Return to Transcripts main page
Paula Zahn Now
Did Teenage Love Lead to Bloody Double Murder?; Would-be Female Suicide Bomber Confesses to Role in Jordan Bombings; President Bush Slams Democrats Over Iraq War Criticism
Aired November 14, 2005 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening, everyone. Glad to have you with us tonight.
We have a chilling look inside the mind of a woman on a suicide terror mission.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN (voice-over): Femme fatale -- tonight, dramatic new information, a would-be suicide bomber's confession.
SAJIDA AL-RISHAWI, SUICIDE BOMBING SUSPECT (through translator): We went November 9 to hotel. My husband executed and detonate detonated his belt. I tried to detonate mine, but I failed.
ZAHN: But who is this woman, and what does she mean for the war on terror?
The end of the road -- the latest on the dramatic flight of a young murder suspect and his girlfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have every reason to believe at this point in time, with the evidence, through the course of the investigation, this was premeditated, deliberate, intentional.
ZAHN: Did teenage love and a father's anger lead to a bloody double murder?
And the untamed force of nature -- you have never been this close to disaster.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God! (INAUDIBLE) Get over here!
ZAHN: Incredible pictures inside a killer cloud. And a neighborhood disappears before your eyes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Tonight, as we speak, President Bush is heading out of the country, but not before throwing a new roundhouse punch at his critics. It just happened, less than an hour ago, during this stopover in Alaska in front of U.S. troops at Elmendorf Air Force Base. The president took on the Democrats who accuse his administration of not being truthful about the threat Saddam Hussein posed before the war in Iraq. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yet, some Democrats who voted to authorize the use of force are now rewriting the past. They're playing politics with this issue. And they are sending mixed signals to our troops and the enemy. And that's irresponsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: The president stopped in Alaska on his way to the summit of Pacific Rim nations.
And our new poll numbers show that this isn't such a bad time for him to get out of Washington. The president's approval rating has just hit an all-time low of 37 percent -- 36 percent in another poll. Sixty percent disapprove of how he's doing his job.
White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us from Kyoto, Japan, which is the president's next stop.
So, Suzanne, this is the second time in four days that this president has come out swinging against his Democratic critics. Is there any evidence that he's gaining any traction with this offensive?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, Paula, it's much too soon to tell whether he's gaining any traction.
Certainly, the White House is very much determined to move forward in this aggressive campaign-style strategy, just taking a look at those approval numbers, of course, showing just how vulnerable the president is -- the strategy here, of course, to hit back as often as possible and to use the Democrats' own words against them -- President Bush also bringing up the words of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, who voted for the war and then made comments in September of 2002.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Here's another quote from a senior Democrat leader: "Saddam Hussein, in effect, has thumbed his nose at the world community, and I think the president is approaching this in the right fashion" -- end quote.
They spoke the truth then. And they're speaking politics now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, Paula, really, the lines are not new, necessarily, here, but, certainly, the emphasis, the urgency, the punch that the president delivers them certainly very different than what we had heard before -- the president essentially saying, we are all in this together with -- that we were all wrong, that there are certainly investigations that had looked into the matter carefully enough.
But, as you know, the president's own credibility is on the line. And that is why you are seeing the administration hit back so hard.
ZAHN: Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much for the update.
And joining me now to disagree on what all of this means, "Wall Street Journal" columnist John Fund and Democratic strategist Julian Epstein.
Great to have both of you with us tonight.
I want to start off, John, with you. The latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows an overwhelming majority of Americans do not believe Iraq was worth going to war over, and two-thirds of Americans now disapprove of how President Bush is handling Iraq. How does the president dig himself out of this hole?
JOHN FUND, COLUMNIST, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, the same percentages also disapproved of Harry Truman at the height of the Korean war. Presidents often get into trouble over difficult struggles.
I think he has to show progress. I think he's got to turn over more and more control to the Iraqis, who are suffering 200 military casualties a week -- I'm sorry -- a month in Iraq, and he's got to gradually withdraw.
But, remember, there are things this president could do to explain the progress we're making. I talked to General George Casey, who is the operational general in Iraq. We are killing 3,000 insurgents a month. We are losing about 73 Americans a month. Now, the administration doesn't want to use those numbers because that brings back memories of Vietnam and the body count.
But real progress is being made, and we are training more and more Iraqis every day.
ZAHN: Julian Epstein, do you deny the fact that any progress is being made in Iraq?
JULIAN EPSTEIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Oh, I think there's been some progress.
I think the passing -- passage of the constitution was important. But it's important to notice -- to note, Paula, that your poll shows not just declining support, a majority of the public opposed to the president on the question of Iraq. It shows that the public overwhelmingly has lost faith in both the president's leadership and in his trustworthiness.
