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CNN NEWSROOM

Storm Chaser Injured In Tornado; Big Business In Storm Chasing; Crews Gain Edge In California Wildfire; Midwest Flood Nightmare; Major Flood Warnings For Midwest; McMansions Making A Comeback; Trial Delayed For Oscar Pistorius; Petraues Scandal "Socialite" Sues Government; United Offers Checked Bag Subscription; Marine Reservist Kidnapped In Mexico; Arkansas Residents Sue ExxonMobil

Aired June 4, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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


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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, cheating death. Most of us run and hide from tornadoes. Now it's cool.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We get on the road for 60 to 80 days a year and we're putting our lives at risk every time we're out there.

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COSTELLO: Would you pay 3,000 bucks to cheat death? It's the thing in tornado alley.

Also, oil spill, Exxon says it's safe, but neighbors in Arkansas suffer headaches and nausea.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are the long-term ramifications to all of this? You know, health concerns, what are these additives going to do to my health?

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COSTELLO: Who's helping the people of Mayflower, Arkansas.

Plus, Justin Verlander, one much the best pitchers in baseball, wants to join the home run derby? Justin, you've never had a hit.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you just admit that --

COSTELLO: I suck. You suck, yes.

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COSTELLO: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Good morning. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Carol Costello. Oklahoma is bracing again for dangerous weather and again tornado alley will be full of storm chasers, despite reports of yet another storm chaser death. According to the "Oklahoman," Richard Henderson took this cell phone photo of a tornado and sent it out to his friends, and moments later that same tornado killed him.

Other storm chasers were very lucky to escape with only minor injuries. Austin Anderson was with a Weather Channel crew and meteorologist, Mike Bettes when Friday's tornado near El Reno, Oklahoma, threw his car 200 yards.

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AUSTIN ANDERSON, WEATHER CHANNEL PRODUCER: It just picked up the car and right at that moment, I just tucked in gripping the steering wheel and sunk down and held on for dear life. As we came to a stop, the tornado hunt vehicle was on its feet, but we were still inside the tornado. Bettes yelled at us to stay down, stay down!

Because the wind now was whipping through the car at 150 miles an hour, and we were thinking we were going to get picked up and thrown again. So we all just hunkered down as low inside the cockpit of the car as we could. I knew my chest had been hurt because I could barely breathe.

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COSTELLO: Storm chasing is a dangerous business, yet more and more companies are offering storm chaser packages and people are buying them ready for the thrill of Mother Nature. Ryan Barnes runs a company called "Storm Chasers." For $2,400 he'll give you, quote, "the thrill of the planet's most intense thunderstorms, the adventure of a lifetime."

He joins us now along with Albee Bockman who has bought and experienced storm tour packages like the ones that Brian offers. Welcome to both of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Brian, I want to start with you, you charge, what, $2,400 for a tornado tour. I went on your web site and I see that many of these tours are already sold out. So it's no wonder we keep hearing stories of storm chasers actually causing traffic jams in tornado alley. I mean, science is one thing, but doing it for the thrill is something different. Is the business getting out of hand?

BRIAN BARNES, FOUNDER, STORMTOURS.COM: No. First of all, as a tour company, we're putting people into passenger vans instead it of -- you know, having six or 18 or 24 different vehicles on the road. It's sort of like a carpooling deal. I guess you could look at it that way. And we're also -- we're not out there for the same reason as my friends Tim and his colleagues were out there. They were scientists. They had a purpose of getting in front of a storm and placing probes in front of it. In order to do that, they required them to be somewhat closer than most other storm chasers. So for our purposes, we're teaching people more about severe weather and from the teaching aspect of things, we don't -- we're not thrill seeking by any means. We're always at a reasonably safe distance and we always go in, even at a safe distance, we have a backup plan to get out of there, and safety is always number one.

COSTELLO: But the fact remains, Brian, that tornadoes you can't really predict their every move 100 percent. There's still a danger, right? So do you stay far enough away to keep your customers safe? And if there are carpools on the highways, that still means problems for those who are doing it for science.

BARNES: We definitely stay far enough away that there's always a huge safety margin involved. So we're never -- we're not close by any means, so to speak. You can see the supercell thunderstorm from several miles away and a tornado from several miles away so there's no reason for us to ever get that close.

So, yes, safety is always our number one priority. I think we're more at risks from the dangers of just another driver or even a drunk driver or even just the same risks you would be taking your children to school in the morning from basic traffic accidents than we are from the storm itself.

