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Joplin Twister Kills at Least 117; Netanyahu to Address Congress; New Dangers in Joplin; Crews Rescue 17 from Rubble; Tornado Cuts Short Graduation; Baby Missing After Tornado; Still Missing in Joplin; "Oprah" Coming to An End; California to Cut Prison Population; NYC's Outdoor Smoking Ban Starts; "Rapture" Rescheduled to October 21;

Aired May 24, 2011 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's begin this hour with a look at our top stories. Rescuers in Joplin, Missouri, are not giving up hope. They think more tornado survivors can be found.

They have already pulled 17 people from the rubble since yesterday. Sunday's monster twister has left 117 people dead at least and of course, the city's a disaster. We're monitoring a news conference that's set to get underway this hour.

And one hour from now, Israel's prime minister will address both houses of Congress. Benjamin Netanyahu's speech comes a few days after President Obama suggested Israel redraw its borders as part of a Middle East peace deal. You can see his speech live right here on CNN. That starts in just about 45 minutes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In Joplin, Missouri, the suffering and the fear are taking new shape today. The city manager says gas leaks are spewing all over the city presenting a new danger for crews digging through the tornado's rubble. That risk in addition to the violent weather that has settled on Joplin, yesterday two rescue workers were hit by lightning.

And in a cruel twist, more tornadoes are possible tonight, today across the region. Right now as I said, the death toll stands at 117. That makes it the single deadliest tornado since 1950 when modern recordkeeping began.

Also new this morning, President Obama announces he does plan to visit Missouri on Sunday. Exactly one week after the tornado struck Joplin.

Let's get the latest from Joplin now from T.J. Holmes who has -- you've been showing us amazing things this morning, T.J.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We keep - I mean, every story seems to be more amazing, quite frankly, than the rest, Carol. I'm seeing one of the saddest things. We'll share it with you in a bit. But I essentially see a woman's house that's moved from one corner to the other. She is walking through that rubble of her home now trying to find anything she can. She's only finding like a baseball cap, a pair of pants, anything to salvage.

But we'll be talking more about that. But right now, I want to talk to a couple young men who will never forget their graduation day. You know, graduation -- high school graduation's a big night no matter what. You're not supposed to forget. What did you think it your graduation night?

GRIFFIN SONATY, JOPLIN TORNADO SURVIVOR: It was - I mean, we were supposed to be staying up all night for another reason, for project grad. I mean, the all-night party that we have for it. It was definitely for a different reason, but I'm sure I'll remember it.

HOLMES: Yes, to our viewers, graduation night if you didn't know was Sunday night. As soon as your graduation Keegan was wrapping up was right when the tornado was hitting. What were they telling you as they were handing you your diploma?

KEEGAN TIMNEY, JOPLIN TORNADO SURVIVOR: Well, we got them - they said the tornado signs are going off right now, we're like, OK. Just another day of tornadoes because we've been born and raised in Tornado Alley so we didn't really think much of it. Then after an hour later we saw what it did and it was horrible.

HOLMES: OK, when did it get real, Griffin? You hit on the same point. Quite honestly, I'm the say, born and raised in Arkansas. I hear a tornado siren, I go back to sleep, quite frankly.

That was the case, but when did it get real for you -- you knew this wasn't another siren, just another watch or warning that would turn out to be nothing?

SONATY: You know, we were sitting in the restaurant that we went to. The power went out and they made everybody go to the middle of the restaurant. Even then I was like, OK, it's storming outside, blowing pretty bad and everything.

But then once -- once I got home and I started hearing the things over the radio, heard my dad talking because he knows -- he knew what was going on, I finally realized what had happened. I heard some of the stuff that was happening closer to the middle of town. It was just surreal.

HOLMES: All right. Guys, I've got to let you go, but Keegan, you've got to say a word about your friend that has been in the news who's missing, another senior that graduated right now.

This young man, just tell our viewers quickly what you know, what you've been able to find out about you friend.

TIMNEY: Right now, we know his car is down about two blocks from where we're at. His house is another two blocks over. We haven't really gotten anything confirmed except that he was seen at the hospital.

Other than that - it's Will Norton and there have been hotlines and e-mails set up. So if anybody has information, get hold of their family or us and let us know.

