>> people are so clever, right? that's awesome. thank you for joining me today. "at this hour" with berman and ba balduan starts now. a look at the damage and who could be hit today. >> when you get an invite to the white house and can't make it to discuss crucial global issues, you go unless you're the king of saudi arabia and then it seems you have better things to do. bailing out of a key summit at the last minute. why this eyebrow raising international snub. breaking right now, the defense rests in the boston bombing trial and in the final moments before a nun who was an inspiration for movie "dead man walking" gave explosive testimony about her meetings with dzhokhar tsarnaev.

i'm john berman. >> i'm kate bolduan. local officials in texas are reporting there may be multiple deaths from tornadoes that hit likely hit a small town there on mother's day. just look at the destruction that these apparent tornadoes left in their path. officials in van, texas, say the tornadoes hit about 60 miles east of dallas. you're looking at live pictures right now there. 60 miles east of dallas. damage or destroyed a third of the town there. >> as kate said, these are live pictures right now. aerials. you can see what those storms there did to the trees, did to the homes. about a third of that town severely damaged by this storm, which hit last night about 8:45 local time. look at that. look at the roof of that building right there. just torn to shreds. and there are so many parts of the country under the threat of

severe weather again today. before we talk about the rest of the country, let's talk about what we're looking at right now. v van, texas, hit so hard by tornadoes overnight. local reports of multiple fatalities. our jennifer gray is live from van, texas. jennifer, what are you seeing? >> reporter: we are seeing a lot of devastation here in van. i want to reiterate that report was coming from our local affiliate. we're anxiously awaiting a press conference that's going to take place here about an hour. that's when we'll hear from local authorities to maybe get some confirmation on some of the facts around here. we're looking just behind me, the devastation, the worst of it that we have seen a couple hundred yards that way. we keep getting moved back more and more as crews try to get in and restore power, cut up a lot of those limbs that were fallen on the power lines so we can get this city back up and running again. we have seen several ambulances

move through that area. we've also seen more and more law enforcement move in and so we're trying to get power restored and cell service for a lot of people as well. the red cross is here. we're in the first baptist church parking lot where a shelter is for anybody that needs assistance and like i mentioned, that press conference coming up within an hour or so. we also have been talking to people that were here during the tornado last night. it struck right around 9:00. residents say the tornado sirens went off at about five minutes before the tornado struck. we spoke with one lady who said she didn't have enough time to get into her storm shelter so she had to ride out her storm in her bathtub with her two dogs. the school was heavily damaged. i walked around what was the old school which now they use part of it as the gymnasium. other portions of the school have been added on. this particular part was heavily damaged. roof blown off. insulation hanging down. windows blown out.

the couple i spoke with went to school there as children and now their own kids go to school there and they said it feels like you're walking around and seeing your entire childhood destroyed. so the people here in van as you can imagine are just devastated. they are trying to get their place back in order. you can hear the helicopters flying above me. we've seen more of that activity in the last 30 minutes or so as well. the folks here are happy that the storms have pushed to the east. it's cloudy. drizzle this morning but as far as the storm threat, that is over for now. john and kate? >> it's interesting there. you can see some roofs ripped off. you see severe destruction in some places. i saw a few structures which seem completely leveled. you measure the strength of tornadoes by the actual damage that tornadoes do to the structures themselves. it will be time before we get an exact measure of what category ef strength this tornado was. you can see the people there and

again these are live pictures from van, texas. you can see people trying to sift through the debris and there is a lot of it in that town. >> remember, this happened in the evening. obviously overnight the destruction setting in and a lot of folks now just starting as light comes out to get a handle of what they're up against. you see folks sifting through what looks to be what was formerly homes. we are still looking at live pictures to make sure our videos know. we look at this with you. you see trees ripped out of the roots. roofs ripped off. a lot of destruction. as we continue to look at this, let's bring in chad myers to talk more about what we're seeing and what happened in van. just look at the picture. thankfully from our ktvt for bringing us live pictures as this zooms in. we're just following this with you. look at these folks just throwing -- clearly that was a home. folks just trying to work through to see what they can

