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Piers Morgan Live

Rescued from the Rubble; Iconic Images from the Storm; Remembering the Victims

Aired May 23, 2013 - 21:00   ET

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

PIERS MORGAN, HOST: Caught on camera. Police officers opening fire on the suspects accused of butchering a young British soldier. We'll have much more on this graphic new video in just a moment.

Also, rescued from the rubble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anybody here?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: The incredible moment the two men who found a trapped tornado survivor. Tonight, another incredible moment as we reunite the heroes with the man they saved, and he has never seen this video before.

All the latest of course from Oklahoma, including the mother and daughter of this iconic picture. Wait until you hear their extraordinary story.

A lot to get to tonight. We begin, though, with that incredible rescue in Oklahoma. Joining me now is Alex Barnard. He's a survivor who was pulled from the ruins of his home after it collapsed on top of him.

Alex, welcome to you. How are you?

ALEX BARNETT, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Good so far.

MORGAN: We all watched the video last night. I know that you haven't seen this video yet. And I'd like to play it now and get your reaction afterwards to how you felt as you were lying in that rubble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over here, over here. Hey. Hey, here. Where are you at?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where? We're going to get you. We're going to get you. Hey. Hey. Give me a hand. There's somebody in here. There's somebody in here.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Calling for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got help. Help is right here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: Now, Alex, you were obviously lying under that rubble as that was all going on. When you hear that video and you realize that that was the moment that you were saved, how does that make you feel?

BARNETT: First of all, I did a lot of praying. A lot of praying to the man above. And I asked him not to take me this way. And apparently he had listened, he answered my prayer, and I'm very, very grateful for that. I hope nobody ever have to go through this again. Just seeing the video, I'd just like to thank him for keeping me alive.

MORGAN: Did you think, Alex, that you were going to die? Did you feel that there was no chance you would be saved?

BARNETT: Yes, I did. As I was hearing the noise, the rumbling getting closer, lot of fear was in me but yet, like I said, I asked the man above to spare my life and the closer it got, I had no idea that he had listened or not, but apparently he did. And I'm thankful. But just watching this little video here, I just -- this morning when it rained I was up and out of bed quick because flashback of what was going on.

MORGAN: Alex, tell me about the moment that the tornado struck and how you survived.

BARNETT: All I seen was the big cloud coming my way and I just went and grabbed my pillow and blanket and went straight to the bathroom. I no more got in there than just for a second or two, what little rumbling I heard, as it got louder, it just -- my ears popped and it was there.

MORGAN: Well, Alex, I have some news for you, because the two men who are in the video who helped find you and effectively saved your life, they are with you again now. And you're going to meet them for the first time.

BARNETT: Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

JERREL BREWER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: No problem. Thank God you're here. Thank God you're still here. Thank God you're still here. All right.

JUAN OLIVO, TORNADO SURVIVOR: How you doing?

BARNETT: Thank you very much. God bless you all.

OLIVO: God bless you. BARNETT: God bless you all.

OLIVO: We're just glad that you're alive.

BARNETT: Appreciate it. Thank you.

BREWER: No problem. Any time.

(CROSSTALK)

BARNETT: It's people like this that you never know who your friends are or who your rescuers are. These are the rescuers right here, because had it not been for them, I might not have ever been found because I didn't think I was hollering loud enough but apparently they did hear. And again, thank you all very much.

BREWER: No problem. Any time.

BARNETT: And God bless you all.

OLIVO: God bless.

BARNETT: Thank you.

MORGAN: And the rescuers, Alex, are Juan Olivo and Jerrel Brewer.

I spoke to you, guys, last night.

Juan, what a moment you just shared there with Alex, the man that -- you didn't know who he was last night, you didn't know who you had rescued, and there he is. And a real moment of great raw emotion.

OLIVO: Yes. It is. It's an honor being here in front of him. I'm amazed that he survived and I'm happy that he survived.

MORGAN: For you, Jerrel, again, quite a moment.

