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Shooting at Louisiana Technical College; City Hall Massacre; President Tours Storm Damage in Tennessee; More Information on Sugar Refinery Explosion

Aired February 08, 2008 - 11:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: New in the last hour, six people now presumed dead in Georgia. A sugar refinery explodes and burns, in the NEWSROOM.
Quickly right off the top here, we want to get back to the shoot that we understanding has occurred in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. T.J. Holmes is in the NEWSROOM with the very latest now. This was apparently a female student of this school.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Female student, goes into a classroom, we're getting more details, opened fire. We have three, we are told, dead now, including the shooter. All three victims are female. Again, the female was the shooter in this particular case. We're getting more details. We just got some more from police there, just holding a quick press conference.

Let's go to one of the police officers now and listen in to what happened today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SGT. DON KELLY, BATON ROUGE POLICE: At approximately 8:36 a.m., our department began receiving multiple telephone calls from inside Louisiana Technical College of shots fired inside the building. The call was dispatched one minute later at 8:37 and by 8:40, three minutes after dispatch, we had officers on the scene entering the building. We didn't know at that point, the officers certainly didn't know whether they had an active shooter, what the situation was.

They were directed by other students and staff and faculty members to a classroom on the second floor where the shooting appears to have occurred. It's all self contained in one classroom. Once the officer got to the scene, the initial officer, he found three gunshot wound victims, all apparently deceased inside the classroom.

It appears that one of the deceased is the actual shooter, that she shot two other young women inside the classroom, killing both of them before then turning the gun on herself. She did not at any point ever leave the classroom, no other students outside of that classroom were involved or in any danger.

At this point we are obviously beginning what will be a very thorough and lengthy investigation to determine the identities of the young women involved, possible motivation behind the shooting and, of course, we've got a very lengthy sifting process because there were quite a few students who were both in that classroom and in the hallway and around the classroom who potentially are witnesses that we've got to identify, take statements from, and then separate from the non-witnesses.

And that's a process that's going on right now, in determining inside who has information that's relevant to the investigation, who doesn't. And the people who don't are being released or will be released at some point.

At this point, we want to assure any parents that there's no need to come to the school. If they do come to the school, we'll provide a staging area for them where they can wait but it may be a lengthy process and to a point where we can release kids.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. There we have it, three dead including the shooter. A lot more to come on this story now. Hand it back over to you, Heidi, for now.

COLLINS: T.J., thanks.

We want to talk more with Sergeant Don Kelly who we just saw in that video in the Baton Rouge police department. He is actually on the line with us now as we look at the live shot of the scene at the Louisiana Technical College.

Sergeant Kelly, can you give us an update on anything that you may have learned in the last several minutes or so?

KELLY: Well, there's really nothing new to tell you that we didn't already release a few minutes ago. We unfortunately and sadly have a situation here where we have three young women who are deceased, one of them apparently was the shooter. It appears that inside a classroom she shot two other young women and then turned the gun on herself.

And we are beginning a fairly methodical and lengthy process now of identifying everybody in the building who was potentially a witness. The scene itself is contained in one classroom. And it was over really by the time our first officers even arrived on the scene. The suspect at that point had already shot herself.

COLLINS: OK. Well, obviously I'm sure you can understand when we hear word of something like this happening at a school or at a university type situation, our ears perk up because we have had so many horrible things happen in the past. I want to make sure we keep this in perspective as to what is going on. Very happy to hear that you have the area contained. I imagine right now going through lengthy interview process with the two women who were involved in this?

KELLY: Well, the interview process will involve all of the students who were in the classroom and in the area at the time the shootings occurred, as well as talking to any students who may have not been in the area but who may have information about the shooter or the victims and that may, you know, lead us to understand why this happened.

COLLINS: All right. We certainly appreciate your information. I know there's a lot of work to be done. Sgt. Don Kelly of the Baton Rouge Police Department, thank you.

