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CNN Saturday Morning News
Deadly Tornadoes; Deadly Bus Crash in Atlanta; President Bush Will Tour Tornado Damage
Aired March 03, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you all.
I am T.J. Holmes at the CNN World Headquarters here in Atlanta.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, T.J.
HOLMES: Good morning to you, ma'am.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody.
I'm Betty Nguyen.
We want to thank you for joining us today.
We do have a lot of news to get to, so let's get right to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People crying, everything -- I went inside the third hall where they said the hall collapsed. I pulled out two dead little girls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Deadly tornadoes, of course, that raked across the South.
Well, could more people have been saved?
CNN "AMERICAN MORNING'S" Miles O'Brien is in Enterprise, Alabama -- good morning to you, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, T.J.
The president will soon be winging his way to Enterprise, Alabama. He's going to give them some support. They sure need a lot of it. We'll have a live report from the scene here, where eight students died.
Also coming up...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
A.J. RAMTHUN, ACCIDENT SURVIVOR: This is something that's not going to leave the guys who were on that bus this morning. This is going to be with us forever. (END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The unthinkable -- a deadly crash. A bus full of college baseball players goes over an Interstate bridge to the highway below.
The question now, what went wrong?
HOLMES: Plus, inside the hunt for Osama bin Laden. The world's most wanted terrorist still alive and still a threat.
Does the U.S. military know where he's hiding?
The news unfolding on this third day of March.
You are watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
NGUYEN: Well, President Bush is leaving the White House this hour on his way to Alabama to tour the damage and devastation caused by Thursday's deadly tornados. After a stop in heavily damaged Enterprise, Alabama, the president heads to Americus, Georgia. Tornados killed nine people in southern Georgia, two in Americus.
Now, Thursday's line of severe storms left a total of 20 people dead in three states -- Alabama, Georgia and Missouri.
In Enterprise, Alabama, eight students died when the high school took a direct hit. During a tour of that damage, Governor Bob Riley defended the decision by school officials not to send the kids home when the first tornado warnings came, which were nearly three hours before that school was hit.
HOLMES: We want to head to Enterprise for the latest now and CNN "AMERICAN MORNING" anchor Miles O'Brien is there for us -- and, Miles, what a mess.
O'BRIEN: What a mess, indeed.
You know, T.J. yesterday, I had the opportunity to fly over the scene with a National Weather Service meteorologist who studies these tornados.
He said it is very rare that you see a storm of this magnitude cut a 200-yard wide swath four miles in length. And it's on the new Fujita Scale -- they call it the Enhanced Fujita Scale -- a number three. Three equates to about 136 miles an hour to 165 miles an hour in wind intensity.
But the key here is, as you see behind me at this school, at Enterprise High School, or what's left of it, is that it just landed in exactly the wrong spot. They had had a series of warnings throughout the day. They were trying to get the kids home in the afternoon, after this series of warnings. They realized that it was not a safe day to be at school.
When that last warning came, quickly got them back into the hallways, as they were instructed, and then the worst happened and one of those hallways literally collapsed on those students, causing all those fatalities.
There are still people in the hospital this morning, still people in critical condition. A total of 120 injured. And this city still really trying to come to grips with what has happened to it.
There remains an overnight curfew here and there is a lot of questions which remain about what will happen? Where will these kids go to school?
No real answers just yet. The president will come here today to try to offer some federal support, but it's going to have to be long duration support in order for them to get back on their feet.
CNN's Don Lemon takes a look back at what transpired here.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 12:47 local time in Coffee County, Alabama.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fire warning.
LEMON: The alert is sounded.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Let's first take you to south Alabama, to Enterprise, Alabama, where we have one large super cell. That is certainly an area where you want to take cover immediately.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You can probably hear the siren.
LEMON: Moments later, the small town of Enterprise takes a direct and deadly hit. Students at Enterprise High School huddled in an interior hallway, thinking it was the safest place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People crying, everything. I went inside the third hall where they said the hall collapsed. I pulled out two dead little girls.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's been a lot of damage to the football stadium, also people lying on the ground. There are overturned cars and injured children.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Tara, what did you see?
TARA: This is the worst thing -- this is the worst I've seen Enterprise since I've lived here.
