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Latino Vote Likely to Carry Weight in Election; Tornadoes in Kentucky; Google's New Privacy Policy Goes into Effect Tomorrow; Romney Wins Michigan, Arizona; Moderate Maine Senator Will Not Seek Re-Election

Aired February 29, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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


SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Phoenix, of course. We've had a crucial vote in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

I'm Suzanne Malveaux, I want to get you up to speed for this Wednesday, February 29th.

People in parts of the Midwest are sifting through what remains of their homes and their businesses today. Deadly storms slamming the area overnight, killing five people in Illinois, Missouri, injuring 13 others in Missouri, as well as Kansas.

A storm chaser captured this funnel cloud sweeping across the night sky in Reno County, Kansas. The governor has declared a state of emergency in the town of Harveyville, about 20 miles southwest of Topeka.

Several tornadoes were reported in Kansas. We'll have more on the severe weather from the "CNN Severe Weather Center" in just a couple minutes.

Rescuers are scouring the waters of Mobile bay in Alabama today. They are searching for three members of the U.S. coast guard missing after their helicopter crashed.

Now, crews recovered the body of a fourth crew member. And this morning rescuers located the helicopter partially submerged in several feet of water. The chopper was on a training mission when it went down last night.

Terrified school kids calling 911 when a fellow student started shooting this week in Ohio. Now, we hear their voices. Police released the phone recordings. Just take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OPERATOR: 911, what is your emergency?

CALLER: We just had a shooting at our school. We need to get out of here.

OPERATOR: okay, ma'am -- we got a school shooting what school?

CALLER: Chardon High School.

OPERATOR: Chardon High School?

CALLER: Yes, ma'am.

OPERATOR: All right. Can you get administration?

CALLER: Everyone is running away, so --

OPERATOR: Where is the shooter with the gun?

CALLER: I don't know. He was in the cafeteria and everyone just started running.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That is hard to hear. That was Monday morning. Three teenagers were killed, two other people wounded.

The local prosecutor says that tenth grader T.J. Lane has confessed bringing the gun to school and shooting ten times. Want you to stay here. We're going to go live to Chardon, Ohio in just a couple of minutes.

Mitt Romney finding his mojo. Well, can he ride that mojo into Super Tuesday? Races just six days away. Romney coming off wins in Arizona, right here, as well as Michigan, clobbering Rick Santorum by 20 points in Arizona, but he just squeaked by Santorum in his home state of Michigan.

On the campaign trail today, Romney reflected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was kidding. Well, it was a big night last night for me. I was very pleased. Very good news. Arizona and Michigan's right next door and, interestingly, the people who said that the economy and jobs were their number one issue, they voted for me overwhelmingly.

And that's one of the reasons I'm running. I'm very concerned, as Anne said, about jobs, getting our economy going again and I'm concerned about kids, making sure kids aren't burdened with extraordinary debts and a weak economy. This president has made some promises he hasn't been able to keep.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Santorum made the most of his close, second-place finish in Michigan. He said it was better than expected and shows it is still a two-person race with Romney.

CNN's latest delegate count showing Romney has 165. Santorum has 44. Newt Gingrich remains at 38, Ron Paul, 27.

The "Costa Allegra" is slowly making its way back to land. Now, the cruise ship, which lost power two days ago due to an engine room fire, now being towed to the Seychelles Islands. That's in the Indian Ocean. Expected to arrive tomorrow.

Now, more than 1,000 people are on that ship. They are using mineral water to bathe. They're eating cheese, fruit, cold cuts. The "Allegra" is the sister ship of the "Costa Concordia," which ran aground near Italy's coast just last month.

Developing story in the British tabloid phone hacking scandal. James Murdoch has resigned as executive chairman of troubled newspaper unit of News Corp, News International. News Corp says that Murdoch will now focus on expanding the firm's international TV business.

Film director James Cameron wants to dominate the deepest part of the planet. What are we talking about? He has invited CNN along for the ride. We are going to talk about the spot. It is the Marianas Trench in the South Pacific. It's very deep.

Cameron planning to go almost that far in an attempt to be just the third living person to go seven miles deep and live to tell about it we'll have a reporter team with him in the South Pacific. Going to check in with them later in the program.

