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Speeding Away From a Tornado; Inside Tornado-Ravaged School; Lost and Found in the Rubble
Aired May 22, 2013 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And good to see you. I'm Brooke Baldwin here with Jake Tapper. We are live in Moore, Oklahoma, where the story, really it's only, as you can look around and see, it's one story today, the absolutely devastating impact of what we now know was an EF-5 tornado.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: The absolute worst kind of tornado. This is one of the most powerful ones, the one that took place here on Monday, ever recorded, packing winds up to 210 miles an hour, carving a 17-mile path of destruction right through this area, causing what could be more than $2 billion in damages. Two days after the tornado hit, the search for survivors here is winding down. Crews are shifting from rescue to recovery.
BALDWIN: Here is what we're learning today. We know at least 24 people were killed when this tornado touched down on Monday. And one of the most heart-breaking scenes, and let me just say there are so many of them, but one of the most is this pile of wreckage where the Plaza Towers Elementary School once stood. Seven children died there while taking shelter in a classroom. We are now hearing that President Obama will be visiting this area this coming Sunday.
TAPPER: A neighborhood which is once again in ruins. Since 1999, Moore has taken the full brunt of two devastating tornadoes. The odds of this happening, extremely rare. Perhaps incalculable. But the mayor is not taking any chances. Today, the mayor is pushing for a new law requiring - requiring that all new homes are built with storm shelters or safe rooms.
BALDWIN: Now there - I know you've been here a couple of days. I've been out this morning sort of walking around. And for all the numbers of people who did not survive, the stories of those who did and persevered and heard the knocks and the yells to find the neighbors, the close calls, they're incredible stories, we just want to tell you here in Moore. And one family I want to tell you about is Terimy Miller and her three young boys.
And so as this storm was approaching here in Moore just this past Monday, she left work early, she picked up each child and she took them some place she thought was safe. She took them home. She put the boys in a coat closet.
She turned on the television. The warnings were ominous. And so the warnings were get out, you know, if you don't have a shelter. The storm is just going to be that big. Do not get in the closet. She heard this meteorologist from one of the local station, she told me this morning, saying get out, get out, and so she did. She hurried everyone back to the car and sped away with minutes to spare. And it's a good thing she did because when the Millers returned home, it was gone, right down to that coat closet. Terimy gave me a tour this morning of what is left. Take a look for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TERIMY MILLER, LOST HOME IN MONDAY'S OKLAHOMA TORNADO: My back door was right here where that light - it would have been right here. This is my front porch.
BALDWIN: This is your front porch.
MILLER: This is my front porch, because here was the beginning of my garage.
BALDWIN: Terimy, is that a hallway closet?
MILLER: That's my hallway closet.
BALDWIN: With your little boys' jackets?
MILLER: That they don't wear no more because they're too small. So I left them. I thought, I don't need them. I left them. I tried - I grabbed out the others.
BALDWIN: Look at this.
MILLER: And it was hanging on this wall. (INAUDIBLE).
BALDWIN: So it says, "I clean my house every other day. Today is the other day." There is no more cleaning of the house again.
MILLER: Yes.
BALDWIN: Hang on. Show me what's in the closet.
MILLER: The closet. Well, now, really not much. Leftover coats that my boys don't wear, so I just left them. I took the others. Jean jackets.
BALDWIN: Look at that, with his name on it.
MILLER: Yes.
BALDWIN: Devin's (ph).
MILLER: That was Devin's little jean jacket when he was little. And I've always passed down their coats to them because - and you can tell. Look at -- you can see where things have --
BALDWIN: Cables.
MILLER: Cables. Air filter.
BALDWIN: Air filter. Monopoly money.
MILLER: There are parts of my - yes. Just everything you can imagine.
BALDWIN: Pennsylvania Avenue.
MILLER: My wrapping paper.
BALDWIN: Describe the moment that you saw this.
