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Kansas Town Destroyed by Tornado; Elaborate State Dinner Planned for Queen Elizabeth; Greensburg, Kansas Evacuated Over Ammonia Leak

Aired May 07, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: And I'm T.J. Holmes in today for Don Lemon. Such a treat to have you back here with us. We're going to be talking a lot about your visit to Baghdad coming up.

PHILLIPS: Good.

HOLMES: We've got a lot to talk about in Greensburg, Kansas, to begin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you see somebody it's just tears. You say to them -- you know, I saw one of our parishioners just a while ago that, I knew he was OK, but I hadn't seen him. And it's just like, you know, "Brother, you're alive. You're OK. Good to see you."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Good to see you. Going home for many families, the only thing really left. And late word of a rescue. Somebody has been found alive in the rubble days after a devastating tornado. In the NEWSROOM, the personal story of one town after the storm.

PHILLIPS: Nothing but rubble in Greensburg, Kansas after Friday's deadly tornado. You can see by all of the live pictures here. But in that rubble a sign of life.

The people of Greensburg don't have much to come back to, but they are coming back, if only for a while. Our Don Lemon is there, and Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN severe weather center.

First, let's get to you, Don. The search for survivors goes on, and it's apparently paying off.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It certainly is, Kyra, paying off. And the news is that they found someone overnight. They said they found someone alive in the rubble.

They're not telling us about the person, the age or the gender or anything about them, where they found them. But they do say they found them in the rubble and that person is alive. And they took the person to the hospital. That was told to us by a highway patrolman just moments ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. RON KNOEFEL, KANSAS HIGHWAY PATROL: Last night, late evening, we did recover someone alive. So, we are very, very happy with that. And you know, we got to stress being with this, the search and rescue continues, because we still have optimism that we're going to find more people alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Now the people are just starting to come home. The sun came up just a couple of hours ago. And when we got here this morning we ran into a line of people right into the town. They had to wait to get into their own town.

The first thing they had to do was get their windshields marked, their cars marked. They take a marker, and they put on their windshield the address and their last name, and that is how they get into the town. And then they're escorted to the area where they live.

So, we spoke to some folks here earlier this morning including the governor, as well, who's saying that they are going to rebuild. It's really a tough time for everyone here, obviously. Most people coming back to nothing with 90 to 95 percent of the town gone.

I do have a phone number that I want to give you. It's 1-800- 621-FEMA 1-800-621-FEMA. You want to find out about a loved one who lives in the area and you don't live in the area, you can call that number. Or, if you live in this area and you need some information, call that number: 1-800-621-FEMA.

We took a tour of the town a short time ago, and I got to tell you, Kyra, it is just devastating. If you look here at the area, as the sun comes up, and you look at this, most people are commenting on the trees. Seeing the tornado before hit towns, but never like this. Just shearing off those trees, almost like sandpaper, according to the Red Cross.

Look at this. Just delivering some of this stuff into areas far, far away from where it's supposed to be. There's a van that was here to my right. It was in the parking lot way on the other side over there and ended up over here.

What I'm standing on now, about to get down, is really sort of the trusses for this building, big, huge trusses. That has completely collapsed and it's over here.

Over here, check this out. This is a VFW and a senior center. This is where they have VFW meetings. In our live shot for the earlier NEWSROOM with Tony and Heidi, we showed you some guns that were in this safe. No one saw them this morning. Our guys were here doing live shots and it was dark. The guns were in this safe earlier. Picked this safe up and just threw it onto here along with some ammunition. Most likely when police got here, they said that it was just blanks used for ceremonial services but still, that it was very dangerous. Because blanks can be dangerous, as well.

Kyra, I know that you just got back from Baghdad, and we always see the pictures of the -- of folks there on the scene and what the explosion and what the devastation is like. But you really don't get a feel of it until you're here. I can't believe it. You know, I know it's a cliche, but I've never seen anything like it.

PHILLIPS: No, it's true.

LEMON: It's different than a hurricane, because this happened so fast. Yes.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. Just seeing that devastation. You know, you pointed something out, Don, to the right, that van you were talking about. I noticed the American flag was hanging on the window.

No matter what, what type of situation you're in, you always see such respect for the American flag. Of course it's disrespectful to see it on the ground. At any moment. I don't know if your photographer can show our viewers again, over there to the right. See where the flag is.

