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ABC News Anchor Michael Strahan, Daughter of Alan Shepard, Laura Shepard Churchley, and Other Passengers Take Flight to Edge of Space on Blue Origin's Third Launch; Tornado Devastates Parts of Kentucky; Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear Interviewed on Rescue Efforts in Wake of Tornado; Woman Who Survived in Collapsed Candle Factory after Tornado Hit Interviewed on Her Experience; College Football Holds Annual Army-Navy Game. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired December 11, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The spacecraft is actually named after Alan, so she's on a spacecraft in her namesake. They are riding along with four other paying customers this morning.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: How cool is that. I don't know if it's my coffee, Boris, but I'm like almost trembling, I'm so excited to see this live.

Similar to previous flights, the mission is expected to last about 10 minutes from takeoff to landing, with the crew experiencing about three minutes of weightlessness before the capsule starts to descend back to earth. And we're being told t-minus one minute. Is that the correct way to say it? There's about less than a minute left before launch.

But as Boris was saying, this is really a remarkable moment, six passengers on board. I guess one of the stars of the flight is Michael Strahan, the ABC News personality, but who I found super interesting is Laura Shepard, the eldest daughter of Alan Shepard. He was the first American to fly to space back in 1961. And I didn't know this, he actually also eventually walked on the moon in the Apollo 14 mission about 10 years later, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, they are joining a team. Actually, let's go ahead and listen in. We're just about 15 seconds from takeoff. We're going to walk you through all of it. But let's go ahead and listen and watch history as it unfolds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- nine, eight, seven, six, five, four -- main engine start -- two, one --

SANCHEZ: We are now watching Blue Origin's New Shepard's spacecraft with a successful liftoff of its 19th flight, hovering more than 62 miles above earth. It hits speeds upwards of 2,100 miles an hour, a total of an 11-minute flight. Now, Amara, it is simply hovering just on the edge of space. Imagine what it's like to see that view in that person.

WALKER: Zero gravity it looks like they have entered. This is astounding to watch live.

Let's bring in CNN's Rachel Crane live at the launch site in Texas, and Colonel Chris Hadfield, a former International Space Station commander. Rachel, you are there on the ground. What was it like when it took off?

RACHEL CRANE, CNN INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: You guys -- yes, I'm sorry to cut you off. I just get so excited. This stuff never gets old, being on the ground here for these historic rocket launches. And now they're happening just a month apart. Right now, we know they're in zero-g. We can hear their voices, hear the excitement, this incredible experience, the ride of their lives, really.

[10:05:07]

So, it's incredible that we're hearing this in real time. And they are just getting those three minutes of priceless weightlessness. We actually don't know how much those paying customers have paid for their seats. We know it's a pretty penny. And we certainly know that they are taking in that incredible view from those gorgeous windows. The windows on this space capsule, you guys, it takes up a third of the entire capsule. These are the largest windows, they say, that have ever flown into space before. So these are those few moments that they get, they're soaking it all in before they start to make the journey back down to earth.

Now, that journey back down to earth is a parachuted landing here at launch site one. You will see some parachutes to stabilize the vehicle before the three main parachutes deploy, before it makes a very, very gentle landing because of these retro-thrusters. You'll see a huge burst of dust here in the desert. That's because these retro-thrusters make a cushioned landing. It really lands at about one mile per hour, which is absolutely incredible.

And we're also going to see that booster landing. That's because the space capsule and the booster that flew today, they have already flown four times before. Reusability is now the standard in the space industry. This was once the stuff of science fiction. So we don't just see as a rocket launch today and a landing. We see a booster landing as well. And it makes that pinpoint landing. This will be the fifth time that this booster will have done so. So that should be happens just any minute now, in I'd say about a minute.

But any minute now, the astronauts on board, the six of them, they'll be strapping back into their seats. I'm sure they'll be very disappointed to be coming back down to earth, Boris and Amara.

SANCHEZ: And Chris, you've been blessed to experience what they're feeling now in much more dramatic terms. You spent quite a bit of time on the International Space Station. But even these few minutes of weightlessness, and we're hearing in the background is Michael Strahan cheering and shouting his head off. For us that have never had that opportunity to go off into space, what is that like?

