Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Flooding Continues in Texas and Oklahoma; John Nash, Mathemetician Who Inspired "A Beautiful Mind," Dies in Car Accident; Mayor and Police Chief Praise Protesters for Relatively Peaceful Demonstrations; Lebron James Calls on Protesters; Cleanup of Massive Oil Spill in Santa Barbara County Underway; Remembering Shooting Rampage That Forever Changed California College Town; Random Shootings in Colorado Still a Mystery. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 24, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:00:33] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, historic floods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would be very concern.

WHITFIELD: Deadly rains. A firefighter swept away to his death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's something I'll have to live with the rest of my life.

WHITFIELD: Storm watches and warnings still in effect today, and hundreds told to evacuate as waters continue to rise. Plus --

Cleveland on edge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man wicked the sidewalk off the sidewalk and just threw it straight at me.

WHITFIELD: Police out in riot gear and dozens arrested overnight as protests continue over the acquittal of a police officer involved in the shooting deaths of two unarmed people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My baby cousin. I'll tell you something right now. We have no justice.

WHITFIELD: And one-on-one with Ash Carter. The defense secretary's first comments since the key Iraqi town of Ramadi fell to ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Iraqi forces showed no will to fight.

WHITFIELD: NEWSROOM starts now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We begin with severe weather taking its toll in parts of the country,

Texas and Oklahoma being hit the hardest. Thousands of people remain under weather warnings and watches. In Houston, an apartment building collapsed around 6:30 this morning after apparently being hit by a tornado. Two people were sent to the hospital, but there were no serious injuries.

And in the suburbs north of Houston, Montgomery County has issued an evacuation order for residents near Lake Lewis dam. They say the dam is still intact but they are taking precautions because of the heavy rain.

And in Oklahoma, the record-breaking rain has claimed a life. A firefighter if Claremore was killed twig to rescue people trapped by rising water. He died after being swept onto a storm drain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM DOUGLAS, CLAREMORE, OKLAHOMA FIRE CHIEF: We're family it's going to be really hard for our department to come together and heal and go forward. The effects won't be known for a little while.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The rain in Oklahoma City broke records. Roads and houses are still under water today. And more than 17 inches have now fallen for the month of May. And more is expected in the coming days.

So let's get more on this severe weather of this very dam from Oklahoma to the Texas pan handle (ph).

CNN's Alina Machado is in San Marcos, Texas, right in Hayes County, one of the hardest-hit areas. So we just learned there is now going to be a curfew there for San Marcos. So what are the concerns? What does this mean for everyone there?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but when you hear about the curfew and then see the damage, you understand why they would want to put that curfew in place. You know, the mayor says the water started rising here overnight. It started going up very quickly. And this is the result.

Just take a look at this scene. We were driving up -- we are right underneath i-35 and when we were on 35, we noticed a bunch of debris on the highway, bales of hay, furniture, tree debris all over the highway. So we followed the trail of debris underneath. And this is what we found.

You can just get the sense of just how strong this current was as the Blanco River was just sweeping over this area.

I want to pan over to where I am over here. I want to show you something. This is the highway here. I want you to look there. The clearance there is 16 feet. And if you look closely, you can actually see that there is debris stuck on the top part of that overpass right there. It's just hanging right now. There are people who are showing up here trying to get a firsthand glimpse of the damage, of what we are seeing here, as well.

You know, this all started just north of here in Blanco County where they got as much as 12 inches of rain in a very short period of time. All that water rushed down stream flooding areas like San Marcos. And because this happened so fast, many people just didn't have the time to evacuate. So they had to rescue many people who became stranded on their homes told that they even had to find people who were stranded on their roof tops. There are about a thousand people in shelters right now. And preliminary estimates, we are being told, is that about 400 homes have been completely destroyed.

Now, authorities are still assessing just how many people were injured in this event. The good news at this hour, just look at the river. The water has subsided quite a bit. The river has crested and the hope is that we've seen the worst of this, Fredricka.