BREWER: Yes. I would want someone to do that for me if I was in that situation, so I would do it again without even thinking.

MORGAN: And, Alex, how do you feel about these two men who probably saved your life?

BARNETT: First of all, I'd like to say I'm glad that the Lord was -- had them there at that time to spare my life, and I'm very, very thankful for them, and I wish them the very best of luck and I'm hoping that maybe in the future here, the future will look good for them, too, as for me. Because without them and the rest of the rescuers, I probably wouldn't be standing here today. My heart goes out to all the rescuers because without them, we don't know where we'd be at. So I stay a big thanks and God bless all of you all.

OLIVO: God bless you, too.

MORGAN: Well, it's a wonderful end to an appalling tragedy that hit Moore, Oklahoma, and I couldn't be happier that we've reunited you all. I thank you again to Juan and Jerrel for managing to find Alex.

And thank you, Alex, for coming on the show and giving our viewers such a happy end to just a part of this huge story down there. I really appreciate it.

OLIVO: Thank you very much.

BREWER: Thank you very much.

BARNETT: Thank you all again.

BREWER: Hey, no problem.

BARNETT: There's not enough thanks. Not enough thanks.

BREWER: Any time.

BARNETT: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

OLIVO: I hope it don't happen again but --

BARNETT: Maybe next time we'd be having a soda and lunch somewhere.

(CROSSTALK)

BARNETT: OK.

MORGAN: There were thousands of stunning images in Oklahoma including this powerful photo of a mother carrying her child.

Joining me now is tornado survivor, Latisha Garcia, who was that woman in that picture clutching her 8-year-old daughter Jasmine.

Welcome to you, Latisha. It was an extraordinary picture. When you look at it, how does it make you feel?

LATISHA GARCIA, TORNADO SURVIVOR: It's kind of breathtaking. Can't really believe that that's me and my daughter. I'm thankful that she's alive and well.

MORGAN: How is she, first of all?

GARCIA: She's good. She's a little banged and bruised. She's really sore, kind of traumatized by everything. But she's doing good. I've just got to help her through everything.

MORGAN: And you went through utter hell, really, with 35 minutes in the school, you heard the tornado was beginning to form, you raced over there but by the time you got there, the school was disintegrated.

GARCIA: Yes.

MORGAN: What did you do?

GARCIA: I just threw my car and park as fast as I could and just ran to her school as fast as I could run. I started asking children around if they seen my daughter or her class. And there were several children that knew her, said they didn't. So I frantically ran up towards the school where all the rubble was, and to my amazement, I looked up and my daughter was being handed to me.

I just grabbed her as fast as I could and was asking her how she was. She said her back wasn't feeling too great. She said she couldn't move so I was pretty worried about if she was going to be paralyzed or not.

MORGAN: And this was, of course, the Plaza Towers Elementary School. When you think back to the moment that you saw the school had gone, you must have feared the absolute worst, didn't you?

GARCIA: Yes. I didn't think I would find her. I thought that they would not be finding her at all, that I was going to be one of those mothers that was waiting all night to hear bad news. But I found her.

MORGAN: Well, Latisha, I wish you all the very best with it. And I hope that Jasmine's OK from all of us. This must have been a hell of a trauma for her and knowing that her friends -- some of her friends died, I can't even imagine how you tell a little 8-year-old that. But I -- she's in the right hands with you, I can tell that. And I wish you all the very best for you and your family.

GARCIA: Well, thank you so much.

MORGAN: Some tornado survivors are being allowed to return to their homes to salvage what they can. Joining me now is Jamie Baker, who rode out the storm in her daughter's closet.

Welcome to you, Jamie. Tell me about what happened to you.

JAMIE BAKER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Well, I got home literally just a few minutes before they said that it was coming, and so actually, I hid in this little cubby we have in the hall first, and the electricity went out, and then it just went calm and I realized that that was not the right place to be. So I went and got in my daughter's closet and piled pillows over me and just I heard it coming, and it was just like jet engines coming.

