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EF-4 Tornado Slammed New Minden, Illinois; Schools Closed in Kokomo, Indiana; PGA's Jason Day Loses Family Members in Typhoon Haiyan; Cheney vs. Cheney over Same Sex Marriage; Illinois Governor on Tornado Damage and Recovery

Aired November 18, 2013 - 10:30   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. An EF-4 tornado -- that's up to 200 mile-per-hour winds and in the case like that you know the safest place to be, is interior bathroom, basement is the safest place to be. But even in an interior bathroom Brian, it can be difficult to survive something like that.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Absolutely. And when we were at this gentlemen's house Mr. Hoi (ph) we saw the foundation of his house that the rest of it was completely ripped open. And even if he had taken refuge in the foundation of his house or in a basement, he was probably vulnerable based on what we saw.

The tornado was that powerful. You mentioned wave of EF-4 could be at what between 166 miles and 200 miles an hour. It certainly looked like that hit this property.

ROMANS: All right, Brian Todd on the phone for us in New Minden, Illinois.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And he said it was an EF-4 tornado. To think that there were dozens and dozens of tornadoes that touched down over a wide, wide area.

People in Indiana also recovering from these severe storms, but thousands of them will have to do all this cleanup work without electricity this morning. Check this out. Police dash-cam video from Boone County in Indiana shows this well-formed twister dangerously shadowing that big rig.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence touring the storm damage this morning. We are expecting to hear from Governor Pence at any moment. One of the places he's stopping is Kokomo, where schools are closed this morning, and that is where we find CNN's George Howell on the ground there. What are you seeing George?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning. And certainly you can see the podium here Governor Pence is expected to speak any moment now. We're waiting for that news conference but again, he has had the opportunity to tour a lot of the devastation here in Kokomo. And you look behind me you see what used to be the fire station here. We watched as they slowly demolished that fire station as they moved the fire rig that was under there out from under the roof. When you consider what happened here, the strength of the winds whether it was a tornado or whether it was very strong, straight line winds, the devastation is quite incredible, but even more incredible, the simple point of fact that no one was killed, no one was seriously injured in this storm event here in Kokomo.

I spoke with the mayor, Mayor Greg Goodnight just a little earlier about how do you -- how do you clean up, how do you start over after a storm like this? Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR GREG GOODNIGHT, KOKOMO, INDIANA: The biggest problem we're facing right now is there are a lot of utility poles down. So there's going to be areas without power for, you know, days, maybe, you know -- could go a week or so, who knows. So that's -- that's the problem.

You know, there's a lot of damage, but thankfully it was concentrated into a small area. So you go to other parts of the city and it was very minor damage. Just some tree limbs and things so -- but the area that was hit was hit pretty bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So guys, back to a live picture here in Kokomo, in just a second ago but they left the camera shot before we got back. You saw some of the firefighters picking through what's left over of this fire station. And in fact, there's a lot you can't see from this vantage point. But over there, there's a mall where the roof was torn off; there are businesses, where the windows have been busted out. There's a lot of property damage here.

But again, you know the silver lining here, the point in fact that no one was killed. No one was seriously injured here in Kokomo. Now we're waiting to hear from the Governor and as we have that we will bring it to you live here on CNN.

BERMAN: And George, we can't see everything that's going on near you, but behind you, we can tell that place was hit hard. Thanks so much for being with us, George.

And as George Howell mentioned we are waiting for the press conference of the Indiana Governor Mike Pence that will get underway any minute. And as soon as it does, we'll bring it to you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Welcome back, everyone.

The tragedy in the Philippines hitting home for a very well-known PGA tour player.

ROMANS: Yes, Jason Day lost eight family members in the typhoon -- a grandmother, an uncle, six cousins. Day released a statement saying in part quote, "My family and I are thankful for all who have reached out with their prayers and concern. We feel devastated for all those who have been affected by this horrific tragedy. Please pray for all who have suffered loss."

BERMAN: So many people there have suffered.

Rachel Nichols joins us now. Jason Day, everyone knows him as an Australian golfer. So what is his connection exactly to this tragedy?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: Yes, well his mother immigrated from the Philippines to Australia 30 years ago. So Jason was born in Australia. He's 27 years old, but obviously, still very strong ties there.

This was his maternal grandmother in that side of the family, those cousins who died. And like so many stories we're hearing now from the Philippines -- just so much tragedy involved. He has one aunt who did survive. She was swept all the way to a neighboring village, but all of her children died in this event. And he has other family members who survived only by tying themselves together in an attic. It was very -- communication, of course, very difficult at this point as well. So there's a lot of tragedy going on here.