LEMON: Yes, but you know, I'll show you that one. And then I see that one, Kyra, then back in the rubble -- I don't know if you can see it, as well. Just because this was a VFW hall, there's a number of U.S. flags. I can see some over here, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven flags.

Of course, we don't want to see them on the ground, but someone picked that one up and put it on the van as a sign of respect, because they didn't want it laying on the ground.

But we've been finding American flags all over. There's one, pan over to the right, William. There's one hanging on a tree right there. So you're absolutely right.

And it's also, as well, Kyra, I would say, a testament to the resilience of these people. Because everyone I've spoken to, they may be sad. They're crying, but their spirits are up. And they're saying you know what? We're going to get through this, and we're going to rebuild.

PHILLIPS: What a message. Unbelievable, too. Almost 95 percent of that town, you said.

LEMON: Yes.

PHILLIPS: And the loss of life not greater than it is. Obviously, we don't want to see anybody die in something like this, but it's incredible that not -- that the number is so low with regard to the loss of life.

LEMON: Yes. And you know what, Kyra? I've got to tell you this. Coming up at 1:30 we're going to take you on a tour through a town. I met this lady, and I know you would love her. She's a grandmother. She's this little old lady. She's so sweet. And she said, "You know what? You're a great guy, and my -- you know, my daughters and my nieces are all crying. But I'm not going to cry, because I'm not going to cry for you or for any of the cameras here, because I'm going to rebuild. My entire family is here. And that's what's important. These are just things."

PHILLIPS: Don Lemon, we'll see you at the half hour.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, Kyra.

HOLMES: All right. And that path of destruction there we've been seeing, it was nearly two miles wide, more than 20 miles long. That is what Friday night's tornado carved into that town of Greensburg.

Our Jacqui Jeras here now with some new pictures to show us from the CNN weather center.

Hello to you, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, there, T.J.

And hello, Kyra.

Yes, just amazing the destruction with this system. The severe weather threat isn't over with, by the way. I just want to mention real quick, we do have a tornado watch in effect for southern parts of Oklahoma and on into northern parts of Texas, kind of sandwiched in between Oklahoma City and Dallas-Fort Worth.

This is the granddaddy of all storms. This is an EF 5 tornado. This is an extremely rare occurrence. The last one we had, May 3, 1999, in Moore, Oklahoma. Since 1950 we've only had 51 F 5 tornadoes occur. And this is the first one to be issued since we started using the new enhanced Fujita scale.

The wedge size I heard you mention. That means how wide across that tornado was, 1.7 miles, at its widest through the town, but it was up to two miles wide before it hit town.

The length of the path, this thing stayed on the ground for 22 miles. So just imagine, you live there in Greensburg. Your town is less than a mile wide. There is no escaping this storm. You really had to pretty much be underground.

And just to show you the scale, the new enhanced Fujita scale, a weak tornado, EF 0, 65 to 85 miles per hour. So you're more than doubling that so. So the strength goes up and the category goes up exponentially, the amount of damage that it can do.

Now, the National Weather Service meteorologists have been on the scene the last couple of days, and they've been assessing some of this damage here.

And unfortunately, I don't know what happened there with my computer. Some of these pictures went through very, very quickly. This is a picture here. This is the middle school.

OK. Now we've got them up full. Thank you very much for that, guys.

This is a basement. This is all that is left of the house. You can see the stairway there. And everything on top is leveled. So when you're looking at an EF 5 tornado, you can't escape it. You have to get underground. If you had been in an interior room, away from doors and windows just like you're supposed to in this kind of a situation, you're probably not going to make it through here.

So I'm assuming a lot of people in the town of Greensburg had basements and were able to seek shelter, and that's why the number of lives was so low.

Now look at this picture here. That red thing you see there, that is a truck. That's a truck, just smooshed to smithereens.

And check out the tree. This is an enormous oak tree. One of the things I want you to notice, look at this up across the top of this. All of that bark just stripped off of that tree.

And notice this. The diameter of that thing is at least a foot around. It just snapped. Just like a little twig. Incredible pictures. You know, takes at least an EF 3 tornado to use that kind of destruction.

