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U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Guantanamo Bay Detainees; Severe Weather in the Midwest; Tornado Kills Four Boy Scouts in Iowa

Aired June 12, 2008 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: ..scout ranch killing four people and injuring 48 others in Iowa. Boy Scout officials say the four victims were teenagers ages 13 and 14. Three were scouts. One was a youth counselor. Tornadoes also touched down in Kansas, killing at least two people there. Dozens of homes in Chapman, Kansas, were destroyed. Storms also damaged several buildings at K State University in Manhattan.
The Iowa twister hit quickly and hit hard, giving campers very little time to take cover. Earlier on CNN's American Morning," scout leader Thomas White described what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS WHITE, BOY SCOUT LEADER: That's a funnel cloud. We ran in and told doc, that's what we call him, to turn the knob for the siren. He turned it. Then we all got everyone out. Everyone got broken nose or broken arm or something, a lot of those. But there were -- it was -- a lot of hurt people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CORRESPONDENT: And tell me again, when you got up out of that ditch, what did you do?

WHITE: I ran to the green shelter to see if everyone was all right there. Then I got a hold of a walkie-talkie and called the admin building, to doc. I asked him what do you -- what's going on? He's like, come -- run up here and get a first aid kit. There are a lot of injured people in north valley. So that's what I did. It was huge trees down over the road. Luckily they brought huge equipment to get it out of the way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) as well?

WHITE: No. That's my dad and brother.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CORRESPONDENT: Dad, do you mind -- well, I mean, tell me, as a father, you heard about this, tell me where you were when you heard about your son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were in the basement in Blair and heard that the cedars were getting hit. So we didn't care. We just got in the -- my son's a medic and I'm a PA, so we just got in the car and came up. We got blocked where you did up there. Yeah, we were scared. Then on the way up, we heard there were four fatalities. Yeah. We were just hoping and praying it wasn't him. Didn't want it to be anybody. You know, we just -- we didn't know. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CORRESPONDENT: Where did you first see him? Tell me about your reaction when you saw him, when you saw each other.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, my wife called my son and told him that she heard from Thomas. We put several calls in to his voice mail but he was running around apparently helping a lot of people. And so we were really thankful that he was OK. But -- yeah. We just found out from my wife, difficult. All the other kids, we know a lot of people that were up there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Ninety three campers and 25 staff were at the camp when the tornado came through. Let's get the very latest now on the Boy Scout camp flattened by the tornado. Sean Callebs is on the phone with us this morning from Little Sioux, Iowa. Good morning once again Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Heidi. We heard some of the amazing stories of survival, people who were simply in the right place at the right time. Also, the other side of that coin, many of these teenagers were simply so unlucky. This is a huge, sprawling campsite, 1,800 acres. That tornado made a direct hit on the one building that housed about half of it. What happened, once the funnel cloud hit that structure, it simply crumpled and a big part of that structure was a giant fireplace made out of stone and brick. It came tumbling down on top of the staff. That's really what caused many of the severe injuries and of course, the fatalities.

Of course, by now, people know the motto of Boy Scouts, be prepared. We know that the scouts that are here this week certainly are. They have gone through an emergency preparedness the day before and a big part of the drill, folks know what to do in the event of a tornado. We also heard one of the scouts talk about telling doc to -- hit the button to sound the alarm. One the reason the scouts had tornado warnings out here is because they put it up themselves last year. These are young men who were certainly accustomed to camping, certainly not accustomed to having a severe weather incident like this blow through in just a heartbeat. Heidi.

COLLINS: It is absolutely amazing. We have been hearing from some of these kids who just seem to know exactly what to do and you just thank God for their scout training they've had and are so involved in with their scout lives. Sean Callebs, we appreciate that. We'll check in with you a little bit later on.

Tornadoes also cut a deadly path across Kansas. Emergency officials say one person was killed in Soldier, Kansas, about 50 miles north of Topeka. Another person was killed in Chapman. The storm destroyed about 60 homes in Kansas. Another 60 were damaged. Also hearing reports that dozens of people were injured by the storms in the state. Manhattan, Kansas, also hit hard. Classes have been canceled today at Kansas State University. Dozens of buildings on the campus were damaged.