find. a question there on a lot of people's minds and jennifer gray was getting to it, a lot of people wonder if the officials in van, texas, have a good handle quite yet about what they're up against and good handle about how many people are missing and how many people could be injured. >> this was a big tornado. this was without a doubt now looking at this, this is a stick built home. some of those were 2x8 and 2x6. not just a mobile home on blocks. this was a real home. to get that type of damage you need wind speeds in excess of 140 miles an hour. probably ef-3. possibly ef-4. a 0 or 1 will take shingles off. a three starts to remove walls. four you can find the refrigerator and kitchen probably and bathroom and five you don't find anything. we're not seeing that extensive five damage here. but where you can't see any

outside walls would indicate three or four and then take a look at the trees. all of the branches are snapped off. there's nothing really left. branches couldn't sustain the wind. you get just stumps that are left broken off. so that's the idea of what we're talking about here. a major tornado touched down there in van, texas. it concerned me when i saw so many people digging through one home. that tells me that a person from that home may be missing or they wouldn't be working on that one single home that much. now, let's hope that person was visiting a mom in dallas and didn't make it home and there really isn't anyone trapped in that building. that effort that was put into that one home was concerning. >> chad myers, our most recent report is ten people still missing in this town of van, texas. we don't know what that means. obviously communications are a problem after a storm like this. cell towers get knocked down. cell service gets overwhelmed. communicating with loved ones can be difficult.

i noticed the same thing you did. there was a lot of people in one place sifting through the rubble. normally after a storm like this you see everyone going to their own house trying to recover what they can. >> the indiscriminate nature of what is clearly a tornado. one home completely intact. the next one right beside it absolutely demolished. that's just how these storms operate. >> likely a multivortex suction spot tornado where one will take the house out across the street and miss the house next door and then take another one out and miss the next one. it's just the way -- it's the nature of that beast. it's the nature of that tornado. you think of a tornado as one big funnel that's all the same. it's not. inside that tornado there are multiple things going on inside that cloud or that v that comes down to the ground and so there really can be that indiscriminate i lost a shingle but my neighbor's house is

completely gone. keep this in mind. yesterday was a major travel day. i traveled from atlanta to birmingham and back and there were cars on the road like it was christmas. there were likely people traveling to go see loved ones, their mom, whatever, and these people that are missing may very well be visiting relatives somewhere so that number hopefully doesn't go up from ten, it starts to go down from ten. >> we're looking at a picture right now that it looked like a doll house where someone took the roof off and people were walking around inside this house with no roof. extensive damage in this town of van, texas. we'll look to get at that signal back to take a closer look at what's going on in that town. we'll bring you more information. the information is just coming in right now. at least ten people missing at this point. >> this is a small town. 2,600 people. clearly a lot -- this is going to be one of those towns where we're going to hear about

everyone that knows someone impacted in a devastating way by this storm. live picture is back up. >> this is a taped picture. we'll work to get the live picture back up. we'll bring you the latest information from van, texas, as it comes in. in the meantime, just into cnn, two accused cop killers and their two alleged accomplices are due in court in mississippi this afternoon. we have new details about the two officers who were gunned down. such a tragedy. 34-year-old benjamin deen, husband and father of two, decorated officer of the year. and 24-year-old liquori tate new to the force. he had a life-long passion. it was his dream to get into policing. >> both of them were killed in what started as a traffic stop if you can believe it in the city of hattiesburg. tate's mother, stepfather and sister all spoke with cnn a short time ago talking about what happened when they arrived

at the hospital. >> they took uses in a room and when we got the news we fell out in grief. it was amazing. the police officers and staff and the mayor fell out with us in grief and grieved with us. it was really very emotional. we walked through and saw the family of the other officer whose live was taken as well and we knew that this was just something much more serious than we imagined before we walked into the hospital. >> they talk about the grief that clearly is just beginning to set in for that family. >> reporter: for that family and the family of officer dean and people that worked with both officers. by all accounts these were dedicated officers who loved their jobs and were out there doing what they were supposed to be doing. they a they were doing a traffic stop.