COL. CHRIS HADFIELD, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Boris, it's a few minutes beyond earth. And as Rachel was saying, you're weightless, which is like you've suddenly been given a superpower. You can fly. Michael Strahan has had super powers before, but he can fly right now. And they can see all the way, like halfway across the United States in just a glance, the curve of the world. And they're up in the blackness of space. They're way above the thin blue of the atmosphere. And it may be a short time, but it's really a perspective-altering time. And they'll be soaking up the last little bids of it as they strap in. But it's an amazing human experience enabled by this new technology. It's wonderful to watch, and especially for Laura. Her dad did it 60 years ago, almost the exact same flight. She getting to experience that profile now.

WALKER: Rachel, you're pointing out what you're seeing. What are you seeing from your vantage point?

CRANE: Right, so I don't know if you guys can hear. We just heard the sonic boom of the booster landing. I kept looking over my shoulder because we could see it landing right behind me, that booster, so making the fifth time -- they just confirmed it, booster touchdown, which we just saw. And what we hear now, I think -- that's still just the reverberation of the sonic boom.

But anyway, so we know, we can confirm that the booster has landed. The capsule will be landing any time soon. But as Chris was just pointing out, he was speaking of the moment in zero gravity that these astronauts just got to experience, it's often called --

SANCHEZ: Rachel, let's stop for a moment and just listen into this landing.

An impressive landing as we see a bit of flame coming from the side of the engine. I'm sorry to cut you off, Rachel, but what are you seeing on the ground? And continue with what you were saying before about the experience.

CRANE: So right now where we are, we can't see anything just yet. I don't have my eyes on the capsule. Hopefully I'll see it anytime soon, I'll be able to tell you guys when I do have my eyes on it.

But what I was speaking of before is the overview effect, the philosophical shift that happens that astronauts speak of. And Chris can certainly speak to this. What happens to you when see the curvature of the earth and you see the world without boundaries, that it fundamentally changes you. We heard William Shatner speak so eloquently about this once he landed just a little over a month ago. Same thing with Jeff Bezos.

[10:10:00]

And really, most astronauts who have traveled to space speak about this overview effects and how it makes them stewards of planet earth. And that's really one of the motivations that Blue Origin has behind this whole New Shepard program, they want to help democratize space, allow more people to travel into space to they can become stewards of planet earth.

I think we do, we have now, guys, I can confirm I have eyes on the capsule. We see the parachutes have deployed, so we know our astronauts are safely coming back down to earth. We hear them cheering right now in the capsule. We hear them clapping. Certainly, they have enjoyed their journey. And they should be landing any minute now.

SANCHEZ: Roughly 1,700 feet -- right. Roughly 1,700 feet above the earth right now as the parachutes have been deployed. It appears to have been a successful mission thus far.

Chris, from your perspective, Jeff Bezos says that the mission of Blue Origin is colonize space. How does that make you feel? What do you think when you hear that?

HADFIELD: I think this today is a really great example of just how improved our technology has come since Al Shepard flew and my three space flights. And it's sort of just taking those early steps permanently away from earth. People living on the space station for the last 21 years, that's our early forays. And I'm really interesting what these six new astronauts, what they're now going to do with the experience. And I'm delighted that Michael Strahan, with the number of people that watch him as a T.V. host, they're going to be able to really get something with that personal impact and what it meant to him.

And I think that piece, the technological and the human impacts, those are the two big pieces that really strike home for me and that really lend significance to what happened out in west Texas today.

SANCHEZ: Let's listen as they get close to about 150 -- there it is. They have now landed. Let's listen in.

(CHEERING)

WALKER: From the passengers inside --

SANCHEZ: We will be standing by, as we get to hear from the astronauts just landing, what appears to be a successful Blue Origin flight. Rachel, what are you seeing from where you are?

CRANE: So first of all, I just want to highlight you could hear some cheers here on the ground once that capsule touched down. We don't have eyes on it quite from where we are. We're a few miles away from where they landed. Right now, we know that the response teams are heading out there to go get the astronauts out of their seats and onto the ground so they can have that reunion moment with their families. Of course, the families wait with bated breath as their loved once catapult to space. So there will be champagne showers, as we've seen with these other launches. And I'll have the opportunity to speak with the astronauts at the booster, hearing about their first thoughts upon landing.