KELLY: Thank you, ma'am.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And a deadly shooting at a city hall outside St. Louis. News conference set to begin any minute now. Witnesses say a man with a grudge against the government killed five people before police shot him dead. Susan Roesgen live from Kirkwood, Missouri, right now.

Susan, amazing interview just minutes ago you conducted and I apologize, I sort of interrupted and jumped in on it with you, Gerald Thornton, the brother of the dead suspect, Charles Lee Thornton.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Tony, I don't think you were wrong to interrupt at all. I think you were feeling the same sense of frustration to use Gerald Thornton's words that others were thinking and certainly I was thinking, what was the crux of the argument that led a man to kill five people last night and critical injure two others?

Off camera just after we ended that interview, I said, come on, tell me, what is it. What I got from him is that his brother did own a construction company of some kind and a construction equipment company. And Gerald told me that his brother had been fined by the city, had been given summons, issued citations for having too many construction vehicles, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

But at least it brings it back to some sort of business issue that was just eating at this man perhaps for years. He had been hustled out of city hall meetings back in 2006, Tony.

So they were well aware that this guy was angry that he was a contentious person that he would be disruptive at city council meetings. Apparently nobody knew and even his brother said he did not know that Charles Thornton was going to come here last night with a gun, believed to be some sort of silver revolver, according to a witness I talked to, and just start blasting away.

Now, in the city council chambers was a newspaper reporter who worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Janet Nichols, and you can imagine her horror as she watched the city public works director, you know, get killed in front of her. Now we're going to go to that news conference, Tony, where the police are talking about the latest.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

TRACY PANUS, ST. LOUIS CO. POLICE SPOKESWOMAN: Obviously you know we're only a day into this, so there are going to be some questions that we still have that we're trying to answer.

No, I don't know that. That's something that's being looked into. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to thank everybody for coming. We're going to conclude this. Thank you.

PANUS: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go.

ROESGEN: Tony, that was a short news conference. We have a separate CNN news crew on scene. If anything that was said that was ground breaking I will let you know. Really, I don't think there's going to be any new information except there are going to be lots of questions about why there were no metal detectors in city hall and why no one suspected that perhaps this man had mental problems and was getting worse, not better and how did he get in like this?

HARRIS: I know you're going to be working on the story throughout the day. The president is on the ground in Tennessee. We want to get there. Thanks, Susan Roesgen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This morning, I would like to brief you on FEMA efforts that have been going on prior to the storm and when we receive the declaration last night. Thank you very much.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In order for the president to sign a presidential declaration, the state of Tennessee responded very quickly. I appreciate your hard work. I was happy to sign the deal, but I didn't sign it as quickly as I did had you not done what you did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The presidential declaration includes individual assistance to those survivors who have had damages to their home, to five counties include Macon, Hardin, Shelby, Madison and Sumner County. It also is for public assistance, categories a and b, which means we will support any state and local agency that has sustained damages working their emergency response and debris removal. We will work with them closely.

Currently, we have five teams on the ground, assessment teams for individual assistance. They have started the process today for the other counties that have been requested by the governor. And we have one public damage assessment team starting assessing this morning, working closely, jointly, with the state and the local government.

Prior to the storms, though, region for Atlanta work closely with Tennessee emergency management agency. We responded to the EOC as quickly as possible Tuesday night. Tuesday night also, our federal incident response support team which supports the EOC in Nashville, the state EOC, they were there by daylight Wednesday morning.

This team, first team, had provided pictures in mass here of the damages, as we see here. Now the ones in the back, they were able to provide awareness to both headquarters, FEMA region and the state. They were able to download video and pictures during the teleconferences between the states, region and headquarters. Some of these maps here show that it's not only with the Tennessee disaster but it went across the states of Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky. The region four was busy along with headquarters in doing this response. Here's the map showing the tornadoes.

Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The national weather service is now confirmed that we had 31 touchdowns. They were along these two here in two waves. Those ranged from f-2 to f-3 and there was one f-4 tornado that touched down in Jackson, essentially the area in Madison County. We've had 31 in Tennessee and 180. Frankly, sir, when you see the damage, the warning system that the local folks do.

The national weather service provided -- starting on Monday prior to this, we were alerted to the possibility of severe weather on Tuesday. And we started conducting talking with national weather service and FEMA at that time to prepare. And then we were able then to track the storm across Arkansas and we knew that we were going to get hit.

So we declared a state of emergency at 6:47 on Tuesday night, Tuesday eastern, by activated the state of emergency operation. State law that when we stand up, we have declared a state of emergency. At that time, I notified the governor's office and General Harding of that and we brought in about 25 of our state emergency service coordinators from across the state from different agencies.

And also about that time, I want to give a kudos to FEMA because they immediately called me and provided the liaison officer, in addition to that we got the first team here. And they were on the scene here in this county at daylight that next morning. And really the efforts from FEMA in region four has been tremendous. They remunerated the aspects with e have here. But the administrators and obviously yourself and region four, as far as we're concerned, FEMA is alive and well and living in Tennessee today. We appreciate that very much.

BUSH: Listen, I want to thank you for the briefing. Understand here in the region that a lot of folks around America care for them now. And I'm here to listen, to make sure that the federal response is compassionate and effective. I don't want people to think something's going to happen that's not going to happen.

Therefore, when we say something's going to happen, get their feet back on the ground, it will happen. Certainly, I am here to thank the people that will provide compassion for people who hurt. I know them, they are good responders. They respond to help people in need.

Thirdly, I will make it clear to people that I am no doubt in my mind this community will come back better than before. Macon County will work hard. They just need a little help. Come back stronger. And so I want to thank y'all for the briefing. Appreciate your time this morning. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a recovery center for the survivors to go to. It is here in Lafayette.

COLLINS: All right. There you see President Bush on the ground now in Tennessee, getting a very thorough briefing from all of the people who have had a lot to do with this rescue and recovery in the state of Tennessee. We should also remind you that the president declare five counties in the state as major disaster areas.

That happened late yesterday after all of these tornadoes that went through the state, as you well know now. At least 56 people across four different states have been killed in this. It is possible that as the recovery efforts and the searching continues through all of that debris that we continue to show you on the air that those numbers could still change.

Quickly want to let you know Hardin, Macon, Shelby, those are declared major disaster. The money given to the people there will help them with temporary housing and eventual home repairs. We will continue to follow the president there. The federal will continue to be compassionate and responsive.

Also, shortly, about the sugar plant explosion, a refinery in Savannah, Georgia. We'll get the very latest on what's happened there and, of course, following the politics and the arena of the presidential nominations coming up right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Republican presidential front-runner John McCain trying to seal the deal with conservatives after Mitt Romney suspends his campaign. Live from Norfolk, Virginia McCain is campaigning today.

CNN's Mary Snow, what is McCain saying today?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, Senator John McCain is now stressing unity. He says there's a real need to reenergize the Republican Party. And he says, he's now spoken with his one-time rival and fierce rival Mitt Romney after dropping out of the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Conversation yesterday with Governor Romney. I look forward to setting a meeting with him and conceding our efforts as to pledged yesterday to unite the party and move on to victory in November. I know we have a lot of work to do to unite the party. I also know that Governor Huckabee is still in this race and he is a viable candidate, and I'm sure will continue to show strength and that's why we're moving forward with our campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: And moving forward means caucuses this weekend in Washington State and in Kansas. And Senator McCain plans to visit both states today. Also, Mike Huckabee in Kansas today. He was asked why he's still staying in the race. He's saying this is not a coronation, this election, but it is a choice. The delegate number, though, is daunting for him. It would be nearly impossible for him to catch up with Senator John McCain. But as you just heard, Senator McCain saying he's still a viable candidate and doesn't think he should be discounted -- Heidi?

