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CNN NEWSROOM

Search Resumes for Tornado Victims; Carney Responds to Liar Charge; Girl Needs Transplant; Action Hero Helps U.S. Lawmakers

Aired June 3, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: A wildfire burning out of control, homes threatened, families evacuated. We'll take you live to the burn zone as firefighters are trying to battle these flames.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

Chasing a storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Yes, they just confirmed that there are two tornadoes on the ground now.

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BALDWIN: Three storm researchers among the dead in the latest round of devastating twisters.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first time this has happened and I'm sure we're going to learn a lot from it.

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BALDWIN: New questions surfacing about science versus safety.

A swimmer swept away. A 19-year-old goes over a 600 foot waterfall in Yosemite National Park. Today, a massive search for the California teen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To the left.

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BALDWIN: Learning to dance on your dime. The IRS spending $50 million of your money on conferences. The agency's new commissioner gets grilled by Congress today.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our first appeal is to the American people and to anyone out there who is in just the gut-wrenching position of losing a loved one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Little star.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A family says this 10-year-old girl is being, quote, "left to die." They're making a final plea to Americans after learning the government won't step in, in time to help.

Good to see you on this Monday afternoon. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And we begin this hour with the deadly tornados that rocked the Midwest this afternoon. The medical examiner increased the death toll now to 14 people killed in Oklahoma. Three of the victims, veteran storm chasers. They were Tim Samaras, his son Paul Samaras, and Tim's storm chasing partner Carl Young. They were all trying to do research and document the storm when they were killed.

Take a look what's left of this vehicle here. This is the truck they were in, tracking the tornado, just a mangled mess. Here to talk more about the story is my colleague Chad Myers, who is still in Oklahoma. He joins me by phone. And also joining us is professional storm chaser Sean Casey.

And, Sean, I want to begin with you because I know you were close friends with Tim. You knew him for 10 years. So I am so sorry for your loss. If I can, just start with - I have talked to so many people about Tim. Without a doubt, everyone says he was the safe guy. He was the safe one. What was different this time?

SEAN CASEY, STORM CHASER/IMAX FILMMAKER: Well, I think that this tornado took a lot of people by surprise. This tornado was a very large tornado and a very strong tornado. And I think CSWR radar trucks measured wind speeds of about 240, 250 miles per hour. And it had an erratic path. So this tornado was going east, then it went north. So I think that took people by surprise.

BALDWIN: Let me -- Chad, I want you to continue sort of part of that. I know you had met Tim as well. And to Sean's point about taking so many people by surprise, isn't that part of what I would imagine storm chasers love about, you know, the science of tornadoes, the unpredictability?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, but this, Brooke, this thing made a 60 degree left-hand turn. After traveling south of due (ph) east for a few miles, it decided to turn left, pick up speed, get very wide, almost an entire mile wide in my estimation, and I had not heard this, but Sean just said, that they picked up wind speeds within the Doppler radar of 240 miles per hour. That doesn't necessarily mean that the surface could be a few hundred feet off the ground, but that probably tells us that this wasn't just, well, a normal run of the mill what we would consider EF-3. This certainly could have been a significantly bigger tornado there, wind speeds. There's just - there's not as much to hit out there, so no real homes got F-5 damage or F-4 damage that we see so far. It was the erratic left turn that caught everyone by surprise. I'm still not convinced there wasn't an extenuating circumstance in Tim's travel that he had to stop to help someone, turn around for some reason, someone else was stuck, just nothing adds up, which is where they were and how they were getting away. I went to the scene. It was devastating to me to look at the car getting pulled out. The engine of the car was three quarters of a mile from where the body of the car ended up.

BALDWIN: Wow. Wow. And we're looking at pieces of one of the cars some of these men were driving in.

Sean, my question to you, this is the question so many of us non- weather experts have and that is, why do you do it?

CASEY: For me, personally, you know, I'm a filmmaker and so I want to get exceptional footage. Footage that really kind of does justice to the subject matter that I fell in love with in 1999. You know, these tornadoes are incredible. And for me, you know, my mission is, you know, in part to kind of show the awe that I feel when we chase tornadoes. And, for me, that's, you know, getting as close as possible in an armored vehicle and shooting with an IMAX camera.

BALDWIN: But at some point -- this is the final, my final question to you, Sean, is, you know, you cross the line from awe to life changing and is there anything - I mean people continue chasing the awe as long as we see tornadoes like this in our lifetime, but is there anything people can learn from this?

