Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

ISIS Official Abu Sayyaf Killed in Special Ops Raid in Syria; Amtrak Working to Reopen Northeast Corridor; Tornados Reports in 9 State; Military Idnetifies Marines Killed in Nepal Helicopter Crash; David Letterman to Say Goodbye; Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 17, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:34] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: So much ahead in the NEWSROOM and it all starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, the impact of a U.S. special ops raid into Syria that killed a top money man of ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was the one who creates the revenue so they could conduct these operations.

WHITFIELD: How big a blow is this to ISIS?

And Amtrak still not running five days after that deadly derailment. Engineers spending the weekend installing new speed controls as investigators try to figure out whether the train was hit by an unknown object.

Plus -- more than two dozen twisters hit the heartland.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not looking too good out here right now.

WHITFIELD: And more severe weather could hit today.

Plus, goodbye to a late night icon.

DAVID LETTERMAN, COMEDIAN: No, no, no, no! No!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not going anywhere, David Letterman.

LETTERMAN: What are you going to do?

WHITFIELD: NEWSROOM starts now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. And thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The U.S. military has identified the six marines killed when their helicopter went down in the Nepal Mountains during an earthquake release mission Tuesday. Their bodies were recovered this morning near the crash site. Captain Dustin Lukusovich, a pilot based at Camp Pendleton,

California, was a native of Nebraska. Captain Christopher Norgren, also a pilot, from Camp Pendleton, was from Kansas. Sergeant Ward Johnson was a helicopter crew chief out Camp Pendleton who was from Florida. Sergeant Eric Seaman, also a crew chief from Camp Pendleton, was a native of California. And Corporal Sara Medina was a combat photographer with Marine Corps insulations in Okinawa, Japan. She was from Illinois. And lance corporal Jacob Hug, also a combat videographer based in Okinawa. He was a native of Arizona.

As the families prepare to receive their love ones remains, our Nick Valencia has spoken with the family of one of the pilots, Captain Chris Norgren, in his home town of Wichita, Kansas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RONALD NORGREN, FATHER OF CHRIS NORGREN: When he stayed here and lived here, this was his room.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a small bedroom in Wichita, Kansas, a big tribute.

R. NORGREN: Up above you're going to see that's all bishop Carroll high school football stuff.

VALENCIA: He was a star athlete in school.

R. NORGREN: An interesting thing, you'll notice there is a bottle of rum up there.

VALENCIA: What's that about?

R. NORGREN: Well, I mean, he was a good kid and everything, but he also was a kid.

TERRI NORGREN, MOTHER OF CHRIS NORGREN: And he loved life. He loved life and lived it to the fullest.

VALENCIA: Ronald and Teri Norgren are the parents of 31-year-old captain Chris Norgren. He was one of the six marines killed when a helicopter they were in crashed during humanitarian mission in Nepal.

R. NORGREN: Whatever he decided to do, he was good at it.

VALENCIA: An Afghanistan war veteran, Norgren led a team of marine reservists into combat.

[14:09:59] R. NORGREN: I mean, look at all the people he has touched. And every one of those were impressed by the kid. Yes, I'm proud, yes, I'm his father and all that, but people need to know that he made a difference and they can make a difference, too.

VALENCIA: At 6'4", Norgren looked like a tough guy. But his heart was as big as his brain. So when he was asked to go to Nepal to help with the recovery, he found his calling. R. NORGREN: Be part of something that's bigger than you. Then after

you do that, that will help you get up every day and motivate you and get you going, and you need to make that something better. And I truly believe that. And I know he lived by that, and that's the reason why he joined the marine corps. This kid, at 31 years of age, lived his life a lot fuller than I have in mine and I'm 60.

[15:04:54] VALENCIA: For his parents, his legacy is one to be proud of. But letting go is never easy, especially for mom.

T. NORGREN: When he was deployed, I had two bands, a green one and a yellow one, and the last one said USMC forever. And the day that helicopter went down, I haven't been able to find it. It disappeared off my wrist, and I'm praying to God that I can still find it. I'm not going to give up looking for the band because it's here where Chris is, and Chris is with me. Always. He is always with me every day of my life. I love you, Chris. Thank you for being my son. I'm so blessed.