And I have to tell you guys, I am certainly incredibly envious of Michael Strahan and the journey that he and his fellow astronauts got to take. I cannot wait to hear from Laura Shepard Churchley. She followed today in the footsteps of her father, the first American to ever travel to space back in 1961 with his journey. She is taking a somewhat similar journey that her father did. And she was only 12 years old when her father took that incredible journey. She was then in college when her father went to the moon.

But it's so poetic that she is now following in her father's footsteps. And she took a few mementoes that I can't way to tell you all about with her up to space to commemorate her father. So just a really beautiful, beautiful story line there.

And as Chris was just saying, I'm incredibly excited to hear what Michael has to say because gets to be a microphone for the world. He is a professional communicator. There has been some discussion, he is true journalist here, or a T.V. personality, but regardless, he is going to be very, very eloquently be able to tell the world about his experience and describe what it's like, really for the masses, for the rest of us, what this journey was like.

WALKER: And to pick up on that point, Rachel, it really was a beautiful liftoff and landing. And just to see how elegantly those parachutes deployed, and how they came down so gracefully, and then just a few moments ago from that really large window, we saw somebody waving, looking up into the sky. It's just a really exciting moment. I'm trembling there with you.

[10:15:02]

And Colonel Hadfield, you were talking about how this is a perspective-altering trip, even if you're up there for just a few minutes. But it's also life-altering, right? Tell us what you expect to hear from them, or how has it been life-altering for you to have been in space multiple times?

HADFIELD: Yes, I spent about half a year up, but either way, the experience is the important thing. And they're going to have to really think about this now for a while, because it's all gone by quickly. There's lots of video and stuff, but they're going to have to take a little while to try and integrate into themselves, and really think about, wow, what did I just see? What did I just do? And what does that mean to me? And then hopefully figure a way to reflect that back and let other people share in the newness of the human experience.

Al Shepard had to do that for his whole life after his first flight as an American. I've done it in multiple different ways, but the onus is really on these six people to try and make sure as many people benefit from that new understanding of what our world really looks like and what the atmosphere really looks like from the vantage point that they've just had. So I'm really excited to hear what they're going to do next.

WALKER: I wanted to ask you this as this was happening. Could you just take us through what they're seeing and feeling as they lift off, get to zero gravity, and then come back down?

HADFIELD: That engine has a million horsepower, Amara, a million horsepower. And so it crushed them in the seat, like two or three people, or actually three-and-a-half people were lying on top of them for a long time, two-and-a-half minutes. But then suddenly, instantaneously, the engine shuts off, and it's as if you've just been thrown off a cliff. Suddenly you're weightless and floating around the room. You unstrap. And it's hilarious, but like if we shut off gravity in your studio right now, you and Boris would both start laughing, because it's so much fun.

(LAUGHTER)

HADFIELD: But the window is the mesmerizing thing, to be able to see, it's as if someone just gave you a whole new way to see what you thought everything looked like, like a new eye or a new way of sensing it. It's that different. And then you get a way -- even six months to me was way too brief a time to really see our world, but then back in your seats, especially Michael, who's about as big as you can be to fly this ship and safely get back to earth. But all the systems work perfectly under the parachute. It's just time to shake hands with everybody else, and then a gentle thump back to the world, and then a whole lifetime to reflect on it.

SANCHEZ: It appears as though the door of the capsule is about to be opened. I want to take a moment and listen in to see if we can glean anything from the video we are getting.

It appears that the door has been opened. As we wait, Colonel Hadfield, I do have a question for you. You were talking about the message that these astronauts will have for the world and the importance of what they share in their experience. I know that there are some folks watching this who are cynical about private space travel, who suggest that perhaps these billionaires, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, should spend that money helping people here on earth. From your perspective, what do you say to folks who hold those views?

HADFIELD: Elon Musk has spent billions in helping people on earth by launching weather satellites, earth-sensing satellites, all the way that we can measure the health of the world, measure the size of the Greenland ice cap or the Antarctic ice cap, or the temperatures of the oceans, or the constituents of the atmosphere. That's really expensive and complicated to do from the surface.

Also, communications, how we're talking to each other, and Internet from space, which is just starting, but it is going to soon become the standard. Those are some of the immediate benefits that come from this.