Want to go ahead and get you to someone from Kansas State University now to get a little bit better idea of what has happened there. Ronnie Grice is on the phone with us with the very latest information. I know you are a assistant of public information. Obviously, we are trying to get a little bit of information out to the viewers at home who are wondering about K. State. What's the situation?

VOICE OF RONNIE GRICE, KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY: Right now, we have about seven to maybe nine buildings, some of the buildings received extensive damage, roof damage. The school of engineering, Weber arena and several other buildings. And right now we are looking at the damage estimates exceeding $20 million.

COLLINS: Really, $20 million. We are looking at some of the video coming in to us right now that is labeled Manhattan, Kansas, not exactly sure how close it is to the actual university. What is the next step here? I imagine it is going to take some time, obviously, when you are talking about damage worth $20 million.

GRICE: Yes. Right now, what we are doing on our end is we have crews out doing wreck removal. And anything else will be handled through the president of the university and his executive staff which is President (INAUDIBLE) Dr. Rossman (ph) and (INAUDIBLE)

COLLINS: Just want to make sure I understand correctly. Nobody has been hurt in your area in specific, right?

GRICE: No. We had no injuries reported. School is actually out but we do have several camps going on on campus at this time. And none of the residence halls were involved in the actual tornado itself. So we have no damage coming in from housing or the residence halls.

COLLINS: We so appreciate that information. And that's certainly lucky. Hey, isn't it freshman orientation coming up today? Is that still going to take place?

GRICE: Yes, it is. Freshman orientation was going to occur on main campus. But south campus did not have any electricity. So what the associate vice president and the vice president, they relocated freshman orientation and registration to the basketball arena, which is located up on north campus which was not affected by the storm.

COLLINS: All right, probably kind of a shocking thing for some brand-new freshmen coming in to see all this damage. That's for sure. Ronnie Grice, we appreciate that information comes to us from Kansas State University. Right now want to get to Reynolds Wolf in the weather center, severe weather center I should say and that's an understatement probably Reynolds with more tornadoes to talk about.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: All right, Reynolds, appreciate that, certainly a busy day in the weather department.

Also a busy day for the Supreme Court, a lot of business going on there. In fact we have just been able to confirm here at CNN that the U.S. Supreme Court has sided with foreigners detained at Guantanamo Bay naval station. We are going to be talking about this a little bit later on and bring you some more information from our justice correspondent Kelli Arena. You see there, this is the case we are talking about. At issue, the rights of foreign fighters held overseas by the U.S. military to contest their imprisonment and the rules set up to try them. Once again, we are learning, CNN has confirmed that the U.S. Supreme Court has sided with foreigners kept at Guantanamo Bay. Again we'll talk with Justice correspondent Kelli Arena shortly on this decision. CNN NEWSROOM back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A very busy day in the CNN NEWSROOM and a devastating one as well for the people in Iowa, this terrible tornado that went through the Little Sioux scout ranch just on the border there Iowa. Let's go ahead and listen in to a couple of the scouts and their experiences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN KARSCHNER, BOY SCOUT: It was like -- like a pounding sensation on your back. It wasn't like blowing around. It was just going straight on. Not stopping.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone came in and told us there was a tornado. Told us to get underneath the table. The walls were starting to cave in and blowing around. Chimney collapsed. I didn't really know what to do except hunker down and hope for the best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Can't imagine what those kids were thinking and feeling. Deadly tornadoes tear across the Midwest hitting that Boy Scout camp in Iowa. Again, the Little Sioux scout ranch and also several towns in Kansas. The twister slammed into the scout ranch, killing four people, ages 13 and 14 and injuring 48 others. Boy Scout officials say three of the victims were scouts. One was a youth counselor.

Tornadoes also touched down in Kansas, killing at least two people. Dozens of homes in Chapman, Kansas, were destroyed. Storms also damaged several buildings at Kansas State University in Manhattan. We are watching all of these stories, the weather, the top story of the day. We are back in a moment in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Lots of work being done by the Supreme Court today. One decision that's been handed down, we have been able to confirm here at CNN, suspected terrorists and foreign fighters held overseas by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay will have the constitutional right to challenge their detention. This is, obviously, a big decision. Our Kelli Arena, our Justice correspondent has been following this. Kelli, what does all this mean? KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a major blow to the Bush administration and its anti-terror policy. As you said in a 5-4 ruling the Supreme Court basically said that all of those suspected terrorists, those foreign fighters, there's about 270 of them right now, that are being held overseas by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, do have the right to challenge their detention in Federal court.

