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Videos of Tornado Devastation; Storm Threats Still Exist; Washington State the Last GOP Contest Before Super Tuesday; High Winds and Heavy Rain Hit South; Fourteen People Killed in Southern Indiana; Syrian Forces Execute 47 Army Defectors

Aired March 03, 2012 - 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: New video into CNN. A sight that makes your stomach drop. Look at this. A man taking cover inside a gas station. On the horizon, a massive tornado cutting a jagged scar across the landscape. Mike Kaiser got to cover and he got lucky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE KAISER, TOOK COVER FROM TORNADO: The vehicles on 160 were being turned over in front of us. We saw the marathon station across the street completely leveled. Nothing left of it. It then kept moving to the east. And then you could tell it hit the school with all of the turbulence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Henryville, Indiana, one of the hardest-hit communities in a deadly rash of tornados across 11 states. At least 36 people are dead. The number of missing impossible to know right now.

Hello everyone, I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for joining us here in the CNN Newsroom. And the threat is not over yet. From this vicious storm system that just refuses to quit. Let's get right over to Jacqui Jeras now in the CNN severe weather center. Jacqui, oh my goodness, what in the world is going on?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's just been amazing what an incredibly strong storm that's been going on for more than 36 hours right now. Ninety eight reports of tornados yesterday. Ten reports so far today. The severe weather threat still out there with a tornado watch, meaning conditions are favorable for tornados to occur in southern parts of Georgia and in northern parts of Florida. Now, this is the line that we are most concerned about at this hour that has a history of producing the damaging winds and isolated tornados.

Thankfully, no injury reports today or fatalities. Let's hope that continues to hold on true. Right now, the best thing I can tell you is that there are no warnings in effect. When we tell you a warning, that means it's happening now. And you need to take shelter immediately. That is not happening at this time. But we'll have to watch as these storms especially down here by the big ban area make their way onshore. There is the potential for rotation as they make their way onshore. So, we'll watch for that along the I-10 corridor throughout the rest of the day. Also Jacksonville, Florida, is under that severe weather threat. They've had strong winds all day long. And now that line is going to be coming through in the next couple of hours. So, a big alert for those folks. And we'll continue to track these storms -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Jacqui, don't go far. We'll going to be covering this a lot. We'll going to see that incredible video that we showed you at the top of this broadcast just again. And Jackie is going to come back at the half hour to talk to us about this. So, take us back the shock of it and break down exactly what we are seeing here. Can you imagine standing right there when that thing is headed toward you?

And as we've been mentioning here. Tornados, well, they've ran across 11 states in the Midwest and in the south. Thirty six people are dead, 14 of those deaths are in Indiana. Henryville, a community about 20 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky, saw some of the worst of it. Extreme forces ripped the roofs off some buildings and completely flattened others. Look at that school bus. Rescue are combing through the debris looking for survivors right now. Seventeen people are dead in Kentucky alone. In the small town of West Liberty, practically wiped right of the map. The violence of these storms cannot be overstated. Cars, trucks tossed around like they were weighing nothing. And it is a little communities like this that got hit the worse. Our reporters are out in the hot beds of the storm's activity.

And we have incredible stories live for you and our reporters are in Dallas, Georgia, they're in West Liberty, Kentucky, but first we want to go to Henryville, Indiana. And that's where our Susan Candiotti is standing by for us. Susan, this is where residents took shelter from tornados anywhere they could in their homes, in schools, even gas stations -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Gas stations and diners, too. I'm in the parking lot of a diner. You're looking at it right here where seven people took shelter. This place had only been open a month. And look what landed right in it. Right here. This school bus. But it looks like it's a complete school bus. Not so. When you come around the side you can tell that the force of the wind sheared it off its chassis. You can even see the gas cap here. But that's not all. There were 11 kids onboard this school bus. Not when this happened. They had just gotten off at the high school right across the street here. That's right. It had blown all the way over here Don, from the high school, the one you heard so much about. Where about 40 to 50 to 60 kids were holed up inside, yet the storm came through. Yet, there were very few injuries. Just bruises, scrapes, scratches. Now, when that storm came through, someone was looking out. And they took shelter at a gas station.

