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Deadly Tornadoes in the U.S.; Deadly Building Collapse in Italy; Russia-Ukraine Conflict; Blue Origin Completes First Fully Occupied Flight. Aired 12-12:30a ET
Aired December 12, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us all around the world, I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, more than 80 feared dead; towns completely torn apart after tornadoes rampaged through the midwestern United States.
While G7 leaders seek a show of unity against Russian aggression, ordinary Ukrainians are arming themselves, preparing to protect their homeland.
And a former NFL player and a famous astronaut's daughter among the latest group blasting off into space.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: And we begin with the astonishing damage brought by one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in the U.S. in decades. At least 84 people feared dead after a series of powerful tornadoes ravaged six states.
And officials say the death toll is likely to rise above 100.
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HOLMES (voice-over): It's feared many of those deaths happened inside this candle factory, that, as you can see there, completely collapsed.
This is in Mayfield, Kentucky. More than 100 people were inside when the storm hit. Just 40 have been pulled from the rubble; dozens more, unaccounted for. CNN spoke with one man, who raced to the factory where his wife had been working. He managed to pull two people out but his wife still missing. And the wait for answers clearly agonizing.
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IVY WILLIAMS, HUSBAND OF MISSING CANDLE FACTORY WORKER: I want to find my wife. I want to find her and know she's still somewhere safe. I hope she's somewhere safe.
And Baby, please call me so we can get connected. Please call me. I'm looking for you, baby. We been looking for you, me, Camara (ph), the kids, we all looking for you right now.
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HOLMES (voice-over): The longest stretch of devastation spanned more than 250 miles, around 400 kilometers, across several states. Kentucky's governor says one tornado might have been on the ground for 200 miles in his state alone.
In all, more than 30 tornadoes were reported across six states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee.
In Illinois, an Amazon warehouse collapsed, killing at least six people. Officials say search and rescue efforts are still underway.
In Arkansas, at least one person killed when a tornado ripped through a nursing home. Many others were trapped after the storm and at least 20 people were hurt.
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HOLMES: The U.S. President Joe Biden already approving a federal emergency declaration for Kentucky and he says the federal government is ready to provide whatever help is needed.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is likely to be one of the largest tornado outbreaks in our history. The federal government will do everything, everything it can possibly do to help.
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HOLMES: Kentucky governor Andy Beshear toured some of the hardest-hit areas on Saturday, including that candle factory that was flattened in Mayfield. He says the extent of the devastation is just staggering.
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GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): The devastation is unlike anything I have seen in my life. And I have trouble putting it into words.
When it was safe to travel this morning, I flew to Mayfield. My first stop was that candle factory, 110 people working in it at the time the storm hit. They've rescued 40. There's at least 15 feet of metal, with cars on top of it, barrels of corrosive chemicals that are there. It will be a miracle if anybody else is found alive in it.
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HOLMES: We're also hearing from a woman, who eventually was rescued from the factory after it collapsed. She was stuck under a pile of rubble, losing feeling in her toes and growing more and more concerned. At some point, she started broadcasting on Facebook Live, begging for help.
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KYANNA PARSONS-PEREZ, CANDLE FACTORY COLLAPSE SURVIVOR, MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY: Y'all, please send us some help. Somebody please send us some help.
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PARSONS-PEREZ: We are trapped. The wall is stuck on me. Nobody can get to us. Y'all, please. We can't move.
Andrea, calm down.
Y'all, please, y'all, pray for us. Just get somebody to come and help us.
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HOLMES: Now of all the states and all the towns impacted by these tornadoes, Mayfield, Kentucky, was hit the worst. The mayor says the town now looks like matchsticks. CNN's Brynn Gingras is there.
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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Waking up this morning, Kentucky's governor fears the death toll in this state could rise past 100. It's the worst devastation that this state has ever seen.
Take a look behind me. And what we're looking, just in the center of this town of Mayfield, it's hard to tell what these buildings actually were because they have all just been decimated. And we're talking about for miles.