So, I -- I think if you -- if -- it's -- it's not simply that Iraq is dragging him down. It's that, basically, the public now does not believe that this president is competent to handle major issues.
ZAHN: All right.
EPSTEIN: They don't trust his honesty. They don't believe that he has an agenda. And, most of all, I think, people believe that, rather than confronting the problems, this administration kind of arrogantly denies them.
ZAHN: All right, John Fund, why don't you respond to these numbers Julian just brought up, is, basically, in -- our poll shows that 46 percent of those polled said the president is honest and trustworthy and 52 percent said he's not. That's clearly got to have some kind of impact on his agenda here.
FUND: It does.
But I think the Democrats are making a mistake by focusing on the past, and not the future. Notice the Democrats who are not coming out to discussing how we got into this war, Democrats like Evan Bayh, Democrats like Senator Hillary Clinton, Democrats like Governor Mark Warner, who just won the party a great victory.
This is Mark Warner's quote from yesterday, CBS News: "The Democratic Party ought to get over refighting how we got into this war and press the president on what he hopes to do, in terms of how we finish the job in Iraq."
Now, Democrats who I think recognize the American people are forward-looking, not backward-looking, are not getting mired into this debate, which doesn't convince the American people that Democrats have any more plausible alternative to our problems.
ZAHN: And, Julian...
EPSTEIN: Well, I agree with that point. I -- I...
ZAHN: ... what share of the blame do the Democrats deserve for this? After all, 29 Democratic senators vote to authorize war.
EPSTEIN: Oh, I -- I think that's not the issue. I think that it is...
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: But -- but what about that?
EPSTEIN: Well...
ZAHN: I mean, they -- the Democrats aren't free of blame.
FUND: That is what they're emphasizing.
(CROSSTALK)
FUND: Every Democrat I see is talking about that he lied.
EPSTEIN: John, John, I think that the point is correct, that I think Democrats have to have a very clear message on what to do in Iraq. And I think that we have got to stay there to stabilize the situation as long as is necessary. ZAHN: But the head of your party said he's not going to tell us what that is until the year 2006.
EPSTEIN: Well, I think Howard Dean is wrong -- I think Howard Dean is wrong to say that the party won't put out specifics.
I think, both on terrorism and on the domestic agenda, the Democrats are going to have to be very specific and have a very affirmative, optimistic agenda, or they will be like the Republicans in 1998, where they will lose seats during the midterm election. But I think that the crisis that the president is involved in right now is not just related to Iraq. I think this president has basically lost credibility, the Scooter Libby indictment, all of the revelations about the intelligence being manipulated, the failures in Katrina, the -- the fact that there is no domestic agenda right now.
(CROSSTALK)
EPSTEIN: There's -- we're not doing anything on Social Security.
ZAHN: John Fund...
FUND: Sure.
ZAHN: ... you get the last word.
EPSTEIN: ... or on...
ZAHN: You get 10 seconds.
FUND: Democratic Senator Chuck Robb headed a commission which looked into whether or not the president misled in -- with the intelligence data. He concluded, along with every other commission member, bipartisan, it didn't happen.
ZAHN: But you have got to admit that all those things...
EPSTEIN: That -- that is besides the point.
ZAHN: ... piling up for the president have certainly not helped his credibility.
EPSTEIN: The public has lost their confidence in this president. That's the point.
FUND: There are Democrats who know what to do and be responsible, and there are Democrats who don't.
ZAHN: John Fund, Julian Epstein, got to leave it there. Thanks so much.
EPSTEIN: Thanks for having us.
ZAHN: Suicide bombers from Iraq are now the suspects in the deadly terror attacks in Jordan. And now there's an even more disturbing aspect to the story. I want you now to look hard at this chilling video, a woman wrapped in a belt of explosives packed with ball bearings. Officials in Jordan say she tried and failed to blow herself up in last week's bombings at three Western hotels in Amman. They say her partner in terror, her husband, succeeded, and killed 38 people at a wedding reception. Altogether, the three bombs killed 57 people.
The woman escaped the carnage and was later arrested in Jordan over the weekend. And, on that tape, she confesses. We will have more tonight about who she is and what connection she has to the top terrorist in Iraq.
But, first, senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins me now with the very latest on the investigation -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, the latest is that the investigation is now looking for all the other accomplices, the financiers, the logisticians, all the people that supported this four-person team inside Jordan. They had been staying in a so-called safe house for about three days before the bombing. I was there earlier today.
It is surrounded by intelligence officials. They are working outwards from there. But, as far as Jordanians are concerned, now they have caught this female suicide bomber. That, if you will, draws somewhat of a line under at least capturing, knowing who the bombers were and knowing where they came and how they perpetrated this act -- Paula.
