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Extreme Weather Conditions Plague Kentucky, Ohio, And Indiana; Two Foster Parents In North Carolina Charged With Child Abuse; Tornado outbreak tears across the upper Midwest; Adam Lee Edmonson Not Guilty

Aired November 17, 2013 - 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: Hello, everyone. Don Lemon here, you are in THE CNN NEWSROOM. We're going to get right to it. So make sure you stay put and watch. A lot of news to cover and it's big, breaking weather news in the upper Midwest.

Powerful storms have destroyed a huge number of homes and property in just the past few hours. And now we have learned of at least one fatality. I want you to take a look at some amateur video of the twister hammering Washington, Illinois, look at this. Washington, Illinois, a small town of about 10,000 people, it is near Peoria. And as you can see, it crushed the town like a steam roller, nothing was left standing. That tornado was just one of several reported this afternoon from a large storm moving across the upper United States. At least 26 states are now in the path of the system.

So that is what it looked like blowing through St. Louis. Even without tornados, the storm was packing destructive high winds, lightening and hail. At least 19 million people in the direct path of the worst parts of this storm. CNN has mobilized all of its resources to bring you the very latest information.

So, I want you to stick with me throughout the hours here on CNN and we are going o get it for you.

So far, most of the amazing and freighting images of these wild storms have come to us from the people living right in the middle of them.

CNN's Rosa Flores has been collecting some information from i- reporter.

And Rosa, what have you been finding out?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we're seeing a lot of photos of the destruction, a lot of funnel clouds, a lot of dark clouds. So, let's start with some of these destructions. And I believe we are going to start here with some video, if you can roll that for me because this is Gifford, Illinois. Now, this is south of Chicago. You're going to see a lot of debris only the ground. And I'm not sure if we can get some of the audio, but you're going to start hearing not only the winds, but also people talking. And you will see trees that are snapped, branches all over the place, downed power lines, people walking on the streets and, and quite frankly, some of them are even starting to clean up right then and there. Now, they are also first responders on the scene. And so, you can see right there, a lot of destruction, tress snapped, power lines, you are taking a look at them right there.

Now, we are going to take you to Chicago. Now, here are some other video, Don, because a lot these, and hopefully, we'll be able to listen to this for a little bit. Take a listen to this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

FLORES: So this was one of our i-reporters who took this. Now, if look carefully, you can still see cars driving there so you can tell that, I mean, it's bad, but it's not too bad. It's intense, and this ireporter described it as very intensive. It was windy. It was raining. It was taken at about 1:00 p.m. He was in a business trip there and he says that the storm passed by really quickly. It felt more like just strong winds. Lots of lightning, wind gusts as well.

Now, in that video, like I had mentioned, you could see some of the cars earlier. And some of the lights, that's another thing to definitely point out, that the lights were still functioning and the street lights, which important.

And now we move onto this other image. And this is Gardner, Illinois. Now, Gardner Illinois is just southwest of Chicago and you can see a lot of those dark clouds, several layers in this particular picture and a funnel cloud.

We have another picture if you can go to that one because it is by the same i-reporter. Here it is, folks. Now, this photo is so important because I know that Don was mentioning it earlier. We said something in this business. No picture or no video is worth a life, so be very, very careful when you are out there, if you do take some of these reports. We love to see them, but we have to be extremely careful.

And here's why, folks. Let's take a look at some of the destruction. We have pictures of that destruction. Take a look. There you see a lot of what appear to be homes down to splinters. Now, this taken by Elizabeth in central, Illinois. I'm sorry, that was the one prior to that.

So, in this photo, you can see a lot of the destruction and a lot of debris, some people, you know, walking around. In this particular run, you can see want appear to be splinters. And a lot of that debris just turned to nothing. So, you know, the big thing, Don, obviously, when we monitor social media, and when these reports are coming in, is be extremely careful when you're out there. We love to see the pictures, but you got to be careful. We just can't say that enough.

LEMON: It is just really unbelievable to look at that. Do we have the pictures of Chicago pictures back, just to show you the intensity of that storm. Just to tell you a little bit about what you're looking at there in Chicago as we look all along the Chicago, downtown. It gives you an idea because what you hear really is that is hail went hitting the buildings. To the right of your screen, right there, that the Trump building. It used to be the Chicago Sun Times building. And then to the left, you see the two round buildings, the ones that, if you are old enough to remember, you could see in the (INAUDIBLE) show. That is Marina towers in Marina city. This is probably about 30, 40 floors up and you are getting that type of winds in Chicago. That is always usually very windy in Chicago in parts of the year, but this is unusual.