At issue was what rights do you think these detainees I guess to say that, have to contest their imprisonment, the rules that were set up to try them. The majority of justices said look, even though these detainees are not being held on U.S. soil and even though this is a time of war, the basic constitutional right of a prisoner to contest his detention, it is still valid.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, said in a quote, the laws and the constitution are designed to survive and remain in force in extraordinary times. Heidi as you know, preliminary hearings have already begun in Guantanamo Bay for some of the accused. The military panel just last week arraigned five suspected senior al Qaeda detainees.

COLLINS: What happens to them?

ARENA: We don't know. It is very unclear what this will mean for these trials going forward. We do know these men certainly aren't going anywhere. They will continue to be held in military custody. But what this says is that they have a right to appeal to Federal court. Federal courts do have a role here that even though the military has said you are an enemy combatant and you are going to be tried in this way, those detainees can say wait a minute, we don't agree here. We're going to appeal that to the Federal judicial system and the Supreme Court says yes, the judiciary does have a role.

COLLINS: It will be interesting with the hearings that have already taken place and specifically, you reported to us live on our air, this show, those gentlemen, if you will, Khalid Sheik Mohammed being one of them, basically asked for the death penalty and said that he wanted to be a martyr. You think about an appeal process. And you wonder it doesn't really seem to fit.

ARENA: There's always going to be an appeals process for those trials Heidi. What this says is that let's start at the very beginning. The fact that the U.S. government, the military has said you are an enemy combatant and you can be held, you know in this facility. These are the rules that we are going to try you under. That's what can be contested in this decision.

COLLINS: Now they just begin setting up those rules? I am imagining the overall process being incredibly lengthy.

ARENA: Right, right. Whatever we go, Heidi, it is going to be complicated.

COLLINS: We appreciate the reporting, once again, Kelli Arena, our justice correspondent on this decision handed down by the Supreme Court today. Kelli, thank you. Your money, "Issue #1" and new numbers just released, a big surprise in fact. Retail sales have jumped a full percentage point. That's actually twice as much as economists expected. That's the largest increase in six months. Tax rebate checks getting most of the credit.

Also this morning, a jump in jobless claims. The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose to 384,000. That's an increase of 25,000 from the previous weeks, the highest level in almost three months. There may actually be more relief on the way though for those jobless Americans. Later today, House Democrats are expected to pass a measure that would give unemployed Americans an extra three months of benefits. Right now jobless checks average about $300 for 26 weeks. This legislation would extend eligibility for another 13 weeks. The White House has threatened a veto.

In the middle of that, how do the big boards look? Better than yesterday at this time, positive now 134 points, Dow Jones industrial averages and we are watching all the numbers for you including as usual, the gas prices. You are all feeling it out there when you go to the pump. Yesterday the Dow Jones industrial average ended the day down by 205. We will see how things shake out.

Almost three years after hurricane Katrina, a new blow for people living closest to the Mississippi Gulf coast. State Farm insurance says it will not renew the policies of homeowners who live within one thousand feet of the beach. That area was devastated by the monster storm, as you recall. State Farm says fewer than 900 policy holders will be affected. More than five times that many will be affected by another new limit. State Farm won't offer wind damage protection to homeowners living within 2,500 feet of the water's edge.

Want to let you know there is an awful lot of news going on today. We are following several major stories, of course the tornadoes and the one that hit overnight in Iowa at the Boy Scout ranch.

Another major story on our radar, running for cover, take a look at this now, video coming from California. Hundreds of people evacuated in the northern portion of the state. Fires blazing in several areas. We will take you to the hotspots.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Good morning once again everybody on a very busy news day, three major stories that we are following here in the CNN NEWSROOM. The tornadoes that ravaged that Boy Scout camp in Little Sioux, Iowa, talking about that story and how people are doing this morning. Four children killed in that tornado.

Then to the flooding in the Midwest, another rough day for folks there, trying to watch over their homes and cut through all of that debris. See the gentleman with the chain saw there.

