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Kentucky Candle Factory Destroyed Rescues Underway For 110-Plus Employees; Kentucky Governor Requests FEMA Assistance For Storm Recovery; One Killed After Tornado Hits Arkansas Nursing Home; Interview With Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI); Rescuers Search For Missing Workers At Amazon Warehouse In IL. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired December 11, 2021 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:30]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST (on camera): Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And we begin with this "BREAKING NEWS"

Violent tornadoes tearing a path of destruction overnight across six central U.S. states Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois. The daylight now revealing the shocking extent of the damage. Dozens have been killed. The governor of Kentucky fearing more than 70 dead in his state alone.

Search and rescue teams sifting through seemingly endless piles of debris, looking for survivors. President Biden briefed on the situation earlier today directing resources to help in the situation.

CNN's Nadia Romero is on the ground there in Mayfield -- hard-hit Mayfield, Kentucky. Nadia, what is happening right now?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Fredricka, what we're seeing right now is a different emergency response teams coming in from different cities and counties all throughout Kentucky, coming right here to what they're calling ground zero after the tornadoes last night.

You can see behind me just a slew of vehicles out here. And we also have different construction crews that have come to use their heavy equipment to try to lift some of that debris to try to find as many people as possible.

So, we know that more than 100 people were working here at this candle factory last night. They were working overtime, trying to get those holiday orders out just two weeks before the Christmas holiday.

I spoke with one man. His name was Ryan, he worked at the factory. He said you know what, I just didn't feel like working overtime. I've been working a lot. So, I decided not to come in and get the extra hours. He said that could have been me.

And there are other people who shown up today looking for their loved ones, including a man named Ivy Williams. He says he's been wary to his wife for quite some time. They've known each other for over 30 years. They have kids, they have grandkids. And he got a call from her last night at 10:00. Listen to what he says happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVY WILLIAMS, RESIDENT, PADUCAH, KENTUCKY: -- my wife at 10:00, and she said that it's storming real bad. And I said OK. And then that was it, we hung up. 10:30 that's when my daughter had called me, told me that the roof was off the building. And I came rushing on over here.

When I got over here, it was just like this here. I mean, it wasn't a building. I didn't know it was like it. I thought that only the roof that just tore off. And then I just jumped in to start helping as much as I could. I did grab two people out. One lady and a guy. And from then on, I was trying to seek calling my wife's name, Janine Williams, and I didn't get no responses.

So, I -- when I saw a guy that she used to work with, and that's when he told me that she was on the list, that she -- that had pulled her out. But I don't know where they took her at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: And so, that's kind of the confusion, and the Williams Family has just shown up here again. You can see in the kind of orange- colored brown coat, that's Ivy Williams, and then these are other members of the family coming now.

They're trying to find out what happened to Janine, the matriarch of their families, as he doesn't know if she's on a list of people who might have died or people who were taken to a hospital.

We also met another woman who says that she came here last night, she pulled out her friend who just turned 30 years old. She worked here at the factory. She knew exactly where she would likely be, and she pulled her body out of the rubble.

It's just horrific. One story after another, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. I mean, to hear that people who live in the community are helping or assisting in any way they can, helping the first responders try to attend to survivors and looking for others who remain missing.

I mean, that's just heartbreaking. And Nadia Romero, keep us posted. Thank you so much.

So, the potential for more severe weather continues as the storm moves east now. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking this dangerous system from the CNN Weather Center. Allison, which cities are about to feel the impact of this storm?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Right. So, we do want to point out that the mainline of storms has weakened some compared to what it was during the overnight last night, but it's not gone entirely.

So, we do still have the potential for some isolated tornadoes, damaging winds, and even some hail for this area that you see here. Some of the main cities that we're talking about would be Atlanta, Montgomery, stretching all the way down towards Mobile, New Orleans, even Charlotte in Richmond, Virginia. Also, still looking at the potential for some strong to severe thunderstorms.

Again, here is that mainline of storms and we've had warnings off and on throughout the last several hours. Some tornado, some severe thunderstorm warnings, again, just depending on how this line continues to make its way off to the east.

[12:05:01]

CHINCHAR: But the other concern to is that a lot of these are just popping up, so there may not be a lot of advanced warning before some of these warnings come out.

