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Oklahoma Tornado Fatalities; Tornado First Responders; Tornado Claims Young Lives; Jodi Arias Wants Life In Prison; Homeland Secretary Gives Tornado Update

Aired May 22, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Moore, Oklahoma, with our special coverage of this killer tornado. The medical examiner's office now lists 10 children, 10, among the 24 people who died here on Monday. The mayor of this devastated city says the death toll is not expected to rise. Oklahoma's governor just tweeted that 324 people were injured in the tornado. Emergency management officials say 2,400 homes were damaged or destroyed.

FEMA has a strong presence here making sure survivors get the federal assistance they desperately need. The Homeland Security chief, Janet Napolitano, is also here today indeed. We expect to hear from her and the Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin at a news conference due to start any minute. We will bring it to you live. That will be happening over at city hall.

The Homeland Security secretary and the director of FEMA are also heading up the federal government's response to the tragedy. President Obama has pledged that Oklahoma will get whatever assistance it needs. While we wait for the secretary's news conference and the governor, let's go to Nick Valencia. He's outside Moore city hall where the briefing will take place. First of all, Nick, what do we know about Janet Napolitano's visit here so far?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Wolf. We've been out here all morning waiting for the secretary to show up. She just showed up here escorted by a motorcade probably about 15 minutes ago. And inside behind me in the Moore city hall, if you walk around in there, it's flooded, wall-too-wall cameras, foreign press, local press, network, national and international press. We know that the secretary is here to make sure that the first responders to the Moore, Oklahoma tornado have what they need. We know there's been hundreds of federal -- of federal emergency workers here working with local responders trying to help those that are still reeling from the devastation, reeling from the damage, that are trying to put their lives back together again.

As you mentioned, we're standing by. We're going to hear from Governor Fallin as well as local authorities as well as the mayor of Moore, Oklahoma.

And a lot of questions, Wolf, are yet to be answered. We've been talking to family members who say that they have yet to contact their loved ones. In fact, right before getting on T.V. right now, I talked to Louise Plumber (ph) who says that her cousin is still missing. She can't get a hold of her and now she can't get a hold of the son or the daughter of the missing loved one. So, that's -- those are one of the questions that, of course, people are going to want to ask local authorities. In fact, the mayor specifically of Moore, Glenn Lewis, Wolf, has said that there is no one unaccounted for but that's very different from what I'm hearing. I've spoken to at least three member -- three family members who say that they have yet to be able to get in touch with their loved ones.

Of course, as you know from being here on the ground, cell phone communication in some parts of the area is spotty at best. The cell phone towers in that neighborhood ravaged and shredded by the EF-5 tornado that tore through here on Monday has made it very difficult for some people to get in touch with their loved ones. It's quite possible, Wolf, that their loved ones are just in shelters by the American Red Cross. There's also personal shelters, makeshift shelters, if you will, where people are staying the night. So, there's a lot of questions that are going to be posed at this press conference. That's one that we're interested in. So, we're waiting and standing by. So far, no word yet on when it will begin. It was scheduled to start at the top of the hour. But as I mentioned, Napolitano -- Secretary Napolitano just got here about 15 minutes ago so it could very well be that they're just setting up right now -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. We'll have live coverage as soon as it begins. Nick Valencia's at city hall here in Moore, Oklahoma. The first responders to the tornado had to dig through piles and piles of debris searching for survivors and recovering the bodies of the victims. They're being called heroes for saving the people they could. But one paramedic says the hardest part is when you realize you can't save someone, especially the youngest victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY MCCARTY, PARAMEDIC: The hardest part is trying to figure out where exactly -- how -- where are we going to start? What -- how are we going to get this thing rolling? The hardest part is people coming up to you with a child in their arms and maybe it's lifeless and you're having to look at this parent and say, I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do. It's -- that's the hardest thing that any paramedic, any EMT, doctor, nurse, could ever do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So hard indeed. As we mentioned, the medical examiner's office now says 10 children were among the 24 people who died. Seven of them were students at an elementary school simply demolished by the tornado. Stephanie Elam is near the site of the Plaza Towers Elementary school. Stephanie, I know they're still holding media and residents away from that area as much as they can. But what are we all -- what are we learning, first of all, about the victims? What can you share with us?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are starting to learn, Wolf, the names of these children. And I know we've been talking about the seven young children that died at the Plaza Tower school, but we're now learning their names which the more you know about them, the harder it is to hear this sort of information. And in the distance behind me, that's where they're working on going through the rubble of what's left of the Plaza Tower Elementary school, at this point.