there's no such thing as a routine traffic stop. this story is a tragic reminder of that. the four suspects who are accused in this killing in the killings of these two officers are expected to go before a judge this afternoon. i want to show you their pictures and go through charges. two of them are facing capital murder charges. one is joanie callaway, 22 years old. the other, 29-year-old marvin banks. he's also charged with grand theft auto. he's accused according to police they believe that he took one of the police cars and used it as a getaway. his younger brother, curtis banks, is facing two counts of accessory after the fact of capital murder and the fourth suspect is cornelius clark. he's charged with obstruction of justice. now, at this point authorities have not released the details or possible motive for the shooting. all we know is that one of the officers, officer benjamin deen, initiated the traffic stop. he called for backup. officer tate responded.

what happened between that moment and the moment that shots were fired, we still don't know. we're clear that authorities are still investigating. hopefully we'll be learning more as this investigation progresses. also today, there's going to be a memorial here in hattiesburg, mississippi, to honor these fallen officers. if you talk to people in this town, this is a very small, very tight knit community. we have talked to people who know both one of the officers and the suspects. the two brothers, the banks' family. we're told that there's just all around shock and heartbreak in this community. kate and john? >> that's understandable. thank you. as you can see right there, those four suspects will be arraigned later today, 4:00 eastern. a lot to learn in that case. >> no such thing as a routine traffic stop. >> good point. ahead for us "at this hour," royal snub. so who wouldn't want a white house visit with a side trip to

camp david? apparently the king of saudi arabia. did the white house alienate this key u.s. ally? breaking just moments ago, the defense has rested its case in the boston bombing trial. before they did, the nun portrayed in the movie "dead man walking" took the stand and gave some powerful testimony about her meetings with dzhokhar tsarnaev. (vo) around age 7, the glucose metabolism in a dog's brain begins to change. (ray) i'd like to see her go back to her more you know social side. she literally started changing. it was shocking. she's much more aware. (jan) she loves the food. (ray) the difference has been incredible. she wants to learn things. (vo) purina pro plan bright mind

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just a short time, a well known anti-death penalty activist took the stand. she was made famous by her book on "dead man walking" and prosecutors fought hard to keep her off the stand and keep her

from testifying but after a lengthy debate, the judge in the case ruled in favor of the defense who wanted her on there allowing had her to testify. >> the same jurors who convicted tsarnaev on 30 counts related to boston marathon bombing will decide whether to sentence this man to death or life in prison. we're joined now by deborah feyerick. what did this nun say? >> reporter: there's a good reason the prosecution didn't want her to testify on behalf of dzhokhar tsarnaev. she said they talked about religion. he was respectful. they talked about the marathon attack and specifically the victims. she said that no one deserves to suffer like they did. she was asked about his demeanor. she said there was pain in his voice. i had every reason to think he was genuinely sorry for what she

did. we sat in that courtroom looking at dzhokhar tsarnaev trying to read his body language. this is the first time we hear any suggestion that in her words he was remorseful for what he did and that's why the prosecution didn't want her to testify and that's why the defense did want her to testify. to be clear, there were strict perimeters which she had to follow including not discussing her stance against the death penalty. >> cnn legal analyst, hln legal analyst joey jackson with us. you have helen prejean on the stand saying dzhokhar tsarnaev is remorseful. the defense would not put dzhokhar tsarnaev on the stand. >> it is him testifying through a nun so that's powerful. as deb says, very limited

testimony. it was a major victory for the defense in as much as you have a nun vouching as to the character. he was remorseful. he was approachable. talking about discussions she had with him. at the same time, it was big for the prosecution not allowing the nun to get into the death penalty. the moral underpinnings of the death penalty and why it lacked social value and why we should not impose it. she couldn't get into that. to the extent he was able to redeem him and show remorse for him has to impact the jury. >> the defense has been trying to do that. that's the entire point in the sentencing phase. they called relatives, classmates, people who have known tsarnaev trying to say that he was brainwashed and there are redeeming qualities. do you think the nun, do you think she was that witness that's going to have that final impact that clearly they wanted? do you think she's that powerful? >> a nun's testimony is powerful. a catholic nun, catholic community.