KIM LEWIS, MOTHER OF TORNADO SURVIVORS: They didn't want us to leave out of the guidance counselor office because you could look out the little window and we could see the roof collapsing in the foyer. And it was coming down. But all the parents were so worried about our kids.
So we just kind of said, you know, a joint thing, you know, we've got to get out of here and see if our kids are OK.
So when we finally opened the door, there was just hundreds of kids coming down the hallway and a lot of them were covered with blood. And I was just looking for my three boys.
And I saw Mitchell first. And he said, "I've got to go back, mom. I'm OK, but there's kids who are trapped under all that debris." (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is covered in blood from head to toe.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
O'BRIEN: It's just a gut wrenching thing.
Five boys, three girls ages 16 and 17, 10th, 11th and 12th graders, doing what they were told in the place they were supposed to be, an interior hall, and yet the worst happening.
We have a report this morning, too, in the midst of all this, some tales of heroism.
A botany teacher, pregnant herself, covering over a teenager, protecting her in the midst of all of this. The teenager lived to tell the tale. The botany teacher it is the hospital at nearby Delton with a pair of collapsed lungs. And we're trying to get further indication on her condition.
But amazing tales of heroism and just such profound sadness here -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Miles.
I'm sure there are a lot more stories yet to come out like that.
Miles O'Brien.
We'll be checking in with you all morning.
Thank you so much.
NGUYEN: We want to take a look at this.
The South isn't the only area recovering from a bout of nasty weather. Parts of the Midwest are digging out this morning from a massive winter storm while thousands of others are just waiting for the power to come back on.
At least 15 deaths are being blamed on that storm, which brought winds of more than 40 miles an hour and dumped more than a foot of snow in some areas.
HOLMES: And Reynolds Wolf is in the Weather Center for us -- and, Wolf, I mean, Reynolds...
WOLF: I go by both names.
HOLMES: Reynolds, and Mr. Wolf... WOLF: Thanks.
(INAUDIBLE), too.
HOLMES: If it isn't one thing, it's another, man.
NGUYEN: That's right.
HOLMES: This weather is just -- it's something we're going to have -- it seems like every weekend we're talking to you about.
WOLF: Yes, it just doesn't stop, does it?
I mean it's just a never ending process.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Now we want to turn to that horrific bus accident. You're seeing now the pictures of the four student athletes who perished in that crash. Of course, right now everybody is looking for answers into what caused that deadly bush crash, which happened right here in Atlanta.
Six died altogether when the bus carrying a baseball team from Ohio's Bluffton University plunged off an overpass early yesterday.
Now, I want to show you pictures from a vigil in Sarasota, Florida. This happened last night. The team was scheduled to play its first spring training game in Sarasota today.
Meanwhile, in Bluffton, Ohio last night, 500 people attended a candlelight vigil at the university campus. Killed in the bus crash, four players from the team, the bus driver and the bus driver's wife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's never easy to talk to families who have -- who have lost people to death in an accident and a tragedy. And, you know, that is happening here tonight at the hotel. And, you know, the loss of life at any age is tough. But at this particular age, sometimes it seems just almost unimaginable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And right now in Atlanta, investigators are trying to figure out what went wrong. They're expected to get their first look at the bus this morning.
CNN's Drew Griffin has more on the investigation and what may have happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The explanation is simple to anyone trying to navigate through an unfamiliar city in the dark of early morning. The bus was headed south on I-75 in this HOV lane. It is here, at this point, the bus followed the clearly marked exit, heading up a ramp instead of straight down the highway.
Reflectors on the ground warn of a stop ahead. But the evidence left behind paints a picture of a bus traveling onto this exit ramp at high speed, barreling through the intersection and smashing over the other side, leading to the conclusion the driver had no idea this was the end of the road.
MAJ. C.W. MOSS, ATLANTA POLICE: We don't have any evidence on the roadway suggesting that the bus had attempted to stop in a quick manner, if you will. There were no skid marks.
GRIFFIN: Sleeping in the back, A.J. Ramthun, an 18-year-old freshman, says the only warning was the crash itself.
RAMTHUN: All I remember, as I woke up, I woke up as soon as the bus hit the overpass's wall. And that's when I looked up. And the bus landed on the left side, which is the side I was sitting on. And I just looked out and saw the road coming up after me and it just -- that's all.