And we're seeing with Jason, he is still going to compete in the tournament he's playing in this week and his attitude seems to be to try to get through this event and then sort of deal with all of this tragedy and loss. Now, this event is in Australia. So he's going to have a ton of crowd support, but still, a very difficult situation.

BERMAN: And I'm sure he'll use it to try to draw attention to the tragedy that's going on there and maybe try to get help to those people in need. But when you see something so real like this in a way, it just trivializes sports or at least puts it in perspective in a sense.

NICHOLS: Absolutely. And it tells you what is important to appreciate every day which these guys know, but you do get a very unfortunate wake-up call and reminder.

ROMANS: Another story you're following. Let's turn to NASCAR Jimmie Johnson winning the Sprint Cup yesterday closing out a couple of racing legends.

NICHOLS: Yes absolutely -- fastest-ever the sixth title. And he's got one more to go to catch Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt Senior. But since he is getting there so much faster than those guys, the idea is that we are watching racing history. The expectation is he will get seven, maybe even eight, nine or ten to become the greatest stock car racer ever.

And it's put him in some contact with some other athletes as well. Now that he has six, he said his buddy Michael Jordan used to tease him that Michael has six rings. And so now he's going to text him and say, "I caught up with you Michael. I've got six, too."

And there's been a bit of a debate since he won this yesterday. Is he an athlete? Donovan McNabb, the former Philadelphia quarterback came out over the weekend and said, "Yes, yes, great and all that. But are you an athlete?" Jimmie Johnson had a lot of people come to his defense.

But I do want to ask you guys, do you think race car drivers are athletes?

BERMAN: I think it's a skill that is an athletic skill. I mean --

NICHOLS: That's not an answer.

BERMAN: I mean if he had to sprint against Donovan McNabb, but I don't think he'd win, but I don't think Donovan McNabb could beat him in a car race? Right?

ROMANS: I think it's a grueling sport and I think NASCAR is a sports that would make you technically an athlete right.

BERMAN: I'm with that. That's better than me.

NICHOLS: If you can eat while you're doing it, it's not a sport. But you can't eat while you're driving NASCAR.

BERMAN: Yes exactly.

ROMANS: I could eat and drive easily. So it's a sport.

BERMAN: And I've got to say, he's making this look so easy. For people who are just tuning to NASCAR now, it's not supposed to be this easy. Drivers are not this dominant.

NICHOLS: Yes well he can see the lanes if you want to compare it to a great running back in football. He sees where the holes are. He knows how to move around the track. And he's also got a little Eddie Van Halen in him. He knows how to play his instrument, that car, better than anybody else.

So being able to do both of those things at the level that he's able to do it. That's why we haven't seen anybody do this before.

ROMANS: I think Eddie Van Halen is an athlete, too.

NICHOLS: Can you eat while playing the guitar Christine?

BERMAN: Eddie Van Halen can do anything.

ROMANS: Oh yes.

BERMAN: Rachel Nichols -- great to see you. Thank you so much for being here.

ROMANS: All right, some terrifying new video from the deadly typhoon that ripped through the Philippines. An aide worker shot this video. It shows the force of the storm surge when the typhoon hit nearly two weeks ago. The worker was able to take refuge on the top floor of a nearby house. These pictures are just terrifying. Officials have confirmed more than 3,900 people are dead.

CNN's Anderson Cooper has been in the region. He has more on the recovery in this "American Journey".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good job, guys.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360" (voice over): For 72 hours after Haiyan struck, the Philippine siblings Paulette Khoury and Cesar Villegas barely slept.

CESAR VILLEGAS, BROTHER OF TYPHOON SURVIVOR: When I saw the pictures of what happened, I -- I assumed the worst.

COOPER: Assumed the worst, because while they were safe in San Diego, the last time they heard from their brother Jim, he was in Tacloban. Days earlier Jim had e-mailed them not to worry as he and his wife and three kids planned to ride out the storm in their two-story house. But as the storm devastated the city, all communication was lost. Paulette's and Cesar's imaginations began to get the better of them.

PAULETTE KHOURY, SISTER OF TYPHOON SURVIVOR: It was a difficult time just kind of thinking what's happening. We tried calling. We tried texting. We tried e-mailing, and there was no response. So it was really difficult. It was a difficult time for us just not knowing and just thinking the worst things.

COOPER: Jim was alive, but shaken. He watched from the second story of his house as the water rose quickly.

JIM VILLEGAS, STORM SURVIVOR: Now we're a river front residence.

COOPER: His travel agency on the ground floor was destroyed. Over four days with barely any food or water, he and his family made their way to the Tacloban airport and got on a flight to Manila. He eventually got word to a relative who related the good news to his desperate family back in San Diego.

But it wasn't until Wednesday night when everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

KHOURY: Jim.