[15:05:07] WHITFIELD: Let's hope so. Alina Machado, thank you so much.

Well, let's talk more about what's happening there in San Marcos. I want to bring in the mayor, Dan Guerrero.

So let's talk about all that you are facing. We heard from Alina, you've got curfews in place. You've got some homes that have been damaged, people on roof tops nearby. What is the situation where you are?

MAYOR DAN GUERRERO, SAN MARCOS, TEXAS (via phone): The situation right now is all things considered, relatively good. Right now, we don't have any rain. The water has gone down. The people are getting out and getting a chance to go in and assess damage in their properties and their homes.

But here is the issue. We are anticipating more rain coming through later this evening. So with homes already damaged, with people already displaced, we are really encouraging folks to stay off the streets this evening, to certainly go and see your homes but then get to a safe location. The curfew is primarily so that we can keep people off the street and so that we can give our emergency response a chance to get a little bit of rest and get ready for the next round of rain that we are anticipating.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. And what is next? Because if you are talking about already the month of May, 17.5 inches of rain. You just received 3.5 inches, what is the expectation now?

GUERRERO: Well, keep in mind, yesterday's rain was primarily water that was coming from the northwest from Blanco County coming downhill and collecting in the Blanco River, which eventually ran into the San Marcus river and caused the San Marcus river to back up as well.

We are looking at this evening has already begun which is, again, rains to the west of us and then potentially localized rain here in San Marcus. All of our streets, the lawns, the parks, they are already saturated. So the likelihood of that rain being absorbed into the soil is slim. And so, we are really encouraging people to not look at this as an event that's already over. We are anticipating we need to be prepared to be able to move to higher ground, if necessary.

WHITFIELD: Right. It is ongoing, the situation is. So we saw pictures earlier of people putting, you know, important pieces of furniture and valuable stacked up high within their homes. What are you telling people in terms of where they should go for safety? Yes, people are protecting their property, but what about protecting lives?

GUERRERO: We have two facilities that are currently open here in San Marcus. One is our community activity center. The other is a local middle school, the Maria Fernandez middle school here in San Marcos. And we have encouraged folks to go there. A lot of folks have been there since this morning. My assumptions that many have probably gone back to their neighborhoods just to take a look at their homes, see what the damage might be. And we anticipate the likelihood as they'll probably come back.

Now, this is temporary establishment for right now. So, it is certainly we are encouraging folks to also start making plans to either connect with family or friends or any long-term stays that they need to anticipate going into the remainder of the week.

WHITFIELD: All right, all the best. San Marcos mayor Dan Guerrero, thank you so much.

U.S. defense secretary Ash Carter is speaking out the first time since ISIS captured a key Iraqi city. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Barbara Starr, Carter said the loss of Ramadi was evident the Iraqi military lacks the will to fight. In the meantime, ISIS fighters are trying to push east to Baghdad even as airstrikes continue to pound the region.

CNN's Athena Jones is live at the White House with more on what the secretary had to say -- Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. That's right. Since the fall of Ramadi, the administration has been under increasing pressure, especially from Republicans to rethink their entire strategy for taking this fight to ISIS and for defeating ISIS. But then you hear from defense secretary Carter that a big part of the problem is the Iraqi forces themselves. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASH CARTER, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: What apparently happened was that the Iraqi force showed no will to fight. They were not outnumbered. In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force, and yet they failed to fight. They withdrew from the site. And that says to me, and I think to most of us, that we have an issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight ISIL and defend themselves.

Now, we can give them training. We can give them equipment. We obviously can't give them the will to fight. But if we give them training, we give them equipment and give them support and give them some time, I hope they will develop the will to fight because only if they fight can ISIL remain defeated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:09:59] JONES: And so, his message to the Iraqis is that those forces, the Iraqi forces have to step up. But the other side of the argument here, the argument that many Republicans are making both on the presidential trail and on Capitol Hill is that, sure, you can equip and train the Iraqi forces and to provide support that way, sure the U.S. can carry out airstrikes, but then, what is going to be really needed to beat back ISIS threat is more U.S. troops.

