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American Morning
Devastating Kansas Tornado: Survival Stories; State Dinner in Washington, D.C., for Queen Elizabeth II; L.A. Rally Violence
Aired May 07, 2007 - 08:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Tornado terror.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can prepare yourself all you want, but until you come home and see your house coming apart...
ROBERTS: One of the most powerful storms ever recorded.
Night after night of threatening weather.
GOV. KATHLEEN SEBELIUS (D), KANSAS: You can look in any direction and all you can see is devastation.
ROBERTS: Help trickles in, and Greensburg starts down the long road back on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And good morning to you. It is Monday, May the 7th.
I'm John Roberts, live in Greensburg, Kansas.
Good morning to you, Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, John. Good it see you here in New York this morning.
Thanks for joining us, all of you out there.
We have John on the scene of utter devastation, as this town completely wiped off the map after this unbelievable tornado that hit this weekend.
ROBERTS: You know, it is so bad here, Kiran, that you can only kind of figure out where you are if you don't know the lay of the land. And even if you did, because you lost a lot of the landmarks, sort of by sifting through the rubble and trying to pick out here and there some landmarks within the rubble that can give you some sort of idea of where you are.
We found some tools on the ground here. This apparently was a tool store. And here, I think, we found -- this is what looks like the remnants of an American Legion flag. So, perhaps this was a local legion haul or something like that, something to do with veterans, because there were also a couple other American flags here. But this -- this building has just been totally leveled. It was a bricks and mortar structure. The wall is down in front of me.
I am standing inside what used to be a very covered up and very protected area. Now just open to the elements. And that's what we see repeated all across the town of Greensburg.
This tornado, this massive, massive storm almost two miles wide literally swallowed this entire town up, damaging or destroying some 90 percent of the buildings here. All 1,500 people had to leave, but now they're talking, Kiran, about rebuilding here, which is really incredible when you look at the amount of damage and destruction here -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And you've got to ask, where do you begin? I mean, how do you even begin to haul some of the debris out to be able to bring in things like the trailers?
ROBERTS: Yes. That's the big question here.
CHETRY: It is. All right. Well, we're going to check in with you in a couple more minutes, John.
Also on our radar today, the governor of New Jersey, after almost dying in a car crash just under a month ago, is now out of the hospital. Jon Corzine back to work today. In fact, in just under an hour he begins his first day. He's going to be working out of the New Jersey governor's mansion, though, not actually returning yet to the offices.
And our Alina Cho is on this story today.
And also, it's going to be a big to-do today in Washington, D.C., because Queen Elizabeth is going to be there. She's going to be enjoying a state dinner at the White House. And we're going to have much more on her plans as she visits the nation's capital today -- John.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran.
And we're continuing our team coverage from Greensburg, Kansas, of this massive storm and the destruction of it. We've got CNN meteorologist and correspondent Rob Marciano, who has been on the ground here all weekend. He's tracking the weather, and it looks like another day of bad weather in store for us as well.
It's cold, it's windy, there are heavy clouds. We had a lot of storms in the area, tornado warnings out yesterday.
But first, let's go to Jeff Flock, who has been following the story and checking some of the devastation on the ground. Plans that people have to try to get into recovery mode here and perhaps -- and almost really surprisingly, Jeff, try to rebuild this town.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I heard the skepticism in your voice earlier, John, when you first got in and looked at it and said, "How could you possibly even conceive of this?" I mean, you've been sifting through rubble, we have been here, as well.
These bricks, I mean, it's incredible. As you point out, to even carry this all the way -- now that the sun is up, you get perhaps a better sense of it. Maybe a 360 look around here.
As you can see, this is the Kansas plain. We're out where this tornado first touched down on Friday night before it got into town and headed up your way, about seven miles. I think I'm seven miles southwest of you there.
So, it hit out here first, and these folks, unlike downtown, where those folks have not been allowed back into their homes, these folks here have been back in. So, they've already started cleaning some of this up.
We've been showing you the Unruh (ph) family farmhouse this morning. They've already cleaned some of this up, believe it or not, despite this destruction and this debris and this mess and this -- well, unbelievable. But, before we get away here, I do want to give you one sense of something that you haven't seen before, and that is where people hunker down.
Picture them racing through this door as they're beginning to hear windows pop and the pressure, and then this lifts off as they're running down this stair. They get down into the basement, but, by then, you have got debris, and maybe it's dark and difficult to see down here. But, of course, on Friday night, it's exactly the same sort of thing because the power is out.
The debris begins to follow them down here into the basement. They go for the southwest corner, which is over there, but, of course, that's all full of stuff. At this point, debris raining down.
And I don't know, Joel (ph), if you can see the sense of it in here. This is, obviously, a nice, you know, downstairs kitchen area and all that sort of thing. And the debris follows them into the basement.