VALENCIA: Nick Valencia, CNN, Wichita, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And investigators still don't know what caused that marines chopper to crash. The governor of Illinois just order flags quote "at half-staff to honor fallen marine Corporal Sara Medina." And in a statement, Governor Bruce Rauner says "Corporal Sara Medina made the ultimate sacrifice while assisting the people of Nepal. Corporal Medina's courage and dedication to serving and protecting others makes her a role model for us all. She will never be forgotten," end quote.

All right, and now to the interrogation of the wife of the top money man for ISIS. She is being questioned in Iraq following her capture in a raid in Syria by the U.S. army's delta force. Her husband, identified as Abu Sayyaf, was killed.

We're also learning new details of how that raid went down. The military said the delta force entered the target area on black hawk helicopters and V22 tilt roader Ospreys. Some two dozen commandos scrambled off the aircraft and then came under fire from ISIS fighters defending the multi-story building from inside and out. And once inside the building, the ISIS combatants did apparently try to use human shields. But U.S. troops manage to kill the fighters without hurting the women and children being used as human shields.

Joining me now from Washington lieutenant colonel Tony Shaffer, a senior military fellow at the London center for Policy research and from Memphis, we have CNN counterterrorism analyst and former CIA counterterrorism official, Philip Mudd.

Good to see both of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, so lieutenant colonel Schaffer, you know, how difficult is it to orchestrate a mission like this when there is so much uncertainty, especially once you get on the ground but really, even during flight?

LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER, SENIOR MILITARY FELLOW, LONDON CENTER FOR POLICY RESEARCH: Well, you have to train and train and train to be prepared for this. And you have to know specific detailed actual intelligence, exactly when the target is going to be there. And more importantly, the layout of the building, where you're going to put the helicopter down, how far the dash is. This is very precise.

And frankly, Fredricka, this is what the delta guys, the special operations team, trained for. They do it so well, they do it constantly and they go in these houses and they're able to rapidly discern targets from innocents. And that's why we came out of this being able to protect the innocents, killed the bad guys and get a great deal of very, very valuable intelligence of the deal.

WHITFIELD: And so, Philip, how might this mission now position U.S. Intel or other military personnel to try now to get ahead of ISIS' any next move they may have planned?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Fredricka, this is rare. I spent 25 years in government, a rare that I wish I was back there because this is like a holiday if you're an intelligent professional. You can interrogate the wife. I think that's a bonus. I doubt she'll know that much. What I want to see is the digital information, that is, the cell phones, the laptops. I also want to see pocket litter, any papers that were taken on the facility because what I want to know is people in patterns. Is there anything that suggests communications with other people I can take down in the coming days or weeks? Are there patterns of activity, places that people visit like this guy who was killed during the raid, that I can raid in the future, that I can attack?

This is a bonus of information that is hard to get using other means. That is, using human sources, using technical intercepting people's phones and emails. Going into that facility and getting laptops and cell phones should be a huge volume of information that will offer benefits for months to come.

WHITFIELD: OK. So there is this treasure trove of information. You've got Abu Sayyaf now killed, and now attention is also going to be on the city of Ramadi in Iraq. U.S. military now have quite the task at hand because we hear reportedly ISIS now has 90 percent control of that city.

So, lieutenant colonel, what do the U.S. military or coalition forces do with this kind of information?

SHAFFER: Well, Ramadi is a bad news story, period, Fredricka. Look. It's not going well. The military units, we train and the Iraqi army are basically laying down their guns and running. There is no Iraqi army. I said this before during our interviews. We have to get behind the Kurds. The Kurds are the winning team. We are backing up the junior varsity. The regular Iraqi military are too badly fractured. We have the Shiites element bases that fighting each other internally. So this war, this battle of the (INAUDIBLE) is the derivative of that break within the army.

So we have to get serious about figuring out how to bring together the proper military force to stop this continued advance of is. What we did, going against Abu Sayyaf is a good beginning. We need to shape operations to knock out and stabilize their commanding control. But we have to have a ground force that's actually able to do military operations and stop this onslaught.