In fact, as my crew was driving into this town on a four-lane highway, the second we saw the sign that said "Welcome to Mayfield," it's like we entered a completely different world. Nothing is recognizable.
A candle factory, not far from where we are with, more than 100 employees working around the clock to meet Christmas time demand, well, that building is now a pile of rubble.
One worker telling CNN they were warned; some got out safe. About 40 people were rescued as of yesterday, according to the governor. Others, though, among those feared dead.
FEMA teams are in the state and efforts to find those lost is going to continue later today -- in Mayfield, Kentucky, I'm Brynn Gingras, CNN.
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Now storm chaser Aaron Jayjack joins me. He was on the ground the middle of the deadly tornado outbreak and we have spoken on previous tornadoes as well.
I just want to say, you tweeted earlier, you said, "Thinking about the terrible night. Hoping those whose lives were altered or taken find peace."
I also heard you say, "This was an adult nightmare."
Give me a sense of how bad it was to be in it.
AARON JAYJACK, EXTREME STORM CHASER: Yes. You know, this was probably the worst tornado I've ever chased. It was one of those long-track super cells that just was relentlessly producing multiple tornadoes. Maybe one tornado still to be determined. National Weather Service is doing their damage surveys.
But worst-case scenario, this is a nighttime event, a nocturnal tornado, a wedge tornado, a very strong, powerful tornado. I mean, it's the worst possible situation you could have.
This time of year, December, you generally don't see these types of events happening in the winter cold months here. Gets dark early so that just exacerbates the problems out there.
HOLMES: You also tweeted that, quote, "The Mayfield, Kentucky, tornado lofted debris over 30,000 feet into the air."
That's where planes fly 30,000 feet.
What does that tell you about this system?
JAYJACK: Yes. That's unprecedented. I've never seen so much debris being lofted up into the atmosphere. What we had going on is -- that signifies that there was a very powerful updraft.
And an updraft is what lofts air up into the atmosphere, allows the storm to start rotating. And this updraft was so powerful, it was lifting up that debris 30,000 feet up into the atmosphere.
And we also had strong sheer loft that was then sending this debris way downstream. And looking at some of the correlation of coefficient, which is a radar product, you can actually see the debris was actually taking on the shape of the super cell itself.
So just unbelievable -- you know, I still can't get over what happened yesterday. It's unreal.
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HOLMES: I want to get a sense of what it feels like.
What does it physically feel like?
I mean, the air pressure drops.
How does it feel to be in it? JAYJACK: Well, so this type of tornado -- I have been inside of tornadoes before but they were weaker tornadoes. This is the type of tornado that you don't want to -- you know, make sure you're caught in.
But it was -- the winds were just -- you could watch those winds. And they're changing directions and just strong winds funneling into the tornado. That's when you could tell the tornado is on the ground, is when those -- that strong influent is just being sucked up into the tornado.
HOLMES: What sorts of things did you see when it comes to like damage and people and those sorts of things?
JAYJACK: Yes. So I'll take you through the chase a little bit. I started near Jonesboro, Arkansas, and then this tornado went through -- they're calling it the quad state tornado, that went through four states, from Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and into Kentucky.
At first it wasn't producing a tornado but I continued to track it to the east, eventually getting to the Mississippi River and also interstate system there, I-55.
When I got to I-55, I found semis there that had been thrown across the interstate, traffic was backed up. And at one point, I had to then turn around, I had to stop the chase. The tornado was moving at 50 miles per hour to the northeast, so I couldn't keep up with it.
And then we had more tornado warnings approaching us from the southwest at that point.
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HOLMES: Unbelievable.
Did you have a sense of whether -- as I say, you've done this dozens of times.
You have a sense that these sorts of things are getting stronger or more frequent?
JAYJACK: I mean, it's December. So tornadoes, you can get a tornado at any time of the year, any place, any strength of tornado.
