Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Tornado Strikes Amazon Warehouse; Whitney Westerfield is Interviewed about the Disaster in Kentucky; Boris Johnson Investigated over Party; Michigan Shooter to Make Court Appearance Today. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 13, 2021 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:33:52]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Two sheriff's deputies here in Graves County have a harrowing story to tell about the night the tornado hit. They were out on patrol near Mayfield when they say a big wall of debris, wind and hail came at them. And you can see the damage to one of their patrol cars from a 2x4 that went right through it, but they survived and said they heard screams for help, and that is when they found a young girl who was badly injured and bleeding. So, they used a door as a makeshift stretcher for her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. RICHARD EDWARDS, GRAVES COUNTY, KENTUCKY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We put her on the door and we made the decision we had to get her out. So, we got her out of the -- out of the house with that door, and we packed her all the way down the road where Chief Deputy Prince was in his Durango. We leaded her in the back and he took -- he took her to the nearest hospital.

Last I heard, that she made it. She was OK. That she was going to survive. It was very life-threatening. She -- she had lost a lot of blood and she was going into shock. So, we made that decision. That's not normal for us to do, but, you know, I think that decision was the best at that time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So many stories of heroism like that, stories of survival.

[09:35:04]

I want to go now to Edwardsville, Illinois. That is where an Amazon warehouse collapsed. And Polo Sandoval, I know that you have been speaking to people there, speaking to families of some of the victims.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Pamela, when you have the conversations with some of these grieving families, it makes you realize, or at least it reminds us that the damage does not need to be widespread for these storms to inflict so much heartbreak and so much pain. You see when that EF-3 tornado zeroed in solely on this warehouse here leading to that partial collapse, there were dozens of Amazon employees inside that did make it out safe. Sadly, six of them did not.

Among them, Clayton Cope. He's a 29-year-old Navy veteran that worked alongside his father at this facility as a maintenance mechanic. His mother, Carla, sharing with us so many great stories about her son and also told us that on Friday night, the night of the storm, actually reached out to him, spoke to him over the phone and could overhear her son basically urging some of his colleagues and co-workers to seek shelter as that storm was moving in. And now, several days after the storm, this mother and her whole family certainly dealing with this heartache, dealing with the loss and she knows she's not alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLA COPE, SON CLAY COPE DIED AT AMAZON WAREHOUSE: There's no pain worse than -- than losing a child. And I hoped to be one of those people that would never experience that. There's plenty of people that have had to go through it and I don't know that you can honestly -- you think you can understand, but I don't -- now I know that you can't. I know I'm not the first, I'm not the last, but it's unbelievable. It's heart-wrenching. It's devastating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And spending some time there with the Copes family, I can tell you, they are a remarkable family. It is very clear how much they loved their son.

Now, in terms of what still brings a smile to their faces, remembering that kind and quirky young man that they're certainly going to miss. And, again, they know they are not alone. So their heart certainly goes out to every other family, not just here in Illinois that lost loved ones, those other five people who sadly lost their lives here, but also there where you are in Kentucky.

Now, in terms of what's happening here right now, there is no longer any kind of search or recovery effort. The local police chief telling my colleague, Sarah Jorganson (ph), that at this point what they're going to be doing is basically clearing out this debris for the remainder of the day and then hand over the site to Amazon. But at this point they have no indication that there's any additional missing persons that have not been accounted for.

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

Erica, Jim, back to you.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Pamela, thank you.

We want to bring in now Kentucky State Senator Whitney Westerfield, who represents the Third Senate District covering all of Christian, Todd and Logan Counties in western Kentucky, that's just east of that hard-hit area of Mayfield. And you captured some really remarkable drone footage of the

devastation, of the damage to downtown Mayfield and of the area. It's my understanding, you didn't even expect it to be as bad as what you saw. You've had a little time to process this, but, I mean, just walk us through, as you saw that initial footage, what were your thoughts?

WHITNEY WESTERFIELD (R), KENTUCKY STATE SENATE: That's exactly right. I wasn't prepared for what I saw. I mean I've seen tornado damage here in Christian County, where I'm from. I've been near damaged property like that. When I went over there, I got to Mayfield before sun-up on Saturday morning. And when I got the drone in the air, it just -- it was an incredible, a stunning amount of damage, from not just in the city center, but, you know, a couple of miles out of town you're seeing substantial wind damage, property damage, homes destroyed and properties destroyed, all the way out to the airport, where planes were turned upside down and yanked from their hangars and the hangars were destroyed.

And then, of course, when you get into downtown Mayfield, as you've seen, I just -- the destruction is unbelievable. And the amount of energy and the power of that tornado, which was on the ground for an incredible amount of time, just in the blue ridge (ph), not to mention the other states. It's hard to -- hard to understand all that.

SCIUTTO: Yes, the power and the scope, right? I mean folks use that term war zone. But I have to tell you, looking at that, it does looks like a city that went through a war there.

WESTERFIELD: It does.

SCIUTTO: We had a state senator on earlier this hour, you know, and I asked him, how long to recover from this, right? And he said, for some people, it will be a lifetime. And I wonder, as you're speaking to folks there, if you agree.

WESTERFIELD: I completely agree. Jason Howell represents Graves County. A good friend of mine and my seatmate next to me in the state senate chamber. And he's right, for some folks, I don't know that they'll ever recover from this completely, certainly not emotionally or psychologically. I mean homes and buildings can be rebuilt in time, but this is the kind of thing that lasts with the community and with the family for a long time. And I -- the amount of destruction, it's going to take a while.