ZAHN: So, do you have any more specifics on exactly how this woman was captured?
ROBERTSON: There are two principal reasons.
On the night of the bombing, her explosives failed to detonate. But police, either through photographs from the wedding that her and her husband targeted, or through eyewitness accounts, knew that there were two bombers going into that wedding, one of them dressed as a woman, covered completely in black.
Now, the next clue that police got was, a day-and-a-half later, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed on a Web -- on a Web site that there was a husband-and-woman team out there. The police were desperately looking for a woman. They even dug up a lady, a Jordanian lady who had already been buried, to cross-match tissue types to see if she was the missing woman, to see if material they found at the bomb site linked to that lady.
The -- the police here knew they were looking for a woman and actually found her very close to that safe house -- Paula.
ZAHN: Nic Robertson, (AUDIO GAP) much for the update.
Now, the question is, who is this woman we all saw on tape with that belt of explosives wrapped around her?
Brent Sadler has been digging into her background.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): They call her the fourth suicide bomber, sent from Iraq to kill in Jordan. And this was her confession.
It was almost unemotional. And there was no mention at all of why she carried out this mission. Sajida al-Rishawi is made to display a belt of explosives, crudely linked with tape, say officials here, to a pack of metal ball bearings.
AL-RISHAWI (through translator): My husband wore an explosive belt and put one on me. He taught me how to use it. The targets were hotels.
SADLER (on camera): An ice-cold confession that gives a harrowing account of what happened inside this banquet room when the deadly duo reached this target.
AL-RISHAWI (through translator): There was a wedding ceremony in the hotel. There were women, men and children.
SADLER: Her husband positioned himself here. His wife was on the other side of the room over there. When the bomb exploded, the ceiling collapsed. A burst of steel from the ball bearings cut down guests, sliced through wood and shattered glass.
(voice-over): She is 35 years old. We don't know whether she has children. We are told she has deep connections to the Iraq terror network, the sister of one of terror leader Abu Musab Zarqawi's top aides. Her brother was killed during a U.S. assault on Fallujah last year.
AL-RISHAWI (through translator): My husband detonated his bomb, and I tried to set off mine, but failed.
SADLER: Even though her own bomb apparently failed, all hell was let loose in here. But Sajida al-Rishawi still managed to escape.
AL-RISHAWI (through translator): People fled running, and I left running with them.
SADLER: Not all Jordanians accept this set-piece confession, and there are many unanswered questions. For example, how and where was she found? Where did Jordanian authorities discover the suicide belt?
Many Jordanians seem relieved the bombers were not homegrown and are particularly disgusted a woman was prepared to strike at civilians at a wedding party.
(on camera): Seconds before the blast, two proud fathers celebrated their son and daughter's union.
(voice-over): It should have been a day of happiness for the bride and groom. Instead, Ashraf Akhras found himself at this morgue, burying his own father and the father of his bride, finding some closure with the capture and confession.
ASHRAF AL-AKHRAS, BOMBING VICTIM: And now I can say that my father and all the innocent people who died, they can rest in peace.
SADLER: Sajida al-Rishawi was one of the first suicide bombers to strike at Jordan. There is still a lot of concern here she may not have been the last.
Brent Sadler, CNN, Amman.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And one more thing to note: U.S. intelligence officials say the woman's arrest could potentially be very useful to them as they try to learn more about al-Zarqawi's terror group in Iraq.
In just a minute, a CNN exclusive -- for the first time, we are going to hear from a woman whose husband was shot and killed at a Tennessee school last week. What does she have to say about the 15- year-old student who stands accused of her husband's murder?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JO BRUCE, WIDOW OF KEN BRUCE: I really don't feel hatred in my heart. I just feel a deep sadness. And I think he's going to feel tremendous sadness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Coming up, her husband's family, friends and former students talk about what he meant to them and how much he will be missed.
Also, the end of the chase for a teenager accused of shooting his girlfriend's parents and then running off with her.
Also, what would you do if a tornado nearly dropped down into your own backyard. Would you do what this man did and grab a video camera? We have his incredible pictures for you.
Please stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: As I speak, right now, four detectives from Pennsylvania Dutch country are on their way to Indiana to pick up an 18-year-old suspected of killing the parents of his 14-year-old girlfriend. Authorities say he then fled with her after the killings. And the big question we want to answer tonight: Is the girl a suspect or a victim?
Here's Allan Chernoff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A weekend of terror for 14-year-old Kara Borden ended here, outside Indianapolis, about 600 miles from home, where her 18-year-old boyfriend, David Ludwig, allegedly shot and killed her parents. The Volkswagen Jetta they were driving crashed after a police chase at speeds up to 90 miles an hour.
