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More Than 80 Feared Dead After Destructive Tornadoes Rip Through Eight States; Senate Dems Working Hard To Pass Build Back Better By Christmas; Roe v. Wade At Stake As Supreme Court Revisits Abortion Laws. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired December 12, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:23]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday.

I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

We begin with the desperate search to find survivors after a swarm of powerful tornadoes ripped through eight states. Entire towns leveled in the blink of an eye as the storms swept through Friday night.

Officials say, one single tornado carved a path of destruction more than 200 miles long. They fear more than 80 people have been killed. Search-and-rescue teams are working around the clock to look for survivors who may be trapped under mountains of debris.

The heads of Homeland Security and FEMA are in the region today bringing with them much-needed federal resources.

Mayfield, Kentucky is seeing some of the worst of the damage. Few buildings left standing in the town of roughly 10,000. Rescuers sifting through a collapsed candle factory where more than 100 people were working when that tornado came through and so far only 40 people have been rescued from that wreckage.

And new video shows what's left of an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois. At least six people died when the building collapsed during a violent tornado there.

Many more are feared dead in Dawson Springs, Kentucky -- a town of just 2,700 people. The governor saying this morning the devastation is something his state has never seen before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): It's going to take us time. I mean, you think you go door to door to check on people to see if they are ok. There are no doors. The question is, is somebody in the rubble of thousands upon thousands of structures? I mean, it is -- it is devastating.

CNN's Pamela Brown is anchoring our coverage on the ground there in Mayfield, Kentucky. Pamela, what is the situation like today? PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: It's hard to convey, Fredericka, just how

widespread the destruction is. As the governor said earlier today there is no lens wide enough to show just the magnitude of the destruction here in Mayfield, Kentucky.

The entire town is wiped out. We've seen people just driving their cars through the main street here just in shock and awe looking at the devastation. But I will say this is a community that has a lot of spirit, a lot of pride. It's a special community.

And as you can see or hear behind me, there are already cranes, crews hard at work clearing up the debris, moving the debris trying to rebuild after this devastating historic tornado came through the town of Mayfield.

But it certainly is going to be a long road for recovery, but the people here are not deterred. They are determined to move forward. This as search and rescue teams continue to try to find survivors.

And we have a team of reporters covering the devastation across the region.

Let's go first to CNN's Brynn Gingras also here in Mayfield. Brynn, what are you hearing from people here?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pam. You know, we spent the entire morning and afternoon talking to people and I think you said a good word there, shock. People keep telling us it's like the hours just keep going by but nothing has changed. They just are in disbelief of what their town, what they're community looks like now.

And here's a perfect example. I want to take a minute just to imagine these cement blocks being taken out by a storm. How heavy these are. And look at -- it's filled with cement blocks. This is just one example. And as you said, Pam, we are seeing this all across this community.

As far as that candle factory we talked to a woman who works the day shift at that candle factory. She wasn't there during the storm, but she hasn't gotten any updates about her colleagues, her friends that were inside working when that storm rolled through.

She was incredibly emotional talking to us about just waiting, wanting to get some answers. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANIA, WORKS AT THE MAYFIELD, KY CANDLE FACTORY: (INAUDIBLE) It's not ok. Now them people can't take food to their table. What are they going to do? What if some of them people who are still down there?

You know, their kids are still wondering what's going on. I couldn't imagine what these people are going through and even though I was here I couldn't imagine what they are going through, the people under there. It's -- it's -- we've got to the have more help. There's got to be more people in there. If I could do something, if they would let me down there, I would be digging right now until day break. I would be digging right now if I could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:04:56]

GINGRAS: And you can hear, you could see the desperation in her voice as she again, just waits word to hear about some of her friends that she has faith but doesn't believe are going to make it out of there alive.

One person that she knows passed away is her boyfriend's father. He's confirmed to us, Robert Daniel, 47 years old. He was working for the very first time, Pam, on the night shift as a work release program at the candle factory.