MILLER: We had to park a distance. So we had to walk. We walked up and I'm first thinking, oh my gosh, it's a war zone. That's going through my head, it's a war zone because it's just -- everything is -- homes that you have seen so many times are not there no more. They're destroyed. And I get up on to Avery (ph) finally and I got one guy, he says, where do you live? And I was like, down 709. He's like OK. He didn't say nothing. And I'm, like, oh. You know, you start having that feeling, my house is gone. Just something was telling me, my house is gone. I know it is. And I haven't even seen it yet. We walk up, and it's gone. I see this. I'm, like, no, this can't be happening. Why?
BALDWIN: There are sofas on the roof of your neighbor's house.
MILLER: Yes. That was a second story house. Mine was a one-story home. That was a second story. They had stuff - I mean there were bedrooms, living rooms, you know, and everything. I mean, my - I mean, there's my desk. I mean we pulled things out. My chimney is laying in my living room. My TV is over here on its side. I mean, it's -- if you want to you can --
BALDWIN: You can see like VHS tapes.
MILLER: I -- my VHS tapes are gone. I found the boys' DVDs. We always put them -- we call it the book, in a little CD container and I had them in my bedroom. And where I had them, they survived.
BALDWIN: So what was over here?
MILLER: That was my garage going into my kitchen and my washer and dryer area.
BALDWIN: So is that your washer and dryer?
MILLER: That's my refrigerator.
BALDWIN: That's your refrigerator?
MILLER: That's my beautiful side by side black refrigerator. That's my freezer.
BALDWIN: Is that a --
MILLER: I had two - I have two freezers. That's my upright.
BALDWIN: Is that a sled?
MILLER: Huh?
BALDWIN: What's the red thing?
MILLER: A sled.
BALDWIN: A sled.
MILLER: When we have - when it does actually snow, when we have actually a snow day, we can actually sled. That is someone else's toy. I do not know who it belongs -- that's my air conditioner.
BALDWIN: This is your air conditioner right here.
MILLER: My air conditioner. It was on the side of the house. I have other people's stuff in my yard.
BALDWIN: So, gosh, if this were me, and your biggest loss is the photos and the yearbooks, it must take everything in you not to sort through, but you just don't know what's under the rubble.
MILLER: I - yes. I don't want to. I don't want any --
BALDWIN: It's your baby's pictures.
MILLER: They're most likely -
BALDWIN: Destroyed.
MILLER: Destroyed. Ruined.
BALDWIN: Oh.
MILLER: A lot of them, it's hard -- you can't get to them. It's so hard to get to them. I mean you can only do so much.
BALDWIN: How do you have such a great attitude? How do you sound -- you're just saying to me, and that's my refrigerator and this is my refrigerator and that was my sled.
MILLER: And that's my freezer.
BALDWIN: Just so matter of fact. I just have to ask, how are you not standing here crying, bawling?
MILLER: Because I've already done it. I've already done it. I have - I -- why cry over it now?
BALDWIN: It's things.
MILLER: It's things. The most important things to me right at this moment are the three little boys that are at their daddy's place.
BALDWIN: That's exactly right.
MILLER: The three little boys. Because the reason I say that, they -- they're more important. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: And now Terimy and one of her three little guys, this is Jules, seven, joining us now.
TAPPER: Hi.
BALDWIN: Hey, little man.
TAPPER: (INAUDIBLE). He's doing an (INAUDIBLE). Nice. Very smooth.
BALDWIN: Yes. Let me begin with - so this was Monday, Terimy.
T. MILLER: Yes.
BALDWIN: Thank you so much for walking us around what was your home.
T. MILLER: Yes.
BALDWIN: How are you this afternoon?
T. MILLER: I'm doing good. I'm doing good. I'm spending time with friends, finally seeing the boys, because yesterday I didn't get to see them, talked to them on the phone.
BALDWIN: How did you explain? They were with you in the house.
T. MILLER: Yes.
BALDWIN: They - you all live in Oklahoma. You know tornadoes. But did they know really what was happening?
T. MILLER: Did you know what was happening?
JULES MILLER, LOST HOME IN MONDAY'S OKLAHOMA TORNADO: Yes.
TAPPER: You did?
J. MILLER: A thunderstorm hit my house and --
T. MILLER: That's -
J. MILLER: Mike Morgan (ph) said get out of your house.
BALDWIN: That's a local meteorologist.