CASEY: Well, certainly. I mean Tim was a part of, you know, the research community. And, you know, during that day he was running with the mission of placing pods in front of this tornado. So, yes, the data that he collects, you know, is something that benefits, you know, our larger community and understanding, you know, what these, you know, tornadoes can do, their behavior, which storms produce them.

As far as a chaser, you know, the whole chasing community is in utter shock over this because Tim Samaras was one of the top five guys out there. He was -- he was the best. And for him to -- for this to happen, I think everybody is going to take a long look at, you know, how we chase these storms.

BALDWIN: Sean Casey, thank you so much for your perspective. Again, I'm sorry for your loss.

Chad Myers, stay safe out there. Thanks to both of you all.

Yosemite Park officials have just suspended their search for a teenager swept down this waterfall. A park spokesman says high water levels below the raging falls put the search teams in danger. The accident happened Saturday at the park's Nevada Fall. This is it right here. It is several miles east of Yosemite Falls, if you know the area. Witnesses say Aleh Kalman (ph), age 19, was swimming 150 yards above the falls when the merciless current swept him toward the crest and then over that crest. An all-day search failed to find him yesterday. The search is to resume when that water level finally drops.

A top White House official has just fired back at a member of Congress for coming on CNN and calling him a liar. To be exact, "a paid liar." That is what Republican Darrell Issa called White House Spokesman Jay Carney. Issa is now claiming that the extra scrutiny given to tax exempt requests from conservative groups was directed by quote/unquote "Washington headquarters." That is Issa's formulation, "Washington headquarters." Carney has told that the targeting started with IRS bureaucrats in Cincinnati. So Issa says Carney is a liar. Here's Jay Carney.

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JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I was referring to the findings of the independent inspector general, who, let's be clear, said that he both in testimony and in his report found no evidence that outsiders, those outside the IRS, influenced the behavior that took place there. That is the conclusion of the independent inspector general. And we certainly have seen no other evidence to contradict that.

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BALDWIN: Stand by. The brand-new head of the IRS is about to testify before Darrell Issa's committee. Dana Bash is there for us on The Hill for that.

And, Dana, a lot of folks are saying that Republican Darrell Issa is dying to find a scandal here involving the White House. Do you think this hearing might help clear that up?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Help clear it up, probably not, because the now acting IRS commissioner wasn't there. He has just been put in place. But I think just to kind of maybe, you know, explain some of the circle talking that we have seen over the past 24 hours about who did what when, I think what is most noteworthy is that when Darrell Issa told Candy Crowley that he believes that it was Washington giving direct orders, he didn't say the White House, but it certainly left the impression for those who maybe were listening for it that it was -- that Washington meant the White House or the Obama administration.

At the same time, Jay Carney is saying, well, you know, the inspector general said nobody outside of the IRS had any impact. Well, that doesn't necessarily mean Washington didn't because the IRS does have a very critical department in Washington. And in cutting through all of it, just in talking to some others who are familiar with the investigation here on Capitol Hill, Democrats, they say that what they have uncovered so far is that there was a lot of back and forth in trying to understand the law, trying to understand at the line level these IRS agents are trying to figure out how to give -- whether to give tax exempt status to Tea Party groups, how to determine the law, do they deserve it and so that's the back and forth. And at least so far I'm told what they found out is that Washington, meaning the tax attorneys or the experts, did have impact on that. Who came up with the targeting everybody thinks was inappropriate? We still don't know that answer.

BALDWIN: OK, so we know that the hearing, that starts up next hour. You're on The Hill. You'll be covering that. We'll be listening in and dipping in for anything that could percolate out of that.

But I have to ask you about the stuff you, Dana Bash, helped uncover. The $50 million for IRS conferences, including, you know, team building exercises. We have some video of some dancing. I mean is this over?

BASH: No, because we are going to get the formal inspector general report that talks about excess spending at the IRS. This is dating back a few years, back to 2010. I think the lesson here from this and remember the GSA controversy is, you work for the government and you're going to go to a conference, don't make a tape.

BALDWIN: Don't dance.

BASH: Don't make a tape. Don't dance. And don't - and there's another tape where they do an entire scene from "Star Trek" and also one from "Gilligan's Island." Don't do that either, especially when it's going to cost tens of thousands of dollars.