Over the last 24 hours, this has been a devastating outbreak. Over 30 tornado reports, over 200 severe wind reports, and about 20 large hail reports in all from this system.

It also spawn over 100 tornado warnings issue. That's the largest ever for a December day. Two of those particular tracks are very concerning just because of how long they were. And the potential there for these tornadoes to maybe have been on the ground the entire time for more than 200 miles.

Again, to put this in perspective, most tornadoes are on the ground for less than 10 minutes and go less than 10 miles. In this instance, these tornadoes could have been on the ground for hours. Again, spanning over 200 miles, which is again incredible to think about, but also likely why the death toll is going to be rather high for this particular event.

Now, the highest ever was the April 27th outbreak in 2011. That was 314 that died from a tornado day in the U.S. But this event, Fred, unfortunately, may end up creeping into the top 10 deadliest tornado days in U.S. history.

WHITFIELD: That is just hard to believe. Thank you so much, Allison Chinchar for bringing that to us.

Let's talk further about this. Let's bring in Craig Fugate. He's a former FEMA administrator and is now the chief Emergency Management Officer at one concern.

So good to see you, Craig. So what is your initial reaction now when you see this devastation?

CRAIG FUGATE, FORMER ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: Well, unfortunately, the weather service called it. They said the risk was for strong tornadoes at night, which is the most dangerous time for us.

December, when a lot of people weren't prepared or thinking about severe weather. And so, what you're seeing now is what we've seen too many times in the aftermath of Joplin, the Tuscaloosa outbreak, where it's a frantic search. People, families aren't sure.

The one piece of advice I want to give everybody, if you are OK, check in with your family. Let them know you're OK. We know a lot of people had left quickly, they may have gone different directions. Issues may be out, but as quick as you can, let people know you're OK. So, they can cross those names off the list and keep looking for those that are missing.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. I mean, it's pretty extraordinary. Is it not? I mean, to hear Allison talk about typically tornadoes may be on the ground for 10 miles, but in this case, hundreds of miles. I mean, the devastation, the element of surprise while people got the warnings. I mean, nobody could brace for or expect something like this. Does that further complicate any of these emergency response measures?

FUGATE: Well, absolutely, what you run into is, even if you get the warning, you got to have somewhere safe to go. And as you saw in many cases, these tornadoes were so strong, they were taking homes down to a slab.

So, that's something we've learned that we need to really think about where we build, increasing the number of safe spots, particularly in public schools for tornadoes.

And as we rebuild these communities, let's take advantage of the opportunity with the federal dollars to make sure we're building back for giving people more safe space to go during severe weather and tornadoes.

WHITFIELD: Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has sent a letter requesting FEMA assistance and has spoken with the FEMA administrator. So, what happens now? And in what form will FEMA resources be able to assist in the immediate?

FUGATE: Well, based upon past history of responding to these types of tornadoes, the most immediate need is going to be temporary housing. People have lost everything, they need a place to stay. They're sorting things out.

So, a lot of the programs that FEMA is going to bring won't be the immediate response, local governments are doing that. The state's doing that with mutual aid.

It's going to be that next day, the days after, where are people going to? Getting them vouchers for hotels and motels, assisting the financial cost these local governments for the response and the debris pickup, and they begin working with the governor and local communities as they start taking those next steps to recovery.

But right now, I think the primary focus is being handled by state and local officials as to search and rescue. FEMA is going to be really focusing on what we would call mass care, making sure people have somewhere safe to go.

In the next couple of days, FEMA assistance coming in and providing that type of temporary housing. WHITFIELD: Yes, when you -- when you spell out the immediate needs, trying to help people, you know, survivors with immediate housing, and then you talk about picking up debris, but there are other things right in between that. I mean, they've got to canvass all of these properties, all of these buildings.

And I can't imagine how there is enough equipment or even personnel in which to do that. What do you think is going to be -- I guess the obstacle -- among the obstacles in trying to canvass all of these properties when you look at the vastness of the destruction just by these drone images? How do you see this being tackled?

[12:10:05]

FUGATE: Well, this is something our first responders, unfortunately, have gotten pretty good at. We saw this in Joplin, where it took two or three days, but they got the research.

FEMA will be standing by it, they need additional search and rescue teams. But we see that the ability to bring in other areas that weren't hit within the state: mutual aid, the National Guard, or neighboring states is not often -- is very often, even faster than FEMA can get up in there.