HOLMES: Yes. I think we have the Facebook page up right now, Carol. This is someone we have actually paid some attention to and just focus on here at CNN. This is one of their best friends. I believe you said you all were in sixth grade.

His home, Carol, is back in the distance over here. Not too far from where we are. His vehicle was found down just at the end of the street that I'm on here, but there's no Will. There's no Will Norton. Nobody knows where the young man is and these two and many others are trying to track him down.

COSTELLO: T.J., this is the young man who was in the Hummer with his dad and was like sucked out of the -- his seat belt was even on and he was sucked out through the sunroof.

HOLMES: The Hummer -- again, you all were describing where it was. What have you all been told about that story? And as far as him being on his way home?

SONATY: I know from his sister, I've talked to his sister. She said she was on the phone with him whenever he was in the car with his dad. And his -- his dad was out -- him and his dad were about 30 seconds behind the family.

And another car, and her dad told them to open up the garage door because they were almost there and then she heard him say to will, "pull over, pull over." And then that's the last that she heard from him. And going by the pictures that we saw of his car, it had rolled over and -- I'm not sure exactly what happened.

HOLMES: All right, but again, a lot of stories, a lot of concern like that. Someone that they believe is in the hospital somewhere, but still missing. You have many others still missing, maybe under rubble.

The search and rescue continues right now. Thank you to you gentlemen for taking the time out. Griffin, Keegan, these guys going to college next year, playing football at the local school.

This one is going to the University of Arkansas so life will go on, but right now people taking a pause to take care of each other, Carol.

COSTELLO: T.J., thank you.

There are more storms, believe it or not, in the forecast today. Meteorologist Alexandra Steele joins us now. So I even hate to talk about this.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's so heartbreaking, isn't it? You know, and you talked about him being thrown out of the window, being sucked out with the seat belt on. Now this was deemed an EF4 tornado. Now one degree shy, one level shy with 198 mile-per- hour winds associated with this thing.

So it certainly has the potential to have 200 mile-per- hour winds, would classify it as an EF5. The classification systems are done on damage, the survey teams that go out so just an incredible site and certainly so heartbreaking.

And unfortunately we've got a textbook setup once again today and also tomorrow for the atmosphere to come together to create long- track tornadoes, EF4, EF5 certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

So let me just share the big picture radar wise. This is the atmosphere and this is the area we're most concerned about today, but I don't want to leave out the mid-Atlantic. We do have right now a thunderstorm watch posted through the afternoon, through 5:00, for Virginia, North Carolina.

The potential for two-inch hail, the isolated tornadoes, tornadic activity doesn't seem as big there, but we could see very heavy rain, also tornadoes isolated in nature but hail there, as well. So here's a look at the area of concern.

Most of concern, and really, the bull's eye for today's weather and who, once again, will see it -- unfortunately it is Joplin and just west of Joplin. Here's a look. This magenta-purple area is what we have called a high-risk area.

On the average we have about five a year or so and that's what we're going to see, meaning it is the potential and most likely we will see strong, long track tornadoes today. Wichita, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Joplin, you see just out of the picture so another scary day, Carol, in store for the same area.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Alexandra.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): With Joplin's limited phone service, people are turning to social media and the internet, even the radio to communicate with each other to search for missing loved ones like Skuylar Logsdon, a little over a year old.

He was cuddled with his family in a hallway on Sunday when that tornado -- it took his entire house. His story popped up on Facebook. It's been posted across the internet. His family even called in to a Missouri radio station, anything to get the word out to find that missing baby. Here's what his great uncle told me last hour.

FRANK REYNOLDS, GREAT UNCLE OF MISSING BABY (via telephone): The night of the tornado, that evening, and they had him in the hallway in the house. They all got undercover in the hallway in the house. When the tornado hit, they lost track of him. We haven't seen him since.

COSTELLO: Was Skyular's mother holding on to him?

REYNOLDS: Yes, she was. She lost him in the aftermath of all of this. It's terrible and no one's seen him since. The rest of the family's doing OK. We've got to find him.

COSTELLO: Here are few other faces of the missing. Relatives are looking for Michelle Quavado and her daughter, Isabel. Tiara Whitley was shopping when the tornado hit. No one has heard from her since.

And people looking for Margaret Bjoergenson. She lives in the Mercy Village Retirement Community, very close to St. John's Regional Medical Center, which was hit by the tornado.