T. MILLER: Yes.
J. MILLER: Get out of your house now. If you do not have a storm shelter, get out of your house now.
TAPPER: Did you hear him say that?
J. MILLER: Yes, sir. BALDWIN: And you don't have a storm shelter and you knew that.
J. MILLER: So -- so I didn't have a storm shelter so I got out of my house quickly and I went and --
TAPPER: Where did you guys go, Jules?
J. MILLER: We went to my car and --
BALDWIN: To your car.
T. MILLER: Went to the car. Car.
TAPPER: Do did your drive or did your mommy?
J. MILLER: My mom drived.
TAPPER: OK, that's good.
J. MILLER: And we drive away from the storm and down --
BALDWIN: Did you see it?
J. MILLER: No, we didn't, but I thought that I -
T. MILLER: I kept telling you.
J. MILLER: But I looked -
TAPPER: What? What did you say?
J. MILLER: But I looked behind my booster seat and I saw it.
TAPPER: Uh-oh. What did it look like?
J. MILLER: And it looked all black. And the clouds were that. They -- yes.
BALDWIN: Very dark and black and kind of scary.
J. MILLER: Yes, they were.
TAPPER: Were you scared?
BALDWIN: Were you scared?
J. MILLER: It looked (ph) thunderstorm.
TAPPER: Were you scared? You seem like a very brave boy.
J. MILLER: No, I wasn't.
T. MILLER: He wasn't.
BALDWIN: A very tough little man.
T. MILLER: But you were - now -
J. MILLER: And then mama drived back to our house to see how it was.
BALDWIN: Wait, what did it look like when you came back to your house?
J. MILLER: It looked all messy and junk. Its -- our house just, bam, it was gone.
BALDWIN: Oh. Bam.
T. MILLER: It was gone.
TAPPER: How about your brothers? How are they -- were they as brave as you?
J. MILLER: Yes, they were.
TAPPER: What are their names?
J. MILLER: Tyler (ph) and Dennis (ph) were my three brothers.
T. MILLER: Your two brothers.
J. MILLER: Well, my two brothers. I'm the middle one.
TAPPER: You're the middle one. And you guys were all very brave and you all listened to your mom and you did what she told you to do?
J. MILLER: Yes.
TAPPER: That's awesome. We're very proud of you.
T. MILLER: Yes. It's --
J. MILLER: So mom -- my mom is --
TAPPER: This is her right here?
BALDWIN: You were -
TAPPER: OK, that's good because I want -- otherwise if she's --
BALDWIN: We weren't sure. We weren't sure. Thank you, Jules.
T. MILLER: Is your eye OK, honey?
J. MILLER: Ah, yes.
T. MILLER: OK.
J. MILLER: It's itchy.
T. MILLER: It's itchy. OK.
BALDWIN: When we were standing in what was your house and we were around -
J. MILLER: But my house - my house is -
T. MILLER: Shh. Now -
TAPPER: Hold on one second, Jules. Hold on.
BALDWIN: Hang on.
T. MILLER: Now, OK, can I talk -- can I talk to --
BALDWIN: Hang on, little buddy, just one second.
TAPPER: We're going to let mommy talk for one second, OK, then we're going to come right back to you.
BALDWIN: The toughest part you were saying to me, and you have your life and your little ones, which is amazing.
T. MILLER: Oh, yes.
BALDWIN: But the toughest part was your yearbook and your photos.
T. MILLER: My yearbooks, photos and their toys. You know, all their toys.
BALDWIN: The toys.
T. MILLER: Their books and their stuff. Because they love -- no, no, no.
TAPPER: We'll have you ---
T. MILLER: They loved - I mean, they play. They watched movies in their play room and now it's gone and they can't have that --
TAPPER: The final decision -
T. MILLER: Yes.
TAPPER: To go.
T. MILLER: Yes.
TAPPER: Was that a tough decision to -
T. MILLER: Oh, no, it wasn't.
TAPPER: No. You heard the meteorologist and --
T. MILLER: I -- it was just that feeling and just -- it was instinct. It was just, like, I got to get out of here.
TAPPER: Jules -
T. MILLER: I'm not chancing this. TAPPER: We're going to let you have the last word.
J. MILLER: OK.
TAPPER: What do you want people - what do you want people to know?