So, everybody's focused on the resources to do the search. They'll get what they call the primary source looking for the survivors. And then, they'll -- you know, start looking at those that are still missing when they have to go in and start digging out or getting into the removal of the debris, and looking for the -- you know -- and accounting for everybody that is still missing in these tough storms.

WHITFIELD: Craig Fugate, thank you so much for your information. Appreciate it.

And boy, our hearts and prayers going out to all -- so many people who have been impacted by this devastation, crossing six states. Hard to believe. All right, thank you so much, Mr. Fugate. Appreciate it.

All right, after a quick break, we'll continue to cover this deadly storm and the widespread devastation left behind. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:23]

WHITFIELD: All right, we're following this "BREAKING NEWS". Dozens of people have been killed after a line of severe tornadoes cut a path of destruction across six states in the central and southern U.S., making it the deadliest December day for tornadoes on record.

Kentucky governor -- the Kentucky governor rather is saying that he expects at least 70 deaths in his state alone.

And a short time ago, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson gave an update after touring storm damage in Monette, a town hit hard by last night's storm. Here are some of that update. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON (R-AR): We were able to go through Trumann where there was a significant amount of damage that was done. And then, coming here to Monette. And you see the devastation of this tornado, and what's -- the length of the damage and how many cities that it touched, and communities that it touched as it was going through the State of Arkansas, and continuing on into other states as well.

And probably, the most remarkable thing is that there's not a greater loss of life. We have accounted for two loss of life. One here at the nursing home here in this -- in Monette. And then, we also lost one in Leachville that was at the Dollar General store.

Now, those are our preliminary numbers we have. It is still early. But whenever you look at 67 residents here at this facility, I want to express the appreciation to the emergency responders, to those volunteers that came and the management that quickly took action to get the residents to other facilities, and obviously, multiple numbers of those that went to the hospital as well, some in critical condition.

And so, I'm grateful for the response. And everybody pulled together on it. I -- responsibility now is to make sure that we have accurate damage assessments, we're going to have to do a lot of debris removal. The mayor here, of course, will be focused on this as well as the local emergency managers.

From here, I'll be going through Leachville and looking at the facility there from the air. And then, we will be continuing to work to assess the damage in the coming days.

And also to account for those that are still in the critical condition and might have needs. We're -- I talked to them about the need for shelter. And we have, you know, our nonprofits, our churches that are standing ready in the event of assistance and shelters need to be established. It is still early in this response effort.

But it is really important for all the homeowners and we have a lot of homes that we saw that have been significantly damaged if not totally destroyed. And they need to report that damage. They might have insurance, but it's important to report that to your local emergency management, so they can make an assessment, so we can calculate the loss, and see if we qualify for a federal assistance down the road. That is an ongoing process that will take weeks to accomplish that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And now, to Tennessee, where at least three people are confirmed dead. This morning, we got a report in from CNN affiliate WSMV reporter Ryan Breslin in Kingston Springs, Tennessee. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN BRESLIN, WSMV REPORTER (on camera): Let me show you some of this damage that now we're seeing. In our last live shot, I showed you the electric company. I talked to one of the workers there. And this was a full structure here. He told me that there was all lighting structures in here, but now you can see that the walls have blown out and everything is now on the ground here, blown away.

As we come down here to Sneed Road now -- this is off of Highway 70. I do want to show you that we'll go somewhat down the road. I'm going to make sure that my photographer Thomas Davis is safe right now as we're walking because it is muddy out here.

But you look down Sneed Road, and even just right here at this tree. Look at the twists in the branches of the tree. Thomas, right over here. This tree. You can see the twists of the branches and then all the way down, the road the debris that carries towards those homes right there.

[12:20:05]

BRESLIN: As far as damage goes, we haven't been able to get down there because there are power lines that are down on the ground right now. We can see that there are some roofs off at this point.

And we did just check in with the fire chief that's out here from Kingston Springs. He says that they don't have any updates on any injuries at this moment because they have been able to sweep down here we did see flashlights out here and rescue crews down here.

They're also trying to get down Highway 70 and work with some of the people that are clearing the roads to try and get there.