But they're off to the side, they get out of the debris, and at that point, you know, the storm passes. They go back upstairs and, well, you've seen all morning what it is that they -- that they face.
But, just before we get away, John, I know, as I said, we can be skeptical because we look at this and we say, how could you come back from this? These people got out here right away and they began clearing things. They began clearing brush.
They're ready to go. They are ready to go. And I think after we're all in town maybe for a few more days, we should begin to see that sort of spirit that sort of pervades here that says, we're going to be back, whatever it takes.
ROBERTS: But as you said, Jeff, the immediate question is, particularly when you are talking about the more urban area here, as opposed to the rural area where you are, is where do you even begin? And also, the other question is, do they have the manpower to do this? There are some questions this morning that, while they may have enough manpower, they may not have equipment to do it because the National Guard here in Kansas has been somewhat depleted by the Iraq war. They usually have anywhere between 70 and 80 percent of their equipment at any given time. Well, because a lot of it is over in Iraq, helping to fight the war, they're down to about 40 percent.
They're missing a lot of big front-end loaders. They're missing trailer trucks. They're missing big dump trucks that they can use to haul away a lot of this debris.
The governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius, joined us in our last hour. Here's what she had to say about those problems.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEBELIUS: States all over the country are not only missing personnel, National Guard troops are about 40 percent of the troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we're missing the equipment.
When the troops get deployed, the equipment goes with them. So, here in Kansas, about 50 percent of our trucks are gone. We need trucks. We're missing Humvees, we're missing all kinds of equipment that could help us respond to this kind of emergency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, that's Governor Sebelius. And obviously they've got a big problem.
They may be calling on National Guard from some of the other states to try to pitch in. But I would think that, you know, given the amount of devastation that they have here, and given the response that we have seen so far, a lot of that help will be forthcoming in the next few days.
We want to move over here right now and talk with Gene and Margaret Bradley, and the entire Bradley family who have come here to Greensburg. They are survivors of the storm.
Gene, tell me about the storm. What happened on Friday night?
GENE BRADLEY, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Well, we kind of wanted to sit out and watch the storm and see what was going to happen. And finally, when the siren went off, we decided, well, maybe we better go to the basement. And we wended up down in the basement.
ROBERTS: You thought it was just another good old Kansas thunderstorm for a while.
BRADLEY: Yes, it's happened -- it's happened before.
ROBERTS: Right.
BRADLEY: They see a storm and we -- they set off the alarm, and we decide whether we want to get out in the shelter or... ROBERTS: Margaret, did you think it was a good idea to be sitting out on the porch watching the storm come in?
MARGARET BRADLEY, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Well, when I heard his voice say, "I think we'd better go to the basement," I responded.
ROBERTS: Well, what was it that made you think time to get out?
G. BRADLEY: There was noise. You begin to hear the thunder rolling and the storm. The noise of the storm, really, was getting to us.
ROBERTS: Right. Well, you know, a lot of people describe the sound of a storm as the sound of a freight train. And, of course, this is a famous rail line -- the Santa Fe rail line came right through here. That's what gave rise to this town and Dodge City, beyond here.
G. BRADLEY: Yes.
ROBERTS: What was that sound like?
G. BRADLEY: It was just a real roar, real loud. And, of course, we had gotten in the basement before the real part of it hit.
ROBERTS: And what happened when the storm hit?
G. BRADLEY: Well, first we...
ROBERTS: Margaret is still a little speechless.
Tell me, Margaret, what happened?
M. BRADLEY: Well, we were in the basement, and all at once the back door opened. And all of this debris came down the stairs. And we knew things were happening outside.
ROBERTS: And you haven't been back to your house since the night that you ran out?
G. BRADLEY: No. We left one hour after the storm, maybe. Left the house.
ROBERTS: What did you say on your way out? I mean, what are you expecting when you go back today?
G. BRADLEY: Well, you couldn't find out -- well, I don't know what to expect. We were outside of the house most of the time, and you couldn't find your way -- even our children lived in the house about four blocks from us, and we walked over there, and you couldn't tell where you were at or what...
ROBERTS: Yes. You know, I experienced that when I went back to Miami after Hurricane Andrew. All the landmarks were gone.
When you look around now, Margaret, do you recognize even Greensburg?
M. BRADLEY: I thought, whose house is that? It's flat. How many blocks have we gone south so we can just turn left?
ROBERTS: Well, folks, it's just so terrible what's happened to you here. We certainly wish you all the best in your efforts to try to find whatever might be left and recover and rebuild from this.
It's great you've got your family. And they came from all over?
G. BRADLEY: They came from Pueblo, Colorado, and Omaha, Nebraska.
ROBERTS: Great.