we have to understand and note that this is a death penalty qualified jury. they may not be in accord with what polls are saying concerning how people in boston, massachusetts, don't like the death penalty. this jury has said, look, if you put the circumstances in front of me and i believe those circumstances are proper, not that i will impose the death penalty but i'll consider it. when you have all of the mitigation and reducing factors and redeeming factors about his relatives and about how tamerlan was the guy who really was radical and how tamerlan twisted and turned him, about how you had a sobbing aunt on the stand and we saw emotion from him last week for the first time. just that once. >> you have deborah feyerick saying you see no emotion the whole time but prosecution put the photo of him -- video of him flipping off the camera and the fact that this jury convicted him of mass murder and terrorism. >> listen, it's a case that impacted the community none so much -- the word, the nation, none so much as boston.

the issue is going to be what that jury believes. do they believe that perhaps serving a life sentence is worse than a fate of death or do they believe that, you know what, it's appropriate under these circumstances that he be given death and whether a nun testifies or relatives testifies, it doesn't do the trick. what the jury will conclude based upon her testimony and everyone else in that courtroom who attempted to mitigate and lessen the consequences of what he did. >> they could start deliberating on that wednesday or thursday. >> the prosecution has a chance to rebut now, right? >> reporter: they are. that's what they're trying to do. after this powerful testimony that dzhokhar tsarnaev's team put on by teachers, by friends, and now by sister helen prejean, you know, they have to paint a picture of someone whose crimes were so heinous that he deserves to be put to death. the defense is showing this was a person who was a good person until this moment that he decided to do this terrible, terrible thing. and prosecutors are really going

through the prison system right now saying, look, a supermax facility is not good enough for dzhokhar tsarnaev. it's too lenient even though he would face restrictive measures and that's why they are arguing it should be death because there's a possibility that dzhokhar tsarnaev might have privileges that his victims no longer have that right to. >> thanks so much. we'll talk about this in the days ahead because it's all coming to a close. >> ahead for us, did the king of saudi arabia snub president obama by skipping meetings with him. hear the reasons and how the white house is now responding to this snub. we've been following the breaking news all morning. these are the pictures from van, texas. a third of this town you can see hit so hard by a tornado or tornadoes overnight. we believe ten people are still missing and we'll bring you the latest on what we're learning next. before earning enough cash back

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thanks but no thanks. not usually the sentiment you get from those invited to the white house and summit at camp david. now the king of saudi arabia after indicating he would be coming to a crucial summit with persian gulf leaders this week now says he has other things he needs to do. really? >> saudi embassy says the change is because the summit conflicts with the cease-fire in yemen. a senior obama official tells cnn the white house does not think that king's absence is because of any serious disagreement but there is all sorts of speculation that this

is a snub. if that is what it is, is it meant to show saudi arabia's displeasure over the u.s. nuclear talks with iran? so many questions. not a lot of clear cut answers at this point. let's get to the white house correspondent michelle kosinski. michelle, what is really going on here? >> reporter: we can play snub or not a snub all day i think. this change of plans was pretty abrupt. that's a little weird there. then you hear what each side is saying. saudis call it a scheduling issue. we're now hearing from sources that it may have been more related to health issues, that this is a long trip and the king of saudi arabia is almost 80 years old. nobody is really giving a lot of details other than that. when you look at the totality of it, it's a summit of gulf state leaders that president obama invited to come here and spend time with him one-on-one and spend time at the white house, at camp david. you look at the issues on the table and the fact that security and stability in that region is

so critical to u.s. security that the gulf states are looking for some kind of counterpoint to the iran nuclear deal that president obama signed. so much going on in that reasonabregion right now. you would think the leaders would want to come here and let's hash this out together. when you look at the actual leaders who are attending, two of the six are coming. they are all sending very high level delegations so these talks are going to go on. we'll wait and see what actually comes out of them. it would appear that some reason they might not see this summit as being all that important to their interests. perhaps. perhaps it's been brought up that they are not pleased at all with how the iran deal is going and maybe not so pleased with whatever reassurances security-wise and militarily that the u.s. is offering or not offering them. maybe that is the key. >> a lot of questions. you do begin to wonder if the highest level of official not