And this man saw the storm coming up. His name is Mike Kaiser. Mike, you whipped out that camera because you're a storm spotter, right?

KAISER: Yes.

CANDIOTTI: Tell me what you saw as we take a look at these incredible shots. KAISER: Well, as on my way back from Columbus, Indiana. I went up to the Harley dealer to get some pieces for my motorcycle. And they said, we had a storm coming in, I want to get home.

CANDIOTTI: So, you pulled over and you started rolling, what did you see?

KAISER: That at exit 19, I saw three tornados heading coming out of the west. Got out, took a few photos. The air was blowing me back against the vehicle. Popped in it. Pulled into the shell lot. And immediately upon getting in the shell lot, it was probably about 100 yards out. And was blowing us the metal and stuff from across the road was hitting into the gas station. Made it into the shell station. The doors were sucked open and we had the video footage of actual tornado going through there.

CANDIOTTI: How big did your eyes get when you saw what looked like a triple funnel cloud whipping around?

KAISER: Actually, that don't sound bad. That didn't bother me as much as people that were in the gas station across the street. We had about 30 people in shell. The station across the street was about three times as big. And we actually saw that go completely level.

CANDIOTTI: Obliterated.

KAISER: Obliterated.

CANDIOTTI: What do you think about documenting this and living to tell the tale when you come out and see all that damage?

KAISER: It's hard to believe. I wonder why. I feel very blessed that it happened, but I felt sorry for the one that I know that it already passed from that. But it's beginning to set in, you get a little bit nervous now. But upfront, you didn't think any of that.

CANDIOTTI: Exactly. Thank you so much for taking that video and for telling us about it. As a matter of fact on, we will tell you more about that gentleman that he mentioned. His name is Wayne Hunter, the only fatality in this area. Quite a man and quite a story. And we'll be bringing that to you later tonight.

LEMON: Well, we look forward to that, Susan Candiotti. Thank you. That will happen at 7:00 Eastern here on CNN. And we are glad that Mike Kaiser everyone knows is OK. One person. One person. Unbelievable, there weren't more deaths, more injuries there. At least 17 of a 36 storm deaths were in Kentucky where the governor has declared a state-wide emergency. The National Guard has been called in to help in the search for survivors. But some residents of West Liberty, Kentucky, looked to a higher power for help during this storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Take this away us from. I said, Lord, Lord, take it away from us, Lord. Take it, Lord. Take it, Lord. Take it away us from, Jesus. (SPEAKING OF TONGUES) Father God in your powers (INAUDIBLE), take this away from our home as did you for Elijah, take this away from us. (SPEAKING OF TONGUES) Take it away from our home. Take it away from our town.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, that's what happens. You're praying, man, you're hanging on for dear life when you see something like that. This woman's prayers were answered. Though her home was spared, but much of the town well, wasn't quite as lucky.

CNN's Jim Spellman, West Liberty now. Jim, do search teams believe they found everyone missing?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They hope so, Don. They have searched every building in this town once. And they are going back again double checking to be sure they didn't miss anything. This storm was so intense here, even led to some low-end flooding there. Take a look at this. This is what it looks like on the outskirts of West Liberty. Trees just thrown about. Telephone poles just snapped in half. But the real damage is straight up Main Street. This town is on lockdown Don, while the search and rescue team continue their work. We did get a chance to go up there with some of the first responders a few hours ago. Take a look.

This is West Liberty, Kentucky, hit hard by Friday night's tornadoes. This is the mobile command center that they set up here. This town is on lockdown right now. And they focused on search and rescue. Here's why they need that command center. This until the last night, Friday night with the Police Department. This right here is a police car that was flipped on its side. You can just see here this destruction as this tornado tore through here. It was Friday night right around dusk, around 7:00 when this tornado came through. Some buildings like this one completely leveled. And you can just see piles of bricks. You can see here the spray paint here from agencies that have been searching, establishing that there is nobody trapped in here. That's really the focus right now. It's search and rescue here. And it's painstaking work that have to go from building to building and dig through all the crevices and voids.