And this is the Greensburg Middle School, I believe. All that is standing is this doorway here. The entire building around it had been collapsed. There is maybe one wall here. This would be indicative of maybe EF 3 damage.

And when National Weather Service meteorologists go out to assess the damage, when they put a number on it, an EF 5, that is the most extreme of conditions for this storm. So, it doesn't mean everybody in town sustained EF 5, but that was the worst of what they had here.

We've got more of these pictures. Jeff Hutton, he's the meteorologist there, the warning coordination meteorologist, and he was out looking through that damage. He sent me these pictures today. So we are going to be showing you more of these over the next couple of hours.

Just an incredible situation. This is going to be kind of one of those landmark storms that we're going to talk about, comparing to other storms years and years and years from now.

And one other thing, really, also very notable about this system was that so far the reports of tornadoes from Saturday was 93. Now, that number could change. You know, maybe two people saw the same tornado. But 93 is just a tremendous amount of tornadoes in one day.

The two-day total was, like, 123 tornadoes. And normally on a really high risk day you'll see maybe 50 to 60 tornadoes. So, we're, you know, quadruple that. Just incredible. PHILLIPS: All right. Jacqui, appreciate it.

From the pictures, obviously, that Jacqui's bringing us, to the video and to the live shots, you've seen the sheer terror that these twisters can bring and the havoc that they cause. Now you can get more in a special report at CNN.com. You can view a special storm chasers' gallery and actually see the science behind the fury and quiz yourself on some tornado trivia. You can get more online at CNN.com/tornado.

HOLMES: We want to tell you about a developing story out of Las Vegas. Well, one person has been killed in what police are calling a homicide with an unusual weapon.

This happened at the Luxor Hotel, where an employee of that hotel went to his car around 4 a.m. in the morning, saw some kind of suspicious package on top of his vehicle, picked it up; and it exploded, and he was killed.

Another hotel employee barely escaped injury in this, as well. Police are not describing this as any type of a terrorist -- terrorist act, but instead, they do believe that the person who was killed was targeted by someone, was the target of this.

Not saying much about exactly what this device was and what it was in, what type of package. But the person, the apparent victim went and picked it up. It did explode.

And little damage, according to police, was done to the parking garage, so the hotel was not evacuated. It did not affect anything else happening at the Luxor Hotel. A lot of people will note the Luxor is that pyramid shaped hotel casino on the Las Vegas strip.

But this is a developing story. We're keeping an eye on it. As we get new developments and details we will bring them along to you.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, pumped up to a record high. Drivers can only fume. Gas prices surge. We'll have more in the CNN NEWSROOM.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Four courses for lunch, five courses for dinner. I'll have the details. I'm Richard Quest having a sandwich in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It is 1:15 here in the CNN NEWSROOM, where we are pleased to be welcoming back Kyra Phillips here today after her duty in Baghdad. But we need to tell you that here are three of the stories we're working on here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

People returning to Greensburg, Kansas, today for the first time since a tornado leveled that town late Friday. They have a few hours to search for possessions before leaving again. Hours earlier, searchers rescued a survivor from that rubble. Also a deadly explosion outside the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. One person was killed when an object left on top of a car blew up. Police believe the victim was the intended target.

And on the road again in Oakland, California. One of two ramps shut down a week ago by an overpass collapse reopened today, just in time for that morning rush hour. The collapse near the Bay Bridge was caused by a fuel tanker crash.

PHILLIPS: Well, a 21-gun salute, a parade, the red carpet goes without saying. It's a White House welcome fit for a queen. The queen being Elizabeth II of Britain, of course. And it will look like a clam bake compared to what's on tap for dinner.

Our Richard Quest is live in Washington, already talking about what the monarch is up to in this, what, 10-course dinner? And you're getting a sandwich?

QUEST: It's five courses for dinner and four -- listen. She's just finished lunch. She had, for lunch, wild asparagus veloute, chive oil, heirloom tomato fondue -- where do they think of these names? -- seared gravy sea bass, ruby red grapefruit fillet with jicama and Florida avocados and then raspberry meringue for dessert.

After she'd wolfed down that lot, no wonder she and the president decided to go for a bit of a walk. They sort of got rid of it. They went for a walk, you can see here, across the road. And -- well, it's hard a walk. They strolled.

PHILLIPS: There we go. The queen strolls.