Want to go to Jacqui Jeras on the deadly storms slamming into is the country's midsection. I know we've been reporting five people are dead in Illinois and Missouri. At least 13 others are hurt, as well.

What do we know about what's happening?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEREOLOGIST: Well, we still have a very dangerous situation going on, as we speak. In fact, there's a confirmed tornado in Kentucky right now, which is just west of Hopkinsville, so this is a dangerous storm heading into a populated area.

You need to get to the lowest level of your home away from doors and windows. Seek shelter immediately. This is a tornado on the ground that is causing damage, moving into Hopkinsville.

We also have some public reports of possible damage. This is just south of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and then another storm right here near Harrisburg.

Let's go to the video and show you what's been happening over the past 12 to 15 hours, extensive damage. This is from Harleysville, Kansas. The governor there has declared a state of emergency.

There you can see homes have just been demolished. A church has been destroyed. And there are multiple injuries with that storm as it moved through there last night.

Let's go to Indiana now. This is Newburgh. This is right along the Ohio River, just east of Evansville. A tornado likely moved through here damaging homes and moving through the downtown area.

And then we'll take to you a place you probably heard of, Branson, Missouri. Yes, we all know that big tourist area, especially in the summer time. A likely tornado moved through here damaging a restaurant, damaging a hotel and gas station. There were multiple injuries with this as well.

This is a very large system. This is a high-tornado day that we're going to be expecting and lots more damage and more fatalities will be possible if people don't seek shelter.

Here's the storm and where it's headed on off to the east. We've got tornado watches which remain in effect from Ohio stretching down into Tennessee.

It's going to be a long afternoon. Make sure your NOAA weather radio is on and we'll continue to break in and keep you up-to-date with that tornado near Hopkinsville.

Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right, thank you, Jacqui.

Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are covering. First, we're going to play you the students desperate calls to police from the Ohio school shooting.

And now that Google says it's following your every move, every mouse click, we're going to tell you what to do to protect your online privacy.

And then I'm going to talk to an Arizona family who are not following the fight for the White House and they're not alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: What are the choices when you look at the politics, the political landscape?

JIM BLEIER: I'm unconventional in that regards. You know, to me it's a diarrhea milkshake or a turd sandwich. Those are the two choices.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Next round, the fight for the Republican presidential nomination. Super Tuesday less than a week away.

Mitt Romney heads to the races with more momentum, a close win over Rick Santorum in Michigan. He won by a much wider margin here in Arizona's primary.

Well, next Tuesday ten states are going to be holding primaries or caucuses, 427 delegates up for grabs.

So fed up with the poisonous partisanship, Republican Senator, Olympia Snowe, is now calling it quits. Unexpectedly announcing she is going to retire rather than seek re-election in Maine this year. Snowe is known as a moderate, sometimes in siding with Democrats. In explaining her decision to retire, she said she finds it frustrating - and I'm quoting here - "that an atmosphere of polarization and my way or the highway ideologies have become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions."

More and more folks feel that frustration. Here in Arizona, we met a lot of these folks, including a family who's completely abandoned the political process and now has unplugged.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JIM BLEIER: You guys want to go swimming today?

MALVEAUX: The Bleier family, former political junkies, on the road and with no destination.

BLEIER: We lost three friends. They died in their 30s in the last few years, college friends. We're like, we're not guaranteed tomorrow.

MALVEAUX: So they dropped everything, unplugged completely, pulled up their roots, and hit the road.

BLEIER: We're traveling around and seeing sites and home schooling the kids. We moved from an 8200 square foot house with three acres to this. You'll be surprised how little you can live on.

MALVEAUX: Living off the rent they make modest real estate investments, this is their home now.

BLEIER: Lost a lot. Stock market, real estate values. We've met so many people that have lost their homes and they're living full time on the road in a little trailer.

MALVEAUX: Jim voted for Bush and then McCain. But this time he sees it differently.

What are the choices when you look at the politics, political landscape?

BLEIER: I'm a little unconventional in that regards. You know, to me, it's a diarrhea milkshake or a turd sandwich. Those are the two choices.