G. BRADLEY: And Texas. And they wanted to help us clean this place up. And I don't know where we start.
ROBERTS: Well, good for you folks for coming in. They can use the help.
M. BRADLEY: We've got a lot of support.
ROBERTS: And we appreciate it, Gene and Margaret, you coming and talking to us this morning. And we wish you all the best when you go back and survey the damage today.
G. BRADLEY: Well, I'm sure we'll be disappointed, but...
ROBERTS: Yes, I'm sure you will.
Gene and Margaret Bradley, thank you very much.
M. BRADLEY: Thanks for having us.
ROBERTS: So good to meet you folks -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, John.
Well, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine heads back to work within the hour, actually. We're already hearing from him about his recovery. Corzine broke more than a dozen bones when the speeding SUV he was in crashed last month.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho has an update for us.
It really is amazing when you think about it. A month ago he almost died, he was on a respirator. And now he's back at work.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Eighteen days in the hospital, most of it in ICU. You know, he has a long ways to go, but by all accounts he's made a remarkable recovery, especially when you consider, Kiran, it's just three and a half weeks after the accident.
You know, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine not quite walking on his own yet, but he is heading back to work today within the hour. Won't be at the state house, though, today. Corzine will be working from the governor's mansion, a short ways away in Princeton.
It will effectively be a satellite office that allows him to work and recover at the same time, which, of course, is very important. Corzine is getting physical therapy three times a day. He had three operations on his leg and was just released from the hospital a week ago today.
Over the weekend, Governor Corzine gave interviews to newspapers in New Jersey and The Associated Press about his recovery.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
GOV. JON CORZINE (D), NEW JERSEY: It's stressful in the leg, but they're working very hard working at getting my flexibility back. I can now ride a bike and do 360 degrees on that bike. Able to walk up and down the stairs -- with crutches, of course.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHETRY: Wow. And we've read he doesn't remember much about the accident, but he does remember impact.
CHO: He does. He's remembering bits and pieces, Kiran.
He remembers working on some papers in the car when the accident occurred. He does remember the impact, being in a lot of pain. And he also remembers that helicopter ride to the hospital and fearing that he might not make it out alive.
The governor knows that he set a bad example by not wearing a seatbelt. You heard that that in that news conference last week. He says he will try very hard to set the right kind of example as he moves forward. One step toward that, he paid that $46 fine for not wearing a seatbelt, because, of course, it's against the law.
Another important point to make, Corzine's spokesman told us that the governor will be paying all of his medical bills, which will easily run in the six figures, out of his own pocket. Now, that includes everything from that helicopter transport, to the strawberry milkshakes and the cheeseburgers. It is one way that the governor is showing the people of New Jersey that he is sorry for what happened, Kiran.
You know, this certainly, I think it goes without saying, changed his life. He said it did. He said he's not going it be in four places, in four corners of the state for a bit, for a little while. But, certainly, going back to work today is a big step toward a total recovery.
CHETRY: It sure is. And we wish him the best.
CHO: Yes, we certainly do.
CHETRY: Alina, thanks so much.
CHO: Sure. CHETRY: Well, the White House is getting ready for a big state dinner tonight for none other than Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip.
CNN's Richard Quest is tracking the queen, and he joins us from Washington.
Did they release the menu yet for you yet, Richard?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, no. We just know there are five courses: appetizer, soup, fish/meat, salad and dessert.
There will be 134 guests. So, Kiran, if you haven't gotten your invitation yet, you ain't going.
The crucial point is, it is the hottest ticket in town. And even for a building like the White House, which is always gleaming and putting on her best face to the world, they've even been doing a bit of touching up of paint.
They've been ensuring that if it can gleam, it's gilded -- or if it's gilded it can gleam. If it's white, it's truly white.
The flowers are just about everywhere. They've been harvesting them in great, great numbers. So, everything is as prepared as it can be.
Now, the last time there was a state banquet, which was also a white tie dinner for Queen Elizabeth, well, we've got to back to 1976. It was the bicentennial celebrations of the United States.
The Fords, Kiran, held that for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. That's the -- that was a long time ago.
Just look. Isn't that glamorous and gorgeous? A white tie dinner. It just adds a little bit of something more than just your average tuxedo. And I think that is why the Bushes have decided tonight will be that little bit more special.
CHETRY: It sounds good. It sounds very exciting. And you're right, I didn't get any invite, and I'm not expecting to go. Neither are you, but you know what? You're going to be covering it.
QUEST: Hey, I'm closer than you are.
CHETRY: You win, you're right. Richard Quest, thanks so much.
Well, the president and first lady will formally welcome the royals to the White House this morning. CNN is going to be carrying that ceremony. It's live at 10:50 a.m. Eastern Time today.
And coming up, we're going to be back in Kansas. Meteorologist Rob Marciano joins John Roberts in Greensburg, where there could be more severe weather on the way. It's the last thing this town needs. But as you can see, a shot of Old Glory among the rubble.
