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CNN Saturday Morning News

State of Emergency in Mississippi as Southeast Recovers From Deadly Storms; Seeking Justice for D.J. Henry; Bipolar Disorder Explained; Helping your Mileage Grow

Aired April 16, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN, ANCHOR: We're at the top of the hour. Here now from the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. It's 9:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, Georgia. It's 8:00 a.m. in Jackson, Mississippi, where there is a state of emergency. A powerful tornado ripped through Mississippi, much of the southeast last night. We will take a look at where the storm is headed today. The damage it caused and also the still increasing death toll.

Also Oscar-winning actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has dominated headlines lately, announcing that she is bipolar. What exactly is that condition and there are signs possibly you should be looking out for. We will explain this to you.

But I do need to begin with this powerful weather. These spring storms causing death and destruction in parts of the south and they are not done just yet. The system erupted Thursday out of Oklahoma and Arkansas, made its way east, killed at least 17 people now in three states. Two people dead in Oklahoma. Damage in some areas, just unreal. Tornado in one town of Tushka, that's in Oklahoma. Take a look at some of this damage.

The governor there touring the area today. Arkansas was hit pretty hard after this. The storm killed seven people there. Among the victims, a 34-year-old woman and her seven-year-old son. They died when an oak tree fell on their house in Little Rock. The fire captain says the two were found in bed and it appeared the mother had apparently gone in and tried to get in the bed to help comfort the child during the storm. There was also an 18-month-old in that house in another room, but was not hurt.

Also, see what the damage was done in Jackson, Mississippi. Homes were knocked off their foundations, trees uprooted, power lines knocked down. Storm even forced the closing of an interstate, interstate 20 there. There have been reports of at least 98 twisters over the past couple of days.

Our CNN meteorologists are here telling us that this has been one of the worst outbreaks of tornadoes in the south at least since last summer. Storm exploded over Alabama as well. Reports of tornado touch downs in at least six counties.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy crap.

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HOLMES: Yes, you get an idea here. The pounding rain, the high winds, causing electrical transformer in Tuscaloosa to explode. Also, three people were killed when trees crashed into their homes in one county, a fourth person in a separate county killed as well. Alabama's governor has declared a state of emergency there.

Thousands of people in the Metro Atlanta area woke up this morning with no power after being pounded by these storms overnight. Powerful storms slashed across north Georgia leaving many toppled trees, power lines, really looking like the same scenes we're seeing in other states. Powerful storms have caused deaths and damage in the southeast and now they are making their way east into the mid- Atlantic states.

Karen Maginnis is keeping a close eye on a storm that could still cause some problems today.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it can. I just found out that less than a quarter of a mile from my house, a large tree crossed the road, no one was injured there. These storms have just raked across the south central U.S., the southeastern United States and continued very powerful.

This is a Google Earth map. I want to point this out because of several things. Here is Alabama and here is Mississippi. Where we have seen the bulk of the tornadic activity is right along that Mississippi-Alabama border. One of the towns here is called Vinegar Bend, right about down here. This is also where Yarbo is, located in Alabama. We had several tornado reports here and we just got information, three people, a mother and her two children and another person, were killed when these tornadoes touched down.

Now this could be one tornado touching down, going up, touching down again in various places. That's how the severe storm prediction center looks at tornadic activity right now. We want to show you what's going on as far as the tornadic activity that we might expect today. We've got a moderate risk across the Carolinas. Mostly from say about Charleston to Wilmington towards Virginia Beach and near Richmond, we could see the risk of an isolated tornado as well.

Take a look at these pictures out of Yarbo, this is in Alabama. In some cases, it looks like total destruction. Now, they'll come out and take a look at this. There's a little puppy dog walking around. Then the woman has a puppy dog. So we assume that was her dog. But nonetheless, this very beautiful oak tree, torn down. Twisted. Just some wreckage for the most part across these little towns that can just - they are going to have to clean up today. These are small towns. When a small portion of the population gets affected it seems big in these little communities, T.J. And that's what we're looking at today, just these - one community after another reporting damage and hail as well as tornadic activity. HOLMES: All right. Karen Maginnis, we appreciate having you on for us this morning. We'll check in with her plenty throughout this morning.