MALVEAUX: But he's not an Obama fan either.

BLEIER: I think the second term could be worse. I don't believe you can spend your way out of a recession.

I think both parties are trying to take the power over many and put it in the hands of a few and it's just bigger government and just not interested, not at all.

MALVEAUX: Don't want to engage?

BLEIER: No. If we thought we could make a difference, then yes. I think the tea party movement's good.

I don't know what's going to happen and I'm a believer that if we focus on our family and focus on our friends and family and people that we can help, our lifestyles, our life, quality of life will be greatly improved.

MALVEAUX: OK, I'm sitting here and it's hard to understand in some ways because I think, maybe I could convince you to vote or look or follow this person, but not really, right? Because you feel empowered to take care of your family and your -- the people immediately around you?

BLEIER: Yes. We don't care about the big picture anymore.

MALVEAUX: So, each day they head out for another adventure, running from the traditional notion of the American dream. And they're not looking back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: So, the Bleier family, they drop everything. They completely abandon the political process along with the luxuries of their life and they're really not the only ones.

But not everybody goes to that extreme, but it does bring up the bigger question, whether or not you think the political process is a waste of time.

We want to hear from you? Are you disillusioned, fed up with the way things are going or is it just politics as usual? Send us your thoughts, facebook.com/suzanneCNN. We're going to read some of your responses at the end of the hour.

When a gunman started killing high school students in Ohio this week, quick-thinking kids grabbed their phones and called 911. Now, those recordings are out. You're going to hear them next.

And the prosecutor has plans for the teenager who says he admits that he shot up the school. We've got full details, live out of Chardon, Ohio, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Want you to listen to these voices. It's a 911 dispatcher hearing from a high school student that another teenager was shooting up the school.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OPERATOR: Did you see the shooter? Are you a student?

CALLER: Yes. Yes. I'm a student. I was right by the shooter when he pulled the gun.

OPERATOR: OK. Who was the shooter?

CALLER: His name is Thomas lane.

OPERATOR: You seen him shoot how many?

CALLER: I saw him take out two. Then I was gone. I was out of there.

OPERATOR: OK. Were the students still alive?

CALLER: I don't know, ma'am. I didn't even check. I got out there as fast as I could.

OPERATOR: OK, but they went down, right?

CALLER: Yes. They were laying on the ground in blood.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It's amazing when you hear the calm in that young man's voice as he is describing his classmates shot, lying in blood.

Ted Rowlands is live in Chardon, Ohio, with the story. Before we talk about the shooter here, what do we know about the victims?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the victims, you know, there are three now, obviously that have passed.

We do have some funeral news to pass along. One of the victims, the first to die, 16-year-old Daniel Parmertor, will be laid to rest this weekend. His family has announced funeral plans for Saturday. And we are still waiting on the funeral plans for the other two, Demetrius Hewlin and Russell King.

Both Hewlin and King have donated their organs and their families say that they're proud of that fact and they're using that fact as a way to sort of heal through the process.

Another way this community is healing through the process, Suzanne, is a vigil last night. Thousands of people came out to be together in the downtown area and they had a candlelight vigil. They spent time together. And people there said really just being together made him feel better and helping each other.

This community really is extraordinary, the way they've reacted to what has happened. One of the things that happened right off the bat, we've heard all about this teacher who was at the school when it happened. He witnessed the shooting. He chased away the shooter, T.J. lane. His name is Frank Hall. He's a part-time football coach and full-time teacher here at the school. And we haven't heard much from him.

But our affiliate caught up with him. He didn't say much, but take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK HALL, TEACHER, CHARDON HIGH SCHOOL: I just want to say that I'm sorry to the families, to the victims. I wish I could have done more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: That's it. That's frank hall, the part-time football coach and teacher who is being credited, Suzanne, with saving lives because he was able to react and chase T.J. Lane out of the school cafeteria while he was being shot at by the youngster.

Today, schoolteachers are back in the school with counselors. Tomorrow, students will be back with their parents. They want to bring parents into this process, too. And then Friday will be the first day of regularly scheduled school.

MALVEAUX: Ted, it's amazing when you listen to that coach and he says I wish I could have done more. I mean, talk about being modest. I mean, really, the fact that he was so brave and courageous and saved lives there.

