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Tornado Outbreaks in the Southern U.S.; Arizona Immigration Law Causing Much Controversy; Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Out of Balance
Aired April 24, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're going to begin with a serious threat right here in this country. Across parts of the South, in particular, the stage is set for what could be an extremely dangerous tornado outbreak today. Watches and warnings already posted in so many states. The highest risk areas right now, live pictures of, right now of Memphis, but Mississippi, Alabama, also in the bull's eye, and now you're looking at New Orleans. They are also keeping a close watch at the potential for severe weather today.
Our Bonnie Schneider is in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Let's take a look and what's narrowed in on the potential for these areas?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Fredricka. We are tracking tornado warnings that have worked their way from Mississippi into Alabama and then back off farther towards Arkansas. It's been an extremely active morning. And now that we're into the afternoon, get ready for things to fire up even more.
Little rock, Arkansas, you are not under a tornado warning, but you are facing, right now, some very intense weather with strong thunderstorms. And on this picture now you can see the frequent lightning strikes that are happening across the area due to this widespread severe weather outbreak. Birmingham getting hit hard with some heavy rain and also a lot of rain working its way across the border now even into Alabama and to Georgia.
Now, to the south in Alabama I want to show you what Mobile looks like. We are definitely looking at wet and stormy conditions there. Mobile is part of our area that is under a tornado watch and that will concentrate straight into the afternoon and the evening hour. You can see the watch also extends further off to the west, including the city of New Orleans. However, the two watch boxes you see here for Memphis and Nashville and Tennessee, for Jackson, Mississippi, Birmingham, Alabama, it's even more serious.
That's right. This is classified as a particularly dangerous situation, or a PDS watch. These are rarely issued and when they are, take notice. It means that if a tornado breaks out in this vicinity with this particular complex of what we're looking at in terms of thunderstorms and risk of tornadoes, the tornadoes produced would be extremely violent, very long-lasting and super intense.
So, a really rough day ahead and it's not just, as I mentioned, into Tennessee. This severe weather threat is across the southeast and so much so that into Mississippi, Alabama, lower sections of Tennessee and a small portion of Louisiana, we're tracking a high risk for tornadoes anywhere in this vicinity within a 25 mile square radius that were we're looking at a 30 percent chance of, higher, Fredricka, of a tornado coming out. High risk also, very rarely issued by the Storm Prediction Center, so when this happens, you really have to take it seriously.
WHITFIELD: Right. And usually we see this kind of thing happening early on in the spring season. This has been kind of a delayed start for this kind of severe threat, but here it is.
SCHNEIDER: Absolutely, a late start since 2005. This is the latest start, really. But, not by any indication it's going to about slow season.
WHITFIELD: OK, Bonnie Schneider, thanks so much. We'll check back with you.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, now to a storm of another sort. The nation's toughest new immigration law under fire. Here's what we know now. Arizona's governor signing the controversial legislation yesterday amid protest. Advocacy groups already planning legal challenges, the new statute authorizes police to check whether someone is in the country illegally. Arizona officials saying they must do what the feds won't do, and that they are fully aware of the scrutiny.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: People across America are watching Arizona. Seeing how we implement this law, ready to jump on even the slightest misstep.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: A critic's vow to fight the new law, which we are told takes effect later on in the summer. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has more on reaction from many in Arizona's Hispanic community and beyond.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The governor just signed a bill into law. And if you take a look around you can see thousands of people have gathered here in front of the state capitol in Phoenix. The emotions, the sadness and anger are palpable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I started to cry, I started to think about my family and my friends, about everything that's going to happen, about how people are going to chase us from now.
GUTIERREZ: What was your first reaction when you heard that the law had been signed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm kind of disappointed at one point. We feel that we're still fighting again. All this injustice is going into the state. And, of course, for all the community out there, the Hispanic community of course, we're going to feel a little afraid of what's going on.
GUTIERREZ: Many of the protesters here are young students and they're Latinos but they're not alone in their indignation.
What was your first reaction?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cried. How could we do this to people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And hopefully this will stir up the masses to come out and get the politics of this state turned around in the right direction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It took a lot for me to wear this, and, you know, it's just a travesty today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An important day in Arizona, disappointing day.
GUTIERREZ: The protest organizers are encouraging calm, they're telling this crowd to fight back in the best way that they can, by registering to vote, and making their political voices heard.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And in Washington, President Obama slamming legislation before the governor actually signed it into law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our failure to act responsible at the federal level will only open the door to irresponsibility by others, and that includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.