And I just -- I just knew that it was coming straight for me, and then it just started ripping off the ceiling, ripping off just everything around me, and all I could do was just cry and pray and just hope that I was going to make it through, because I didn't think I was going to.

MORGAN: And miraculously you did make through and you went out and you were the only one, I believe, in your street. What were you thinking as you saw the devastation?

BAKER: I was the first one to climb out. And it just -- it felt like I was in a movie, like when you're the last person alive on earth. And I just felt lonely, really. I felt lonely. Like I didn't know what to do. And I walked across the street to my neighbor's house and -- because there was still some debris flying around and there was some brick up at their house. My house had nothing.

And so I just kind of hid by their brick until people started coming out. I didn't have any shoes on so I needed to just kind of sat still somewhere until I was able to get some shoes, and somebody gave me some shoes and as soon as I got some shoes, I went around the block to the school to try to help get kids out of the school, because they were just crying, just screaming and crying. And I just -- I didn't know what to do.

MORGAN: You also had the other worry of your own daughter was at school as well. How quickly was it that you discovered she was OK?

BAKER: People -- when the responders started coming in, they told us that her school wasn't hit, and I was grateful to know that she was OK because before it hit she said mom, just go get safe, I'm safe. And I just wanted to make sure she was OK.

MORGAN: And when were you reunited with her? When could you talk to her?

BAKER: It took me about two hours to get to her. I walked everywhere because I kept on having to go around power lines and gas leaks and my foot was injured and I just -- I didn't care. People kept on trying to get me to go to triage and I just -- really I just wanted to get to my daughter. So I didn't -- I didn't care. Guess that's the stubbornness I get from my dad, I don't know.

(LAUGHTER)

MORGAN: And she must have been worried sick about you as well. So that moment when you were able to see each other again must have been a pretty special moment.

BAKER: Oh, that was the best moment of the day. I can't even -- I can't explain the feelings of the day, period. But that was the best moment of the day. Honestly.

MORGAN: You seem a very resilient -- there's your daughter.

(LAUGHTER)

What a lovely moment.

BAKER: This is my baby,

MORGAN: And what's your daughter's name, Jamie?

BAKER: This is Kaylie.

KAYLIE, TORNADO SURVIVOR: Hi.

MORGAN: Kaylie, I was just talking to your mom about what happened. You were obviously at the school. You knew you were OK but you must have been so worried about your mother.

KAYLIE: Yes. I knew she wasn't anywhere -- I knew she didn't have nowhere to go besides the -- I thought she was in the hallway. I didn't know she was in my closet. I couldn't get hold of her. I didn't have service. I just didn't know where she was at.

MORGAN: Give her another hug. Looks like she needs one.

(LAUGHTER)

Jamie and Kaylie, thank you both very much indeed.

BAKER: Thank you.

KAYLIE: Thank you.

MORGAN: Not every family was so lucky. When we come back, a grieving mother on the pain of losing her son.

And later, new details about the horrific terror attack in London. We're learning more about the suspects, new arrests and the 25-year-old soldier victim.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: Palpable grief in Moore, Oklahoma, as the community remembers two dozen victims killed in the tornado, including seven children who died at the Plaza Towers Elementary School.

Joining me now is Mikki Dixon Davis who lost her 8-year-old son, Kyle. And with her is Kyle's uncle and her brother Terrell Dixon.

Welcome to you, both.

Mickey, I can only --

MIKKI DIXON DAVIS, SON KILLED IN TORNADO: Thank you.

TERRELL DIXON, KYLE'S UNCLE: Thank you.

MORGAN: -- only start to try and imagine the horror. I've got three sons, one not far from Kyle's age. And I just can't imagine what it would be like to lose him in such awful circumstances. How are you bearing up with this?

DAVIS: With lots of prayer and support. It's been one of the hardest few days of my life. Leaving him on Monday, just telling him goodbye as I'm going to work, he's headed to school and thinking OK, I'll see him in a little while, and then -- and then I don't. It's been horrible. I just can't -- it's just hard to express in words.