I want to get the new i-report video. This is coming to us from Washington, Illinois. Let's listen and watch.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

LEMON: You can hear the people in that video praying as you can see what appears to be, not confirmed, at least some very high winds and a possible tornado rolling through in that i-report video. And they were saying the Lord's Prayer there.

I want to get to Jonathan Monken. He is the director of the Illinois emergency management agency. He joins us by phone. Bring us up to date, bring our viewers up to date, how bad is it? And do you need federal help at this point?

JONATHAN MONKEN, DIRECTOR, ILLINOIS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (via phone): Well, it really is obviously is a significant system of storm here and one of the hardest thing to do is to get, you know, collect accurate information, get a good assessment on what's happening because at this point now, we have at least 11 confirmed touchdowns throughout the state. And it really cut a swath and a range of about 350 miles across the state. So from running north and south, all those tornadoes happened through, dozens of counting. So, that is the hardest part right now. It is getting good information. But as you saw there with the videos, Washington Illinois is definitely the hardest hit community that we have so far.

LEMON: And these are confirmed tornadoes, correct?

MONKEN: That's right. So, these are confirmed with the national weather service right now. We have 11 confirmed touchdowns total in different areas of the states. So certainly, with bearing degrees of severity and impact. But overall right now, that is our biggest challenge. It's such a wide-spread area.

LEMON: Let me ask you about injuries, fatalities? What do you know, if anything?

MONKEN: Right now, what we have is we have two confirmed fatalities in Washington County which is not in the same locations, the community of Washington which is closed to Peoria Illinois. So we have two confirmed fatalities there.

We have a missing persons report right now. A 10-year-old is missing in Massac County which is far southern Illinois and all the way at the southern tip. And then injury information is a little bit spotty. What we have right now from St. Francis hospital in Peoria is 37 injuries related to tornado including seven traumas.

So, we certainly have plenty of injuries to track right now. But right now, we have two confirmed fatalities.

LEMON: OK. And you said -- I didn't hear what you just you say, which county is that there is a missing persons report?

MONKEN: In Massac County which is in far southern Illinois. In the area of Brick Port was -- had the last confirmed touchdown in the state which is a little over an hour ago.

LEMON: At last confirmed, we had one fatality. But you are confirming to CNN now that there are actually two?

MONKEN: That's exactly right.

LEMON: OK. And what areas at it again, Mr. Monken?

MONKEN: Those are both in Washington County which is about half way between St. Louis and Mount Vernon.

LEMON: Mr. Monken, don't go anywhere, because I -- just stay on the phone because I want to talk you just a second. I want to update our viewers because some people may just be tuning in. We we're following severe weather rolling through the Midwest and it is rolling east, extremely severe weather. This is breaking news right now on CNN.

Just as I am speaking now, the director of the Illinois emergency management agency is confirming to me that there are two people who have died in the state of Illinois and there are at least 37 injuries and seven traumas. He said there's also a missing persons report of a 10-year-old that is missing.

Mr. Monken, this is extremely, extremely dangerous. Your advice to the people who are in the path of this storm?

MONKEN: Yes, absolutely. This is what we want to remind people as anybody that it's not entirely over, even what you see with the weather reports. We want to make sure that everybody stay safe there, obviously, with significant rain that came with it. So, we do have some flash flooding reports throughout this day. But the most important thing is to remind people to stay in-doors. Make sure that you stay as low as you can in the building. So, if you have a basement that is the best place to be. Stay away from windows. And at this point, just make sure that you're paying close attention to the news, you're watching weather and you're staying aware of what can happen.

LEMON: Jonathan Monken, the director of the Illinois emergency management agency, how are your resources? What are doing now to help people? A lot of people are going to be homeless now because you see their homes blown really to smithereens by these storms.

MONKEN: Yes, absolutely. So, at this point, just in the early count, we have 70 homes that are completely destroyed in two different communities. And that's total destruction of the home, down all the way down to the foundations. So, that doesn't include significant damage of houses that are still standing. So, we're really in the hundreds now and we are counting homes that have some degree of damage to them.