In fact, I've instructed member ever my administration to closely monitor the situation and examine the civil rights and other implications of this legislation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Governor Brewer counters that Arizona would not have had to resort to such a law if the federal government was sufficiently enforcing national immigration laws. We're going to talk to our legal guys momentarily about the implications of this law and what might be next.
Meantime, President Obama is also talking about the state of the economy and financial reform. Today, in his weekly radio address, the president called new reports from the auto industry encouraging. General Motors announced this week it will repay billions of dollars in government loans five years ahead of schedule, and Chrysler says it has boosted this cash reserve by a billion and a half dollars. But the president says despite that news, tighter federal oversight over Wall Street is need to prevent another financial crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: No matter what the economic specifics say, I won't be satisfied until folks who need work can find good jobs. After a recession that stole eight million jobs, this is going to take some time. And this will require that we continue to tackle the underlying problems that caused this turmoil in the first place. In short, it's essential that we learn the lessons of this crisis or we risk repeating it.
SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHINSON (R), TEXAS: The American people should not be forced to pay the risky gambling debts of the large financial institutions. The Democrats pushed a bill through the Senate banking committee that does not stop future bailouts. Republicans have been attacked for speaking out against it, and asking for bipartisan negotiations before allowing the bill to be debated on the Senate floor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, well perhaps you have some money questions. A pair of financial experts will be joining us later today with answers and advice. We're talking about Ken and Daria Dolan, they always have great answers for your questions. So, submit them at CNN.com/Fredricka or logon to my FaceBook page, at FredrickaWhitfieldCNN and we'll read the responses live on the air in the 2:00 Eastern hour.
All right, back to immigration crackdown in Arizona, a controversial new law will soon kick in, but will a law stand up in court? CNN legal eagles will be weighing in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, the ink is barely dry on Arizona's new controversial immigration law and legal challenges are already in the works. Let's turn to our legal guys, Avery Friedman a civil rights attorney and law professor joining us from Cleveland, Ohio.
Good to see you.
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Richard Herman a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us from New York. Right?
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Fred. New York City.
WHITFIELD: I always got to ask, Richard, because you're all over the place, all over this country. Good to see you.
HERMAN: No tornadoes here. No tornadoes up here. It's beautiful.
WHITFIELD: OK, good. All right, just the storm of this controversy. Right? Well, let's talk about this Arizona law, and Avery, you first. It's been signed into law. Will this be enforced late summer, as scheduled?
FRIEDMAN: Oh, I think there will be an effort by the state of Arizona to enforce it. I think it's likely that you may see a federal district judge enjoing, stopping, the enforcement, because the legislation, Fredricka, is flatly unconstitutional, flatly unconstitutional. And again...
WHITFIELD: Because ...
FRIEDMAN: Well, because several reasons. It violates supremacy laws, violates the 14th amendment, violates the 4th amendment. Multitude of issue. But, I thought more deeply about this and understand that this is motivated by frustration. Doesn't justify and unlawful act, but I am certain that legislators, most know better, know it's unconstitutional, they're frustrated with Washington.
WHITFIELD: Well, if a federal judge may be enjoing in trying to stop this law from actually taking place, how long would that take? Would that take months, months, perhaps after, this law actually goes into effect?
FRIEDMAN: Oh no. I think it would be immediate. The court would grant a restraining order, and stop it before it is enforced which would be late July, early August.
WHITFIELD: OK, so Richard, how do you see this playing out? The governor reassures people that police will be trained so that people aren't just arbitrarily stopped, that police feel they have good reason to stop the people that they do. What kind of training would have to take place?
HERMAN: Well, Fredricka, the grounds will be "reasonable suspicion" that they're illegal. Those of the grounds in the statute that was enacted. Reasonable suspicion, as Avery knows, is a well accepted principle in criminal law, it's enacted every single day on detention, when police officers detain people, it's based and reasonable suspicion. So, that is the standard there.
But Avery hit on something very important, Fredricka. You know, it's easy on the east coast to comment and criticize this statute, but where Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of the world, where the crime right is through the roof, where the schools are overcrowded, where the murder rates through the roof and they sit and they wait year after year for the federal government to be responsible an enact a global immigration policy, it's not happening, and they're frustrated and they took the first move.
WHITFIELD: You really are describing what some might call special circumstances? Arizona can consider itself a special circumstance, and perhaps a number of other border states that are watching this closely who really may jump and kind of -- jump on this bandwagon and say we want to do the same thing?
FRIEDMAN: Well I think...