But just the fact that we had such an unseasonably warm atmosphere and moisture. The moisture was real high. I mean, that's generally not something that you get this time of year in December, that's more like a May, like peak severe season.
So, you know, it makes you wonder, is the warming atmosphere causing these more extreme events to be able to happen more often?
HOLMES: Aaron Jayjack, storm chaser, we keep talking. This is not the first time you and I have spoken. Extraordinary account of what went on. Appreciate it, Aaron. Thank you.
JAYJACK: Yes, you're welcome.
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HOLMES: You can help those in need after these deadly tornadoes. Go to cnn.com/impact. There you will find verified ways, we checked them out, to provide help for tornado victims. Once again, cnn.com/impact.
Still to come, G7 foreign ministers are hoping to deter possible Russian aggression in Ukraine by making such a move extremely costly for Moscow. We'll have a report from Liverpool when we come back.
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HOLMES: And we're following developing news on the Italian island of Sicily. Emergency teams looking for survivors after a building collapse. This is in the town of Ravanusa. Fire officials say at least one person was killed, at least eight others are missing. So far they've rescued two women from the rubble.
The Italian news agency ANSA reports a methane gas leak led to the explosion. We'll bring you more on this story as information becomes available.
Senior diplomats from the G7 countries are meeting this weekend in Liverpool, in England, to try to forge a united response, should Russia invade Ukraine. A U.S. official briefing reporters said there has been, quote, "a huge amount of convergence" among the U.S. and its allies.
Ukraine, of course, not a member of NATO and Moscow is demanding that it never become one. But the message G7 foreign ministers hope to deliver is that an invasion by Russia will trigger a swift and harsh economic response by the G7.
Besides the sanctions, President Biden said he also warned President Putin that the U.S. and NATO would be compelled to send more troops into Eastern Europe if Ukraine is invaded.
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HOLMES: Nolan Peterson is a journalist based in Kiev, senior editor of the "Coffee or Die" magazine, which is online, and author of the book, "Why Soldiers Miss War," a former soldier himself.
Nolan, you've just been to the front once again -- or down near it -- with an extraordinary story. Before we begin, I want to play a clip from what is a fascinating report on civilians training to defend their homeland. Let's have a quick look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now we are training to forest fight. And we will use these skills, for example, if we have some sabotage groups here infiltrate inside our territory. We will surround them, capture them and destroy them.
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HOLMES: Now the remarkable thing is these are civilians. Explain more about what's going on in your report, what those you met are doing.
NOLAN PETERSON, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: Right. So in case of a major Russian offensive, the Ukrainian military's plan to defend the country includes a network of territorial defense forces across the country, which includes civilian volunteer soldiers, who will protect key locations, maintain law and order if there's martial law and also perhaps to participate in resistance warfare operations.
So on a very cold Saturday morning, I was able to go out and observe Kiev's territorial defense force, as they trained to defend their city against the potential Russian invasion and, specifically, they were out there that day, training against the threat of Russian sabotage groups.
HOLMES: It was extraordinary to see the variety of ordinary people, with their own guns, by the way, hunting rifles and so on. Let's play another clip.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a woman, you know, a woman who have full- time job. I have garden, I have a house, I have three kids, I have 10 cats, a husband, two dogs, you know, and my son is now in territory of defense (ph) and my husband also here.
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HOLMES: Describe the mindset, the reasons that these people are standing up in this way, ordinary people with day jobs and, as I said, bringing their own rifles along.
PETERSON: Yes. It was remarkable to see so many everyday Ukrainians, who were willing to take up arms in their nation's defense. And that lady we just saw is 51 years old. And she was out there, rolling around in the dirt with 20-year-old university students, training for war.
They provided their own weapons and ammunition; they're in charge of their own training, even though they fall under the regular military's chain of command. But these civilian soldiers take the prospect of a Russian invasion deadly seriously.
