So you're the science guy and you said you didn't have to suffer through it -- through an earthquake, but this one, I -- I would imagine it caught you off guard. And what were -- what did you do, how did you respond, and the people around you as well?
NYE: Oh, let me say, I've been through enough of them that you can tell a small one.
LEMON: And you knew this was a big one?
NYE: And I've been through -- I've been through one big one. Well, we were pretty far away, see? We're 300 miles away. But I've been through a big one, and I got under the table, and so did my -- we were watching a basketball game, so with my buddy, my neighbor, we got under the -- under tables. But I've never lost everything. I've never had my car crushed or never had a loved one -- I've never been through that sort of horrible thing that can happen with earthquakes.
LEMON: Hey, Bill, let's go --
NYE: But here's -- here's what's going on now. Yes. Go ahead.
LEMON: Hey, but before you get to that, let me ask you this, and then you can go into what you want to talk about.
I found it interesting that one of the seismologists at Cal Tech, when they came out and had a press conference not long ago, they said that within the next few days, there's a strong likelihood of a possibly a magnitude 6 either quake or a triggered event to happen after this. That's pretty serious.
NYE: That sounds reasonable, yes. Well, magnitude 6 is enough to -- to really shake things up, and buildings that aren't suited -- I'll give you an example. A cinder block wall that's not properly reinforced, doesn't have seismic reinforcement running vertically, it could really be damaged, and if you're near a cinder block wall in a magnitude 6 earthquake, you're in trouble, you know? If you're a dog or a kid, you're really in bad shape.
Yes, this is -- this is sort of a picture that where I -- where I was sitting in Los Angeles. The thing is that because --
LEMON: We saw some of the restaurant -- another restaurant as well. I'm sorry to cut you off. Continue, please.
NYE: No, it's great.
The other thing that I'll say, though, but because of your reporting -- and by "your" I mean the media -- is so thorough now that we have cell phones all over the world, even in what used to be remote places or places that you wouldn't hear from, we are now talking about and seeing footage of -- or inchage or centimeterage, of earthquakes that we didn't -- we didn't used to hear about so quickly.
There are about a thousand very big earthquakes around the world every year, and, as I always like to say -- so if you're a psychic, I hope you can predict an earthquake.
LEMON: That there's going to be an earthquake.
NYE: My goodness, there's three -- there's three a day.
LEMON: We've been --
NYE: But now we're being able to see them. Yes?
LEMON: Maybe you're -- you're going to explain my next question. Let's see. The seismologist says, she said there is a 5 percent when -- in the -- when you have the triggered events and the aftershocks, there's a 5 percent chance that the next one will be larger than the one that preceded it, and that the reason we have a lot of earthquakes, she said, is because we have a lot of earthquakes. Once you start having them, they trigger others.
So you sort of talked about this before, but why are we seeing -- can we explain it? Are the tectonic plates doing something they -- they didn't do before? Is there some energy down there that we don't know about? Or is it just that we are better equipped at sort of detecting them and reporting on them?
NYE: We're better equipped for reporting them, and I'm talking about you. Everybody has a cell phone, the social networks are remarkable. You hear about them so quickly. You got that footage from somebody's cell phone camera immediately.
But, not only that, she's absolutely right. As soon as the -- the rifts start to shift, they keep shifting. And indeed, the energy from one can trigger another. And it's -- it's very, if I may, intuitive. Once it slips a little, it keeps slipping for a while. And what's a while? A day? A week? Less than a month but more than a few hours?
And so, yes, after you get one earthquake, apparently, the way the earth is set up, you get a few more over the subsequent days.
I've been in -- in Seattle when there was the big one in 2002. It's a big earthquake and then there were aftershocks for many days after that. Mt. St. Helens, Washington, earthquakes after volcanoes. Hawaii, earthquakes every time there's a volcano.
But in California, there's a pretty good-sized fault. People make jokes about it, but it runs through California and into Mexico, and that's the one that's slipping, and it's certainly going to slip again, if not tomorrow, if not in the next week, soon enough.
But, you know, what's going on now, people are talking about using the motion detectors, the accelerometers in everybody's laptop, and this would be very noisy. You know, you pick up a laptop, you draft it (ph), you have to draft those data out. You have to eliminate those data. But if you have enough coarse or not very well -- not very sensitive data, if you have many, many of those data, then you can sort out the waves.
So it could be possible that in the next few years, let's say, 15 years, after an earthquakes -- earthquake occurs in a place that's very well understood, there'll be time to warn people a few hundred miles away, a few hundred kilometers away. It's possible. It's quite an intriguing idea.