MORGAN: You had two children at the school, Kyle and your daughter, Kaylie, who's 11. She was OK. She was hiding in the girls restroom. She's OK. But when you heard about the tornado striking and realized how powerful it was, where were you and how quickly could you get to the school? DAVIS: Well, I tried to leave my work and I was about -- probably about 20 minutes away and the sirens went off at my work and I was unable to leave. So once the sirens went off -- or went back off, I was able to leave and I headed that way and at this point, I was hearing it was headed towards Moore but I didn't know quite where so I ended up at my grandfather's house because it was closest to where I was at.

And we got and looked and at that time, all they was talking about was Briarwood, Briarwood, that it was headed -- it had hit Briarwood, and nothing was actually even being said about Plaza. And I didn't even actually know until my mom and my fiance got there and realized that Plaza had actually been hit, and that -- and it took me probably at least an hour to even get to -- from where I was to get to Moore, and then I ended up having to walk two miles to the school to find out.

And the closer that I got, the harder it was because you were seeing all kinds of houses that were demolished or not even standing and once I got to the school that I just lost it. And at this point, as I'm walking, I had gotten a text that my daughter had been pulled out and that she was OK, but my son still hadn't been accounted for.

And I honestly didn't realize until -- or find out until the next day about 8:30 in the morning that it was confirmed that they had had him and that he didn't survive.

MORGAN: Just an awful, awful moment.

Terrell, let me ask you about your nephew Kyle. What kind of boy was he?

DIXON: He was an outstanding child. You know, the kind of child that every mother and father wants their child to grow up to be. I mean, I prayed to God that my -- my two boys would grow up to be just like him. He was an A-B student, he got -- he was an incredible speller. He was an awesome defender on his soccer team. He never got -- was never a troublemaker. He always had a smile on his face.

Every time you'd see him, he'd always want to crack a joke or, you know, you know, just put a smile on your face. Didn't matter what you were going through. You know, he was always there, comforting whoever. Every kid always loved him. He never had enemies, he never had no one that didn't like him or thought he was weird or anything like that. Everybody loved him.

And he was just, you know, an awesome nephew and I'm so proud to be his uncle and to have those years that I've had with him.

MORGAN: He sounds a remarkable young man.

Mikki, let me ask you about one of the issues that's come out of this which I think any parent would have a strong view about now, which is the fact that the Plaza Towers, as many schools in that area seem to have had the same problem, just didn't have any real secure area for these kids to go and potentially be safe. How do you feel about that? And what do you think should happen?

DAVIS: You know, I was told that the kids in the third and second grade building where did exactly what they had been trained to do and I know the schools did what -- they did everything that they were supposed to do. They were supposed to get in the hall, you know, sit Indian style, sit toward -- with their head down, with their hands over their head, and that's what my son did. And he's not here today.

And I want -- in Oklahoma, I think it should be that every school should have storm cellars underground. We should not have to sit here and go through rubble, you know, for hours looking for children. We shouldn't have to wait hours knowing if our kid's alive or where he -- whoever they are, where they're at. It should be, you know, that way we can get there, know exactly where they're at and pull them out and they'll be safe.

I mean, I was even being told at work before I even left, a lot of the girls at my work were saying oh, you know, the kids are safer at school, they're safer at school. Well, you know what, I don't believe that anymore. Something has to be done.

MORGAN: Yes, I completely agree with you. I think this has to be a trigger for better secure areas for all children in all schools in the whole of Tornado Alley because this will keep happening and you can't go through what you've had to go through as a family.

Mikki, it's so sad to talk to you under such circumstances but he was a remarkable young man, your son. Take great pride in the young life that he had and thank you so much to you and Terrell for coming on and talking about him.

DAVIS: All right. Thank you very much.

DIXON: You're very welcome. Thank you for having us.