DAVID COX, INDIANA STATE POLICE: I pulled him from the car. There was some slight resistance, but that was it. She was just frantic, crying, screaming.
CHERNOFF: Police say, early Sunday morning, David Ludwig brought Kara home after a full night out together. Kara's parents, Michael and Cathryn, summoned Ludwig back to their home. He returned, concealing a handgun. During an argument, Ludwig allegedly shot Kara's father, Michael, in the head, then shot her mom, Cathryn.
(on camera): Making the story even more horrific is the fact that Kara's 15-year-old sister, Katelyn, told police she saw her father being killed right by the front door, then ran inside of a bathroom as her mother was shot. Minutes later, Katelyn ran out the back door towards a neighbor. Her 9-year-old brother, David, had already run across the street to this neighbor's home, from where he called the police.
Police stormed the home, but found only the two bodies.
On a street that appears simply idyllic, neighbors are shocked.
DAVID JONES, NEIGHBOR OF BORDENS: It just makes you think. It makes you stop and take a good, long, hard look at everything around you and so much we take for granted, that you just never know.
CHERNOFF: Still unknown, whether or not Kara played any role in the murders.
SKYLER JONES, FRIEND OF KARA BORDEN: She was a really nice friend. She's an amazing friend. Her parents always made us feel at home at her house. It was just a nice place to be.
TOM MANNON, NEIGHBOR OF BORDENS: She seemed to be a typical all- American girl, just a sweet kid on the street, and just a beautiful kid. And -- and she knew my girls very well.
CHERNOFF: David Ludwig, neighbors say, often dressed in black and favored a Goth look. He was homeschooled and had worked as a lifeguard and at Circuit City this past summer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: The district attorney plans to charge Mr. Ludwig with two counts of homicide and one count of kidnapping. If convicted, Mr. Ludwig could face life in prison -- Paula.
ZAHN: And, once again, Allan, they aren't saying anything about whether Kara could have potentially been involved in her parents' murders?
CHERNOFF: They just don't know yet.
And, under Indiana law, they are actually -- the police are not permitted to question a 14-year-old. They're going to, as you said, bring her back here to Pennsylvania and then, hopefully, find out the full story.
CHERNOFF: Allan Chernoff, a lot of questions being raised tonight -- thanks.
And, just a few minutes ago, I spoke with Kara Beth Borden's pastor, Kevin Eshleman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Pastor Eshleman joins us now.
Good of you to join us tonight, sir.
Do you think Kara was kidnapped or do you think she wanted to flee her parents' murder scene with her boyfriend?
KEVIN ESHLEMAN, PASTOR OF KARA BETH BORDEN: I can only speak from my own personal experience with knowing Kara personally.
And I would say, I can't comprehend any way in which she would conspire against her parents in this way. It just is almost incomprehensible, to think that she would be a part of something like that.
ZAHN: And I'm not even suggesting that -- that she took part in the murders.
ESHLEMAN: Sure.
ZAHN: But do you think it's possible that she was so crazy about this young man that, once he finished off what he's accused of doing, that she wanted to go with him?
ESHLEMAN: It may have been a moment of confusion for her, which she may have done something irrational. I'm not sure about that.
But I just have a hard time believing that she would have gone willingly. That's just my personal opinion, in knowing her. I -- it was a good family. I think she loved her parents. They were -- and she's a good kid. They were dealing with some stuff that is somewhat typical among teenagers. And I think her parents were dealing with it wisely. But I don't believe -- I think it just got out of hand somehow.
ZAHN: Knowing her as well as you did, do you think she had the maturity to carry on a relationship with an 18-year-old boy?
ESHLEMAN: Well, Kara is very outgoing. I mean, she loves people. And she -- and she is very friendly. And, if she was my daughter and she was 14 years old, I would have done something about a relationship with an 18-year-old boy, just like her parents did. ZAHN: And, obviously, your community is shattered.
ESHLEMAN: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: But -- but what was the reaction in this close-knit community to the murders...
ESHLEMAN: Yes.
ZAHN: ... of Mr. and Mrs. Borden?
ESHLEMAN: Well, the only word that I can really use to describe that is just being stunned, just absolutely stunned, that something like that would happen in this community to people who are so -- such good people, people that were well known in the community, and even Kara being a nice girl. That -- that something like this could happen was almost -- almost unthinkable.
ZAHN: Well, I am very sorry about your loss.
And, Reverend, we really appreciate your joining us tonight.
ESHLEMAN: Thank you for your time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And, coming up next, our exclusive look at the reopening of an east Tennessee high school. It is the first day of class since a student allegedly shot and killed an assistant principal who was everyone's friend.