LEMON: That is intriguing. And that's why you're Bill Nye, the science guy, and we appreciate it. People are already writing about you, saying, Bill Nye, the science guy on -- at -- on CNN talking with Don Lemon.
Thank you, Bill Nye. I really appreciate it.
NYE: Thank you, Don.
LEMON: Go enjoy the cocktail you were going to have before the earthquake started, and --
NYE: I got to get ready. I got to -- I'm going to Washington, D.C. to do an educational event at the Library of Congress.
LEMON: All right.
NYE: Hope to see you there. And then we're going to be talking about planetary science with NASA on Wednesday. It's going to be a big week.
LEMON: You're such a science -- you're such a science nerd. Thank you. But fair warning that --
NYE: Hope all is well.
LEMON: -- that fair warning, Bill Nye said brace yourselves if you're in that area, because, again, we could have another -- another --
NYE: Carry -- carry earthquake kits in your car. It's very likely you'll be driving when there's an earthquake. Be ready.
LEMON: Thank you, sir. You can't get him to stop talking about this (ph).
NYE: Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you, Bill Nye.
Listen, we have other breaking news as well here to report weather wise, tornado warnings and also the aftershocks of this quake that happened out in California and Mexico.
We're back in moments. Don't go away. And thank you for your comments. I'm reading them now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: As we continue to cover the breaking news out of California, an earthquake, we want to give you some other top stories and headlines this hour.
Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Easter Mass at the Vatican this morning, but the Pontiff avoided any mention of the Catholic Church's widening sex abuse scandal. Abused victims have accused church leaders of creating a climate in which cover ups have protected abusive priests for a decade.
Southern African leaders are appealing for calm after a notorious white supremist -- supremacist, I should say, was killed in an apparent dispute with two workers on his farm. Officials fear the killing could fuel racial tensions in the country.
Already, members of the dead man's group have labeled the killing a declaration of war and they threaten to avenge the death.
A Kentucky toddler is lucky to be alive due to some quick thinking by a teenage neighbor. It began when 2-year-old Jackson Vittitow followed the family dog right into a pond near his house.
Fortunately, neighbor Kody Stallings saw the whole thing, and by the time that Kody got to the toddler, Jackson was facedown in the water and Kody luckily pulled him out. He credits his high school ROTC training for keeping him alert to trouble.
Good for you. Nice save there.
For folks in Rochester, New Hampshire, it was an Easter egg drop for the record books. Look at that! It's a lot of Easter eggs. Sixty thousand eggs were tossed from that helicopter and 10,000 people ran around, into each other, trying to scoop them up.
Part of the draw was the offer of prizes, of course, for the most eggs recovered, things like Plasma TVs and skateboards. And you guys will do anything for toys and electronic toys.
Time now to head -- to get a head start on the stories that you'll be hearing about a lot next week in your week ahead, from politics to the economy to entertainment. We get started tonight in the nation's capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kate Bolduan at the White House.
President Obama starts off his week with the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn. He's then throwing out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals season opener.
Then, on to more serious matters, President Obama traveling to Prague to sign the new arms control agreement known as START with Russian President Medvedev. President Obama then returns to Washington Friday.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill.
Congress is on recess this week, but the unemployment benefits for about 200,000 out of work Americans are set to expire on Monday because Senate Democrats and Republicans couldn't reach an agreement to extend them before leaving for their break. Democrats say first order of business when they return from break is to pass an extension of those benefits, but it's going to be a tough week for the folks who are relying on those checks.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Well, a big week coming up for the economy after that big unemployment report that we got on Friday. How does it look in your city? We'll get those numbers coming up this week, as well as the latest reports on pending home sales and of course retail sales, all very important for the economy.
And only on "CNNMONEY", you'll see an interview with the Donald. That's right, Donald Trump, coming up this week on "CNNMONEY." We'll be following it all.
A.J. HAMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT'S" A.J. Hammer, and we are expecting big news from Tiger Woods this week. Tiger, of course, is returning to golf at the Masters tournament. On Monday, he's giving his first press conference since his cheating scandal broke.
Of course, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" will have all of the breaking news live at 5:00 P.M. Eastern and the late-breaking developments at 11:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific.
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LEMON: All right. Thank you all.
Our Bonnie Schneider is standing by. She is checking on severe weather out in the Midwest. There have been two tornado warnings since we have been on the air here, and there's more going on.