The state police here tell us that with communications down, cell phone towers down, very hard to establish cell phone connects or any kind of internet connection. It's really hard to know exactly who may be still stuck here. So, they have to just do these house by house, building by building searches. Some of these buildings made it a little bit better. You can see here windows blown out. Others destroyed like we showed you. And over here on the other side of the street, you see the courthouse. This was sort of town center right here on Main Street. It's just really devastating that this tornado went right through the heart of this small town here in Kentucky, really the worst possible path for such a destructive storm.

Authorities here have confirmed that one person died in this small town of West Liberty. Don, I have to tell you. I think it's incredible that not more people died given the intensity of this storm and the level of destruction. LEMON: You know, I think a lot of people feel the same way. Thank you, Jim Spellman. We appreciate it. Find out more on how you can help those affected by the severe weather, go to cnn.com/impact. Cnn.com/impact. The information on the bottom of your screen there. There you'll have all the information you need and you'll see the organizations and ways that you can help those in need. Again, cnn.com/impact. They can certainly use to help.

A possible tornado left a trail of destruction outside of Atlanta neighborhood even an airport taken out. We're live from the CNN about 18 minutes. But first this.

Civilians in Syria targeted by their own military. Here is something new. Army soldiers turn their guns on some of their own men. That story two minutes away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: New developments in Syria to tell you about. Army soldiers turned their guns on some of their own today. The relentless shelling of the City of Homs is designed to pound the resistance into submission. But in Idlib Provinces, a Syrian army commander got wind of soldiers who plotted to defect. He betrayed them. Forty seven were immediately executed. Their bodies were dumped in a lake. One opposition activist Sami Ibraham says, one neighborhood of Homs is facing its own massacre.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMI IBRAHIM, SYRIAN OPPOSITION ACTIVIST (voice-over): The government is now inside -- preparing for something, no one knows what's going on. The situation is very bad because (INAUDIBLE) area, no one can exist. No one can go out. We are speaking about between 6,000 to 10,000 persons inside. (INAUDIBLE) because they are preparing Damascus. They are arresting hundreds of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: -- Are cause in danger in Homs. And humanitarian crisis worsens every day as food, electricity and medical supplies dwindle.

Two victims of the violence in Syria finally began their final trips home today. The red crescent handed over the bodies of American reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik to western diplomats in Damascus. Both died during the shelling of Homs. Doctors at Al Assad University Hospital positively identified them.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? Well, Science begs to differ here. Ahead, how your brain affects what you think is beautiful. But first this.

Have we finally reached the bottom of the housing market? Certainly hope so. In this week's "Smart is the New Rich," Christine Romans talks the real to find out whether we should be buying, renting or selling. Pay attention.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, CNN'S YOUR BOTTOM LINE: Are we finally seeing the bottom in the housing market? Let's get right to the bottom of it. Mike Aubrey is a realtor and host of HDTV's "Real Estate Intervention." Mike, would you say it's time to buy, sell or rent in this housing market?

MIKE AUBREY, REALTOR: Unequivocably, you must buy right now. We are never going to see prices as cheap as they are and we are never going to see mortgage money as cheap as you can get it.

ROMANS: I know but we've been thinking this for a few months now, years now that home prices couldn't go lower and they keep going lower. That's the big fear. If you buy a house right now, it could be a less expensive house in one or two years.

AUBREY: Well, you know, what? I mean, I think that it depends on who the buyer is, Christine. I mean, if you're an investor and you're someone who is savvy and you're out in the marketplace, I think that you may have a different view point that say, someone who is looking to buy a house that they intend to live in. If you intend to live in a house right now, you are going to get a mortgage interest rate deduction on the house that you'll going to live in. I think that what you're going to do is cut your nose off to spite your face. Say that the market continues to drop even through the end of 2012, which it may very well. I know that mortgage rates aren't going to go any cheaper than they are right now. When you talk about the gift that keeps on taking, even a quarter point mortgage interest over 30 years which by the way right now is about 3.88 percent on a 30 year fix loan, you are going to end up paying more even if you pay 20,000 or 30,000 less for the house that you buy.