I want to turn now to Long Island, New York, where the family of a murdered young woman said they actually got phone calls from a man claiming to be the killer. This is one of the latest disturbing new developments in the search for a possible serial killer.

Twenty-four-year-old Melissa Barthelemy was one of the presumed victims. Her mother says a man who was actually using her daughter's cell phone, made taunting phone calls to the victim's sister and admitted to the killing. Listen to this.

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LYNN BARTHELEMY, MELISSA BARTHELEMY'S MOTHER: He was taunting her. He was basically torturing her. You know, she kept asking where her sister was and he just wouldn't tell her. She would ask, you know, if she was alive. He wouldn't answer. I mean, we always had hope until that last call when he told Amanda that he killed her.

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HOLMES: Now at least eight sets of remains have been recovered. Four have been identified. One of them confirmed to be that of Melissa Barthelemy.

Now, I want to turn to a story that is causing outrage. It seems that the hits just keep on coming for the family of D.J. Henry. This young man was killed by a police officer in an incident at the end of last year. A grand jury refused to indict that police officer, saying that he did nothing wrong. The parents certainly disagree.

But now comes word that the police officer who shot and killed D.J. Henry, has been honored with an award for being the police officer of the year.

Now D.J. Henry, you're seeing his picture there and you're also seeing some of the video from the scene where he was killed, but he was killed in a burst of gunfire from a police officer who was clinging to the hood of his car.

Now what really happened outside that bar in Westchester County, New York, last October, is something now that the Department of Justice is looking into.

The police version of things differs sharply from what some of the eyewitnesses say. But again, the officer, Aaron Hess, that a grand jury did not indict, that officer has now been honored with an award.

Angela and Danroy Henry join me this morning. They are the parents of D.J. Henry.

I've spoken to you guys on a couple of occasions. Glad to have you back with us.

I will simply ask you, what is your reaction to hearing the man (INAUDIBLE) Aaron Hess, the officer that shot and killed your son, has now been honored as the officer of the year by his police union?

DANROY HENRY, PARENT: Thank you for having us back.

And I will tell you it's one of the only places where, frankly, their actions have been consistent. You know, from the beginning, there have been efforts - I should say first, that the head of this patrolman's union has claimed, as we understand, that this was intended to be a private ceremony. Not apologized for giving the award. He just said that, you know, it was supposed to be in secret and unfortunately somebody exposed it to the light of scrutiny.

And it just doesn't seem to measure up to that. It isn't the first thing they've tried to do in secret, including dash cam video that for whatever reason is missing, would have been perhaps some of the best evidence, but wasn't there. A prosecution based on evidence that was gathered by police agencies investigating themselves, a prosecution that went forward with an assistant district attorney presenting evidence to a grand jury without a judge, without other lawyers in the room. That's how the process works while she was simultaneously presenting charges against our son's friends in another court. It just - it just perplexes us so much can be done in secret.

HOLMES: Mrs. Henry, I want to get your reaction as well. How did you get word - first of all, that this award was given to Officer Hess but what was your reaction to it?

ANGELA HENRY, PARENT: Well, I had a local reporter come to our home on Tuesday evening around 9:00 and asked if I had any statement to the fact that Aaron Hess was going to receive officer of the year. I wasn't surprised. I said I had no comment. His union has said from day one that they would support him. And that's what they've been doing.

It just seems surprising to us they would honor someone who is currently under investigation and probably violated his own police protocol by firing into a moving vehicle. It would seem that there would be other people that would have done other things that would warrant police officer of the year.

HOLMES: And for our viewers, a lot of people familiar with this story, but certainly the versions differ from some of the eyewitnesses and the police officers and again a grand jury refused to indict Officer Hess, essentially saying he did not do anything wrong and he was justified in using the deadly force he used. But I want to read from the benevolent, Police Benevolent Association. That's the union.

I have a statement from them saying "The PBA membership unanimously voted to present the award to Officer Hess as an expression of the membership support of Officer Hess. Officer Hess has always been a highly respected officer and member of the Pleasantville Community. Again, this is a group that - a small group, about 20 officers, I believe that are in this particular unit that voted for this.