The day before -- I'm sorry -- earlier that day he dropped off a Christmas present to his son, the very first Christmas present he was handing out. We talked to his son about his dad who he just lost in that factory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZACHERY DANIEL, DAD WAS KILLED IN THE MAYFIELD, KY CANDLE FACTORY: My and my cousin and our supervisors were looking around for people, you know. There was no way that you could find people. It was bad. It was that bad.

You know, a couple hours, like soon as I left or I went to my mom's, and my mom got a phone call and said something about my dad, you know. I was like it can't be true. (INAUDIBLE) But my phone kept ringing, and my uncle clarified, you know, telling me it was him. They found him in a body bag.

I'll try to be strong for my brother and sister, but I'm hurting for real. I mean he's a good dad. He loved his job for real. He loved it, and he loved his kids and grandkids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: It is just heartbreaking to see these people as minutes and hours go by, just honestly don't know what to do, what comes next.

I will say though, Pam, we've also met a lot of people who have had some incredibly heroic stories of survival through the storm. And we're going to bring one of those people to you in the next hour.

But we're seeing it all. We're seeing people come here and help out, volunteer from different states. Just to try to find survivors. Everyone is pitching in to try to help this community, Pam.

BROWN: Yes. The emotions still just so raw. The shock so real as this community tries to absorb what happened here in the wake and the wrath of nature that came through here.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is in Edwardsville, Illinois, the site of that Amazon warehouse collapse.

Polo, what are you seeing there today?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Pamela, with all hopes of any survivors extinguished, that was the announcement from authorities yesterday, the main focus now is certainly on the cleanup and the recovery here as you could see what remains there of that warehouse that you just mentioned a little a while ago.

Authorities in fact, earlier today with the Edwardsville Police Department announcing that they no longer have any active missing persons cases when it comes to this particular location. And also an Amazon spokesperson, who I've had an opportunity to speak to just a few minutes ago certainly echoing that they're working lock in step with authorities right now.

So at this point there's no reason to believe that any individuals that may have been lost when that EF-3 tornado swept through the region could still be there. At this point they are confident that all have been recovered.

So in the meantime, though, there are still some of those questions that di remain from yesterday that authorities, mainly an Amazon spokesperson addressed earlier today in a conversation with one affiliate, of course, one of the big questions was what kind of protocols are in place and what took place on Friday night as that tornado basically came down and destroyed a portion of the building that you see behind me. This is how they -- this is the picture that they painted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY NANTEL, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL MEDIA RELATIONS FOR AMAZON: Our managers were on the loudspeakers telling people to get to the shelter in place are. They were also being guided by other managers and other employees who were trying to get everybody to that safe location. We had people in two different sheltering areas.

Everyone of our facilities has a designated -- or designated shelter in place zones or zone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Sadly however, six people working for them dead. In fact authorities releasing their identities earlier today. The victims' ages ranging from 26 to 62 years old.

Earlier today, I had an opportunity to actually speak to the mother of Clayton Cope, who's a 29-year-old, who's among the dead, certainly emotional in her conversation with me describing her son as a remarkable, incredible human being who worked in maintenance at this facility. So it really just goes to what we've seen in this part of the country, Pamela. Yes, the damage is certainly not widespread compared to what you're seeing there. You could see it's isolated there but nonetheless the emotions that so many families are feeling here just as raw and just as unbearable.

BROWN: All right. Polo Sandoval thank you so much.

And CNN'S Ed Lavandera is in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, a town decimated by the storms. Ed, I know we've heard the governor talk about his family ties there in Dawson Springs. He is actually just pulling up where I am now in Mayfield to survey the damage. He'll be holding a press conference here soon.

But tell us what you're seeing there in Dawson Springs.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is another day of search- and-rescue operations across Dawson Springs. And you can see the landscape that crews are having to navigate here.

[14:09:47]

LAVANDERA: And the force of this storm, Pamela, is simply breathtaking. You know, you walk up the front steps of a porch. You expect to see a home here and everything just blown way. And this is what we're seeing across the area.

Not just homes that have collapsed, simply blown away, splintered and thrown far distances. And we're here in this neighborhood which is one of the hardest hit areas, it's almost like a hilltop view of this devastation.

You can see how far the damage extends through here. We spoke with the emergency management director here in Hopkins County who says that the tornado was on the ground here from the county line in the west to the county line in the east.