COLLINS: I'm sure he doesn't. All right, CNN's Mary Snow. Thanks so much, Mary.

HARRIS: Another round of primaries and caucuses start tomorrow, less one republican contender, Mitt Romney out. John McCain is reaching out to conservatives and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama could be in a fight to the finish.

Joining us from Washington, republican strategist, look at that smile, Leslie Sanchez. Get that smile off your face here.

LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: OK.

HARRIS: And from New York, democratic counterpart Keith Boykin. Good to see you, Keith.

KEITH BOYKIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good to see you.

HARRIS: Leslie Sanchez, here, for a couple of minutes. Leslie, we've got the big conservative convention in D.C. yesterday. Nice, nice, a moment for everyone to hug and embrace, right?

SANCHEZ: Were you there?

HARRIS: Exactly. Senator McCain steps up to the podium. He starts to talk about some of the differences in the past. He mentions immigration and this is what happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: Surely I have held other positions that have not met with wide spread agreement from conservatives. I won't pretend otherwise, nor would you permit me to forget it. On the issue of illegal immigration, a position which -- which ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: All right, that's enough of that. No, no, no, Leslie, you don't get to go first here. Oh, Keith, oh, Keith, let's have Leslie stew a little bit more here. How much groveling is John McCain going to have to do to consolidate the base of the Republican Party and bring everyone together and huggy, huggy, can we be nice?

BOYKIN: He's going to have to grovel like nobody's groveled before, Tony. This is like the democrats nominating Joe Lieberman. You can manage that kind of resentment that would generate in the Democratic Party. That's what's happening with the republican. The conservative base is unhappy. They've got a war within the economic conservative, social conservative and national security conservative and they can't figure out who is going to win. Now it looks like John McCain is going to win and they're at knot all happy with it.

SANCHEZ: Come on. You know, it's fine to hear the democrats talk about what's happening in the conservative movement. I think that's probably the best part of today's segment. In reality, they are coalescing.

HARRIS: Oh, come on. You don't believe that, do you?

SANCHEZ: To be truthful, the issue of Giuliani entering the race last summer along with the failed immigration reform plan were two things that basically took the wheels off the wagon in John McCain's campaign.

He's talking about border security, border enforcement first, which is critical to get conservatives on board. He didn't talk about this, campaign finance. This was one thing they are waiting to hear more about. He reached out to a lot of conservatives and it's a very positive step.

HARRIS: You mix it up. Go ahead.

BOYKIN: You've got to look at this, Leslie. You have conservative commentaries on television, on CNN saying they will not vote for the Republican Party nominee.

SANCHEZ: No entertainment value there at all.

BOYKIN: Conservative republicans saying they would rather vote for Hillary Clinton or Alabama Barack Obama than John McCain. That's a disaster for the Republican Party. They cannot continue like this. John McCain has got to work his butt off to consolidate the party. I'm not sure he can do it.

SANCHEZ: Keith, I have to say I'm so exciting to listen that you're listening to that much conservative radio. That's good for our numbers and base.

HARRIS: Let me ask you a question here on the democratic side here. DNC chair Howard Dean said this morning that Dems can't afford a brokered convention. Do you relish the idea of the Dems battling it out here in a death match?

SANCHEZ: You know I think the big reality with the, Hillary Clinton thought she would be coronated by now. She pushed the primaries to be up loaded the way they were and never saw Barack Obama coming. I think the entire process is good for the American people and a lot of people and we're excited about taking on either one of them.

BOYKIN: I actually agree with them except for the part about being excited about taking either one. I don't think a republican can beat either one of them. They are raising more money, generating more voters. There's much more of a grass roots momentum. The polls show that democrats are in favor with the majority of the American people. What's going on here is there's a change and these two get together. If they run in a unity ticket, Hillary and Barack together, there's a landslide.