You can find out how you can help, please go to CNN.com Specials Impact Your World Web site.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses both houses of Congress less than an hour from now. And you can bet he will talk about President Obama's idea for a Palestinian peace deal.

Netanyahu calls Obama a friend of Israel, but he's not so happy with a call to redraw Israel's borders. He's here's what he told a pro-Israel lobbying group.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill. So, Dana, how do you think Congress will greet the prime minister?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wow, you're going to see a different kind of feeling and atmosphere here, Carol. The tension that has marked the prime minister's meeting so far because of attention with President Obama, I'm almost -- I guarantee it will be virtually undetected when it steps into the chamber to address a joint session of Congress in about an hour.

There's always been bipartisan support, enormous bipartisan support for Israel here in Congress. You know, this whole controversy over the president's speech last week to return Israel to pre-1967 borders with land swaps, it's actually causing a rift with congressional leaders, even those in his own party.

You played a sound bite from Netanyahu at APEC last night, the pro-Israel lobby. Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, spoke there, too as did the House speaker, John Boehner. Both of them made clear that they're not happy with the president's comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: No one should set premature parameters about borders, about building, or about anything else.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Doubts about what America stands for and who America stands with slows the search for peace and stability in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now as for the Israeli prime minister, Carol, I'm told by sources that I've spoken to who have spoken to him and people around him that he wants to use this very friendly platform here in Congress to talk about the peace process going forward.

To try to rebuild the peace process and to lay out what he's called in private and public meetings the truth, what he says is the truth about the way Israel is dealing with the process and dealing with Palestinians in that region, Carol.

COSTELLO: It's interesting, Dana, because President Obama mentioned going back to these pre-1967 borders. That's not on the table, and it's not going to happen. It's probably not going to move the peace deal forward any.

So why did President Obama do this? And politically since both parties are kind of throwing darts at him right now, what has it done to him politically?

BASH: Well, in terms of the peace process, it's important to underscore -- I know you've reported this, as well -- this has been part of the conversation in private. The difference is the president said it in private, which speaks to the politics of this which are important.

At the APAC where thousands and thousands of Jewish leaders from around country and activists has come, this was a split in whether or not they still believe in President Obama. But as for the Israeli prime minister, it's important to underscore the meeting going forward.

That he is not like any other -- he's just like his predecessors in that he has a lot of faith in Congress, much more historically than the president because presidents come and go. Historically members of Congress are here a lot longer.

COSTELLO: Dana Bash live from Capitol Hill. Many thanks.

Netanyahu will spell out his vision of the Middle East peace before both chambers of Congress that will happen at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. CNN's live coverage begins at 10:45 a.m. Eastern Time.

Despite all the hype, doomsday was a dud.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When May 21 came and went, it was a very difficult time for me, a very difficult time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Don't worry so much, though. He has rescheduled the rapture.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: After 25 years, Oprah's show ends on Wednesday. She will devote her time to the Oprah Winfrey Network, but how did she become Oprah? It seems her spanking list has one name at the top.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: You know, over the years any time anybody asks me how it got started, I always behind your back, Dennis, give you the credit. I never have said it to you, to your face, how much courage I think that took at the time. You made such a difference in my life. That's what I'm trying to on this show every day is to be able to in some way make a difference people's lives. I wanted to say loud enough for the whole world to hear, Dennis, I thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And TV executive Dennis Swanson, he joins us now live. And when you hear that sound bite and you watch this week of Oprah's show, gee, you must be feeling fantastic.

DENNIS SWANSON, PRESIDENT OF STATION OPERATIONS, FOX TV: Well, you know, it was a proud moment. I'm glad that I could play a part in it. She's a wonderful person and she's always been gracious in her thanks to me.

You know, she's done very well in her life, and people ask me what did I get out of it. You know, I got promoted and, you know, life's been good for me, as well.

COSTELLO: Glad to hear that because I do remember the man who gave me my first real chance at the news business. He holds a special place in my heart. You said you took a risk in hiring Oprah. What was that risk?

SWANSON: Well, I think the risk was, you know, she was an African-American female and at the time, you know, it seems normal today. In those days, it was sort of a male-dominated business. You know, Phil Donahue was the major talent.