COSTELLO: Albee, let me ask you this, your wife bought you a storm tour for your birthday. I see why it would be fascinating, but do so many people need to be out there tempting fate?

ALBEE BOCKMAN, STORM CHASER: I don't disagree with you, Carol. There is a thrill to it. I can't deny that. However, I view it a lot differently. I see these storm chasers out there as our local heroes. We're out there looking out for the benefit of our community trying to get a hold of how these storms are formed, what we can do to be better prepared when they do come into our area.

And with the storms approaching the northeast quadrant of the country more often now, that's where my interest came in. I'm involved with public safety, and I just want to learn a lot more and being with Brian, I've gained a lot of knowledge on how these storms manifest themselves, and I'd like to just bring that to the general public in the future.

COSTELLO: But how many people need to be out there studying tornadoes? How many are too many?

BOCKMAN: I don't think too many is far-fetched. The more people who gain the knowledge of these storms become better prepared. It's those that are not educationally involved in these types of supercells that find themselves in danger.

COSTELLO: Brian, I wanted to ask you about this because this guy in Oklahoma, he wasn't part of any tour. He was out on his own chasing a tornado. He took a picture and he was killed. So people are seeing you guys doing this, you know, a lot of you guys doing this. They see the pictures on television, and they think, wow, I can go out there and do it myself.

BARNES: I haven't actually heard about this latest story, to be honest, so I don't know the details surrounding that gentleman's fatality.

COSTELLO: I'm sure you've seen amateurs out there, though, right?

BARNES: We see amateurs out there quite a bit, but we've seen that for quite some time. I think that with the popularity of some television shows and stuff, I think some of that has increased. But I don't know how to -- how we would actually have played into any of that because we haven't done any of the television shows or anything like that.

So what we're doing is taking people out, obviously for a price, but it's a very expensive thing to be dealing with. There's just an extreme amount of expense, and most of my customers come from some kind of an emergency management background or volunteer fire department background or law enforcement and a lot of --

COSTELLO: All right, thank you so much for joining us, giving us another perspective, Albee Bockman and Brian Barnes, thank you so much.

BOCKMAN: Thank you for having us, Carol.

COSTELLO: Firefighters battling a wildfire in Southern California have made significant progress thanks to higher humidity and cooler temperatures. The fire in the Palmdale area north of Los Angeles has burned more than 32,000 acres and destroyed at least six homes. But Residents have been allowed to return to two communities and the fire is now about 60 percent contained. Wildfires are also burning in New Mexico and Colorado, though, have led to evacuations. No reports of injuries or destroyed buildings.

And a weather nightmare continues in the Midwest. Take a look at this. A levy breached near St. Louis, the water gushing out of the Mississippi River, now threatening small towns all along the river as emergency workers scramble to reinforce barricades and temporary dikes. Residents in St. Charles County near St. Louis had to be evacuated last night after that levy was breached. Flood warnings and advisories are in effect from Northern Illinois to Louisiana.

Meteorologist, Indra Petersons joins me now. So more rain?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Unfortunately, definitely still rain in the forecast. We keep seeing this. It's just that time of year especially in the middle of the country. We have the threat for not only rain all throughout the Midwest, but the severe weather is today once again centralized right over the plains. Oklahoma City again under the gun today as well as portions of Missouri and also down through Texas.

Now, let's talk about this flooding, unbelievable amount of rain, hard to believe. Think about this. The beginning of January, we were in the top ten for the driest. We were worried about the Mississippi River being too low. Since then we're in a major flood stage now with 40 feet. We went from negative 4.5 to 40 feet of water.

That's how much rain has passed through the area and gone through the tributaries and accumulated here in the Mississippi River. More rain back in the forecast. Again, like I said, it doesn't have to go right in that area. It goes through any of those rivers in Missouri or the Mississippi River. We are talking about the threat for more flooding in that area. Unfortunately it looks like back in the forecast especially by Wednesday.

COSTELLO: All right, Indra Petersons, thanks so much.

Live pictures now of that congressional hearing on the IRS targeting conservative groups, actually, that's not the hearing we're looking at. That was the sexual assault military hearings on Capitol Hill. A couple of hearings going on, on Capitol Hill today and one of them involved the IRS. In fact, groups that say they were targeted by the IRS now testifying before congressional panels. We're going to update you on that story in just a bit.

Of course, if you'd like to see more of these hearings, both hearings are streaming live on cnn.com.