SANCHEZ: I think that's a fallacy a lot of people like to believe. On one case you've got an institutional established status quo with Hillary Clinton. You have Barack Obama who speaks like a sent terrorist but votes like a liberal if he chooses to vote at all and you have somebody in the John McCain who is a proven, strong leader that is really an important contrast. And I think one the American voters are excited to make.

BOYKIN: I think someone who has been there forever. The American people want change. John McCain is not the representative for change. He's old as dirt.

SANCHEZ: Oh, my goodness.

BOYKIN: That's just not fair. Let's talk about proven experience.

SANCHEZ: That's what he says himself.

HARRIS: This is a morning of outrage so far, I guess. Keith, I'm going to end it there. Leslie, I didn't wipe the smile off your face. You have a wonderful smile. Leslie, great to see you. Keith, thanks for your time this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, a thunderous blast, a sugar refinery up in flames. Six people missing and now feared dead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you back to T.J. Holmes in the CNN NEWSROOM. And T.J., give us an update on this horrible shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the Louisiana Technical College.

HOLMES: Yeah. Sad situation here. A woman apparently according to police, young woman who is a student that the school walked into a classroom and opened fire. The result we have three dead including the shooter, two students who apparently were still sitting in their seats in the classroom were shot and killed. And then the gunwoman turned the gun on herself. Police do not know a motive at all in this case. They don't know if the students were targeted, these two particular women who were shot and killed, were targeted.

About 8:30 this morning is when the calls started coming in and they described it as pandemonium in their classroom and also on that campus. People just running scared. Not knowing what exactly was going on. Louisiana Technical College, a vocational school of Vo Tech College. Three people who were shot and kill. No others injured, at least according to police. Just these three.

But two women shot and killed in that classroom. We don't know the names or ages just yet of those involved. Also don't know the name or age of the shooter. But the three dead, two students in the classroom and also the female shooter, a female shooter in this case, Tony, who was a student as well. Don't know her name, don't know her age yet as well. A lot more to come on this which is all right I ...

HARRIS: Motivation, what the heck is all of this about? What is going on?

HOLMES: About 20 people, according to one police officer, estimated were in that classroom. Certainly could have been a lot worse. Still ended terrible.

HARRIS: All right. T.J., thank you.

HOLMES: All right.

HARRIS: Bottom of the hour. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Hi there, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins. We got the news just a short time ago, a switch from rescue to recovery, six missing in a massive explosion and fire at a sugar refinery in south Georgia. Dozens of people are critically wounded.

We have our CNN's Don Lemon on the scene in Port Wentworth, Georgia. And Don, you know, we heard that press conference a while ago and they said they were still actually fighting fires in all of this.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: They are still fighting fires in all of this. They say that the fire is controlled, but it hasn't been contained. But here's the thing. When you say a recovery effort, that means it's no longer a rescue effort. And here's what investigators are saying here, that they believe that they will possibly find bodies inside of this plant.

That press conference held just moments ago. Let's go to now what they said at that press conference, the chief here, Michael Berkow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MICHAEL BERKOW, SAVANNAH CHATHAM METRO POLICE: We have assessed the structure, the structure is very unsafe to enter. And so, what we are doing is starting to remove debris very carefully with the assistance of some structural engineers.

And this really has shifted from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. We have briefed the families before we speaking to you and we're working very closely with the company, the plant operators, and they are establishing support centers at the various hospitals as well as here to liaison with the families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And speaking of hospitals, just got this information in just a short time ago. 11:30, there's going to be a press conference held in Augusta, Georgia, where several of the victims who were critically burned by this fire were taken. They're going to hold a press conference there to update the family members there in just a little bit. And that's -- you're looking at the scene now, at pictures from there.