You all, I know I talked to you after - before and after the grand jury came back and said that they would not indict. You all were thinking about at that time a possible civil lawsuit against the police department. Have you made a decision there?

DANROY HENRY: We have. We are moving forward with the civil lawsuit. And we expect that we'll make the details of that known next week. But we're also hopeful that the U.S. attorney's office and Department of Justice will actually do a very thorough and objective investigation and will present evidence in a way that we believe is far less affected by the local influences in West Chester County that leads to an indictment and a criminal prosecution. We should have questions asked and legitimately answered by a legitimate prosecutor. And that's what we're hopeful, happens.

HOLMES: Mrs. Henry, I will wrap up with you on this question. Again, I've talked to you all several times and you all have had plenty of time to think over and see all these evidence more so than most people have. But has anything changed in your mind, the attorney for Officer Hess, they have certainly claimed and that it was actually D.J., your son himself, some of his behavior, led to that incident that night and if he had done things differently, he wouldn't have died.

Has anything changed in your mind to make you think that your son did anything wrong that night that may have been interpreted by that officer as something threatening and, therefore, the officer had to act the way he did?

ANGELA HENRY: T.J., what they neglect to say is that D.J. was asked to move his car from a police officer. He was following the directions of the first police officer that asked him to move his car. Aaron Hess is from a different police department. Now whether or not he knew the first officer asked D.J. to move his car or not, he decided to use deadly force by stepping in front of a moving vehicle with his gun already drawn.

Our son was simply following directions that were given to him by a police officer. He did nothing wrong that night. And he should still be here today with us.

HOLMES: All right.

ANGELA HENRY: These are the actions of a police officer that did not think through what he was doing.

HOLMES: All right. And your hopes for the Justice Department? Do you think they will or hoping they will take up this case and maybe actions will come against that officer?

DANROY HENRY: Well, we know they haven't and our hope is that they will look at the evidence in an objective way. We believe it's the first time that will have happened.

HOLMES: All right. And certainly, as far as the other side, I know the attorney for Officer Hess as well as the police department and others are standing by his story, saying, in fact, that it didn't happen the way that some of the witnesses say. So two different sides to this story, but it's good to have you all and see you once again. Thank you for taking the time out with us and sharing your story and giving us a reaction once again to this. Like I said at the beginning, the hits just seem to keep on coming for you in some ways. But thank you for your time this morning.

DANROY HENRY: Thank you.

ANGELA HENRY: Thank you, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. We're at 15 minutes past the hour.

She's a woman that wears a lot of titles. She's a mother. She's the wife of a legendary actor and also an Oscar winner, but she has a new label that has sparked some headlines worldwide. Catherine Zeta- Jones is bipolar. Do you know what that means and do you know whether or not there are some symptoms you need to look out for in yourself or others around you?

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HOLMES: Well, millions of people in this country have bipolar disorder. Now we're getting word that Catherine Zeta-Jones has it as well, the popular actress. Here with Elizabeth Cohen, our senior medical correspondent. Help people understand, first of all, we hear it, what exactly is it?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. I think a lot of people aren't familiar with it, but it really is, T.J., what it sounds like. So someone who is bipolar has very high highs and very low, lows. So when they're high, they're manic. They feel like they can do anything and they feel like, for example, if someone's really, really manic they might go around buying four cars in one week. Because they can. And they want to and they do it and they feel like they can conquer the world. And then when they're low they're severely, severely depressed.

HOLMES: How do some people end up being affected and become a bipolar person? And some others don't.

COHEN: It's not known. There's a thought that genetics plays a role, that you may be wired for this in some way, shape or form and then there's a thought that things can trigger. For example, Catherine Zeta-Jones who says that she has a type that's more mild than other people has. She is the more mild type but she's had a tough year. I mean, her husband was diagnosed with cancer and her stepson went to jail and her husband's ex-wife sued them for, you know, financially and yes, so, you know, that's tough. Maybe the stress that kind of sets this off.

HOLMES: Do you treat it? Do you manage it? I guess curing it is going too far.