And that the path of destruction is about a half mile wide in most places. They estimate that two-thirds of the city of Dawson Springs has been decimated by storm damage here. And this morning we continue to see search and rescue dogs comb through the wreckage looking for any -- for people.

We are told that there are still dozens of people on the missing list. The hope is that it's a communications problem, that people are still having a hard time connecting with loved ones, that they've left town to go stay somewhere else. And that they're -- but they are still combing through that and they continue to search through the rubble here and the debris.

And you can still see, this is what we're seeing out here in the distance, you know, people literally walking through picking up whatever little piece they can to figure out what they can find and what they can salvage here at this point, Pamela.

BROWN: Ed Lavandera, Polo Sandoval and Brynn Gingras, thank you so much.

And as the full scope of this tragedy unfolds, help is pouring in from all parts of the country. Mayfield Consumer Products who operates the candle factory decimated by the tornado put up a Web site to receive donations and 100 percent of those donations will be given to victim relief. The CEO of the family-owned company spoke with CNN this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TROY PROPES, CEO, MAYFIELD CONSUMER PRODUCTS: You know, we have the tornado drills and the tornado protocols that -- that were enacted, fortunately, on -- you know, we've heard the reports from the people that they were taken to the locations that were designated in our factory.

You know with a tornado that happened so fast, and as you can see here, you don't know where a tornado is a going to hit. You know which position to be in or what. So all you can do is the best you can at the time. You know you sure wouldn't want those people leaving and then being in the wrong place.

You know, our factory was built as a manufacturing facility, and the concrete walls and the steel frame and the structure you would have -- you would have thought it could have been one of the safest places, but ironically this -- as you can see with this devastation, there wasn't anything safe about this storm.

Look in, hindsight, I wish we would have all done something different. In hindsight, I wish this whole community would have gone to Paducah. You know, I think hindsight is always an incredible lens to look through, but I think everybody made the best and the right decisions with the information that they had.

Our hearts are broken for these families. Our hearts are broken for this community. And I won't lie to you. It's been hard not to get emotional every minute of every day of every second that you're here and -- and you know, we also need strength at this time so I do fight back the emotions as hard as I can and we are -- it's -- it's personal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Rescue workers still there at the site looking for survivors. But as we heard the governor say, Fredericka, it would be a miracle if they found anyone alive at this point. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. And Pamela, you know, I'm seeing the working machinery behind you. We hear the beeps. I mean talk to us about this delicate lifting of debris yet at the same time continuing to search for the missing.

BROWN: Right. It's really incredible, too, because if you lock around and just see so much of the devastation. It can be overwhelming to think where do you even start? And how do you go about this so soon after this tornado when there could be people trapped inside these buildings still and removing the debris and so forth.

So they are clearly taking great care, Fredericka to go through as they move the rubble back trying to create a safe situation for the community here but also the search-and-rescue teams trying to do their work and going through the rubble and to pull out anyone that they can.

WHITFIELD: Yes, very delicate balance.

All right. Pamela Brown, we'll check back with you. Thank you so much.

And of course, we know a lot of you at home want to do something to help the victims of this tragedy. The CNN Impact Your World site has verified ways to do just that and will be updated as more information on resources becomes available. You can go there right now.

Visit CNN.com/impact to learn more about how you might be able to help.

[14:14:51]

WHITFIELD: We have so much more straight ahead in the CNN Newsroom right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We'll get back to our tornado coverage in a moment. But right now Senate Democrats say they have every intention of passing President Biden's Build Back Better Bill by Christmas.

Senator Amy Klobuchar making it very clear this morning on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): We have to get this done, Jake. and Senator Manchin is still at the negotiating table. There is no doubt about that.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Is it going to pass by Christmas?

KLOBUCHAR: I'm all in on getting it done by Christmas. And we'll do everything to get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier of California joining us now. Do you share that optimism?

REP. JACKIE SPEIER (D-CA): I don't know that I share that optimism, but I know that we have to get this done for the American families to make it in the next year.