They are not going to let this beat them. They're going to rebuild and come back.
And also, there's more fallout to tell you about this morning in Los Angeles. Officers now off the streets who were involved in that violent end to an immigration rally. We're going to be talking to the mayor of Los Angeles when we come back.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: You're looking here at what's left of the Kiowa County Senior Center. This was a place where senior citizens who lived in the town of Greensburg would congregate. It's still basically standing, but there is a reg flag on it. It's been condemned. Will probably have to be demolished, as well.
It's just a scene that's repeated hundreds and hundreds of times across this small town of some 1,500 which was literally just swallowed up by this storm, a storm that was actually bigger than the town itself on Friday evening. And since then, there has been tornado warning after tornado warning, and storms, severe thunderstorms coming through this area.
Seventy-five tornadoes touched down in Kansas and Oklahoma on Saturday alone. And then we had more yesterday. And the weather not looking promising for today, as well.
CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano has been in this area all weekend long, tracking these storms.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: All right. And obviously, Rob, there's such a tremendous need here in Greensburg to try to recover, and they're talking about rebuilding here. Is that even possible? And what will it take? A lot of federal dollars, obviously, part of the equation.
We're going to talk with the regional director of FEMA who has been on scene over the weekend coming up in about 15 minutes or so, but, right now, let's throw it back to Kiran in New York.
CHETRY: All right, John. Thanks so much.
Well, late last night the Los Angeles police chief announced that 60 officers are being pulled from the streets. They were involved in the violent ending to the immigration rally last week. The police chief also apologizing, saying, "Things were done that shouldn't have been done."
But are apologies enough?
Antonio Villaraigosa is mayor of Los Angeles, and he joins us from Los Angeles this morning.
Mayor, thanks for being with us. MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA (D), LOS ANGELES: Thank you for having me.
CHETRY: What was your reaction, not as mayor, but just your gut reaction when you saw that video from the end of that rally at MacArthur Park?
VILLARAIGOSA: Well, I saw a number of videos, but I can tell you that those images will sear in my memory for a very long time. They're very painful.
CHETRY: Do you think that something went wrong that could have been prevented by the mayor's office and the police department?
VILLARAIGOSA: Well, look, we are in the process of investigating this matter. I've ordered an investigation immediately.
I've accepted responsibility as the mayor of this city. I wasn't at the park that evening, but I can tell you this, I intend to ensure that we get to the bottom of it, that we hold people accountable, that we have an open and transparent investigation of this matter. Those images, as I said, you know, will sear in my memory, and certainly in the memories of the people of this city until justice is served.
CHETRY: Well, here's police chief Bill Bratton last week on our show. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF WILLIAM BRATTON, LOSS ANGELES POLICE: A great concern is that there were almost 240 rounds fired by our officers during that event, but there were no arrests during that particular event. And that's a question that I have serious concerns about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So, he is clearly upset about how his officers handled this. And today, as we said, he's announced that 60 members of that elite force are going to be off the streets.
Do you think that the police chief should resign over this?
VILLARAIGOSA: Absolutely not. When I was informed of this incident, I immediately asked him to personally oversee this investigation. I asked for an independent investigation on the part of the police commission, as well. He wholeheartedly agreed.
We are working together in this effort. This is a law enforcement professional, make no mistake about it. He's turned around five departments. He is committed to reforming the LAPD, to abiding by the federal consent decree. And we will do everything in our power together to make sure that we get to the bottom of this.
CHETRY: Right. And apparently -- you know, I mean, he certainly -- the numbers speak for themselves. He 's brought crime down in your city. He's also tried to move more toward this community policing, which apparently took place here, where he met and members of the police force met with community activists and others who would be leading this rally to make sure that all the T's were crossed and the I's were dotted.
So, what do you think went wrong? It was just some bad apples?
VILLARAIGOSA: There was clearly a breakdown in the command structure here. There was, without question, bad tactics used, as well, to break down into tactics. But that is what the investigation is going to ferret out over the next few weeks and months.
We're going to look at everything. All the questions that you've asked will be part of what we're going to review comprehensively, openly, and very deeply.
CHETRY: All right. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa from Los Angeles this morning.
Thanks for joining us.
VILLARAIGOSA: Thank you.
CHETRY: Still coming up, more crime and punishment in Los Angeles. There is news about Paris Hilton this morning. A member of her team is out, and she is now in a countdown to her time in jail.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: There you go. A beautiful day in New York's Central Park at 28 minutes past the hour. They're mowing that lawn. That's -- there is gas being used right there, as we speak.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. I'm telling you, it's a good time to switch to an electric mower. You need a long cord, though, in Central Park.
CHETRY: Or a hand mower. Get your cardio in as well.
