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CNN NEWSROOM

Napa Valley Quake Costly; Concerns about More Catastrophic Quakes; Orlando Jones Takes Different Bucket Challenge; Grieving Mothers Meet.

Aired August 25, 2014 - 14:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Northern California is cleaning up today after the Bay Area was hit by its strongest earthquake in 25 years. The epicenter of the magnitude 6.0 quake, the small city of American Canyon, California, not far from Napa, and it was downtown Napa that took the brunt of the impact. Historic buildings reduced to rubble. Stretches of road split in two, crumbled. 208 people were injured. Surveillance cameras captured the impact at a music store. This is in the nearby town of Vallejo. And damage to the region is likely to top $1 billion.

Let me bring in CNN Money correspondent, Alison Kosik.

Alison, how does this quake compare to others we have seen in recent years?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Ana, it's interesting because although this earthquake wasn't necessarily the strongest of all, it may carry quite the hefty price tag. Some figures are being thrown around, like $1 billion. And when you look at this list we put up to give a comparison of how in comparison to others, what's interesting, most of the top -- the most expensive earthquakes happened in California. The most expensive was 1994, known as the north ridge quake. That happened in California, San Fernando Valley. The price tag, $44 billion. The next -- second-most expensive one in 1989, striking the San Francisco Bay region at $10 billion. The third most expensive, $2 billion hitting Seattle and Tacoma. And the fourth biggest in 1964, $570 million, that was in Alaska. Now, if it does happen the one in Napa winds up being at least $1 billion, it could be the third-most expensive earthquake ever.

CABRERA: That's interesting to find that out. But you mention, it doesn't appear to be as costly as others. We also know it wasn't as harmful as others when you look at deaths and lives and so forth.

KOSIK: Right.

CABRERA: Fortunately, no deaths in this case. In that 1989 quake, over 60 people died.

KOSIK: Exactly.

CABRERA: Speaking of the money aspect of this, people think Napa and think wineries. And timing couldn't have been worse for this quake.

KOSIK: You think about it, there's no good time for an earthquake. You make a good point. This is the prime harvest season. I was talking with one vineyard owner just about a half hour ago, and she was telling me, listen, I have no time to worry about the barn that's crashing around my new -- brand-new piece of equipment that costs $70,000. I don't have time to worry about the irrigation line that's now leaking because of the earthquake. Those grapes need to be picked and get to the wineries, because she's got to worry about the here and now. One thing that is sticking with her, the damage. She's got a bunch of these reference wine bottles that were destroyed because they were stored at a storage facility. And these are names you may recognize if you drink wine. Mondovi, others, can't be replaced.

CABRERA: I spoke with another winery owner, the Silver Oak Winery yesterday. It is hard to see that people's livelihoods have really been impacted.

KOSIK: They really have, yes.

CABRERA: Alison Kosik, thank you so much.

KOSIK: Thank you.

CABRERA: That tremor sparked concerns also about whether a more catastrophic earthquake could be looming.

Let me bring in CNN meteorologist, Chad Myers, in Atlanta.

Chad, I know you shake your head when people ask this, but -- but I have to ask it, because it's on top of mind. Could the big one be coming? Could this have been a foreshock as opposed to aftershocks?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Typically, foreshocks will be one hour or less in front of the big one. And so, no. Now that so much time has elapsed, I don't think that the big one is coming.

Let me give you some perspective of this. I know you just talked about all these earthquakes. I'm going to make San Francisco Bay the exact size on all of the maps and show you the shaking that occurred yesterday. 1989, Loma Prieta and then 1906. I'm going make this very big so you can see it. There is the bay. There is the shaking yesterday. Literally, 100 square miles.

Now I'm going to slide this over and you're going to see a significant difference on what's going to happen on this earthquake map from where we saw Loma Prieta and the like. I'm going to make it bigger again right through here. There we go. And here is what the shaking we saw, the Loma Prieta. Here's the shaking of the big one, or at least a big one, the 1906 big one right through there. Little big, bigger. This is not a foreshock to anything except a 6.0.

In fact, I'm going to show you now what this looks like on the fault zone map. Here's the fault we're really worried about. That is the San Andreas Fault. That's the big one. When that ruptures, for many hundred miles, that's where the big shake is going to come from. The fault that we were on yesterday is right there. I bet you can

hardly see it if you don't have a 65-inch TV at home. That's the size of the fault, the West Napa Fault, that shook yesterday. So, no, not even along the fault itself but still in the fault system itself because this plate is staying here. This plate here is moving to the north. And every time it moves too much or shakes, then we get that earthquake. The move so far yesterday, we found, so far, the USGS says about four inches at the surface. That's all they could find so far.