coming to meet with the president, does it undermine the whole point of this summit at camp david in the first place? >> reporter: it seems to. you lay it out there. this is a big summit with huge issues on the table. the iran nuclear deal is something that could affect the entire world. this is something that's been so worrisome to other countries in that region and trying to work through this relationship. this is a good time to build that relationship. why would they not come here? part of it is maybe they see things differently. in a couple of instances it is health reasons that are keeping these monarchs behind but it doesn't look good, right? they're not showing up. it seems like there must be some element of them maybe not exactly quite expecting to get what they want from the white house at this time. >> all right. michelle kosinski at the white house for us. michelle, thanks so much. later we'll continue this

discussion. fareed zakaria will join us giving us his take on why the saudi king may have backed out of these white house meetings and meetings at camp david as well. >> we have breaking news out of van, texas. at least ten people now believed to be missing in that town hit by a tornado overnight. you can see the damage done right there. we are awaiting a news conference. we expect to get new information on the people missing. also the possibility of fatalities. that news conference coming any minute. stay with us. if yand you're talking toevere rheumyour rheumatologiste me, about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira giving me new perspective. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works for many adults. it targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections,

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happening now. ten people are missing after a tornado hit the town of van, texas, 60 miles east of dallas. these pictures are from moments ago. you can see the devastation for yourself. these people clearly picking through the rubble. so many people right now searching in this one area. you do wonder if perhaps they are looking for someone there. we are awaiting a news conference from van to get the latest information on those missing. we should also tell you there are reports from local affiliates that there are fatalities as well. we will wait for confirmation on that from this news conference coming any minute. joining us, meteorologist chad myers. as you look at these pictures and these aerial images of van, texas. what can you tell about the size and path of this storm? >> i'm looking at what i think to be an ef-3 tornado there.

weather service will be out looking at the damage later on today to determine what it really was. now, you can't tell what the damage or the strength of a tornado by looking at a car or by looking at a trailer or by looking at anything made of aluminum or a tin roof or aluminum shed. those things come apart quickly. it's the sound, stick, brick homes that weather service will go out and see how many damage occurred there. what i see there is a damage path of less than half a mile. that's good news. all the homes there although this one here flattened, a lot of them to the left of that picture still standing. and to the right of the picture still standing. we don't know the length of the path but probably less than a quarter mile. more like two blocks or three blocks. >> chad, that house -- the roof of that house was intact. it was just sitting on the ground. the rest of the home completely

flattened. when you see this amount of devastation, you just really can't get over it. no matter the strength of the storm is the threat of it passed as these folks have to pick up the pieces? >> the threat of this area, yes. the threat of south texas, no. the threat around detroit, michigan, no. from flint to detroit to cleveland all of the way down to cincinnati, you could see some storms like this moving through that area today. it's not over. a trough in the west. the ridge in the east. it's springtime. when that happens, you get that type of weather. we had a lot of rainfall. watch out after dark for flooding. there are areas that have had six inches of rainfall. some spots over 10. you can't get one more inch otherwise it's going to flood more. >> a hundred miles from where we are looking at denton county, texas, huge amounts of rainfall. they had flooding. all kinds of rescues in that area as well as in terms of rainfall will that follow the

tornado possibilities as the storm moves east? >> yes. heavy rain will be from memphis maybe to nashville down to jackson, mississippi, and all of the way south even down to the gulf coast. the gulf coast does drain better than hillier areas in arkansas or hillier areas across parts of kentucky. when you funnel that water down a hill and get it into the creek down below, that's when you begin to really get the trouble. water goes up quick and one storm after another training over the same area is where you see heaviest stuff. i believe the worst weather today will be down here across south texas, san antonio, the hill country. >> you just feel horrible when you see these pictures. daybreak just happened and folks are now starting to get back in their home. the threat is over. lights coming up. this is what they are coming home to. we'll cover this. chad, thank you so much. we're awaiting a news conference in van, texas, that could happen at any time to figure out when they get a better handle of what

they're dealing with in that town. we'll bring that to you as soon as it comes. pictures are horrible. also ahead for us "at this hour," the secretary of the homeland security says a lone wolf could strike in the u.s. at any moment. hear why he says the united states is facing a new era now in the fight against isis. michelle obama talks about race and she talks about her treatment over the course of the last two presidential campaigns. surprising introspective comments a lot of people are discussing today.