And people buying a ride, that just helps subsidize the real work that's going on in space. And you can't really have one without the other when you build the capability. If you look at the highway of all those different types of vehicles on a highway, it's the same sort of idea. We have to regulate it properly. We have got to integrate it properly, but at the same time -- when Al Shepard flew, that was the first time, and it's not even one full lifetime ago. All of that has happened so fast, and we're just figuring out how it gets integrated into the rest of society. But that ability for a GPS or anything in orbit to help us down here on the earth, we all take it for granted, but it's all a manifestation of the technology that they've helped prove today.

WALKER: There's a huge difference, right, between being up in space for six months, versus being suborbital for just a few minutes. [10:20:02]

But as the astronauts begin to exit, Colonel Hadfield, Do they lose their balance? Do they need assistance? Or is it pretty quick for them to readjust to this world where we live with gravity.

HADFIELD: When you get to weightlessness, your body is a wonderful thing, and it immediately try tries to start adapting to that new thing, new place that you've taken it. But since their weightlessness was so short, only three, three-and-a-half minutes, their body will still be very much an earthling. They won't have turned into space- lings at all.

Even on my first two shuttle flights, which were a week or two, my body was still in transition between earth and space. On my five-month flight, boy, it was very difficult coming back to the world just because my body completely adapted to weightless. But for them it's as if they've just flown the most high-performance vehicle we've ever build and been rattled around and shaken, and they'll be a little bit stunned and overwhelmed, but they're body will be quickly getting their feet back under them again. They'll be OK. Most of what has happened has been psychological.

WALKER: Boris, do you want to go on one of these flights with me?

SANCHEZ: Let's do it.

WALKER: I'm so envious that they were able to get on this flight.

SANCHEZ: My mind immediately goes to what the in-flight meal might be. I'm not sure that in 11 minutes it's going to much. But here is Jeff Bezos right now opening the door of the capsule. Let's listen in for a moment.

(CHEERING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Michael Strahan is out of the capsule. A big hug for our founder, Jeff Bezos, followed by Laura Shepard Churchley, Dylan Taylor, Lane Bess, Cameron Bess, and last, but certainly not least, Evan Dick. Welcome back the original six.

(LAUGHTER)

WALKER: Oh, the electricity of the excitement, I feel it. You absolutely can sense it right now.

I was reading, Colonel Hadfield, that this was one of the most remarkable year for human spates flight. This year, 2021, has seen more flights with people aboard than any year since 1985. And that is when we saw a flurry of activity, and then of course the Challenger explosion happened a year later. But, I guess my question to you, of course, I was jokingly asking Boris if we could somehow get on one of these flights. When is it going to be before regular folk will actually have access to private space flight like this? HADFIELD: It's still expensive, because it's new and complicated. But

it's way cheaper than it was even 10 years ago. You used to have to be a trillionaire to fly in space. An entire nation, the Soviet Union and the United States, and the price has steadily decreased. But you're right, this past year, we have gone from virtually no paying passengers to now, multiple different companies. Three different companies taking people to space. And so the price will continue to drop, opening it up to more and more people where it's not a vast fortune to be able to fly in space. You've got to get from A to Z somehow, and this is one of the really important steps.

And so I'm really delighted to see just how good the technology is, just how reliability it's proving itself to be, because that's a big step forward also to other people flying in space less expensively and more often in the future.

WALKER: Like Rachel Crane said, it never gets old, right, being there. And I'm sure that's the same for you as well, Chris Hadfield. We appreciate you both. Thank you so much for sitting here with us as we cover this remarkable event of Blue Origin's third flight with passengers. Thanks so much to you both.

And we're following this morning's other big story. Several states devastated by tornadoes.

SANCHEZ: Yes, daylight now showing some of the extent of the damage. We'll take you live to one of the hardest-hit areas in just a few moments. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:28:40]

WALKER: We are following breaking developments. Search and rescue efforts are underway right now after a night of deadly tornadoes across the central U.S.

SANCHEZ: We're going to look at this footage from Mayfield, Kentucky, where tornadoes leveled a candle factory. This is what remains of it now. Kentucky's governor says at least 50 people may have died across his state. That number, though, could reach more than 100. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR, (D) KENTUCKY: It's been one of the toughest nights in Kentucky history, and some areas have been in hit in ways that are hard to put into words.