GRIFFIN: What was going through the driver's mind? What mistakes may have been made?
Why the driver turned at such a high rate of speed onto an exit ramp, we will never know. Both the bus driver and his wife were among the dead.
Ramthun, who has a broken collar bone and stitches on his ear, says there was no plan to stop anywhere in Atlanta.
RAMTHUN: We were supposed to be driving all the way through. The next time we were supposed to stop was supposed to be 8:00 this morning for breakfast.
GRIFFIN: Atlanta police say they believe they have ruled out at least one possibility -- no evidence of driver fatigue. Around an hour before the crash, the bus company actually conducted a driver switch. A fresh driver and his wife taking over the trip.
MOSS: Essentially, a second driver met them at an area north of the city. And the bus stopped, they swapped drivers and then they continued southbound.
GRIFFIN: And while road crews were out making sure all exit signs were in place and the exit was properly marked, it may still have been confusing to an out of town driver. On Interstate 75 heading into Atlanta, this exit for an HOV lane is the first of its kind -- where you leave the highway on the left.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HOLMES: And coming up a little later this morning, at 8:30 Eastern, treating the trauma victims -- an in-depth look with CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. That's ahead this morning on CNN.
NGUYEN: Well, while victims of the storm are being cared for, they could face problems down the road. Find out why one Red Cross worker says mental health problems will be a critical focus in the recovery. Our live coverage from Alabama counties in three minds.
HOLMES: We're also following a developing story out of Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE:
JOHNS: ... have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The scandal surrounding substandard conditions at a major military hospital has the Army looking for a new leader.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRISHA MOGA: I was sitting on third hall, right next to where the tornado went through it. It totally collapsed. If I would have been sitting a foot over, I would have got caught by the debris. I wasn't -- I -- I'm still in shock.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Trish Moga (ph), one of the students inside Enterprise High School, obviously lived to tell the tale. And we'll be talking to her a little bit later in the program, the 10:00 a.m. Eastern hour right here on CNN.
Stay tuned for that. We'll see how she's doing today.
A little bit of shock is probably a euphemism this morning. This town is in a deep and profound sense of shock and grief in the wake of such a terrible loss. Everybody doing the right thing, or so they thought, trying to protect those kids. And in the end, the storm just too much power there and focusing straight on this high school and causing the deaths of eight students, 16 and 17 years old.
Joining us now to talk about how the community is trying to recover and what is being done to help them is Anita Foster.
She's a spokesperson for the Red Cross.
Anita, great to have you here with us.
ANITA FOSTER, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: You've been here since Friday. You came in.
What did you -- what does the Red Cross do immediately in a situation like this?
FOSTER: Well, the first thing that we did were the things that people know the Red Cross for. We set up shelter. We made sure people had food and clothing.
But then we've also provided a tremendous number of mental health services. We have a whole volunteer team. They're licensed professionals. They step in with us when we have loss of life and disaster.
And they're able to help families not just deal with the physical losses of homes and things that you care about, but the emotional losses of losing one of your children.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk a bit -- I want to talk about that in a moment.
But let's talk about right now who is out of their homes, who's being sheltered, who needs immediate help right now.
How big a problem is that?
FOSTER: It's an enormous disaster in this community of Enterprise. Damage assessments showing some 700 homes affected by the storm. So numbers of people are going to have a lot of debris to clear away.
But the Red Cross is going to be here not just for the families in terms of their food and clothing, but we're distributing cleaning supplies so that they can begin that process.
You know, it's a community in grief. We haven't seen a whole lot of debris removal yet from the neighborhood. But we'll start to probably see that today.
O'BRIEN: And people who just can't even get into their homes, is there a place for them to go?
FOSTER: The Red Cross is sheltering throughout the area. So we have provided a safe place for folks to go. A lot of people have friends and family in the area. It's a Southern town. A lot of people have lived here multigenerational. And so their community members and their family members take them in.
O'BRIEN: You know, that tight-knit component is important, of course, and that allows people to get through something like this. But you mentioned the need for mental health professionals.
What's going to make this even harder here is that this, this is not just a school. What you see here is a community. And the community has been wiped out. So these kids have a -- right now are trying to draw together and draw strength from each other. It must be very difficult. FOSTER: It is difficult. Yesterday, as the kids assembled out here for the first time since the storm, you just saw them. There were just tears rolling down their face. It was so sad --
O'BRIEN: Right.