So, as you mentioned, we will have to do some sheltering operations. There are at least four Red Cross shelters that are open in the area of Peoria and of Washington right there. And we expect that there will be more shelters that are open as the day goes on.

So obviously, that's going to become a significant problem for us, just to make sure that those people are sheltered and they are fed and taking care of. So, we have a lot of assets that are out there right now. We have three technical rescue teams that were sent to two different communities to make sure that we can extract people from homes that were damaged. We have some people at were trapped in basements that we are trying to get out right now.

And then I just got handed this right now. The good news is the 10- year-old that was reported missing has just been located within the last 10 minutes and she is OK.

LEMON: Oh, thank you very much. Jonathan Monken is the director of the Illinois emergency management agency. We appreciate that.

You are getting the news as it is happening here on CNN. You heard the update. The first, one confirmed fatality. Now two we're getting from the emergency management director, director of the agency there. And then also, a 10-year-old missing, found as we are speaking to him on the air right now. We're going to check back in with him very shortly.

If you're in the path of this storm, anywhere near, you need to hunker down. You need to be safe. You need to listen to your meteorologist and the experts because millions of people in more than two dozen states are inside this very wide storm zone this hour.

I want to get to our meteorologist here, Karen Maginnis in the CNN's severe weather center in Atlanta.

Karen, you heard the emergency management director there. Where are the most dangerous storms right now and what should people there be doing about it?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We have tornado watches extending across much of Michigan, extending into Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and a small portion of Missouri and also in to Arkansas. This is where the threat of tornadic activity prevails. Tornado warning means that a tornado has been spotted or Doppler radar indicated or we have had law enforcement or the public, our trained spotters, identify a tornado or funnel clouds that are on the ground.

Now, we are looking at Kentucky. We had two tornado warnings in effect. If you are in a mobile home and you are living in North Central Kentucky, be aware of the potential for severe weather over the next several hours because we have had just such damaging tornadoes reported, some 70 reports today of tornadoes alone. And this is just spanning about the last five hours starting out with that horrendous damage out of Pekin, also, the southern suburbs of Peoria. And then Washington, where you were, Don, you were speaking with the gentleman. And it looked like complete destruction around that Washington, Illinois area.

Right now, several tornado warnings out issued across Indiana. Here is Indianapolis, we have thunder storm warnings out, just to the east of Indianapolis. But we have storm reports also extending into Michigan, as well as in to Ohio.

Here is fourth wing, right around Purdue, just about 45 minutes ago, there was a report of a wind gust at the airport there of 69 miles per hour. Now, they will send out the national weather service, the local national weather service and go in and assess with the damage is. We've seen it. We're going to know that that was a tornado. But they will evaluate just how strong that was just based on a scale.

And Don, from what I can see, Ef-4, Ef-5, with just pick left for just a debris, the cars flipped over, now the fatalities, a number of people injured, but it's marching rapidly towards the east. It is a very dynamic system.

LEMON: That board there, I mean, it's so busy, I can barely read it. A lot is going on.

Karen Maginnis, stand by. We are going to need you throughout the hours here on CNN. I want to get live now to Indianapolis. Those are live pictures not. This is tower cam and you can see, really, the intensity of the wind in Indianapolis. This is courtesy of our affiliate WISH or WISH TV. And that camera, boy, oh, boy, is shaking around there. It appears to be just about dusk time. And they are really in the -- right in the middle of these 26 states as you see in the bottom of your screen, 26 states in the severe storm zone here.

Listen, we're not overhyping this. We're telling you what is going on. It is very dangerous. So far, two people confirmed in Illinois, confirmed dead right on the air here on CNN just moments ago. They just found a missing 10-year-old child as we were speaking to the emergency management director here on CNN.

We're not going to go far away from the severe weather threat. We want to be safe and hear all the warnings. The watches there are popping up regularly. And we are constantly getting new information and new images from the storm area. So stay with us here.

We're also covering other big news stories, including this today. A shocking case of child abuse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The child had a dead chicken hung around his neck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The horrifying discovery police in North Carolina happened to make. That story and the weather next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're following breaking weather news out of the upper Midwest. The national weather service says nearly 50 tornadoes have been reported throughout the region today. The storm charged into Chicago just in time for today's NFL game between the Bears and the Ravens. Play was temporarily suspended as the storm overtook Soldier Field with blankets of pounding rain.