But what we do know is that we have three names now of the kids that were pulled out of there. And I want to show you their pictures now, starting off with Kyle Davis. He was eight years old and we're being told he loved monster trucks. He's one of the children that was there. Also, Antonio Candelaria, she was nine years old. And the third child that we know about is Janae Hornsby, where we've seen her father and her aunt talking about what a ball of energy and joy she was when she was -- when they were talking to Anderson Cooper. So, those are three of the children that we do know that died at the elementary school -- Wolf.

BLITZER: It's such a painful subject to even deal with. And I know folks, just in the few days that I've been here, are -- they're having a tough time coming to grips with what happened at the elementary school. What, there were about 500 children who normally would have been there pre-k through sixth grade -- is it fifth grade or sixth ? Fifth grade, I think. And the stories that I've heard, especially from some of the volunteer parents who were there who saved young kids lives, it's really amazing. And inspiring, to a certain degree, the way the parents and the volunteers just put their bodies over these young kindergarteners and first graders. I assume, Stephanie, you're hearing stories like that.

ELAM: There are stories like -- there's almost too many stories to hear. It's too much pain that these people are going through getting there to try to help as many kids as they could pulling them out. And it's not just this school. There is also Briarwood Elementary which also was devastated by this. And somehow, when you take a look at the pictures where a car crushed up against a wall that on the other side stood the children and no one there died. It's miraculous that in some places people were able to walk away and in other places they weren't. One teacher at Briarwood actually getting impaled by the desk leg as she sat there protecting her children. Teachers going all out to do the best they could to make sure these little kids were safe. And sometimes they were successful and other times the tornado was just too much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Category EF-5 more than 200 miles an hour, in part. Stephanie, thanks very much. By the way, if you want to help those affected by this tornado, go to our Web site. You can visit CNN.com, slash, impact. CNN.com, slash, impact, and you will have a chance to impact your world. Much more coming up on this dramatic story, the fallout from this tornado. We're getting incredibly important stories.

But I want to go to Phoenix, Arizona right nowhere a jury, yes, a jury is deciding whether Jodi Arias should get the death sentence. They're deliberating her fate as we speak right now. Arias asked the jury yesterday to give her a life sentence instead of sending her to death row. She spoke about her case in a fascinating jailhouse interview with a Phoenix T.V. station last night. We're going to have some of that, more of Jodi Arias' plea to the jury, that's coming up. And much more coverage, obviously, from here in Oklahoma, including a look at the National Weather Service's early warning system. We know it helped save lives on Monday but could it have saved more? We're going to tell you what else you can do to help.

For cash donations, we're going to tell you what else you can do to help.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin together with Janet Napolitano and others, they're having a news conference on the latest information coming in here in Moore, Oklahoma. Let's listen in.

GOV. MARY FALLIN (R), OKLAHOMA: -- law enforcement, the various charities, the (INAUDIBLE), the mayors -- the mayors. We appreciate Mayor Lewis and Mayor Cornett. The tremendous job that everyone has been doing. It is moving along very well. It is a big project. And there certainly is a lot of issues that need to be dealt with but we are making some progress.

As I drove in earlier this morning onto various sites, I could see we were clearing off some of our public area of the debris and being able to open up more roads and more areas so that people can get through and begin the process of recovery in this very big disaster area that we have.

I want to mention that this is still a very active recovery site. And many people have talked about the traffic along I-35 and also among the public roads in this area. And just to ask the public who is not involved with the recovery efforts or the cleanup or in the area for business that if you could not come and look yet, it would be helpful for the congestion that we are experiencing on our highways. And just to ask the public to be patient with us as we move the type of equipment and personnel we have to get along the highways and the roads to get things done.

Also, the individuals that have been affected by the storm itself, we still want you to make contact with the state, still make contact with FEMA. We need to know where you're at. We need to know if you need assistance. We need you to contact FEMA so we can get you the appropriate assistance whether it is the individual assistance that we've been awarded through the federal disaster declaration or whether you're a small business person and you're needing help with SBA loans. There is help there and certainly those that have been misplaced.

We want you to also tell us of your whereabouts with -- especially with those who still may not be able to find some of their relatives. We have a Web site at the Red Cross that's called safeandwell.org. And if people will register with that Web site and let us know that you're safe and you're well, that will help us to determine if there should be anyone that may not be found yet during this disaster.

We've also seen a great amount of outpouring of support from various charities, various entities, individuals, corporations. We've received phone calls from all over Oklahoma and certainly throughout the United States and some from other countries and we're very grateful for your support. This is going to be a long recovery process. There are many, many needs with our families and our individuals.