But that was one of the reasons I thought we should go the female route. We were not beating him head to head, and when I got there, I said to the people who work for me, you know, let's look and give the viewers an alternative and let's focus on female talent. You know, we -- which is what we did and Oprah was the one that came out of that. COSTELLO: And she was quite successful. So when you look at -- I don't know. Back when you hired the younger Oprah Winfrey and when you look at the older, mature, very successful -- I mean, did she change? Did you see that in her? Did you ever believe she would become Oprah?

SWANSON: Well, I had no doubt that she was going to be successful. I sat -- we brought her in for an audition on a Saturday morning, Labor Day weekend, 1983. And as I sat there and watched that audition, I thought, oh, my goodness, Dennis, you can't be this lucky.

This is the answer to what we called at the time the "A.M. Chicago" show and in fact, it was a holiday weekend. When we were through with the taping everybody split. It was just her and me. And we had a long conversation late that morning and she'd asked me if I had concerns.

And, you know, we talked a little about that, and then I said, yes, the only concern I have is are you going to be able to handle success? I mean, you look at our business, and you see how many people don't handle success very well and there are some pretty ready examples of that today.

You know, she -- she absolutely has handled her success in a brilliant fashion. Is she the same Oprah as she was in those days, no. I mean, she has evolved over the years. But when you think that she went into syndication, been number one for 25 years, you know, that's a pretty remarkable streak.

I don't know that anybody's ever going to top that. There will be other talented people, but I don't know that anybody can put together a string like that.

COSTELLO: So, you know, quickly, what will her legacy be?

SWANSON: I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.

COSTELLO: What do you think her legacy will be?

SWANSON: I think her legacy will be that she gave back and Oprah has always been a very generous person. She has shared herself, her life's experiences. She's helped so many people and I was at the taping last Tuesday, you'll see one of those shows today on television.

And that is going to be her legacy, was always her willingness to share and share her life and her experiences. And you're going to hear more of Oprah. I mean, she's going to go on. She's got her own network. She'll just change her focus.

COSTELLO: Dennis Swanson, thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate it.

SWANSON: Carol, thank you very much. Have a good day.

COSTELLO: Thank you. You never know who you'll run into at Buckingham Palace. The president and the first lady ran into those people -- the newlyweds, Will and Kate. We'll talk more about the Obamas day in London coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Our special coverage of the Missouri tornado continues just ahead. Checking on some other stories cross country now -

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): The Supreme Court has ordered California to trim its state prison population by more than 30,000. It's just got two years to do it. The problem, huge overcrowding that the court found cruel and unusual. State officials hope it avoid mass releases.

New York City's expanded smoking ban has now taken effect. No lighting up at parks, beaches, or pedestrian plazas, you know, like Times Square. Violators risk a $50 fine.

He may seem like he's 0-2 on the rapture, but the Christian broadcaster forecasting the doomsday drama said he just misunderstood the bible's message.

HAROLD CAMPING, CHRISTIAN BROADCASTER: The great earthquake and rapture and the universe melting in fervent heat will happen on the last day, October 21, 2011. In other words, we are -- we've been teaching that it would happen on May 21, but it's all going to be compressed on the last day.

COSTELLO: He just changed the date now. He says it will happen on October 21.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: We want to head live to Joplin, Missouri, where emergency management officials are holding a press conference. Let's listen in.

MARK ROHR, JOPLIN CITY MANAGER: Not only on the city's side and the volunteer side, but we would ask that everyone else keep that in perspective and that you help us get the word out to accomplish that end.

We will allow photos from afar. We still need to contain the work area to allow those volunteers to get in and do their work and rescue people. Citizens can contact the following phone number for status on their friends and their family -- 417-659-5464. Once again, 417-659-5464 or log on to the following web site -- www.safeandwell.org. Once again, www.safeandwell.org, s-a-f-e and w- e-l-l.dot-org.

The second message we have today, which is very important is we have to test our emergency sirens during the good weather to make sure that they're fully operable. Because we're following the advice of our friends from the National Weather Service and there's the possibility of further inclement weather.

So we have to make sure they're up and running so we can protect our citizens. We have nine sirens that we will sound at 10:30 a.m. this morning with the sun out, hopefully, and we need to get word out to residents not to panic, not to be alarmed that we have to do this to ensure their future safety.