HERMAN: Yes Fred and I...
FRIEDMAN: Go ahead, Richard.
HERMAN: Go ahead, Avery.
Well, I -- respectfully I disagree with you. I do not think it's unconstitutional and I think it's going to be enforceable. And while President Obama says I'm going to look at the civil rights violations here, really, with all due respect, Mr. President, you need to look into global immigration reform for our country. There's 11 million illegal individuals in the United States, right now.
FRIEDMAN: Well, that's easier said than done. I mean, clearly, you've got a president that just finished health care, and while, of course, immigration reform is necessary, I think all of this is a political act, Richard. I think it's nothing more than an unconstitutional piece of legislation basically geared to sticking pins in members of Congress and the administration to get immigration policy done.
WHITFIELD: And so this really is, you know, while the state says they want to take a stab at trying to fix or stop a problem, you know, the problem that is now being opened up is, there are a number of people who are going to say they're being stopped unnecessarily. They are going to be put through all kind of hoops unnecessarily, because the state says you know, we are at wit's end and don't know what else to do and that's the justification.
FRIEDMAN: And that's exactly right.
HERMAN: And that's where the legal challenges will come, Fred. Was there reasonable suspicion to detain this person and then take them in. Those are going to be the legal challenges, but in the statute, citizens are allowed to sue police officers to compel them to stop people and arrest them.
FRIEDMAN: Yeah, and also police officers are immune from litigation in this legislation. It is a total hodgepodge. It's not going to work. Again, it's politically motivated. I mean I can't believe the attorney general of Arizona actually concluded in any kind of research that one can do this. It strikes me so obviously unconstitutional.
WHITFIELD: OK, well we're talk to you some more about other cases coming up, Avery and Richard, including your favorite players, Rob Blagojevich, being one of them.
FRIEDMAN: And Ben Roethlisberger's now in the picture.
WHITFIELD: Ben Roethlisberger, as well. That's right. And as it pertains to -- pertains to the Blagojevich case. We're talking about the U.S. president now, apparently being called to be a potential witness. I know you have commented and it before, but now I don't know, there is steam behind this movement. We're going to find out from you what you think. Will it peter out or will it gain steam, even more momentum, perhaps?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A voracious eater in the Chesapeake Bay is threatening oyster and clam beds. It's called the Chesapeake Ray, a species that's tipping a delicate ecosystem out of balance. But, the fishing industry is now putting green solutions in focus turning the problematic ray into a culinary delicacy.
CNN photojournalist Don Benya (ph) has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEAD AMORY, OWNER, L.D. AMORY SEAFOOD COMPANY: This is a L.D. Amory Company, a family seafood business. We've been here 92 years.
This boat just came in this morning. We're unloading the products. They're grading the fish by size and quality. We package them up, then we'll ship them all over the country.
Beginning in the middle of May we start seeing a large influx of these Chesapeake Rays, and they are devastating the clam beds and the oyster beds here in the Chesapeake Bay. Right now they are catching them as bi-catch and many times they would be looking for other products. These rays, when they come in big schools will fill their nets up. So, we're trying to develop a fishery and some products from this ray to help manage the species.
We ship you the wings with the skin on and filets.
MIKE HUTT, VIRGINIA MARINE PRODUCTS BOARD: We promote (INAUDIBLE) seafood for the industry. Our job is to get the products out of Virginia that's being processed and harvested in Virginia.
TIM MILLER, EXEC CHEF, MIE N YU RESTAURANT: I grew up tin the area and I've never seen it used. What could I do with this or how, you know, let me play with it. I want to get my hands on it and see if we can do something with it, actually.
OREN MOLOVINSKY, MIE N YU RESTAURANT: It's called the Tokyo style ray and oyster. It's modeled after a Japanese tuna hand roll. We said, how do we now complete this dish to tell the entire story? And that's when we decided to bring in a farm raised Chesapeake oyster on the dish. So we play the two against each other.
Bigger picture, our goal is to help solve the big, bigger problem in the Chesapeake. This is our little way of being able to do it, in our four walls.
MILLER: It's more than just what's on the plate. And I think that's what make it is a good dish.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's always solutions, and we need to address the solution, but, again, go in being smart. To initiate a fishery, especially a targeted fishery on a species, we have to have the science in place so we can properly manage it. I mean, we've learned our lesson so many times in the past where we go and enter a fishery, target a species, and then we're left, you know, wondering what happened to that species.