And something like this could happen again tonight or tomorrow night. Coming up, why are we having bad springtime weather in mid- November?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God! (INAUDIBLE) Get over here!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Tomorrow marks one week since a student allegedly brought a pistol into an east Tennessee high school. He is now accused of shooting the principal and two assistant principals. One of them, Ken Bruce, died.
The school has been closed ever since, as the community dealt with its grief and its shock. Well, classes finally got under way today. But, as you might imagine, it wasn't easy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ZAHN (voice-over): They tried to get back to normal today at Campbell County Comprehensive High School in Jacksboro, Tennessee. But nothing is normal anymore.
KAREN HENDRICKS, TEACHER: We're just not the same anymore. You know, things are different. It's -- it has happened to us. And it happened right there, where he taught, every day.
ZAHN: "It" is last Tuesday's fatal shooting of 48-year-old assistant principal Ken Bruce. Authorities intend to charge a 15- year-old student with first-degree murder. The students stay Bruce knew the alleged gunman well.
JACKIE HEERDT, STUDENT: Mr. Bruce talked to him. I mean, he was like trying to befriend him and everything. And Mr. Bruce would sit there and go, well, maybe -- he would roll his eyes when he got done with Mr. Bruce talking to him. And he goes say, well, maybe his eyeballs are loose or something like that.
J. BRUCE: I really don't feel hatred in my heart. I just feel a deep sadness. And I think he's going to feel tremendous sadness.
ZAHN: Jo Bruce is now a widow. We haven't heard from her until now.
J. BRUCE: And he saw something positive in every single student that he met. And he spent so much time with students and really caring about them. And, every night, we would sit, and every morning during coffee, we would sit and talk about his students and what else he could do. And, you know, he was just constantly searching out things to make their lives better.
ZAHN: The horror of the shooting is still fresh in everyone's minds. So is the community's display of love and grief. Saturday's funeral mass was overflowing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aim. Fire!
(GUNSHOTS)
ZAHN: Bruce received a 21-gun salute. He was a 20-year Army veteran. But they also released orange-and-blue balloons, the school colors, an outpouring of love that took Bruce's son by surprise.
CHRISTOPHER BRUCE, SON OF KEN BRUCE: We were just totally unaware how much he meant to other people. And we were just totally unaware of what he was doing out in the community and who he was to all these other people that we didn't even know.
ZAHN: Teachers say Bruce was behind efforts to make the school safer, implementing new rules for school entrances. Parents say Bruce had a special way with his students.
DIANNA HEERDT, PARENT: He knew these kids' music. He knew their likes, their dislikes. He knew how to get down on their level, which is very hard. ZAHN: To his students, Bruce was more than a teacher or mentor. Quite simply, they loved him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was just fun. And he was always there for his students. If one of the students needed help, he went out of his way to help them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a man that you could count on. You could always come to if you had a problem and he'd help you get through it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was very loving, caring to us. Made sure that we were always put first. Made sure that we did our best.
ZAHN: And so, it's back to school for lessons that weren't on the curriculum this year. Treasure your friends and, as difficult as it can be, life must go on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN (on-camera): Lessons that none of us ever wants to learn the way they learned them in Tennessee.
Also tonight, the two men injured in last Tuesday's shooting, principal Gary Seal, as well as assistant principal and track coach Jim Pierce, remain at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville tonight. Both of them were seriously injured. Both are recovering from their wounds.
And as I said earlier, the alleged gunman is in jail awaiting a hearing in juvenile court. A clerk for the county prosecutor tells us that that will not happen this week.
I really want you to stay with us for a story that's coming up. I'm going to introduce you to some really remarkable kids. They have a mysterious disorder that makes them constantly twitch and move.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM: It is not contagious. It is not a mental disability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: And there are thousands and thousands of kids like them all over the country. Ahead, what's it like growing up with Tourette's syndrome.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, I'm Chad Myers in the CNN Weather Center. In case you missed it, we have some rare and fascinating video of what it's like inside a tornado. I'll take you there, when PAULA ZAHN NOW continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Potentially very dangerous weather is moving across the country right now. I want you to take a look at this map from Indiana down to Alabama. People need to be on guard for tornadoes. At least through tomorrow night.
And rare November twisters have already touched down this week in the Midwest. Just take a look at what happened in one neighborhood in the small Iowa town of Woodward. When a tornado struck this weekend, and it was all caught on some amazing videotape.
Here's Geoff Greenwood of affiliate KCCI.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMIAH NANCE, TORNADO SURVIVOR: We dodged a pretty bit bullet, so -- the whole family did.
