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Arkansas Declares State Of Emergency After Deadly Tornado Outbreak; New York City Tightens Security Ahead Of Tuesday's Historic Arraignment; New Jersey Governor On Gun Laws Following Nashville Shooting; New Threat Taunts Area Struggling To Recover From 2021 Tornado; Men's Final Four Tips Off Tonight. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired April 01, 2023 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:24]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST (on camera): Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And right now, people across the Midwest and South are picking up the pieces from a deadly tornado outbreak.

The storms are being blamed for at least 10 deaths. More than 50 reported tornadoes touched down across seven states. The damage is immense.

In Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency as the storms ripped through several towns. She spoke about the destruction a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS (R-AR): I've had the opportunity over the last couple of hours to speak with both the Homeland Security secretary, as well as President Biden, who have offered a tremendous amount of support.

Anything that Arkansas need from a city, a county, a state, and a federal perspective, I would say that everyone is working in total lockstep and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that people of our state are back on their feet again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: But the storm threat is not over. A new round of severe weather is threatening 70 million Americans today. CNN has teams following all the latest developments from these deadly storms.

Let's begin with Derek Van Dam. He is live for us in hard hit Wynne, Arkansas. Derek, what's the situation?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Fredricka, you know, the devastation here is immense, quoting the mayor of when Arkansas, he said it's like the twister cut a path directly down the middle of the town. And we are in that path right now. We are literally within this devastation. And you're looking at Wynne High School directly over my right shoulder.

Let me take you to my left here, and you can just see the power of what this tornado did, just toppling large trees that have been here for at least decades.

There's a home that's been exposed the living room with a piano just off in the distance there. And you can just actually see down that road if my cameraman can pan a little to the right, just how far the devastation goes that way.

The tornado actually skipped over this church, knocked a -- knocked over the steeple of this particular church.

And as it moved over this direction, landed almost directly on top of this Wynne High School. This is home of the Yellowjackets.

And earlier, I walked onto their football field. This is where they have their home football games. And standing on the 50-yard line was almost surreal, because the power of the tornado was almost like peeling the skin off of an onion or peeling, let's say an orange, because the updraft of the tornado literally took the artificial turf and cleared a pathway where that tornado came through.

Let me cross the road with my cameraman watch off the debris below us. You can see how it's getting pushed to the sides here. There is lots of electrical crews that are in the area, you can pan down the road, you can see them moving down Highway One.

There they are. The bucket trucks that are going to fix the power and the communication, which of course is very minimal at the moment across Wynne, Arkansas.

The devastation down that particular neighborhood is catastrophic. And you could just see really with this high school, the entire roof completely imploding.

Hopefully, we have the aerial visuals coming, so you can get a bird's eye perspective of just how wide the magnitude of this devastation really is.

But this is the nature of these powerful tornadoes. They don't really care where we forecast them to go. Right? They basically will spare one neighborhood, will devastate in another. And that's what we've witnessed. Because we drive 100 yards that way, or 100 yards that way and they are completely untouched home.

So, it is unfortunate for the people who have been impacted by this. We know that there's been fatalities. We know there's a state of emergency. But you know what? The weather has cleared and now the recovery process gets underway in earnest. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Yes, the-- boy, they have a long way to go. That that was quite devastating there. VAN DAM: Yes, really do.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Derek.

Adrianne Broaddus is in Northern Illinois, where powerful storms also did a lot of damage. And what are you seeing there?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Fredricka, this is one of the hardest hit areas. Over my shoulder is the Apollo Theater. People were gathered here last night for a concert and that is when the roof collapsed.

Injuring at least 28 people, five of them, those injuries were described as severe, at least 18 other injuries described as moderate.

But those 28 people were transported to the hospital. We're told at least one person was killed. You can see the devastation from the ground here over my shoulder.

[12:05:06]

You see where the sign of the Apollo Theater has fallen. But I want you to take a look from above.

Look at the view from our drone camera. You can see where the roof is no longer here on the historic Apollo Theater.

And if you look down on the ground back here, from where I'm standing, it's easy to notice that there are bricks scattered throughout the street. There is also all sorts of debris, including shattered glass, not only on the street, but in the adjacent parking lot.

I drove through the neighborhood, it's hard to get around because there are barricades much like this chain link fence here, Redirecting and keeping people out.