AMORY: We will not let that happen here in Virginia. Our industry is striving to make everything we do sustainable. Eat a ray and save the bay. I don't know any other way to put it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: That's a pretty inventive idea. "Green Solutions in Focus," a special hour of programming dedicated to the environment, it's only on CNN at 3:00 Eastern Time today and noon Pacific. And learn more when you logon to our Web site at CNN.com, you can find information on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, which was observed this week. And, of course, your iReports (AUDIO GAP).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The U.S. Geological Survey has slightly downgraded the intensity of an earthquake that struck Indonesia earlier today. The USGS now says the quake registered 6.0 and was centered near the Obe (ph) Island that's due north of the Australian continent. There are no immediate reports of damage or casualties and no tsunami warnings.
And in Mumbai, India, nearly 18 moss after nearly 160 people were killed in a bloody assault there, the Oberoi hotel is back open for business. The hotel was one of a number of targets attacked by 10 gunman back in November of 2008. Indian authorities are blaming a Pakistani-based terror group reputed to have associations with al Qaeda.
And after scouring some 5,000 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three day, the U.S. Coast Guard has called off the search for 11 missing oil rig workers following Tuesday's explosion of the platform that they were actually working on.
And we'll get another check of the top stories in about 20 minutes from now.
All right, Rod Blagojevich, you know, the governor fired by Illinois legislature, then fired by Donald Trump on "Celebrity Apprentice." Well, did you hear this week, Blagojevich wants President Obama to testify at his corruption trial. He claims the president could clear up conflicting statements about his vacated Senate seat. Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell that seat.
Well he went on to rail against a federal prosecutor this week. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROD BLAGOJEVICH, FMR. CHICAGO GOVERNOR: The government sneaking into court tomorrow to try to file a motion to keep all the tapes from being heard. Now, why are they doing that? They're doing it for two reasons: One, they know when all the tapes will be played they will show I've done nothing wrong, they will prove my innocence and that Patti did nothing wrong.
And then the second reason, the reason they and we know, that there's a smoking gun on those tapes. And the smoking gun is that the government is covering up a big lie Mr. Fitzgerald gave to the world when he had me arrested on December the 9th and tolded whole world he heard tapes and telephone conversations and they had to arrest a sitting governor because he was quote/unquote, stopping a crime spree before it happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, he's a bold man, unafraid of going to the mikes. And unafraid of trying to subpoena the president of the United States, now. Our legal experts say it is unlikely, however, that the president would actually be in court. So, what do you think? Weigh in at my blog, go to CNN.com/Fredricka and have your say. We'll share comments a little bit later.
Meantime, let's hear what our legal experts have to say about all this. Our Richard Herman, Avery freeman back with us.
OK, Richard, you first. The chances of the president of the united states subpoenaed and actually showing up in court for this corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich?
HERMAN: He's not going to walk through the courthouse doors and take the witness stand in this case. However I absolutely believe that he is going to be compelled to give videotaped deposition testimony that will be used at the trial.
WHITFIELD: Do you?
FRIEDMAN: Nah.
HERMAN: These issues -- I do believe that. He is -- Blagojevich is speaking about relevant testimony that could be helpful for the defense in this case. You know, his defense is, this was business as usual in Chicago. This was his Senate seat that we're talking about here, nobody else's. This is the president involved -- his transition team had some involvement here. He's going to be able to get the testimony. It's going...
WHITFIELD: Wait, wait. I'm wondering works that offer credence, then, to this allegation that the president, before he was president, knew something about a deal trying to be struck for his vacated spot, even if he were to do videotaped testimony, or would it just be smarter for, you know, his team to continue to say that maybe his transition team knew something about it, but the president didn't, so why in the world would he want to testify, whether it be on tape or live?
FRIEDMAN: Right. Well that, I mean, I respectfully disagree. There may be some deposition testimony, but the fact is, if you study the history of when presidents have been subpoenaed in cases, there are a handful, but there has to be some connection. I read this 11 page rambling and it doesn't seem to connect directly anything. It connects Valerie Jarrett, it connect a bunch of other people.
But, the fact is, there is no direct connect unlike the Thomas Jefferson, Richard Nixon, other cases. I don't see that there's a chance and I don't think the federal judge is going grant the motion. Not going to happen.
WHITFIELD: Oh, interesting. So Richard, and you feel like that's a pretty good potential that the president in some way, shape or form is going to find his way in this corruption trial?
HERMAN: One hundred percent.
WHITFIELD: One hundred percent?
FRIEDMAN: Zero percent.