At this point, they still haven't reached Butterworth Road. But we do know from one of the gentlemen and his crew that were clearing the road, he told me that they have been able to clear all the way to Miller Hill Road. And then, he said he was told that the road is clear on Highway 70 all the way to the Harpeth River Bridge.

Once again though, just take a look at all of the damage the debris that's out here. These apparently are lighting fixtures. That's what one of the workers here told me that is a part of this electric company that's here on U.S.-70.

Up in front of us here, that's the office of the building. Beyond that is where all the rescue crews are working right now. It's actually incredible to see them out there.

The fire chief is there with a whiteboard. He's on the radio talking to people that are in different areas of Kingston Springs right now, trying to figure out where there's damage, who needs some rescues, and who needs help at this point.

WHITFIELD: Wow, also hard to believe. Thank you so much WSNV's Ryan Breslin there in Kingston Springs, Tennessee.

And after a break, we continue our coverage of these deadly tornadoes. President Biden has been briefed and is taking action to help people in these storms zones. We'll have the latest right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:26:28]

WHITFIELD: We're continuing to follow our "BREAKING NEWS". Deadly storms cutting a path of destruction across six states. Dozens of people have lost their lives.

A short time ago, President Biden was briefed on the situation and called the storm an unimaginable tragedy.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is in Wilmington, Delaware, where the president is spending the weekend. So, what kind of reaction and even promise are we getting from the White House?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER (on camera): Well, right now, Fred, the focus is on really getting the resources and money from the federal government onto the ground there in Kentucky and those other states that are affected by the storm.

We just got a statement from the White House that said the president had directed that federal resources be searched immediately to these locations where there is the greatest need to alleviate suffering.

And he made that directive in a morning briefing from here in Wilmington today. He is traveling here for the weekend. He's here with his Chief of Staff Ron Klain, also the deputy homeland security advisor is here with him.

In that briefing, we're told the FEMA administrator, the homeland security adviser, the deputy chief of staff, and the director of intergovernmental affairs, all updated the president on these efforts underway.

The FEMA director had some interesting things in this briefing, she described the severe consequences that she had heard on the ground. Earlier, she had spoken to the governor of Kentucky to sort of get an update of where things stood.

She also updated the president on the deployment of FEMA emergency response personnel, water, and other needed commodities. So, you're starting to see this major effort being stood up from the White House and FEMA to start assisting the efforts on the ground there. That's sort of the focus for the president right now is these logistical issues.

But eventually, I think you will see him turn, of course, to this role that he has played numerous times so far in his presidency of consoler in chief, of sort of preparing the nation, as it quickly becomes clear that this is turning into really a serious tragedy, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and this really is still the beginning stages. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.

In fact, the potential for more severe weather continues as the storms move east. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking this dangerous system from the CNN Weather Center. Allison, tell us more.

CHINCHAR: Yes, so I do want to emphasize that the storm system that we have now has weakened, considerably compared to where it was overnight last night. But it's not done entirely, we do still have the potential for some isolated tornadoes, damaging winds, and hail, basically stretching from Maryland all the way back down through Eastern Louisiana.

The target points really are going to be this yellow-shaded area here. So, this includes places like Asheville, North Carolina, Atlanta, stretching down through Montgomery, all of those even Charlotte, North Carolina, still looking at the potential for some of those strong to severe thunderstorms to move through as we go through the afternoon hours.

Here is a look at that line. Again, you still have a couple of severe thunderstorm warnings right now. We've got one in Ohio. We briefly had a tornado warning in Alabama less than an hour ago.

So, these are going to continue to pop up throughout the afternoon as we continue to see this storm system slide off to the east. But the good news is by the time we get to overnight tonight, we will finally see an end to this system. Allowing any areas that have trees down, damage from tornadoes, whatever it may be, the opportunity to go and clean up afterwards. And there's likely going to be a lot of cleanup because this was a very large outbreak.

Over 30 tornado reports, over 200 severe wind reports and about 20 large hail reports in all just in the last 24 hours. Over 100 total tornado warnings were issued.

[12:30:02]

That's the highest ever for a December day, but it's this particular area right here that ended up producing some of the more interesting tracks in terms of how long lived and how long tracking these two tornadoes potentially were. Both of these white lines indicate tornado warnings and tornado reports that occurred along them, potentially signifying that we could have had tornadoes on the ground for over 200 miles that's several hours long.