ROMANS: Yes, you get that mortgage rate, you need money in the bank, money to put down, pretty good credit score. And of course, you have to have a house that you can sell already. You can already have a house that you can get rid off but you're right. These mortgage rates have never been so low and home prices -- homes sales actually are starting to pick up a little bit. Mike Aubrey, thank you so much. I'm Christine Romans with this week's "Smart is the New Rich."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. Most people say that they can point out beauty when they see it. But what makes someone or something beautiful? It's a topic that has been studied countless times, but still there are few answers to this topic. We know it when we see it though I believe that. According to the latest study, there appear to be certain patterns of brain activity associated with viewing something you find beautiful regardless of culture. All right?

Human behavior expert Dr. Wendy Walsh joins me now. So, Wendy, there's been quite a buzz since cnn.com posted this article. So, I knew it's about symmetry, it's about balance and symmetry. So, why is facial symmetry considered beautiful in all cultures? WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Well, because it signifies health. This goes back to our hunter/gatherer ancestors. People who have symmetrical features. Eyes about the same size and on the same level, et cetera, tend to be, it's more related to health. And in fact, one study looked at people who had asymmetrical faces and made an association between deprived childhoods and really hard times in childhood. It can actually change the way we grow up and the way we look later.

LEMON: Yes. And you know, beautiful people get, you know, promotions faster. We know all of that stuff. And they make more money. They have lighter prison sentences when they commit crimes. I mean, come on.

WALSH: Well, there is actually been some studies associating intelligence with beauty. But you have to remember, that what changes is not so much that, you know, beautiful skin makes you have a beautiful brain, it just means that your environment changes and you get more stimulated. In other words, more beautiful parents, you know, have higher status, they get you into better private schools, you get surrounded by people that stimulate you more.

LEMON: Why is that? Why is that? I never understood that just because of the way someone looks that they get an easier time in life just because of their looks. I don't understand it.

WALSH: Well, again, it goes back to that hunter/gather gene in us that we are looking for health and good hunters et cetera. And did you know that when women are fertile at that time of their month, when they are more fertile, they actually prefer very symmetrical faces on men, but particularly rugged looking men as if they are the big hunter providers.

LEMON: Facial hair and the dude, they want the man. All right. What about this obsession with beauty in America. Is that dangerous? How is that dangerous?

WALSH: Absolutely. It's particularly dangerous of course for young girls. Because if the message to a young girl is that your external worth is far more valuable than anything going on inside, then it can be dangerous. And people think that it's OK to compliment little girls on their beauty. But you've got to balance it. If all you're doing is saying, you look so cute honey and I love your hair, that's a girl who is getting the message that what I look like is more important than how kind I am or how intelligent I am. So, we have to work hard to compliment our kids especially our girls on their tasks, their accomplishments.

LEMON: OK. Even though, according to this, you know, innate beauty thing, maybe they're right. They should just look more beautiful. And they would have an easier time. Look pretty, honey. Don't worry about the studies, you'll get a great job and you're life will be easier.

WALSH: Well, that's what happens. I know.

LEMON: All right.

WALSH: It's terrible.

LEMON: All right. Let's move on now. Another study. UC Berkeley suggest that people who are socially and financially better off are more likely to behave unethically compared to people who make less. So, what kind of experiments do they do to actually prove this?

WALSH: They looked at a bunch of existing data and then staged their own experiments, including things like they sat at an intersection and they looked at whether the more expensive cars or the, you know, old falling apart jalopies stopped for a pedestrian in the crosswalk. And guess what they found out? The more expensive the car, the less likely the driver was to notice a pedestrian and stop for them. They also did things like they asked people, they knew their income of various people and they asked them, would you be willing to like steal a rim of office printer paper from the office? Or would you go back and tell the waitress that she'd miscalculated in your favor and she should, you know, change that check. And they found that, you know, the more money people made, the more they liked to bend the rules and be little more unethical.

LEMON: Yes. And you and I have both talked about this. We observed that if you're on an airplane or somewhere, it's entitlement. People who have money or who have positions feel more entitled than other people. And I think that's probably the reason it happens.