Senator John McCain, Senator Lindsey Graham, Hawks in the Senate, Republicans saying you are going to need 10,000 U.S. troops on the ground to win the war against ISIS. And you know, Fred, this is just not on the table. Ground troops are not on the table right now, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Graham and McCain getting a lot of support?

JONES: Well, the fact about it is that this is the kind of comments we have heard from both two senators in particular for a long time. They are well known Senate hawks. But their thoughts are being echoed by some on the presidential trail like George (INAUDIBLE). He is not a declared candidate, but he is certainly since interested in running for president. So that is part of the debate that is going on. Bottom line here though, right now, they are not calling for or not asking the administration for those extra troops. And right now, there is no talk of that.

WHITFIELD: All right, Athena Jones at the White House, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

All right, still ahead, protests lead to an arrest in Cleveland after an officer has cleared in the death of two unarmed people. Ryan Young is live for us in Cleveland.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are live in Cleveland where 71 arrests were made overnight as protesters took to the street. If you look across the street now, so far the protesters have not started marching just yet here. We'll have a live report coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:14:35] WHITFIELD: Cleveland's mayor today tells protesters to keep it peaceful. That's after he and the police chief praised protesters for relatively peaceful demonstrations following acquittal of Officer Michael Brelo in the shooting deaths of two unarmed people. Things became a bit tense last night when police with riot gear took to the streets and made 71 arrests.

CNN's Ryan Young is live for us now right now in Cleveland. So, what else is the mayor saying today?

[15:15:03] YOUNG: Well, Fred, you know this. We were walking along with some of those protesters as they let their voices be heard yesterday. You can see some of the stuff that they left behind here. They used chalk to write out in front of the justice center, to leave messages to the folks here. You look up here, though, you can see the officers on standby. This is the not sort of the tense situation that we witnessed overnight.

Of course, there were protesters took to the street. There was one protester who apparently threw a sign toward a person who was walking down the street and a fight started. But outside of that, we've heard it has remained peaceful.

Today though, the focus is what happens next? Quite honestly, there is a basketball game tonight that everyone will be focused on. And they believe some protesters may show up there. But all signs so far point to empty streets and not a lot of yelling and a lot of voices out here.

We've been driving around and we haven't seen any protesters taken to the streets so far. In fact, the mayor has a message for the rest of the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR FRANK JACKSON, CLEVELAND: I would say that come into downtown Cleveland, come into our neighborhoods an enjoy yourself. And if there are protesters, we'll be there along with those protesters and those protesters have a right to protest to express whatever opinion they have, as long as they don't cross the line. If they cross the line, we'll deal with them accordingly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Fred, just as walk to the street last night, we didn't really see any confrontations between police and protesters, especially people who are out enjoying Saturday night. So far there is calm. There is only a small group of protesters who are left here. Some of them have signs. I just going to point this direction, you can see them. They are sitting outside the justice center. They are not yelling. They are not chanting. They are just sitting there. We are told though this could have more protests this afternoon, maybe one plan for 4:00. We'll have to wait and see if anyone shows up -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. And clearly, with the same kind of messages as those chalk messages from there, police the police, one of the items that I was able to read there. What else did those messages say?

YOUNG: Well, you know, as we walk down here and it is quite clear, how many will be killed before you care? That's one of them here. Of course, the one we hear over and over, no justice, no peace. That has become the rallying cry. And then as we walk down this way, you can see stop killing our kids.

So fortunately, one of the things that we have seen here is not a lot of vulgar language here. The protesters were very calm and peaceful. One thing they told us, they wanted to make sure this message didn't get wrapped up in anything negative. They wanted to make sure that people understood. The people of Cleveland wanted to make sure nothing violent happened here. They wanted their voices heard especially what happened yesterday here in court.