Keep in mind the average tornado was on the ground for less than 10 minutes and tracks less than 10 miles. So again, this is quite a stark difference between average tornadoes versus what we've seen in the last 24 hours. It's also likely a very big component and why the death toll from this particular outbreak is likely to be on the high side.

Now the highest ever U.S. death tornado day was 314 fatalities. That was from the super outbreak and April 27th, 2011. But based off the numbers, Fred, that we've been hearing out of Kentucky from the governor himself this particular outbreak may end up breaking into the top 10 deadliest tornado days in U.S. history.

WHITFIELD: So terribly sad. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much for that. And we'll continue to follow this breaking news much more head on the damage and devastation left behind by these tornadoes stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:35:55]

WHITFIELD: All right, more on this breaking news, we can now report at least 79 people across five states have died in the series of tornadoes that ripped through the Midwest and Southeast United States overnight, according to state and local officials. We'll continue to update you as we get more information.

And we'll get back to our coverage of the storm in a moment. But right now we want to focus on some politics and the proposed Build Back Better proposal. Senate Democrats are aiming to pass President Biden's Build Back Better bill before Christmas. And over months of negotiations, one of the main sticking points has been paid family leave. And throughout our hours today, we're going to be talking through these proposals with lawmakers and real people that could be impacted.

So let's bring in Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence of Michigan. She's the co-chair of the congressional women's caucus. Congresswoman Lawrence, so good to see you. So let's talk about --

REP. BRENDA LAWRENCE (D-MI): So good to see you Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. And let's talk about the road ahead now. Republicans are, you know, criticizing these revised scores from the Congressional Budget Office to say this Build Back Better bill isn't truly paid for to the extent that Democrats say it is. What's your response?

LAWRENCE: So right now, Fredricka, we are confronted with over 3 million women who have left the workforce. And what do you hear across the country, we don't have enough workers. Well, the reality from COVID and all the other challenges that are faced that families and especially women are having to make that decision, do I stay home with my sick child with my aging parents to be a caregiver, and I can't afford to pay for someone to come in my house, I don't have an option. And the reality is that the United States is one of just six countries, six without universal pay leave.

This is not a perk. This is about someone sitting now with their hands open. We have to take care of our families and our children. And the dynamics of that is that it's usually women. And then you add on top of that, that usually the caregiver that you call when you can afford it is predominantly women.

And so when we talk about the reality of our economy, politically, who are we as a country, and morally paid family leave is something that is the right thing for our economy, and for our country.

WHITFIELD: So am I hearing you say that there are different ways in which to gauge affordability?

LAWRENCE: Yes. So when you look at the savings of when, so let's talk about more than 65 million women who provide unpaid care, they're sitting at home not getting any financial resources. They're just doing what they have to do out of love for their family. And add to that the -- is valued at $416 billion if we're paying minimum wage. Think about these individuals who are in the workplace, in the economy. Think about the supply chain crisis that we're having now is because people are not at work.

Women contribute at every level of our economy. But when they are forced disproportionately to choose between working and being a caregiver to their families and homes, and even those who are caregivers being paid less than minimum wage, that there are now decisions that are being made across this country that's having a direct negative impact on our economy.

If we can get our workforce back to humming and working full scale it's going to reap benefits to our bottom line, it's going to address things like what we're looking at, where we have higher costs, fewer resources that we're looking at. And when we talk about the economy, this is a major contributor to increasing our economy and bringing our economy back to the strength we need.

[12:40:29]

WHITFIELD: Congresswoman, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, you know, has called paid family leave one of the most important parts of this legislation, but it's already, it has been dropped from a draft of the bill, you know, once before. Is it your feeling that it could happen again?

LAWRENCE: We know that no United States state in this union is doing well when it comes to care priorities. And that includes Senator Manchin of West Virginia, who received an F and a recent scoreboard on the care economy by the century foundation. So let's be real about this.

Dropping this when this is one of the major issues that's having an impact on families in America and when we talk about the issue of being able to keep my family intact, where a family member can go to work where we can, if they're at home and have to be at home. COVID showed us so many people had to take off from work, because they were exposed or they were sick with COVID add to everything else that goes with just living.