But I want to talk to you about when this was a rescue effort. Just as after 7:00 last night when this explosion and fire happened, several people were having a meeting just across the street at city hall. Having a meeting and then, that explosion and fire happened and they rushed in. One of them was Joyce Baker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOYCE BAKER, WITNESS: It was like going straight into hell. The fire and the men coming out and they were burned so badly and the only thing they wanted to know is, where's my friend. They're just amazing people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Yes, and she said they were just in an emergency response meeting, just sort of happenstance right across the street.

Family members are being taken here when they come, they're being directed to come here. And then police, all these police cars are lined up really so that the family members can be protected so when they come in here, they're taken by police car or police walk them over to a church where they've been there all night.

And that's really the sad part of all of this. We have been hearing, honestly, Heidi, crying and even wailing coming from the church because people don't know what happened to their loved ones. They're waiting, just awaiting word and we're getting word that they're very frustrated.

COLLINS: Well, I imagine just can't come soon enough to learn as much as you ...

LEMON: Yes.

COLLINS: ...possibly can about your loved one. CNN's Don Lemon for us in southern Georgia today. Thank you, Don.

HARRIS: Stabbed in flight. Two pilots attacked, how the hijacker got a knife on the plane.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Wow, here's an odd one for you: attacked while flying. Police say two pilots were stabbed by a woman hijacker. The attacks happened early into a regional domestic flight in New Zealand. Despite their injuries, the pilots were able to land the plane safely. Passengers were evacuated and the suspect arrested.

Police say the woman claimed to have two bombs on the plane. None were found. But the Christ Church Airport was closed for several hours. The woman had demanded to be flown to Australia. That was beyond the small plane's range. Passengers and their luggage are not subject to security checks on short flights in New Zealand.

COLLINS: An elementary school in Portsmouth, Ohio, closed this morning after a teacher was attacked in front of her students. You saw this unfolding during our newscast yesterday. Police say the teacher's estranged husband marched into the school, fired a gun and then stabbed her. He was found dead in his home hours later after he apparently shot himself. No students were injured. An attorney for the teacher says she is doing OK and counselors will be on hand when students return to class on Monday.

HARRIS: And still no word this morning on what triggered a deadly standoff with police in Los Angeles. Another story that was breaking news for us here in the NEWSROOM. Authorities say a gunman killed four people, including a SWAT officer. The gunman was shot and killed by police after an almost 12-hour ordeal that ended about this time yesterday. Smoke billowed from the house after a fire started near the end of the standoff. Police went to the home after a 911 call from the suspect, saying he had killed three family members.

COLLINS: They're the walking wounded, tornado survivors picking up pieces, reclaiming memories and wondering where to go from here.

Our Ed Lavandera looks beyond survival in Jackson, Tennessee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Regina Cooper (ph) spent the last two days in the hospital getting storm debris removed from her body.

REGINA COOPER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Yes, I really didn't want to keep it, but the doctor -- that's a piece -- a chunk of wood he took out of my arm.

LAVANDERA: At the same time she was checking out of a Tennessee hospital, Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff was touring the devastation just a few miles away, promising help.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We're all standing shoulder to shoulder with the governor, with local communities so that we can begin the process of rebuilding.

LAVANDERA: But even before the storm's fury had died down, pressure was building on the government to react swiftly.

SEN. BLANCHE LINCOLN (D), ARKANSAS: Moral support is important, but a commitment to provide financial assistance is absolutely critical. And I hope that we will move forward in that direction.

COOPER: Oh, that house is gone.

LAVANDERA: As we rolled into Regina Cooper's neighborhood, the magnitude of the damage shocked her.

COOPER: Well, that was where the front door was.

LAVANDERA: This is the first time she's seen what her home looks like.

COOPER: Like, I don't know what people do. They just rebuild here and clean all the stuff one piece at a time. I don't know.

LAVANDERA: Cooper has reason to worry because rebuilding after a violent storm has proven time and again to be a long, slow journey.

COOPER: That was my room.

LAVANDERA: Last year, a twister all but wiped out the town of Greensburg, Kansas. Its population has dropped from 1300 to about 800 and businesses and homes are just now starting to be rebuilt.