WHITFIELD: All right, we want to hear from you at home, too, so your comments please, on my blog, or FaceBook page, and we'll get those comments on the air.
OK, let's shift gears now, let's talk about former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in trouble again. This time, you know, Richard and Avery, he was saying, wait a minute, I want to just offer $6.00 in restitution per month because I can't afford anything more, even though he allegedly is living the high life, what, in a pretty sizeable Dallas home and there all kinds of other allegations about how he's spending money.
Well, the judge came down hard on him and said, no. You're going to have to pay up. In fact, you've violated probation. So now, he is potentially facing some jail time, Richard. Explain this one.
HERMAN: Well, he's not potentially. At his last hearing, the judge said ...
WHITFIELD: He is for sure?
HERMAN: ... sir, I -- yes, I expect you -- it would be in your best interests to get your affairs in order.
FRIEDMAN: Right.
HERMAN: I mean, that came from the bench. So, he's going, Fred. The only question is, is he going for less than a year, or more than a year.
WHITFIELD: I see, OK.
HERMAN: That's the only question. He's going to prison.
WHITFIELD: Because it's maximum of five years that he's facing, right? HERMAN: Yes.
FRIEDMAN: Yes, Richard's right.
HERMAN: Yes, (INAUDIBLE) recommend a year.
FRIEDMAN: Richard's right. The fact is the judge said you better make sure your life is in order. You're coming back on May 25th, Fredricka. That's the date, and so, there's no question. I think bottom line, you're looking at about a year, maybe a little bit less. He's going to jail.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness.
FRIEDMAN: No doubt.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right, this is interesting saga that continues to go on and on.
FRIEDMAN: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: Ben Roethlisberger. Here we go again. Now, while in Georgia, prosecutors say we've got no case here. We're not going to press charges based on these allegations of sexual assault, but the NFL then did weigh in and say, this was a violation of just simply his conduct as a sportsman for the NFL.
So, a six-game suspension, Richard. If the NFL makes this kind of move and at least says that his behavior or the suspicion surrounding his behavior is not good, does that offer Georgia authorities to perhaps look a little closer as to whether there really is something to that case?
FRIEDMAN: That's a good question.
HERMAN: No. Georgia authorities have dropped the ball on this. It's not going to be a criminal prosecution here. She's brought a civil case. It might somehow play somehow in the civil case, but you know, this is the NFL. You don't have a constitutional right to play in the NFL, but if you do play in the NFL, you are bound by the NFL's code of conduct.
And that gives the president of the NFL, Mr. Goodell, the ability to hand out the suspensions. He's done 16 of them since he's been appointed president, and Roethlisberger got six years, if he's a good boy -- six games, I'm sorry.
WHITFIELD: Six games. Costing him $2.8 million. Right?
HERMAN: Yes.
FRIEDMAN: And by the way -- by the way, the Steelers also got whacked for a couple hundred thousand bucks because under NFL rules, the team is responsible for the personal conduct of the players. I mean, that's quite a big deal. But I agree somewhat. I do think the civil matter is not insignificant. However, the evidence, evidentiary standards the NFL uses, Fredricka, has nothing to do with the civil action, but it certainly doesn't help Ben. It's certainly going to help this young woman perpurtodely molested.
WHITFIELD: Oh OK.
HERMAN: Fred, if he portrays himself as a good citizen now, he abides by the therapy that they want him to take and he does everything good here, you know, he could be back after only four games.
WHITFIELD: Oh, OK. All right, so there's hope for Ben Roethlisberger to get back on the field.
FRIEDMAN: Somehow, some way. And maybe not in Pittsburgh, by the way.
HERMAN: Trade rumors.
FRIEDMAN: Maybe not in Pittsburgh.
HERMAN: Trade rumors in Pittsburgh.
FRIEDMAN: Right.
HERMAN: A lot of trade rumors about him right now.
WHITFIELD: All right, all right. You guys are in the know on every level. We can count on you all the time.
FRIEDMAN: Yes, you require us to prepare, actually. We actually have to do that.
WHITFIELD: I love that, all right.
HERMAN: We only had 15 cases to prepare for today, Fred, so.
WHITFIELD: I know, I know. And you know, we could have had more, but, darn. We're out of time.
FRIEDMAN: All right.
WHITFIELD: All right. Avery, Richard, thanks so much. Always good to see you. Have a great weekend.
FRIEDMAN: See you soon. Take care. You, too.
WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about something else that's bubbling up on our horizon. Powerful storms, they're rumbling across the south already and more could come later. There's a serious threat of tornadoes actually in Memphis and some other major cities. We'll find out where the biggest danger might be.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Updating our top story right now, parts of the south are in what could be a day of extremely violent weather. Forecasters are expecting a serious tornado outbreak as well. The highest risk areas are follows: Mississippi, Alabama, and parts of Tennessee. Right now, you're looking at live pictures out of Nashville where clearly, it's very damp. You see the water on the lens there.
But let's find out with our Bonnie Schneider what the potential is for Nashville, Memphis, so many other cities.
SCHNEIDER: Well, it's very high, Fredricka. We're already seeing tornado warnings breaking out across Mississippi into Alabama and unconfirmed reports of tornadoes in Alabama from some fire officials in the city of Ward. I'm checking on that right now. We're also getting reports of trees down and some damage to homes in Meridian, Mississippi, due a possible tornado. Again, unconfirmed at this time.
Now, the warnings, as you can see, kind of exist right where this squall is going through on into Tennessee. The bigger picture, speaking of Tennessee, shows that Memphis and Nashville are under a tornado watch and that will persist through the afternoon. Hattiesburg, Mississippi down through New Orleans also under a tornado watch.
However, the watches existing here for central Mississippi, Alabama and western Tennessee are listed as a particularly dangerous situation. A PDS watch. What does that mean? The enhanced language means this could be even more severe than a regular tornado watch, because if a tornado does break out in this region, it is likely to be violent and long-lasting. PDS watches are rarely issued. So, when they are, we like to bring them to you so you're well aware of the risk and the risk is high today for much of this region.
You know, thunderstorms are sweeping on across much of the southeast and one of the places that we're seeing some of the intense storm activity, as I mentioned, Birmingham. But now, it's starting to work its way a little bit further to the east and there it goes across Atlanta, Georgia. Bright flashes of lightning happening right now.
I can tell you, I just checked the latest reports. We're getting reports of hail, three-quarters of an inch in diameter in Cobb County, Georgia. So, the weather is rough in Atlanta; we're not under a tornado watch right now, but we are definitely looking at that continuing threat for severe weather.
Fredricka, we'll have more coming up.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. Bonnie, we look forward to that.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
WHITFIELD: Meantime, protests and legal challenges over Arizona's tough new illegal -- new immigration law that is. Here's what we know right now. At least two Latino advocacy groups are preparing to challenge the law in court. It requires police to question people about their immigration status if they suspect they are in the country illegally. Immigrants unable to produce proper documents could be arrested, jailed for up to six months, and fined.
And thousands of people protested outside the state Capitol in Phoenix yesterday, claiming the law will lead to racial profiling. It goes into effect, the law does, to be enforced as late as this summer, or the latter part of the summer that is.
So, the fallout reaches way beyond Arizona's borders. Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is watching it all unfold from Washington. So, Paul, what are the national implications of this new law?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, Fred. What's going on in Arizona right now, the controversy over that new law could definitely have an impact right back here in the nation's capital because it could kind of be a kick in the pants on those in the White House and to Democrats in Congress to kind of move even faster now on their push this year to try to pass immigration reform in Congress.
And we're seeing this is really interesting, because, you know, the president and the White House and Democrats in Congress have been talking about trying to get immigration reform done. Now, all the attention there in Arizona, plus you had those large protest marches in favor of immigration reform here in Washington and across the nation a couple weeks' back. So, both of that could push -- could help push forward on this.
Our Dana Bash reporting yesterday that Congressional Democrats may try to fasttrack immigration reform now, Fred, even jump it ahead of clean energy reform, try to get it done this summer or this fall before the November election.
WHITFIELD: Well, how much more involved might we expect the White House to be on this? We've already heard the president's comments on this law. Is the expectation the president will say I've said what I've said, I'm on record and that's it or might there be more?
STEINHAUSER: There might be more. He said -- yesterday, he made his comments and they were pretty tough. He made them before the bill was signed into law by the governor, and the National Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, who you remember used to be the governor of Arizona, she was also pretty tough in her comments last night.
Remember, Latino/Hispanic voters very important to this president. Take a look at this. Our CNN Exit Polls from the 2008 presidential election, you can see two-thirds of them voted in favor -- for President Obama, only about three in 10 voting for John McCain. So, they're an important electorate for this president and a lot of people in the community are upset that the president, who promised he would try to move forward on such legislation in his first year, we're now in his second, they're a little upset with him.