QUEST: An apres-lunch promenade from the White House to Blair House, where the queen is staying. That's the official residence, of course, for foreign visiting dignitaries.

Now earlier at the official welcome, the state welcome on the White House South Lawn, President Bush gave -- and you'll appreciate this, Kyra, from your recent duties in Iraq. President Bush gave a very timely reminder about why Anglo-American relations are still very relevant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our two nations hold fundamental values in common. We honor our traditions and our shared history. We recognize that the strongest societies respect the rights and dignity of the individual. We understand and accept the burdens of global leadership. And we have built our special relationship on the surest foundations: our deep and abiding love of liberty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now the queen, in her response to that warm welcome, was very much at pains to point out why these state visits are relevant. After all, in this day and age, do we have to have state visits? (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUEEN ELIZABETH II, UNITED KINGDOM: This visit also gives us a window on the future, both the future of the United States and the future of cooperation between our countries. I particularly look forward, in the next two days, to seeing firsthand something of how the cutting edge of science and technology can take us to the next phases of discovery and exploration in human endeavor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: So, Kyra, think of a state visit as being the tip of the iceberg. The queen is the tip of the iceberg. Underneath it is business, commerce, government relations, and all that is being discussed and debated on the back of her visit.

PHILLIPS: And obviously, extremely important, I mean, we know that the -- that England is -- always continues to be a tremendous ally, specifically on the war on terror.

But Richard, also you mentioned, too, the preparation. While talking about business, there's a lot going on for this extravaganza tonight. Correct?

QUEST: Yes. I mean, it's a state banquet. Frankly, Kyra, if you can't have a decent state banquet for the queen of England in the White House, I don't know where you can.

So it is not surprising that they pulled out the stops. It's white tie. There Itzhak Perlman, who's the violinist virtuoso, who will be performing after dinner. It is just -- it's five courses instead of four.

They're using -- they're using the Clinton china. Here's a bit of trivia. I didn't realize that the Bushes didn't have their own china. Well, they may have their own china, but you know what I mean. They don't have their own china in the White House.

PHILLIPS: But no, come on. You -- you live in London, so you know that you Brits, you know, not only do you speak proper English, but you have all of the proper customs and all of the proper china and the proper everything else. We are constantly learning from the Brits. You know that.

QUEST: Well, they're using the Clinton millennium china, which apparently is what they use on these big occasions.

So it's going to be a gala night. Frankly, it is the hottest ticket in town. If you're not there, well, you really should be on holiday or just somewhere else.

PHILLIPS: And the best description, I think you say, is brilliant. Right?

QUEST: Brilliant. Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: OK. Richard Quest, appreciate it.

HOLMES: Well, when you're too close to a tornado, it's usually by accident. And that usually means it's too late for you. But not for these guys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hear that? Oh, no, the structures. Oh, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Oh, no. They chased a twister, and they caught it. It's some of the most breathtaking video you probably ever, ever have seen of a tornado. We'll let you see and hear more. That is straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you hear that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Prices at the pump hitting records, and summer is still more than a month away. Susan Lisovicz is live at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us why.

But first of all, Susan, I missed you.

LISOVICZ: Miss you terribly, Kyra, and we're all so grateful you came back to us safe and sound. Thank you for the great reporting, really putting the human angle to all the suffering that's taking place in Baghdad.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Susan.

LISOVICZ: Well, here's some more pain, but it's on a certainly different level. If you drive you've already felt the sticker shock at the pump.

According to the Lundberg Survey, the national average for self- serve regular gasoline rose to a record $3.07 per gallon, up 19 cents from just two weeks ago. That beats the previous record hit in August of last year.

If you factor in inflation, the new price still trails the adjusted all-time high for March of 1981. But another six cents, and it will top that, too.

The shock comes not only from the price itself but the pace at which it's rising. Since mid-January, the national average is up 88 cents. Why? Well, the steady run-up. Refinery problems are putting a squeeze on gasoline supplies, and at the same time, demand, of course, expected to rise as vacation families and students begin hitting the road in a few weeks. The peak summer driving season officially starts Memorial Day Weekend. Kyra,

that's why the control room was playing ACDC, "Highway to Hell". Is that why they were playing that?