[14:19:47]

SPEIER: We have got to make sure the Build Back Better is passed because we have economists, over 50 them, who now say this is the hedge against inflation -- being able to reduce the actual cost of prescription drugs, of hearing aids, of making sure that families can have child care that's going to not take more than 7 percent of their income.

Universal pre-k will be available to all children. All of that is going to save families throughout the country a lot of money.

WHITFIELD: Do you worry that that bill will be unrecognizable to you, that it will undergo a lot of changes before it could possibly get passed or at least voted on before Christmas?

SPEIER: Well, Senator Manchin has always said that he was willing to look at about $1.5 trillion, so if you look at what's in the bill, the combination of the elements that are going to allow women to get back into the workforce, the child care, the pre-k and if you look at what's in there also in terms of climate resilience. That's about $1.5 trillion. So I'm pretty confident that the key components will be retained.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Let me ask you about another contentious issue. Officials in your state say they plan to make California a sanctuary for abortion rights if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade.

And you got really personal with America when you spoke about your own abortion on the House floor. You talked about it ten years ago, and I want to play that for our viewers right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPEIER: You know, I had really planned to speak about something else, but the gentleman from New Jersey has just put my stomach in knots. Because I'm one of those women he spoke about just now. I had a procedure at 17 weeks pregnant with a child that had moved from the vagina into the cervix. And that procedure that you just talk about was a procedure that I endured.

I lost a baby, but for you to stand on this floor and to suggest, as you have that somehow this is a procedure that is either welcomed or done cavalierly, or done without any thought is preposterous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So that was ten years ago, and here we are now listening to efforts to disregard a variety of circumstances, among them just like yours.

I mean is this nation, in your view, going backwards?

SPEIER: No question. Fredericka, I am deeply troubled by the politicization of the Supreme Court to the level that they would allow the Texas law to be retained and know full well that it was unconstitutional. And that it was basically giving license to bounty hunters, vigilantes around the country to sue in Texas.

Now, what we have in California now, not only will we begin a sanctuary for women to be able to pursue the freedom to make a decision about whether or not to have a child is something that is personal and is one that should be made in conjunction with your family and your physician.

So we will be a sanctuary in California. But the governor has gone even further and said if you're going to allow this, Supreme Court, we're going to pass a law in California. It's going to allow people to file lawsuits against anyone who distributes or manufactures assault weapons and brings them into California.

So you could see how this is a very slippery slope. And the Supreme Court has done a great injustice to the American people and to the constitution by taking the decision that it has made in that particular case in Texas.

WHITFIELD: So what is your message to women outside of California, you know, who are waiting to hear what becomes of abortion rights across the country but particularly in their states.

SPEIER: My message to women is that we are there for you. That we will have your backs. That if you are the victim of any kind of rape or incest, or if you have become pregnant and it was unintended, that you will have the ability to come to California.

And we will take care of you. We will provide for you and you will not have the financial implications of having to make that trip.

[14:24:55]

SPEIER: This is really -- it goes to the core values that we have as Americans. Church and state are separate. And we have a lot that's been on the books for over 50 years that says this is a right of privacy. This is a right of individual privacy.

And for the court now to say we can get into your uterus is totally unacceptable. And of course, there's no discussion about the impregnator and what their responsibility is in all of that.

So I have ideas on what I'm going to do next year in terms of introducing legislation to create some responsibility for those who impregnate women who are then forced to have a child.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder if I could ask you too to be introspective on your political life as you have announced that you will not be seeking reelection.

And I mean you have been at this for a really long time in the California state legislature, a survivor of gunshot wounds in the 70s and Jonestown as a member of a U.S. Investigative team and then becoming a member of Congress in 2008.

I mean, you have been in the trenches, you have been on the front lines of so much of leadership, of lawmaking. And so now I'm wondering why do you feel like this is the time in which so much rancor and divisiveness that you feel that your wealth of experience would no longer be an asset and that you would no longer, you know, pursue a seat in Congress.

SPEIER: Well, Fredricka, I have been in public life for 39 years now. And you know, it was a decision I made in conjunction with my husband who basically sat me down and said, you know, I've been a weekend wife for 20 years, and he wants more time.