And now we have an opportunity for the Senate to step up. I can't predict the Senate. I wish I could. I would be a very wealthy woman now if I could. But the reality is, the Senate must step up on this. And we in a Democratic women's caucus went from the ground up.

We were talking to organizations, the caregivers, the workers of families, and to bring their voices to the spotlight and magnify that was, like mothering with Justice is a group that I work with locally that fight for the rights of the caregivers, and we fought for minimum wage for caregivers in America. So we have to have this groundswell that hopefully the Senate will not turn a deaf ear to.

WHITFIELD: And in fact, we're about to talk to somebody with a Mothering Justice. And let me ask you real quick before we go, the White House goal was to have at least a vote, of course, they want it past Build Back Better by Christmas. Do you think a vote is going to happen by Christmas?

LAWRENCE: Fredricka 2021 has been a roller coaster. I know the President is working on that. I have a lot of faith in the President. We got the infrastructure bill through. We got the Bill Back Better through the House. I'm counting on him. And I'm counting on the leadership of the Senate. But I am not a betting woman.

WHITFIELD: All right. Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, thank you so much. Have a great holiday season. I know you got a lot of work to do. But nonetheless --

LAWRENCE: Yes. Every American impacted by this storm to know that we hear you, we see you, and we're going to be there for you in Congress and with the President. And I'm praying for all the families affected by the storm.

WHITFIELD: So many communities across six states are devastated. All right, thank you so much, Congresswoman. Appreciate it.

LAWRENCE: Thank you. Happy holidays.

WHITFIELD: Thanks to you.

And again, now let's talk about this organization. And Aisha Wells is a part of it. She is a paid leave organizer for Mothering Justice and one of Congresswoman Lawrence's constituents. It's so good to see you.

AISHA WELLS, PAID LEAVE ORGANIZER, MOTHERING JUSTICE: Thank you. Thank you for having me to be here. I'm happy to be here today.

WHITFIELD: So Aisha you heard from your Congresswoman, what's your message to lawmakers in terms of why paid family leave should be in this bill?

WELLS: Yes. And thank you for asking me that. So as Brenda Lawrence, Representative Brenda Lawrence already saying, we, Mothering Justice is a policy organization and we advocate for moms of color. The reason why Build Back Better needs to pass is because I'm a mom of a disabled child. I have a 15-year-old who has multiple disabilities, he has hydrocephalus. He has epilepsy. He has cerebral palsy. He has hearing loss and vision loss and he's severely multiple impaired.

And so what that would mean for a lot of mothers is that just like I have realized we don't have to choose anymore about whether or not we're taking care of our children, or we're at work. So I think that the Senate needs to pass it now. We to go into the holiday season feeling at ease knowing very soon that we'll have policies that are for families and for families that are working every single day.

[12:45:10]

WHITFIELD: So while the measures passed in the House, you know, next up the Senate. Are you perplexed? Or do you feel as though there are senators who don't understand your plight? And if they did understand the plight of yours, and so many others, they might look at this bill differently?

WELLS: I think that they should. Right now, only 20 percent of Americans have access to paid leave. That means the other 80 percent does not. Those are the people who are caring for your children, who are making sure we are well. And so I hope that our senators realize that, that we need paid family leave. And then it was just recent polling that came out over the past couple of months, that including West Virginia that paid leave is one of the most popular provisions in the Build Back Better package.

WHITFIELD: And perhaps you can paint a picture for your experience your family's experience, particularly with your 15 year old, what are the choices that you have to make without paid family leave.

WELLS: So before Mothering Justice, I'm very blessed and very grateful to be at an organization like Mothering Injustice that allows for me to not skip a beat when I have to take Alex to multiple doctors' appointments every week.

But what I do know before I got to Mothering Justice is that I missed hundreds and thousands of dollars out of my paycheck over the years of not having paid family which catapults you back into poverty. The average American is only a few, like one or two devastations away if that before your counterparts back into poverty.

And so not only are you at the hospital, which your child or your caring for yourself, and hoping that you get well soon, you are also thinking about your bills, you're thinking about having a roof over your head, you're thinking about whether or not you're going to be able to put food on your table. And we, we're better than that in America.