What do we know more about the shooter here, what prosecutors have planned for him?

ROWLANDS: Well, he had his first court appearance yesterday and this was an initial appearance. The first thing they had to deal with was whether he would be held in custody and, clearly, that was an easy decision for the judge, not only for the safety of the community, but the safety of this 17-year-old.

What will happen next is that we are expecting that the prosecution will ask that he be bumped up to adult court. The judge has reserved a court date for that, the 6th of next month -- or the 6th of March and we expect that that'll be just a formality.

Given his age and the seriousness of this crime, he will be considered an adult, even though he's 17, in the eyes of the law, likely. And that'll happen at the next hearing.

MALVEAUX: All right, Ted, thank you very much for the latest the latest information there. And, obviously, our condolences to the families who lost their children in that shooting.

Some of the affiliates covering across the country, here. New Orleans police have arrested a 17-year-old in connection with the shooting of a good Samaritan last month. They arrested him at his high school after getting several tips.

The victim, you might recall, Mike Ainsworth, was shot for trying to stop a woman from being carjacked. He died in front of his two young sons.

We've got an unbelievable video out of Oklahoma. I want you to take look at the left side of your screen. A teen working at a car wash, hit by a car, flew into the air. He is recovering from his injuries.

He is now back at school. Turns out that this is his second brush with death. He found out just a few months ago he had a rare heart condition and had a defibrillator put in.

And Pinellas County, Florida, workers imploded three old smokestacks at a power plant. They were remnants of a 50-year-old steam plant which has been replaced with a natural gas-burning system.

Big primary wins for Mitt Romney, but are they big enough to get him the Republican nomination for president? We're looking ahead to the next round of voting on Super Tuesday, laying out for you what the candidates have to do to get that magic number to win the delegates.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here are some of the stories in "The Rundown" we're working on next.

Mitt Romney wins in Michigan and Arizona, but is the Republican party still searching for the one who can actually beat President Obama? The odds on a brokered convention.

Plus, Google's new privacy protection going into effect tomorrow. Alison Kosik is going to have some tips on how you can keep your identity safe while you're online.

And, later, take one world leader, add a nervous waiter and a tray full of beers. What do you get? We're going to show you that as well.

So, we didn't win by a lot, but we won by enough. That's how Mitt Romney describes his tight victory over Rick Santorum in the Michigan primary.

That win combined with his strong finish in Arizona basically revitalizing the Romney campaign. Not a minute too soon. Super Tuesday race is just six days away.

Joining us to talk about the political road ahead, CNNPolitics.com editor, Bryan Monroe. Great to see you there.

Give us a little sense of the mojo. Mitt Romney, how important is that that he's got these two wins, Arizona and Michigan? How does he build on it?

BRYAN MONROE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, his win last night, particularly in Michigan, was a very big deal. He had some tough sledding coming into it. Santorum made it very difficult for him.

But even though he won the popular vote in Michigan, it's still unclear whether or not he earned enough delegates in Michigan to take that victory as well.

Our latest CNN estimate has them tied at 11 delegates each with eight that have not been allocated based on our estimates.

But what it really means is that he's going into Super Tuesday, in Wyoming tonight, and Washington caucuses on Saturday with more momentum to try to -- I don't think he'll lock it up Tuesday, but he'll certainly make it more difficult for his competitors to tighten it up.

MALVEAUX: And, Bryan, let's talk about Super Tuesday. Do we think that after Super Tuesday that it's going to thin the flock of candidates a bit? Are we going to see perhaps Gingrich at that point step down or Ron Paul? How far could they go?

MONROE: Well, that's certainly the question. Ron Paul has made it clear that he wants to stay in for the long haul.

His campaign is as much about his mission and what he sees for the country as it is about getting the nomination itself, so I don't know if he'll be dropping out after Tuesday.

Newt Gingrich? That's a different question. He did not do well last night. He hasn't done well in a while. Certainly, money will become an issue.

But, you know, we'll see. If he doesn't do well in the 10 states on Tuesday, it's going to be hard for him to see this through the long haul.