PHILLIPS: Actually, we were trying to -- OK. I got to give it away. T.J. could not name one ACDC song. So all us old folk were trying to bring it through. But yes, the theme was to parlay perfectly into can drivers find any relief?

LISOVICZ: OK. Well, I jumped the gun. I just heard it in my ear. And OK. So cue up the music. Not any time soon, Kyra.

In fact, some experts say $4 a gallon gasoline is just around the corner, and Americans are mentally prepared for it. According to a new CNN/Opinion Research poll, 4 out of 5 Americans say they think the price of gasoline will hit $4 sometime this year.

One bit of positive news. Oil prices are sliding today. They're down 88 cents to just above $61 a barrel.

(STOCK REPORT)

LISOVICZ: In the NEWSROOM is next hour, what Warren Buffett told me about high gas prices and consumer spending. You'll have to wait another hour.

Kyra and T.J., back to you.

PHILLIPS: I know he told you things he doesn't tell a lot of other people, Susan. We're looking forward to that.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

HOLMES: All right.

PHILLIPS: She's connected. Let me tell you. That's somebody to be connected to, to be able to interview.

HOLMES: And Susan, thank you.

But everyone's probably noticed we've got kind of a twinkle in our eyes around here, because we've got Kyra back. Kyra is back. She's been away from this seat for two months almost now. Been in Baghdad, and everybody knows you've been doing some -- were doing some incredible stuff over there. But yes, we were all -- couldn't help but be worried about you, a little bit, to see you there.

PHILLIPS: I appreciate it.

HOLMES: Well, good to have you back. And we know we're going to be talking a whole lot about what you were doing in Baghdad and some of the stories and experiences you brought back.

PHILLIPS: Definitely changed my life. That's for sure. A lot of new perspectives. I can't wait to share them with you. HOLMES: So we've got plenty of that coming up that we're going to be talking about here in the NEWSROOM. Stick around for that, coming up here shortly and in the next couple of hours, as well. So don't miss that.

But we've got Don Lemon also in Greensburg, Kansas, for us now, who's updating us, really, about just a devastating story we were following all weekend, and now it continues into this Monday.

Hello again to you, Don.

LEMON: Hello to you, T.J. And there is developing news from the scene of a devastating tornado. Why have residents of this town been evacuated again? They've been evacuated again. We're going to update you on this breaking story coming up right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Don Lemon now in Kansas with developing news in the town of Greensburg. What did you find out, Don?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We found out Kyra that folks had to be evacuated obviously after the tornado happened, but there has been a second evacuation and it's obviously for something serious. We understand that there has been a leak of ammonia so most of the people east of us, which is a big chunk of this town, they have had to be evacuated. Joining me now is master trooper Mark Engholm. He's from the Kansas Highway Patrol. He's going to tell us what happened. Is it a pretty big leak?

MARK ENGHOLM, KANSAS HIGHWAY PATROL: Yes. We have a 13,000 gallon railway tank car that has failed due to heat expansion most likely, damage from the storm. And we have anhydrous ammonia.

LEMON: What is anhydrous? Tell us what that.

ENGLHOLM: Anhydrous ammonia is a fertilizer that we use on our fields around here to loose the soil. However it also is an inhalation hazard. It can affect your eyes, your nose and into your lungs and so we evacuated people as a precaution at this time.

LEMON: It's a precaution because obviously the wind is blowing in that direction. The leak is not far away from us. You only have done half of the town or half of the city. That's still a big chunk of people.

ENGHOLM: Yes, it is. It is.

LEMON: Amazing, too, on a day when you're just letting people come back into this neighborhood to get their belongings and to see if they actually have any this has to happen. So it's really a double whammy.

ENGHOLM: It just goes to show why we're moving so slowly in our recovery and making sure it's a safe environment to bring people into. We have many places, many hazards that are still here and have not been controlled and so it's very important we take things slowly, methodically and safely.

LEMON: Absolutely. I mean, just like nails and things, that sort of become sharp objects that sort of can hurt you when you're going through the debris and the rubble and what have you. And our live shot, just maybe an hour ago, we saw the guns there. Then I brought them to your attention, just little things like that that we don't know about.

ENGHOLM: Exactly.

