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Birmingham National Weather Service Rates Selma Tornado As EF- 2; Lisa Marie Presley Dies At 56 After Suffering Cardiac Arrest; State Rep. Ashley Aune (D-MO) Discusses Missouri State House Adopting Stricter Dress Code For Women; Drawing For $1.35 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot Tonight. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired January 13, 2023 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They were terrified by what was going on. They ran into closets.
Some of their cars are still frozen in position because the roof was on top.
Take a listen to this one gentleman who talked about how dangerous the storm was when it hit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATHANIEL WALKER, SELMA RESIDENT: The chimney was blown off. Left a hole in my dining room. Big hole was in my bathroom where the skylight was blown off. And I had a lot of shingles blown off my house. Old houses in Selma.
YOUNG: Yes.
WALKER: Cement roof shingles. And my fence is damaged.
But, you know, I'm fortunate because, compared to a lot of my neighbors, I see right here, I didn't sustain substantial damage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Now you can see from above from this drone video that we shot in the last hour or so, this is an aerial picture. You can see the damage. Almost every single roof in about a two-square-mile footage from this area has been damaged.
To give you an idea of where we are, guys, this is Broad Street right behind us. Broad Street leads to the Edmond Pettis Bridge just above that ridge.
Power crews are moving to this area to try to get the lines up. But there are people still stuck in the neighborhoods with trees down all over this area. Thankfully, no one in this area died last night due to this powerful, powerful storm moving through.
Maybe trapping people in the businesses quite some time but at least they got out with their lives -- guys?
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Ryan, those images are incredible. It looks like apocalyptic, some of those areas.
Thank you so much for your reporting from the ground.
YOUNG: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
The Missouri State House is adopting a stricter dress code but just for women. We'll speak to one female representative that doesn't like this one bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:36:13]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Fans around the world are in shock and mourning the sudden death of Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis and his wife, Priscilla.
Lisa Marie was 54. She was rushed to the hospital Thursday morning in cardiac arrest. She died hours later.
CAMEROTA: Just two days earlier, we saw her on the red carpet at the Golden Globes. She was there to support the new huge Elvis movie.
In a statement from Graceland, the family asked for privacy, saying they are, quote, "shocked and devastated." It also said they are "profoundly grateful for the support, love, and prayers of everyone."
Joining us now is CNN entertainment reporter, Chloe Melas, and Dr. Tara Narula, CNN medical correspondent.
Chloe, on the red carpet, this was interesting because she was there. There's the big Elvis film and she was so happy, she seemed so proud of the film and happy to be there.
But physically what did you see? Did you think that something was off?
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: I saw actually saw her inside the ballroom. CNN's Stephanie Elam was on the carpet. I was inside. I walked past her table and I had never seen her before in person. And I was star shocked because these are the Presleys.
And the movie is a huge movie of the night. And Austin Butler won. And I remember seeing the cameras pan over to her during Austin's acceptance speech for best actor for playing her father.
And I thought to myself that something seemed off. I didn't have a good point of reference to what gauge it to.
And then, hearing Stephanie Elam and you hear "Entertainment Tonight's" Nischelle Turner speaking to CNN last night, saying that, when Nischelle interviewed her, something seemed a little off. But we can't correlate the two things together because it was 48 hours
later.
But look, we do know that she had been in rehab several times before.
She had a lot of grief. She lost her son, Benjamin, one of her four children, to suicide in 2020.
Opened up about that in a really emotional essay this summer, saying, "I've never recovered from this. And my heart and soul went with you that day."
That, as a parent, for anyone who lost someone they love -- I remember writing about it this summer and hard to write. So emotional. And hat family has experienced so much grief for so publicly for so long.
BLACKWELL: So the medical questions, is this something potentially that could have happened suddenly or is it a culmination, as Chloe mentioned, of challenges over years?
DR. TARA NARULA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's so hard when we see these cardiac arrests happen. As a cardiologist, we see this far too often.