MORGAN: The first funeral was held today for 9-year-old Antonia Candelaria. Another of the 24 victims killed in the tornado in Oklahoma. Churches are planning special services and offering support for families and survivors who lost everything.

Joining me now is Pastor D.A. Bennett of St. Andrew's United Methodist Church.

Pastor Bennett, thank you so much for joining me. And I know that a number of the people who come to your church have suffered devastation but none more than the Putrell family. And that is because Megan Putrell, who is 29, and her infant son Case, were both killed as they hid in a freezer inside a 7-Eleven leaving behind Megan's husband Cody and their other son, Canaan.

How are they doing?

D.A. BENNETT, PASTOR, ST. ANDREW'S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: The husband and the son are really surrounded and insulated by a number of friends and family members, lifetime friends, and they've done a great job of caring for them and helping them walk through the process, making the decisions they've had to make. So they're really surrounded with a good network of people.

MORGAN: How do you go about consoling people in this sort of situation?

BENNETT: Great question. One of the things that we certainly believe is in tragic situations like this, it is best for us to hold on to each other and to help each other get through. It's one step at a time. Never in a funeral can you just say oh, well, this is what's going to happen now, this is what's going to happen now. Grief is a strange animal and it creeps up on us in different ways at different times and that's why it's helpful for people just to walk with us through that.

And that's the invitation, that's the offer that friends and our church will make to Cody is that we're going to be here for you. We'll be here for you in those times when you're not sure that you can keep walking, and we'll hold you up and we'll help you walk. We'll be present in those times.

If you want to cry, we understand. We're going to cry with you. You just understand people can't be alone in this and we all do help each other to get through.

MORGAN: Pastor Bennett, thank you very much indeed for joining me.

BENNETT: Thank you.

MORGAN: Coming up, the NFL star helping people recover after disaster strikes. I talk to Michael Vick about Oklahoma and rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: State of Arizona versus Jodi Ann Arias, sentencing verdict: we the jury duly impaneled and sworn in the above entitled action, upon our oath, unanimously find, having considered all of the facts and circumstances, that the defendant should be sentenced -- no unanimous agreement.

Signed, foreperson.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this your true verdict, so say you one and all?

JURY: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: A hung jury in Phoenix, Arizona. I'm Ashleigh Banfield reporting live with this breaking news that the jury that was set to decide the fate of Jodi Ann Arias, life or death, has been unable to answer that question. They had to be unanimous on life or death, and they just could not do so. So the judge has declared a mistrial for the penalty portion of this case.

But in a unique circumstance to Arizona law, a brand new jury is set to be brought in. And that is supposed to get under way on July 18th. A whole new set of deliberations over whether she should live or die, with a brand new set of people who will need to learn a lot about this case. I want to bring in my colleague, Ted Rowlands, who was in the courthouse and in the courtroom at the moment that happened.

Ted, this just had to be soul crushing for the family of her victim, Travis Alexander, who have weathered the most horrendous evidence for the bulk of the five months this case has taken to draw out.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. To think that they may have to go through another smaller but another segment of reliving this nightmare. They were very emotional in court. Everybody was very emotional in court. At first when we got there, we thought it was just a question from the jury. We realized it was a verdict.

Even the judge paused a little bit and had some emotion in her voice when she talked to the jurors. The Alexander family broke down and wept openly in the courtroom when they heard that the jury couldn't come to a verdict. I talked to Jodi Arias' legal team afterwards. They said that she was shocked by this news. She is now in the Maricopa County Jail, awaiting to see if indeed Maricopa County will move forward and try to retry this penalty phase, which it looks like they will.

BANFIELD: And that's what the county prosecutor has announced. They intend to proceed with the retrial of this case. So who knows if between now and then, there's a deal on the table. But to your point, Ted, she's back in the Estrella Jail. She's under the command and control of one Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He has brought down the hammer on the media. No more interviews.

But Ted, a new jury has seen all of these interviews that this jury was not supposed to have seen.