Also, our breaking news in California and Mexico. We're starting to assess the damage. Crews are starting to get into Mexico. We're going to have a live update from our National Desk just moments away.
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LEMON: Hey, listen. We told you we were going to be on the air at least until midnight because we didn't know exactly how things were going to end up out in California and Mexico, because they were just starting to get to some of the damage, specifically, the damage in Mexico.
Let's go now to our National Desk and our Nick Valencia who has some new information. What are you hearing now, Nick?
VALENCIA: Thanks, Don.
Yes. We just got off the phone with the Director of Civil Protection again. That's Alfredo Escobedo. He has confirmed another dead in the Mexico quake. This is not directly affected -- not directly related to the quake, rather, entirely.
A person ran from their residence. As they were running out of their residence, they were fatally struck by a car. Again, this -- this fatal injury happened in Mexicali.
And also, an update on that 100 that we talked about earlier in the show, Don, 100 injured across Mexico we were reporting initially. Now, we understand that those 100 injured are all concentrated in Mexicali. We're -- we've been in touch with our crews as well, who are on their way there to the scene. We're being told that water is very scarce, so our news crews are being told to bring lots of water.
Not sure of the extent of those injured, but, again, to reiterate, a new update on the death toll. Two dead now in the Mexico quake and 100 injured -- Don.
LEMON: Yes. And Nick, and -- just looking at the latest information, stand by a little bit so we can chat, but you -- I imagine you're speaking with Alfredo Escobedo, one of those guys there, because of the information we got from him at the Civil Protection Agency said that there were more people they were feared were trapped in homes, Nick, in Mexicali.
Rescue teams with dogs they say and digging equipment, rushing to the city from nearby Tijuana, and it poses sort of the same problem there as it might in Haiti, with the construction and not -- where buildings are not constructed to withstand earthquakes.
VALENCIA: Sure. The infrastructure --
LEMON: We don't know what we're going to see there.
VALENCIA: The -- that -- that's right, Don. We don't know what we're going to see there, and we're still very concerned and worried about Guadalupe Victoria. We're told as of this time, no injuries confirmed and no fatalities confirmed, but it was the city that was a lot closer to the epicenter, a lot smaller as well from Mexicali. About 14,000 residents there compared to about 900,000 in the entire district of Mexicali.
We'll be sure to keep you updated on the latest information as they come into CNN. Again, just to reiterate for those just joining us right now, we have two dead in the Mexico earthquake and 100 injured. All of those injuries and dead coming and concentrated in Mexicali -- Don.
LEMON: Yes, thank you. Nick, thank you very much. One person, their home collapsed on top of -- on top of them, and as Nick said, the other person was running out of their home, they were afraid, and was hit by a car.
Nick, real quickly. I have to get to Bonnie Schneider real quick. Did you hear from your family yet?
VALENZUELA: Thanks for asking, Don. I still haven't been able to get in touch with my one cousin, who's a doctor in Guadalupe Victoria, but we -- we're maintaining hope. I appreciate your asking.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much.
VALENZUELA: Thank you.
LEMON: Good luck to you and your family. Thanks again for your information. Let's go down to Bonnie Schneider, our meteorologist, joining us now from the CNN Severe Weather Center.
Bonnie, so we're getting more information in, but not only are you dealing with this, you're dealing with other weather as well throughout the country.
SCHNEIDER: Right. That's right, Don.
I want to start here, just to show you the most recent aftershocks because we're continuing to monitor the situation in Mexico and in California. So, here is the epicenter of the original quake, the 7.2 magnitude. And then, so close by, even within the past hour, we have three new aftershocks.
In total, we have well over 20 aftershocks since this initial quake and probably more will be coming in in the next hour or two, because we're seeing quite a succession of them working their way from California into Mexico, not surprising with such an intense quake. But as Nick was reporting, it actually -- the epicenter occurred in a less populated part of Mexico. Had it occurred a little further north, I'm sure we would have had more injuries, unfortunately.
Now, I want to show you what else is going on weather-wise across the United States, because it is a night for severe weather. A tornado warning continues for parts of Southwest Illinois, into (INAUDIBLE) County. We're seeing some very damaging winds and also some heavy downpours of rain.
This tornado warning will actually continue straight into the evening hours. The tornado watch is about to expire, but as you can see, it's kind of condensed a little bit, a little more further to the south. Severe thunderstorms are certainly possible in St. Louis throughout the overnight period as this storm system is advancing to the east. And, if that's not enough, we're also tracking some very heavy downpours in the Chicago land area, up towards Wisconsin, if you're in that direction.