So, I think that's also partly behind this new push to try to pass a new bill in Congress -- Fred? WHITFIELD: All right, Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much from Washington. Appreciate that.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, apparently, it is never too late for justice. We're talking to victims' families about reopening cold cases from the Civil Rights era, next.
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SCHNEIDER: I'm CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. We have this just in, a large tornado has been confirmed by National Weather Service meteorologists. They are tracking it near Valley Park. That is in Mississippi and some of the cities that are under the gun for this tornado include Yazoo City (ph), Holly Bluff, Tinsley, Merrlyville (ph) and Benton.
Now, this is all moving to the northeast, pretty rapidly at about 55 miles per hour, so it's a fast-moving storm right here, as you can see in between these two highways, 20 and 55. There's Jackson. Now, the counties are under a tornado warning, at least for the next 15 to 20 minutes. It's part of a widespread area of severe weather that's breaking out.
But this is one of the first reports that we have of a confirmed tornado on the ground by National Weather Service officials. Remember, Mississippi is part of an area that we are tracking today for severe weather throughout the day and into the evening, as is Tennessee and Alabama and even into parts of Georgia seeing some severe weather right now.
Mississippi in particular is part of a region -- this is, again, the area that we're tracking for severe weather right now with tornadic activity. A particularly dangerous situation, meaning tornadoes that come through this region will be large, widespread and certainly very volatile and violent. So, we're tracking this right now.
Once again, in the vicinity of Yazoo City, we have a confirmed tornado on the ground by National Weather Service meteorologists. We'll keep bringing you the latest. I'll have more coming up on CNN NEWSROOM.
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WHITFIELD: Something pretty powerful is happening this weekend in Atlanta, a gathering of some 30 families who lost loved ones during the Civil Rights era. Murders, missing persons cases, all of it still unresolved. The event is called "Never Too Late for Justice," hosted by the Syracuse University Law School's Cold Case Justice Initiative, a group of law professors and students dedicated to trying to solve these cases forgotten by almost everyone, except, of course, the victims' families.
So, here to tell us all about it is the program's co-director, Professor Paula Johnson and also relatives of Warless Jackson, a Mississippi factory worker, an NAACP member killed in a mysterious explosion. The family members, Wharlest Jackson, Jr. and his sister Denise Ford are also joining me right now. Good to see all of you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, this really is a powerful moment that so many families have been wondering over the years, whatever happened to my brother, my father, my mother, et cetera? And this is a collection, you know, of a lot of energies now trying to say, let's offer each other comfort, at the same time, let's get close, Professor, to trying to actually solve this. How do you do this?
PROF. PAULA JOHNSON, CO-DIRECTOR, COLD CASE JUSTICE INITIATIVE: Yes. Well, we brought the families together, asked them if they would be interested in getting together to meet and speak with each other. Because although so many cases have happened, generally people have been treating them in an isolated way and we thought that the family members needed to get together in a space that was simply for them.
No interference from anyone else, just to be able to talk about what they experienced and what they would like to see happen in the manner of justice, in the manner of continuing to cope with the situation, what they want so that their voices are the clearest ones that are heard on these issues.
WHITFIELD: So, what are those discussions been like? Because I would imagine a lot of family members would say, you know what, this is hopeless, it's never going to be resolved. I have thought about this exhaustively, I have hoped that other people, or you know, lawmakers, or people who are enforcing law, prosecutors, would have gotten involved, they haven't.
JOHNSON: Well, yes, but that's precisely why the title is "Never Too Late for Justice" because even though many of the cases stem from the Civil Rights era and many of them are unsolved, there have been some successful prosecutions. And so, people can take inspiration from that to know that even though their own cases haven't been solved yet, that there still may be the possibility of that.
And so, until we know absolutely that there is no possibility, we will continue to try to help them in investigating and work with the authorities who can bring prosecutions on the local and federal level.
WHITFIELD: OK, so Denise, I wonder is that your hope? Do you feel like this case will be solved this many years after the fact? Your dad on his way home from work, correct, in Mississippi?
DENISE FORD, DAUGHTER OF WHARLEST JACKSON: Correct.
WHITFIELD: He was an active NAACP member, somehow he was targeted. Do you know the story as to why he was targeted? What happened that his truck would mysteriously explode? The conclusion was he was murdered, correct?
FORD: That's correct and it was the fact that he accepted a position that was only held for whites to make 17 cents an hour to better his family and his life was threatened and they told him not to accept the promotion because this position was held for whites only.
WHITFIELD: And so, do you feel like now so many years after the fact that there really could be some resolution here? That this crime could be solved, particularly because of what Syracuse University is trying to do here?