Also, fires in California, one spreading very quickly overnight, 1,500 people evacuated from their home. We are following that story closely as well.

Then this ruling that's come down from the Supreme Court regarding detainees at Guantanamo Bay. He now have the constitutional right to fight their detention. We're going to be following that story with our Kelli Arena and talk with our Jeff Toobin coming up a little bit later on about what it all means.

First up though, those deadly tornadoes tearing across the Midwest, actually hit a Boy Scout camp in Iowa overnight and also several towns in Kansas. A twister slammed into the Little Sioux scout ranch, killing four people and injuring 48 others. Boy Scout officials say three of the victims were scouts. One was a youth counselor. They were 13 and 14 years old.

Tornadoes also touched down in Kansas killing at least two people there. Dozens of homes in Chapman, Kansas were destroyed. Also, several buildings at Kansas State University in Manhattan were damaged.

Too much water in the Midwest and now there's more. Up to five inches of rain fell overnight in west central Iowa. Now there are new fears of rivers rising over their banks and swamping cities. Meanwhile, starting today, commercial shipping is banned along the upper Mississippi River in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. The river is expected to be closed two weeks unprecedented here. One Iowa-based barge line estimates his company will lose about $40,000 a day because of the shutdown.

Fleeing the flames in California. A wind driven wildfire in California, Santa Cruz mountains sends 1,500 people running for cover, the blaze spreading to 900 acres last night, counting several hundred homes were evacuated, a fast moving fire there, about 90 miles north of Sacramento. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declaring a state of emergency in the county. Also, just north of Sacramento, three firefighters burned, two of them severely, battling a 65-acre grass fire there.

We want to get back over to Reynolds Wolf in the weather center because, boy, everywhere we look all across the country, it is weather, weather, weather, most of it severe.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It really has been. And that could be the case again today. Because we're seeing a very similar setup to yesterday's event. Where we had those widespread tornadoes, over 50 reports, in fact. And we could see it happen once again.

We have many components. We've got that moisture from the Gulf, we've got this frontal boundary. We're going to have daytime heating. But we have another element, too, that could make this a pretty significant event, like yesterday. And that is we have a little bit of sheer aloft. That's wind that is thousands of feet off, that is from a different direction. Of course, you have the front that moves, say, from west to east. But you've got wind aloft that could actually cause some of the storms to rotate.

These rotating storms are referred to as super cells. And super cells are what spawned the tornadoes. And that could play out today in parts of the western half of the Great Lakes through spots like Michigan. Back into the corn belt, where we have had massive flooding. And looks like there's a chance we could have some through very highly populated areas like say, Milwaukee, perhaps even into Chicago.

The best chance of seeing all of this come together would be in the mid-afternoons to early evening. That's when a lot of these things do begin to get under way. Because you have that maximum heating and you have all elements that come together and that's what usually spawns it is event.

Let's take a very quick look at what happened yesterday. We are going to take a look at Google Earth and show you again where we have this tornado outbreak and 50 reports. Starting off again in parts of Kansas. You can see right along parts of the I-70 corridor, things just popping up up all over the place from Chapman to Kansas State University. Kansas State University, they had widespread damage.

You know, we've been talking so much of what happened right up in parts of Little Sioux Camp. But, certainly there is some farther to the south. We're going to go farther to the north to Little Sioux Camp. And one thing that's so interesting about this, one of the big problems we've had with this, is they had very little warning. Not just because of just how quickly these things occurred, but also, you look at topography. A lot of hills, hard to see any great distance when you have that kind of land around here.

That's the latest. Let's wrap it up, let's send it back to you.

COLLINS: Yes, all right. Thanks so much, Reynolds.

We'll check back a little bit later on with you.

Meanwhile, we want to get to -- CNN's legal senior analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who is on the line with us now to talk about this. The major supreme court decision that came down.

Jeff, tell us a little bit more. I know you've been able to read the decision. Talking about Guantanamo Bay, here and how the detainees are now going to have the constitutional right to fight their detention.