LEMON: Master sergeant, master trooper Mark Engholm. I keep calling him master sergeant and he keeps correcting me. Thank you. Again, serious news happening from the scene here. There's been a leak of ammonia and he says that it's a water seeking ammonia so it can be hazardous to people who are breathing it. So again, a double whammy on the day that people were allowed back to see if they had belongings. They are now having to get back out of town and who knows when they will be allowed back in. Again, it's only half the town, but still, it's devastating once again. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And Don, really quickly, too, I mean also on a day where they are still finding people alive beneath the rubble. That was the last piece of news that you brought to us, still signs of hope for others to be discovered.

LEMON: They are finding people. They found someone alive last night. We don't know, again, the gender, the age or anything about the person. We expect to be updated in a little while. Also I think there is some developing news that's going to happen that they are going to bring to us in just a little bit, something that we're going to report as soon as we get it. But again, yes, they are finding people, the recovery effort is still going on and as soon as we get the other developing news when we can report it, we're going to bring that to you as well Kyra.

All right, Don Lemon, thanks so much.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: We'll turn to Iraq. Target, Ramadi. That's in Iraq's notorious Anbar province. Suicide bombers strike twice in 10 minutes killing 13 people at a market and a police check point a mile apart. Attacks there and elsewhere in Iraq today killed 27 Iraqi civilians and police. U.S. military has just reported the death of another U.S. soldier over the weekend. That bumped up the American death toll for just the first week of May to 26. It brings the total for the war in Iraq to 3,377. Now, many of the U.S. troops have been lost to roadside bombs, suicide bombs, car bombs. You were there. There were plenty of bombs while you were there. And that seems to be what we always hear. Suicide attacks, car bomb attacks. We got the huge numbers of dead. Is that the number one headache?

PHILLIPS: That is what keeps General David Petraeus up at night and Admiral William Fallon and every other top leader in this war on terror. It's those car bombs. Just to give you an example, just driving through the streets when I'm working a story, of course everybody has an armed convoy that can afford to have an armed convoy. Imagine the average Iraqi. That's who might heart goes out, because they can't afford to have security guards and guns and the type of security that we have. So you come through an intersection like what you're seeing here. This is a checkpoint. This is sort of an average day, a lucky day, actually, where you may have to stop, get your car checked. But many times you come up to these and they are jammed with tons of cars trying to get through or you come to an intersection, it jams up. That's what these extremists love. They can't wait to come across a jammed area. They get on the cell phones and the next thing you know you've got an explosion, a car bomb, a vest bomb. There is just no way to control it.

HOLMES: And you were talking about this earlier. There is no traffic flow. You can't help --

PHILLIPS: No. There are no stop signs. There aren't street lights. Nobody is paying attention to any rules of law. If you bump into a car you run into a car you keep going. It's not like you stop, you swap your driver's license and you hope for an insurance agent to call and you pay each other for the damage. You just keep going because once you stop, once you become jammed you could lose your life.

HOLMES: Can you go to school? We've heard several Baghdad University there being targeted several times. Can you go to school? Can you get an education in Baghdad?

PHILLIPS: Yeah, but you risk your life doing it. You risk your life whether it's the school for the deaf that I went and visited or one of the elementary schools or even the university and what's interesting is the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army are desperately trying to recruit people. Let me show you some of the posters that I brought back to give you an idea. Robert, I'll have you shoot this one. If you want to bring it up - do you want me to read this camera, Scotty? There we go. And it says the Iraqi security forces believe everything they promise. That's what this says. On the side it says the duty right here on the side. And this other poster right here on the side it says honesty, on the side of these troops, and it says the Iraqi security forces always do what is morally and legally right for Iraq and its future. These are stickers that you see all over and this one is really interesting. This is what they want the community to participate in. This one right here on the side it says Iraq free sovereign and safe. Then it says we are here to monitor around the clock and we will find you, talking about the terrorists. Stop the violence against innocent Iraqi civilians, report all criminal activity to these numbers. That's what you see all over the blast walls and throughout the city

HOLMES: This has the eyes, a neighborhood watch.

PHILLIPS: That's exactly what it is. So, whether it is on the streets of Baghdad, or at the University of Baghdad, everybody that tries to go to work or go to school is living under a daily threat, just look at what it was like to visit the university.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRANSLATOR: The U.S. military always finds a reason to go to war, Yasar Thar (ph) tells me. Just like Vietnam and now Iraq. The U.S. is in a trap again, Vietnam versus Iraq. Can you even compare the two wars? I thought this was today's classroom debate until this.