The fans were evacuated from their seats to safe areas within the stadium. We should also say two people confirmed dead according to the Illinois emergency management agency.

Let's go now to CNN's George Howell. He is in Chicago.

George, take it away.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Don, so, look, you know, a few hours ago, we saw that strong line of storms push through Chicago. As you mentioned, rapid strong rain. People got out of the way. Here in Soldier Field, we saw the fans take cover, some 60,000 people again. It would be a pack house, is a pack house. Everyone got out of the way of the storm. Play has resumed as you can see, but clearly, not the kind of real path. I mean, the winds are very strong out here. In fact, we're under a high-wind warning.

And that's the thing. We're just not out of the clear yet. These strong winds, the time straight line wind continue to push through. That is the big concern. I don't know it we can pull this video, but earlier today, photo journalist (INAUDIBLE) put some pictures on interstate 80, just about 80 miles west of Chicago. And you can see these big semis that were tipped over. You get a sense of just how strong these winds are that are coming through the Chicago land area.

So again, Don, you know, we are watching you -- you can see, I don't know if you have a picture of the skyline of Chicago, but if you look up those clouds, and you see these clouds raising to the more grasp, that continues to happen and people are, you know, certainly being cautious as the storm continue to pass here.

LEMON: George, we are able to see those big riggings over turn there on the interstate as you said just outside of Chicago about 80 miles. We are looking at -- and there they are, we are at looking at, just looking at live pictures. The person just fell there who is helping those trackers out. And we also saw the pictures there in Chicago. Traffic obviously backed up for miles on many interstate as they tried to deal with the damage here and deal with the repercussions of the very high winds that have hit the upper Midwest. We have just been listening to our George Howell who is in Chicago reporting as a big football game had to be postponed.

I want to tell our viewers again, this is breaking news happening. You're looking at Chicago at the magnificent mile just outside of our bureau there in Chicago. This is Michigan Avenue and you can see those flags blowing there. That is about normal now for winds in Chicago. But earlier, they were much higher than that. Some wind gusts up to 80 miles an hour in Illinois and in the Chicago land area. The official death toll right now, two dead, 37 injured in Illinois. And look at that radar, the storm is not over yet. Short break, more of our breaking news right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We are following breakings weather news here on CNN. Look at that, cars flipped over near Indianapolis after a possible twister hammered the area. Right now, forecasters say there is the possibility of intense tornadoes near Indianapolis, plus large hail and wind gusts more than 80 miles per hour.

A tornado touched down near Lebanon, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. That was earlier today. And I want to read you a tweet. This is from the national weather service, the weather service in northern Indiana saying the worst decision you can make today is to ignore a severe tornado warning. These storms will be nasty. You don't believe me, take a look at that video and fake a look at the radar.

These are warning boxes that you're seeing right there. These are extreme, extreme weather conditions. We're talking about Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana. Look at those warnings. Pin rod, Central City, Morgans town, all in that area. And as we zoom out here, we can show you just how big of an area this is covering. This is all the way to the upper peninsula of Michigan, to the Northwestern Tennessee. These are the watches. Look at the big city that need watches are in, just out of Chicago now, then Detroit, Cleveland, heading soon to Buffalo, Cincinnati, Indianapolis.

This is severe stuff, guys. And if you're anywhere in this storm's path or near the path, you need to get to a safe place. We want you to be safe. We're not going to go far away from this breaking news. We are gathering new information and new images by the moment. And we will bring them to you right here on CNN.

In the mean time, I need to tell you about a very serious and disturbing story we want to update you on from yesterday.

Two foster parents at the center of a horrified case of child abuse are to go before a judge in North Carolina tomorrow morning. The couple was locked up Friday after their foster child was spotted outside, handcuffed with a dead chicken around his neck. I kid you not.

CNN's Nick Valencia joins us now from the town of Monroe, just south of Charlotte.

Nick, bring us up to speed on this, really, just horrible case here.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a horrific case. And as you mentioned, there is two adults charge in this case, Don. We look here Monday morning behind me at the Union County courthouse, those five children that were taken from the home. They're now in the custody of social services and they have been taken out of this county because of a conflict of interest.