JEFF TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Heidi, this is really an extraordinary situation. This is the third time in four years that the Supreme Court has told the Bush administration, you are wrong. The system you set up, this time with the consent of Congress, is unconstitutional. It does not give the detainees adequate rights to go to court and challenge their incarceration. And what this system now -- what this decision sets the stage for, is the detainees having the opportunity to go to Federal court and say look, I don't belong here, Federal judge, let me out.

COLLINS: So, is that likely? And how long will it take?

TOOBIN: Well, the situation now, I think, is back into chaos. Because Congress has set up this system in 2006, with this law known as the Detainee Treatment Act. What the court has said, this system is no good. It now presumably will be up to individual Federal judges to evaluate the terms of incarceration for these detainees.

But how they do that and on what schedule, I think, is very unclear. And I think that this decision basically is dropping the whole subject into the lap of the next president.

COLLINS: Very interesting. What's the main issue here? I mean, once they do lay out these guidelines. I mean, what are they likely to discuss first? How are they going to get it hammered out?

TOOBIN: Well, it all relates to the right of Habeas Corpus. Which goes back even longer than the American Revolution. It basically says that incarcerated people have the right to go to a Federal court and say look, you can't hold me anymore. There's no legal reason to hold me in prison.

What the Bush administration and Congress did in 2006, is they set up an alternative system. They set up a system of procedures that they said were an adequate substitute that gave the detainees enough protection that they didn't the right to Habeas Corpus. Today, the Supreme Court said, no, this wasn't a good enough system. So they have to have the right to call witnesses, they have to have the right to have lawyers. And that is the proceedings that will begin.

But, Heidi -- how they work and when they begin is not clear. And we're talking about people, some of whom, have been held for six years. So even though they'd won in court, you can be sure that none of them are going any time soon, out to be free. It's just another round of procedural wrangling because the court says this system is not good enough.

COLLINS: Wow. We'll be following this one for quite some time, won't we?

TOOBIN: That's for sure.

COLLINS: Yes. CNN's senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin. Nice to have you, Jeff. Thank you.

We want to get back to these tornadoes that we have been following. Beginning last night, specifically the one in Little Sioux, Iowa, at that Boy Scout ranch. Four young kids, 13 and 14 years old, were killed in all of this. Many people injured.

Want to head over to Josh Levs. He's sort of tracking the information for us online, as well as following your iReports.

What do you have there, Josh?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CENTER: Yes, well Heidi, I told you earlier, we're going to follow all of the photos we get in, all the video throughout the day. Because we want to help give people a sense of what happened there. We've got a brand-new photo I'm going to take you to right now. What happens in these kinds of situations is that you find every new photo gives you a new angle on the devastation. So, take a look at this one we've just received it from the Associated Press. This is a photo offered by the governor of Nebraska. It shows shredded tents debris and felled trees. All this morning, all at the site of the deadly tornado that killed the four Boy Scouts there in Little Sioux.So you can get a sense of the power of that storm just from seeing this photo.

Also, take you quickly to one more photo we've just received from the government over there. Which shows the governors of Nebraska and of Iowa, on the scene there. Here they're meeting with one yang man who survived the situation. Zack Jessen, 14-year-old, who we've been hearing about today. Both governors on the scene taking a look at what happened there.

Now, Associated Press giving us some great photos. But we're also getting great photos from you, the viewers. You are sending us in through i-Reports. All sorts of photos and video. This is the main i-Report page I can show you here. And with people all over the country, not just in Iowa, are showing us some of your severe weather. I want to take you here to one i-Report video we received from Nebraska.

This is from Lincoln, Nebraska, from an i-Reporter who went driving through this kind of storm. By the way, do not ever put yourself in any kind of danger for any kind of photo for us. We screen these things, we don't show them all, we don't use them all. But, if you see this here, you can start to tell the kind of weather they were experiencing there and like Nebraska. And we encourage everyone to send us your i-Reports, whether they're videos like this or just photos, along with the stories. And we have a place at CNN.com.

If you look right here, this is our main page right now. This is our main story right now about this storm. And we have a link right below this photo, over to the i-Report page. So, throughout the day, send us any photos or videos you have. Send us your stories, no matter where you are. If you're part of the severe weather, we want to hear from you. In the end, it all helps the audience, is all helps people all over the country get a sense of what's going on in your region. You can't miss it.