FOSTER: ... to see that, but so healthy at the same time. They really bonded together.
There was a young man that showed up yesterday. He walked right up to me and he said, "I was in the science lab when the storm hit and I just wondered, ma'am, if I can sign up and volunteer with the Red Cross?"
I just wanted to cry myself.
That is truly a community that will heal over time.
O'BRIEN: Anita Foster, thank you very much.
FOSTER: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Anita Foster is with the Red Cross, trying to help out here as this community of Enterprise, only 20,000 people here, a devastating loss in this community. Everybody knows everybody here and certainly knows these kids, these eight 16 and 17 year olds who died here in that storm -- back to you.
NGUYEN: That's just such a sad story.
Miles, thank you.
HOLMES: Thank you, Miles.
And Miles will be with us all morning.
You can also see him on weekdays on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING." That's 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
Also, poor conditions at Walter Reed claim another military career. Those details on the latest resignation. That's coming up next.
NGUYEN: Plus, check this out. Why the battle over an abandoned building is turning so violent.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And look at this out of Denmark. This actually started out peacefully. Then at some point it turned into this. A group was upset over the mass evacuation of squatters from an abandoned building in a downtown section of Copenhagen. Rocks were thrown, cars set on fire, buildings trashed. Police used tear gas to try to get the crowd there under control.
NGUYEN: In Washington, another high level resignation in the wake of the Walter Reed mess. A once paralleled or unparalleled, I should say, medical facility now with many public problems and the blame may actually go all the way up to the Oval Office.
CNN's Joe Johns has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The new defense secretary was blunt as he accepted the resignation of Army Secretary Francis Harvey. People weren't doing their jobs.
GATES: I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed.
JOHNS: To be clear, the conditions for outpatient vets at Walter Reed were deplorable.
BRIG. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): That is an emotional, compassionate, sensitive subject and it's good for everybody who is involved to get emotional about that.
JOHNS (on camera): But where was the emotion two years ago when Washington all but turned its back on Walter Reed, with the U.S. at war in two countries?
(voice-over): The president agreed to a commission's recommendation to close down by 2011 what once was known as the finest military hospital around and move operations to another hospital a few miles away. It's called cost savings.
But now, look at what's happened to Walter Reed.
MARKS: And first and foremost, you've got facilities and an infrastructure at Walter Reed that needs repair and people make decisions to invest money in a facility that is providing world class care that is going away. So you're conflicted.
Do I invest the money or do I wait for this thing to close, cross my fingers that everything is going to be all right?
JOHNS: When the government decided to close it down, people started looking for other jobs.
Former Senator Max Cleland was treated at Walter Reed decades ago.
MAX CLELAND, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: You start talking about closing Walter Reed and you start having what you have now, that is a lot of the doctors that are senior, they're looking forward to retirement. A lot of the young doctors that would like to make a career in the Army -- in Army medicine, they're going to be looking for another assignment.
JOHNS: So they decided to privatize -- what else could they do? -- and went from 300 federal employees at the outpatient facility here to 60 private contractors. Again, it's called cost savings.
But what's the cost of that, especially at a time when plane loads of injured vets keep arriving home?
Keeping them honest, some people are saying it was the decision to close down Walter Reed that's at the root of all of this.
MARKS: I don't understand why, while the nation is at war, a key medical facility would be in the discussion, even in the mix.
JOHNS: Who knows how many heads will roll?
The smoking gun memos are trickling out now.
Democrats on the Hill are firing up oversight hearings and the hospital is still slated to close.
Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HOLMES: Lessons learned from the Katrina fiasco.
Is this high tech truck the answer?
Up next, we'll go live to Alabama and take you inside FEMA's new emergency tool.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you.
I'm Veronica de la Cruz from the Dot-Com Desk.
We continue to cover the horrible bus accident that took the lives of six people here in Atlanta. I'll show you what I found online next, when CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues -- Betty.
NGUYEN: And is the world's most wanted man hiding inside the borders of an American ally?
New details on the hunt for Osama bin Laden. That is coming your way in 20 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR (voice-over): Getting good tax advice can be as simple as a click of your mouse. You may be eligible to file for free online at irs.gov. Or buy a program like Quicken or TurboTax. The cost is deductible.