WALSH: I've always said that the bathrooms are cleaner in coach because people are used to having to share the world more. Those business class bathrooms are so messy.

LEMON: Thank you Dr. Wendy, I appreciate it.

WALSH: Thank you.

LEMON: All right.

WALSH: Take care.

LEMON: Back to our big story now. A dozen states from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes are all hit by tornados in the last 24 hours. In three minutes, the scene outside of Atlanta where houses were destroyed and airplanes were tossed around like they weighed nothing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We want to turn back to our top story now. And if you haven't seen these pictures, please pay attention. And something new is coming in every minute. Communities across the South and Midwest reeling from a string of punishing tornados. Images of this neighborhood, if this is your neighborhood, I want you to imagine this. Picture your street littered with debris. We call it debris but really these things what make up a house, what make it a home. These are someone else's belongings at one point. It was a live picture, it's furniture, it's souvenir, it's portraits. Now all scattered across the landscape. I imagine if this happened in my neighborhood earlier today. This is Henryville in Indiana that you're looking at right now. Fourteen people killed in that state. The number seems certain to rise. We are talking about lives, we're not just numbers. So, how do we even begin to rebuild? People in several other states are asking the same question. Like in Kentucky where 17 people were killed. The governor called out more than 200 members of the National Guard to help for search and survivors. And at some point though, rescue turns to recovery. Sadly, survivors today simply counting their blessings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Got a lot of good friends. We still got our family. What more can we ask for?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: One person was killed in Georgia, which by comparison fared a little better in this storm. Some families were lucky or they made all the right moves to save themselves.

Jennifer Mayerle is in Paulding County West of Atlanta. And Jennifer, tell us about what's happening, where you're standing right now.

JENNIFER MAYERLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And this is one of the hardest- hit neighborhoods. Actually, there's about six homes where the second story of the homes came completely off. And just to give you an idea of how bad it is. Take a look. All of this, this is what used to be the garage of this home. And everything from inside the home was completely just pushed right out. And actually, take a look at this sign. It says "moving sale." They are trying to make a little light of the situation because they said they would rather laugh than cry because if they don't laugh, that's exactly what they be doing. You'll understand why when I show you more of this home.

There was a family of three inside here last night when the storm came through. And they weren't as prepared as maybe they admit that they should have been. They were inside in here in the living room when actually the roof started to come off. Just take a look. This is our living room. The roof is completely off the second story of this home. Their kitchen is right over here.

And once they realized how severe the storm was and when the wind and the rain was this really blowing, they tried to make their way over here to the bathroom. They thought that would be the safest place in the home. Now, the father decided they couldn't make it there. So, instead, he opened up this door. This little closet door. And he pushed his wife and 6-month-old baby inside into this tiny little space.

He shut the door, put his back up to it, braced his legs here and just held on tight until the storm moved past, hopping everything was OK. Said once everything passed, he was able to open the door back up, let his wife and his baby out, and said they were so thankful that they were all here together and not separate. Because if you look here, this is the baby's room. Again, the roof is off the top of that room. So the father is too shaken up and emotional to talk on camera today, but did take me through what they did.

(VIDEO PROBLEM)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That's Jennifer Mayerle reporting -- and obviously --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: -- like that. We have some issues with our satellite feeds. Jennifer Mayerle, great reporting though, way to takes us through it.

We've seen astonishing video. Tornadoes, hail, damaging winds affecting people in 15 states. What exactly are we seeing in this video?

Jacqui Jeras joins us right here on set in part of the CNN Severe Weather Center.

Where are the threats now? There are threats still now.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we are still watching. It's been weakening. That's the good thing I can tell you right now. But we've been watching south Georgia and northern Florida all afternoon long.

There you can see that red box. That's the tornado watch in effect. Conditions are favorable for tornados to occur. We are looking at an area southeast of Tallahassee extending over towards Jacksonville, particularly along the I-10 corridor right now.

LEMON: That box is a watch box, the red box?