PHILLIPS: Are those bombs? Those are bombs going off? How does that make you feel when you hear those bombs going off as you sit here in class?

TRANSLATOR: Fear, anxiety. I wonder if my family is OK, Yasar says, because we no, no idea where those bombs are landing.

PHILLIPS: These Baghdad University students don't even flinch. The explosions continue as they answer my questions. These explosions have united us, as the sectarian violence divides us, (INAUDIBLE) explains. Whether we are Sunni, Shia or Kurd we are all targets and that has brought us closer. In Iraq, if you want a college degree, you risk your life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a woman or a girl here I want to say we suffer in coming to college, in going to home, in studying with the sound of bombs.

PHILLIPS: So why do you do it? Why do you still come to school even with the bombs?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is big challenge for us. I think we are very (INAUDIBLE) brave.

PHILLIPS: I realize at this point comparing Vietnam to Iraq is not today's lecture. Living this war, this moment, is the lesson.

DR. ABDUL JABBER AHMED, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR: Maybe the situation in Iraq now is not a good situation, but the challenge of the human is how to create the best situation in order to provide future to society.

PHILLIPS: And believe me, these students face challenges. Why do you think it's important to debate this war?

TRANSLATOR: We have to discuss the mistakes, (INAUDIBLE) says. Saddam was the worst tyrant in the world. He had to go. But look at Iraq now. The U.S. military hasn't controlled the borders. Raids and bombs scare innocent Iraqis. This is occupation, not freedom. However, mistakes are not destroying dreams. These poli-sci students know exactly what they want. (INAUDIBLE) wants to work for Iraqi intelligence. (INAUDIBLE) a professor. Hannah Rasheed (ph), a diplomat, and Muhammad Soloman (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iraqi embassy anywhere.

PHILLIPS: Do you feel like you have a future here in Iraq?

TRANSLATOR: It depends on security and that keeps getting worse, Muhammad Ali (ph) says. Our professors are killed, departments close down and that impacts our education and our future. But for their professor there is hope in this class.

AHMED: For me, the best thing, how to keep the students in the classroom in order when they go out this classroom, their job, how to keep unity in the street (ph) and their family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We're going to get back to that in just a moment. We do want to go back to Greensburg, Kansas where there was a chemical leak. We want to listen in now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have shut all incoming traffic down at this time. As soon as the tank auto refrigerates, which means as soon as liquid comes out fast enough, long enough for the leak to slow down, then we're going to try get some plugs in it. We've even got the state highway patrol helicopter who we're hoping can intercept one of the trucks on the way to load up the valves that we need and the plugs and head this way.

QUESTION: Are there any cities or any towns that are in the direction of the way the wind is blowing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Everything right now is in this area. We tried to take everything in the direction of the material, so right here where you're at now is OK. But if we get a wind switch, that's why we're trying to get it done, we could end up with a big evacuation area.

QUESTION: The wind is current out of the east or out of the west?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wind has been coming out of the west- northwest, so we're OK in this area.

QUESTION: Any towns in that direction?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. There is nothing right now that we're concerned with. We're doing downwind monitoring so everything is being monitored at this time.

QUESTION: How much is this tank?

QUESTION: Evacuated citizens?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have evacuated people from the immediate area and we're working that area. We've got law enforcement and fire rescue teams working in that area at this time.

QUESTION: We've been hearing the pressure release from that tanker. How much longer is that going to take?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just depends with the temperature and everything we have to wait until -- what happens when it auto refrigerates it's letting out fuel so fast that then the temperature is going down. Once it goes down enough, then it actually freezes itself to where the leak stops and then we can shove plugs in.

QUESTION: Where are the valves coming from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The valves are off the top of the tank. It's a gas vapor valve.

QUESTION: You're having some valves shipped in. Where are they coming from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The valves were coming in from Dodge City that we're waiting on.

QUESTION: How big is the tank?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tank is a 30,000 gallon nurse tank I was told, with 14,000 gallons on board.

QUESTION: Was the original rupture caused by the tornado?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. The original problem was from the tornado. They righted the tanks, got them up. This valve has been leaking. They were trying to finish taking care of the leaks today through the EPA so that we can get the tankers out of here.