WHITFIELD: And so, Ryan, is there a feeling or is there an answer to the question about whether Michael Brelo would be reinstated as an officer there or he would, you know, take his policing elsewhere?

YOUNG: That is a fantastic question. A lot of people in this community are having that conversation. First of all, the chief and may actually fire Michael Brelo because they know that he stood on top of the hood and fired those 15 rounds into the car. That is against police policy. He may not have been charged with anything, but may be fired because of taking that action. That's not a police tactics that is thought.

There are many people in this community feel the only way they can heal is that he is removed from the police force. So there is an active conversation going on here. We do have to remember that mayor can have him fire or there is a review board here that can have him reinstated. There is a conversation. There is a hearing that will have to happen within that police department with all those officers who were involved. Because everyone is still talking about that number, 137 shots, was it necessary because of a backfire? That perception of that threat, that is something that everyone still talking.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ryan Young in Cleveland. Thank you so much.

Lebron James is calling on protesters and anyone in that city to bring their excitement and passion to support the Cavaliers. They face off against the Atlanta Hawks tonight. Lebron spoke out saying violence is not the answer.

Here is CNN's Coy Wire.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: This isn't the first time king James has made a statement on social issues. He wore an "I can't breathe" t-shirt before Brooklynn Nets game to honor Eric Garner and he wore a hoodie to show support for Trayvon Martin.

Now, Lebron said he may release a statement at some point regarding all this happening in Cleveland. But for now, he is urging the city to just focus their passion on their hometown squad rather than hardships. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS FORWARD: I think sports in general, no matter what city it is, you know, something that is going through a city that is very, you know, dramatic, traumatizing, in any of that case so I think sports is one of the biggest healers in helping a city out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: There are other athletes who are asking for peace too like former NBA star current analyst Jalen Rose who tweeted, 100 officers assume unarmed couple in high-speed case and sadly kill them after 137 shots. Stand united and peaceful. Cleveland." Let's hope for the best for Cleveland as the Cavs host the Atlantic hawks there tonight on game three of the Eastern conference finals. They will start at 8:30 eastern on our sister station, TNT. Back to you, Fred.

[15:20:11] WHITFIELD: All right, Coy Wire. Thank you so much.

All right, still ahead, a horrific murder and arson case getting a huge break. And it came from a slice of pizza. Find out how they did that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:24:11] WHITFIELD: Checking your top stories now.

"The New York Times" report that the justice department identified criminal wrong doing in General Motors' failure to disclose an ignition switch defect that led to more than 100 deaths. The report also says GM is negotiating what could be a record settlement. The justice department would not comment to CNN on that. And GM would not comment other than to tell us, quote, "we are cooperating fully with all requests. We are unable to comment on the status of the investigation including timing," end quote.

Academics are mourning the death of a famous mathematician and his wife today. John Nash whose life inspired the Russell Crowe film "A Beautiful Mind," and his wife Alicia, were killed Saturday. The two were in a taxi near the New Jersey turnpike when the vehicle spun out of control. The driver survived. "A Beautiful Mind" chronicled Nash's struggle with paranoid schizophrenia. He won the Noble Prize for economics back in 1994.

And police in D.C. have released four people who were found with Daron Wint. He is the man suspected in the killing and arson at that D.C. mansion. And much of the evidence was acquired similar to what you see in a lot of police investigative or forensic show-type files.

Here now is CNN's Alexandra Field.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is potentially the smoking gun, a pizza box found at the scene inside, crust that investigators say connects Daron Wint to a heinous crime.

This is a pretty good find for an investigator.

Doctor David Zhang runs a DNA identification lab at Mt. Sinai hospital in New York City. He says a single bite mark can be enough to crack a case.

TATYANA ROSALIE, MT. SANAI LAB TECHNOLOGIST: You swab the pizza to get as much DNA from the crust as we can.

FIELD: Zhang says investigators also likely tested a crumb.