JERAS: Yes. That means tornados are possible here. At this moment, there are no warnings. It could change. I do think this line has been weakening a little bit. Let's hope that trend continues. We don't want people to let their guard down. That watch is in effect until 8:00 tonight.

LEMON: We have confirmed, I'm being told, another death.

Do we know where it is, Jen?

Laurel county, Kentucky, we're hearing there is another death now.

JERAS: Yes.

LEMON: The video we saw earlier, saw the guy at the gas station.

JERAS: The gas station, yes. Let's look at that.

LEMON: Coming right towards him. Let's look at it. Can we pull -- let's let the sound go up a little bit and Jacqui and I will talk about it.

There it is. My goodness.

JERAS: Wow.

LEMON: Tell us about that.

JERAS: Extremely scary. I can't believe this guy is shooting video as this is going on. That is a very strong tornado. You can see multiple vortices with it. You see the main tornado and then look at the little fingers that extend out of it. That's a good indication there is a strong storm. A lot air is being sucked into it, which allows those other little tiny vortices to cause damage. That can be a reason why we have spotty damage in tornados like this.

LEMON: This is great for us be case we get to see it. But no one should be this close.

JERAS: He should have --

LEMON: They should have been hunkering down and in shelter.

JERAS: No. And that storm was intensifying throughout the process, so it's getting worse. A Gas station is a terrible place to be because, for the most part, they are not well built structures. You see those overhangs get blown off all the time. Inside the bathroom of a gas station would probably be a much safer place to be.

LEMON: We're going to cover this much, much more.

But, Jacqui, thank you.

We were here in Georgia last night.

JERAS: We were.

LEMON: I could hear my NOAA radio, thanks to the weather department --

JERAS: That's good.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: -- was going off last night. I would check it and turn it off. In the county I was in. And it went right over your house.

JERAS: It went right over my house. There is damage maybe a mile where I live. I live out of town. And I was calling my husband telling him to get into the basement. It's a scary thing.

LEMON: Yes, it is.

We'll talk more to Jacqui, our meteorologist.

Jacqui, thank you very much.

To find out how you can help more those people effected by the sever weather, go to CNN.com/impact. CNN.com/impact. There you will find all the organizations and ways to help those in need. CNN.com/impact. On to other news now. Washington State Republicans enjoy their moment in the spotlight today. Super Tuesday already looms large. Three of the four GOP hopefuls already in Ohio. We'll tell you why that state has emerged as Tuesday's biggest prize.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Washington State is in the political spotlight this hour, the last contest before the Super Tuesday showdown. State party chairman expects Mitt Romney or even Ron Paul to win based on their well- organized ground games. Paul is holding a rally in Seattle later tonight. The other three candidates are looking ahead to Super Tuesday, especially Ohio.

There he is right there. He's in the corner of your screen, now he's full on, right smack dab in the middle. Joe Johns is in Bowling Green.

Joe, what are the candidates doing and why so much time in Ohio?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is sort of ground zero. This is the big banana, I guess you might say, of all the Super Tuesday states. To give you an idea how they are spread out, I am in the Bowling Green area near Toledo, Ohio, which is a hop, skip and jump from the Michigan and Detroit line. Way down south on the Ohio River around Cincinnati, that's where Mitt Romney is right now. The two candidates with me, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. People are all over the place. They continue to crisscross the state looking for votes. It's a tight situation, too, Don. Santorum and Romney in a statistical tie, a dead heat pretty much. Just four points separating them within the margin of error. People expecting a very close race.

But there is a possibility that the advantage really is leaning in the direction of Romney because, number one, Romney has sort of cut the gap. Santorum had a big lead. And other people talking about Santorum not being able to get all his administrative paperwork in, so he may be at a delegate disadvantage here in Ohio, even if he does win the popular vote.

LEMON: OK, I got it. You're a hop, skip and jump from Toledo, you said, which is at the crow flies, as they say, as it were.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNS: That's right.

LEMON: Who has the momentum there? Is Ohio totally up for grabs, Joe?