QUESTION: So the damage was done while they were trying to fix the initial...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes we were trying to fix from the initial tornado damage and that's what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need to get the commander back to the situation so we thank you for your time. Please stick around and we'll have some additional announcements soon.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) tell us again what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While they were trying to repair a leaky valve on the (INAUDIBLE) a valve broke off.

HOLMES: All right. We've been listening in there to a press conference about this ammonia leak that's happened in Greensburg, Kansas. Insult to injury here, a lot of folks just getting back into that town that was wiped out pretty much by a tornado on Friday evening. A lot of people just now being able to get back to see what's left of their homes, if anything. And got word of an ammonia leak that's happening there in town and parts of that town, the northeastern section of it, had to be evacuated so people told to get out of town because this might have been dangerous. They say they are monitoring the winds and right now just one section of the town having to be evacuated. Our don Lemon of course on the scene there in Greensburg no doubt listening in to that press conference. We're going to have more from him, get more details about that leak coming up on the other side of our break.

PHILLIPS: T.J., when you're too close to a tornado that usually means it's too late but not for these guys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hear that? Oh, no. The structures, oh, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: They chased a twister and boy, did they catch it. Some of the most breath-taking video we have ever received. We're going to let you see, hear more straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The sight, the sound, the utter fury. We're about to take you as close to a tornado as most of us will ever get or ever hope to get. This video was shot Friday in Ellis County, Oklahoma, just after a twister touched down. The two young men who shot it are professional storm chasers. This time they are running on pure adrenalin. Take a watch and listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Windshield wipers. Don't get in an accident. Oh, my God. Go! Shut your door. Shut your door. Go. Back up. Back up. We're OK. We're OK. We're good. Hold on. Listen to the roar! I got it. Hear that? Oh, no. The structures, oh, no. . I got it. Hear that? Oh, no. The structures, oh, no. . Wow. Can you hear that? Don't move.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Amazingly no one was hurt in that twister. Only one question left, what were these guys thinking? We're going to hear what they said on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING just a little later in the newscast.

HOLMES: It's so ironic, the funniest thing. You hear the announcer on the radio saying warning, please do not go out and try to look at this thing.

PHILLIPS: They open up the door. They step out. People bungee jump. People go sky diving, hey, some people want to chase a storm. You and I are happy sitting here reporting it

HOLMES: Amazing video, though, amazing stuff. We're going to get back to the other tornado that was still part of that same system that tornado was part of. This one, though, hit Greensburg, Kansas, tore that town apart. They are left to wonder really what's left, what's ahead. Three days after a monster tornado, their stories ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're expecting a live news conference in about 10 minutes out of Kansas. As you know our top story all throughout the morning and afternoon has been the devastation of that tornado that ripped through the small town, 95 percent of that small town we are reporting live from and the good news is, as of last night, somebody was found alive beneath that rubble. The bad news is now an ammonia leak of some sort that we're following, so double-edged sword there in a town that's just been ripped apart by this category five tornado. We're going to bring you that live news conference as soon as it happens to try and bring you more information of how things are going as they continue to clean up in that area.

HOLMES: And another developing story, this one out of Las Vegas where one person died at an explosion at the Luxor hotel casino. It happened in a parking garage, a second floor parking garage. Police say the person who was killed, they believe, was targeted. The person went out to a car, found a suspicious device of some kind sitting on top of the vehicle, picked up that device. It exploded and that person was killed and police not calling this any kind of a terrorist act. They do believe the person that was killed was the one targeted. A developing story out of Las Vegas. We're keeping an eye on, so you can stay here with us for any developing details.

PHILLIPS: Of course, we'll bring you live back to Greensburg, Kansas as soon as that news conference starts.

Now back to work, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, well enough to take back his job, that's for sure. We're going to have to do things a little different. Details straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

And a quick look at the big board now, the stock market up for the start of the trading week. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: He almost died in a car crash less than a month ago. So you certainly understand how happy New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is to get back to work. He's walking slowly. He's on special crutches but Corzine emerged this morning from the governor's residence in Princeton and explained he'll work from there rather than from the state house in Trenton while he keeps up his physical therapy. Corzine broke more than a dozen bones in the April 12 accident. Again today he accepted blame for not wearing his seat belt.

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