[15:10:32] WHITFIELD: So Philip, you have one victory in terms of Abu Sayyaf's death, but then you have this potential defeat, or is it considered that in your view of Ramadi?

MUDD: I don't think this a defeat yet, but you have to understand, if you look at insurgencies, they have motivations. They have economic motivations. They have political motivations. When I studied and searched, you see, those worth religious motivation. People like ISIS who are motivated by a belief that they are ordained by God to succeed are the tough to beat.

ISIS was successful through the summer and fall. They faced some setbacks this winter. I agree with lieutenant colonel Schaffer. This is not about ISIS. This is about whether the Iraqi military has the capability, and more important, the will to face up with ISIS. They've had some successes, the military has. This is a setback. It's going to take years to figure out who will prevail.

WHITFIELD: And doesn't it also say something about the U.S. military Intel preparedness when you look at what happened with Abu Sayyaf? Does this encourage you, lieutenant colonel, or even say that strategy has changed or training has changed or Intel has gotten better or all the above or all of the above?

SHAFFER: There is no strategy. President Obama, to use a golf metaphor, pulled out a wood. He used a proper club for the proper issue. He didn't use a 7-iron. He used a 3-wood. We need to be able to put this success now into a larger strategy where we actually implode the proper resources to go after the proper bad guys. We need to rethink everything. This is a good first step. And as Mr. Mudd said, you know, we're moving forward, we've got great actual information. We follow up on that rapidly and continue to go after and pound their leadership in Syria. Syria is no longer a safe haven which ought to be a good thing for the ISI guys to know.

WHITFIELD: All right, lieutenant colonel Tony Shaffer and Philip Mud,, thanks to both of you, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

SHAFFER: Thank you.

MUDD: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And of course, there is more this evening. Be sure to tune to CNN tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern time to see Fareed Zakaria's CNN special, "Blindsided, how ISIS shook the world."

And coming up here, it could the airline's worst nightmare, a hacker says he has broken into a plane's computer and makes the plane swerve sideways. So what is the FBI now doing to keep us safe in the skies? You'll find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:56] WHITFIELD: A hacker claims he was able to break into the on-board computer system of the commercial airliner while the plane was in the air. The FBI says Chris Roberts, a cyber-security consultant, hacked planes at least 20 times and was even able to control the engines.

CNN's Evan Perez joins me on the phone with the very latest on this. What exactly do we know about his actions, how he was able to do this, and how the FBI learned about it?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, Fred, Chris Roberts has been raising alarms about the vulnerability of aircraft for several years now. And according to an FBI affidavit that was filed in federal court, this was a search warrant application by the FBI as part of an investigation into whether or not Roberts committed any computer crimes. This is the story that he told them, according to this affidavit according to interviews in February. He said he was able to hack aircraft between 15 and 20 times between 2011 and 2014. And he said there was one incident where he was able to control at least one engine of the aircraft that he was flying on and caused the aircraft to make a lateral move.

Now, all of this is in this affidavit. We don't know whether or not any of this is accurate. The FBI is still investigating. They haven't proved that he was able to pull this off. But we do know that after that February interview, in April, they met him after he got off a flight in Syracuse because he tweeted that he was thinking of doing the same thing. And according to the FBI, they went and checked the aircraft on which he was traveling, and they found that there was some tampering done.

Now, I'll give you a quick rundown of how he says. According to the FBI, how he says he can do this. Basically by connecting his laptop to an ether net cable to a box that is underneath his seat that controls the in-flight entertainment system, this is the system we watch movies on, listen to music. And he said that through that he was able to hack into the control systems for the aircraft.

We should say that Boeing, which is one of the aircraft he said he was able to do this on, Boeing says there is a separation of the computer systems, that it's not possible. Same thing with airbus which is another aircraft that he says he's able to do this. Airbus said that they put spy laws to make sure that this doesn't happen.

Again, this is an investigation still going. And I should say Chris Roberts has been tweeting in the last couple days after this affidavit was made public. And he says that the FBI has taken everything that he said out of context. He won't explain anymore. We reached out to him and he hasn't said anything more about it.