ROWLANDS: Absolutely. It's going to be very difficult to find people who weren't exposed to this trial in this city. They're going to have to go under oath and say they can put it behind them. Clearly, Ashleigh, this is a decision that is going to be a tough one for the county attorney, if they want to move forward. It's going to be costly and it may end up with the same result.

BANFIELD: Well, they may end up with the same result and it's cost over 1.8 million dollars to defend this young woman, let alone the cost of the prosecution as well. Lots of people say that's what deals are for, to save money. Others say it's all about the justice in this case.

But there you have it. A new segment of the trial will actually go forward in July with a brand new jury in the case of Jodi Arias.

I'm Ashleigh Banfield reporting live. PIERS MORGAN comes back right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: NOAA is out with its 2013 hurricane forecast tonight. It calls for 13 to 20 named storms, seven to 11 will become hurricanes. And NOAA predicts six major hurricanes. All this comes seven months, of course, after Superstorm Sandy. The east coast is still recovering and hoping to get back ready for the Memorial Day Weekend Holiday. Communities are getting help from many people, including an unlikely figure, Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who joins me now from Atlantic City along with its mayor, Lorenzo Langford.

Welcome, gentlemen, to you both. Michael, good to talk to you again. I remember after Sandy seeing you pretty emotional down at the scene and Tweeting about it and really quite affected by what happened. When you're back down there now, how does it seem to you in terms of its recovery?

MICHAEL VICK, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: It feels great. I tell you, it's a totally different makeup than what it was back in October, when the hurricane hit. You know, just great to see everybody out, everybody, you know, just excited about, you know, the new opportunities and just a very vibrant feel. And it don't get any better than that.

MORGAN: Michael, when you look at what's happened in Oklahoma, the devastating tornado there, another place that now has to try and rebuild exactly as where you are now had to, what is the best advice you would give to those people?

VICK: Well, I would just advise the people who have been affected to just stick together. Understand that natural disaster is common, something that you can't control. You probably tend to ask yourself why -- ask God why would something of that nature happen to you specifically, when you never thought it would happen. But just pick yourself up and know that there's people that's on the way to help. You're going to get a lot of support from people around the country. And you know, we all stick together in time of need.

So that's the optimism that they need to have at this point.

MORGAN: And Mayor Langford, you obviously had to quite literally pick up the pieces of the devastation when Sandy hit. So you know what the officials are going through down in Oklahoma. What are the most important things, do you think, when these kind of things happen that you have to deal with?

MAY. LORENZO LANGFORD, ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY: Well, it's a catastrophic event and certainly emotions run high. There's a lot of anxiety. Everybody is at their wit's end trying to do everything that they can and should do to bring comfort to one another. So the challenge is to just stick together and to keep reassuring one another, and do all that we can to help our neighbors.

MORGAN: Did you feel that you got enough help from federal and state level after Sandy?

LANGFORD: Absolutely. Listen, I could not be more pleased as the mayor of Atlantic City, with all of the support that we've gotten from a number of agencies on the federal level, the state level, the county level, all over this great country and in fact, internationally. I could not be more pleased with the help and assistance that has been rendered to the residents of Atlantic City.

MORGAN: So Atlantic City is back in business, is it, for Memorial Weekend?

LANGFORD: It is. Memorial Day for us is the start of our busy season. Of course, we'd like to believe that it's busy 12 months during the year. But certainly the summer season is our best season, and memorial day symbolically kicks off that season. And we're here today with Mike. We're ever so thankful that he's decided to come back and grace us with his presence, and to let the world know that Atlantic City is indeed restored.

Boardwalk is fine. And we're open for business, ready to go, and anticipating a wonderful, wonderful season.

MORGAN: That's good to hear. Michael, you've made a few comebacks in the last couple of years. I've talked about one of them with you on my show. In terms of your football career, how are the Eagles looking? You going to be at the Superbowl this year?