VELSHI: That's good.
CHETRY: Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business".
And you crack me up. This is called Woodstock for Capitalists.
VELSHI: I'm kind of sad I wasn't there. This is Warren Buffett's annual meeting, Berkshire Hathaway out in Omaha.
I just ran into my colleague Susan Lisovicz and one of our producers, Caleb Silva (ph). They were there this weekend. I'm telling you, this thing is a party. Take a look at some of the pictures.
Warren Buffett is a ham. He's also a very rich, successful ham. And people flock to this thing to find out what it is he is all about.
Look at him. He's having a great time. But in and amongst having a great time, he's got some very serious views about CEOs, about pay.
This guy gets paid $100,000 a year and does not have stock options. He thinks CEOs should only be paid for their performance.
He says he's -- you know, America has been through bigger problems than the gas prices that we've got right now. He's very bullish on the economy. He said he's got big investments to make.
And, you know, people really -- Warren Buffett is a guy who has had stability. He's had consistency over the years.
When he didn't get into the dot-coms, people thought he was crazy. But he was out there telling people the rules he has when he looks for a successor, when he looks for a company, and how he invests.
Now, it's worth -- we don't have the time to talk about everything he had to say, but it's worth it if you are an investor who likes to make your own decisions to get on the Web and find out. CNN.com has got lots of coverage on it, what he had to say, and take some of that advice to heart.
CHETRY: He really has this godlike status among investors.
VELSHI: Absolutely. They call it Woodstock for Capitalists.
I mean, it was a big event. And you can see he's got that.
CHETRY: And he didn't have on Birkenstocks, from what I can see.
VELSHI: No, he didn't.
CHETRY: Was just laying in that -- on that nice, fluffy mattress.
All right, Ali. Thanks so much.
Well, an entire town will now have to fight its way back from total ruin. Up next, we're back in Greensburg, Kansas. And we're going to hear from FEMA about what is being done to help those who have lost everything.
CHETRY: Well, an entire town will have to fight its way back from total ruin. Up next, we're back in Greensburg, Kansas and we're going to hear from FEMA about what is being done to help those who've lost everything.
Also, Don Imus is getting ready to fight back. The battle plans are being drawn up as we speak and his lawyer is going to be joining us live to find out if they're going to be able to wrangle a $40 million payday out of CBS Radio.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
The most news in the morning is here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We're back live in Greensburg, Kansas.
John Roberts and our special coverage on AMERICAN MORNING.
Looking back to the west here, this is one of the hardest hit areas of town. The neighborhood behind me literally gone. And the protests also tell the story of the ferocity of the wind. Not only are all the leaves stripped off the trees -- which we see many times during hurricanes, but the small branches that held those leaves are, as well. And these trees are -- are literally just stubs and probably will never come back.
And, you know, there are so many Kansans who are so patriotic and so proud and everywhere throughout the rubble we're finding these flags that just got blown away and caught up in the debris here.
You can see the cedar here, fertilizer cedar has been blown up against this -- this coop tanker truck here. And just everywhere you go in this town, there is so much damage and so much destruction.
But the resilience of these people here is what's really extraordinary. Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we talked with Faye Hargadine. She's an 80-year-old woman, a lifelong resident of Greensburg. She was in her home when she heard the sirens go off. She got very worried. Then she heard the roar of the tornado as it was coming toward her house.
She tried to go to the bathroom. She didn't have a basement and they tell you if you don't have a basement, trying to go into the bathroom because you can hide in the bathtub or at least the structure of the bathroom and the way the doors are configured very often will give you the most protection from the storm that you can get.
She didn't quite make it to the bathroom before the house came down around her.
Listen to how she described that scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAYE HARGADINE, SURVIVOR: No. I was trapped in this corner, and I was curled up, and it took me a while to get my legs back under me and everything.
And then I saw a light out in the street and I stood up and began yelling. The windows in my porch were broke out. And so the neighbor lady came with a light, and she got another lady, and they got me out of the house. They pulled me out the window.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Just an incredible story.
and we should tell you that every article of clothing -- and not just the clothing, but the jewelry that she was wearing, as well -- the necklaces and the earrings -- were borrowed, lent to her by some of her neighbors, who have been helping her out through this ordeal.
Dick Hainje is the regional administrator for FEMA in this area.
You used to be a fire chief...
DICK HAINJE, FEMA REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR: I was...
ROBERTS: ... before...
HAINJE: I was in the fire service...
ROBERTS: You have...
HAINJE: ... for 30 years.
ROBERTS: You have seen damage and destruction on the scale that most people never would in your lifetime. You're the person in this area who is charged with trying to get this -- this area, this county, Kiowa County and Greensburg back on its feet.
In all of the years that you've been out here covering disasters, fire and other tragedies, how does this shape up?