We've been asked to stay out, obviously, for safety reasons, and trees throughout the neighborhood have fallen. Across the state, there were multiple confirmed tornadoes. Unclear if a tornado touchdown here in Belvidere.

But I can tell you, a day later, it's windy, it's cold. Yesterday, it was quite frankly warm. But it's been snowing and raining throughout the morning. Now, afternoon, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes, very miserable. All right. Thank you so much, Adrienne. Let's go now to CNN meteorologist Britley Ritz. So, what is next because the storm systems, they're not done?

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Yes, Fred.

Unfortunately, we are still dealing with the same threats again today. And as of the latest hour, we now have another severe thunderstorm watch box in place and that includes Buffalo, back down into Cleveland, Pittsburgh also included. We also have several severe thunderstorm warnings now in place for parts of Ohio, Cleveland included, just over toward Columbus as well, where winds are expected to reach over 70 miles per hour.

Ping pong sized hail, and even isolated tornadoes can't be rolled out.

That watch goes until roughly about 6:00, 7:00 into the evening. Holding on to the threat of severe weather, not only through the afternoon, but again, through the evening. across the Northeast.

This is where we're really focused on that tornado threat today. But again, wind being one of our biggest concerns, and then holding on to that threat again across the southeast later on this afternoon, too.

You'll see that. We'll time it out 3:00-4:00 in the afternoon. So, holding on to that threat of stronger storms. Again, winds being the biggest concern, but hail and tornadoes can't be ruled out. That threat dies down once we get into the evening hours.

Head up to the northeast, watch this. You see how that line is really starting to form? Already dealing with that across the Ohio Valley. It's starting to bow out around 2:00-3:00 into the afternoon once it moves into the mid-Atlantic.

Look at that bow. That's the damaging wind threat that we're talking about.

We could have winds over 80 miles per hour. In that case, that holds through the early evening hours. Once we get into the overnight, it turns much colder. The front moves through and we watched that precept switch over to snow.

Let's put things into perspective here. 57 tornado reports across the Ohio Valley Midwest down into the south over the last 24 hours.

Add that in since January 1st, we picked up 370 tornado reports. That puts us over 150 percent of average. Folks, our typical season for tornadoes starting in April.

So, we're well early ahead of time when that comes into play, Fred.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. All right. Britley, Adrienne, Derek, thanks to all of you. Appreciate it.

All right, coming up. Former President Trump is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday after he became the first former president to be indicted, inside the massive security operation now underway in New York to prepare for that historic moment.

And later, it has been March madness like none other. And the men's final four teams are already making history before they even tip off.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:13:02]

WHITFIELD: Former President Donald Trump is expected to turn himself in next week to face charges in an alleged hush money scheme.

The Manhattan courthouse is now under 24/7 blanket security in anticipation of Trump's arrival for Tuesday's arraignment.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has more on the effort to get Trump through the city and in front of a judge.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN'S CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER (voice over): With an unprecedented indictment comes immense security challenges.

The NYPD along with court officers, U.S. Marshals, and the United States Secret Service are running through logistics of how Tuesday's historic arraignment of the former president will go down.

Law enforcement sources telling CNN, officials are conducting a dry- run of Trump's movements, including his motorcade route to the courthouse in downtown Manhattan, where he is expected to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon.

How he will get inside the courtroom flanked by Secret Service. And what will the arrest process look like? Will he be treated like any other defendant? The former president expected to be fingerprinted and photographed for a mug shot.

It's a massive effort starting when Trump arrives by plane Monday, securing Trump Tower, the court, and the motorcade route.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KENNETH COREY, FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT: In this case, though, where you have a former president and certainly a president with his larger following as former President Trump, there's a lot of unique concerns that are going to come into play.

I think that the bigger unknown here is going to come in the form of protests or potential protests.

PROKUPECZ: Officials are also bracing for protests. After Trump urged his supporters to protest his arrest when news of the indictment reportedly neared.

So far, the mayor's office says there are no credible threats to the city.

And out of an abundance of caution, every member of the NYPD, some 35,000 officers are reporting for duty in uniform and prepared for mobilization.

[12:15:02]

COREY: Oh, the challenge for the NYPD is going to be protecting everybody's First Amendment right, allowing everybody to have their voice heard, and to do so in a way that keeps the peace.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks now to Shimon Prokupecz.