VICK: We're looking great. You know, we're very excited about what Chip Kelly has brought, his enthusiasm, his great feel for the game, his knowledge of football, and you know, his common sense within himself. We think he's going to be a great coach for us. We're excited about it, and our team is and our city is as well.

MORGAN: That's good to hear. Best of luck. Good to talk to you again, Michael. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

LANGFORD: Thank you, sir.

God bless.

VICK: Thank you.

MORGAN: Coming up next, new details on the horrific cleaver attack in London on the soldier. And the president defends his policies in the war against terror back here at home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Lethal, yet less capable al Qaeda affiliates, threats to diplomatic facilities and businesses abroad, home-grown extremists, this is the future of terrorism. We have to take these threats seriously and do all that we can to confront them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: A major speech in the war on terror today from President Obama. In a sweeping address, the president defended the use of drones and also vowed to fight violent extremists that target and threaten America. All this comes a day after the horrific terror attack in London, where two men nearly beheaded a British soldier.

With me now is Congressman Peter King, member of the Homeland Security Committee. Congressman, thank you for joining me. What is your reaction to the president's speech today?

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: Piers, basically I agree with a lot of what the president's done in recent years, but the tone of today's speech I just thought was wrong. For instance, he's really declaring almost the end of the war against terrorism long before it's over. In many ways, al Qaeda is more dangerous now than it was prior to September 11th.

For him to be stepping back and saying he's going to be somehow reducing the level of drone attacks, that he's going to be releasing more prisoners from Guantanamo, when already we have released the -- basically anyone who could be released has been. What's held back now are the worst of the worst. And 30 percent of those that we've released up until now have come back against us.

So I just think the tone of it was wrong. Also, Piers, maybe I'm saying this from a patriotic instinct or whatever. When I hear the president of the United States talk about torture and his own men and women who really were sacrificing, doing what had to be done to protect us after 9/11, and to casually use a word like torture, that would be like someone saying drone attacks are murder. In either event, it's wrong. It's the wrong terminology to use.

MORGAN: But part of the problem here is that many would argue, and I think they have a good point to this, that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have not been successful. All they've done, in many ways, is engender more extremism. They have become a hotbed of hatred towards America and its troops and indeed, towards Britain and its troops.

The Guantanamo Bay, by keeping people in prison ad infinitum for a decade without any charges goes completely against what America stands for. So many people think that the president actually is making the right statement here by saying we're fighting a different kind of terror, declaring war on countries and invading them is clearly not the answer. Banging them up in Guantanamo Bay for years on end without any charges is not the answer. We have to do it a different way.

KING: Piers, I missed part of what you said. I think I got the tone of it. Listen, I think first of all, the war in Afghanistan was successful. We drove al Qaeda out. But it doesn't mean that we should be totally withdrawing the way we are. There's not going to be any easy war. The war in Iraq, I think it was essential to establish that a country had to comply with U.N. inspections, which Iraq did not. It was essential at that time. In 2003 I believe the war was essential. And I think that if the president had just signed the status of forces agreement, Iraq could have been a beacon for -- if not a democracy, certainly a more enlightened Muslim country in that part of the world.

No, I don't think the president -- I don't think we have any reason to be apologetic at all. For instance, Guantanamo, I've been to Guantanamo. Guantanamo is a model prison. Is it ideal? No, it's not. But we live in a very un-ideal world. And we had an enemy that attack us on September 11th, is poised, in many ways, to attack us again. And to be sending more detainees back to Yemen, which is probably -- if there's one area of the world right now where al Qaeda really is aggressive, it's coming out of Yemen.

Again, the president overall, I think his policy overseas with drones and other methods has been successful. But I don't know why he's so apologetic. And I think that he's just somehow -- maybe he wants to pander to the "New York Times" or somebody else. But to me, we have to do what we have to do. And I think war can be -- the war against terrorism can be one. But we can't announce that it's over before it is over.

MORGAN: Peter King, I don't think he's been apologetic, I have to say, just to put that out there. But I appreciate you joining me. Thank you.