WHITFIELD: OK. So Evan, really quickly, is there a feeling he was blowing a whistle or was this some kind of cat and mouse game, or do FBI investigators think there is something else behind this? PEREZ: Well, you know, they don't really know what to make of it. It

is clearly don't have enough to charge him with a crime right now, but they are investigating. And as you said, I mean, could be (INAUDIBLE), it could be, you know, he's been trying or keeping business inside the security both business for himself after all of this.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. All right, Evan Perez, thank you so much.

We are going to talk more about this now. Brian Fitzgerald is the chief strategist at RFA, a cyber-security information company.

And so, Brian, your company was actually holding a conference, right, where this hacker, alleged hacker, Chris Roberts, was supposed to serve as a panelist. What more can you tell us about him?

BRIAN FITZGERALD, CHIEF STRATEGIST, RFA: Well, actually, he was a speaker at the RSA conference of panelists. The RSA conference is the world's largest security conference. So over 30,000 security professionals were coming to San Francisco to really address these very topics, to start to understand how we're securing the world today, what's working and what's not. Oftentimes the speakers will bring hacks that were done in theory or things they're trying in practice, generally to try to demonstrate to their peers what is possible or what other new risks should be considered. So he was on his way to the conference to do just that.

WHITFIELD: So, if you're feeling that his action are barely, you know, (INAUDIBLE), you know, really wasn't doing anything more than creating information on which to speak further on that this is how easy can be. And perhaps, companies, this is what you need to do because hackers can get into your material?

[15:20:19] FITZGERALD: I think -- it's hard to know his motives and I think that is something that is being look at now. I think what we will find is that the idea though of staring to test pack to understand what is possible, generally for what we call white hat purposes, that by itself is not so unique. People do that all the time.

The challenge, of course, is when you demonstrate something is possible with even good motives. People with less good motives can sometimes take advantage of that as well. So in this case, I think they will have to look at it. And even if his intentions were good, of course, they will have to understand did he break any laws? Did he put anybody's life at any kind of risk? And I'm not sure that's the case at all, but certainly that's the kind of thing that will have to be looked at, and that the law enforcement agencies will start to look at it as they go forward. And understand, did he really do this or was in fact that it isn't really possible and maybe something else occurred.

WHITFIELD: So in the world of cyber information security, is it unnerving that this happened and involved somebody you know?

FITZGERALD: RSA is a very big player in the industry so we're very well connected. It's unnerving in the sense that if you look at the Internet, the next ten years we'll be connecting 30 billion things to the Internet. There will be cars, there will be elevators, there will be refrigerators. And we're only starting to figure out now how to make those things secure. So, as we computerized more of our world, we start to tie the physical and the digital world together. And the most unnerving thing playing this forward over time is can somebody actually create a hack that doesn't just steal information or credit card data but in fact put people's lives at risk in some fashion? So to me that's the most important part.

WHITFIELD: Right. Did you hear too, you know, and one has to wonder if his alleged actions mean that somebody can do something very similar and make it very dangerous for the flying public?

FITZGERALD: That's absolutely true. In airlines and automobile manufactures that RSA is working with those kinds of companies today, because they are computerizing more of their system. They'll connect to the Internet and they really are mindful of trying to understand all the potential risks. But security is not perfect. So, it is going to be very challenging to keep the world secure in the future.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. All right, Brian Fitzgerald, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

FITZGERALD: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, five days after a deadly derailment, an Amtrak busy northeast corridor remains closed. The latest on the investigation, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:46] WHITFIELD: Amtrak is scrambling to reopen its busy northeast corridor in time for the beginning of this busy workweek. They railroad was ordered to make some safety changes before it can put trains back on the track following last week's deadly crash in Philadelphia. The focus of the investigation now includes whether the train was hit by a projectile before it derailed. And the NTSB appears to be ruling out the possibility that it was a bullet.