I want to bring in now, Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey. He also is the chair of the National Governors Association, and the Democratic Governors Association. Good to see you, Governor.

GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): Nice to see you, Fredricka, thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: So, the former president, you know, has referred to this indictment as a political persecution and attack on our country, and even lashed out at the presiding judge over social media.

Do you have any concerns that his rhetoric could have an influence on his supporters?

MURPHY: I certainly hope it doesn't. But I would just say Fredricka, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not familiar with the details of the case. But the important point is, I think that no one is above the law, is unprecedented as this may be. We are all treated equally under the law in our country. And we just need to let this process play itself out, and God willing, that's what will -- that's what we'll see.

WHITFIELD: As some states have security plans in place, New Jersey, you know, a hop, skip, and a jump away from New York, so, what is the plan for your state?

MURPHY: Yes, we don't typically talk about specific security provisions. But obviously, this -- because it is so unprecedented, we will absolutely -- The pre-emptive and making certain that we are -- that we're doing all the groundwork that you would hope that would do. And hopefully, we'll see a peaceful day play out.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much for talking about all that is expected to play out come Monday or Tuesday in Manhattan.

I want to turn now to a cause that you are very passionate about, gun safety laws. And while Congress did pass the first major gun safety bill in decades last year, the aftermath of this shooting in Nashville has reignited the bitter divide in Congress and in this country, as a matter of fact, you know, when it comes to guns.

You lead the National Governors Association. Are you getting the sense that other governors are prioritizing gun safety measures in a different way, particularly because of what happened this week?

MURPHY: First of all, Fredricka, what an unspeakable tragedy, yet again. Three, 9-year-old precious children. Three. God bless them. Adults who are serving those children lost to yet another awful event.

I will tell you, last year, when I was vice chair of the National Governors Association, and my -- our chair was a dear friend, Asa Hutchinson, governor of Arkansas.

We actually put out a joint statement on behalf of the nation's governors after the awful tragedy at Uvalde, in Texas. And it spoke to both school safety and gun safety. And then, Governor Hutchinson and I designated a group of bipartisan governors to help us oversee the implementation of those -- of those steps that you mentioned that Congress took last year.

Now, New Jersey is one of only two states that gets an A on their report card from the Giffords Center which is Gabby Giffords organization, and we're incredibly proud of that.

But we are not an island. We need to see more federal progress. And I pray that Congress can get to that point. I know the president wants to see that happen.

We'll continue to have very strong gun safety laws in New Jersey and in a lot of other states. But boy, we could really use Congress to act even further than they did last year.

WHITFIELD: You know, what are some of the options that, you know, perhaps other governors need to consider when dealing with the issues of mass shootings before it happens?

Because, you know, we heard a lot of lawmakers this week talking about having, I guess -- the deterrent of having stiffer penalties. But that comes after a mass shooting.

MURPHY: Right.

WHITFIELD: Right?

So, what is being discussed about what should be a prelude? What should happen before another incident is to happen?

MURPHY: Yes, there's no one magic wand, Fredricka. That's one thing I've learned on gun safety. It's a whole combination of steps that I think you need to take, and again, most importantly, at the federal level.

But things like red flag laws, which sounds like would have -- would have worked here. In other words, if someone is deemed to be a potential harm to themselves or to others, they're restricted in their ability to obtain weapons, including legally. That's a step that we've taken in New Jersey.

That to me is a very smart preemptive step, banning certain types of weapons, making the age at which you can have long rifles or other weapons go up and not down.

[12:20:08]

Tennessee took it down. We've taken it up. Having logging digitally sales of both weapons and ammunition, so you could track it back.

There's a whole lot of steps, a lot of -- lot of focus on mental health, particularly now coming out of this awful pandemic, where we know this enormous stress and society.

Again, there's no one step, but there are a whole range of steps, I think you can take that at least increases the probability that you'll be able to head something this -- like this tragedy off.

WHITFIELD: And on the economy now, you know, the president and Republicans in Congress are at an impasse over the nation's debt ceiling.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his top lieutenants say they are actively preparing to move a party line bill to raise the national debt limit if president Biden continues to draw a firm line against talks without Republicans to avoid, you know the nation's first ever default.

Should the president come back to the table and negotiate?

MURPHY: Well, I think the president has been very clear on this. He said, listen, you know where I am. He said that the Speaker come to -- come to the table and let's talk. And to the best of my knowledge, they have not come to the table.