COHEN: Curing it is probably going too far but managing it is probably a good word. And so there are drugs that people take called mood stabilizers, which makes sense, right? Instead of going up and down, they're more stable. And lithium can help with the depressive episodes and also therapy. It's interesting to me that psychiatrists tell us that part of the therapy is to tell people with signals to look for, to tell them they're becoming manic. Because they think it's great, it feels good.

HOLMES: It feels good.

COHEN: So they need to be told your know what, you don't look good when you're manic and so when you're feeling this way, you should know you should sort of try to be manic in private as much as you can because other people will notice that something is going on.

HOLMES: Well, we're at 20 minutes past the hour here now. The way gas prices keep going up, you may feel like you need to take out a loan to fill up the tank. Tips on how to get the most out of your gas money.

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HOLMES: Well, 23 past the hour. Stephanie Elam is coming to your rescue. She's on the road right now bringing us tips on how you can get the most miles out of each tank of gas.

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STEPHANIE ELAM, BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, T.J. So we're here at "Consumer Reports" and joined by Jon Linkov who is here to show us really how to do better about our gas mileage. I mean, a lot of people are thinking about it now, gas prices are above $4 in a lot of cities in the country now and we're getting really close to the national average, being near that all-time high that we hit in July of 2008. So with that in mind, you know, what do you think we should do?

JON LINKOV, AUTOS EDITOR, "CONSUMER REPORTS": I think we should take a ride and talk about ways people can save money on fuel?

ELAM: All right. Let's do it.

So, one thing that I think a lot of people do, obviously city drivers do it more, is the idling. But that's a bad thing to do, right?

LINKOV: Well, if you're going to be idling for 30 seconds or even up to a minute at times, it's really best for you to turn your car off. You don't use that much fuel turning the car on and off as much as you do if you're just sitting there.

ELAM: What about the speed, though?

LINKOV: Really, the best way to drive to maximize fuel economy is to think that you're driving with a cup of coffee sitting on your dash board. You want to accelerate slowly, tip into the throttle, not really splash the coffee back up on you. That's one thing you have to avoid.

ELAM: So go ahead and tell me about the need for slowing down.

LINKOV: If you think about it try a week where you do drive gently, you do drive easier, not with huge inputs on your throttle and you'll find that, you know, you may go half a day longer without having to put fuel in the car. That's going to be a savings in your wallet.

ELAM: Tell me about the trunk. There's something you want to tell me, John.

LINKOV: OK. One thing you want to think about is not keeping that much junk in the trunk. You're vehicle is carrying more things, carrying more weight, you're using more fuel to drag that stuff around.

ELAM: Does it matter whether you get 89 or 91 or whatever kind of gas for your car?

LINKOV: It's important to know the type of gas that your car takes. For example, this Chevy Cruz in the owner's manual will tell you exactly what fuel type it is. For this car it's an 87 octane that 's recommended, the lowest grade.

ELAM: The lowest one.

LINKOV: Right. Sp you gain nothing by putting 91 in this car at all. However if you have a vehicle that says recommended 91, if you drop down and put in 87 you're saving a little bit of money but you run the risk of damaging the engine.

ELAM: Is there any good way to track gas prices?

LINKOV: Well, you know, you can use gas buddy. That's one site that's out there that a lot of people reference, a lot of web sites will link to that. Use your local newspaper, use your local web site.

ELAM: John, thanks so much for the good information. Really good to meet you. T.J.

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HOLMES: All right. Thanks to our Stephanie Elam there. It's a tough day for a lot of folks in the southeast. They're waking up this morning with a tough cleanup task ahead. Cleaning up some very powerful storms. A quick look at that in a moment.

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HOLMES: Well, the death toll has risen to 17 in the storms that rocked much of the southern plains and deep south. Tornadoes reported in Oklahoma and Georgia. That storm system how heading east. We'll have the very latest. Also, right now I want to pass along some sad news about a dear friend and one of our family members at CNN. Reynolds Wolf's father, William Miles Wolf Jr., passed away at 7:10 Central time yesterday after dealing with an illness for quite some time. According to Reynolds, he tells me that his father passed quietly and in his words, "left the world gracefully." Our hearts, our thoughts are certainly with Reynolds and his family at this time.

I'll be back here with more live news at the top of the hour. But I'll hand it over to "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" right now.