ROSALIE: Put it in a tube and get the cells out and proceed with the DNA constructions.

FIELD: First, a machine separates out the DNA.

This is releasing the DNA from the cell.

Then the sample is sample is amplified millions of copies are made that makes the sample large enough to be seen with the help of another machine.

DR. DAVID ZHANG, MT. SANAI MOLECULAR GENERIC PATHOLOGIST: The laser would have traced the DNA. And that is what you are going to see here.

FIELD: It's a unique read out called a DNA fingerprint. To solve the case, that fingerprint can be added to or matched in a federal database including some 14 million different profiles.

ZHANG: Hair, saliva, urine, semen, all these can be used.

FIELD: The Seemingly small clues picked up at crime scenes, Zhang says the piece of crust can yield millions of cells or even just a few. Sometimes that's just enough to identify a suspect or even solve the case.

Alexandra Field, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still ahead, record flooding in Texas and Oklahoma has already claimed a life. We'll find out how much more rain is expected in that area.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:30] WHITFIELD: All right. Hello again. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Areas at Texas and Oklahoma are still under flash flood watches and warnings right now. The rain that fell around the Oklahoma City area broke records, roads and many homes are still under water today. And more than 17 inches have now fallen for the month of May, and more is expected in the coming days.

Meteorologist Tom Sater is watching this developing story. So, boy, it is now over.

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is not over. In fact, for the last three weeks it seems like, Fred, we've been talking about tornadoes. Now the severe element is the flooding because for the last three weeks, each of these storms has producing incredible rainfall.

Look at this. Just in the last 24 hours, these are counties in Texas. I mean, any time you get an 8, 9, 10, 11.5 inch rainfall, you are going to have water rescues. You are going to have evacuations. But this goes on and on. I mean, 18 inches in Oklahoma City, not just the May record, but an all-time monthly rainfall record. This is an area stricken with drought and no longer the case. Look at all the red and areas of Texas and Oklahoma. This is a year

ago. Then we take a look at last Thursday. It does not include what we had since Thursday. Most likely, all of this will vanish. So, it's good to have reservoirs filled. It just you could do without the rising waters and the threat for dams to break. These are all flashflood reports yesterday. The only reports we are getting so far this morning in the storms are wind reports. But all of this area in the bright green warnings.

Now, I do want to point out, (INAUDIBLE), you had over 14 inches this month. That's a May record. So therefore, this is probably the one warning with the largest population that we are looking at. On a broader scale, there are many more states in the light green are rivers that have the flood warnings. And that's all over from areas southern Texas to northern Missouri. But now we've got tornado watches. So the threat for severe weather increased into the afternoon from down to the cost of (INAUDIBLE), Louisiana up to northeastern areas in Missouri.

So these storms are producing wind. But right now, the concern is about the water rescues. Forty-eight of them eastern parts of Oklahoma City last night, but north of Houston, I want to point out an area. Also in between San Antonio and Austin, in Wimberley, we had some problems there in the San Marcos and Blanco Rivers, just amazing waters.

Here is a dam we are watching, Fredricka. Concern right now, engineers believe that the pressure of the water could really cause some problems. They are thinking there could be a levee failure. So they are bringing in limestone by the truck load and the evacuations are taking place here. This area is going to pick up a little bit more rainfall, unfortunately, I think through Tuesday. The threat for severe weather shifts a little bit to the east, but the water level is going to get it to rise.

WHITFIELD: All right, Tom Sater, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

All right, straight ahead, as the city of Cleveland struggles with the acquittal of a police officer in the deaths of two unarmed people, but justice department will now review the case. But how will that change things? I will ask our legal analyst Philip Holloway next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:37:16] ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Organic, whole grain, natural, who wouldn't want to buy food with these good-for-you sounding labels? But these labels may not mean exactly what you think they mean. So let's take a look first at natural.

