0 in "the situation room." ashleigh banfield picks up our coverage. she's live in phoenix. she starts right now. hi, everybody. i'm ashleigh banfield reporting live at the maricopa county courthouse, where jodi arias' trial is under way and the developments have been fast and furious. just like many days in this bizarre case, there have been extraordinary twists. now we are learning that this defense team plans to put no mitigating witnesses up in jodi's defense. intimidation being quoted for the reason one of those witnesses does not want to testify. a request for a mistrial because of it. the judge said no. on with the show. and then another request for these attorneys for jodi arias to withdraw from this case. this is the second request to get off and quit this case in just a matter of days. once again, motion denied by this judge. on with the show. what will the show entail at this point? will jodi arias herself get up and speak and beg for her life? will jodi arias get up and beg for her death. will jodi arias say nothing at all? joining me now is ted rowlands who has been covering this case gavel to gavel. ted this is just yet another remarkable set of circumstances in a remarkable death penalty case. where do they stand right now? where are the arguments? where are the lawyers? >> reporter: well, it is just happening very fast. right now they're at the bench, bench conference. it looks like they'll adjourn for the day and we don't know the answer, is jodi arias, tomorrow, going to address this jury before each side gets to close. what happened today is the defense got up in front of the judge and said, listen, we can't have this witness on because she's intimidated. she's intimidated because of your ruling to allow the cameras into the courtroom, and it is manifested itself to the point where now this witness, who could make a difference of whether or not our client lives or dies, is too scared to take the stand. we want a mistrial. as you said, the judge said, no, move on. they said, well, we quit. she said, no, you don't. you keep going. now, the question to them is, all right, is your client going to talk or not. and they're working that out. it appears they're going to adjourn now for the day. and we will find out tomorrow whether when we start up, it is just going to be a quick closing from the defense or will they close at all? it judge is a very bizarre day where we expected multiple witnesses for the defense and we expected to hear from jodi arias. we're not hearing from any of them. >> let me just give some updated information. gray swann, our producer in the courtroom, is giving us updates on whether or not jodi speaks. it appears she will speak but not until tomorrow, midday. judge at this point, let's not forget, this jury heard, ted, opening statements promising them what's coming in this phase. and that, now, is going to change. the judge at this point is trying to figure out a way to do a very fair defense and somehow cure the notion that this jury is expecting to hear from people and won't. so now i understand they're going through this with the attorneys to try to figure out how to cure this issue and instruct this jury as to why they're not going to hear from patricia womack and perhaps that ex-boyfriend who was supposed to stand up today as well. honestly this is -- >> reporter: darryl brewer, yes. >> look, you and i have covered a lost dea a lot of death penalty cases. every move is critical when preserving the record. jodi on the other hand, if you can walk me through her phase in all of this. do we even know at this point whether she wants to do the allocution or testify? >> reporter: it appears as though she is going to talk tomorrow and will be an allocution. will not be testimony. that's what we're hearing from the courtroom now. and like i said, we're just getting this as it happens. and they have adjourned for the day. you mentioned that the jury was prepped. they were prepped for -- to hear from witnesses and to hear from jodi. it looks as though they will hear from jodi, but interesting to see how the judge handles the very delicate procedure of informing the jury that you're not going to hear what you were promised and here's why. we'll have to see. now she actually -- the judge is right now talking. >> let's listen to the judge. >> reporter: okay. >> unfortunately, we just missed what she had said, but you can see the entire court standing. jodi arias standing as well. her two attorneys poised. this has got to be one of the most difficult cases that i dare say either of those two attorneys has had to -- has had to handle in their careers. they don't get more serious than a death penalty case. you cannot make mistakes. you must preserve the record. obviously protecting what that jury hears and what that jury does not hear and protecting the jury from anything that appears to be anything circus-like also critical for this judge. you just saw the great seal of the state of arizona. that's the indication when the judge is off the bench, off go the cameras. and that's the moment that family members, et cetera, they know that there is no further broadcast. i want to bring in faith jenkins and jeff brown. >> reporter: actually -- >> go ahead, ted. go ahead. >> reporter: actually, just a little tidbit i can add to you, the defense also asked for a stay so they could take this to another court. that was denied as well by the judge. they asked for a stay to give them more time, to have this litigated and the judge denied that request as well. >> okay. good to know. there has been a lot of denying these 11th hour motions and requests from this defense team. understandably. this is a defense team that has a massive road to hoe and they have been performing an uphill battle. i dare say since day one on this case. but particularly in the last few days as they come into this second phase, this sentencing phase, two-part sentencing phase with an unruly client. it is fair to say this is an unruly client. she went on television saying she preferred to die as her attorneys have worked for years to save her life. with me, as i said earlier from new york, is faith jenkins, a former prosecutor, a criminal defense attorney. also joining me is jeff brown, who is a criminal defense attorney. he's joining us from tampa, florida. thank you, both. faith, to you first, you're a former prosecutor. i'm sure this prosecutor is somewhat bewildered as he watches these developments, probably no more bewildered than the defense team. can you try to lay a little bit of perspective on what we're seeing develop here, faith? >> what we're seeing here is this case moves forward, i think the only predictable thing about this case, at this point, is that it is unpredictable as every hour moves forward. and we keep going forward in this case. but what we're seeing here is nurmi trying to make strategic moves. here he's saying i want a motion for a mistrial because we have to do everything we can. this is life or death. and this is it. the moment is now. we have to put forth a case in the mitigation phase. how can we do that? we