MALVEAUX: Do you think that possibly Paul or Gingrich are staying in because they see a VP spot?

MONROE: It's going to be difficult for both of them, but I think one of the things that's happening this time around is with the influences of the Super PACs.

And, you know, you've got Adelson stepping up with more money to support Newt Gingrich's Super PAC. That gives them some air cover and that gives them some runway to stay in a little bit longer than they would had they not had the support from the third-party Super PACs being able to allow them to keep this going for a while. So, the money's going to make the difference.

MALVEAUX: Yes, and could we possibly see a brokered convention as this goes longer and longer?

MONROE: Well, that's a very good question. We did a piece on CNN.com yesterday looking at the possibility of brokered convention.

I talked to one of our contributors, Ari Fleischer, who says it doesn't look like it will happen because what has to happen is a candidate has to fail to secure the 1,144 delegates need to go into the Tampa convention on August 27th with this thing locked up.

And this is going to be a long haul, but even if that happens, there's going to be a lot of conversation, a lot of back room dealings to make sure that going into Tampa the Republican party is united and has a clear nominee, because they don't want this bleed into the general election against President Obama. It doesn't make them look good.

MALVEAUX: All right. Bryan, great to see you. I know you're following all things politics at CNN.com. Thanks, again.

MONROE: Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: The Latino vote likely to carry a lot of weight in the election. Mitt Romney won 18 percent of the Latino voting yesterday. What about the general election?

Jaime Molera is Republican consultant, fifth generation Arizonan. You are also Latino, as well, so we can ask you a number of questions here.

First of all, what do you make of what happened here in Arizona? Romney did well. It was expected. But strangely enough it was the economy, not immigration, that really made much difference to voters.

JAIME MOLERA, LATINO REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Arizona has been focusing on the economy just like everywhere else. We had our construction industry which was decimated. So people are worried about jobs and job creation. So I think the focus of that, not just in this primary but in the general election is the key thing.

MALVEAUX: And we talked to a lot of voters here. Immigration is such a hot-button issue. Why do you suppose it didn't factor in greater when people actually went to the polls and voted?

MOLERA: Again, peoples find right now is whether or not they're going to make their mortgage payments, whether or not they'll have a job. I think that's the overriding theme of the economy. Arizona has gone through several tough years around immigration and immigration reform. I think people are focused on the key things that mean a lot to us. Right now it's job creation.

MALVEAUX: And I'll sure you've seen this.

MOLERA: I have.

MALVEAUX: Our audience has seen this, the cover of "Time" magazine, that Latinos in the general election are the ones who will decide who becomes the next president. You're a Republican, you're also a member of the Latino community. How is it that Republicans -- what can they do that president Obama has not done in terms of making the community better off?

MOLERA: I think it's going to be Romney. He needs to do a good job early on reaching out to Latinos. That's not just showing up at a May 5th, Cinco de Mayo parade or something. He needs to go to the Latino leaders, to businesses, talk about small business development. Those are the kinds of things that Latinos want to talk about. If they do that similar to what George Bush did in 2004 where he had a very strong Latino outreach. He captured about 45 percent of the Latino vote. Those are the kinds of things that Romney can do.

MALVEAUX: Why do you suppose Republicans are not doing better in capturing the Latino vote? You are pretty unique in the community.

MOLERA: I'm a Republican, so I'm kind of a minority in that respect.

MALVEAUX: Right. Why do you think the Republican Party has not captured more people like yourself?

MOLERA: In a lot of ways, I think traditionally Democrats have always appealed to Latinos. A lot of my family, when they came to the United States, it was almost a given. You became a Democrat. My grandfather was very conservative in a lot of ways, but he was a Democrat. Now I think Republicans have an opportunity, if we're smart about it, knowing the population is just ballooning, to be very aggressive in going after it. I think it's possible. I think that Republicans can do a good job if they take the time and also spend the resources.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you very much for joining us. Really appreciate your perspective.

Want to go straight to breaking news to Jacqui Jeras at the CNN Weather center.

I understand there's word now of tornadoes on the ground in Kentucky.