The food and drug administration says they won't object to a natural label if the food has no added color, no synthetic ingredients or artificial flavors. But that food can still be processed, some people wouldn't consider that natural. As for organic, the label might say made with organic ingredients, but

that means the food could just be 70 percent organic. Look for the USDA organic seal that means 95 percent organic.

As for whole grain, a label might have that phrase and only have small amounts of whole grain. Look for the first ingredient to be whole grain or whole oats or a whole rye.

So keep a keen eye on the labels as you walk down the grocery store aisle. And that may you won't be fooled by something that sounds terrific but maybe really isn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Cleveland is relatively calm today, a day after officer Michael Brelo was acquitted in the shooting deaths of two unarmed citizens. However, things were tense of a bit last night when police in riot gear took to the streets and made 71 arrests.

(INAUDIBLE) some relatives of the victims are still proclaiming no justice, no peace. In fact, the U.S. justice department announced shortly after the verdict that it would review the case.

CNN legal analyst Philip Holloway is joining me now.

So Phillip, you know, if indeed the justice department says they want to review the case, what is it they are going to focus on?

PHILIP HOLLOWAY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: They are going to focus on, in this particular case, whether or not his actions were objectively reasonable?

WHITFIELD: The officer's action?

HOLLOWAY: Correct. The U.S. Supreme Court has told us in case law (INAUDIBLE) that they had to look at the situation from the perspective of the officer at the time. It's frequently, these things are dynamic, they are fluid, they are changing, and you are not allowed to Monday morning quarterback these things which is why the judge went through some of that in his ruling yesterday when he acquitted him. Of course, that was based on collation (ph). But if you can let me put on my police officer hat just for a minute, does that often put it back on, that was extremely foolish. When you are faced with potentially a life-threatening situation or someone might be armed, you do not get on the hood of the car and placing yourself directly in the line of fire.

WHITFIELD: Because he said he thought his life was in jeopardy as that of his fellow officers and that is why he got on the hood of the car and unloaded.

HOLLOWAY: That's what he said, but that is not how police are trained. You are trained to take cover, and to then reassess and then to make a decision after that. I can't find any police instructor anywhere who will tell me that was a wise thing to do. [15:40:03] WHITFIELD: Right. And even the police chief, it would end

up saying that is not something that is in step with training. However, now moving forward, there's been some criticism from people within Cleveland and those who are looking outside in saying it may have been a mistake for the prosecutor, (INAUDIBLE), to just single out one officer of 13 and charge, you know, times two voluntary manslaughter. Even the mayor, Frank Jackson, had said early on that he thought it was going to be difficult to win a conviction on that kind of charge imposed on one officer.

Will that be something the justice department reviews, you know, the appropriateness or even would it be possible that the prosecutor would go back and say, I'm reassessing? There might be other charges, other officers involve here.

HOLLOWAY: If they couldn't get a conviction in this particular case, and the reason he was single out for, Fred, was because he went the extra step. He continued shooting after the other officers had stopped. He did what I said a moment ago the foolish thing of getting on the hood of a car and firing into the windshield. That was why he was singled out because his conduct went far beyond the conduct of the other officers.

The prosecutor has essentially conceded the point that all of the other shots that were fired were objectively reasonable as required by law. So I think they have an uphill battle convicting any of these officers. Time will tell, because you know, proof beyond a reasonable doubt, that is the highest standard proof known to our law. And if they could not convict him given the facts of this case, they may have trouble with the remaining officers that are facing charges.

WHITFIELD: So really, at this point, it is really, the only what's next step is going to be the justice department and that review as it pertains to how this case was argued, how it was settled.

HOLLOWAY: Right. The justice department is not really going to have a say in the way the prosecutor strategized and how they presented the case and that sort of thing. They are going to look if whether or not there were any federal constitutional issues, things like that that could give rise to perhaps federal civil rights charges like we saw following the Rodney King case. There were state acquittals, but federal convictions. Whether or not this rises to that level, time will tell.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much Phillip Holloway. Appreciate it.