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is it a snub or just bad timing? saudi arabia's new king was supposed to attend a meeting of gulf leaders at camp david along with a one-on-one meeting with

president obama. >> king solman pulled out of those meetings saying he needs to oversees upcoming cease-fire with yemen but is there more to it? i want to bring in fareed zakaria. to me it seemed odd that the saudis as recently as last week said, sure, the king is coming. he'll go to that meeting and now today they are saying not so fast. you think i'm being too hard? >> i think we may be misinterpreting it in the sense that the saudis are in many ways displeased with american foreign policy. they want us to fight their wars for them. but remember, this guy is 79 years old. he's had a stroke. there are rumors that his health is even worse. he's also the richest guy in the world. he runs an absolute monarchy. when is the last time the saudi king came to the united states. the crawford summit ten years ago now was crown prince abdullah. the last time the saudi king came to the united states.

these guys are usually deputized crown prince. i was surprised they would announce he would come and suspicious it might not happen. >> does it undermine he's not going and there are other leaders of gulf nations that won't be going. does it undermine the purpose of going to camp david or do you think that it still matters? a meeting with president obama and king saudi arabia said he would go but now not going, does it undermine the gathering at all? >> the guy who is coming from saudi arabia is the second most powerful person in the country. >> decision makers will be there. >> yes. in the case of bahrain, it's a small issue. this is a balancing act. the united states is trying to have a new relationship with iran while at the same time not

getting iran's great foes highly upset. it's a difficult balancing act. >> let's talk about isis. they'll talk about it. you have a big show on tonight. an hour special on the battle against isis and homeland security jeh johnson talking about challenges in the battle against isis. let's listen to what he said. >> because of the use of the internet, we could have little or no notice in advance of an independent actor attempting to strike. that's why law enforcement at the local level needs to be vigilant and we're reminding them to do that. >> is social media the big game changer that these officials make it sound like? >> it's the place where isis innovated a lot. we have a whole segment on that. they figured out a way to get their message out to a broad

number of people. they are well made. they are short. they are designed to go viral. they are so brutal and so shocking that they reach hundreds of millions and then they affect the few thousands moved by this in a positive way. it's weird but it's .1% of the people who watch. they understand the dynamic. it's almost a direct marketing approach. brilliantly. that means that there are going to be people out there who were influenced by this and how you do and how you respond to that is tough to know. the good news is it means that you're not talking about large scale attacks. you are talking about entrepreneurial attacks that come out of the blue but not the ones that take major planning, money, time. >> harder to stop in some cases and still dangerous. >> they have the affect of being a terrorist attack. >> sounds like a fascinating

special. you can hear much more on the threat from isis from fareed. "blind-sided" 9:00 p.m. eastern. how isis shook the world. who are these people and what do they want? fareed reports on that tonight cnn, 9:00 p.m. eastern. >> thanks so much. ahead for us "at this hour," michelle obama opening up about race and speaking candidly about race, politics and becoming first lady. we'll speak with someone who worked alongside her at the white house to get insight as she made a passionate speech over the weekend. we're awaiting a news conference from van, texas. a third of that town severely damaged by a storm. a news conference coming up. we're expecting a status report on ten people still missing. our live coverage continues. ne ] [man] hello,totten designs. sales department? yes...i can put you right through.