GEOFF GREENWOOD, KCCI CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jeremiah Nance did much more than ride out the powerful tornado. He rolled on it with his home video camera as the twister barreled right toward him. That's Jeremiah's father Russel in the foreground with the tornado closing in behind him.
RUSSEL NANCE, JEREMIAH NANCE'S FATHER: It looked like it was going to go away. Then you could see stuff flying in it. It picked up speed and then it just took off like a shot.
GREENWOOD: Russel's youngest son Doug runs inside to be with his wife and two children.
DOUG NANCE, JEREMIAH NANCE'S BROTHER: I thought they were right behind me as I was coming down the stairs, but no. They decided to stay outside. Thank god they're all right.
GREENWOOD: But they know their hometown of Woodward is not all right, as the tornado steam rolls right over the town of 1,200 people.
D. NANCE: You don't think that quick that everything can just be gone. But -- and it's just horrible, just everything destroyed.
GREENWOOD: After checking on their own family to make sure they're all right, their thoughts turn toward neighbors.
(on camera): The two brothers walk through town to make sure everybody is OK. And then they hear something coming from this house.
JACKIE SEEMAN, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I was standing near the window screaming, "I need help! I need help!"
J. NANCE: All I could hear was her, you know, yelling.
Are you all right? Are you all right?
SEEMAN: I'm OK.
J. NANCE: OK.
GREENWOOD: It was Jackie Seeman. She was home resting when a terrifying roar abruptly awakens her.
SEEMAN: I just heard this big whoosh and I feel my house shake and I thought oh my god, oh my god. And then everything just came crashing down.
GREENWOOD: And minutes later, two strangers, two brothers, show up to pull her to safety.
J. NANCE: Is there anybody else in there with you?
SEEMAN: No.
Just out of nowhere they came running up. And I was so thankful to see somebody, because I didn't know what was going on. You know, I'm going to love you so much.
GREENWOOD: Jackie lost her home, but she did not lose her life.
SEEMAN: And I'm just so happy to be alive. And I really think -- I just know that god was with me.
GREENWOOD: And the same could be said for the man who captured this devastating tornado on tape.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ZAHN: They're lucky they didn't get hurt. Geoff Greenwood of CNN affiliate KCCI reporting for us tonight.
And there is a lot of fear tonight because emergency officials in Indiana are saying that conditions this week are similar to last week, when tornadoes devastated a community near Evansville, killing 23 people.
Joining me now, severe weather expert Chad Myers. Chad, I want us all to listen one more time to that small section of tape as this twister was touching down in this town.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god! oh, my god! oh, my god!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Chad, I have seen a bunch of twisters in my life having grown up in the Midwest. I don't think I've ever seen one that hovered on the ground in one place for this long. Is it actually moving there?
MYERS: It was moving about 15 miles-per-hour. But what it was doing at that point was intensifying. It was actually going from an F1 to an F2 right over the town of Woodward, right there.
The track was actually 11 miles long. You have to think about it. What does that take, maybe two minutes if it's going 15 miles- per-hour. That's less than a half a mile, it's going to go in that videotaped segment there. ZAHN: And we've also pulled a shot where you can see what appears to be the width of this tornado from end to end. How wide of a path? I guess the number tells me if I look at the screen. I'm going to answer my own question, Chad, 300 feet. That's not a huge width is it?
MYERS: That is not. This really looks like F2, possibly smaller, minor F3 damage. Somewhere around 150 miles-per-hour. A lot of debris getting picked up in this storm. Everything getting sucked into the bottom of the storm.
Look at the debris falling out of the top. I'm so surprised these guys didn't get hit by something. You get hit by a shingle going 150 miles-per-hour, I mean, Paula, that's just dangerous.
ZAHN: Dangerous and someone would say downright stupid.
MYERS: Well, there you go.
ZAHN: Tell us more about the impact of the storm. As it was gaining strength it was measured as a what?
MYERS: As an F2 tornado, about 150-to-160 miles-per-hour. There was another storm to northwest of it, through Stratford, actually, it was an F3, 200 miles-per-hour. It did a lot of damage to that town as well.
ZAHN: I know you'll be a busy man tonight because of the weather conditions that seem to be ripe for, perhaps more tornadoes being spun.
MYERS: Tonight and tomorrow.
ZAHN: Thanks Chad, appreciate it.
And coming up next, I'm going to take you into the world of some fascinating and frankly, very brave children. There's nothing wrong with their minds, but they can't control their bodies. And some of them will tell us what it's like to live that way.