And we're at a point in our lives when he is retired and we want to smell some of the roses. It doesn't mean I won't be involved. It doesn't mean I'm going to allow my voice not to be heard. I feel passionately about these issue and I intend to be continue to be engaged in the public square. But just differently than I have in the past.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And what are some of the ways in which you'll be able to do that, particularly if there is continued frustration that you haven't seen more progress on gun laws, or in the protections of women's rights including that of abortion? How do you see your role is translating into something else?

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: And still maintaining that fight.

SPEIER: So I think that it's going to be important to be able to communicate in a public fashion. And I don't know exactly how that's going to come to be but I'll have a year or two to plan and to make those adjustments in my life.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, I know we'll talk more before you actually make that exit but I'm glad to have this opportunity to talk to you about all these things on the table right now.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier, appreciate it. And have a great holiday.

SPEIER: Thank you, Fredricka. Happy holidays to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, we're starting to get a clear look at the full force and the path of the string of tornadoes that devastated multiple states and where storms may be heading next. We'll bring you the latest forecast straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:32:51]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. We're beginning to get a clearer picture of the full fury from those devastating tornadoes that struck the central U.S. Officials fear more than 80 people have been killed. The National Weather Service now confirms at least four, four powerful EF-3 tornadoes hit in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.

CNN meteorologist Tom Sater is here with more.

Tom, I mean, this is quite extraordinary, and I know we're still every day, every moment learning more about this track and how many tornadoes. TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: In fact, Fredricka, just moments ago we

now have word that there are five EF-3 confirmations.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

SATER: So that doesn't mean they stay an EF-3. The survey takes weeks actually to get the official report. Some of these can go to EF-4 or higher. I mean, when you look at the damage, and that's what they're looking at, that blunt force, and of course what the building materials were like.

I want to point out all of these red boxes. These are all tornado warnings that were issued by the National Weather Service, over 100 of them, so just like search-and-rescue teams have crews coming in from around the region and around the country, the National Weather Service is getting the best of the best from around the region to get survey crews to help them. Because it's not just the bigger ones. There are a lot of smaller tornadoes.

But when you look at these white lines, they're looking at whether a super cell thunderstorm hopped and skipped and dropped tornadoes in a few locations or did they actually drop a tornado that stayed on the ground for over 200 miles. And that's what we're thinking.

Now, preliminary reports, Mayfield. We need to get this surveying information because it's critical when it comes to the modeling and giving warnings. Mayfield had 20-minute warning. That's almost double what you typically have.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SATER: EF-3 there, EF-3, Bowling Green as well. Defiance EF-3. Edwardsville, this one came very close, Defiance to moving in to St. Charles, St. Peters, or even downtown St. Louis. So again the crews are scavenging the entire region just as we hope for some miracles to happen with the search and rescue teams. A lot going on and we'll continue to keep you updated.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's still so hard to believe. All right, thank you so much. Tom Sater, appreciate that.

All right, still ahead, pushing President Biden's Build Back Better plan. We talk with two key figures trying to help make sure the help included in that bill gets to where people need it most.

[14:35:07]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. Senate Democrats are scrambling to get President Biden's Build Back Better agenda passed before Christmas. Joining me right now is Bishop Leon William Barber, co- chair of the Poor People's Campaign, president of Repairers of the Breach and author of "We are Called to be a Movement." Welcome.

And Jeffrey Sachs is an economist and professor at Columbia University and the director of the Center for Sustainable Development.

[14:40:03]

He's also president of the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network and author of "Building the New American Economy."

Welcome to you as well. Phew, credentials, you both have. All right, additionally you are both supporters of the Poor People's Rally which is set to take place in Washington tomorrow.

Bishop Barber, you first. You know, as you prepare for tomorrow's rally, what is the biggest need that you're seeing on the ground, and how do you see this Build Back Better plan helping?

BISHOP WILLIAM BARBER, CO-CHAIR, POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN: Well, you know, people are just sick and tired really of this foolishness and the way in which we are just going after people so we were called the Poor People's Campaign all over the country saying we ought to do a mass march on Monday, so we got 33 (INAUDIBLE) and 39 organizations, d saying get it done in '21. It's time to pass the Build Back Better plan and voting rights.