As we have been reporting, the adoptive mother in this case, the woman, she was a supervisor at social services and very well-known here in the community among law enforcement officials. And shock and all the more when they got to her property and realized it was her home.

Now, we are also shocked when we went to that home. It wasn't just really miserable conditions, Don. There was a smell of urine and feces permeating the property. Farm animals, wild farm animals just running a stray. And for as bad as it was outside, the sheriff tells us, it was even worse inside. They described to us her room where the boys in the family were confined to sleep there on the floor on blankets. And the 11-year-old was handcuffed regularly to a piece of railroad.

Now, during their investigation, sheriff's deputies talked to these children. They were taken from the home and they say that the 11- year-old had a tendency of running away which is why his parents decided to punished him like that.

This is really a shocking and very disgusting story here for all the locals and all the neighbors to these two suspects.

LEMON: How many children again? How many children are in the home and where are they now?

VALENCIA: Five children, they range in age from 8-years-old, the youngest is 8-years-old, the oldest is 14-years-old. And they have been taken outside of this county to social services. We also spoke to a neighbor to ask them if they had ever seen anything, you know, peculiar coming from the yard or any signs of abuse there. There was one neighbor I spoke to Steve Mills. He spoke to me. I think we have that sound bite. He talked to me about an encounter that he had with one of the little boys earlier this summer. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MILLS, NEIGHBOR: This past summer, there was a kid, the little one, he was running out the street, crying, hollering, he was panicking. Mr., can I have something to eat? I'm starved.

I was making a sandwich to be hungry. So we didn't think nothing of it. The other two little boys come up and said he's new. He's just getting used to the area and being with a new family and new siblings. And so we thought nothing of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: And I think the most troubling thing out of this all, Don, is the fact that the adopted mother, she worked for social services. This is somebody that is supposed to protect children like this, only for them to find five children in just really swollen conditions -- Don.

LEMON: Does there's any excuse, Nick, but I mean, she should, if anyone, should know better.

Thank you, Nick. Nick Valencia.

VALENCIA: That's right. LEMON: We're watching a severe weather threat across much of the country. We are not going to go far away from this story. Listen, maybe severe is -- we need a better word because this has been deadly. Two people have died, 37 people have been injured. We've been speaking to other folks in other states.

Look at this. This is going across the big cities here in the United States. It is not over yet. And we are following for you here for you on CNN.

There is major damage we are hearing in Kokomo, Indiana. A live report is coming up after the break. We are constantly getting new information, new images from the storm areas. So, make sure you stay with us. We'll be right back very quick, a very quick break. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Right back to the breaking weather news here on CNN where you can get out and get some information from Larry Smith. He is on the phone. He is the emergency management spokesman for Howard County in Indiana.

Take us through that. I understand that you are in a command center and there is some very severe damage in Kokomo, Indiana?

LARRY SMITH, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SPOKESMAN (via phone): We are located on the mid southwest inside here in Kokomo. We've had some damage done to one of our malls on U.S. 31. Some glass is blown out of it. Some walls damage done to the mall. Also, have a bank that has major damage done (INAUDIBLE). Also have a fire station with a roof collapse on part of the fire station, down one of the fire if the fire trucks (INAUDIBLE). We've had some damage to a Chevrolet dealership. And some of the cars are stopping their area.

Numerous homes are being off holds down and gas lines has blown in the area. Basically, on the south end of Kokomo, both the hospitals are up. We have a shelter in place on 31 to (INAUDIBLE) center right on 31 that were opened up to Red Cross.

LEMON: And you said you have some homes that have damage to them?

SMITH: Yes, we've got some houses that have been blown up. And it was like it was torn apart where at soft of the land up. It was more like a straight-line wind, but it wasn't. We really believe it was a tornado that was on the ground moving somewhere between 65 and 70 mile an hour.

LEMON: Goodness. Listen, and probably people won't be at a car dealership today or at the bank. But at the mall, there are lots of people on a Sunday afternoon evening.

SMITH: There was a lot of people there. But no one was told to evacuate and so they would have left.

LEMON: So, no injuries. Do you have any injuries to report to use? Any updates on that?

SMITH: Just had minor injuries so far that's been told to us and that's has been it.