Once again, at 10:30 a.m., we're going to sound the sirens at nine locations throughout the city to test them, to make sure that they're working properly. And we want to make sure people don't panic and don't overreact to those sirens. We're just doing that so if we need to affect repairs we know where we have a problem, and we can go about doing so.

Once again, Joplin is a great city. We've suffered a devastating loss. We will recover, and we will recover strongly, more strongly than we were when we began. And we will accomplish that end, and we have a lot of volunteers and a lot of help to facilitate that.

The last message that we want to convey today is those people that do need help in terms of recovery. We have our friends from FEMA here that have done a wonderful job being on the ground and partnering with the city and offering a personal touch to work with us to work with the citizens to make sure they get the assistance they need.

And we have information that we want to convey, but I wanted to introduce the deputy director of FEMA, Rich Serino. He came from D.C. to help us here, and he's going to provide some specific information that we would like your assistance to deliver to the residents.

So they know what they can do to get the help they need so they can yet their lives back to -- can get their lives back to normal as soon as possible. Rich, if you would come up and deliver some of that information.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Quickly, I want you to know -- I have this written down, I haven't asked because of the wind. Afterwards, I can go around and do it. That way you aren't trying to get the numbers --

RICHARD SERINO, FEMA DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Thank you. It's arrive -- I arrived here yesterday, and the president was able to declare the two counties involved a disaster area, which freed up the ability for people to get individual assistance as well as bring public assistance as needed.

One thing that we want people to do is when they need help is to call 1-800-621-fema. That's 1-800-621-fema or they can go to www.disasterassistance.gov, www.disasterassistance.gov or m.fema.gov. Any of those sites people can go, register and get some help.

With that we'll be able to offer them individual assistance as they need it, as they're moving forward. I also have to on behalf of Secretary Napolitano who I was speaking with, giving her an update of the situation, that FEMA's going to be here not just for today or tomorrow, but for the long haul to support the governor, to support the state, and to support the city of Joplin.

To support the survivors who need the help the most. We're going to be looking at the long term, but I have to say in the short term with the individuals and the city manager and fire chief and people that the city of Joplin have done between the police, the fire, the EMS, the emergency management, has been amazing what they've been able to accomplish in the first 24 hours.

Even in the first 12 hours when I arrived on scene. They had the roads essentially clear for people to get to. So they've been doing an unbelievable job on scene so far. So again, 1-800-621-fema and also redcross.org, in addition for people if they need help looking for their loved ones, they can go to redcross.org, as well. Thank you.

ROHR: Thank you, Rich. We're going to do -- we've got some more efforts afoot to get the word out in terms of help from FEMA, but we would appreciate anything you can do to help disseminate the information to help the residents of the city. We've got other people up here, Keith Stammer, the emergency coordinator and Fire Chief Randall, our friends from the state highway patrol and other FEMA reps.

We'd be willing to respond to questions. Once again, Mr. Randles is probably better equipped to deal with specific questions about the recovery process.

QUESTION: How do you make the transition from search and rescue to recovery? What kind of indicators are you looking for, and do you have that scheduled (INAUDIBLE)?

ROHR: Well, we've got a process that we're going through right now. We've already done an initial search of the entire area, and then a deeper search the second time through. We're going to finish that up toward midday. And then the chief has a third trip planned through and then a fourth trip with the assistance of other resources that we have available. I'll let him speak to the specifics of that.

QUESTION: Do you think you'll be done with the first phase by today, then the recovery for tomorrow or --

CHIEF MITCH RANDLES, JOPLIN FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, phase one, the quick search through the area has been completed. Phase two is what we're in the middle of, and we're hoping to complete that by midday. At the same time we're finishing that, we'll start a third sweep through the city with our large amount of mutual aid partners and EMS crews that are in town and hope to get at least halfway through the city until the weather hits later today is what we're being told.

After that, we'll make it a sweep through the entire area with search and rescue dogs just as a fourth effort to get through there. After we can those that and (INAUDIBLE). A lot of this depends on the weather. Today we hope to get a lot done. We have the better weather we've seen in 48 hours. So, we have every available individual that we can get out doing the search work. And so, that's basically where we are. QUESTION: Chief, the first search is done, and the city manager mentioned the second deeper search. What are some of the specific things that are different about the second search, and are there specific places that you're looking now that might have potential survivors still?

