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CNN 10
Aftermath of Deadly Tornado in Oklahoma
Aired May 23, 2013 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz. Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. In yesterday`s special edition we asked you to share your thoughts about this week`s deadly tornado in Oklahoma. From Rebecca, "We can`t stop this. But we can try our best to work on helping the victims and repairing the damage. And from Jessica, "Stay strong, stay together and hold on, because Oklahoma is getting on the road to recovery. That road is certain to be a long one. As people return to their homes, they are starting to rebuild. Insurance officials think the tornado might have caused more than $2 billion in damages. Chris Cuomo examined the power of the storm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We`re going to take you through the tornado`s path from beginning to end. If you look down here, you`re going to see a brown line, starts with this debris field, it starts going in this direction. That is actually the tornado`s trail, and as you see, it`s going to get much more dramatic as we get near populated area. You literally can trace with your finger a line where the tornado wind, the path is completely obvious. It`s about a block and a half line, and you notice it just by seeing everything that`s destroyed.
Right now we`re flying at 2500 feet above the ground, scientists say that debris of the tornado (inaudible) ten times as high as we are right now into the air. Look at the trees. It looks like people pulled them up and laid them down there just like they were weeding their garden. But those are huge old (inaudible) trees.
Cars are just littered along the trail. They were never there, they weren`t parked here, they were tossed like toys. This part of the community really shows you the randomness and intensity of the tornado. Some homes are just completely (inaudible). And in a block away, they`ve been spared. And this part of the debris trail ends at a school where children lost their lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: To protect themselves during the storm, some people were in the storm shelters in their homes, this Youtube video shows what it looked like when one Oklahoma family came out of its shelter.
The mayor of Moore, Oklahoma, the city that was hit the worst by this tornado says he is going to push for a new law. It would require that any new home has to be built with either storm shelter or a safe room. The safe room was all that was left standing when the tornado hit this family`s home in Alabama in 2011. The house was destroyed, but the family stayed inside their room. These special rooms and shelters aren`t luxurious, they have one purpose to keep people alive and Gary Tuchman shows us how.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The people who lived in this house that was destroyed, survived. They survived because they left well in advance. But if they didn`t leave well in advance, they would have survived also because they had this heavy metal storm shelter. I want to show you how it works. You open the door, and you take a look inside. And you see it`s very cramped inside, there`s not much room, but plenty of room to survive. Walk down the steps with your family, you could probably fit seven or eight people and fit important things in here: clothing, pictures, valuables, you come in and then you just shut the door.
And you`re safe and sound as the tornado goes above you. There is no doubt the people would have survived if they went inside the shelter. When the storm`s over, you open it up, and you all come out. One thing to keep in mind, you may say wow, the rubble falls on this, how do you get out? Well, you don`t lift it up, you slide it, and you slide it under here. Now, if the rubble does fall on top of here, lots of rubble, you may not be able to slide it, but then you`re alive and presumably you`ve told your relatives that you`re in here, and they tell rescuers, and they come and they rescue you.
Now, one thing you might wonder, why don`t schools in the tornado belt in Oklahoma and Texas and Kansas all have storm shelters, all have basements. Well, we should point out, it`s not a law, and the fact is, many school districts say it`s just not economically feasible to have these. They cost several thousands dollars, these personal shelters.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: At the two elementary schools hit by Monday`s tornado, teachers helped keep students safe. They gathered them in the safe areas, they shielded them with their bodies, sometimes putting their own lives at risks. Many people are calling them heroes, the teachers say, it`s just our job.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before I shut the doors, because those bathrooms had doors, I said them to shut these doors, and I said I love you, the boys looked at me a little strange, locked in the girls and said, I love you. And they all said, I love you back. I just told them to pray.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I told them to get underneath the desks and I put them two by two, and I said, OK, we`re going to play our musical instruments, we`re going to play (inaudible), and we`re going to play as loud as we can. So I wanted - didn`t want them to hear the roar.