C. VILLEGAS: Jim?

COOPER: Paulette and Cesar were able to see their brother for the first time and make sure everyone was safe.

C. VILLEGAS: How's the family?

J. VILLEGAS: Oh, the family is good. Julia's here.

KHOURY: Did you -- oh, is she awake? Let me see.

C. VILLEGAS: Julia. COOPER: And Jim told them about how he'd survived the deadly storm surge that flattened Tacloban.

J. VILLEGAS: If we didn't have that house, we would have been, you know, flushed away. The water was like ten feet high. It was like a tsunami.

COOPER: Although a face-to-face reunion might not happen for weeks, Paulette and Cesar are doing what they can to help. Shipping boxes full of supplies to those who lost everything.

KHOURY: My brother had told us that his worst experience there was at nighttime. There is like no light. So we're trying to get a bunch of glow sticks and flashlights and just gathering as many, like, mosquito nets and just basic survival equipment to go there as soon as possible.

COOPER: For Jim, anything helps. He'll go back to Tacloban determined to rebuild, refusing to give up.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, the Philippines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. If you would like to help survivors of this typhoon, please, please go to CNN.com/impact.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Welcome back, everyone.

The debate over same-sex marriage becoming very public for one prominent political family. I'm talking about the Cheneys, specifically, Liz and Mary, who are taking very different positions on this issue.

This weekend Liz, who is a Wyoming senate candidate, reiterated her opposition to same-sex marriage, while she does say she supports some right for same-sex partners.

LIZ CHENEY, SENATE CANDIDATE FROM WYOMING: I don't believe we ought to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation. If people are in a same-sex relationship and they want their partner to be able to have health benefits or be designated as a beneficiary in their life insurance, there's no reason we shouldn't do that.

I also don't support amending the constitution on this issue. I do believe it's an issue that has to be left up to the states. I do believe in the traditional definition of marriage.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS HOST: Your sister Mary, who is married to a woman, put out this post. She said, "For the record, I love my sister" -- you -- "but she is dead wrong on the issue of marriage."

CHENEY: Yes. And listen, I love Mary very much. I love her family very much. This is just an issue in which we disagree. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. And this prompted another response from sister Mary, who is married to a woman. In her Facebook post Mary wrote, "Liz, this isn't just an issue on which we disagree. You're just wrong, and on the wrong side of history." In an interview with CNN, their father had this to say about the family dispute. We don't have that right now, but Dick Cheney basically said he would let his daughters speak for themselves.

And now the question so many people are asking is, could the Cheney family split on same-sex marriage be a symbol of a divide within the Republican Party?

Joining me now to discuss all this is democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman and CNN political commentator and columnist for "The Blaze" Will Cain.

Will, I want to start with you. I just want to read you something quickly that Liz just put out to our Jake Tapper. She said, "I love my sister and her family and have always tried to be compassionate towards them. I believe that this is the Christian way to behave."

Now, let's leave aside the complicated family dynamics here because there's a lot to talk about there. But will, you're a member of a group of conservatives that supports same-sex marriage. So give me a sense of how what's happening with the Cheneys is reflected in the Party as a whole right now.

WILL CAIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that's almost too narrow, john. I don't think it's just reflective of what's going on inside the Republican Party but inside the nation as a whole. The whole nation is moving on this issue. And let's not forget, it's one that -- what -- less than a year ago President Obama moved on. About a year ago President Obama finally moved his position on it.

What we've seen is the polls on the acceptance of same-sex marriage over the last 30 years have moved lightning fast. So fast it's outpaced even the Democratic Party and the Republican Party now has this divide as well and I think it will probably continue to go through some kind of transformation.

BERMAN: That's a really fair point. These are changes that are being felt across a wide spectrum in both parties.

Rob, there is this family dynamic here. There's a report out in the "New York Times" this morning, really interesting article, where Mary Cheney says that she's not going to see Liz over the Christmas holidays. They haven't spoken since this summer. There's clearly a lot going on there.

The politics, the political split, the interesting divide here, what might hurt Liz in the senate race, maybe it's not policy here. Maybe it's the issue of authenticity. Do you think voters will want to see families stick together, no matter what? ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, that's exactly the point. I mean they're acting like the Wyoming version of the "Jersey Shore". And the reality is Liz Cheney doesn't need a Dr. Phil to solve this problem. She needs a better campaign strategy, because the reason she's taken this very public aggressive position is she's getting attacked in her senate race and ultimately Liz Cheney and very frankly the right wing are now becoming victims of their own bigotry.