All right, thank you very much, Larry Smith. We appreciate you. We hear the phones ringing. You've got to get back to it. That was Larry Smith, emergency -- an emergency management facility there in Howard County, Kokomo Indiana, 50 miles do north of Indianapolis. They have gotten some severe damage from the storm. You heard him the malls, the bank. There is a fire station. The roof partially collapsed there. He said there is a Chevy dealership, a car dealership that were some of the cars were damaged. Numerous homes, gas lines and he said on the south end, though, of Kokomo, there is shelter in place site. And also, both hospitals are and running.

We will keep you updated on that. Not going far away from this weather. We'll keep an eye on that. But I want to tell you about this. OK.

So, we've been hearing a lot about stand-your-ground, right? Emotions tend to run high when you mentioned that phrase, stand-your-ground.

So, I want to do some investigating. That hasn't stopped a Georgia coalition from keeping it in the conversation. They are aiming to get the statue deemed unconstitutional arguing the law discriminates against minorities. One of the cases highlighted in the Georgia lawsuit is the 2012 death of Chris Johnson. There he is. He was shot to death after a confrontation of our Newnan, Georgia. Johnson was black. The shooter was white. A country jury acquitted Adam Lee Edmonson who used Georgia stand your ground law as his defense. I traveled to Newnan just this week looking for answers in a case that has people demanding Georgia make a change.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice-over): Pay close attention to the two men highlighted in this video. In less than one minute, one of them will be dead. This video will become the star witness.

(on camera): Do you miss him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LEMON (voice-over): Along with this man, the victim's best friend who was there and called 9-1-1.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). My friends got shot and killed.

LEMON (on camera): Do you think it was murder?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think it was.

LEMON (voice-over): Witnesses say the shooter, Adam Edmonson and the victim Chris Johnson had argued the night before at the same bar after Edmonson flirted with Johnson's girlfriend. The next night, when Edmonson realized Johnson was in the bar, prosecutors say he went to his truck, got a gun and carried it illegally back into the bar. Later in the evening, Edmonson allegedly approached Johnson's girlfriend again for the second time in two nights. The bar's security camera video shows Johnson approaching Edmonson and hitting him, then people pulled them apart. Johnson on the left, Edmonson on the right. And they appear to be separated. Then prosecutors say Edmonson fired a fatal shot hitting Johnson in the chest.

(on camera): Before he shot him, he held him there? So, it wasn't -- ?

JOSEPH EDISON, VICTIM'S FRIEND: (INAUDIBLE). He put it light on his chest and hold it like two-three seconds and then Chris is like, you know, what is going on? Pulled the trigger.

LEMON (voice-over): Edmonson's attorney, Brian Lewis says his client was justified.

BRIAN LEWIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There was evidence from the trial that he saw the gun, knew that Adam had a gun and yet he kept coming for it. Chris Johnson, he was a bigger guy than him, and her coming towards him. And I think the jury believed that Adam felt that at reasonable belief was he had no other option than to defend himself.

LEMON (voice-over): But prosecutors say it was excessive force and the law was being misinterpreted.

(on camera): So if I slap you, you can't shoot me?

RAY MAYER, PROSECUTOR, COWETA COUNTY, GEORGIA: Right, exactly. I can slap you back, you know, in kind whatever I have reasonably in fear, if I can defend myself, I can't. When you use excessive self defense, you become the aggressor.

LEMON (voice-over): The case has caught the attention of national civil rights organization, the Rainbow Push Coalition, to challenge Georgia's stand your ground law saying the law is bias against African-Americans. In this case, the victim is black, the shooter is white, the jury, all white, too.

(on camera): So, you think was affected?

MAYER: I think so.

LEMON (on camera): Why?

MAYER: You had a white man killing a black man who had already assaulted the white man in a bar. And I have to think they don't just ignore that point.

LEMON (on camera): Do you think race played into this?

EDISON: Honestly, I do.

LEMON: Why?

EDISON: Just the matter of personal opinion with the jury being all white and we're in the south and my buddy being black.

LEMON (voice-over): In the end, even with a video tape and unarmed victim, and eyewitness, Adam Edmonson, the shooter was exonerated. Found not guilty of first degree murder. Stand your ground stood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: We're examining this case. And others around the country. I'm going to be joined right avenue this break by CNN legal analyst Mark O'Mara and criminal defense attorney, Mark Nejame.