CABRERA: All right. Chad Myers, I hope you're right, that the big one isn't any time soon. At least people are more conscience and can prepare now.

Thank you so much, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

CABRERA: Coming up next, an actor takes the ice bucket challenge to a new level. This is Orlando Jones, pouring a bucket of bullet casings over his head. Just what does he hope this will accomplish? I'll speak with him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Welcome back.

Actor Orlando Jones found a very powerful way to make a statement about gun violence. With a twist on the popular ice bucket challenge that has had so much attention as it raises money for ALS research. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ORLANDO JONES, ACTOR: Hi, I'm Orlando Jones, and I'm joining lots of other people in bringing attention to this very serious disease by accepting this challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Those are bullet shell casings. Jones says he is still going to donate the money to ALS research. But he also says he wants to draw attention to victims of gun violence. And as a member of the NRA, Jones made it clear, he is not pointing fingers. He just wants to, in his words, "love without limits and reverse the hate."

I spoke with him this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: The truth of the matter is, there is an incredible number of issues going on here. And the question on the floor is, what can we all do about it. It's not as if we haven't seen this before. It certainly looks a lot like the '60s. We heard a lot of this when Rodney King happened and the famous statement, "Can we all get along." So none of this are new things we're dealing with. But the question for me was, where was I when it was happening to people who did not look like me, why did I not stand up then, and I wanted to call myself out on that.

CABRERA: And in some ways, I guess, this is your way to protest what's happening.

You make the point that, you know, you're coming not from an anti police or anti gun stance. You mentioned you're a member of the NRA, honorary member of the police department in Louisiana. How important do you think that part is to your message?

JONES: I think any time you're attempting to have a conversation to try and affect change, you have to find a common ground. And we can't do that by pointing the finger at others. Truthfully, black-on-black crime is the number one killer of black people as white-on-white crime is the number one killer of white people. So to point the finger at those organizations and point them at a color that says they are all bad or they do not have members that are, in fact, people of color who are just as outraged as we are, I don't think is a -- it's not a reasonable conversation. It's a ridiculous point. So for me it was to say, if we're going to solve this problem, it's something we all do together. And "us versus them". And to me, "us versus them" is a really a simple group. There is us, the people who want to spread love and leave this world better for our children than they found it, and there's them, the people who are OK with the status quo. And really don't see any reason to affect any change.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Well, speaking of spreading the love, the St. Louis Rams are certainly scoring points with kids in Ferguson, as they help the high school teams practice last week. With Ferguson's school shut down, players found themselves locked out and out of luck with the football season days away. So the Rams said, hey, you can practice on our field. And two schools actually took them up on their offer. The rams then went above and beyond, topping that offer with 75 tickets to each school for a preseason game. The schools in Ferguson, by the way, did open today. But Ram's coach, Jeff Fisher, says his facility is still open to those teams when they need a place to practice.

Up next, just a day before burying their son, Michael Brown's mother met Trayvon Martin's mother for the very first time. And they talked about grieving together. We'll bring you what they said in these emotional moments, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: It's a day no parent can imagine, having to bury your own child. Now as Michael Brown's mother mourned her son today, she was enveloped by the spirit of two others who also lost their sons to gun violence, the mothers of Trayvon Martin and Sean Bell. Bell was killed by New York City police in 2006. Now, the women met with Brown's mother. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(INAUDIBLE)

SYBRINA FULTON, MOTHER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: We got it. We got it.

VALERIE BELL, MOTHER OF SEAN BELL: We got it.

LESLEY MCSPADDEN, MOTHER OF MICHAEL BROWN: We got it.

FULTON: We got it. Hey, ma. Hey, ma.

MCSPADDEN: God bless you. God bless you.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An emotional embrace.

FULTON: Just lean on him. He's going to cover you. And he's going to cover your family. And he's going to make sure you're OK.

LEMON: The mothers of Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell and Michael Brown meeting for the first time.

FULTON: Keep your head up no matter what. Keep your head up so you can see your son in you.

LEMON: We stepped out of the room.

(on camera): We'll see you in a few minutes.

MCSPADDEN: OK.

LEMON (voice-over): Giving them time alone before starting our interview.

(on camera): What can these moms, these women, these women -- they can offer you something the guys can't, right? That husbands can't.

MCSPADDEN: Yeah.

LEMON: What can they offer you?

MCSPADDEN: Speaking to me from experience, you know? They are for me something right now. I can't tell you what it is. But it's something. And something is more than nothing.