RANDLES: Well, as far as the second search, it's a little bit slower, more methodical search of those areas. As far as specific areas, it's basically the tornado path, the destruction path. We're searching every structure that's been damaged or destroyed in a more in-depth manner.

The third search through is once again going to be similar to that. And then the fourth search through will be with those search and rescue dogs. But I've got dogs and dog handlers coming in from around the country to help with the effort.

QUESTION: Chief, how many people are unaccounted for right now?

RANDLES: I don't have an exact number of that yet. We are still working on that. As you can imagine, there's a lot of confusion. There's a lot of inability for folks to communicate because of the cell phone issues and power issues. So, I'm just not comfortable giving a number out on that yet.

QUESTION: What kind of things have happened so far today in terms of finding people? We heard people are still coming out of the rubble.

RANDLES: We are still finding individuals. We did rescue seven individuals from underneath the rubble yesterday. And of course, we're also finding several deceased folks, as well. You know, it's just really incredible, the fact that we're still finding people. We're hoping to find more folks, and that's why we're doing these searches. We want to make every opportunity we can to find everybody that is still in the rubble and has survived to this point out of that.

QUESTION: What are those updated numbers? What are the casualties, the injuries --

RANDLES: I don't have those yet this morning. We're still working on those.

QUESTION: Higher than the 116 that you gave us yesterday?

RANDLES: No. Still 116 is what we're holding out this morning.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) -- office said 117.

RANDLES: That's not from us.

QUESTION: Any survivors found today?

RANDLES: Not to my knowledge. I mean, this is one of my first stops, so I haven't had a chance to sit down with those numbers yet. QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) yesterday was also said to be 17 rescue, not seven.

RANDLES: Seven is the official number.

QUESTION: What's the situation with looting right now?

RANDLES: Once again, I'm doing search and rescue. I'm not doing looting. That would be more of a police question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Sergeant Collins (ph). I'm with the state patrol. There were a few isolated incidents, and those have been taken care of. We have an excellent number of officers that are -- high number of officers that are in the tornado's path, in that area. And they're checking anyone and everyone that comes out.

I can't stress enough -- yesterday was a problem with sightseers coming in. You know, every news station is streaming this live and on the Internet. If you want to see the destruction, watch it on TV. If you don't belong in the area, please stay home. The traffic impedes our ability to do the search and rescue mission.

QUESTION: Any word on the police officer who was struck by lightning yesterday, on his condition?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was an officer that was struck by lightning. And he is in the hospital with critical injuries.

QUESTION: What department is he from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That information is not being released yet.

QUESTION: Was that one or two officers?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were two officers that were struck. One was minor injuries, one had critical injuries.

QUESTION: During search and rescue time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were on post, manning a traffic post at 20th and Connecticut Street.

QUESTION: Is there a certain structure or a certain neighborhood that you're going to be focusing on the most as far as search and recovery goes?

RANDLES: This morning, we're trying to finish off the search in some of our larger, more technical rescue areas. In particular, you're going to see a lot of stuff going on around Home Depot and Wal- Mart area. Those are two of our larger buildings that require special tools and equipment and special knowledge that I have in town with the USAR teams. So, we're concentrating efforts over there with those individual team members.

Then we have a section in the center of town where there's apartment complexions around 20th and Connecticut, and several blocks either side of that. That's going to be the other area of concentration because of the large number of people that are in that neighborhood and live in that neighborhood.

That's our two that we're focusing on. All of the other areas have been cleared by the second search. And we'll be starting the third search in those today. We'll have two different levels of searches going on at the same time.

QUESTION: Any estimate as far as how many people you might be looking for in Home Depot and Wal-Mart?

RANDLES: No.

QUESTION: One person recovered from Home Depot --

RANDLES: There was one person recovered from Home Depot yesterday --

QUESTION: Alive?

RANDLES: Alive.

QUESTION: Of those injured, can you give us a breakdown of how many are still hospitalized, how many are critical?

RANDLES: No, I have no idea of that.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) Have you heard any sounds -- (INAUDIBLE)

RANDLES: We're getting sporadic reports of, you know, cries for help from rubble piles. Of course, we are immediately responding to any of those, and researching that. Most of those are turning out to be false at this time. But we -- we are, you know, hopeful that we will still be finding people.