As well as severe weather throughout the country. We'll be right back after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Following breaking weather news here on CNN, roofs ripped off, homes and trees splintered by a possible tornado. This is Washington Illinois that you're looking at right now. Nearly 50 tornadoes have been reported throughout the region today. And the threat, not over yet. The damage is incredible in Washington. If you don't believe me, look at the pictures on your screen right there.

Look at this tree, it appears that a mattress and tattered sheets are caught up in broken limbs there. At least two people have been killed in Illinois, 37 others injured. We're keeping an eye on that one. We are not going far from this story.

You saw the story in Newton, Georgia just before the break on stand- your-ground. I want to bring in now the top two Florida attorneys, CNN's legal analyst Mark O'Mara and criminal defense attorney and legal analyst, Mark Nejame and they join me now from Orlando.

Thank you, guys, so much, for joining us. How are you doing?

MARK O'MARA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Very well. Good to see you.

MARK NEJAME, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi, Don, always good to see you.

LEMON: Good to see you.

We have some breaking news, I may have to get to it. But I want to reiterate that Adam Lee Edmonson stood trial. He was found not guilty in the shooting death of Chris Johnson.

So, Mr. O'Mara, I can't say Mark because both of might answer. Mr. O'Mara, do you feel there was enough evidence in this case to prove stand-your-ground? Do you think the jury came to the right verdict?

O'MARA: Well, you know, we have to defer to the jury's verdict when they have the chance to look at the case and applied the law. Certainly, when you look at that videotape, you wonder whether or not Edmonson had an opportunity to do something else besides shoot and nit even talked about some modifications to what we call stand-your-ground in a way to try and make that your decision of last resort, not first resort. So, it seems like the jury listened to the statute that was in place and came to the right verdict. We have to trust them. Bud I always thought that stand-your-ground can be polished a little bit.

LEMON: OK. That's interesting that you say that because when I talk to the prosecutors and even the defense attorneys there, they're saying hey, listen. No law is perfect and there is no chance that any of this legislation that is happening around the country to try to overturn stand your ground is going to be affected and it is going to happen. But you think, and it is interesting, because you defended right, George Zimmerman, you think that stand your ground, not that you used it in that case, but stand your ground can be tweaked and I guess more importantly, do you think that it's discriminatory against people of color?

O'MARA: To the first question, I think it can be tweaked in this way. Unfortunately because of the George Zimmerman case, 100 million people have now heard about stand your ground. And I think they have gotten the misimpression or misinterpretation of it. I believe that it should be modified to say though you can stand your ground, if you can move away, if you can retreat without increasing the danger to yourself or to others, then you should try and take that opportunity. Again, it's a very thin slice. But I think if we at least say that is a change in the law, then people will realize you still can protect yourself in a danger situation that you should try and remove yourself if you can without increase danger to yourself.

LEMON: OK. Mr. Nejame, the shooter here, Mr. Edmonson, had martial arts training according to the court's documents and to the attorneys there. He also went back to his truck, went out to his truck to get a gun, brought it back into the bar illegally. It's still a stand-your- ground case where he got off? Can you help our viewers to understand that?

NEJAME: Look. Stand your ground is tied up in so many ambiguities, that there really is no way to make strict sense and apply the law to every situation because we are going to see aberrations time and time again. What everybody needs to remember is the legislatures have voted this in and that the majority of states now because it has been a big NRA lobbying effort. So now, we have taken, which I think nobody really doubts or challenges and that is the castle doctrine where you have the right to protect your home. If there's an intruder in there, you don't have to retreat. You can go ahead and take care of your family, take care of your belongings and take care of yourself without retreating.

Well, what stand your ground does basically it takes this castle doctrine and it takes what you are allowed to do in your home to a public place. And when you have that in tremendous amount of leeway, then you're going to have these aberrations and lots of injustices carried out. With that said, I see very little chance of most likely to say just changing the law. I think that the NRA has too many politicians who are falling in lock step with their agenda. And it doesn't look like we have same issue in Florida and there have been all sorts of arguments and how we seen any changes, no, to project any, no.

LEMON: You answered my next question, is that there was no chance of whether or not there was a chance of this case or any other case. To both you, gentlemen, thank you very much. But I want to ask you just before I go, Mark O'Mara, do you think that there's any chance of any of these laws being overturned or change around the country even though you think they should be?