HAINJE: This is extremely catastrophic. We do get a lot of tornadoes in this part of the country, as you well know, and some of them are very, devastating. And we've had small towns wiped out by similar tornadoes.
This is the largest community that's just been completely wiped out. They're doing a great job. They're making a tremendous effort. But they have a really long road ahead.
ROBERTS: So what's FEMA going to do to help these people out immediately?
HAINJE: Right -- immediately, we have all our folks in supporting in anything -- any shortfalls that the locals have, because the locals start the effort, obviously, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
ROBERTS: I've heard that you're bringing some trailers that were surplus from Katrina in here to help people with housing?
HAINJE: Yes. The housing mission is going to be big, because the entire housing stock of this community virtually was destroyed. So we have travel trailers and mobile homes that are en route. And we're working with the locals to figure out where exactly they will be able to locate them.
There's a lot of debris to be cleaned before you can even put something in place. Plus, they have the issues with the utilities. There's no power at the same time. There is no water system at the same time.
So that has to be restored. And we're working on all of those issues at the same time.
ROBERTS: Now, we know how much money, Dick, it takes to rebuild neighborhoods that have been hit by hurricanes, flood, fire, what have you. But when you have an entire town that's been flattened by a tornado the size of this one, how much money it is going to take to rebuild and how big a part will the federal government play in that?
HAINJE: The federal government will play a very major part in the funding for this. The individual assistance -- the things like the housing mission, that is -- that money does come from the federal government. We try to help people find rental resources, plus the housing mission.
We're going to work with the community, because a lot of the buildings, the county buildings and the city buildings, the fire stations and the hospital, other places like that, they'll all be part of it.
I don't have an estimate on the funding, but we will do whatever it takes.
ROBERTS: Do you think this town can come back from this?
HAINJE: This town will come back. It's resilient group. I think I heard you mention that earlier. They're great folks and there's -- there's every reason in the world for them to rebuild.
I'm sure some people will never come back -- elderly folks who maybe just can't...
ROBERTS: Yes. As...
HAINJE: ... quite (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
ROBERTS: As we saw in New Orleans, a lot of folks just said going somewhere else.
Dick, I know that you've got a -- a lot of work in front of you and you've got the director coming over here today, so we'll let you go.
Thanks very much for being with us.
HAINJE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Appreciate it -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks, John.
Well, it's a multi-million dollar question -- was CBS Radio getting what it paid for when Don Imus made those infamous and controversial comments that ended up getting him fired?
There could be a lawsuit by the end of the week.
Martin Garbus is the attorney for Don Imus.
Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
MARTIN GARBUS, ATTORNEY FOR DON IMUS: My pleasure.
CHETRY: You guys are getting set to file either Friday or next Monday for $120 million.
GARBUS: Yes.
CHETRY: Now, when did you come up with that number?
Because he had $40 million left on his contract.
GARBUS: Well, the contract says direct and indirect damages. So the direct damages are the contract. Indirect damages are other things. For example, he sold products -- Imus products -- that ultimately went to charity -- all of the monies were turned over.
Since he's going to get fired, since he's been fired, since he's not on the air, the sales of all of those products are dropping dramatically. So that's -- that and other things is how you get up to $120 million. It really is out of pocket.
CHETRY: You know, our legal analyst, Jeff Toobin, got a chance to check out the contract and one of the things that he noted -- and we'll put it up on the screen -- is that CBS Radio acknowledges that Imus' services to be rendered hereunder are of a..."unique, extraordinary, irreverent, intellectual, topical, controversial and personal character."
It goes on after that. But you are going to try to argue that what he said was just doing, really, what they understood he does under his contract?
GARBUS: Right. And the end words of that clause are that he should continue to do exactly what he has done, and that that's what CBS desires -- that's the language in the clause -- desires him to do.
Remember...
CHETRY: However, they claim that he was terminated for cause based on the comments in question and relevant contract terms they believe that termination was appropriate. They also go on to say that they believe they will prevail in any attempt to recover money for his actions.
GARBUS: I think it's a very easy lawsuit from Don Imus' view. A jury will give him $120 million because CBS got what it wanted. They got a very controversial person. They got someone who interviewed presidents -- Bush, Clinton -- interviewed some of the leading literary people...
CHETRY: Right. GARBUS: ... and, also did other things and other comments that went to a different demographic.
So he was unusual and unique in the breadth of the demographic he got. So that's what CBS wanted.
CHETRY: That's interesting, though, because he went on television and he went everywhere, really, apologizing. He apologized for the Rutgers women's basketball team themselves. He was very contrite with Al Sharpton on this radio program.
Does this mean he doesn't believe that what he said should have led for him to be fired anymore?