Erin McLaughlin is following the story in Philadelphia.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the mystery of what happened to Amtrak 188 continues. NTSB member Robert Sumwalt tells CNN, they have been unable to corroborate the assistant conductor's accounts that she heard 32-year-old Brandon Bostian tell the engineer of a nearby septa train that Amtrak 188 had been hit by an unknown projectile. Amtrak dispatch and the engineer of the septa train say they never Bostian report that. Nevertheless, authorities are still looking into the possibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT SUMWALT, NTSB BOARD MEMBER: At this point we really want to chase this lead down. We heard from the assistant conductor that that's what she believed she heard, there was some conversation about that, and we now see a mark on the windshield that we want to look at. So we're going to look at everything at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: On Monday forensic experts are expected to examine the fist-size circular marking on the left-hand side of the windshield. They think the marking may have been there before the crash.

Meanwhile, the NTSB now says there is evidence from the train's data recorder to suggest Bostian manually throttled the train. The question is why - Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Erin McLaughlin, thank you so much.

So that Amtrak crash took the lives of eight and injured more than 200 others. CNN's national correspondent Jason Carroll joins me now.

So Jason, you spoke exclusively with the widow of one of those victims. What did she say?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was incredibly heartbreaking. The victim' s name, Jim Gaines. He was 48 years old. His family, obviously, Fredricka, just devastated over the loss. He was a husband. He was also the father of two children, Oliver 16 years old and Anushka, she was just 11. There's a picture of him there with Anushka.

He worked for the "Associated Press" as a video software architects. He was on the way home from a business meeting in Washington, D.C. on Amtrak when that train derailed. His family was hoping he would be among the survivors, but it was not to be. His wife Jacqueline spoke to me earlier today about how she will remember him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACQUELINE GAINES, WIDOW OF AMTRAK CRASH VICTIM: If there were any words to describe him, I would say the adjectives I would use would be he is kind, he's humble, he is a family man and not just with his children and his wife, but with the community. I just feel completely blessed and I thank God that he gave me time with him. Because he taught me, and I think he'll still teach me. He left a good imprint on the world, and that's a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: An incredibly difficult interview, Fredricka. You saw in some of the pictures there how he was hugging Anushka, hugging other people. Apparently that's just who this man was. He just loved to give out big hugs, a man with an incredibly large heart leaving a major impact not just on his family but his coworkers as well.

There has been a lot of speculation about what happened with this train, why it derailed, who was at fault. Gaines' wife says she's not even thinking about that right now. Her big focus is just focusing on her children, focusing on remembering the man that she loved for so much. There's been a memorial that Gaines' coworkers at the "Associated

Press" had set up for his children, so they're looking at that. And they're also right now in the process of trying to plan his memorial. So an incredibly sad day for the Gaines family as you continue to look at some of his pictures there as he gives a hug to his daughter Anushka. Just a very, very painful time. But his wife had the strength to speak with us because she wanted everyone to know how much of an impact he left on her, his coworkers and his community - Fredricka.

[15:30:09] WHITFIELD: Jason, thanks so much. Of course, we look forward to more of that interview later on.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:59] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

So right now, American forces are interrogating the wife of Abu Sayyaf. He is ISIS' top money man killed by U.S. special ops in a violent raid in Syria. Delta force has retrieved laptops, cell phones and other vital materials which U.S. officials tell CNN is providing them with reams of data as to how ISIS operates, communicates and earns its money. And this afternoon, we are getting new details from the military on how it all went down.

Here is CNN's Victor Blackwell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ground operation was led by the army's delta force who entered the target area on black hawk helicopters and a V22 tilt rotor offspring. After landing, about two dozen commandos scrambled off the aircraft which then took off but hovered overhead.

During a fire fight, ISIS fighters defended the multi-story building from inside and outside positions. But Special Forces were able to get close to the building and blow a hole in its outside. They went in, encountered ISIS fighters and there were more gunshots and reports of hand-to-hand combat. The ISIS combatants apparently tried to use human shields, but U.S. troops manage to kill the fighters without hurting the women and children.