And in places like DeLand, Florida, local officials had to fight the federal government to get financial help, slowing down the recovery. And, of course, thousands of storm victims from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are still struggling to rebuild their homes.

COOPER: Oh, my goodness.

LAVANDERA: Regina Cooper isn't thinking about the past right now, but she does wonder if she's ever coming back home.

COOPER: We were thinking maybe I may -- we could have something else built here. But looking at this now, I don't see how we could. All the clean-up work, I don't see how we could. We've lived here all my life. It's hard to imagine not living here.

LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN, Jackson, Tennessee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And quickly, let's get you back to Don Lemon in Port Wentworth, Georgia, very near Savannah, the site of that sugar refinery explosion and fire -- Don?

LEMON: Hey Tony, sadly, we've got some information here. Joining us John Oxendine, who is the fire commissioner for the state of Georgia and apparently, three bodies found. How long ago?

JOHN OXENDINE, GEORGIA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER: Probably 10 minutes ago. Well, we have a search and rescue mission. There are tunnels underneath the structure. We suspect that people may have gone underneath into that tunnel area to try to survive the flames. And it's waist deep in water. We're going through, being led by an engineer from Imperial Sugar. We found -- we have discovered three bodies.

There's an old, abandoned ammunition bunker underneath. If people got to that bunker, they could have survived the fire and that's where we're moving in the direction, slowly to that bunker looking for survivors.

LEMON: So, you're hoping that there are survivors. And what is the ... OXENDINE: We are praying for survivors. You know, people can survive almost anything. You never know. I just -- I don't even think about odds. I'm thinking about we're trying to find those souls.

LEMON: All right, so, there's a bunker below the tunnel, you said.

OXENDINE: Yes, it used to be used to store ammunition in a previous use of the factory.

LEMON: OK, so now, sadly the death toll has gone to three now. And then, is it still three unaccounted for?

OXENDINE: There are three -- we believe there are at least three more people, possibly in the building. There are other people that might be unaccounted for.

LEMON: OK, John Oxendine, thank you very much.

Tony, as we said earlier, they were holding out hope that they would find these folks or find all of them at least alive, but we're getting sad word now that they found three bodies inside the building. So, this has gone from six unaccounted for to three dead and now three unaccounted for.

HARRIS: And Don, as you mentioned a short time ago, support networks are being set up at various hospitals, certainly in Georgia. We're going to take you to one right now in Augusta, Georgia, where a number of the victims are being treated. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

QUESTION: Dr. Muller (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am?

QUESTION: Could you talk about the pressing needs for these burn victims right now, (INAUDIBLE), I'm sure that these critical -- these hours are critical?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most critical things for these patients over the next 24-48 hours will be the blood they need, they'll need multiple units of blood as they undergo multiple surgeries. By 7:30 this morning, the first patients were in surgery. They will go through the weekend or through the night and through the weekend, that they'll be all undergoing surgery. During the surgeries, there is blood loss as well as the burn itself can create need for blood and that will require multiple, multiple transfusions.

QUESTION: Doctor, what parts of their bodies are burned?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The majority of the patients have facial, trunk, upper extremity, and then the larger burns, there's about eight patients who have 60 percent plus burns and they include their legs.

QUESTION: You specialize in burn surgery and burn treatment?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's all we do.

QUESTION: What was your reaction when you got to the scene last night and saw that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was very impressed at the organization that there was there at Memorial Hospital.

QUESTION: Had you ever seen that many people seriously burned?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We respond to several disasters. Not with that many acute burns.

QUESTION: Is anyone expected to survive at this point?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, they are.

QUESTION: How long would you say would be before they're stabilized enough to even leave this center?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of them, it will be months before they are stable enough to leave.

QUESTION: Can you address, this is the only burn center (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the only burn center in this part of Georgia and all of South Carolina.