Short-term, if people want to help, you can give to the American Red Cross. You can give -- the Oklahoma Red Cross, I should say, too. And also to the Salvation Army, to the United Way, and that will help with our local charities. In the long-term, we have set up a disaster relief fund, it's called OK Strong Disaster Relief and that will be with the Oklahoma United Way organization because once we get through the initial cleanup stage and families have to go on with their lives, that there are still a lot of challenges ahead of them, and a lot of costs involved with that. And so if people want to donate, they can contact the United Way to help on that.

Affected individuals, regardless of income level or whether you have insurance, are encouraged to contact FEMA and to visit with them about available services. And we have FEMA people that are here today that we're glad to have join us again.

Rich, thank you for coming. Once again, we appreciate Administrator Fugate joining us yesterday.

So now I would like to turn it over to Secretary Napolitano. And thank you, once again, and welcome to Oklahoma.

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Thank you, Governor.

FALLIN: Thank you.

NAPOLITANO: And, Governor, you've been doing a terrific job here, as have all of the elected officials we've been working with since before Monday, actually. So a lot of work to be done now in terms of recovery, but really good bringing together of first responders from here and around the country on the immediate search and search and rescue needs.

I think a big need now is debris removal. And we will be working with Oklahoma on supporting expedited debris removal. That will open up roads and streets. And then individual homeowners will be worked with so we can get that debris out of there. Please register with FEMA, 1-800-621-FEMA, or disasterassistance.gov. That way we can reach out back to you and alert you to whatever assistance you qualify for and you may get.

We want to make this as smooth a process as possible although we know that people are really hurting. I mean, there's a lot of recovery yet to do. And on that point, you know, I'm pleased to hear that the charity that you're forming is called Oklahoma Strong.

I think one of the things that has impressed me so much has been the strength and resilience of the Oklahomans who have been affected by this disaster and who are taking charge and moving forward with the recovery of their communities. It's very impressive. And it's a model for the rest of the country.

And to top it off, I understand high school graduation will occur on time in this community this weekend. So recovery is under way, debris removal is a key thing today. Get in touch with FEMA if you haven't done so already. And we will be here to stay.

At some point the cameras will leave, the national ones will leave first, then the local ones. But on behalf of President Obama and on behalf of FEMA, we will be here to stay until this recovery is complete. So you have our commitment on that.

So thank you, Governor. I'd like to introduce Richard Serino, who is the deputy director of FEMA. Rich?

RICHARD SERINO, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, FEMA: Thank you, Secretary, Governor, Congressman, mayors. First off, I just want to express --

BLITZER: All right. We're going to continue to monitor this news conference here at the city hall in Moore, Oklahoma. Get the latest information on what's going on. This is still a disaster area. The secretary of Homeland Security is here. The FEMA director is here. A question a lot of folks are asking, when will there be some sort of memorial service? Will the president -- I assume he will, will he be coming here to Oklahoma? I assume he will want to at the right moment when he doesn't interfere in what is still a really tentative situation that's ongoing.

I spoke with this about the governor yesterday and she certainly would be very happy to host the president and his family in fact if they want to come. Well, we'll stay tuned, get the latest from Moore, Oklahoma. That's coming up.

Also we're following what's going on in Phoenix, Arizona, this hour. A jury is deciding whether Jodi Arias should get a death sentence. They're deliberating her fate this hour. We'll have a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Moore, Oklahoma, right outside Oklahoma City. We're continuing to cover this amazing, amazing, very depressing story. Much more on that coming up.

But let's check-in with Suzanne Malveaux, she's at the CNN Center, she has got some other stories making news -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Wolf.

We're actually keeping a close eye on Phoenix, Arizona. This is a courtroom, and this, of course, where Jodi Arias soon is going to find out whether or not she's going to be sentenced to death. That is right. Jurors are deliberating her fate at this very hour.

After Arias was found guilty of murdering her ex-boyfriend two weeks ago, she said she would prefer death over life in prison. But then she changed her mind yesterday asking the jury to spare her life. She says she wishes she could take back what she did, but she did not apologize to the victim's family.

A Phoenix TV station asked Arias about that during a jailhouse interview after her court appearance. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had ample opportunities to apologize to Travis Alexander's family. And it doesn't seem like you did it today. Why didn't you apologize to them?

JODI ARIAS, CONVICTED OF MURDER: I did apologize to them in my elocution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never heard you say, I'm sorry.

ARIAS: I don't think I used those two words, but I feel that I conveyed my remorse. And if I didn't adequately convey it, then I regret that. But --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to do it now?

ARIAS: Well, there's nothing I can do to take back what I did. I wish that I could. I really, really wish that I could. I can never make up for what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to say I'm sorry right now to Travis Alexander's family?