ISIS commander, Abu Sayyaf was killed in the raid. But Delta Force was able to capture and leave with his wife, Umm Sayyaf, in an unidentified Usidi (ph) woman who they rescue along with collective communications gear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much to CNN's Victor Blackwell for that. So here in the U.S. most lawmakers are praising the mission, which was

authorized by President Obama, but some are questioning is it worth the risk? That may be because we still don't know a lot about this so-called ISIS money man who officials say was the target. We don't even know his real name. Abu Sayyaf merely translates to "father of the swordsman," clearly an assumed name.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty joins me now with more on this. So what are lawmakers in general saying?

[15:34:58] SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, Fred, the national security council, they say that he was a senior ISIS leader, someone who had a major role in the oil and gas operations of ISIS. But as many have noted and some on Capitol Hill, he wasn't all that well known. He didn't have as much of a high profile as other senior ISIS leaders that the U.S. had their sights on were. So there are a lot of questions surrounding this mission. Was it worth it? Was it worth the risk? And how big a role did Abu Sayyaf actually have in ISIS?

Now, some lawmakers are throwing a little cold water on the significance of this mission, especially when it is weighed against the risk. Here's what the top democrat in the house intelligence committee said on "STATE OF THE UNION" earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: This was an extraordinary risk. If one of our people were captured, if we lost some of our special forces, there would be tough questions to answer about whether it was worth it. And I think notwithstanding the success of this operation, we still are going to have to ask those questions. Was the intelligence value that we hoped to gain and the fact that we are gaining worth this kind of risk?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And as those questions continue to swirl, Fred, the White House will be briefing members of Congress this week - Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. So still question marks about what kind of intelligence was recovered, but we know from officials that they did grab all of these communication stuff. So lawmakers, are they expressing doubt that there is really value in any of this intelligence recovered, and they don't even know what intelligence was recovered?

SERFATY: Well, I think there is a sense, Fred, among lawmakers that this was a successful mission, but let's see what the intelligence we get from it is. As you know, U.S. officials had said there are reams and reams of data they had acquired from the mission site, including a computer. And we're hearing from the Republican chairmen of the foreign affairs committee, Ed Royce, and he spoke about the extent of the information recovered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ED ROYCE (R), CALIFORNIA: As I understand it, quite a treasure trove of information there with the laptops, the communications equipment, the cell phones that might allow us to find out who (INAUDIBLE), is also funding ISIS when you hear about money coming in from other countries into is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And his wife, Umm Sayyaf, is also being interrogated in Iraq right now. She was captured at the mission. And according to the national Security Council, she might have information potentially about hostages. But it is not clear, Fred, how big of a role she played and how much information she had.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sunlen Serfaty at the White House, thanks so much.

All right, still ahead. Reports of 29 tornadoes across nine states flooding and damaging winds and more severe weather today. We'll look at the storm's path, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[15:41:33] ROBERT LEE, CNN HERO: The club that I was involved in, in college, brought leftover dining hall food from campus to the homeless shelter. And I just thought that the concept could be applied outside the borders of NYU.

So, welcome, and thank you guys for coming. Today we'll be going to the Long Adeo (ph) Cafe.

In Manhattan alone, there is about 100,000 restaurants. Our strategy is to work with as many restaurants as possible and get that food waste to people who need it.

Looks really good.

Our group has no minimum food requirement. We pick up any amount of food, no matter how small it is.

Thanks a lot. Thanks, guys. I'll see you later.

Because that small amount can feed someone.

Let's do this.

Volunteers can sign up on our website.

It's very easy to do after work.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like going to the shelters and helping someone to have a meal today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just takes about half an hour to an hour of your time on any given day.

LEE: After we drop it off, we always get the weight of the food.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is so heavy.

LEE: That's how we actually measure our impact. Every little bit counts. That's one person's life that you just changed.

You see the line now, they're actually going in for dinner. All that food today wasn't going out without your help. So really appreciated.

Since we started, we have rescued over 100,000 pounds of food. It's just the beginning.

The need is so great, and there is just so much demand.

Perfect.

With more restaurants, who knows how much more we could do?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, severe storm threats keeping people on edge across the U.S.

Storm chasers in Oklahoma captured a tornado on the ground near Elmer right by the Texas border. It was just one of dozens of twisters reported, actually, as a large band of severe weather moved across the plains states overnight. Forecasters say today 30 million people are at risk for severe weather.