FORD: Yes. I do feel that it -- with the help of Syracuse and Paula, and Janice (ph), that we will seek some type of justice. You know, I used to tell them all the time, you know, after 40-some years, justice has been served, even though the person that they assume that, you know, did this to my father, is deceased, justice to me has been served.
WHITFIELD: It was 1965, right, Wharlest? So ...
WHARLEST JACKSON JR., SON OF WHARLEST JACKSON: 1967.
WHITFIELD: 1967. So, all these years, what have you been thinking about what happened to your dad?
JACKSON: All these years, I've been thinking that people that placed the bomb on the seat of his truck been given a free ride. When the law hadn't stepped up to be the law, when the DA hadn't stepped to be the DA, that they should be and arrest these people that were involved in this heinous murderous crime, brutal crime to a man who was trying to feed his wife and five kids.
WHITFIELD: So, what was it like last night particularly to meet up with so many other families who are in the same predicament, have been living the past 40 years similar to your family? Was this a healing moment? Was it cathartic, what did this feel like?
JACKSON: This was a process of healing, this was a process of hope. Even after 40-some years -- no information was found by my father by local law enforcement agencies. FBI informed me just last week that even after entering into the case to look for information, she was unable to find anything in local authorities, and to have the University of Syracuse working with us to bring some type of closure, some type of answers, it's a marvelous thing.
WHITFIELD: Wharlest Jackson, Denise Ford, Professor Paula Johnson, last night you were also joined by Congressman John Lewis. He has acknowledged this colossal effort, all the best. Have you given yourselves a time frame or kind of a promise as to when you hope to kind of clear that next hurdle?
JOHNSON: Well, we're hoping that within the next, very few years because you know, there isn't an indefinite amount of time, or an infinite amount of time for us to continue to do this work. So, there is urgency to what we are doing. The case is already 40-years-old. We need for people who know things to come forward with that knowledge so that these families will get the resolution that they deserve, the justice, the accountability that they deserve. And Congressman Lewis spoke to us. He greeted the group last night and he pledged his support, even though he was one of the sponsors of the Emmett Till Bill and he has pledged to follow through on that to ensure that the Congress and that the public will stay on top of these situations so that we will get some answers and these families, like the Wharlest Jackson family will get some resolution.
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, and hopefully, you'll keep us updated ...
JOHNSON: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: ...too, in the course of the next few months, or perhaps even years. All right, thanks so much to all of you. Appreciate it.
JACKSON: Thank you.
FORD: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, imagine this -- being pregnant and then slipping into a coma, but in order to save your baby, doctors have to actually take it. Up next, we're highlighting one doctor who is taking care of babies born before full term. He's helping mom and dad as well, our CNN hero of the week.
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WHITFIELD: All right, some of the most vulnerable patients in a hospital are found in the neonatal intensive care unit. But often, it's the whole family that struggles to survive, unexpected costs adding to the emotional strain.
Well, that's when our CNN hero of the week stepps in. Just take a look.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I entered the E.R. from a severe cold. I was 24 weeks pregnant, had H1N1. They put in a coma to stabilize me. I was in a coma for roughly six weeks. When I woke up, my husband said we had to take out the baby and I immediately clutched my stomach, but he settled me down and was like no, no. He's OK, he's down in the NICU.
DR. SEAN DANESHMAND, CNN HERO: My daughter was born prematurely and to see people, hearing that there's something wrong with their baby, and then to have to worry about everything else around them. I mean, life doesn't stop.
I'm Dr. Sean Daneshmand. I started an organization that provides assistance to families with babies in the NICU. I wanted to take some of the suffering that these women go through away from them so they can really focus on their baby.
It's emotionally draining, and the way the economy now is, people are suffering.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't think this was going to be as hard. She's going to do it, she's going to be OK.
DANESHMAND: They need extra money for clothing, diapers, medical expenses, rent. These are families that all of a sudden in a time of crisis, now need extra help and that's what we're about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They helped us with out mortgage, with gas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something as simple as gas cards to be able to make it to the NICU every day just helped tremendously.
DANESHMAND: I can't think of any other time in one's life where you need someone to be there for you.
You good? You got to stay strong right now.
I've got a very special role in life. I never thought I'd be here and my God, I'm having a great time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So, in less than six months, Dr. Daneshmand has his organization -- and his organization rather, have assisted 80 families. So, to nominate someone that you think is changing the world, go to CNN.com/heroes.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks for being with us this hour. "YOUR MONEY" starts right now.