[09:40:02]

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: This footage, which, you know, so many of us really -- your footage helped to paint some of those early pictures, I know you told our colleague you were working with authorities. How important have those -- these initial pictures that you were able to get, how important have they been on the ground to the efforts there?

WESTERFIELD: I think they've been important for the world at large to see what kind of damage has been done. I mean we hear about natural disasters and things. But until you can see just the scope and the extent of damage, it's hard for people to understand why it's important to get involved.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

WESTERFIELD: And so to the extent that people have been able to see the damage and they realize the need, I'm grateful that the footage has helped in that regard. I would encourage folks, we still do have needs. There are all kinds of folks and partners, both government and private sector, that are rushing to fill the needs to provide supplies and things. We still need blood donations and we still could use donations.

The state has set up a relief fund. It's teamwkyrelieffund.ky.gov. I'd encourage, if you -- if you've got spare room to give this Christmas, spend some money there and give to the people in western Kentucky. And it's not just in Mayfield where -- and, thankfully, the death toll is not as bad as we thought, but there are still missing people there in Mayfield. We've got enormous damage in Dawson Springs. We've got damage in Princeton. I revealed (ph) damage in Bowling Green. This system brought a lot of havoc in a lot of places.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I'm glad you shared, Whitney Westerfield, that website because I am certain a lot of folks watching right now want to reach out and help. Thanks to you for what you're doing. And if you are watching at home and you're looking for ways to help, go to cnn.com/impact. There are a lot of sites there that will take you right to the places which will get the aid to those who need it.

Whitney Westerfield, thanks so much.

WESTERFIELD: Thank you all for covering it.

SCIUTTO: Coming up next this hour, as the U.K. records the first death from the omicron variant, the prime minister faces a domestic crisis concerning Covid-19 protocols. The photo now causing a political uproar there. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:44]

HILL: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the U.K. has confirmed its first death from the omicron variant. His health secretary noting earlier that variant is spreading at a, quote, phenomenal rate.

As concern grows over the variant, the prime minister himself is under fire for allegedly breaking his own government's Covid-19 restrictions last year.

SCIUTTO: A cabinet secretary is now looking into several 2020 holiday gatherings, including a December Christmas party at 10 Downing Street. A London tabloid has obtained a photo of what it says is Johnson hosting a quiz party. CNN has not independently confirmed that's what that photo shows.

Joining us now is CNN's Salma Abdelaziz.

Tell us what number 10's response is, Salma.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, for now, the prime minister's office saying that that quiz was a virtual one and that anyone in attendance in that photograph, even if they're dressed up for a Christmas party, they were there because they were already in their offices. They were already at work. But yet another detail, Jim and Erica, in this mounting body of evidence that parties, parties plural, took place at Downing Street by Downing Street staff in the prime minister's residence and home and it was all during lockdown, during a period in time in which hundreds of people a day were dying of Covid- 19, a dangerous variant was spreading through this country. So, quite simply, in the court of public opinion, this is not flying.

That's because it's very difficult to imagine what on earth the prime minister can say or do to make this controversy go away, to make it OK that his own staff were eating cheese and drinking wine while others were kept apart from their loved ones.

And it becomes even more concerning when you realize Prime Minister Boris Johnson is fighting yet another variant of Covid-19 right now, the omicron variant. The number of cases are doubling every two to three days starting tomorrow. It's set to be the dominant strain in the country. Health officials are saying it could overwhelm the hospital systems. So you can imagine at this time, when the prime minister needs moral and ethical authority, instead he's being questioned. It's being asked if he can maneuver the ship and his very office is in question.

Jim and Erica.

Salma Abdelaziz, important reporting as we stay on that. Thank you.

Still ahead, the 15-year-old accused of shooting and killing four classmates in Michigan, making his first court appearance today, first appearance since the arrest of his parents. We'll have more on the case against him just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:53:41]

SCIUTTO: The 15-year-old accused of killing four classmates at his Oxford, Michigan, high school, wounding seven others, is expected to make a virtual court appearance today.

HILL: Ethan Crumbley is charged as an adult with one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

CNN crime and justice reporter Shimon Prokupecz joining us now with more.

So, Shimon, what happens today? What will we hear today? SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So it's billed as a probable cause hearing and it's really just the next step in the process here.

But what's really significant here is that we're going to first see a new lawyer, a new lawyer that's been appointed by the court for the alleged shooter. Her name is Paulette Loftin. And we could start seeing some indications as to where she's going to go with the defense.

One of the thing that's going to be interesting to see is whether or not she asks the court to order a psych exam, a mental competency exam of the alleged shooter. That has not been done yet. If that was to be the case, it would delay next week's preliminary hearing which would be more significant because that's when we start getting into evidence and there would be more information that would be revealed.

So, it's expected that she's going to come in and we'll see how things start to go. We will get some indication, perhaps, how the defense plans to pursue their defense of the alleged shooter.

[09:55:05]

Of course, he's charged as an adult with the shooting and killing of four individuals. And then, of course, the terrorism charge, which the prosecutors have said he's charged for allegedly terrorizing all of the students in the school.

And today, in that community, in Oxford, many of the students are going to be going back to the school to pick up their belongings, which should be an emotional day for many of them who are coming back to the school today just to pick up their belongings.

SCIUTTO: Yes, a school where four of their classmates lost their lives.

Shimon Prokupecz, thanks very much.

HILL: Any moment now we are expecting an official update on the situation in Kentucky. We are going to bring that to you live. We're going to fit in a quick break here first.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)