LT. DEAN PATTERSON, KENTUCKY STATE POLICE: We're seeing things that none of us have ever seen before. I went to hurricane Katrina several years ago, and I'm seeing things now I didn't see then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And the devastation is spread across several states. At least two people have been confirmed dead. Here in Illinois, a tornado hitting an Amazon warehouse. Still unclear how many people were inside at the time. And authorities say it could be days before they finish searching the site.

WALKER: And now to Arkansas, where we know at least one person was killed when part of a nursing home collapsed. At least 20 others were injured, and a second person died in a nearby store.

[10:30:00]

Let's go now to Mayfield, Kentucky, and CNN's Nadia Romero. Wow, tell us what you're seeing.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Boris, it is such a sad morning here in Mayfield, Kentucky because people knew that there was devastation, and they knew that this candle factory was hit hard by that tornado overnight. But as they sun came up and more people came out, you really got an idea of just how devastating that storm is. You can see behind me that there are search and rescue crews out from all over this area. Neighboring counties and neighboring cities have all come here to try to find as many people as possible.

We were told about 110 people were working inside that factor overnight. Remember, we're just two weeks from the Christmas holiday, so there are people in there trying to get out those orders hen this tornado came through.

And we spoke with a man who came out here. He was looking for his wife. Him, his daughter and many other people rushed over to this factory long before first responders were able to arrive. He said he was out here since about 10:30 last night. He had stayed out all the way through those overnight hours to the morning looking for his wife Janine. Listen to his story of trying to rescue as many people as possible, helping as much as he could, but still not being able to find his own wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVY WILLIAMS, MISSING WIFE WORKS AT CANDLE FACTORY: I want to find my wife. I want to find her to know if she's still somewhere safe. I hope she's somewhere safe. Baby, please call me so we can connect. Please call me. I'm looking for you, baby. We've been looking for you. Me, the kids, we're all looking for you right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: That was so hard to hear, again, hard to hear the first time. When I spoke with him, Ivy Williams, he said that he had been with his wife Janine Williams for over 30 years. They have kids, they have grandkids. They built that lives in Paducah, Kentucky, not far from here. He's trying to find his wife. He left the site, going to neighboring hospitals in different cities, trying to see if his wife showed up there. Boris, Amara?

SANCHEZ: Just gutting to hear Ivy share that with you and knowing that he is one of the many people looking for loved ones this morning. Nadia Romero, thank you so much.

WALKER: I want to bring in now the governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear. I'm sorry we have to speak under these circumstances, but first of all, Governor, I understand you are in Mayfield. Earlier this morning you said there were 110 people inside this candle factory when the tornado hit. What is the latest you can tell us about what's happening there on the ground?

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR, (D) KENTUCKY: Well, I'm standing outside of what used to be that factory now, and that is a level of devastation that none of us have ever seen before. We have dozens of people that are out here searching, hoping. We haven't, unfortunately, had a successful rescue since about 3:00 a.m. There's just a huge amount of loss here and across the commonwealth. We know we have lost at least 50 people across Kentucky. I think it's going to be closer to 100. We have half of some of our towns here in western Kentucky that are just gone. It's hard to see.

WALKER: Can you give us a sense of how many people, Governor, have been pulled from the rubble, how many survivors or bodies, sadly?

BESHEAR: No, that information is still coming in. And I know families are going to want to hear that news first, but we should expect to lose dozens in this facility. And it's so hard for this town and for our state. It's like nothing we have seen before. I'm actually standing here with the mayor of Mayfield, too. I'd like to pass the phone to her. This is her direct community. And I know how much she and we all are hurting.

WALKER: Thank you, governor. Yes, we would love to talk to her.

MAYOR KATHY O'NAN, MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY: Yes, my name is Kathy O'Nan. I'm the mayor.

WALKER: Ms. Mayor, our condolences to what you are going through right now. How are you feeling? What's going through your mind as you're there on the ground looking at this destruction?