GARBUS: Well, I think he believes that what he said was wrong. But within the terms of the contract, he doesn't believe he should be fired. He has said things like that before and other people who have been on television have said things like that before and many of them have said far, far worse things.
So that I think what he said was consistent with what he and a lot of other people have been saying on radio. And CBS wanted it and encouraged it. It got an audience, this kind of irreverence, his kind of satire, his kind of humor. And the sponsors on the show made a great deal of money and he was responsible for a large portion of CBS' profits.
And if you've seen what's happened to CBS since he's left, their profits have really sharply declined.
CHETRY: Any chance he'd come back?
GARBUS: No.
CHETRY: All right, well, thank you for -- for highlighting the case that you guys are...
GARBUS: Sure.
CHETRY: ... going to go about filing quite soon, even possibly this Friday.
Martin Garbus, attorney for Don Imus.
Thanks.
GARBUS: Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, there's fallout this morning for Paris Hilton. We're going to hear now who is out in Paris' camp after she's been ordered to do 45 days in jail for violating some terms -- driving on a suspended license, claiming she had no idea it was suspended, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: You're looking at live pictures in Oklahoma City. There have been just some amazing thunderstorms that have rolled through this entire area of southwestern Kansas and Oklahoma, as well, bringing inches and inches of rain.
And you can see there -- is that a -- is that a news truck that's stuck in the water there?
Just so much water, so much wind, so much rain. And here in Greensburg, Kansas, of course, so much devastation.
I'm standing on a pile of rubble that used to be the local American Legion hall, attached to a senior center, which is still standing, but it is, for all intents and purposes, destroyed.
And the neighborhoods behind me, where the destruction gets even worse and you can just see those stubs of trees as they're standing up there, now all the leaves stripped off of them, but all the small branches, as well, that would hold those leaves and the houses beyond.
There's just literally nothing left.
People are going to be allowed back in here to Greensburg today, to -- to survey some of the damage -- that's a remnant from somebody's tool set... to be able to salvage what they can carry with them. They're not being allowed to bring trailers or anything like that in.
In fact, there's a whole series of that have been handed out here in terms of what to do -- piling up debris in the front of the house, put large household appliances that are wrecked out front so that they can be collected, what to do with hazardous waste, that sort of thing.
But people are going to come back not just to a scene of damage, but a scene of utter destruction and devastation and it's quite likely that by the time that they get through looking today, they're going to have nothing left -- maybe just a, you know, a couple of little things like this, maybe a memory or two, a photograph that may have survived.
Because you have to understand that this -- this storm was the most intense type of storm that you'll ever see in the Plains States or anywhere across this country. It was an F5 tornado, winds upwards of 205 miles an hour.
And the size of this thing -- I was just a monster -- one and three quarter miles across.
This town, at best, is only about a mile across. So it literally just swallowed the whole thing up. There have been near misses over the years. I talked to people who have lived here for 80 years. They say that they've never seen anything come this close to this town and this one just literally obliterated it.
But they are a resilient group of people here. They're talking about rebuilding -- Kiran, I can't tell you now if they're looking at this realistically, or if they're just looking at it emotionally, saying we have to rebuild. But it's going to take tens of millions of dollars to put this town back on the map.
And is there the money to do it, is there the will to do it?
Maybe for many people there is. But I think for some, as we heard from Dick Hainje from FEMA, that maybe some people will never come back.
CHETRY: It is sad to think about that, you know, because, boy, there was a lot of pride, as you can see, and a lot of resilience. So hopefully they will find a way.
John, thanks so much.
And we're going to check in with the CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away now.
Tony Harris is at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead -- good morning, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Kiran, good morning to you.
We have got these stories in THE NEWSROOM to run down for you.
They return next hour, but to what is the question?
Practically all of Greensburg, Kansas, as you just heard John mention, wiped off the map by a tornado. Residents have a few hours to gather belongings and then get out.
There's pomp and then there is pomp -- Queen Elizabeth's state visit, her White House arrival, live this morning.
Reagan in his own words -- we talk to a man who gets his own entry in the newly released Reagan diaries and a fascinating story about a Reagan son you won't want to miss.
Heidi is with me in THE NEWSROOM.
We get started at the top of the hour right here on CNN.
There's Heidi off just there -- Kiran, back to you in New York.
CHETRY: I hear her, but I can't see her yet -- Tony.
HARRIS: There you go.
CHETRY: Thanks.
HARRIS: OK.
CHETRY: Well, a record breaking weekend at the box office. "Spider-Man 3" had the biggest movie opening ever, raking in $148 million in its first three days. That smashed the previous debut record, $135 million. That was set last year by "The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." And his friends are calling him spider boy. This is 9-year-old Jesse Courtney. He says that he heard popping sounds in his ear, kind of a snap, crackle and pop.