If you want a human being to do your taxes, consider hiring an enrolled agent. They are licensed by the Treasury Department to represent taxpayers. At naea.org, you can find an enrolled agent in your area. Certified public accts are also an option, though you may find their fees higher. Get references on any tax experts and check them out. Beware of tax advisers who open just weeks before the tax deadline. Your tax pro should be available to you all year round.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WILLIS: Remember, you increase your chances of being audited if you pick a tax preparer that the IRS considers incompetent or a cheat.
For more, watch "OPEN HOUSE" today at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Welcome back, everybody, on this busy Saturday morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. We're glad you could start your day here with us.
O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien, reporting live from Enterprise, Alabama, site of that terrible tornado.
HOLMES: All right, Miles, we'll be checking in with you here shortly. Of course, President Bush on his way to Alabama right now, planning to tour the damage and devastation caused by Thursday's deadly tornadoes. After a stop in heavily damaged Enterprise, Alabama, there where Miles is, the president then heads to Americus, Georgia, also hit hard. Tornadoes killed nine people in southern Georgia. Two of those were in Americus.
Thursday's line of severe storms left at total 20 people dead in three states, Alabama and Georgia, of course, but also Missouri. In Enterprise, eight students died when the high school took a direct hit. During a tour of the damage, the governor there, Bob Riley promised that the school would be rebuilt.
NGUYEN: FEMA Director David Paulison will be with President Bush for that tour of damage in Enterprise. But other FEMA officials are already on the ground there. That's also where we find CNN "American Morning" Anchor Miles O'Brien. And he joins us live.
Miles, there is so much to do. What's the main focus today?
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, really they're still in the assessment phase, Betty. Just to give you the lay of the land here. There's the high school or what's left of it. You see the tremendous damage just beyond that building with the steep gable there. The Junior ROTC building is the science hall, where the students tragically died.
Then over there, across from me, on the other side of the field, look at this compound here. It looks like -- they look like TV live trucks, for those of you who are familiar with them. But they're not. If you look closely look at the logo up there. That's Federal Emergency Management Agency. They have a lot of technology, frankly, that we use in our business here, to try to give Washington a clear sense of what the needs are.
It's a new way of trying to answer a lot of the criticisms which came, of course, after Hurricane Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice over): FEMA says it's on the road to recovery and this truck is part of the solution to its colossal Katrina failings. It's a rolling communications hub, brimming with radios, phones, computers and cameras.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so versatile. It's small, we can move it around. It's got such good equipment in it.
O'BRIEN: It is designed to keep field workers in touch with Washington, and give the leadership there a clearer picture of a disaster. I spoke with FEMA Director David Paulison, using the teleconferencing rig inside the truck.
DAVID PAULISON, DIR., FEMA: One of the lessons after Katrina is not having on-ground visibility or situation awareness, not having good communications. Vehicles like this give us that capability. Lets us see in real-time what's happening.
If we had vehicles like this in New Orleans, we would have known very clearly what happened at the Superdome; known very clearly what was going on with the Convention Center. And real-time, live shots of what was going on with the levees, instead of just guessing. This tool is going to be invaluable for FEMA to really get a hands-on situation awareness of what's going on with these disasters.
O'BRIEN: The truck is also designed to make it easier for the patchwork of local, state, and federal emergency responders to communicate. This bank of radios serves as a switchboard between different frequencies.
(On camera): So, I see, you can patch them through to each other.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can patch'em.
O'BRIEN: Do you actually in the middle of that conversation? Or can you directly -- they can create a direct conversation between them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they call in, say they call in on this radio, then using the software on the ACU-1000, I can connect them to, say, this radio, even though they have separate radio systems.
O'BRIEN (voice over): The communications truck rolled out with another FEMA team, charged with getting to a disaster scene like this, first. They are also equipped with satellite links, generators, an all-terrain vehicle, and a place to sleep and meet with local officials.
NED WRIGHT, FEMA: What we're supposed to do is help those on the ground and say, what do you really need? So that we can make sure that those resources get here quicker, and it's the right resources.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: There are about 700 homes in this area, we're told, that are damaged in one way, shape or form. This high school obviously is in terrible shape. They've got this gear. Look at this, this is brand-new gear, it has a winch on there just in case they get in trouble. It gets into to places they need to be.