QUESTION: Do you know, like, how close we are to another? I'm just trying to ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a smaller one in Atlanta, Georgia. And then after that, UNC Chapel Hill. I was on the phone with the other burn centers in case they needed to take other patients. But unfortunately, there weren't other patients.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Due to the volume coming in here, there were just so many coming in at one time, it was better to have them down there. They'll stay down there approximately 24 to 48 hours and then we'll have them transferred up here.

QUESTION: Are you able to house all the patients in the burn center or did they have to be moved them just because of the large influx all at once?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir?

QUESTION: Were you able to hold all of the patients inside of the burn center, or did you have to move towards other parts of the hospital just because of the large influx elements (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifteen of the patients came into the burn center and three of them are up on our ancillary floor.

QUESTION: If this facility was not here, how would that change the situation?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The closest burn center that can handle something like this would probably be UNC Chapel Hill or either down in Gainesville, Florida, and a few would probably have gone to Grady up in Atlanta.

QUESTION: How long can you maintain this number of patients?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not a problem. Our average -- we have 59 dedicated beds. Our average census is over 65, so.

HARRIS: OK, boy, there's a part of me that wants to apologize just a little bit. We jumped into that news conference sort of in the middle there, so exact numbers are -- I just don't know at this point. It sounds like from the doctor there, 15 patients were transported to that hospital there, that burn center in Augusta, Georgia, all victims of the refinery plant explosion and fire.

We will go back through that news conference and get you all of the pertinent information and numbers there and conditions of those folks who are being treated at that burn center in just a moment as we continue to follow this story. Three bodies found now in that refinery plant. We'll continue to update this story with Don Lemon throughout the day.

COLLINS: In fact, Tony, following a lot of breaking news here in the NEWSROOM today. A school shooting in Louisiana as well. Three people killed in class. The latest in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, everyone. I'm Chad Myers.

Ask my wife and three-year-old how influenza season is doing in Georgia and they will tell you it's in full swing and regional activity there in Georgia. But look at the red states, so to speak, states colored in red. From Kansas back to Colorado, widespread influenza outbreak.

Now, I know this flu season report is sponsored by Florida Orange Juice. Do you think there's something to do that they only have sporadic activity there? Only two other states, West Virginia, because they're all inside because it's been so cold lately and also into Maine not too much influenza going on there.

But other than that, the rest of the country, boy, influenza bug is out there. Stay healthy if you can.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: As a matter of fact, we'll take you back to Port Wentworth, Georgia, and our Don Lemon in just a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And very quickly let's get you back to Don Lemon, Port Wentworth, Georgia. He has breaking news -- Don.

LEMON: Yes, we do have breaking news. We were holding out hope that they might find three people alive, but according to the insurance commissioner John Oxendine, not so. We've now have found six bodies, right?

OXENDINE: Yes, this is much more deadly fire. We have confirmed six dead. We've got those bodies found. We're still looking for other survivors because there are other people unaccounted for that might be in that building, and we're still looking to try to determine. Also, we're very concerned about the people at the Augusta burn unit and what may be their condition.

LEMON: OK, so there were more than six people then unaccounted for?

OXENDINE: The possibility of more. There's a possibility that there might be more and we're continuing to look for those individuals. We knew there were at least six people there. There might be more people there, we don't know. But we did know there were at least six people in that building.

LEMON: You were talking about in the understructure where they found the three bodies first.

OXENDINE: Yes.

LEMON: Are these in that same area, do you believe?

OXENDINE: I believe they're in a similar area. I don't have the exact location.

LEMON: OK. All right. Thank you very much, John.

So now it's gone from six unaccounted for, Tony, to six dead. Sadly the news gets worse from Port Wentworth.

HARRIS: All right, Don, I know you will be following this story throughout the day.

COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.

HARRIS: "BALLOT BOWL" is next on CNN with the latest political news. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. Bye, everybody.

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