BALDWIN: OK, he says.
J. MILLER: So - and then the thunderstorm take away my -- all my favorite stuff. It's gone. It's all gone.
BALDWIN: Oh.
TAPPER: But you're OK. But you're OK and your mom's OK.
T. MILLER: Are you - are you OK?
BALDWIN: And you've got your (ph) new toys.
T. MILLER: You get new toys.
J. MILLER: I was OK. I was OK and I got a new toy right now.
TAPPER: It's an Ironman. Who gave that to you?
J. MILLER: My -- well --
T. MILLER: Your coach.
J. MILLER: My coach in -
BALDWIN: Little league coach's wife.
J. MILLER: Wife. My coach's wife give this Ironman to me to keep me comfortable here. Just because -- just in case if I get bored or anything like that.
BALDWIN: Well, Jules, I have a feeling you're going to be getting -
TAPPER: I think you're going to get some more toys.
BALDWIN: I'm just guessing you're going to get some new toys.
T. MILLER: You get brand-new toys.
J. MILLER: Yes.
T. MILLER: You might even get another Ironman toy.
TAPPER: But this is the face of Moore. You guys are brave, right?
T. MILLER: Oh, yes.
TAPPER: You guys are very, very brave. J. MILLER: Yes.
T. MILLER: I'll say this. When I had to put them in the coat closet while I was trying to listen, you know, debating, and he's here. He was - he was crying because he got scared. And when I said, let's go, guys, I think that sort of, like, OK, mom's getting us out of it, we're OK.
BALDWIN: We're OK.
TAPPER: And that's when this - that's when it stopped?
T. MILLER: I think that - I think, yes, the tears stopped.
BALDWIN: Jules, thank you. Nice to meet you.
TAPPER: Thanks, buddy.
T. MILLER: Say thank you.
J. MILLER: Thank you.
T. MILLER: Thank you, guys, so much.
BALDWIN: Thanks, Terimy, so much. Right back to you.
T. MILLER: Appreciate it.
TAPPER: Thank you so much for coming by. We appreciate it.
T. MILLER: Thank you, guys.
BALDWIN: We appreciate it.
TAPPER: Up next, we're just getting word that six people are still missing.
And John King just went inside the Plaza Towers Elementary School for our first look at what remains. We'll be right back.
BALDWIN: Plus, during the show, we will be remembering those who lost their lives. This is Megan Futrell and her son Case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ashleigh Banfield, reporting live at the courthouse in Phoenix where Jodi Arias' deliberations have begun again today, but not without, you guessed it, a little dose of drama. The jury was actually brought back into the courtroom. Reporters were not aware of it. They weren't allowed in the courtroom. And it turned out the judge had two questions for them.
Number one, have you heard anything in the media? Has anyone told you anything about the media and the coverage of this case? Yesterday, Jodi gave a media tour, remarkably so, as the jury had been finishing up their deliberations for the day. And then she also had instructions for this jury. Instructions that are critical to the questions they are answering. The judge apparently inadvertently left out some very important information about what a life sentence in the state of Arizona means. Because there are two choices that the judge can make if the jury sentences Jodi Arias to life.
Number one is life, no parole ever, or is it life with a possibility of parole after 25 years? The instructions were that she was sorry that she didn't get those instructions. She cleared it up for the jury. But then she allowed Jodi Arias' attorney and the prosecutor in this case to argue about those instructions. Here's what Jodi Arias' attorney Jennifer Wilmott said about the option for life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER WILMOTT, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There is no procedure in place to grant her parole. There is no procedure that exists. So all that you can learn from -- take from this instruction is that if you are merciful and give her life in prison, she will not get out. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So here is what's critical in this state. It's a bit of a state of limbo with regard to the legislature and the judges. Many say that the option for parole after 25 years is not always as easy as it sounds today. What the jury needs to know and what those two lawyers were arguing was that today could be different from down the road. And while it is difficult to get parole after 25 years, if not impossible in some circumstances, somewhere down the road that could change and that young woman could get a release from prison potentially.