And it was clear to me, after being out there and observing their training and after having lived in Ukraine for 7.5 years that, if there is a Russian invasion, there will undoubtedly also be a civilian nationwide resistance war to repel that invasion force. And I personally fear that such a nationwide civilian effort, to force back Russia's invasion, would create a humanitarian disaster that this continent probably hasn't seen in decades.
HOLMES: Yes, I think you're right.
Did you sense that they are well aware of the risks and are just willing to accept that?
Or, as someone who knows war, as you do, do you think there was some naivete there or do they know what they're doing?
PETERSON: Well, this is a country that's already been at war for 7.5 years, since Russia's 2014 effective invasion of the eastern Donbas region. So the people in Ukraine have a sober understanding of what war is.
And in fact, in 2014, when Ukraine's regular military was on its heels during Russia's unconventional invasion of the Donbas, it was a nationwide civilian volunteer effort that allowed Ukraine's combined military to push back that Russian invasion of the Donbas.
So all these years later, you know, many Ukrainians have a very sober understanding of war. They don't take the risks of combat lightly. They don't have a naive or romantic idea of what war is.
But they are ready to fight, tooth and nail, for every square meter of their country. And should Russia invade, you know, they see that as an existential threat to their country's freedom, their democratic future. And so I have no doubt that they will fight, if Russia invades.
HOLMES: Yes. It's remarkable. And there was another gentleman there who just said that, it's a duty. It's a duty that they have to do that.
Did you -- do you feel -- and you do live there and you're interacting with Ukrainians -- that with these people that and others that you interact with -- do they feel an invasion or an incursion of some kind is likely, that it could really happen, as opposed to muscle flexing?
PETERSON: Yes. I think initially many Ukrainians were skeptical about the realistic possibility of an invasion. You know, they're used to this limited, static trench war in the east now for 7.5 years.
But the idea of a full-scale World War II-style invasion of their country seemed a bit farfetched at first. But now there's definitely been a shift, I would say, among many civilians, particularly among the combat veterans of the war in the Donbas.
There are about 430,000 combat veterans of that war now, who are civilians. You see a shift. And they're starting to take this seriously. And that was very evident when I was out there with the territorial defense force that they -- you know, these are just people who have work weeks and they have full-time jobs and families.
And they're spending their entire Saturday out there in subzero temperatures, training to kick in doors and lay ambushes in the forest because they see the prospect of a Russian invasion as something that's very likely. And they're willing to fight.
And it's quite extraordinary to see, among a post-Soviet society, this respect and this desire to fight for freedom and fight for democracy. And so I think that this country has been through a lot. And the civilian population is certainly ready to hold their ground and defend what they've been fighting for, already for 7.5 years.
HOLMES: It's a fascinating report and people can find it on the "Coffee or Die" website as well. Great reporting as always, Nolan. Good to see you, Nolan Peterson in Kiev. Thanks.
PETERSON: Thank you for having me on.
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HOLMES: Still to come here, a landmark launch for Jeff Bezos' space company, Blue Origin. The rocket lifted off with a full passenger capsule, including a TV host on board. Their journey to the edge of space -- when we come back.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Another successful voyage to the edge of space for Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' rocket company. It was the first time the space tourism company had a full house for its suborbital flight.
All six of the capsule's highly coveted seats occupied, four of them paying customers. Also on board, television host and former NFL star, Michael Strahan, and Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of famed astronaut Alan Shepard, who is also the capsule's namesake (sic).
Now the reclusive artist Banksy is selling T-shirts to raise funds for those facing trial over the removal of a controversial statue in Bristol, England. Protesters toppled the statue of slave trader Edward Colston during Black Lives Matter demonstrations in June 2020.
Four people were charged by police over the removal and are due to go to trial next week. The shirt depicts an empty plinth where the statue once stood, with the word "Bristol" above it. It costs $33.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @HolmesCNN. Do stay with us. "CONNECTING AFRICA" is up next after a short break.