So, I think the president has done exactly what he should be doing. More broadly, putting the full faith and credit of the United States of America at risk is probably the stupidest thing we could possibly do.

So, I would pray and hope that the Republicans in the House can find their way to sitting with the president, and working out a reasonable solution without remotely putting the credit of the United States at risk, which would have hugely negative implications for all of us, all American states, all American citizens, including Democrats and Republicans.

WHITFIELD: All right. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. Thank you so much.

MURPHY: Thanks for having me, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Absolutely.

Coming up next. Inside the months-long recovery, as Kentuckians try to rebuild from devastating tornadoes and flooding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Do you ever feel like a refugee in your own state?

CHARLES SHERRILL, RESIDENT, MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY: Yes, I do. I really do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:26:27]

WHITFIELD: Today, President Biden called the governors of Arkansas and Illinois after deadly storms ripped through their states Friday. There were more than 50 reports of tornadoes across several states. At least 10 people have died in those storms and dozens more injured.

That storm system is heading east today and more than 70 million people are under threat for severe storms.

And for many residents in Mayfield, Kentucky, the threat of another storm brings new worries, after a devastating tornado in 2021 left them struggling to get by.

CNN's Pamela Brown has this update.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Do you ever feel like a refugee in your own state?

SHERRILL: Yes, I do. I really do. Like, you know, family -- a lot of my family moved off with my family.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN (on camera): And in a sense they're refugees too because they've moved away.

SHERRILL: Right. Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You must be shelter immediately. The next five minutes are going to be very rough and Mayfield.

BROWN (voice over): On December 10th, 2021, it was eerily warm outside. Perhaps, an early warning signs that a monstrous mile wide tornado was coming.

Charles Sherrill was at home in Mayfield, Kentucky.

So, this is your house.

SHERRILL: I was in that bathtub right there.

BROWN: And what were you thinking when --

SHERRILL: I'm just praying. Praying that, you know, that God will take care of me.

We just try to make a best of a bad situation.

BROWN: More than a year later, he is still living with his family in a FEMA trailer.

SHERRILL: This is the second bedroom where my grandkids and my daughter sleeps at.

BROWN (on camera): How do they all sleep in here?

SHERRILL: They just -- my daughter sleep on one end and my two grandsons sleep on the other end.

Small but this is all we got.

BROWN (voice over): He wants to rebuild here in a town that used to house 10,000 people, but is now empty slab after empty slab. SHERRILL: There's really no job opportunities here. I don't think it ever be the same.

BROWN: Seven months after the tornado, in Eastern Kentucky on the other side of the state, another natural disaster.

TABITHA SLONE, RESIDENT, HINDMAN, KENTUCKY: And this was -- this was my kitchen. And that was my dining room.

BROWN: There was massive flooding in Hindman, Kentucky, where neighbors Tabitha Slone and Jody Dunn (PH) lived.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the worst flooding Kentucky has ever seen, they race to find survivors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything is fast.

BROWN: Hindman and surrounding areas were overwhelmed with floods. The weather so severe, meteorologists deemed it a once in 1000-year event.

SLONE: Within two minutes that it got to, almost that pass my stance steps, I was like, Jody, we got to get out of here.

JODY DUNN, RESIDENT, HINDMAN, KENTUCKY (PH): Yes.

SLONE: And I was like, we got to go.

BROWN: So, Tabitha grabbed her two kids, Jody, her three. But it was too late to drive away, and too dangerous to walk.

BROWN (on camera): Over here back here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BROWN (voice over): So, they made their way to Jody's route.

[12:30:00]

DUNN: We're going to very end of that --

BROWN: Imagine, you know, water being all up in here.

SLONE: We was on down through there. That's actually the tail that the kids set on.

[12:30:04]

BROWN: Imagine, you know, water being all up in here.

TABITHA SLOANE, HINDMAN, KENTUCKY RESIDENT: We was on down through there. That's actually the tail that the kids sat on.

BROWN (voice-over): The kids went up first, then Tabitha. By Jodi's turn, the water was neck high, and the currents were so strong she couldn't pull herself onto the roof.

(on camera): So you were just hanging right here on the gutter?

JODI DUNN, HINDMAN, KENTUCKY RESIDENT: Yes. If I had let go, I would have been dead.