Let's bring in meteorologist Tom Sater. So folks need to have those weather radios, right, the attention and think about your safe places.

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They really do. Although, I don't think that threats are going to be as bad as it was yesterday even though, you can see on this water vapor map there was a lot of fuel from the, you know, Texas and Mexico border all the way up to Canada.

So again, yesterday 29 tornadoes. Last week we had over 70 Saturday and Sunday. So here's a look at where they were. Again, it was the same place, tornado alley, but up to the north. In fact, last weekend, we have about five in South Dakota, on one part of the state and blizzard conditions on the other.

This is the one that you saw in the video, which is in Elmer, which is off to the west. This is Medicine Park. This is south Oklahoma. So we look for the hooks. But I don't think we are going to see anything of this magnitude today. If we have isolated tornadoes, they're going to be smaller in size. Mainly a threat for wind, wind damage and hail today. Cooler temperatures back behind this, 74 a high today Minneapolis. Tomorrow will be 47. Temperatures are going to fall throughout the great lakes and into the northeast this week.

So here is our threat. It's only a slight risk. And that's very good news as oppose to last several days. But again on the radar picture and you can see it quickly, I mean, we are seeing some snow from Bismarck to Winnipeg, just a couple of inches. But again, that line of thunder storms to you Fredricka stretches from the north all the way back to the south.

[15:44:58] WHITFIELD: That's nasty stuff. All right, folks need to pay attention.

Thank you so much.

All right, you a big "LATE NIGHT" fan, David letterman?

SATER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: So this is a big week of a big goodbye. And coming up, we're going to talk about the preparations in place for a big three- day signoff for a man who has done over 6,000 broadcasts. We're going to take a look, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not going anywhere, David Letterman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:45:08] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all miss her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your name?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don Grabber (ph). What you call love was invented by guys like me because I'm not one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're happy because you're successful for now. But what's happiness? It's a moment before you need more happiness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nostalgia literally means the pain from an old wound. It takes us to a place where we ache to go again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Can you believe it? Tonight is the series finale of AMc's hit show, "Mad Men." Needless to say it's a big event for the fans and the network. So big impact that all of AMC's other networks are going dark tonight in honor of the show.

Joining me now to talk more about is senior media correspondent and host of CNN's reliable sources, Brian Stelter, and HLN contributor Sian-Pierre Regis also media specialist with us.

OK. So Brian, you first. So what can what can we expect from this final episode? I feel like it hasn't been a really long run for such a big show. [15:50:09] BRAIN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That's

because there were such long breaks in between the seasons. You're right. The show on almost a decade but the episodes were put out one at a time almost, so these long breaks in between seasons. So it's been awhile since we saw this final season. We know nothing about the episode and that's exactly how AMC wants it to be. It's being kept a very closely held secret.

But I talked to the president of AMC, Charlie Collier. He thinks we are going to be impressed by it. Here is what he said.

WHITFIELD: Yes?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE COLLIER, PRESIDENT, AMC: I think it will stick with people for a long time and I have gone back and watched the series a number of times at different points and you do, based on where you are in your life, you see these characters' lives in a different way and you know, for me, the passage of time, just a remarkable hallmark of madmen and because it is so beautifully written and executed, we will watch it later and say something special is captured in that decade.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: You know, he was making the point that shows do end but they never really end anymore because of Netflix and Amazon and other on- demand services, we can at least go back and re-watch them someday.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, Sean Pierre, let's talk in general, you know, "Mad Men", it was kind of a breakthrough hit, wasn't it and it really did kind of changed, I guess, the habits of viewing audiences and it revealed the real fascination with this era that who knew people even had.

SIAN-PIERRE REGIS, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, my God, yes. "Mad Men" was a cultural touch stone, if you will. I mean, from a sensory perspective, right, for the visual, the clothing was beautiful, the clothing of the '60s and '70s to the music that we heard, right?

But what people really, really loved was the dynamic between the characters. It spawned so much. I mean, they had a line at Banana Republic. They had a line at brooks brothers. You could you upload photos of yourself to facebook for a carousel app.