O'MARA: I think they're missing the battleground. If they're trying to overturn stand your ground or self defense, it's not going to happen in any of the states and it's not going to found to be unconstitutional law. First of all and honestly, it is not. But if the true battleground is the way the system is treating certain demographic, then let's take on that battle. If we attached it to stand your ground, it is a losing battle unless your only intent is to keep the troops rallying.

LEMON: Mark Nejame, let me ask you that was justice carried out here?

NEJAME: Are you talking to me, Don?

LEMON: Yes, sir.

NEJAME: Look, it depends on whose side you're rooting for on a case like that. But, you know, in every cay case, there's always going to be a typical a winner and a loser. And we are going to see when we have laws that are knee jerk reaction laws and they are fought out and they don't really properly cover matters, then you are going to see injustice is taking place on a daily basis throughout America. When these laws applied, and people don't have the courage in the legislature to do the right thing to make a law that makes sense and is understandable by judges, by lawyers, and especially by juries.

LEMON: Yes. Great conversation. I'm going to have you guys back. We will talk much more about this, We appreciate both of you. And I wanted to talk a little bit more, bud we have breaking news here on CNN.

Mark Nejame and Mark O'Mara.

More on our breaking news. We're getting new information coming from the Midwest right now on that severe line of storms that's pummeling that part of the country and moving east.

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KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And hello, everyone. I'm meteorologist Karen Maginnis.

And already today, our severe weather outbreak across the Midwest, the Great Lakes and the Ohio River valley, 78 reports of tornadoes. We will evaluate that but some confirmed tornadoes, one out of Washington county Illinois. I distinguish that from Washington Illinois. But in Washington county, a report of a tornado Ef-4, (INAUDIBLE), and the winds are estimated about 166 miles an hour.

Right now, tornado watches extending from Michigan all the way through Indiana, Ohio, through Kentucky. Kentucky right now, seeing a number of severe weather reports. The latest that we have, Nortonville, Hopkins county, Kentucky. Reports of damage there from a tornado, just within the last half hour to 45 minutes.

Also, a number of tornado warnings issued across central sections of Kentucky as well. We move up further a little bit further towards a north, we got a number of severe thunderstorm warnings issued. You could see heavy downpours, reduced visibility, large size hail and strong and gusty wind.

We had a wind report out of Chicago in Oak Lawn, wind gusts of 86 miles an hour. Soldiers Field was evacuated due to the eminent severe weather. The weather has improved there. But now, we are watching some heavy downpours across section of Michigan.

Now, coming up, we'll have more details, coming up on the breaking weather situation across the Midwestern U.S. right after this.

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LEMON: All right, breaking weather news. We want to give you new video just into CNN.

This is Gifford, Illinois that you are about to take a look at. It is 132 miles south of Chicago, just north of champagne, Illinois and there it is. There's the destruction on the ground. And people assessing the damage. And we are getting these sorts of pictures from many towns, cities, municipalities, throughout the Midwest. It appears, though, that this storm set its sights particularly on the state of Illinois where so far two people have been confirmed dead and there are many more injuries.

This storm really barreling its way through the Midwest with winds as high as 80 miles an hour, if not higher. Hitting 26 states, we are told, in its path, 50 confirmed tornadoes from the weather service so far have touched down in these areas.

Again, this is Gifford, Illinois, south of Chicago, 132 miles. And these are the images. It is dark now. It is getting dark, if not already in the Midwest. It starts her in the east and this is what folks are going to wake up to tomorrow.

You are going to wake tomorrow to more pictures, more injuries, more damage on your -- this will be on your television screen. But this is reality for the people who are in those areas right now. Horrific and still more to come.

Our breaking news coverage continues right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: This is CNN breaking news.

LEMON: Hello, everyone. Don lemon. Top of the hour here on CNN. Thank you for joining us. The breaking news on CNN is tornado outbreak tears across the upper Midwest.

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LEMON: If you were in the middle of this, you saw this out of your window, believe me. You would be praying as well. This is one of 11 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois. As it hit the small town of Washington near Peoria. At least two deaths have been reported. This was the aftermath. Nothing was left standing after the tornado was done. Clean-up and recovery will take a very long time.