BROWN: And so you're hanging on looking at your kids up there and you're thinking I do not want my kids to see me.

DUNN: Yes.

BROWN: Not survive this.

DUNN: I was screaming, you know, get up here mom, get up here mom, I don't want you to die. You know, I'm scared. It calmed me a lot to know that she would have killed up there for me. She would have washed over him.

BROWN: In case something happened to you.

DUNN: Yes.

BROWN (voice-over): Jody estimate she clung to the gutter in the swiftly moving water for two to three hours before she and Tabitha and their children were rescued by a neighbor up the hill, Nathan Day.

NATHAN DAY, HINDMAN, KENTUCKY RESIDENT: And I told my son I said, you know, son this would separate me from you.

BROWN (voice-over): He pushed through the water to grab children from Jody, one by one. It's still tough for him to talk about.

DAY: Here's the thought of hearing Jody scream. Here's the thoughts of come down here and not knowing if you only have to get two.

DUNN: We wouldn't have got out without him.

BROWN (voice-over): Not everyone was lucky enough to have a neighbor like Nathan Day. Forty-three people lost their lives. When the waters receded about 4,000 homes and more than 170 bridges were damaged or destroyed. And Hindman, Kentucky a town of fewer than 700 tucked between steep Appalachian Mountains that act like funnels for water, it was decimated.

BILL HANEBERG, DIRECTOR, KENTUCKY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: We have areas that 100-year floodplains with a really striking thing is look how much of the valley they occupy, like if you're in Hindman, you cannot be in the floodplain unless you're up on the hillside.

BROWN (voice-over): Where the risk of landslides replaces the risk of floods. Large floods have devastated communities here in 1957 and in 1977, but they survived. Knott County home to Hindman was predicted to lose more than 43 percent of his population over the next 30 years. As local coal mines continue to shudder. And that projection was before the recent flooding. The fear now is more families will leave even sooner than expected, changing or effectively killing many of these small towns. JUDGE SCOTT ALEXANDER, PERRY COUNTY: It was changing from a one horse town from coal and then boom, you get hit with the worst disaster that this community has ever faced.

BROWN (voice-over): Judge Scott Alexander is talking about Hazard Kentucky about 20 miles from Hindman. In the past decade, Hazard had bumped area trends increasing as population 18 percent. But then the floods hit.

MAYOR DONALD 'HAPPY' MOBELINI, HAZARD, KENTUCKY: We lost our entire infrastructure. I mean, think about that. We lose our water plan. All the gas, sewer and water, and they tell us it's going to be a year before we can get it built back up.

BROWN (voice-over): We spoke about Hazards future with the mayor, the judge and their daughters.

(on camera): Yes. How worried are you about out migration people just beinf forced to leave?

MOBELINI: You know, we don't want to lose our citizens, because every family that leaves here, you know it affects your school system to fix your infrastructure, you know, and your workforce.

ALEXANDER: When you're faced with a catastrophic storm such as that of this magnitude. It's hard for us to figure how are we going to get out of this. How are we going to afford with FEMA you pay for your work upfront, then you're reimbursed. Well, this storm is bigger than we are.

BROWN (voice-over): Even if Hazard and other surrounding towns rebound, there must be people with permanent homes to keep them afloat.

RICHARD FOSS, LIVING IN STATE OWNED TRAILERS: Come here, baby. Do you want to go home, just tell me your homes at? An eight foot water in the house.

BROWN (voice-over): Richard Foss, his wife, two kids, and three dogs are living in a state park and a camping trailer purchased by the Commonwealth. There are more than 600 people still living in state owned trailers.

[12:35:10]

FOSS: You know, it's just clutter. This one hit the birthday party. We just had birthday party that's why this is -- my birthday party so, we're doing the best we can do so. We're just trying get, get back home, ain't nothing like home.

SLOANE: This is like where we spent most of our -- I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

BROWN (voice-over): Tabitha Sloane and Jodi Dunn are still in temporary housing, figuring out next steps. DUNN: So I'm hoping just to find a place a local but it's not in Hindman. I don't think I could ever live around in Hindman no more in town.

BROWN (voice-over): Why is that?

DUNN: You know, people say that, you know, here's a once in a lifetime flood. But you don't know that. You know what I mean. You don't know it could happen again next year. And even that little bit of possibilities enough for me to never want to be back here again.