I mean, really, people got so engaged in this show, unlike so many other shows that are out there now. It wasn't a ratings juggernaut, of course, but culturally, when I spoke to the actors that's what they respected the most, the fans loved them for what they were and could feel nostalgic watching the show.

WHITFIELD: And I guess, the people are so pretty and handsome and that helped, too.

All right, so before I let you guys go, let's also talk about another big good-bye this week, Letterman's last show will be this Wednesday, big buildup last week following decades of late night laughs since his first snow 1982. Let's take a look back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: David Letterman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dave Letterman. Come on everybody.

DAVID LETTERMAN, COMEDIAN: Top ten things that will get you beaten up in an elevator. Top ten reasons you are still single. Top ten complains about men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make sure the White House library has lots of books with big prints and pictures.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go to the gap and buy underpants.

I will say off the top here, you look different than I remember you.

LETTERMAN: And I will to say right up to the top here, you look different that I remember.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whatever it is you thought was happening? It's over. There is no feud. There's only peace.

LETTERMAN: Peace and love?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please say hello to Johnny Carson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've watched Johnny Carson and you are no Johnny Carson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Lots of laughs. And, you know, of course, you know, speaking of Carson, Letterman really is the last late night host from that era, right, Brian? So this is a real change of a guard.

STELTER: Yes. You could you say from the "Mad Men" era. I mean, we are seeing a baby boomer leave the stage. It really is generational change and all of those comedians hat are on late night now from Fallon to Kimmel and all the rest, they owe a lot to David Letterman.

WHITFIELD: My God. And I think Jimmy Kimmel, in fact, says he is not going to have his show on that last night, really to pay homage to David Letterman. He says he owes so much, you know, to David Letterman and so he wants to show respect and won't have his show.

But you know, Sian Pierre, we saw, you know, Bill Murray among those, the first, you know, on his show. And he apparently is going to be among the last on his show, given he has been on the show so many times, something like 40 times?

REGIS: Yes. Bill Murray will be back this week. Tom Hanks will be back and Eddie Vedder will also be performing there as well. But the big question is will Jay Leno come back? A lot of people are saying that he might, or he actually has never been on. Will he and David letterman put their feud to rest? Apparently, Leno invited Letterman on to his show during his last week and Letterman refused, just saying all the shine should be on Leno himself. So we will see if Leno comes back to Letterman show for the first time and buries the cachet, I hope so. I think would be amazing.

STELTER: Yes. I hope so too. Letterman's ratings going up the past few weeks, people do want to see how he is going to sign off.

[15:55:01] WHITFIELD: Well, isn't a shame? Because in your goodbye, that is when everyone decided to tune in? And if only, all of that support and love was there along the way, then, maybe the demise will be different? Everyone loves Letterman and everyone certainly, you know, honors his career because he really has been one who has exhibited real staying power on late night for a very long time, Brian.

STELTER: And it is definitely leavening on his own terms, you know. He has brought so much to late night. He is innovative like no other comedian has. So he deserves the kind of sendoff he is getting with these tributes from across the television landscape.

WHITFIELD: So Sian-Pierre, what's next, the next chapter of late night, since we are talking about good-bye to one generation, hello to another, what is to be expected when Colbert steps in?

REGIS: Well, you know, I think a lot of people are looking to see what Colbert actually does and who is Stephen Colbert is the real big question here, right? You know, what character will he play? Will he play himself? Well he play to social media, which is what a lot of these other Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon have been doing, of course, trend the day after their show on social. And that is something David Letterman has never really been able to do. So it will be really interesting to see, you know, Colbert becomes the talk of social. I think it would be the next generation.

WHITFIELD: And big shoes to fill, Brian. I don't know if -- Colbert, a great opportunity, but, the pressure.

STELTER: I think that's why Letterman is stepping down this week and Colbert is not taking over until September, so they can literally have a few months in between the two.

WHITFIELD: Right.

All right, thanks so much. We will all be watching, of course, this week.

Brian Stelter, Sian-Pierre Regis, thanks so much to both of you. Appreciate it.

And we will have much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LETTERMAN: 1600 Pennsylvania.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If she wins the election, the chances are 100 percent I will move back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)