And so we should not be tasking people with that and that type of heartache and that type of pressure of not knowing that if I've care for myself or my child or my loved one that I won't be able to pay my bills when I leave this hospital. And so that is not something that we should continue to task people with. And we have the ability to do this right now. We just need to do it.

WHITFIELD: Yes, you're a tremendous fighter for you your family, your 15-year-old son and for so many others. Aisha Wells thank you so much, a paid leave organizer for Mothering Justice.

WELLS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Coming up next our coverage of the widespread damage and devastation after dozens of tornadoes ripped through six states. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:52:51]

WHITFIELD: All right, we're continuing to follow our breaking news. A search and rescue efforts are ongoing in Edwardsville, Illinois, where an Amazon warehouse partially collapsed overnight in the severe weather. The police chief confirms at least two individuals dead. A spokesperson for Amazon calls a situation a devastating tragedy. CNN's affiliate in the region has the latest.

RHYAN HENSON, KSDK REPORTER: Well, it's a search and rescue mission here as well. And I'll step out of the way to give folks a better idea what exactly they're looking -- working with out here. So that's the Amazon facility. They say that wall right there, that's no more, a little bit about the length of a football field and the winds ripped off the roof here. It's still pretty windy right now.

But the storms have since moved on out of our area. We're about 20 miles outside of St. Louis, Missouri here. So as you kind of take a closer look, we know there have been at least two confirmed dead here overnight as the search and rescue efforts continue. Thirty people were taken away and rescued safely and they're back with loved ones right now. One person was injured pretty badly.

They were flown to an area hospital in St. Louis to get further treatment. So that's still very much an active situation, active scene right here. And we know this facility loads up these Amazon trucks so they can be out delivered to folks that make their deliveries who ordered, you know, their items here. So there's not too much product inside.

That's according to one worker that we've already spoken with this morning. But there were people inside the building. And search and rescue crews are still searching for folks in that building. We spoke with first responders who say that this could be an effort that'll last several days.

The Edwardsville mayor of Edwards, Illinois says, you know, the mayor or the governor of Illinois already reached out to them offering state support. The mayor says thoughts and prayers as a search efforts continues to reunite loved ones. I'll send it back to the studio to you guys.

WHITFIELD: Rhyan Henson, thank you so much for that update.

All right after the break, we'll have so much more in the deadly storms that left a path of destruction across six states. But first for many this time of year is about giving back. But the 15th annual CNN Heroes All-Star tribute salutes 10 extraordinary people who put others first all year long. The star-studded gala airs live this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[12:55:07]

JENIFER COLPAS, CEO, TIERRA GRATA: There was no drinkable water, something inside me started saying you need to do something about it.

DR. ALA STANFORD, FOUNDER, BLACK DOCTORS COVID-19 CONSORTIUM: I could not allow one additional life to be lost. LYNDA DOUGHTY, EXECUTIVE FOUNDING DIRECTOR, MARINE MAMMALS OF MAINE: I feel this responsibility to help these animals. This is what I was put on this earth to do.

SHIRLEY RAINES, FOUNDER, BEAUTY 2 THE STREETZ: They started calling me a makeup lady. I love them because I am their comb.

ZANNAH MUSTAPHA, DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER, FUTURE PROWESS ISLAMIC FOUNDATION: What keeps me going is, the resilience of these children.

HECTOR GUADALUPE, FOUNDER, A SECOND U FOUNDATION: We want to give you your second chance at life. It provides you a way to dream.

MICHELE NEFF HERNANDEZ, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, SOARING SPIRITS: We help people live through something they did not think that they would survive.

DR. PATRICIA GORDON, FOUNDING DIRECTOR, CURE CERVICAL CANCER: I'm just doing the job that I'm supposed to do. I think I'm the luckiest doctor that ever lived.

DAVID FLINK, CO-FOUNDER, EYE TO EYE: I want them to know that their brains are beautiful. You have to love each other across our difference.

MADE JANUR YASA, FOUNDER, PLASTIC EXCHANGE: There is no small grid, if you believe you will succeed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Join Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa alive as they named the 2021 Hero of the Year.

KELLY RIPA, CNN HOST: Welcome to the CNN Heroes family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 15th Annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute, Sunday at 8:00 Eastern.

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WHITFIELD: It is going to be a great show. You don't want to miss it. So gather up the family, grab your tissues, and get ready to be inspired.

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