BROWN (voice-over): There were three once in 1,000 year floods in the U.S. alone last summer in Kentucky, California, and Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My apartment is literally flooding I just woke up.

BROWN (voice-over): Scientists blame climate change, greenhouse gases effectively blink of the earth trapping heat, that extra heat can make normal weather events like storms or heat waves, more extreme and more common.

HANEBERG: The specific hazards you face because of climate change may differ according to where you are. But it's practically inescapable that wherever you go. In the future, if we keep on the same trends as we've been on, then you're going to be faced with some sort of hazard related to climate change.

BROWN (voice-over): Such as more fires in the West. And more floods in Eastern Kentucky.

HANEBERG: The 100-year flood might become the 50-year flood or you might see a 500-year flood whereas previously wouldn't have.

BROWN (on camera): Bottom line is it could become untenable to live in some of these areas.

HANEBERG: You're right, it can become very difficult. You may have to rebuild your house repeatedly.

BROWN (voice-over): And the five Eastern Kentucky counties hardest hit by the flooding, one in three people live in poverty, which makes it so much harder to recover and rebuild. Many families can't afford to stay, but they can't afford to move elsewhere either. They are in a sense climate refugees, people forced from their homes to face uncertain futures.

FOSS: It's hard, you know. You know, we got a little money. I mean, we got our house to be redone. I'm going to pick anybody to do because it's so much money when you got that.

BROWN (voice-over): But despite it all, community leaders like Judge Alexander and Mayor Mobelini say they're hopeful.

MOBELINI: Our people are really, really proud. And really, they love this place just like we do nothing. We're going to come back better from this thing. We want these young kids to come home because we're getting old.

BROWN (voice-over): McKenzie Alexander heard that call. She returned after the floods to teach school.

MCKENZIE ALEXANDER, HAZARD, KENTUCKY RESIDENT: I have noticed that a lot of kids all ages, once it starts to rain, they'll ask, you know, do you think it's going to flood again? Or do you think everyone's going to be OK, and sometimes they get anxious.

BROWN (voice-over): And that's one thing that cannot be debated. Even if the town's here manage somehow to rebuild to what they were. The people who inhabit them will never be the same.

SLONE: Jayla (ph) only gets upset when it starts thundering, lightning, she grabs her little bobble and hold that.

BROWN (on camera): She's nervous, it's going to happen again.

SLONE: Yes.

DUNN: It still stays with me, every day, every night, I still think about it. And I'm hoping just to try to get past it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's hard to erase those memories and experiences. Pamela Brown, thanks for bringing that.

[12:39:29]

All right still to come, Trump is lashing out at the Manhattan district attorney and the judge after he was indicted. What we are learning about the charges and how it could be prosecuted.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right the countdown is underway. Former President Donald Trump is expected to travel to New York on Monday, where he will then voluntarily surrender on Tuesday to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and be arraigned. Trump's indictment will mark the first time in U.S. history that a current or former president has been criminally charged.

Sources say Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud. Michael Zeldin is a former federal prosecutor. And Robert Mueller is a former Special Assistant at the Department of Justice. Michael, always great to see you. So what will you be looking for when the details of the charges are announced Tuesday?

MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: What He's charged with. I think we can be pretty clear that he's going to be charged with multiple misdemeanors for the false business record entries, which reflect payments Michael Cohen of legal fees, which really was just the repayment of the Stormy Daniels payment that Cohen made. The tricky part, Fred, will be how do they turn those misdemeanors into felonies because that's what I would think they would want to do. [12:45:00]

The two options they have is to say those misdemeanors become felonies because they were part of a scheme to evade federal election, campaign requirements, reporting requirements or, or and or they violated New York tax law, because they were -- there was a deduction taken for legal fees when they really weren't legal fees. And the deduction therefore isn't improper. So it's how do they get from a misdemeanor to a felony is what interests me most?

WHITFIELD: Is there an issue with statute of limitations?

ZELDIN: It appears to be that they're close to the statute of limitations, which is why they went forward with their case. You know, some have said, well, they shouldn't have gone forward with this case. It should have let the Georgia case go or the Mar-a-Lago case, but I think they had a limitation problem. And they went, because that's where the evidence was, and they were ready.

And they believe that private citizen Trump, who did this activity that he's accused of, while a private citizen, before he was President has to be held accountable, just like anybody else for his conduct. And whether it's the weakest case, or the strongest case, is, besides the point if you're a prosecutor, and you're looking for accountability.