And in addition to serving with this command and communication center, and all that, across the street here, there was a woman here who said, you know, could you help me get a tarp for my roof? Can the FEMA guys help me out? And they're going to put the tarp on today. So FEMA is doing everything it can to change its image. And this encampment here, this little command center, is a part of that -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Let me ask you this, Miles, you know, technology is one thing. And the goal here is to get those resources there quicker. Are the FEMA resources that are actually going to help the folks on the ground -- are they there, and have they gotten there quicker?
O'BRIEN: Yeah, my sense is that this is certainly -- well, put it this way. This does not compare in any way, shape or form to the scale of Katrina. You're talking about a very specific localized type of disaster. We can still drive a half mile from here and go have breakfast at a Waffle House, if we want. You couldn't do that kind of thing. You'd have to drive 100 miles to find power in the wake of Katrina.
So in a sense it's easier to respond to something like this. Thus far, these people came here early yesterday. They've got a team of about 35 people here just trying to plug gaps in the holes, that the state and local officials are finding.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Miles O'Brien, putting it all in perspective for us. Thank you, Miles.
HOLMES: We turn now, back to that Atlanta bus tragedy. We're learning more today about the four young baseball players from Bluffton University who were killed in that crash. One of them was a sophomore by the name of David Betts. He had close ties to Bluffton University. His great-grandfather was a former president of that school. CNN's Veronica De La Cruz is at the Dotcom Desk this morning with more on some of these players.
Good morning, Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN DOTCOM DESK: Good morning to you, T.J.
We've been searching online this morning. We found the Myspace page for Cody Holp, he was one of the players who died in the horrific accident.
I wanted to share the page with you. Looking at the page, you see that Cody, obviously very athletic, loved baseball. When asked who he'd like to meet, he said, Roger Clemens, who is the best pitcher of all time.
His friends describe him as a class clown, always wanted to make people laugh. And it shows, when asked what his favorite movie was, he says only the funniest movie ever, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin". When asked about his favorite TV shows, he said he watched "The Simpsons", and "The Family Guy".
And if you scroll down a page, you see how many friends he had. I mean really, really a popular guy. It shows all the way down the page, in high school, it appears as though he was also prom king. I was looking at the page yesterday. And I have to say I was pretty choked up reading the messages from his friends and family.
It appeared around 8 o'clock yesterday that he was probably in the hospital, and was fighting for his life. There were a lot of messages that said Cody, I love you. You better be OK. Pull through, pull through.
And then sometime around 12 o'clock, noontime yesterday, those messages turned into good-byes. So, just really, really sad. But like I said, people loved Cody. They thought he was a funny guy.
Wanted to read some of these messages. This one from somebody named Stephanie, who says, "Hey, Cody, you were a great person. Easy to get along with, made everyone laugh. I can't believe you're gone. All of us love you. And you will be in our hearts forever."
So really, really is tragic, now, if you knew any of these young men or maybe you would like to share your own thoughts about this tragedy, you can e-mail us at weekends@cnn.com. We'd like to hear from you -- T.J.
All right, I'm sure we'll get many more messages, and see many more postings on that Myspace page. Veronica, thank you very much for bringing us that.
We're going to have a lot more about this story throughout the day, right here on CNN. At 9:00 Eastern we'll talk with the Mayor of Bluffton, Ohio, to hear how that small community is coping with this huge, huge loss.
NGUYEN: Let's get you caught up on the weather, shall we, today? It is Saturday, a lot of people outside. Reynolds Wolf joins us now with a look where the most severe weather is happening.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Well, cars tossed about, oh, can you imagine what it took? What kind of force it took to make that kind of devastation? We also know about the school's walls being knocked down. We've got special coverage of this week's devastating Southern storms, that continues in about 10 minutes.
JOSHUA LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. believes Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan. So why can't they just go there and find him? We have new information this week. I'm Joshua Levs. I'll have that coming up in the CNN "Reality Check" -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Also, treating survivors of yesterday's bus crash. Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows you some of the amazing medicine behind the headline grabbing stories.