So the jury now has that information. They know that if they choose life, there is a possibility that the judge could give life with the possibility of release after 25 years. And that down the road it could actually happen. The other alternative for them would be death.
So clearly a very difficult decision for them. There are only about two hours right now into total deliberation time. But we're continuing to watch and we'll bring you any updates as we hear them and, trust me, we get a lot of very strange updates here in Phoenix, Arizona.
Back to Brooke and Jake Tapper. Brooke Baldwin and Jake Tapper doing live reporting in Oklahoma.
BALDWIN: Ashleigh Banfield, thank you, in Phoenix for us.
Back here in Moore, Oklahoma, we just want to take you inside of what is now left of Plaza Towers Elementary School.
TAPPER: Let's go chief national correspondent John King. He just toured the school a short time ago. John, tell us what you saw.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's numbing and its sad. You get to what's left of the school. Some of the walls there, some of the chalkboards up, posters on the wall that are tilted. But then you have to sadly imagine the rest of it because it's gone. And the neighborhood around it is gone.
A Moore police officer, Jeremy Lewis (ph), brought us there and he took us through and he reminded us that on a full school day there are 400 something students there. Now we know seven of the 10 children who died in this terrible tornado, seven of them were at that school. When you get at the devastation, again, I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way, it's a miracle that the death toll wasn't higher.
Let's take a look at some of what's left of the school as we walked through it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Because you've got uncertainty of who was here, who wasn't here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. We had to verify to parents who's accounted for, who's not, things like that.
KING: Right. Right. And what goes - this school goes back. Can you take us back and just give us a sense of --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Heading out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I talk to you before you go through?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you doing, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is more classrooms back here and this was the gymnasium here.
KING: So was the gym a separate building or was it attached somehow?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gym was separate.
KING: You go across this driveway to get to the gymnasium building?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.
KING: So the classroom buildings would have ended here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.
KING: That's what all this is. Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The school kind of went in a u. It came out this way, right here, and it went -- that was the back corner right there.
KING: Right. So come around like a u. I get it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then there was another building separately out there. There were some portables out there, which, of course, didn't withstand anything.
KING: Gone. Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But just down the hill, those were houses that were all brick houses. Where the trees and things like that are --
KING: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That used to all be houses. You couldn't see, I mean that was just the neighborhood right there.
KING: And it's just gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there's really -- where that truck is, that's actually the next street over that we just drove by.
KING: So this is ground zero. This is where it hit hardest?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is -- this is where it really - really just across Santa Fe, really picked up. This is our widest area with the most devastation. But there is several hundred houses through here that are off the foundation. There's just nothing left.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: I mean you get the sense, when you're at the school, and then you go into the surrounding neighborhood, you can envision the path. You can see there's a home here with a little damage, a home over there may be a half mile with a little damage, and then everything else in the middle is gone. And the school itself, it's shaped look a u and the main - the cross bar, if you will, is still largely intact. And the students who took shelter in there were safer, if you will.
But the walls are ripped off. The chalkboards are ripped off. And when you go through that neighborhood, there are vehicles that are from a couple of miles away that were carried by the tornado and then dumped in that neighborhood. And I should note -
TAPPER: That debris cloud.
KING: I should note -- the debris cloud comes (ph). I should note, while we were there, number one, they're not letting residents back into the eastern part of the Plaza Towers neighborhood because they're turning the gas and the electricity back on today and they think they've got it all shut off where they're supposed to and they think all the lines are closed -
BALDWIN: Right, but you never know.
KING: But they're worried there will be a few fires. That they missed a few spots (ph). And there's also one active search underway. They say one family has been calling. They have a relative who lives in that area. At first they checked the shelters, they checked the medical examiner's office, so they're going back again to that one residence. That active search was underway while we were there in that area.
BALDWIN: And, again, we're hearing differing numbers as far as people who are still missing. When you were there, you were hearing one?
KING: In that neighborhood. One. One.
BALDWIN: In that neighborhood.
KING: They believe they have just about everybody. I think a half dozen, now six or so people, is the official count we were getting where people are calling in, you know, I have a relative there or I can't track down a friend. No one's been in touch. So they check, you know, social media, they check all the good Samaritan organizations that are here.