California is also getting hit with a big storm, and it's not just in California, but Seattle up into Vancouver, where we had wind damage on Friday due to severe weather. A brand-new Pacific storm is bringing wind and rain, a lot of rain to Northern California right now. And it's important to note for those of you just going to bed tonight in Los Angeles, you're going to wake up to wet weather for your morning commute tomorrow.
All of this rain in San Francisco is all sliding to the south through areas into Santa Barbara, Oxnard, and heading to L.A. and San Diego for Monday, so a wet commute on the West Coast, Don.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much for that, Bonnie.
A miracle many families in China were praying for this Easter Sunday. Rescue workers never gave up hope, digging continuously around the clock to free miners trapped underground for nearly a week. Today, their efforts paid off. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Every weekend, we bring you interesting news items that you might have missed, and we have an update to a story out of China that we first told you about last night -- excuse me, and last week as well.
The Associated Press is now reporting dozens have been pulled out alive from a mine. They spent more than a week underground. They were among 153 miners who became trapped deep underground when their mine suddenly filled with black, cold water.
The fate of the remaining trapped miners still unknown.
A lot of uncertainty today over the fate of a Lebanese man on death row in Saudi Arabia. Ali Hussain Sibat was supposed to be beheaded last Friday. His crime, fortune telling. Now, it appears the execution did not take place. Saudi officials have offered no explanation.
Sibat had appeared on a TV show back in his native Lebanon in which he sometimes foretold the future. He was arrested when he came to Saudi Arabia for a pilgrimage in 2008. A Saudi court determined Sibat's offense was punishable by death.
In Massachusetts, a professional fund-raiser is in deep legal trouble, accused of scamming nuns at a Catholic school out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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MARTHA COAKLEY, MASSACHUSETTS ATTORNEY GENERAL: Those funds went for his own personal expenses, for adult entertainment and for his own travel.
TOM FONGILIUS, CONTRACTOR: Shame on him. I mean, I don't know what to tell you. I don't want to be him. He's got to answer to somebody.
I mean, I don't know how you can rook nuns, to be honest with you.
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LEMON: Michael Hilady seemed like the answer to the nuns' prayers when they first met him. He allegedly told them he has found a benefactor who would donate up to $14 million to renovate their Catholic school in Worcester. Well, based on that promise, the school embarked on a huge expansion project, hiring contractors and builders.
Apparently, it was all a scam.
Hilady has pleaded not guilty to larceny (ph), but the nuns are still on the hook for thousands of dollars in contractor's fees.
We're following continuing coverage out of California and Mexico, an earthquake, two dead, a big quake, 7.2 in magnitude and aftershocks and triggered events still happening now.
We're live here on CNN. We'll have more coverage for you coming up moments away.
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LEMON: All right. Breaking news we're following happening in California and Mexico. I want to say this, our Ted Rowland will be getting to Mexicali in Mexico fairly soon and he's going to report back from there, so make sure you tune into "AMERICAN MORNING" at 6:00 A.M. Eastern.
Before we go off the air tonight live, listen, trust me, we'll cut back in or break back in live if something happens if we feel that it is warranted.
This all started at about 7:00 P.M., just before 7:00 P.M. Eastern, we started getting word that an earthquake was shaking California and Mexico right on the border there. And then the video started coming in, some of it started coming in from social media, some of it from our iReporters, and we started getting it on the air.
And you can see first reports were of swimming pools that were overflowing, you see that, like that, and then the other video was pots shaking that were hanging in a kitchen. There you go -- light fixtures, swings as well. And so we -- we appreciate the folks on social media and our iReporters who sent that video there.
So, listen. Some of our information I want to give you -- I want to read some of your comments real quickly, because I really I appreciate you guys. You saved me earlier when you got the video and you were telling me what you were seeing in the area coming in from the social media.
Freckled (ph), thank you. You've been sending me tweets all night. "Businesses in Imperial Valley shut down due to damage from earthquakes. Strikes Baja, California." Listen, we have been reporting from Imperial. We're trying to get some information out of there. We're not hearing of any major damage there, but we're looking.
And to those of you who said thank you for the live coverage. We appreciate that you're the only network broadcasting live. Hey, we get it. We want to make sure that everyone is informed and that everyone is OK before we say good night and then ship you off to taped programming.
We care. I care here at CNN.
Thank you so much for your comments. Thanks for watching. The folks out in California and Mexico, we wish you the best.
I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you back here next weekend. Good night.