And in this country, over 300,000 cardiac arrests occur annually. And we know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for men and women.
Many times, it happens just like this. Someone can be fine, and the next day they're not.
The issue is why is this happening. It's an electrical abnormality in the heart. The heart goes into an abnormal rhythm. It is unable to pump the blood throughout the rest of the body.
And then organs start to fail. You're unable to get blood to the brain. And you essentially die within minutes if you don't get resuscitated appropriately.
And there's potential underlying causes for cardiac arrest, which is what everyone is wondering, what could have caused this.
If we look a little bit deeper, many times, it is coronary heart disease. So blockages in the coronary arteries. About 70 percent of the time it is related to that.
But 10 percent of the time it's another structural abnormality with the heart muscle. Somebody may have had heart failure that may have been diagnosed of known, or some scar tissue in the heart muscle.
And the last kind of big bucket are these electrical abnormalities. Some people are born with congenital or genetic diseases of the electrical system that may be silent until the day they have an arrhythmic event.
And the last kind of categories are recreational drug use or certain medications. And other congenital diseases that people may have.
There's a lot that could be going on under the surface that we are unaware of until the day that someone has an event.
BLACKWELL: Such a surprise when we got the news. And hopefully, the family gets the answers that they are looking for.
[14:40:04]
Dr. Tara Narula and Chloe Melas, thank you.
This Friday, the 13th, might be lucky.
CAMEROTA: Huh?
BLACKWELL: The massive Mega Millions jackpot drawing is tonight. We'll tell you how much it is worth.
CAMEROTA: I think it's actually too much now.
BLACKWELL: Nah, it's never too much.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: One of the first orders of business for Missouri House of Representatives, tightening the dress code for female lawmakers.
The Republican-led change to State House's rules now requires women to wear a jacket or cardigan or blazer that covers the arms when in chamber.
CAMEROTA: One Republican argued this move was to make the existing rules, quote, "more clear," but Democrats don't like it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[14:45:02]
STATE REP. RAYCHEL PROUDIE (D-MO): There are some very serious things in this rule package that I think we should be debating. But instead, we are fighting again for a women's right to choose something, and this time, is whether -- how she covers herself.
I spent $1,200 on a suit and I can't wear it in the peoples house because someone, who doesn't have the range, tells me that it is inappropriate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Missouri State Representative Ashley Aune.
Representative, thank you so much for being here.
Is that the big difference that now, in the state house, women's arms need to be covered? Is that what's changed?
STATE REP. ASHLEY AUNE (D-MO): Thanks for having me.
Yes. So actually, what's interesting is the rule has always required us to wear a second layer of clothing, either -- that's been interpreted as a jacket or a blazer or a cardigan.
And this year, the Republicans are trying to further narrow that scope to only include only blazers, which our caucus believed was both size and cost prohibitive and also ridiculous.
BLACKWELL: There's already a requirement for a second layer.
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Need a third.
BLACKWELL: Need a third.
Have you all solved everything else in Missouri, that this is, day one, the issue that must be fought over?
AUNE: That's exactly the frustration. Right? Is that, day one, when we went to go finalize our House rules, what they wanted to fight about is dress code.
What we wanted to talk about was making the House more accessible to disabilities, to allow more Missourians to testify first in our committee hearings or even allowing for virtual testimony for folks who aren't able to make it to the capital to testify in front of the legislators.
And instead, here we are talking about what kind of sweaters we can wear or not wear.
CAMEROTA: We are making light of this. Part of this seems laughable or just overreach.
But part of it has a slightly more sinister feeling because there are places in the world where women are told they have to cover up and women are told what to wear.
Is there a feeling on the House this is a slippery slope of some kind?
AUNE: Absolutely. In 2019, House Republicans passed the abortion ban that went into effect this summer after the Dobbs decision came down, fully restricting a women's right to choose in this state.
And on day one, in our legislature, they are doubling down on controlling women? It's wild to me.
I think it's sending a message to Missourians that the Republican Party, the Missouri GOP, doesn't have the best interest in mind and it's not focused on the issues that are important to our constituents.