JERAS: Yes. It's producing damage as we speak. This is in Washington and Marion Counties. This storm here. Confirmation that damage was caused by this storm as it moved through the Hodgenville area. An apartment complex was destroyed. Damage near the fair grounds and the high school. This is a quick-moving storm, about 55 miles per hour. This is the area of rotation now. Right in between New Haven and moving towards Loretto. We'll put this into motion and show you the signature of this thing as it moves through Hodgenville. That is an indication that that is debris in the area, that we're not just dealing with rain or damaging winds. So very strong signature on radar. This is moving towards Loretto. People in the area need to be seeking shelter immediately as the storm has a history of producing some damage. Now to put this in perspective this is the storm. Here is Louisville, Kentucky, here is Lexington, Kentucky. In addition to this we have tornado watches in effect. Conditions are favorable for more tornadoes to develop. This is the line that I'm most concerned about at this hour that's moving into northwestern parts of Tennessee, all throughout western and central Kentucky and clipping in right here along the Ohio river. The threat will stay high. This is a moderate- risk day, Suzanne. We'll see a larger number of tornadoes and widespread wind damage. Take note of all the lightning associated with these storms, which can be equally as deadly. A tornado confirmed on the ground right now, Washington and Nelson counties. The town of Loretto is next under the gun unfortunately for this latest storm -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Jacqui.

Also on the phone with us now the mayor of Harrisburg, Illinois, Eric Gregg.

I understand there are powerful storms that have claimed more victims there. Can you tell us what has taken place?

ERIC GREGG, MAYOR, HARRISBURG, ILLINOIS (via telephone): Well, we certainly had a horrific event this morning at approximately 5:00 a.m. We do have loss of life and several injuries. It went through the southern part of our community, we are now, of course, trying to do everything we can to make sure every man, woman and child is accounted for. We have several crews on site. We are trying to get a handle on this. It was a devastating event in our community here in southern Illinois.

MALVEAUX: Mayor, I understand we're looking at new pictures, these aerials of where you are. And just the devastation that has occurred. Can you describe to us what actually happened here? It just looks unbelievable.

GREGG: Well, it appears that this tornado touched down just outside of town near a community called carrier mills, Illinois, started coming towards the southeast. Then came over the southern end of Harrisburg, Illinois. Just cut a path of destruction that's absolutely devastating and heartbreaking. I was out 15 minutes after the event happened, and was on site with several other of the council members of our city. We were doing everything we can, working with emergency personnel and trying to assess the damage and the injuries and, of course, unfortunately the loss of life. In small communities it's heartbreaking. We all know each other. We all care very much about each other. And this is just something that happens in an area that, you know, we just hope and pray to god it never does happen. We see what happens in other parts of the country, now it's come to our doorstep. We will do what we have to do. We'll continue working every day until we do what has to be done to put this back on track. But it's just a very difficult day. And a very good community in southern Illinois.

MALVEAUX: Mayor, can you describe for us just how big this area is? We're looking at these new aerial pictures here. It's hard to get a sense of just the extent of it and size of the community that has been hit hard. We can see the damage. But how big of an area is this?

GREGG: It looks like the tornado actually stayed on the ground for a few miles, and then the path that it cut was -- it looks -- the length of at least three, four football fields in some areas. You know we have homes and semis toppled, cars thrown in the lake and everything else. The -- you can't imagine how devastating it is until you're there. It's like nothing I've ever seen and frankly don't ever care to see again. And, again, my heart goes out to those that we've lost today in our community.

The families, all the people that are hurting today. We had several injuries as well. Millions of dollars of structural damage. I know the governor of Illinois is on his way here. We have our local representatives here. The thing that I can say that I'm so proud of is the communities that are surrounding us that are rallying to help Harrisburg, Illinois today. We have people coming from all over. I'm sure, you know, from even probably, if we needed, from other states. People are coming to this community to help us today and we're thankful and gracious for their assistance today.

MALVEAUX: Mayor, I know that it must be an incredible job to actually try to sift through all of that damage. You say that you already understand that you have lost some residents there. Do you know how many people have died?