But, Heidi, that's at CNN.com. And we'll be back soon with more photos as we get them.

COLLINS: All right, Josh. Thanks so much for watching all of that for us.

It really does help us as we move forward with the clean up and the devastation of this tornado, to get a better sense of what people saw when they were there. But we'll never know how it felt to be inside the eye of that tornado.

There were four young men killed in this tornado in Little Sioux. Four boy scouts. We learned their names last hour.

Let's go ahead and listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GENE MEYER, IOWA PUBLIC SAFETY COMM.: Certainly, our prayers are with these injured young people. But our deepest sorrow and sympathy goes to the four young scouts who lost their lives last night. Three of these young are from Omaha, Nebraska. Josh Fennen, age 13. Sam Thomsen, age 13. Ben Petrzilka, age 14. One Iowa young man from Eagle Grove, Iowa, Aaron Eilerts, age 14, lost his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We've been following this story of the tornado that claimed the lives of four young kids, ages 13 and 14, at a Boy Scout camp in Iowa. We actually have on phone with us right now, someone who was basically in that same storm. He's a storm tracker.

Kenny Allen is on the line with us now. Kenny, I just want to know what you were seeing when you were out there and what you were doing? I mean, you were doing some reporting.

KENNY ALLEN, STORM CHASER: Yes, good morning, Heidi. We were actually tracking storms for the National Weather Service and local media outlets, trying to improve the warning process. At severestudio.com, we do stream live video and audio in a hope to get better ground truth and improve the warning process. And we were actually tracking the storms in the Little Sioux and Moorehead area and we knew that there was an embedded rain-wrapped tornado.

We did not know how severe or intense it was until we got some -- our radar updates that showed a very intense Doppler radar couplet. And that Doppler radar couplet indicated to us there was a tornado in this storm. And so we followed it. We were trying to stay south of it. But it took what we call a right turn. And it started moving straight east and, unfortunately, the road networks, the way they were set up, it came right for us. And we had no option but to face it head on. And the tornado went right over us.

COLLINS: And so there you were. Right in the middle of it all. I'm looking down here at these notes. 135 mile per hour winds. You actually had absolutely no where to go. You couldn't even get out of the car.

ALLEN: No, exactly. There was absolutely no way to open the doors or, you know, how we say -- lie in a ditch. You know, get down.

COLLINS: Yes.

ALLEN: We were in rain, hail, debris. At that point, you know, we didn't have any options but to basically stay in the car. So we kind of put it in neutral, we let that steering wheel go and we were hoping that the winds would kind of maneuver us around and rock us around, rather than actually flipping our car. So, we were lucky. We only lost the back window. And I would say for going through that -- the tornado -- we had the same experience. Our ears popped. We watched the wind rotate counterclockwise, it went through the vortex of it. It was phenomenal. COLLINS: Unbelievable. And now, being that this is your business or at least your hobby, that's for sure. Have you ever been this close? I mean, have you ever been in it before?

ALLEN: Yes. In 10 years of chasing, Cory Hartman (ph) and I have -- we have never gotten this close to a tornado, nor have we never had a tornado actually hit us. We've had some close calls in the past. That's not something we like to do.

We're out there to actually change and help or warn people. We don't like putting ourselves in danger. So normally, we're a couple miles from the storms. We use tools in our car, radar and GPS, along with our own visual navigation of the sky to stay away from these things. But, last night was a special circumstance where we had high precipitation super cells, cranking through northwest Iowa. And it was just hard to see anything and once you got into one of those lines of the storms, it was pretty difficult to get out. And we got ourselves into a very difficult situation.

I think, fortunately, we did get the tornado warnings out in time. The National Weather Service did fire warnings. And unfortunately, it sounds like though, the Boy Scout camp maybe did not hear those warnings in time and they kind of had to scramble last night. And our hearts and -- our thoughts and prayers go out. I mean, my heart is just broke today over this tragedy that's happening in Little Sioux.

COLLINS: Yes, well we appreciate that, Kenny.

And stay with me on the line, if you will. Because right now we're showing our viewers some of the first video to come in.