BLACKWELL: This is a Republican woman that sponsored or supported the change for the dress code. I wonder, what's the consequence if you just show up with a sleeveless
dress? I'm confused. If you go into the chamber without the blazer or your cardigan --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
BLACKWELL: -- is there a problem for a member?
AUNE: Absolutely. The clerk can ask us to leave the floor and we will be unable to vote, which means you won't be able to represent the 37,000 constituents in our district that sent us down there to do the bidding.
CAMEROTA: So what happened? Democrats outvoted on this? How did this pass?
AUNE: Absolutely. It was a voice vote. We are in a super minority in Missouri. There are only 52 Democrats out of 163 legislators so we are still a super minority. If they want something to pass in the state it passes.
CAMEROTA: A lot of Republicans do feel strongly about the right to bear arms.
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: Were you waiting for that?
(CROSSTALK)
AUNE: We have heard. Yes, yes.
BLACKWELL: Missouri State Representative Ashley Aune, I thank you for your time.
AUNE: Of course. Thank you for having me on.
CAMEROTA: We'll be watching.
[14:48:48]
BLACKWELL: President Biden is spending the weekend in Delaware while the White House is in damage-control mode over the classified documents investigation. We have more on that just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:53:24]
CAMEROTA: Who's feeling lucky? Tonight's lottery drawing will be the second largest Mega Millions jackpot ever, $1.3 billion.
BLACKWELL: CNN's Carlos Suarez is watching the ticket lines at a 7- Eleven in Fort Myers.
It's not just arbitrarily that you're at 7-Eleven. People think that 7-Eleven is a lucky place to buy.
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Alisyn and Victor, especially this 7-Eleven in Fort Myers.
The last time someone won the Mega Millions was back in October. There were two tickets across the U.S. One was in California.
The other was at this exact location here in Fort Myers. And that winning ticket was bought just a few weeks after Hurricane Ian destroyed a good part of southwest Florida.
The owner here tells me that, in the time since, there have been a couple of customers who have also won some additional money. And as you guys said, tonight's jackpot from the Mega Millions is $1.35 billion.
Now if you are lucky enough to get that jackpot and you decide to take that one lump-sum payment, you're looking at well over $700 million. Now, of course, the odds of you winning that ticket here is not that great.
But just about everyone that we talked to said, look, this store seems to have some sort of luck. And so, of course, they came in with their money. They got their tickets. And they're hopeful that they will win tonight.
Here's what they told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM FRYE, LOTTERY PLAYER: I have been playing for a long time. And so I know they sold the winning ticket here not too long ago. And so I have been buying tickets when I'm in town here.
[14:55:04]
You can't win if you don't play it. So that's my motto.
BRENDA POULIN, LOTTERY PLAYER: It's got a good record. So hopefully, I have a winning ticket. If I do, I'll hunt you down here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUAREZ: I'm going to hold that woman to her word.
The store owner tells me that, a few weeks ago, someone won $5,000. And then just last week, Victor and Alisyn, according to her, someone won $1,000.
The second I'm done with the who of you, I'm going to go ahead and play my tickets. I'm a quick-pick kind of guy. I'm going to do that the second we're done here.
CAMEROTA: That's cool.
But that woman is going to share the multimillions with you if she wins.
BLACKWELL: No, she isn't.
CAMEROTA: We have it on tape, Victor.
BLACKWELL: She isn't.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: I have never heard a story of someone saying, if I win, I'll share, and that person actually sharing.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: It's not going to happen.
CAMEROTA: All right, anyway --
SAUREZ: And -- and I didn't do due diligence. I wasn't able to get her phone number. But I think I can track her down.
BLACKWELL: Oh, no.
CAMEROTA: Rookie mistake, Carlos.
All right. Thank you very much.
BLACKWELL: All right, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says extraordinary measures will need to be taken to keep the U.S. from defaulting on debt. More on that stark warning and what that means for you. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