JOHNS: It is. I think that's always true. Ohio is a battleground state. People have strong wills, strong minds in this state. It's very interesting how the demographics break down. A lot of evangelicals, a lot of social conservatives in the state. Some say as many as 40 percent in the Republican Party. It's presumed that if they wanted to, they could sway the vote. There's also huge concerns in this state about the economy, although it hasn't been as bad as, say, Michigan, people are still hurting here. Romney's argument about the economy plays very well in this state -- Don?

LEMON: Joe Johns, Bowling Green, thank you. In his puffy jacket, we like. Two thumbs up.

(LAUGHTER)

Joe Johns, appreciate it. See you a little later on.

Will success in the Washington caucus propel one of the Republican candidates to a big showing on Super Tuesday? CNN will have in-depth analysis on tonight's results. May provide you a clue to the answer to that question. Our Washington caucus coverage begins 8:00 eastern right here on CNN.

In the meantime, a Pennsylvania man dresses in a parade as what he says is a zombie version of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. He says this video shows he was then attacked by a Muslim man. In court, the judge sided with the alleged attacker. We'll talk about it with legal analyst, Holly Hughes, in just a moment.

But first this. This week's "CNN Hero" has watched the beauty of the sea disappear. Now he is working to bring life back to an underwater world in crisis. Meet Ken Nedimyer.

(CNN HERO)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's talk law and justice now. Holly Hughes is here. She is a criminal defense attorney.

Holly, our first story, from this dorm, former Rutgers student, Dharun Ravi, secretly streamed video of his roommate kissing another man. That roommate, Tyler Clement, ended up killing himself shortly after finding out about the web video in September of 2010. Such a sad story. On the right is Ravi, who is on trial, facing 15 counts in Clementi's death. On the left, the man with clement in the video, his identity is being kept secret.

Holly, one of the charges is this was a hate crime. That is a real challenge for prosecutors, isn't it?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY & FORMER PROSECUTOR: It's a huge challenge. I don't think they are going to get there. When we charge a hate crime, we are asking the jury to look into the mind of the defendant and say, he committed this particular crime because he has a bias against a group of people. In this particular case, against homosexuals.

LEMON: I've been hearing in the questioning, did he say to you he had a problem with clement?

HUGHES: Exactly.

LEMON: No, but that was my impression so he didn't outright say it. HUGHES: We heard a lot of testimony that he has other friends that are gay. He said, I'm just a little uncomfortable having a roommate who is gay. It's not necessarily a bias against all gay people. Where we see a lot of hate crime when you talk about a neo-Nazi, and you can back and there is literature in their room --

LEMON: They're actions, yes.

HUGHES: -- that says I hate this, and they belong to a group that is absolutely out there in saying things like that.

LEMON: What about him? He wasn't trying to videotape his straight friends. Doesn't that say anything?

HUGHES: OK, but here is the question. What he did was deplorable. He is charged with invasion of privacy. That is a slam dunk for the prosecution, as it should be. What happened to Tyler Clementi is a horrible tragedy, but when we're talking about in a court of law bringing it up to that level, I'm not sure we're going to get there?

LEMON: Concrete, concrete, concrete. Holly, I want you to stick around because we want to talk about another story as well. A woman at the end of her rope, she tracks down a man she says is trying to get her son hooked on heroin and clubs him with a baseball bat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: He is -- my children are my life. They're wanting to take his life away. I can't let that happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Now the state is prosecuting her. That incredible story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're going to talk law and justice. Holly Hughes is here. She's a criminal defense attorney.

I want to get your take on this story. During a Halloween parade in Mechanicsville, Pennsylvania, a man dressed up as what he said was a zombie holiday of the Prophet Muhammad. His name is Ernie Hertz (ph). He's an atheist. He says he was attacked by a Muslim man during a parade. He said that in court. The judge sympathized with the alleged attacker and even admonished Hertz (ph). I want you to listen what the judge said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK MARTIN, JUDGE: I think our forefathers intended that we use the First Amendment so that we can speak what's on our mind, not to piss off other people and cultures, which is what you did.

I'm a Muslim. I find it offensive. I find what's on the other side of this very offensive. But you have that right. But you are way outside your bounds of First Amendment rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, the judge even said, in Muslim countries, you could get the death penalty for doing what Hertz (ph) did. But this is America.