All right, still ahead, some residents in Northern Colorado fearing a serial sniper may be on the loose. Drivers have reported random gun shots fired at their cars. And one man on a bike was shot and killed. We'll hear from one of the victims next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:11] WHITFIELD: All right, checking our top stories. Earlier today, an all-female activist group riding in a bus across the

controversial demilitarization zone between North and South Korea, the group of about 30 women marched for the need for peace between the two countries. They also are working to reunite families separated by the Korean War. The activists included feminist Gloria Steinem. She told CNN this act of civil disobedience involved a lot of risk and uncertainty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA STEINEM, FEMINIST AND POLITICAL ACTIVIST: It is such an enormous accomplishment. I mean, we started out from our homes not at all sure what would happen. And we had all paid our own tickets and we had a dream because of Christine, who was our main organizer and, you know, heart and soul of all of this, but we of course, there is so much mystery, you know. We didn't know what would happen. But, in fact -- and we constantly didn't know, you know? We didn't know whether just today we would be able to cross the DMZ and where we would be able to cross and it happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Other activists have criticized Steinem's group for being, quote, "North Korean sympathizers." They say this has been overlooked the problems women face under supreme leader Kim Jong-Un's authoritarian rule.

And a victory for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. He won Saturday's southern Republican leadership conference straw poll with 25 percent of the vote. The poll is considered the first major GOP survey in the south. Runners-up included Wisconsin governor Scott Walker with 21 percent and Texas senator Ted Cruz with 17 percent.

An explosive tanker fire shut down an interstate in Detroit this morning. These are terrifying images right here, the aftermath. No one was injured in that blaze, however. The truck was carrying 9,000 gallons of gasoline and police are unsure what caused the crash.

All right now to this mysterious story out of Northern Colorado, where funeral services were held this weekend for cyclist John Jacoby. Jacoby is the second person who be randomly shot on a Colorado roadway in recent weeks. Now officials along with the FBI are looking at whether a serial sniper may be on the loose there. The first victim, Cori Romero, survived her gunshot wounds. She told CNN about her harrowing experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORI ROMERO, SHOT BY UNKNOWN SNIPER: So I was driving home from work. I normally don't work late shifts but that day I did. And I was merging on to i-25 when a car pulled up next to me and I thought they actually hit my car with their car, but my window shattered and then at that point, I thought they threw something in my car. I called 911 and, you know, they told me to stop, pull over, so I did. And they walk me through the whole process of trying to cover my wounds because I noticed I was bleeding a little bit. And then the paramedics and the police got there and that's when they noticed the bullet holes in my car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So the two shootings are eerily similar. And they are also very close geographically, separated by about five weeks' time. Windsor residents are understandably on edge and a popular Colorado triathlon was actually canceled Saturday out of fears that the gunman might strike again.

Here now is CNN's Ana Cabrera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A mystery on Colorado roads.

ANTHONY BRAUN, JOHN JACOBY'S CO-WORKER: It's like crazy. I just thought he's just here yesterday and the next day gone.

CABRERA: 48-year-old John Jacoby shot dead while riding his bike in Northern Colorado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He rides back and forth to work quite a bit.

CABRERA: A passing driver finds Jacoby laying in the roadway in the road town of Windsor this past Monday morning. He was shot twice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Confirmed in fact it was a homicide.

[15:49:58] CABRERA: It is the town's first homicide in eight years. No eyewitnesses, no weapons found on scene, no buildings in the immediate vicinity. And adding to the mystery, Jacoby is not the first victim.

ROMERO: Here is where the bullet entered and exited.

CABRERA: Just four weeks earlier, 20-year-old Cori Romero was shot in the neck while driving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 911, what's the address of your emergency?

ROMERO: I'm on the highway right now and somebody just hit me, and I'm bleeding from my neck and I'm scared.

CABRERA: This shooting happed about five miles from where Jacoby was killed.