DAVID WHEELER, DROVE 100 MILES TO FIND SON: She helped save my son`s life, she helped other students` life and we`re proud of her and we all take an oath as an educator to protect the kids. And she fulfilled that duty better than anyone, and so, we want to thank her, and she`s a member of our family for the rest of our lives, and she`ll be a part of it forever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this legit? The legal phrase "plead the Fifth" refers to the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
It`s true! That amendment says that citizen can`t be forced to be a witness against himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: So, basically, if what you say can potentially be harmful to yourself, you could plead the Fifth. An IRS official did that during a congressional hearing this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOIS LERNER, IRS EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS DIRECTOR: I have not done anything wrong. And while I would very much like to answer the committee`s questions today, I`ve been advised by my counsel to assert my constitutional right not to testify or answer questions related to the subject matter of this hearing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: A report says employees in lowest Lerner`s division essentially used political bias. They targeted conservative groups for extra review when they applied for a special tax status. The report blamed mismanagement and bad policies. Members of the committee holding hearings say they`re frustrated with the IRS`s lack of answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DARRELL ISSA, (R-CALIFORNIA): The American people don`t expect perfection. Men and women, many of them working very hard and trying to do the best within government make mistakes.
A few make wrongdoings and do so deliberately. This committee will not stop this investigation until we know that the IRS is fixed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today`s "Shoutout" goes out to Mr. Langhorst and the students and South Valley Junior High in Liberty, Missouri.
What nation`s flag is this? You know what to do? Is it Ireland, Mexico, Italy or Cote d`Ivoire? You`ve got three seconds, go!
The green, white and red stripes mean you`re looking at the national flag of Italy. That`s your answer and that`s your "Shoutout."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: In Italy, the pizza business is booming, restaurant owners are looking to hire thousands of people to work in their kitchens, but they are having trouble finding Italians who want to take those jobs. The reason - pizza makers work long hours making a lot of dough, they don`t make a lot of money. Ben Wedeman looks at who is filling these jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It can get pretty hot in the pizza kitchen, and for the pizzaolo (ph), the pizza chef, there is no time for rest. Increasingly, many Italians, however, can`t stand the heat in the kitchen and are getting out of this most Italian of professions. Despite high unemployment, they are leaving it to others like Gamal from Egypt to make the dough.
And that`s just fine with Gamal.
"It`s an area where lots of jobs are available," he tells me.
He`s been in Italy for almost a dozen years. And recently was hired by the Tramonto di Roma restaurant in the seaside suburb of Ostia. Across this city, you`re more likely to find a Bangladeshi or Bosnian or an Egyptian than a local working the oven.
It doesn`t phase pizza critic Armando evaluating Gamal`s work.
"It`s good," he says, "the crust is thin, as I and a lot of people here like it, and it`s tasty."
And maybe pizza isn`t really as Italian as is commonly thought.
According to some historians, pizza actually comes from Egypt anyway, so there`s nothing unusual about having an Egyptian make your pizza.
"There is nothing odd about it" says Gamal, a most practical man. "I`m here to work, if there`s work, I`ll do it."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Speaking of pies, today`s last story is sweet. That`s Jamie the Bear MacDonald in front of a giant apple pie, and the bear is about to make this scene grizzly (ph). Hey, Jamie, how do you like them apples? Just fine, since they`re giving him world records for speed and quantity. The Bear devoured (inaudible), he`s like the pied piper of pastry. Was this even a challenge? Nah, it was easy as pie. If you think this kind of contest seems silly, keep it to yourself. Pie champs, they rue (ph) barbs (ph). And they only operate in one mode, alla mode. You know how they keep track of the contestants at this kind of thing? With a pie chart. That`s a good joke no matter how you slice it. You might have noticed an extra filling of puns today. We didn`t flake out, we`re going for our own record. Why? Just be crust. But we`ve said a mouthful. The previous record was 12, this makes a baker`s dozen. For CNN STUDENT NEWS, I`m Carl Azuz.
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