KING: Thank you, Piers.

MORGAN: Tonight, graphic new video of the London terror attack, showing two suspects turning on police moments after killing a British soldier. Those officers then opened fire, wounding both men. The video is remarkable.

With me now from the scene is CNN contributor Paul Cruickshank. Paul, obviously an incredible bit of video there, showing the shoot out that led to these two suspects being wounded. What do we know about these men?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, one of the major developments today was the revelation that one of those that were arrested and that perpetrated this attack attended meetings of a pro- al Qaeda support group here in the United Kingdom. It's a group that goes by many names, but essentially it's is called al-Majaroon (ph). And one of the suspects was at a rally this group put together in 2007, outside a police station in London.

I reported on this group for many years. They sort of whip young men into a state of righteous indignation, really whip up their anger about British foreign policy. So it may well be that being part of this group, to some degree attending their meetings were part of their radicalization trajectory. This is a group, al-Majaroon, incidentally, that also has affiliated groups that are operating on the east coast of the United States, as well, Piers.

MORGAN: Now, the suspect that we saw giving his extraordinary interview clutching the machete, he's been identified as Michael Adabalago (ph)?

CRUICKSHANK: That's correct.

MORGAN: And is he the suspect you were talking about just then, who had attended these rallies?

CRUICKSHANK: That's absolutely right, that he was the suspect that attended these rallies. One of the leaders of this group, Anjan Shoudri (ph), actually said that he attended their rallies. He admitted that earlier today, Piers. .

MORGAN: Paul, finally, in terms of this phrase home-grown radicalism and the parallels potentially with the Boston bombers, what you have here is certainly, in that suspect's case, Adabalago, he was born in London. He has a London accent, but has clearly been radicalized in his own country to become this murderous, Islamic fundamentalist. How worried are the authorities about more of this happening?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, they're very worried, indeed, Piers. This has been a gathering away. We saw it in Boston. We also saw it here in London, what seems to be lone wolf terrorism. People inspired by al-Qaeda's message, particularly on these online websites, but who haven't gone overseas, necessarily, to link up with established Jihadist groups, that they've decided to launch these attacks on their own volition. So they're very worried about this, because it's very difficult to detect.

If you've only got one or two or three or four people, and they're not connected to a lot of people overseas or a lot of people at home, very, very difficult to stop these kind of plots, Piers.

MORGAN: It certainly is. A very worrying development. Paul Cruickshank, thank you very much, indeed.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MORGAN: One the very first relief organizations on the scene after this week's devastating tornado in Oklahoma is run by CNN hero Tad Agolia (ph). His team brought in a fleet of specialized equipment and headed straight to the Plaza Towers Elementary School.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never seen anything like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watching the news and literally seeing this tornado touchdown right before our very eyes, we knew it was powerful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There it is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a mile, right there on the --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My first response team was prepositioned. We were able to get here within two hours after the strike. We saw massive destruction right off the bat. We were able to get police escorts. And we were brought right to the school. Search and rescue had just begun.

We had some equipment on sight that really was needed: cranes to lift up heavy debris, CAT machines with grapple buckets to move the debris out of the way. We were digging through an area of the school where we thought there could be some young children trapped.

Seeing the desks, pieces of paper that children had written on, it just stopped me in my tracks. And it reminded me of why I do what I do every day.

My team has been to over 50 large-scale disasters, places like the earthquake in Haiti, Superstorm Sandy. This could be almost as bad as Joplin. I'm not a scientist. But something is changing. The disasters are becoming more epic.

But thanks to the news, meteorologists, thanks to technology --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to be in your tornado shelter immediately.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- people are becoming more aware of how to prepare and get out of harm's way when these large scale disaster strike.

We come here to help, to be a part of the community. It's always vitally important for me and my team to remember every house had a family living in it and they need a helping hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: For more about how to help the recovery effort in Oklahoma, visit CNN.com. That's all for us tonight. Anderson Cooper starts now.