QUESTION: What kind of funding are we looking at right now as far as federal and state is concerned?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now the president has said that the entire federal family is going to be here to support, we'll be here for the long haul. At this point in time, we're not looking at the dollars. We're looking at -- in the search and rescue mode and going to be here for the long haul looking at specifically, you know, helping with the recovery and the long-term housing needs, as well.

QUESTION: How much money has come? How much federal money has come to aid (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven't even put a dollar figure on that yet. What we're doing now is concentrating on getting help into here and we're bringing as much help as we need to get here.

QUESTION: Sir, as far as the other storms that you've been around and seen different destruction, how does this compare? A lot of people say it's the worst they've ever seen. Would you agree? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been a totally devastating -- we look at each disaster on its own merit. This one is -- you know, certainly among the worst that I've ever seen. And with that, it's also something that, you know, the resiliency of the people in this communities, in Joplin, Missouri, with everything they've gone through, you know, over the past few days and the past few weeks has been something that to me has been heartening. Just to see the work that the first responders and talking to survivors, it's have been impressive.

QUESTION: When you look around at the devastation, we can't even imagine when and how this is actually going to come back - (INAUDIBLE). Can you give us an estimate or an optimistic look at when this community can come back together?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to necessarily put a time frame. We're very early on in this. Having been to other communities, having been to Greensburg, Kansas, that was literally devastated by a tornado - not to this magnitude but the entire town gone. They rebuilt that entire community. The town people came back. And talking to people here, they're going to rebuild the community and are looking forward to rebuilding this community and being proud of it in doing that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have looked ahead at the different stages of recovery. We have our planning department at this point in time working on that very task, thinking about the future and how to work with the citizens to rebuild a certain portion of our city. And we are thinking ahead, and we are developing plans.

But our first focus right now is search and rescue. That's what we're concentrating on at this point time.

We have -- we do have an eye on the future and realize that there's other things to come, and we're working on that.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we've been told I think around 6:00 that we could have some challenges. But we're hoping for sunshine up until that point so we can further our cause here and affect a search and rescue.

QUESTION: Will you take on the search and rescue a little bit differently just because of what happened yesterday?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we don't want anyone getting hurt while we affect the search and rescue and did pull the people in at a certain point in time after we experienced what we went through yesterday. So, that is a priority of ours, and we have that in mind as we go forward.

QUESTION: Now as far as the safe and well Web site that you guys have, some people have called saying it's running a little slow. Is there any sort of backup to that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now if they can go to RedCross.org, that will lead them to the safe and well, as well. So, RedCross.org/safeandwell. Just go on to RedCross.org, and they can go get the links from there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I assume it's running slow probably because there are a number of hits on the site. Again, we have to be patient. Many lives have been hit. It's not just the city of Joplin's citizens, as you know. As obviously, all the loved ones, all the family members around the world that are concerned. As you can see, we have a barrage of media interested in this. You guys are getting the word out there. So, a lot of people are just now hearing, touching in. So, again, we're using you to get the word out.

With that said, I think we're about ready to close this conference off. We'll have another one at 5:00. Again, the weather is going to be iffy. I'm going to try and get the armory if it's raining. You saw the lightning, you saw the horrible storms we had last night. We do not want to put anybody at risk having press conferences out in the weather.

So, please, if you haven't got your media credentials, it's key that you do that. Becky and Vicky are here to do that. Be patient with them, as well. They're working as hard as they can. We're working to put our e-mail list together to e-mail you guys. That's got to be the key. As much as I want to talk with you individually, I'm not going to be able to touch every one of you.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now it will be here unless the weather is bad. If the weather's bad, I'm looking at the armory. I do not have that concern, but I will put the information on Facebook --

COSTELLO: All right. We're going it pull away from this right now. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In order to get information to you, you got to give me your information. Thank you all.

COSTELLO: We're going to pull away from this press conference. As you heard, bad weather is moving in. Maybe it will hit at 5:00 p.m. Missouri time. But tomorrow morning is when the really bad weather will be moving in. And Missouri emergency management officials will sound the sirens at 10:30 a.m. Missouri time just to see if everything's working. So, don't be afraid. That will happen tomorrow, Tuesday.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back with more.

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