This is our affiliate KETV, there in Little Sioux, Iowa. This is the first station to broadcast out some video of this scene. They were allowed in -- media outlets were allowed inside the Little Sioux Scout Ranch after this devastating tornado went through last night. So, once again, you are looking at some of the first pictures now of the damage inside of the scout ranch. Previously everyone had sort of been kept outside on the perimeter on this 1800-acre facility.

Look at that. Now, I don't want to speculate. But we have heard an awful lot about the stone fireplace inside one of the main buildings there. And you can see all of that debris that could possibly be what was leftover of that fireplace. If not, it's obviously what is left over of one of the buildings on this property. Boy, you know, it's gone. It's just absolutely gone.

And Kenny, I know you probably can't see these pictures with me right now. But, as we look at these and show our viewers the leftover destruction, I'm just wondering what you were thinking when this went over your head, knowing it would still move on to other areas and other people could be in harm's way?

ALLEN: I'm sorry, could you repeat that?

COLLINS: Kenny, hang on just one second. I want to bring our meteorologist in, actually as we look at pictures. If you can stay with us Kenny, that would be great.

Reynolds, we're looking at this video now. Some of the first video, once again, coming in of the devastation of the Boy Scout camp.

WOLF: I'll tell you Heidi -- from what I can see, just this little bit of footage, this would appear to be an EF-2 or a 3.

Fairly -- I'd say learning more towards a 3. Hard to believe. Very strong winds, obviously. You see some damage not only to some wood, but obviously some cinder blocks. Powerful winds that came through there. And I'll tell you, I'm sure a lot of the winds close to the surface, certainly enhanced by some of the topography. I mean, wind is very similar to water in many ways. It flows.

COLLINS: Yes.

WOLF: It kind of follows the -- really the path of least resistance. And you saw it go right between -- right through the hillsides and do the damage that you're seeing here.

COLLINS: So, what you're saying is what we were earlier talking about. Is, it was so hard for a lot of people to realize how serious it was because this tornado was not only at night and sort of disguised by massive rainfall. But also, because it was going through the hills and it looks like, as we can see here, this is a much more open, flat area where it just picked up strength.

WOLF: Well, remember though, at night, it was only 6:35. So, I mean there was still some light. It wasn't pitch dark.

COLLINS: OK.

WOLF: But I mean, you know, obviously, it was not as bright as it would be at say, noontime or obviously when this new video came in. But certainly, it was not like during the midnight hour.

But, I really -- when you think about how quickly this thing came and the little warning. It's really no surprise that it caused this kind of damage. And unfortunately we have these catastrophic effects. Four lives lost due to the storm coming through. When you have the of power wind like that, the power of nature just coming through. It's mind-boggling to see.

COLLINS: It's not only the flipped over cars and so forth. But look at the damage to the cars. I mean it's not like it just flipped them over. They were carried, who knows how far.

WOLF: Well see, the thing that's so weird about the storms is not the wind that kills people. It's actually the stuff that is picked up by the wind. COLLINS: Sure.

WOLF: It's just you know, the smallest thing like a rock, a nail, a piece of glass. When it's picked up by these wind gusts that are topping 100 miles an hour, it becomes a projectile. A pencil moving that quickly could be as deadly as a bullet.

Here's a view we have we the Google Earth. Right here, Little Sioux Scout Ranch. Check out the topography. One side, it is as smooth as a pool table. And then when you cross over into the encampment, you can see you've got these hills, you've got the pond, you have the campers all the way around this area.

And, again, as we mentioned Heidi, as we've said ad nauseum, can't see too far when you have you these hills. Can't see on top of them, can't see over them. Plus, you have that low deck of clouds. And even if they did see it, reports we got is that the storms -- this particular cloud, this funnel cloud, the tornado, rain wrapped. It wasn't really a clear image of the tornado. When it came through, quickly, even if it was on flat ground, not so certain that they'd be able to recognize that as a tornado and take cover accordingly.

COLLINS: Sure, sure. And again, just reminding everybody, you are looking at some of the first pictures now coming out of the morning after, if you will. This devastating tornado that killed four young Boy Scouts in Iowa.

And Reynolds, remind us what you said. You were just sort of -- by looking at this video, making a guess on the enhanced Fujita scale.

What was the number you were thinking...

WOLF: I'd say about a two or a three.

COLLINS: The stipulation for a two or three?