So what we are going to see in this inspector general report, which I'm sure the acting IRS commissioner will also be asked about today, is spending really out of control and the millions of dollars at a specific conference in Anaheim where even some IRS officials were spending $1,500 or more dollars a night it seems for presidential suites in a hotel. They are saying at the IRS, this is a practice that has been stopped. They have rules and regulations so that this won't happen again, but it is certainly going to be yet another example of tax dollars not being spent well, ironically, from the agency that takes in our tax dollars.

BALDWIN: Right. I mean we were talking this morning, it's one thing when, you know, you're working for a private company, I suppose, and that private company uses all kinds of money and you want to play out "Gilligan's Island." It's quite another, I suppose, when it's your money and my money going to that.

Dana Bash, thank you very much. We'll check back with you next hour.

BASH: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Meantime, the Senate's last surviving World War II veteran has died. Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey was 89 years old. The Democrat had announced back in February that he was not going to seek re-election next year. Lautenberg was a strong advocate for tougher gun laws. He is associated with some major, major achievements, including the ban on smoking in airplanes and the crackdown on drunk driving. Republican Governor Chris Christie can appoint someone to serve until a special election in November or fill the rest of Lautenberg's term.

Coming up next, this desperate plea from the family of this 10- year-old little girl. We have been following her story so closely for you, hoping for a happy ending. But now the family says the girl has been, quote, "left to die." We're going to talk to the father here live because they're asking people in America to take a drastic step to help save her life.

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BALDWIN: The pressure couldn't be any heavier, the stakes couldn't be any higher for the family of Sarah Murnaghan. She needs a lung transplant and she needs it now. The 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl has weeks to live, according to her parents, who we talked to just last week, after cystic fibrosis has nearly wiped out her little lungs.

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SARAH MURNAGHAN: I used to go to school before I got on oxygen. I got to go to school and at least play and act like all the normal children.

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BALDWIN: As Sarah runs out of time, her parents are running out of options. The latest blow they say came from Kathleen Sibelius. She's the secretary of Health and Human Services, the department that oversees organ donations. You see the Murnaghans had hoped that Sibelius herself would change the policy that is what's keeping Sarah from getting a pair of adult lungs. According to the rules, every adult, including those who are not as sick as Sarah, must turn down a pair of lungs before Sarah could get them. But instead of making that change, Secretary Sibelius ordered a review of the process, telling the family that it isn't in her power to alter the policy. Let me quote the secretary now, saying this, "I know this is not the answer you were hoping to receive and I can't begin to imagine how difficult this situation is. My prayers are with you."

Sarah's father, Fran Murnaghan, joins me live outside of that Philadelphia hospital where Sarah has been under care in the pediatric ICU.

So, Fran, welcome back. We just wanted to continue to update everyone on your story and your fight. And first, with regard to Secretary Sibelius and this response, this was not the answer you wanted. What was your reaction?

FRAN MURNAGHAN, DAUGHTER NEEDS LUNG TRANSPLANT: We were devastated because we actually had the opportunity last Thursday to speak to her on the phone. And she seemed to understand the situation we and other children and families are in. And then Friday with her statement, when she decided not to take any action, and then even state that she did not have the authority, where clearly we do believe she does. We were devastated because now we're left with very few options to save Sarah's life.

BALDWIN: So I remember the news on Friday was the fact that, you know, I guess the action, which is not good enough for your situation, is that now the organ group is reviewing the policy, but that could take, you know, they say up to two years and I know your daughter doesn't at all have that kind of time. So you, Fran, you've hired this attorney to fight this. And I have this letter, right, so I printed it. I mean it's a long letter, 22 pages. And part of it, if I may, I just wanted to read, your attorney -- this is the point I think you're making here. "We're not seeking preferential treatment. We only want her, your daughter, and the other children to be treated equally with persons over 12. This should not cause any significant disruption to this organ transplantation group because there are very few children under 12 seeking adult lungs. So remind us all again, with all of this, 22 pages, bottom line, what do you want?

MURNAGHAN: We're looking for equality. All that we've ever asked from the very beginning is that children under 12 have the opportunity as adults do to be -- have the opportunity to receive lungs, to receive treatment based on severity of conditions, not based on age. And based on the secretary's statement on Friday, which was devastating, we had been forced to obtain counsel and they have delivered a letter to her detailing the fact that she does have the authority to do something.

BALDWIN: So what if she - what if she comes back to you and says she's, you know, issued a review of this whole policy? I mean, I know that's not good enough for you. So then what's your next option using your lawyer?