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first lady michele obama discussing the issue of race and the role that it played leading up to the president's first election. she was talking about this at a commencement address. she spoke to the graduating class at tuskegee university on saturday and said she believes during the 2008 campaign she was treated differently than the spouses of other candidates because of her race. listen. >> as potentially the first african-american first lady, i was also the focus of another set of questions and speculations, conversations sometimes rooted in the fears

and misperceptions of others, was i too loud or too angry or too emasculating? or was i too soft, too much of a mom? not enough of a career woman? >> that was just one of many things that she said. you really should take a look at the passionate speech by the first lady. joining us to discuss this now from washington, chief political analyst gloria bernlger and cnn contributor van jones, a form adviser to the obama administration. da van, i want to ask you, she also talked about the controversial new yorker cover. everyone will remember this from 2008. during this commencement speech, the first lady said that this in and of itself knocked her back a bit. being really candid about talking about the frustrations and the fact that she had many sleepless nights worrying about what people thought about her.

what do you think about what she said? >> you know, i was really moved by her comments. i have a twin sister named angela, she's tall, very dark skinned, very beautiful, you know, just like michele obama. when i saw that cover, and i saw here's this woman she's gone to princeton, has a law degree, attorney, and being portrayed as a black panther throwback, some ways it was satire, new york, york,er today to make fun of the perceptions, can my sister or anybody who looks like my sister take the public stage highly educated and not somehow be seen in this negative light and there were many other things, the terrorist -- she gave a fist pump to her husband and fox news said it was a terrorist fist jab. we were like wait a minute, that's not a terrorist anything. it was i think a tough moment for black women watching how she was being received by parts of the country in ways we were

shocked by. i thought it was good she was speaking to that. >> gloria, this was controversial back in 2008. i mean this cover was controversial, it was discussed, a lot of the treatment of michele obama was controversial and it was discussed. is what's different now that the first lady herself is opening up and discussing this ins these very public forums as the administration begins to wind itself down in the final year or so? >> there's a certain liberation i think that comes when you realize you're no longer going to be in the public eye and your husband's not going to run for re-election. i don't know what political future holds for michele obama. she says she's not running for anything. there is that liberation which tends to lead to this kind of refle reflection. i think what was astonishing to me was how honest she was about it, not only running as an african-american woman, but also the difficulties, i looked at it, of running as the spouse of a presidential candidate because

you are under a different kind of looking glass, no matter what your color, right, and you're finding your way. you're finding your issues, you're finding your balance, and remember, she had that big difficulty when she said for the first time in my life, i'm proud of my country because i see hope and then cindy mccain came back and said, i've always been proud of my country. that created a firestorm for her. so i think she's kind of walking these students through not only what it was like to be black, and run for first lady, but also, what the spotlight can do to you if you're careful not to let it usurp your soul, right, and she said, you know, be who you are. >> and gloria, that's one of the things -- >> i want to get your take van, real quick, there have been calls for years from the african-american community, both obamas should speak out more forcefully with regards to race and in the impact that -- and the impact they -- the impact they can have on the discussion

of race. why do you think they speak out now? >> well, i do think that they feel a little bit more free to do so because there's not another election. i want to say what's amazing is that michele obama went from being someone who was under so much suspicion and fire, she's now one of the most popular and beloved figures in the country. she was able to fight her way through, to work through, embrace veterans and do those things that have put her i think on a pedestal. bill clinton spoke much more forcefully about race, had a commission on race, talked about it all the time. i think that the african-american community felt at least in the first several years, that obama could have done that and did not want to. so i do want to say, the good news here is that michele obama fought her way through all of that and is one of the most beloved figures in the country. >> and the speech definitely look at a few -- gloria, we've ran out for this hour. gloria, great to see you. sure, good to see you. thank you for joining us "at this hour".

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this is cnn breaking news. hello, everyone. i'm ashleigh banfield. welcome to "legal view" following breaking news in texas. we are awaiting word on where the missing are after a series of deadly storms ripped through an area called van, texas. i want to take you to the emergency management coordinator giving a live news conference. let's listen in. >> at this time we can confirm we've had two fatalities as a result of this storm in van and van zandt county. power outages range anywhere from east of highway 110 north of fm 1995 up into the sand flat area. encore and atmos energy are working to restore the