HUGHES: Yes.

LEMON: I don't understand that.

HUGHES: He missed the boat here. I get that he wanted to talk to the victim a little bit --

LEMON: People dress up as Jesus all the time.

HUGHES: -- sensitive, you know. But an attack is an attack is an attack. This happened in public at a parade. There were plenty of witnesses who saw this man, who happened to be Muslim, jump on another fellow and choke him around the neck. So the case should not have been dismissed on --

LEMON: Yes.

HUGHES: That's what the First Amendment's about. You get to say what you want. You don't get to choke somebody because you don't like what they say.

LEMON: I went to an event last weekend and people were screaming gas slurs and saying, you're going to go to hell, at an event. And that's a First Amendment right. You just walked right past them and keep moving.

HUGHES: Precisely.

LEMON: Right.

HUGHES: If you would have jumped on him, would they be sympathizing with you and dismissing the charges?

LEMON: Absolutely. That one is a bit off.

HUGHES: Yes.

LEMON: One more story, a mother in Missouri says she was tired of a drug dealer trying to get her son hooked on heroin again. She went to have a conversation with the guy and ended up clubbing him twice with a baseball bat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: They came to my house. They came to my work looking for him, trying to get him to buy again, when he was clean. It is the state prosecuting me for trying to protect my son.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have any regrets? UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: No. No. He is -- my children are my life. They're wanting to take his life away. And I can't let that happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So the state is prosecuting her. What's going on here?

HUGHES: What happened was the drug dealer actually showed up at her house. They'd been tracking her son down when they're trying to get him clean. And she had a baseball bat with her. The dealer reached into his car. She thought he was going for a gun. That's a reasonable assumption. So she whacked him with the baseball bat to basically defend herself.

LEMON: He's a drug dealer, let's not forget that.

HUGHES: OK, but then the drug dealer then runs off and calls the police. The police don't arrest her. They said, you know what, you shouldn't assault this guy. The prosecutor then draws up an accusation and charges her with assault after this drug dealer shows up on her property and reaches for what she thinks is a weapon. But I think she's got a really, really strong self-defense case here.

LEMON: A lot of people watching this are probably going, I'm on the mom's side, you know.

HUGHES: Oh, and I think the jury's going to be, too. If the state pushes this forward, there will be a defense attorney who will put up a self-defense claim, which in Missouri the law is you get to defend yourself if you think you're in imminent harm. If it's reasonable force used against you, then you're allowed to do that. And even if they don't buy the self-defense argument, guess what? It's what we call jury nullification. And the jury thinks, maybe you did do it, but we happen to agree with you, and we're not going to convict you no matter what the facts say. She'll be OK.

LEMON: Interesting cases this time.

HUGHES: Yes.

LEMON: Enjoyed it. Thank you, Holly Hughes.

HUGHES: Yes. Fantastic. Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you very much.

Now tonight's "Human Factor." An emotional time for men and women who are trying to have a child without success. What some people don't realize is that half of the time the problem is with the man. Dr. Sanjay Gupta brings us the story of a man who battled testicular cancer and was told he'd never father a child.

(HUMAN FACTOR)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Catastrophe across 11 states. Tornadoes touching down in all of them. Within the last few minutes, we're getting an updated death toll. 37 now, we're told. 18 people now reported dead in Kentucky. A tornado blew right through the heart of a small town of West Liberty. Seems like no building was spared there. You're looking at a school that was picked apart by extreme winds. Rescuers have searched all the buildings for survivors, and they're doing a second round just to make sure.

14 people are dead in Indiana. Henryville, a community about 20 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the hardest-hit places. Homes flattened, roofs sheared off, trees yanked out of the ground like weeds. And rescuers are now combing through the rubble in a separate search for survivors.

Lives are completely turned upside down all across the south and the Midwest. It's unbelievable. And we'll continue to follow it here on CNN.

I'm Don Lemon at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here in an hour from now.

Meantime, "THE SITUATION ROOM." Here's Wolf Blitzer.