ARIAS: Certainly. I'm definitely sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead.

ARIAS: I'm sorry. I just -- it seems like saying I'm sorry, quote-unquote, is so inadequate because it doesn't really encompass the scope of the remorse that I feel and what I wish that I could change if I had the chance to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So now she waits to see if the jury is swayed by her plea for mercy. I want to bring in Ashleigh Banfield live outside the courthouse, as well as our CNN legal analyst Paul Callan, who is in New York.

And, Ashleigh, I want to start off with you. What do you make of what she said? Do you think it's going to sway the jury either way now that she has got kind of an apology, not so much an apology?

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, let me just start by saying how bizarre this entire process has been. Suzanne, I have never once in 25 years of doing this job covered a trial in which a defendant has appealed to the media in the middle of the trial, once after being found guilty and once after only an hour-and-a-half of deliberations by this jury, and changed her story even to the media. So the whole thing is so circus-like and bizarre. My fear, legally speaking, is that this is one big fat appeal in the making. That aside, this jury still has a lot of work ahead of them. They have to go over all of the things that this young woman said in front of them in yet, again, Suzanne, a very bizarre PowerPoint presentation, complete with a clicker and props.

I mean, she brought out a T-shirt and put it in front of the jury, saying "survivor," and said that this is one of the things that should lead to her life being spared, that she could do something good for survivors of domestic abuse like her.

And then added, I know some people don't believe it and they're entitled to their opinion, meaning the jury. They didn't believe her when she said her entire defense that besmirched this victim was that she was fighting for her life and she needed to kill him in order to save her own, because he was violent and a domestic abuser.

So, listen, this could be an extraordinary affront to this jury. But you know what? You never know what a jury is going to say. You never know. You just need one of these jurors to say, I don't know that this is the right thing to do and you can hang this jury. But it doesn't mean it's over. It means another jury would be selected.

It's a bizarre thing in Arizona. Doesn't happen everywhere, but another jury would come in to actually deliberate this phase. Very strange.

MALVEAUX: Yes, and, Ashleigh, I found it strange too that she said she would start a recycling program in the prison, that that's one way that she would be beneficial to society. I'm going to put you out here on a little bit of a limb. Any sense of which way this jury might go?

BANFIELD: That's a really hard question. Look, I thought O.J. would be convicted, you know, 17 years ago. So I am -- I would never make a prediction anymore. But what I can tell you is what's on the record. The questions, over 200 questions that this jury, again, a very unique situation in the jurisprudence in this state, they are allowed to ask questions all throughout, the guilt/innocence phase of this.

And they ask some very pointed questions, pointed questions about, are you lying now or were you lying then? And it just seemed from the tone of many of their questions they did not like what they were hearing from her. They said she was guilty.

But, again, when it comes to this part, Suzanne, imagine yourself sitting in a room with someone for five months and staring at her and her family and then saying even though your death qualified and you said you could do it, saying, I think we should sanction your killing.

There's a big difference between that. So no one should guess at all what every one of these 12 jurors will do.

MALVEAUX: And, Paul, I want to bring you into the discussion. You've been following this very closely, as much of the rest of the nation, the country really riveted by all of this. She didn't outright apologize to Travis Alexander's family.

First of all, do you think that's going to hurt her? And what are the various scenarios that happens if, in fact, she gets life in prison?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, her not using the explicit words "I apologize" I don't think will make much of a difference. I mean, she said repeatedly she was sorry for the family.

But, you know, in her own way she's being the sly Jodi Arias that she has been, because bear in mind if she were to say to them, I deeply regret what I did, I had no justification for killing your son, I'm sorry, which that would be the real plea for her life.

If the case goes up on appeal, gets reversed, and is a new trial, she doesn't have her, I'm a domestic abuse survivor and I was defending myself from attack, because she said she had no justification for the killing.

So she's being very careful about her use of words. She's very bright. Don't underestimate her ability to think these things through. But I think in the end, Suzanne, it makes her look cold and calculating.

And that gets to part two of your question. What happens next? If the jury in this case -- they've already decided it's a premeditated murder.

MALVEAUX: Right.

CALLAN: If they decide that she deserves death, they will recommend death to the judge. The judge can then impose the death penalty. Now, he can refuse to impose it only for a limited number of reasons: prosecutorial misconduct or new evidence, something like that. Otherwise, it's in the jury's hands.

MALVEAUX: All right. Paul, Ashleigh, thank you both. We'll be watching very closely to see what that decision is. And, of course, after the break we're going to go back to Oklahoma with Wolf Blitzer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)