do not have all the witnesses available. because, guess what, the jury, they're going to look and see she doesn't have a family member there. her mother's not testifying. she only has these two individuals who are prepared to get up and testify and now she only has one. so nurmi is saying, because of the threats, this woman, her friend, is not going to testify. we are not putting up this other witness. now he's really looking at an issue for appeal because he's saying i have an opportunity here to make a strategic move, i'm not going to put up my witnesses if we can't really put forth a case that we want to put forth in the mitigation phase right now. >> i'll tell you what, i think we're beyond that. i don't think it is just the intimidated witness who doesn't want to testify any longer, this defense team has now suggested to this judge there are no mitigation witnesses now that will testify. the story behind the ex-boyfriend and why he now won't be standing up for jodi arias is still a mystery. and it takes a while for us to get any kind of public records. they don't come out right as they're filed or even adjudicated by this judge. they take a day or so. and maybe we'll find out beforehand. jeff brown, look, i get it. defense attorneys have to preserve the record at every movement in a case. that's their job. or you find yourself down the road in a case of ineffective assistance of counsel. in this particular case, though, these are not only defense attorneys who are trying to protect the record for any kind of potential appeal, but they're trying to quit the case. they had it. this is the second round of trying to quit the case in days. >> yeah. you know, what we're looking at here, under the supreme court of strickland v. washington, you get to an ineffectiveness of assistance of counsel, the question is whether or not this is deficient lawyering, and whether or not there is prejudice here. the fact that these witnesses or a witness chooses not to testify happens in trials all the time. i've had that happen in countless trials. i've tried over 125 trials. death cases as a prosecutor, and defense counsel as well. the question, though, that the court would want to know is was this witness under subpoena? the defense can subpoena the witness and force the witness on to testify. that may not be a good strategy for them, because, you know you don't want to put a witness reluctant, but you can force that witness on the stand. so what we have here is trial strategy by the defense lawyers saying, she doesn't want to testify, we're not going to force her to testify. i don't see this as being anywhere close to ineffective assistance of counsel. none of those will come back as ineffective assistance of counsel claim. that's the issue that they're debating right now. the bigger question, though, is why did they move for a motion to withdraw? why are they trying to get off this case? i think it has something to do more than that, i think the issue that is going on here is that they don't like where the defendant is taking them. she may be giving them instructions to do certain things that they don't feel is in her best interest, such as letting her get on the stand and testify that she wants to be put to death. i think there are bigger issues going on behind those motions. >> jeff, a client who gives an interview to a local television station minutes after finding out she's guilty of first degree murder, before they're even able to get into the penalty phase, that's what you call intransigence to the max. any attorney worth his swaet probl weight is probably going to say to the judge, i give up, i cannot stop this freight train that has run amok. i don't think you have to be within closed doors to know that jodi arias is a difficult client. >> she did that, though. so that's something that is on her. the lawyers aren't responsible for that. >> they lost control of their client and that's the issue. they lost control of their client. >> she may be uncontrollable. there may be no control over someone like this. i have to put you on pause for a moment. faith jenkins and jeff brown, stand by for a moment. we have a lot more on this case. but we also have this. that thing is huge. we're getting hit with rain here soon. got to get ready to go. >> wow. an absolutely terrifying weekend in the midwest. tornadoes, monster tornadoes, more than two dozen of them reported in five different states. two people now reportedly killed. up to 300 homes damaged or completely destroyed. our george howell is standing by in shawnee, oklahoma, one of the areas hardest hit. and i can see the debris behind you. it is probably not surprising they're now calling this an ef-4 tornado. at least one of them, that went through your area, george. >> ashleigh, an ef-4. you get here on the ground, and you see the damage, you see the destruction that a tornado like this can cause, i mean, it is overwhelming. you look around, you see all of this debris, these are people's belongings. these are parts of their home and now, today, is a day where people have come back to see what's left over, you know, to try to pick through and find things to start over. now, all day we have been telling you about the home of jenny addington. this used to be the home. this used to be the door. this used to be the living room. and this used to be the kitchen over here. we have been following this situation with her. she was in the restroom, in her bathroom, when the storm came through. tell us about what happened to your mom. >> she was in the bathroom, she said she was getting ready and, you know, she told her cat that it was going to pass and everything was going to be okay. and then she said, all of a sudden, she heard the wind, big high winds and the bedroom windows blew out and all the windows were blowing out and she heard it and she said she didn't have time to even think. just collapsed on her. and she said it threw her around like a rag doll. >> reporter: i did want to come back to you, though, because your mother survived and you were telling us about some good news. tell us about that. >> my best friend found her dog. he was inside the house when their house got picked up. so they think he might be paralyzed, but he is alive. so it's kind of a good thing. i wish i could find my cat, but, you know. >> reporter: thank you for taking time. you celebrate the little things out here. and it is going to take a long time for people to clean up. there is a small window of time, ashleigh, for people to come here, look for things, and then get out of the way because, again, more storms are coming through this area again tonight. so, you know, this is not the place to be when that happens. >> there is just nowhere to seek shelter when you see something ripped off its base like that. unbelievable pictures. george howell, thank you. live reporting for us in shawnee, oklahoma. one of the hardest hit areas. coming up next, a police officer responding to a home invasion ends up accidentally killing a college student. what on earth went wrong? 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