O'NAN: My heart is broken, but I am watching our first responders from our community, from the county, from across the state of Kentucky work so bravely to recover and rescue when they can. We are a community, we're a small community, we are a strong community. And I know that in the months to come, we will see the best of the people of this town. This is what we do. We take care of each other, in bad times and in celebrating good times.

[10:30:00]

WALKER: Mayor O'Nan, if you could talk to us about what you know about this candle factory. I understand from a congressman, James Comer, that we spoke with this morning, said that this was one of the largest employer in Mayfield, Kentucky, and that many of the employees, more than 100, were inside at the time, working overtime. I think he said 24/7, because this was the holiday season. Is that correct?

O'NAN: Yes. And this candle factory was begun by a woman here in town. It's a local -- they don't live here now, but it's a locally owned company, started from the bare bottom. So we are very proud of this factory. We are very protective of them. They started as one of us. And so the people who are here, they manufacture candles. It is just devastating. It looks like a bomb has gone off here.

WALKER: And this may be a question more for the governor. If we could learn more about the resources that have been deployed to the ground.

O'NAN: I will give you back to the governor. Thank you so much.

WALKER: Thank you, Mayor. Thank you.

BESHEAR: You can hear from the mayor that this is -- it's tough and it's as devastating as anything we have seen in Kentucky.

WALKER: Governor, could you talk a little bit about the response there on the ground? I know you called Mayfield ground zero, or I think that was your director of emergency management. What kind of resources are being deployed, are currently there, and are you requesting?

BESHEAR: We are deploying every resource we have. I declared a state of emergency before midnight last night. The National Guard is being deployed both at this site, and to even go house to house. I would say door to door, but most of them aren't standing, searching for survivors in multiple counties. We'll be doing debris removal with the guard, with our transportation cabinet, with our division of forestry, so we can get to places where people are in trouble.

We've got two truckloads of water on the way. And we will need many, many more. We requested an emergency declaration from the White House. That is in process. We are told it's going to happen, and they are already sending resources our way. And we've got first responders from all over the commonwealth coming to where they are needed the most.

Mayfield is ground zero, but just up the road is the town where my family is from. It's called Dawson Springs. So we've got widespread damage through numerous counties in Kentucky. We're going to dig out, we're going to hug our families, and we're going to grieve with those who have lost.

WALKER: You called this the most severe tornado event in Kentucky's history. Governor, we didn't speak with you, but we heard from you around 5:00 eastern time when you held a news conference, saying that this was historically devastating. Now you're on the ground. Now daylight -- daybreak has happened. Now that you're seeing the damage and hearing from the people, and feeling the pain, what is your reaction?

BESHEAR: It's even worse than we initially reported. This tornadoes on the ground for 200-plus miles, everything in its wake is gone. Homes, businesses, government buildings, just gone. There are pieces of industrial facilities roofed in trees. It's hard to imagine that this is even possible.

WALKER: We will be praying for Kentucky and thinking of everyone impacted by these deadly tornadoes. Governor Andy Beshear, we thank you for your time. We know you have a lot of work to do, so we'll let you get to it. Thank you, and all the best to you.

BESHEAR: Thank you, and we will take every prayer from everywhere that we can get.

BERMAN: We learned just moments ago that President Biden has been briefed on this string of devastating storms. Let's get out to CNN White House reporter Kevin Liptak who joins us now live. He's traveling with the president in Wilmington, Delaware. Kevin, as you heard from Andy Beshear, Kentucky's governor, just a few moments ago, emergency aid has been requested. What is the White House saying this morning?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, President Biden is calling this potential loss of life an unimaginable tragedy. This is after he received a briefing at his home here in Wilmington. This morning the White House press secretary also saying that the White House is closely monitoring the impact of severe weather across much of our country.

[10:40:03]

She says that we're heartbroken by the devastation, and they are in touch with state and local officials as they try and see what sort of resources are needed on the ground, what sort of money is needed on the ground. As the governor mentioned there, he's put in a request for a federal emergency declaration. That is going through the process as we speak. We know that the FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell has spoken to the governor, sort of touched base to see where the needs are there.

The president here in Wilmington, he is traveling with his chief of staff, Ron Klain. Also with him here is the deputy homeland security adviser. That's sort of the office within the White House that runs point with FEMA, other agencies, to ensure that there's no red tape or bureaucracy that would affect resources from getting out to the ground in Kentucky and all of these other states that are affected.