Also this morning, another sign that the housing market is recovering, those huge homes known as McMansions, they're making a comeback. Alison Kosik joins me now. This is sad.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Is it? Well, some people don't think that. You know, home builders are getting back to the old idea that bigger is better. A Census Bureau report shows that over the past three years the average size of new homes has grown by 8 percent. That's up to a record 2,300 square feet last year.

Some speculated that after the housing boom that was the end of those McMansions, but as younger buyers -- with younger buyers going ahead and moving into smaller places, closer to big cities, baby boomers downsize after their kids moved out. But they're saying that now it's not people wanted less space, they just couldn't afford it.

Now that the economy is improving, they can. So the National Association of Home Builders survey found that buyers prefer a median home size of just over 2,200 feet in line with the census average. That jibes with what builders are seeing. GL Homes says their four- bedroom home consistently outsells their three-bedroom model.

But you have to remember in all of this, the people who get approved for these big loans attend to be more affluent, Carol. So once lending actually returns to normal and lower income borrowers start buying homes again, the average size of what people want for homes will likely get a little smaller -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Alison Kosik reporting live from the New York Stock Exchange. Coming up next in the NEWSROOM, he served the United States in "Operation Iraqi Freedom." Now an American Marine is missing in Mexico, believed to be kidnapped perhaps by a drug cartel. We'll have the latest on the investigation, next.

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COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 16 minutes past the hour. A judge in South Africa is delaying the trial for Oscar Pistorius, being postponed two months to allow for more time to investigate the Olympic star shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The date of the trial could be announced on August 19th, which would have been Steenkamp's 30th birthday. Pistorius is charged with premeditated murder. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

One of the women at the center of a scandal involving former CIA Director David Petraeus is now suing the federal government. Jill Kelly said her personal e-mails were wrongly searched and false information was given out to the media. Kelly is now asking for an apology and unspecified damages.

In money news, United Airlines is offering yearly subscriptions on checked bags starting at $349. Under the plan, a traveler and up to eight companions on the same reservation can each check up to two bags per flight for free. United also has a new subscription offer for passengers wanting extra leg room.

An American Marine kidnapped at gun point in Mexico, and today the FBI is asking for your help. Corporal Armando Torres III was last heard of two and a half weeks ago. That's when armed gunmen stormed his father's Mexican ranch just south of the U.S. border. Torres, his father and his uncle were all kidnapped perhaps over a fight with Mexican drug cartels.

Chris Lawrence is at the Pentagon. Tell us more, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, right now, the State Department's consulate in Matamoros is working with the Mexican authorities, the FBI has launched an international kidnapping investigation and friends and family of Armando Torres have really taken to social media trying to drum up interest and get the word out about what has happened to this Marine.

There's been a Facebook page established, threads on Reditt, all trying to call attention to what's happened to this kidnapping of this young Marine. He went down to visit his father on the ranch there in Mexico, and they were all abducted by armed gunmen. Recently a family member of Torres spoke out, although she did not want to be identified for security concerns. She, too, is calling attention to this kidnapping.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bring it to Mexico's attention. You know, this is a Marine here on this side. That's a war hero. I don't want to lose hope that he's alive, but at the same time it is like a big reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LAWRENCE: It's a very tough thing for the family right now. There has been no contact with Torres since the abduction several weeks ago, although the family has said right now they still have reason to believe that he's still alive. This is a Marine who did a tour in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. He was also deployed to Iraq back in 2009. Carol, a lot of folks out there are wanting to get him back to the U.S.

COSTELLO: You know, I want to say this is an unusual occurrence, but it's not.

LAWRENCE: No, no, not at all. Especially in that area of Mexico, which has a very high rate of kidnappings, you know, the FBI reports, in fact, that over the last ten years there have been more than 430 U.S. citizens who have been kidnapped in Mexico, and that's just counting those Americans who crossed over from the South Texas part of the U.S.

So this is a problem, a much bigger problem, for Mexicans there in Mexico because kidnappings are rampant there. This is why you're seeing such the push on social media to put pressure on government officials not only here in the U.S., but in Mexico as well to call attention to this case.

COSTELLO: Chris Lawrence reporting live from the Pentagon. Thank you.

It's been two months since that big oil spill in Mayflower, Arkansas. Now some residents say, well, they're getting sick from the fumes. We'll talk about that next.

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COSTELLO: A number of people in the town of Mayflower, Arkansas, have filed suit against ExxonMobil after one of Exxon's pipelines ruptured and spilled thousands of barrels of oil into their neighborhood. Residents in the suit complain about having health problems including nausea and serious headaches.