We should have never separated the two. We should have always said the Build Back Better, the voting rights, the infrastructure, it's ending the filibuster as one because it's what's going to take to really save our democracy, but more importantly people are hurting. This is what I don't think people understand. When you don't pass the Build Back Better plan, and it's not even everything we need, people are hurting.

Children, families, think of 39 million families, 61 million children, will be hurt if we don't continue this child tax credit and that's why in West Virginia they are actually starting from Manchin's office in Martinsburg and over 140 cars in a caravan led by poor people to say it's time to do right by the people who give so much in this country, poor and low people, everyday people, and get it done in '21.

WHITFIELD: And Professor Sachs, while it seems like there is large agreement that yes, people are hurting. We also know that this Build Back Better bill is likely to get edited quite a bit before there even is a vote, but then what's your concern about, you know, among the most important safety net provisions that need to stay in the plan?

JEFFREY SACHS, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: This is so basic, you know. What's talked about in this plan, for instance, pre-K, child care, basic health for hearing and so on is so basic. Over other peer country of ours whether it's Canada or Britain or France or Germany, they all have this. This is nothing special.

This is the most basic needs, but what's happening in the Senate is that rich people are protecting rich people. It's called plutocracy. And so you have rich people like Senator Manchin, he represents an impoverished state but he himself is personally rich. He's an owner of two big companies. He's got millions of dollars of personal wealth, but even more than that, he's got his campaign funders saying to him we don't want to pay any more tax, the richest people in this country. And so that's what this battle is about. To rich people in America pay

a little bit of their unbelievable wealth so that poorer people can have their kids in pre-K, so that they can raise their children, so that people can get hearing aids. It's just so basic as this.

WHITFIELD: So, Professor Sachs, you're accusing Manchin and others who are not proponents of the Build Back Better plan intact as having a real willingness or eagerness to ignore or overlook those who are in great need?

SACHS: Well, this is the game of America, I'm sorry to say it. But Congress is filled with wealthy people, and behind them are even wealthier people who are putting in billions of dollars of campaign contributions so that the Congress votes against taxes on corporations and rich people. It's as simple as that, and what has held back this bill is not only Manchin but also Senator Sinema, said, oh, we don't want to raise corporate taxes. Oh, my god.

The richest people in this country, they're protecting, and then they go and turn back, oh, sorry, we can't afford pre-K in this country, we can't afford to help you with the hearing aid, oh, dental, that's completely out. Paid leave, no, how can we afford it? Every other rich country affords this easily because they actually tax rich people. But in this country the whole game is don't tax the richest people.

There was a proposal for a billionaire's tax, where did that go? Well, some billionaires said we don't like that tax. Elon Musk who has almost $300 billion of personal wealth tweeted, I don't like that very much. Come on. What is it and then -- and then -- and Manchin turns around and says to the poorest people of the poorest state in the United States that he is supposed to represent but does not, he says, oh, I'm so sorry, we can't afford child care. This is not affordable in America after he is the one that stopped the taxes on the rich.

WHITFIELD: So I wonder --

SACHS: It's a game. It's a game.

WHITFIELD: So, Bishop Barber, you issued similar complaints but took it on a different level in a different way. I mean, your group, the Poor People's Campaign, protested outside the offices of Senators Manchin and Senator Krysten Sinema over the opposition to this plan. Have you received any reaction from them? And if you feel like they didn't hear your message while protesting outside, what is your message to them?

BARBER: Well, we're not going to quit. You know, the first time we put almost 1,000 people on Manchin's doorstep over the voting rights thing, the next two days he came up with a compromise. What we know from history you don't win these battles without agitation, mobilization, litigation, legislation, being in the suites, in the streets and in the courts, but we also are trying to re-shift this small narrative.

We're talking about these leaders like Manchin and Sinema hurting 140 million people in this country are poor or no wealth. The people who gave -- have given the most during COVID. We're talking about over 50 percent of our children, over 43 percent of adults in this country. We're talking about the people who got eight million more, got poor during COVID, while billionaires made an extra $2 trillion.