Whether it was George W. Bush campaigning for a constitutional amendment against marriage equality or even today, most recently the Republican leadership in the house refusing to put up for a vote the ENDA legislation, which is Employment Non-Discrimination Act against the gay and lesbian community. It's that the Republican Party is not keeping with the times and, in fact, by saying this belongs up to the states or by looking at it by polls is ignoring the basic issue.

This is a civil rights issue. This is a human rights issue, not a political one.

CAIN: John if I may --

BERMAN: All right. Will Cain -- quickly, Will.

CAIN: -- if I may. With all due respect to Robert, he just encapsulated everything that's wrong with this debate. The problem with the Cheneys is not something that is reflective at all of "The Jersey Shore". The country and this family is struggling with an issue that has religious implications for many and freedom implications for others.

And to reduce any kind of opposition to this to simple bigotry just reflects lack of knowledge in the opposition, a lack of knowledge in the arguments, the other side of this argument.

ZIMMERMAN: Will --

BERMAN: Hang on.

ZIMMERMAN: Liz was at Mary Cheney's wedding. She embraces the family. Now that she's running she's against marriage equality?

CAIN: So now she's a bigot, you say?

ZIMMERMAN: Well, when you stand up opposed to equal right of the gay and lesbian community, you bet that's bigotry. Let's not -- let's not try to sugar coat it or talk about the need for polling to tell us how to stand up to discrimination. It's wrong and should offend both parties.

BERMAN: Robert, Will -- this debate is continuing in that family and will continue nationwide. Thank you so much for being with us today.

Right now, we've got to get back to the tornadoes that hit such a big part of the country right now. There's a news conference going on right now. I believe we are in Illinois. And that is Governor Pat Quinn. GOV. PATRICK QUINN (D), ILLINOIS: -- because in so doing we ultimately go to the Federal Emergency Management Agency where they do a full assessment with the records that we provide them. And our hope to get a federal disaster declaration really rides on our ability to get all information regarding damage and destruction that occurred yesterday.

So we have been through this before. It is very, very important that we work together with our local mayors, with people in local government, with local law enforcement. Our state has brought to each of the sites assets, whether it's the Illinois Department of Transportation, our state police, our communications, as well as lighting in some cases.

So we want to help each other. That's really, I think, the spirit of Illinois. It is important that we see ourselves as a family of 13 million people, and everyone in Illinois wants to help the victims of these deadly tornadoes that created so much destruction yesterday. We want to work together to recover fully.

I'm now going to ask Jon Monken to come forward and say a few words. Jon, take it from there.

JON MONKEN, DIRECTOR, ILLINOIS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: Thank you, Governor. As the governor mentioned, obviously this is an unprecedented event for us especially in the month of November and the impacts are so significant that it will take time to be able to sift through it.

BERMAN: All right. That was Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. The storm was a big one. Hit a lot states. We're now going to Indiana and hear from Governor Mike Pence there.

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: All of those mentioned that apart from injuries that have been reported here in the state of Indiana and significant property damage, that there's been no loss of life in the Hoosier State. With that said, the state of Indiana, as I mentioned, will continue to work closely with local officials as damage assessment continues.

And we will identify resources that are available, either through state or federal sources, to help these communities and help these families pick up the pieces and move on with their lives. Thank you.

ROMANS: All right. We've heard from the Indiana and the Illinois governors now. Clearly -- major, major storm recovery efforts going to be underway here in the days and months ahead. We're going to hit a quick break and bring you the latest with the tornado and the devastation, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Let's check top stories.

Still no word why a U.S.-made Boeing 737 crashed last night in Russia killing all 50 people onboard. Russia has a terrible record of air safety, but those accidents involve small airlines that fly small old Russian-made aircraft.

In Colorado, officials are trying to figure out what caused a silver mine accident that killed two miners. The accident happened Saturday about 270 miles from Denver. 19 people were injured and taken to a nearby hospital. Authorities ruled out an explosion and mine collapse as the cause of the accident.

BERMAN: A North Carolina couple arraigned in court this morning after police found one of their foster children handcuffed to a porch with a dead chicken around his neck. Police made that grim discovery Friday. The couple has four adopted children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMMY BIGHAM: The (inaudible) are so scared it is unreal to even do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The mother of Wanda Sue Larson is a supervisor with the Department of Children's Services and the father works as an emergency room nurse at a local hospital. Both parents now face child abuse charges.

Thank you so much for joining us this morning. I'm John Berman in New York.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans in for Carol Costello today.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts right now.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: Where do you go? What do you do when your home and all of your neighbors' homes, everything you own, is gone? Our reporters are on the ground right now, still trying to get a handle on the scope and the scale of the Midwest devastation.

Also this hour -- Oh Canada, how many more can you take? If you thought you'd heard it all from the crack-smoking mayor, just wait until you hear what he is saying now.