Well, it certainly wasn't Rice Krispies in there. It was doctors -- when they flushed out his ear, two spiders. One was alive. One was dead.
Well, Jesse says he is not sure how spiders got in there. That's why I sleep with earplugs, to prevent the spiders from crawling in your ears.
He actually save them in a jar, too.
That's such a boy, right?
Such a boy thing to do.
Coming up, Paris counts down to her jail time, but still finds time to make some changes to her team.
Internet reporter Jacki Schechner fills us in when we return.
Stay with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, we couldn't leave you today without talking about Paris Hilton, right?
She is about to go some place where the bars are always closed and the fame in the world is not going to change that.
A judge ordering Paris to jail. And already this morning, one of Paris' people is actually off of her program.
Jacki Schechner with me now with details and the reaction to this -- she's going to jail.
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: She is. I'm going to say it's not so much news as it is guilty pleasure, water cooler fodder. So I just want to put that out there.
Yes, she's going to jail, 45 days, starting on June 5th. And we're finding out today that Elliott Mintz, who is her long time publicist, has said he is no longer with her camp.
CHETRY: A long-suffering publicist.
SCHECHNER: Yes.
But you know what?
Basically what came out here is that she allegedly said in court she didn't think that she wasn't allowed to drive under certain circumstances. And he's stepping out and saying it's entirely possible that I miscommunicated information to her and that she was truly under that impression.
So we went to the DMV Web site just to see how complicated it really was. And, frankly, there's a section here -- I'll see if I can circle it -- that basically says that you're not allowed to drive on a suspended license.
There are certain circumstances where you can apply for a restricted license to drive to and from work, but that wasn't the circumstance going on here.
CHETRY: Right.
SCHECHNER: It was basically she had a suspended license and she wasn't allowed to drive.
CHETRY: And she seemed to be trying to argue that she didn't know for how long this went on?
SCHECHNER: Yes, and it's basically...
CHETRY: And (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
SCHECHNER: ... until you get it renewed. So it was not, you know, logical -- a logical choice. It was something like she thought only 30 days and then 90 she could drive.
And so anyway, he's stepping away. He's no longer a part of her -- her entourage, at this point.
CHETRY: Well, of course, a lot of the gossip Web sites are getting a big kick out of this.
But there are some people who feel like she was -- that they were going a little harsher on her than they might have for somebody else because of her celebrity.
SCHECHNER: That's definitely true. There are fans online who have started a petition. Now, let's just say it's in the early stages. There's only about 92 signatures the last time we checked. But well, now -- see, now the signatures are up to 216.
CHETRY: How about that?
SCHECHNER: So it's growing exponentially, people who have sent this petition to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, asking that she be pardoned, saying that this is a little harsh.
But I'll tell you, Technorati is one of the big search engines. She's the number four search and the bulk of the headlines of blog posts there is suck it up, like this is, for lack of a better phrase. Like you deserve it, just being rich isn't going to get you through on this one so...
CHETRY: I've got you.
All right, well, that's our guilty pleasure for the day. Jacki Schechner, thanks so much.
SCHECHNER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CHETRY: Here's a quick look at what CNN NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hour.
HARRIS: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything in the building was bouncing off my head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Residents of a Kansas town returning to a catastrophic scene this morning. They will try to salvage personal items from the tornado wreckage.
Queen Elizabeth at the White House this morning for a state visit. The arrival ceremony live.
The New Jersey governor back at work this morning, days after a high speed crash.
The NEWSROOM at the top of the hour on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Hey, Kiran, a little bit later on this morning, they're going to be allowing residents of Greensburg to come back into this town for the first time since the storm.
A couple of influential residents were back yesterday, but the bulk of the town will be allowed to come back in. And here's a problem they're going to have, and this was really illuminated by Jean and Margaret Bradley (ph), who joined us earlier this hour. This town is so devastated that all the landmarks are gone and people will probably have a difficult time trying to find their home.
But they'll get themselves about eight or nine hours to -- to collect, you know, whatever they can, some memorabilia or whatever might be left from this devastating storm, to take back with them.
But -- and here's another thing, Kiran, is we're going to move on from here in a couple of days and the town will be left to its own devices.
And we just certainly hope that America doesn't forget about what happened here and keeps supporting these people, because they sure need it.
CHETRY: They absolutely will.
And thank goodness FEMA is already there on the scene. The Red Cross, state and local agencies helping. And, of course, we will check back to see the progress. They're vowing to rebuild and we're going to definitely check in to see if that, indeed, happens.
And we're hoping for all the best for them.
John, a great job today.
And that's all here on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.
HARRIS: And good morning, everyone.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins.
Watch events come into THE NEWSROOM live on this Monday morning, the 7th of May.
Here is what's on the rundown.
Going home this hour to this -- Greensburg, Kansas residents get time to collect what's left of their belongings.
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