And we have to say that we've got -- this is a lie. The lie of scarcity. This was happening. Manchin and others. This week he said we've done enough. Who is he to say we've done enough for the people? That's what poor and no wealth people are saying in his own state. 750,000 poor and no wealth people, 350,000 that make less than $15 an hour who have been pushing him, and he blocked $15 an hour, lied to them and said, when we met with him that he had a plan to do living wages but he never comes up with any plan but the plan to help more billionaires.

And one more thing, Fredricka., for the American people. The Institute for Policy Studies did something. They work with us, they're one of our advisers like my brother Jeffrey Sachs of the Poor People's Campaign because we try not to be loud and wrong. They looked at this and said one contract for one year to -- one Pentagon contract to Lockheed Martin is $75 billion for 2021. That is the total cost of child care and pre-school in the Build Back Better plan.

Now think about that. We will spend -- take one contract, one military contract, and spend more on that than we will for child care and pre- school over 10 years. Our budget is a moral document and we have a moral crisis, a crisis of possibility, a crisis of democracy. We're seeing it in the blocking of this Build Back Better plan which is actually less than what really we need to do. It's a response. This is not really the most formative thing.

And this attack on democracy like voting, so poor, no wealth people are saying we're 30 percent of the electorate in some places, 40 percent in battleground states. We're not going to be silent anymore. We're going to engage in direct action. We're going to mobilize and build out people going to the polls. We're already planning a mass poor people's assembly march on Washington on June 18, 2022 to reshape the moral narrative and to mobilize people for the polls because poor no wealth people can really set our entire electoral system in the country.

But what we're not going to do is allow these lies of scarcity and allow rich people who refuse not to give people something, but just to invest every dollar in the Build Back Better plan. If you invest it into poor no wealth community it comes back. It comes back. It's an investment, not an entitlement. It's an investment.

WHITFIELD: I think people will hear your messages loud and clear. It is about prioritizing. We hear that from both of you.

Bishop William Barber and Professor Jeffrey Sachs, thanks to both of you, gentlemen. Appreciate your time.

And we'll be right back.

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[14:54:01]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. Before and after images reveal the true scale of destruction from Friday night's deadly tornadoes. Take a look.

On the left you're about to see drone footage of the county courthouse in Mayfield, Kentucky, before the storm, and then on the right you can see the same area just flattened, destroyed.

In Monette, Arkansas, you can see what used to be a nursing home is no longer recognizable. That whole area wiped out.

Further north in Edwardsville, Illinois, an Amazon warehouse was partially hit by a tornado. At least six people were killed when the building collapsed, and you can see the remnants of it on the right.

And then the candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky. Simply in ruins. Emergency crews rescued a number of employees trapped under debris, but we're told dozens were killed when that building came down. Those recovery efforts are ongoing. We'll continue to cover the aftermath of those deadly tornadoes and the search for survivors ahead in the next hour.

[14:55:03]

But first. Here's this week's "The Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOELLE LAMBERT, PARALYMPIAN: Lacrosse, it was just something that just spoke to me. It came really natural to be able to play a collegiate sport. That always my biggest dream growing up. The summer following my freshman year I was involved in a moped accident that caused me to lose my left leg above the knee. I absolutely thought that my sports career was over. I mean, I thought that I was never going to be able to walk again let alone run.

I had to learn how to basically do everything over again. I probably fell about 50 times in my first practice. My first came back playing and I actually scored a goal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And make it 11. It's Lambert.

LAMBERT: Someone from the U.S. Paralympic track and field world reached out to me, asked me if I ever thought about pursuing the sport track and field. In my first track meet, I hit the qualifying times to be on the national team but I also beat the reigning national champion. I was like I'm going to compete in Tokyo.

I have been running 100-meter for about two years. I actually made the Paralympic Games for Team USA.

I started the Born to Run Foundation in 2018. Insurance will only cover your everyday walking prosthetic. They will not cover the running blade. We actually made our first donation to a little 3-year- old boy. The biggest thing that I want to portray to others is I want you to

live the life that you want to live. If you have people believing in you and love you so much where they want to see your dreams come true, 100 percent I promise you it will.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

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