ROMERO: I feel entirely grateful and thankful to be able to, you know, walk and talk and stand.

CABRERA: In both cases, no arrest. Authorities are trying to figure out if they are related.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not excluding anything at this point.

CABRERA: Beyond this two cases, at least two dozen reports of shattered car windows while people are driving in just a past few weeks, but in different location. An official say there is no evidence to confirm the windows were actually shot.

Left with more questions and answers, residents are starting to worry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who did it? Why are they doing this kind of thing? Is it the same guy that has been picking off cars? Is it a copycat? It's frightening.

CABRERA: Local police have called for extra resources to investigate. The FBI is now assisting, helping to solve this mystery before someone else gets hurt.

Ana Cabrera, CNN, Denver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And a grieving father lost his only son in a shooting spree one year ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Too many have died, we should say to ourselves, not one more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The father quits his job and devoted the rest of his life to fighting for change in California. Coming up, the emotional father said he would trade everything for one more day with his son.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:27] WHITFIELD: A shooting rampage forever changed the California college town at Isla Vista one year ago. A troubled young man killed six people before turning a gun on himself and now, his father has quit his job and devoted the rest of his life to fighting for change.

Our Kyung Lah has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another gunshot. Victim. Shots fired. Shots fired.

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): May 23th, 2013, a 10-minute shooting rampage through Isla Vista, the college town next to the University of California, Santa Barbara. Customers duck flying bullets (INAUDIBLE), glass shattering. Two bullets strike Christopher Martinez as he's runs into the store, bleeding to death on the floor, just 20 years old, the only child of Richard Martinez.

Does it feel like a year?

RICHARD MARTINEZ, FATHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: No. I don't even -- it's all a blur to me. If I could trade all of the remaining days that I have left in my life for one more day with my son, I'd do it.

LAH: We first met Richard Martinez a year ago.

Here, when you walked in front of the cameras at the sheriff's press conference.

MARTINEZ: They talk about gun rights. What about Chris' right to live?

LAH: What was it that drove you to do that?

MARTINEZ: It wasn't a very rational decision, I have to tell you. I mean, I just did it. I can't accept the way he died. It was preventable. And it's going on every single day in this country.

Too many have died. We should say to ourselves, not one more.

LAH: An impassioned plea becomes a rallying cry at the university's memorial. Not one more becomes a hashtag, then 2.4 million postcards and this grieving father joining forces with gun control group, every town for gun safety, delivering them to lawmakers across the country.

MARTINEZ: Sixty thousand to Marco Rubio in Florida. I delivered postcards to the governor of Pennsylvania.

LAH: Five states and still counting. He quits his job, successfully lobbying for criminal background checks in Washington State. In California, leading the passage of a gun violence protective order, giving families more say over an unstable relative's ability to own a gun. Martinez says he is not at war with the gun lobby. He is fighting complacency.

MARTINEZ: Sandy Hook happened and I didn't do anything and I didn't listen. When you lose a kid, nothing I thought was important before he died is important to me now, nothing. It's too late. I can't bring my son back. I'm doing whatever I can to make sure that other people's kids don't die in the way that mine did.

LAH: Looking forward, one year later, pledging not one more.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Isla vista, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we have so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM and it all starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, historic floods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would be very concerned.

WHITFIELD: Deadly rains. A firefighter swept away to his death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's something I'll have to live with the rest movie life.

WHITFIELD: Storm watches and warnings still in effect today, and hundreds told to evacuate as waters continue to rise.

Plus, Cleveland on edge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A man picked a sign up off the sidewalk and just threw it straight at me.

WHITFIELD: Police out in riot gear and dozens arrested overnight as protests continue over the acquittal of a police officer involved in the shooting deaths of two unarmed people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to tell you something right now, we have no justice.

WHITFIELD: And one-on-one with Ash Carter, the defense secretary's first comments since the key Iraqi town of Ramadi fell to ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight.

WHITFIELD: NEWSROOM starts now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)