GREGG: Well, we're hearing that the number is now five, and it could go up. We're still, again, in recovery, trying to make sure we have everyone accounted for. It actually came over and hit a duplex complex, which really took out several of the apartments, and then went on across and took out several homes, and just absolutely tore everything up that was in its path. I don't know how big it was. I haven't heard. We are waiting on confirmation from the national weather service. But it certainly appears about as bad as you can get. I just -- it's just -- we seen what happened in Fulton, Missouri, now here it is in our backyard -- not to that magnitude, but still the loss of life here. It's heartbreaking. You know, our community is just hurting today. We ask that everyone keeps us in their thoughts and prayers as we move forward in the days ahead. We have a lot of clean up to do and a lot of recovery to do.

MALVEAUX: Is there an ongoing mission right now, a rescue mission to look for people who might be missing inside those buildings?

GREGG: Yes, there is. After the event happened, after the tornado came through this morning, we had crews on site almost immediately sifting through the damage and pulling -- we're basically out there pulling -- going, you know, piece by piece, pulling material off of the top of each other to try to make sure we're not missing anyone. We're wanting to make sure that we do not lose one person more than -- in this whole event.

But we're just going to make sure everyone -- again, every man, woman and child is accounted for. The hospital, we're in the process of -- I understand that we have some structural -- it came over the hospital. And there's concern about the structural damage to the hospital. So we're looking at what we might be able to do there.

We're in the process of making sure we have a place to house them, feed them. We have served displaced families at this point in time. I'm satisfied the community here will rally around and help those in need today as well as the surrounding communities will do the same. That's the kind of people in this community and this area. They want to help each other and they care about each other. That's the one redeeming thought in this whole horrible nightmare that we're faced with today. But we will, you know, we'll continue to work day and night.

MALVEAUX: You say there was a hospital that was damaged, that was hit. Tell us what you know about that hospital. What is the name of the hospital? Where is it? What kind of damage are you talking about at that hospital?

GREGG: It is the Harrisburg Medical Center. In a briefing right now, it's my understanding that they're looking at the structural damage to the hospital, to make sure it is safe and if it is not safe there will be measures taken to move the patients and move people out of there as well. We've just taken a severe blow.

Of course when it lands on your hospital and hits your hospital, that's even more devastating because now we are fortunate, we have another hospital seven miles away, of course that's in Eldorado, Illinois. They opened up anything they can do to help us as well as other communities.

Everybody is reaching out. We have several law enforcement, emergency medical personnel here in our city today from all over the state of Illinois. You know, it's -- we are just trying to make sure we get people safe, keep people out of the area and make sure that we are doing everything that we need to do to protect everyone else in this community today.

MALVEAUX: Mayor, what kind of injuries are you seeing from people going to the hospital and people who survived the storm and tornado that touched down?

GREGG: We're seeing several broken bones, lacerations, just -- of course, some fatal injuries, which is just very, very heartbreaking. I was actually out on site when they discovered some of the unfortunate citizens of our community that did not survive the storm.

I can tell you it breaks my heart as mayor of this community. To be taken in such a horrific way and when it hits in the morning like that, when people are asleep, we're not typically listening to the radio or watching television at that time of the morning.

When the weather radio went off, I'm sure when the sirens went off, I did talk to eyewitnesses that did say there was some time after the sirens went off that they could take cover. I can tell you from my own personal experience, I heard the sirens go off, jumped up, turned the radio on, and it was eerily quiet.

I knew something devastating was happening to my community and our community. Unfortunately it was the truth. We're just heartbroken today, but we'll continue to work hard to protect the rest of this community and hopefully learn from this event and make sure we're always doing everything we can to be vigilant and stay on top of anything that faces the community of Harrisburg, Illinois.

MALVEAUX: Mayor, do you know how much time people had between the time that the sirens went off, you say it was still early in the morning, daylight had not arrived and the sirens went on. Is there a sense of how much time people had when the sirens went off and when they could take cover?

GREGG: My discussions with one eyewitness, he said he had time to get his mother up, get her into the shower and make sure she was in the bathroom, in the shower area, the bathtub. There was several minutes before it actually did hit after the sirens went off. We were fortunate that we have a good system in place. We do have an early warning detection system. So we did have some time. Still, even that, the way this thing came through, where it hit at, it just was utter -- it was just complete -- tore everything up in its path. Devastating.