And so as this goes, I think you'll see the president ensure that all of the various entities within the federal government are working together to make sure that this aid gets out quickly, and then eventually, of course, moving into that consoler-in-chief role, which he has played so many times already in his presidency so far in preparing the nation for what looks to be a serious tragedy there. Boris?

SANCHEZ: It would not be a surprise to see President Biden travel to Mayfield or perhaps areas nearby in the coming days. Kevin Liptak from Wilmington, Delaware, thank you so much.

We want to have a conversation now with Kyanna Parsons-Perez. She actually survived being trapped under several feet of debris in that candle factor in Mayfield. Kyanna, first and foremost, how are you doing this morning? Are you OK?

KYANNA PARSONS-PEREZ, TRAPPED IN RUBBLE DURING TORNADO: I am doing OK. I'm actually getting ready to go to the hospital here, because my head is hurting, and I'm sore. I did want to get checked out just to make sure that everything was OK.

SANCHEZ: I'm glad to hear that you're at least not doing as bad as you could be.

PARSONS-PEREZ: Yes.

SANCHEZ: I understand that you made it out of several feet of debris, and that it all happened very quickly. Walk us through what you were doing in the moments that you realized that something was about to go wrong?

PARSONS-PEREZ: I didn't even realize it. We were standing, they had us all evacuated to the shelter, the safety area. And we were there, they took attendance, and then the next thing you know, there was like a little gust of wind. and I'm like, why is wind blowing in the factory? We felt the wind. My ears started popping. And then it was like the building, we all just rocked back and forth. And then boom, everything fell on us.

SANCHEZ: And what was that like?

PARSONS-PEREZ: It was the most terrifying think that I have ever experienced in my life. It was almost shock, like, wait, is this really happening? And I love movies. I watch movies all the time. I've watched all these movies where things like this have happened, and it was like, oh my gosh, this is just like in the movie. And it was extremely scary.

At first, I was really calm, and I was trying to keep my coworkers calm, things like that. But then, after being pinned down for so long, and my legs were hurting, and I couldn't move them and I couldn't feel them and things like that, I started to panic myself. I was calling my mother. Prior to that, I decided to go live. That's how everyone got my live video, because when I called 911, they said, we know, we're trying to get there.

And I'm like, oh, no, I don't know how big Mayfield is, but if they've got that much damage, then if they are working on everywhere else, who is going to come get us? So I decided to go live so that more people could know what was going on so that maybe people could come and see about us.

SANCHEZ: And you mean going live on Facebook.

PARSONS-PEREZ: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And I understand while you were doing that, you could hear people around you shouting, and folks were pleading for help.

PARSONS-PEREZ: Yes.

SANCHEZ: What did you sense at that moment? Could you make out any specific people that you knew that were nearby.

PARSONS-PEREZ: One of my coworkers, several of them were right by me, and people were saying their name. One of my co-workers, she said, does somebody go their phone? Please call my family, tell them I love them. I called her family for her. We were talking. They called us back and forth throughout the time. And when she told us that people were on their way, they were telling us that people ae there. We were just so far under, we didn't know people were there until we started feel pressure, because people were walking on the building. We're, like, hey we are under here. We were hitting stuff, but we didn't want to hit too much because they told us not to move too much, because it may make more stuff fall.

[10:45:08]

SANCHEZ: And how were you able to get out? Did someone move stuff around so that you could get up on your own? Did they lift you out?

PARSONS-PEREZ: They definitely lifted me out. One was pushing, and one was pulling for me. But we were all packed up in there in the corner. We were packed in there. And so one person got out, then they were able to get somebody else out, and then they were able to get somebody else out. And I was the last person in that section to get out. And I was pinned underneath the water fountain, and then I found out later that the water fountain, behind the water fountain was an air conditions unit. And so when one of the rescue people were there, I'm screaming, sir, can you please just get this so I can move my leg. He says, man, there's about five feet worth of debris on top of you.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

PARSONS-PEREZ: So I was extremely scared.

SANCHEZ: Yes, understandably.