BALDWIN: Yes.
KING: They're checking their shelters. They're checking the hospitals. They check the medical examiner. And then they're going back, as they can, to just recheck properties. And, again, they assume there's a possibility of somebody still left behind in their home. But when you go - I just - when you go through this neighborhood and it's --
BALDWIN: You shake your head. There are no words.
KING: It's numbing.
TAPPER: Oh, it's incredible.
KING: And you imagine, you know, the heroism of the teachers.
BALDWIN: Absolutely.
KING: Again, they don't know - they don't know exactly how many kids were there. But on a full day, 400 something. They don't know how many left early, how many parents came and got them. But when you look at the devastation, and God bless the seven who perished at that school, but when you look at it, you think, wow, some people saved a lot of lives by hurrying those kids. They had 16 minutes warning. Sixteen minutes warning. TAPPER: The very brave teachers taking unbelievable actions.
KING: Right.
BALDWIN: Thank you. Thank you, John.
TAPPER: Thanks, John King.
BALDWIN: Back to our special coverage here in Moore in just a moment. But first, a fast-moving breaking story out of London we want to tell you about. This suspected terror attack as a soldier is killed in the middle of a street. We will take you there live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: And welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin, here in Moore, Oklahoma, with my colleague Jake Tapper. Just checking. We appreciate your tweets each and every time @jaketapper, @brookebcnn as we're following here this story of this EF-5 tornado that absolutely devastated this town.
TAPPER: As this rescue effort winds down, we're now hearing that six adults are still missing. That's according to the state's emergency management director. At least 24 people, as you know, including nine children, at least nine children, died in the tornado. Today, the secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, she visited this area of Moore, Oklahoma, ahead of the president's scheduled visit this Sunday. She promised the federal government would help with the cleanup.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET NAPOLITANO, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: One thing that's clear here is that emerging from the rubble and the chaos here in Oklahoma is a real sense of community and charity.
BALDWIN: Absolutely. You know, you think for a second about all your treasured items. And, again, these are just material things, right, but these items that you love that are in your home right now, especially the photographs of your little ones, you know, your family heirlooms. And then there's the more mundane stuff. Maybe you take for granted your clothes, your insurance papers, your laptop, you know, all of that gone in an instant. And buried under the rubble, or maybe even just picked up by this tornado and then scattered across your neighborhood. I mean I was at one house. Somebody's car was in another neighborhood. That's just kind of how it happened with an EF-5 tornado.
But one woman is determined to reunite victims with their lost items. Leslie Hagelberg joins us from Tulsa.
And, Leslie, I understand you have set up a FaceBook page for the victims here in Moore. But let me just get this straight. You're in Tulsa. We're in Moore. And did I hear correctly that you have items that blew all the way to your neck of the woods?
LESLIE HAGELBERG, STARTED FACEBOOK PAGE FOR TORNADO VICTIMS: That's correct. We do. We have items from Moore, Shawnee, which was hit the day before, Newalla (ph),k Little Axe, Bethel, scattered all over the northeastern part of the state, even as far as Joplin, Missouri, that are on our FaceBook page.
BALDWIN: Wow.
TAPPER: And explain, how does this FaceBook page exactly work.
HAGELBERG: Well, I started a group page basically. I was standing outside on Sunday night. Some of the smaller towns were hit Sunday night. We had several tornadoes, not as big in magnitude as Moore, obviously. But I was outside. I saw some kind of haze in the skies. Some pictures fell in my yard, basically.
I got on FaceBook and I noticed some others in the area were finding pictures too. And I just thought, you know, if I lost my house, if I lost everything, I'd really like those back. That's precious memories and items that you need. So I created a FaceBook group. Kind of just invited some of my friends. And it's just ballooned to many, many people across the United States. Even, I think, worldwide basically.
BALDWIN: It's incredible the power of social media when you think of, you know, devastating issues such as a tornado. I was driving up here in Moore and I know there's the Moore Counseling Center and they're doing precisely what you are, you know, basically people are finding photographs and mementoes. Everyone's sort of collecting them in one general place and you go in and claim them.
HAGELBERG: Yes.