The accident happened back in late March, however, the Arkansas Department of Health says in part, quote, "all chemicals of concern detected in the homes were below levels expected to be a health hazard," end quote. The department also gives a web site where residents can keep up to date on air quality levels, but as you can see one might need an advanced degree in chemistry to actually understand what's on that web site.

Joining me now on the phone is environmental scientist, Wilma Subra. Welcome, Wilma.

WILMA SUBRA, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST (via telephone): Thank you.

COSTELLO: So the Health Department in Arkansas says everything's fine, but residents say they're suffering these headaches. I mean, why are the two entities contradicting one another? SUBRA: Well, from the very beginning we've had community members out collecting samples. They actually collected the first sample the day after the pipeline rupture occurred, and just hours after the crude had stopped flowing from the pipeline. And we detected 31 volatile organic chemicals in the air at that time.

And comparing the health symptoms associated with those chemicals actually match the health symptoms that the community was reporting at that early stage, such as headaches, dizziness, nosebleeds, burning eyes, nose and sore throat, nausea and vomiting. Those health impacts as well as others have persisted until today.

And when you look at the data that the Health Department in Arkansas is evaluating, most of it is coming from the Exxon contractors as well as the EPA, and they're being performed with a handheld monitor, which analyzes for total volatile organics, benzine and hydrogen sulfide.

And the issue is that these handheld instruments are not sensitive enough. So, for the most part, they're coming up with non-detect. This is the data that the health department is evaluating.

COSTELLO: Tell me how this stuff is still getting into the air because Exxon came in and had cleaned up the oil from the oil spill. We don't see it on the surface anymore. We're showing you file pictures of Mayflower right now. So is it that the oil soaked into the ground and wasn't taken out of the ground and there's still -- like, how does that happen?

SUBRA: Well, the chemical was actually absorbed into the ground in the subdivision, and it also ran off under the railroad track under the interstate into the water bodies, which is known as the cove, which is part of Lake Conway. So it is still persistent in that area, in the cove area, if you looked at the recent monitoring as late as Friday of last week.

You will see that they're detecting a lot of benzine, which is a known human cancer causing agent on a periodic basis, and they're detecting the chemical taluine on a very frequent basis. They detected taluine in that area from the very first day of the spill as well as polynuclear hydrocarbons.

When you start looking at the health impacts associated with those classes of chemicals, they're known and suspected to cause cancer and they cause the headache, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. Also it causes impacts to the nervous system. So it looks like a lot of the health impacts are associated with the benzine, the taluine and --

COSTELLO: So the neighbors, Wilma, have filed suit against Exxon.

SUBRA: I'm sorry, I can barely hear you.

COSTELLO: I'll try to talk louder. So the residents have filed suit against Exxon, but Exxon has a lot more money than these people do, and the Department of Health in Arkansas is seemingly on Exxon's side in this. So do the neighbors have a chance? SUBRA: Well, if you also look at the samples EPA has been collecting inside the homes in the evacuated area, they are detecting the benzene, taluien, ethyl benzine and taluien and when they compared it to comparable samples collected by Exxon contractors, for the most part Exxon contractors are getting non-detect. So it gets back to the sensitivity of the testing and clearly the chemicals that are continuing to be detected and continuing to cause the health impacts and --

COSTELLO: Wilma, I'm sorry, I have to interrupt you, but thank you for joining us this morning. President Obama is at the White House and he's going to announce his nominations for federal judges. Let's listen.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- important responsibilities of a president is to nominate qualified men and women to serve as judges on the federal bench. And Congress has a responsibility as well. The Senate is tasked with providing advice and consent. They can approve a president's nominee, or they can reject a president's nominee. But they have a constitutional duty to promptly consider judicial nominees for confirmation.

Now, throughout my first term as president, the Senate too often failed to do that. Time and again, congressional Republicans cynically used Senate rules and procedures to delay and even block qualified nominees from coming to a full vote. As a result, my judicial nominees have waited three times longer to receive confirmation votes than those of my Republican predecessor.

Let me repeat that. My nominees have taken three times longer to receive confirmation votes than those of my Republican predecessor. These individuals that I nominate are qualified. When they were given an up or down vote in the Senate, when they were finally given an up or down vote in the Senate, every one of them was confirmed.

So this is not about principled opposition. This is about political obstruction. I recognize that neither party has a perfect track record here. Democrats weren't completely blameless when I was in the Senate.