MURNAGHAN: So the position that unfortunately the secretary has placed us in is, our best option at this point may be a direct donation from a family. So what we've asked people, if they do find themselves in the most unfortunate position where they are offering to give a loved one's organs as a gift of life to others, that they designate Sarah as recipient of those lungs.

BALDWIN: So that is one possibility for folks who find themselves in that horrible situation. Final question to you, Fran, just how is Sarah? I know the last time we spoke, you know, you and your wife had chosen not to let her know that she is dying. At what point, through all of this, will you decide, if at all, to tell her about her situation?

MURNAGHAN: She knows she's in a serious situation. And over the last few days, she has asked us questions. A few evenings ago, we were holding her in our arms and she was tired and clearly wanted to go to sleep. And she point directly asked us, can I go sleep? And, of course, we said, if you're tired, of course. And then she followed up and asked us, if I go to sleep, will I wake up tomorrow?

BALDWIN: Oh.

MURNAGHAN: As a parent, I mean, there's nothing more devastating to have a child look in your eyes and ask that type of question. She's very aware that this is a serious situation.

BALDWIN: And how did you answer?

MURNAGHAN: We -- of course we confirmed that, yes, she will and that we're doing everything and her doctors are doing everything to keep her healthy until we can find a pair of lungs for her.

BALDWIN: We want to help you to that, Fran Murnaghan. Give our best, of course, to Sarah and we will stay on this right along with you. We appreciate it so much.

And we also wanted to know how many other families, how many other Sarah Murnaghan cases are out there that perhaps aren't, you know, getting the media attention that Sarah's is. I want you to join me in the next hour. We're going to speak with a bioethicist who knows a lot about this sort of situation and specifically Sarah's story and we're going to look into the ethics of organ donation. So join me then.

It is not the kind of role you see Steven Seagal playing. Normally he stars in action films. But this weekend Steven Seagal was in the spotlight for his part in the Boston bombing investigation. That story's ahead.

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BALDWIN: The man who lead Boston's fire department during the terrorist bombing on Marathon Monday announced today he's stepping down after taking heat from his own deputy chiefs. The deputy sent letters to city leaders saying Chief Steve Abraira didn't show leadership during the tragedy and that they had no confidence in him. The fire chief said, quote/unquote, "a minority" of the firefighters were making baseless attacks against him. He was hired less than two years ago to modernize Boston's fire department.

And one action hero is taking a different role, if you will, to try to find out more about the Boston bombings. You will recognize this guy.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you like some special force guys or something?

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BALDWIN: Steven Seagal. Yes, Steven Seagal has been helping members of the United States Congress visiting Russia. In fact, Seagal arranged for the delegation to meet with Russian officials. Russia had warned the U.S. about Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and our own Phil Black picks up the story from Moscow.

Phil.

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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. congressional delegation has spent much of the last week here meeting with Russian officials, trying to determine what lessons can be learned about intelligence cooperation in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon attack. The delegation was led by Republican Dana Rohrabacher, a chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee. His conclusion, there was no one specific failure that prevented the authorities from identifying these threats sooner. But he believes there was a chance the attack could have been averted if Russia and the United States had worked more closely together.

REP. DANA ROHRABACHER (R), CALIFORNIA: That's some specific, "oh, we didn't pay attention to this detail or that detail," but instead they didn't pay attention to the big picture. And the big picture was all screwed up. And then in that our people were not cooperating as they should have and vice versa.

BLACK: Republican Steve King said the delegation received new analysis on the Boston bombing suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and his mother in a briefing with Russia's federal security service, the FSB.

REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: It's their opinion that Tamerlan and his mother were both of radical attitude before they came to the United States. And I think that adjusts much of the conventional thinking within the United States.

BLACK: Members of the delegation thanked an unusual voice in Russian/U.S. relations for the access they received during their visit. Action movie star Steven Seagal. And Seagal said he deserved credit for setting up a meeting with a Russian deputy prime minister and the country's security service.

STEVEN SEAGAL, ACTOR: And I asked him for that meeting and I knew about that meeting before they did. That's the truth.

BLACK: The last 18 months has been a very difficult time in Russian/U.S. relations, but members of this delegation say they'll now return to Washington, arguing these two countries must not let other differences deter greater cooperation in dealing with the mutual threat of terrorism.

Phil Black, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Thank you, Phil.

Coming up next here, in southern California, a scorching wildfire here. Thousands of acres destroyed, forcing people to evacuate. And we're hearing it could be another week before this thing is brought under control. We are live from the fire zone, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)