LEMON: When we were standing there waiting to meet her, you turned to Valerie, Sybrina, and you said, are you having flashbacks at this moment?

BELL: Yes, she did.

LEMON: When it was the day before the home-going.

BELL: Yeah, the flash back is my son eight years ago. That was my flashback. And thinking of her at that time, her son was 10 years old when it happened. And I thought to say to her, keep the memories in your heart. That's going to help you to continue to carry on with your son. And believe and have faith in god will also help you and the close family members. That's what keeps the memories of my son. He always used to tell me, ma, I got this. So I'm telling you, ma, you've got. This it's OK to cry, scream, I still do, it's eight years.

FULTON: You've got to focus on when he was smiling. You have to focus on his first day of school. And you have to focus on Christmas Day and things like that. The happier times. And put a picture up when he was happy.

MCSPADDEN: Yes.

FULTON: And you have to focus on those. Just don't focus on the death because that's going to eat away at you.

LEMON: And, Lesley, you know it's hard, and you're probably thinking right now that I'm sure it doesn't seem real to you. But these ladies are examples that there's -- you can survive this. And I don't know. I can't -- maybe I'm not putting in the right words, but can you ever be whole again, or can you -- how would you put it?

FULTON: I don't think it's a matter of being whole. What I think it is. It's a matter of a new life. And this is the new life. This is -- I can never go back to who I was and what I was, because I'm missing something very precious in my life and something very special.

BELL: Losing my son is like losing a part of your body. But you remember. You remember what that part of your body has done for you. Like if you lose an arm, you knew what that arm did. So my thing is keeping the memories that will keep and carry you on.

LEMON: I want you guys to talk about it, because it's going to be very difficult, and you have dealt with it, character assassination. I think you describe it as character assassination, one of you. What do you mean by that?

FULTON: That means that people that don't even know her son is going to say negative things about him, just to portray him in a different light, in a negative light. Just to try to justify what happened.

LEMON: Is that one of the hardest parts, even thinking about that -- about people talking about your son?

FULTON: No. The hardest part for her is going to be the home-going service. As I have said, that is the absolutely worst day of her life as a mother. Because there is no words that can bring comfort to her as a mother by seeing her son in the casket.

LEMON: Do you go around the house, in the kitchen, talk to Trayvon?

FULTON: Absolutely.

BELL: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

FULTON: Absolutely.

LEMON: Do you?

BELL: Yes. Things come to my mind -- if I know something has to be done, ma, I got this. I say the saying, "ma, I got this."

LEMON: Do you do the same thing, Lesley?

MCSPADDEN: Especially when it rains. Yep.

LEMON: When it rains. Why?

MCSPADDEN: My son loved the rain. Something about it.

LEMON: That makes you want to --

MCSPADDEN: I feel him. He's there.

FULTON: He's there. He's watching over you.

LEMON: What was it like meeting her?

BELL: I'm glad I did meet you. It brought back memories for my son and I just thought of your son.

MCSPADDEN: It's hurtful. But at the same time, it's comforting because I know she needs people that understand what she's going through.

LEMON: And, Lesley, what was it like meeting these ladies? They have been saying everything, how they feel about you. What's it like meeting them? What do you want to say to them?

MCSPADDEN: I'm sorry you had to go through it.

I'm sorry about yours, too.

LEMON: Thank you all.

FULTON: I've got you. I've got you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: I want to share with you a letter composed barely two months before a murder that shocked many. And I say composed, because its author, journalist, James Foley, could not put his letter in writing, for fear it would be confiscated by the terrorists who ultimately beheaded him. Foley asked another hostage to memorize it and then pass it to his family. And shortly after that, other hostage was set free, he called Foley's mother and dictated this letter. The family released it last night on Facebook. It contains some insight into Foley's plight as a hostage, and reveals what kept Foley going, first and foremost, his family.

And here are his words. "I remember going to the mall with dad, a very long bike ride with mom. I remember so many great family times that take me away from this prison. I pray for you to stay strong and to believe. I really feel I can touch you even in this darkness when I pray."

Foley also told of camaraderie with fellow captives. "We have had each other to have endless, long conversations about movies, trivia, sports. We have played games, made up of scraps found in our cell. I have had weak and strong days. We are so grateful when everyone is freed, but, of course, yearn for our own freedom. We try to encourage each other and share strength."

Now, despite his dire circumstances, Foley looked to the future. And his letter closes with this plea to his grandmother. He writes: "Grammy, please take your medicine, take walks, and keep dancing. Stay strong, because I'm going to need your help to reclaim my life."