WOLF: Well in excess of 100 miles per hour. I mean, this would be the equivalent of about a category two hurricane coming through here. Category three, in fact.

Just a really -- a horrible thing to see. Really, the safest place to be in time of a storm like this would be in a storm cellar, to be underground. Not so sure they had that kind of opportunity, much less the time to get to shelter like that.

But, basically you want to be in a storm cellar, root cellar. This part of the world, in parts of Iowa and back into Nebraska. Many people, I mean shoot, they advertise storm cellars. You can actually buy one, they'll install it, has a door on the top. And when you have weather that's bad, you hop in. You bring your family, you bring your dogs and just sit tight until the storm passes overhead. I don't think they had time even if they had those kind of shelters. And they may have had them. I'm not so sure.

COLLINS: No.

WOLF: But I think time was of the essence. This thing struck quickly and to a damaging, destructive effect.

COLLINS: Yes, that was one of the reports that we heard a little bit about, anyway. And I'm sure there'll be much more talk about that you know, proper tornado shelters not really available. Especially in this area.

And Reynolds, I just want to ask you. I don't know how this works but we were talking with the storm tracker a little while ago. A gentleman who's actually caught in the path because of the unpredictability of this thing. He said they were watching it travel one way and then all of a sudden it made this right turn. You know, and there they were, right under the vortex of the whole thing. It's a great reminder, the unpredictability of mother nature.

WOLF: That's very true. And I can tell you that when you see people storm chasing, you've see all the great videos of people chasing these storms, it seems like a very surreal and somewhat serene experience. Oftentimes you'll have these storms that will just drop in the middle of a cornfield, in the middle of the central plains or in the middle of field of wheat. And it looks beautiful and amazing to see. But, you don't connect it to the destructiveness and the death reak on so many people.

What these storm chasers were dealing with was they mentioned the storm, just spinning its axis, then going in a very unpredictable motion. That can happen when you're chasing these storms. It's a very dangerous business and you can see why.

COLLINS: Well, Reynolds, thank you for that. We appreciate it.

And once again, exclusive video that you are looking at coming from our affiliate in Little Sioux, Iowa, now. KETV showing us the devastation, the morning after of the Little Sioux Scout Ranch where four young Boy Scouts were killed in this unbelievable tornado that just ravaged this area. You can see the snapped trees, the flipped- over cars, the buildings destroyed. The concrete blocks and stones strewn about.

We are going to continue to watch these pictures and the aftermath right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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WOLF: I'm Reynolds Wolf, in the CNN weather center. And as day is breaking and we're getting to the mid-morning hours, we're taking a look at some of the damage we have in Little Sioux Scout Ranch.

We're going to zoom in on this spot in Iowa. Just a devastating event. We've got many people injured, we've got four fatalities. You see the video right here. Compliments of KETV, Little Sioux, again, Iowa. Just devastation that people are see thing morning, possible EF-2 or 3 tornado.

At this time, we bring in Jim Saunders. Jim Saunders with the Iowa Department of Public Safety. Hey, Jim, good morning.

JIM SAUNDERS, IOWA DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Good morning.

WOLF: Hey, Jim. What word have you heard about damage in this area? We've been seeing some video at the camp, at the scout camp. Have there been any other reports in this area that you've heard from? SAUNDERS: Yes, there are reports of additional damage throughout this region of the state of Iowa, that was related to the storm. I can't give you specific details as to the nature and extent of that damage. but, the damage does extend beyond this camp site.

WOLF: OK. Well Jim, we heard first last night that the tornado struck around roughly 6:35 local time.

How soon, how quickly were you able to activate crews to help out these people?

SAUNDERS: Oh, it was just almost immediately. I can't give you exact times. I know that calls came in to the 911 center here in Harrison County, Monona County, almost immediately after the system moved through.

And we had first responders from ten county area from both Iowa and Nebraska, rush to the scene. The response as I understand, was about as quick as you can humanly have possibly have been.

WOLF: Jim Saunders, thanks so much for coming in and joining us this morning. And we appreciate your hard work and we know you've got a very, very busy day for you and your friends across the state. So, we are going to say good-bye to you.

And folks, We're going to have more on this story and many others coming up just at the top of the hour. So stay tuned, right here at CNN.

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