MALVEAUX: What time did this take place? Was it actually in the dark? You said people were sleeping.

GREGG: Yes. I think it was around approximately 4:30. Between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. is when the tornado came through. Of course, it was still dark here. Going out, looking at the debris field and everything in the darkness, it was horrifying.

But even more so, when the sun came up, you got a picture of it and you got your hands around what the track of this terrible storm did to the city of Harrisburg, and, you know, we just hope that we never have to experience anything like this again.

Harrisburg has been one of those communities that was fortunate that in the past, when the tornado hit in Marion, Illinois, the F5 in 1980, we did not get that. I actually stood outside in Harrisburg and watched debris fall from the sky during that event. We thought it was going to hit Harrisburg then, it didn't. This time it did hit us. Again, we -- we are doing everything we can to make sure that we're protecting the rest of the citizens of this community and the surrounding areas. We have a tremendous amount of personnel from the state of Illinois assisting news this effort.

MALVEAUX: Where should folks go in your community if they need help?

GREGG: We are opening up churches. We will open up probably our school. We have the Southeastern Illinois Foundation building opened up. We're trying to just kind of coordinate that now. In fact, we're holding a press conference at 2:00 p.m. to discuss that and make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone knows where to go. We're trying to make sure the hotels -- we actually bought every room we can around to house folks and to make sure that they have a place. We are going to take care of our people that are displaced. Now that's number one priority is to take care of those that have been hurt and that have been put out of their homes today.

MALVEAUX: And that is 2:00 p.m. eastern? Is that correct?

GREGG: 2:00 p.m. central.

MALVEAUX: Central. 2:00 p.m. central. Thank you.

And finally, just looking at these pictures, it's just unbelievable to see the damage that has taken place there. It is early in the search and rescue here. Are you optimistic that you will find survivors inside of those buildings?

GREGG: We're very hopeful that we can find more survivors. I mean, you know, we're -- it happened -- when it happened, the way it happened, people kind of scattered. So we're trying to track down families and make sure everyone that lived in the region is accounted for.

That's still ongoing and we're hopeful that the folks that are still -- the names that we're hearing that have not been accounted for that they will be found with family members or at the hospital of somewhere. But we just hope we have not suffered any more loss of life in this small Midwestern state. You know, in this community, Midwestern community.

These kinds of things are just -- it hits very, very hard it just takes a tremendous toll on us. We -- we pull together and we hope and fray that we can be prepared in the future and that's where we will go from now. It's going to be a very hard day for the residents and many people here in southern Illinois and, especially Harrisburg, Illinois.

GREGG: Mayor Eric Gregg, thank you very much for your time. We wish the very best to your community, that there are survivors. It looks devastating what has taken place there.

We'll bring more details as it becomes available.

Thanks again.

We'll have more after the break.

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If you post something on the Internet for everybody to see, starting tomorrow, Google's new privacy policy will go into effect.

Alison Kosik has some tips for the social networking sites.

Alison, we all use this. Perhaps we're giving up too much information. Yes?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maybe, maybe not. A recent Pugh study found that you're not alone. 58 percent of users say they restrict their profile to be private and 20 percent say it's totally public and 19 percent is partially private. You have to remember that what you share online can stay there forever. 11 percent of users have said that they've posted content that they've later regretted -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Besides embarrassing status updates that you don't want to get out there, what are some other things that you probably shouldn't share?

KOSIK: So there are many reasons why you don't want other people to know how old you are but here is one other reason. Identity thieves can use your birthday information to gather more data on you. Instead of posting the year that you were born, consumer reports only sharing your birthday and month.

You should also never share when you're going to be away from home. "Consumer Reports" says it's like putting a "nobody home" sign on your front door. If you're going on vacation, don't specify which days you will be away and wait until you're back to post about your trip. When it comes to your kids, be especially careful. Don't include your child's name and photo caption or tags and never post information about your child's whereabouts or daily routine. If your kids have their own session networking accounts, you want to make sure that you are under a list of friends so you can keep an eye on what they are doing. Use your e-mail address as a contact for their accounts to get notifications about changes and updates. MALVEAUX: More CNN NEWSROOM is coming up after this break.

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