And a little bit later on, TV like you've never seen it before. But will we be seeing too much?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: I want to warn you now that what you are about to see may make some of you uncomfortable. It is about some remarkable children who are very courageously telling their stories about living with Tourette's Syndrome. If you have heard of it, you know it makes them move and make noise uncontrollably. And you can only imagine how difficult that is when you are growing up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN (voice-over): Uncontrollable grunts. Bizarre outbursts. Seemingly violent ticks. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mom!
ZAHN: Tens of thousands of kids across America suffer from them daily. The neurological disorder known as Tourette's syndrome, which you might have thought of as an adult's disease, can strike when kids are just toddlers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They like come out all the time.
ZAHN: Colin has had Tourette's for as long as he can remember.
COLIN: Actually, when I was born, I came out and I had my head shaking somehow. I don't know. That's what I was told, is that I was brought up, my whole life I was shaking my head.
ZAHN: Home video shows Colin shaking his head as he takes some of his first steps. Then at age 3, as he opens presents. By the time Colin is 6, he's shaking his head and coughing -- classic indicators of Tourette's, and ticks he still has today at age 13. Ticks he's likely to have for the rest of his life.
11-year-old William knows how Colin feels. He also has Tourette's. They both met with me to honestly talk about what it's like to grow up with this disorder.
(on camera): So, Colin, how old were you when you realized that your head was shaking like that?
COLIN: I guess I always realized it. It's just -- it was always just so natural for me that sometimes I can't even tell if I am or am not doing it, if I am at the most comfortable of comfortable situations.
ZAHN: You are pretty comfortable right now on a beanbag chair. Do you know that you are shaking your head?
COLIN: Yeah.
ZAHN: Is it embarrassing at times?
COLIN: It's like, you know, those dreams where you have a dream where you are like walking into school and you notice, oh, my God, I'm in my underwear. When you are a new kid at school, it's almost exactly what it's like for most people with Tourette's syndrome.
ZAHN (voice-over): Tourette's generally appears in kids sometime between the ages of 2 and 15. Boys are three to four times more likely to have the disorder.
COLIN: It is involuntary. We can't help it.
ZAHN: That sudden urge to do or say certain things can be overwhelming.
COLIN: One of my big ticks is like breathing through my nose, but like really quick and up my nose really quick. Or that kind of stuff. And I don't -- I don't know. And blinking. I blink pretty fast.
ZAHN: Dr. Barbara Coffey is the director of the Institute for the Study of Tourette's and Movement Disorders. She says ticks can sometimes be partially controlled. But in the long run, it's uncomfortable for kids not to let them out.
DR. BARBARA COFFEY, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF TOURETTE'S AND MOVEMENT DISORDERS: If you think of it like a sneeze, when you have a sneeze, the feeling builds up before you sneeze and it goes away once you actually sneeze and release it. It's very similar to the tick, and many kids experience a very uncomfortable feeling of tension or pressure or discomfort inside of them before they have the tick.
ZAHN: In this video, you can actually see a young girl struggling with her Tourette's. After holding it in all day, she finally lets out her ticks.
Tragically, there's no cure for Tourette's syndrome. Although as some kids get older, it does become easier to control.
COFFEY: In general, it's not necessarily a lifetime of the same degree of symptoms. In general, the symptoms improve in many, many children.
ZAHN: But adolescence, already a tough time for many, can be especially difficult for kids like Colin and William.
(on camera): Colin, what do you think is the hardest thing about having Tourette's?
COLIN: It would have to be school, substitutes, that whole area.
ZAHN: And how do they deal with you?
COLIN: Just people that don't know. There are some people that don't get dealt the card, hey, this kid has Tourette's syndrome. It's basically you are just sitting there and you're shaking your head, and eventually you're going to be ticking and coughing and coughing and ticking, and shaking your head and coughing, and she's just going to be like, what is this? You go outside. So I usually do go outside, and then...
ZAHN: So no one has even bothered to explain to the substitute...
COLIN: No.
ZAHN: That you have Tourette's.
COLIN: No.
ZAHN (voice-over): It's that kind of ignorance and insensitivity that these young teens want to end. That is why both William and Colin, along with 21 other kids, participated in a new HBO documentary "I Have Tourette's, But Tourette's Doesn't Have Me." A film showing the daily struggles of thousands of kids dealing with this heartbreaking syndrome, every minute of the day, fighting to control the uncontrollable.
COLIN: I want everyone who hears me right now to understand that it's not contagious. It is not a mental disability. Everyone who has Tourette's is the same as you, and anyone, really.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Those kids were so strong and adorable, I might add. I should mention the documentary "I Have Tourette's, But Tourette's Doesn't Have Me" airs on our sister networks HBO and HBO Family.