PARSONS-PEREZ: So we started getting the debris from underneath me. Since we couldn't do anything with the top, they got everything from underneath me. They had already started breaking up the drywall, but just moving everything. And then with those people being gone, the rescue person was able to get down in there, and he helped me to shift my bottom. I was able to twit my butt to where I could get my leg free, and then I was able to lift and pull by body out, but my leg. He took my shoe off for me because that was going to be a problem, trying to get into place. And I was able to turn and lift, and he was pushing. He literally was underneath me and pushing my butt up, and there was somebody else was pulling my arms and going like that.

SANCHEZ: I'm glad that they were there to help you, Kyanna, especially because, as we just heard from the governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, they have now had a successful rescue since about 3:00 a.m. I'm wondering if you knew people in that factory, seeing the images that we're seeing now, how you feel about the idea that a lot of folks didn't get out?

PARSONS-PEREZ: That breaks my heart, because there was one person in particular that I found out that I kind of knew her. I didn't know her well. But I did know her. She was always sweet and really friendly. And they said she didn't make it. That's tough, you know, because no one expects to go to work and not come home. I tell people all the time, I work so that I can live. I don't live to work. So to go to work and not go home, and to have this happen, it is devastating. It breaks my heart. At it just -- it breaks my heart. And at the same time -- and I hate to say there, but at the same time it makes me very grateful I was able, that for some reason I was spared.

SANCHEZ: Kyanna, we are so glad that you are OK. I hope that things go well when you visit the hospital later. I'm sorry you had to go through this, and I'm sorry that you may have lost people you know. We're grateful to have you on and have your voice sharing what you went through last night. Kyanna Parsons-Perez, thank you for the time.

PARSONS-PEREZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: At least 30 tornadoes tearing through six states, leaving behind incredible devastation, as we take a live look at pictures now. The first images coming in daylight from Mayfield Kentucky, what officials have described as ground zero in this streak of storms.

We're going to go to break. We'll be right back in just a few moments. Stay with us.

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[10:53:14]

SANCHEZ: We are following breaking developments as powerful storms that spawned deadly tornadoes overnight still a threat for much of the eastern U.S.

WALKER: It still is. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar joining us now with the latest. Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The line itself of storms is weakening, but it's not gone entirely. So we do still have the potential for some isolated tornadoes, damaging winds and hail, basically anywhere you see on this map, Knoxville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, even Charlotte, all cities still likely to have some strong to sever thunderstorms today.

The system as a whole is large. It stretches from Maine all the way back towards Louisiana. But the focal point is going to be this central area. That's where you still have ongoing warnings, several severe thunderstorm warnings in Tennessee right now. More of those likely to continue as the system pushes a little bit farther east.

But in total, this storm has responsible for over 30 tornado reports, almost 200 severe wind reports. In fact, we had over 100 tornado warnings issued just from this event alone. That's the highest number ever from a December event. Two of the more concerning ones, guys, were two tracks that may have spanned over 200 miles. Keep in mind that most tornadoes last less than 10 minutes and go less than 10 miles at most. So this is very impressive, but also, unfortunately, likely why the death toll is likely going to be much higher with this one than we are used to seeing.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much.

WALKER: And talk about Army and Navy renewing college football's most meaningful rivalry in the shadows of New York City today.

SANCHEZ: Coy Wire is live from MetLife stadium. And Coy, having the game there this year has an added meeting.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Army-Navy game dates back to 1890. Troops deployed all the way around the world will put down everything to tune in and watch this game today, traditionally played in Philly.

[10:55:01]

But this year's game has added purpose. Just across the river it's being played here in the Meadowlands across the Hudson River from the site of the tragic events that took place 20 years ago on 9/11. Yesterday cadets and midshipman gathered at the site in front of the Survivor Tree for a joint wreath-laying ceremony. The could hear now the cadets and midshipmen coming together for one of the great traditions, rich traditions of this rivalry, practicing the singing of the National Anthem today.

I've covered three Olympics, Boris, countless Super Bowls, the Indy 500. Nothing compares to this. The tradition, the pageantry, respect for one another make this one of the most splendid spectacles in all of American sports. Gametime is today at 3:00 eastern.

SANCHEZ: Coy Wire from the Meadowlands, thank you so much. Coy, appreciate you.

Amara, appreciate you as well, being with us today. Thank you so much for watching.

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