WHITFIELD: So you've been skeptical about the strength of this case, you know, against a former president, this is unchartered territory indicting a former president, why are you skeptical when one star witness Michael Cohen and his attorney keep saying there are a whole lot of documents, e-mails, phone calls and witnesses?

ZELDIN: Well, we'll see what other witnesses there are. What makes me a bit skeptical is that Michael Cohen is the star witness. And he's very susceptible to cross examination, having pleaded guilty to offenses, having been everywhere on television, with a clear grudge against the former president.

And I think he's very vulnerable as a witness and I don't know who else corroborate them. The witness that they really are missing is Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the company. He can really lock down the business payments, fraud aspect of this case, but so far, he doesn't seem to be cooperating.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there for now. Michael Zeldin it will be and an interesting week to say the very least. Thank you so much.

ZELDIN: To say the very least, yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, this year is March Madness is getting pretty crazy as it comes down to the final teams. Coy Wire is live for us in Houston. Hey Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Fredricka, are you ready for buzzer beaters? Are you ready for fast line drama? WHITFIELD: Ready.

WIRE: We caught up with the coaches competing in the men's final four tonight. We'll have that and a jaw dropping performance in the women's final four coming up next.

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[12:52:14]

WHITFIELD: OK, here we are, final four weekend. It's here. And for the first time in more than 50 years, three teams are all making their first appearances in the tournament semifinals, talking about men's right now. CNN's coy wire is live for us in Houston ahead of the men's game tonight. So what's in store?

WIRE: Oh, Fredricka, one of the wildest men's final fours ever more on that in a second. I was watching the women's final four last night with our friend and NBA legend Charles Barkley. We were hooting in hours. Caitlin Clark in Iowa taken down the defending champs South Carolina, come on. Clark when she was a kid in Iowa they didn't have a youth girls league so her parents put her in with the boys. Well, they won the state title and another parents started complaining that she shouldn't be allowed to play with boys.

Iowa facing Dawn Staley, South Carolina, 36 in though best defense in the nation, did it matter. You can't contain Caitlin Clark. Stone cold conqueror making shots from the center court logo showing why she's the National Player of the Year. A national semifinal record 41 points for her in front of a sold out crowd in Dallas, she was so spent afterwards, Fredricka, that she was cramping up while she was celebrating.

South Carolina had an incredible run. Hadn't lost since March 6th of last year but the Hawkeyes are moving on tomorrow against LSU. We'll see if Caitlin Clark can lead Iowa to their first ever national title. Now in a few hours, it's going to be Florida Atlantic and San Diego State is going to be Miami and UConn in the men's final four. I talked to Miami's 73-year-old coach Jim Larranaga, who leaves the Canes with passion and dancing. Listen to this.

WHITFIELD: Dancing, yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: How are you able to still relate to these 18 and 20-year-old kids coach?

JIM LARRANAGA, MIAMI HEAD COACH: I haven't changed one bit. All the things I do now. I did when I was young. And it's just fun for me. I love being around the guys.

WIRE: I know one thing that keeps you relatable, the way you dance, baby. Can I get -- can I see you get a -- teach me a little dance move? I saw you breaking it down. LARRANAGA: No, I do that specifically to entertain the players. It's really just self-deprecating humor. I mean, you know, I'm not Michael Jackson, you know, you might have noticed that. And so the players laugh. They have fun sometimes they get up and dance with me. But, you know, March Madness this is called the Big Dance for a reason. Everybody loves dancing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Everybody loves dance and maybe the wildest national semifinal ever, Fredricka, for the first time there isn't a one two or three seed. And after tonight we will find out who will be dancing their way into the final. How about coach's dance move?

WHITFIELD: I love it. I mean just because of those moves, I mean largely you want to root for him. I want to see him dance again. Holding up a trophy maybe.

WIRE: You got, that's right.

WHITFIELD: I know. We'll see how it goes. Coy Wire thank you so much in Houston.

[12:55:04]

All right, what started with the disappearance of 20 people from a small town in Oregon ended with the largest suicide on U.S. soil and changed the face of New Age religion forever. Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults airs tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

All right, coming up, I will take you live to Arkansas as the community of when is reeling from tornadoes, the damage is devastating, that's next.

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