Coming up, a TV revolution is coming your way. Not sure you're ready for it, though. The picture will be five to 10 times better than what you are probably watching right now, thankfully. But do you really want to see things that clearly?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see his warts. You can see bumps and dirt on his face that are completely gone. You don't even notice it here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Stay with us. Jeanne Moos will try to describe what you are missing now but won't be soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: And, we're back at just about eight minutes before the hour. Time to check in with Erica Hill for the "Headline News Biz Break."
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, drug and medical related stocks getting plenty of attention today. This after shares of Abbott Labs lost more than 7 percent after trials showed its newest drugs lower blood fat did not significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks.
Now overall, not much movement today on the street. The DOW is up 11 points, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 also virtually unchanged.
Meantime, bankrupt Delta airlines reached a deal with flight superintendents to reduce wages and benefits. The airline said it's not sure whether its pension plan will continue once it emerges from bankruptcy.
On the up note here, classic TV shows coming to your computer for free. Time Warner's AOL division will offer episodes of old Warner Brothers TV shows, things like "Welcome Back, Kotter," and "Kung Fu." All starting next year. Time Warner, of course, is also the parent company of CNN. And Paula, this one? Talk about pricey. A seat on the New York Stock Exchange sold today for a record high price, $3,025,000. That is one pricey seat. And that's a look at your business headlines for this Monday.
Paula, back to you.
ZAHN: Erica Hill, thanks so much.
Please stay with us for the future of TV, no matter what you like to watch, you're going to be seeing it a whole lot more clearly. Could that make a housewife, desperate?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS SWANN, PRESIDENT, TVPREDICTIONS.COM: She is an HDTV hottie. Her skin is as smooth as Bill Clinton at a cocktail party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Coming up, a TV picture with all the details and blemishes you've never seen before.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Well, we've certainly come a long way from the days when TV was black and white. Now we have color, digital tuning and Cable. But the next wave is coming.
High-definition TV with crystal clear pictures, much sharper than what you are seeing right now. Well, good luck for you at home. Terrifying for a lot of us in front of the camera.
Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The latest wrinkle in TV technology can make a mountain out of a mole.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a shaving accident.
MOOS: The slightest nick can look like a laceration.
CHARLES GIBSON, ABC's "Good Morning America": We're delighted to be broadcasting in high def.
MOOS: Delighted? For some, high definition equals high anxiety. It's enough to make a housewife desperate.
SWANN: She also has these big veins bulging out of her forehead. It kind of looks like a page from a Triple A road map.
MOOS: It's one thing when HDTV lets you eye ball the laces on a football. But, it can also make a local sports anchor look like a slob.
SWANN: More than once, I have seen him on there with food stains on his lapel.
MOOS: Ready or not, high def is coming. Prepare the counterattack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frown again. That's good, relax now.
SWANN: Some local news teams are starting to ask for Botox budgets in anticipation of going high def.
MOOS: You are going to have to use your imagination with this piece, because you probably don't have HDTV yet. Only 6 percent of Americans do. So, those of you with regular TV won't be able to fully appreciate how bad we look in HD. That's regular TV on the left. HD on the right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see his warts. You can see bumps and dirt on his face that are completely gone. You don't even notice it here.
MOOS: Good Morning America recently launched in high def.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Standard television, HD.
DIANE SAWYER, ABC's "Good Morning America": Can you see the texture in Robin's jacket?
MOOS: But it's the texture of the face that has talent on alert.
SAWYER: Seeing even more about what we did the night before.
ROBIN ROBERTS, ABC's "Good Morning America": All right, don't go there, don't go there, sister friend.
That is the Grand Canyon. Have you ever seen it like that on TV?
MOOS: Yes, what about wrinkles that look like the Grand Canyon. Watch out or you'll end up on the HD horribles list, along with David Letterman.
SWANN: He's got more lines on his face than his writers have in their heads.
MOOS: And Clint Eastwood.
SWANN: I love Clint Eastwood, but he's in his '70s now, and he kind of reminds you of his very first TV show when you see his face. Rawhide.
MOOS: The opposite of skin like rawhide, the HD honeys. Marcia Cross is the only one over 40 to make the list.
SWANN: He is an HDTV hottie. Her skin is as smooth as Bill Clinton at a cocktail party. MOOS: Another HD honey was Ashton Kutcher, but wife Demi Moore was named an HD horrible. High def has makeup artists reaching for their latest weapon, the airbrush. Take aim at the acne.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like Benjamin Moore for people.
MOOS: There's even a little programming card shooters stick in their cameras.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can set this so that the focus is a little softer and wrinkles don't show up.
MOOS: But there's one star that doesn't airbrushed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen Spongebob in a high def?
MOOS: Spongebob is proud to show off his pores.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
ZAHN: All I can say is, thank goodness for spackle.
That's it for all of us tonight and have a great night.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