HOLMES: And he's also taking your questions if you want to know something specific about the first responders, you can ask Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Send your questions to housecall@cnn.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The search for Osama bin Laden took a new twist this week when the U.S. announced the Al Qaeda leader is believed to be in Pakistan, and that had ramifications for a major U.S. ally. It also introduced new questions about why, after all this time, bin Laden remains at large. CNN's Joshua Levs joins us now with this "Reality Check".
I mean, what has made this capture so difficult?
LEVS: Yeah, I mean, that's actually the point. That's what we're looking into today.
We're talking more than five years. Actually in about a week will be five and a half years since the 9/11 attacks. We also know there's been this major search for Osama bin Laden. But throughout that time the United States has pretty much said the whole time, they know the general region where he is.
So, why is it so hard to find this one guy? Here's the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice over): The most wanted man in the world, the face of the 9/11 attacks. He's gotten videos out, but has alluded the U.S. and its allies. The U.S. now says it believes both bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman Al Zawahiri, are in an ungoverned tribal section of Pakistan.
JOHN MCCONNELL, DIR. OF NAT'L. INTELLIGENCE: To the best of our knowledge senior leadership, No. 1 and No. 2, are there, and they are attempting to re-establish and rebuild and to establish training camps.
LEVS: The U.S. has long thought bin Laden is in the mountains near the Afghan/Pakistani border, but on which side? Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. Says:
MAHMUD DURRANI, PAKISTANI AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: He is in Afghanistan; he has never been in Pakistan.
LEVS: Vice President Cheney was just in Pakistan, where he pressed for tougher action against Al Qaeda, amid reports that the group is having a resurgence there. The former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit doubts President Pervez Musharraf wants to face the ramifications of capturing the Islamist leader, who has many supporters in his country.
MICHAEL SCHEUER, FMR. HEAD OF CIA BIN LADEN UNIT: I don't think he's protecting him. But I'm very confident he doesn't want to turn him over.
LEVS: Pakistani leaders deny holding back. Pointing out that their troops have fought Al Qaeda and arrested suspects. Scheuer acknowledges Musharraf has been tough.
SCHEUER: And now it's going to be up to the United States.
LEVS: U.S. troops have stayed out, respecting Pakistan's wishes. Though President Bush has said he'd send troops if there's actionable intelligence. The next step is unclear.
SEN. BILL NELSON (D-FL): Let me ask you, do we have to seek authority to go after Osama bin Laden, in Pakistan?
LT. GEN. DOUGLAS LUTE, DIR. OF OPERATIONS, JOINT STAFF: Again, here we're into some very fine authorities. I'm happy to answer your question, but we would need to go to a closed session.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: And this is also becoming now a very big issue in the early presidential race. We're hearing lots of presidential contenders all promise to be the person who will ultimately fight Al Qaeda. In fact, Senator Hillary Clinton, for one example, recently told one audience that she believes it's about time the United States, quote, "Gets serious" about finding bin Laden.
NGUYEN: And I think we're going to hear a lot more about this as we head into 2008.
LEVS: Oh, yeah, major issue. You're going to keep hearing that, yes.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Josh, appreciate it.
LEVS: Thanks.
HOLMES: We want to update you now on a few cases on the legal docket starting with the Lewis Scooter Libby trial. The jury sent a note to the judge asking for clarification of the term "reasonable doubt". But their question seems a bit confusing.
They wrote, and I quote here, "Is it necessary for the government to present evidence that it is not humanly possible for someone not to recall an event in order to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?" Huh?
Well, the trial judge scheduled a hearing for Monday morning. Both the defense and prosecution will weigh in on how the question should be answered. Good luck with that one.
A lawsuit from the widow of New York Yankees Pitcher Cory Lidle now. She is suing the company that made the plane her husband was in when he died. The suit claims catastrophic failure of the plane's flight control system caused it to crash into a Manhattan high-rise last fall.
Lidle and his flight instructor were killed. The official cause of the crash is still under investigation. The company that made the plane says it won't comment until the investigation is over, but it takes pride in the products it makes.
Also, convicted sex offender John Couey's trial is under way in Miami. Testimony resumes on Monday after the prosecution started presenting its case yesterday. Couey is accused of kidnapping, raping, and then burying nine-year-old Jessica Lundsford, alive, in garbage bags back in 2005. Couey has pleaded not guilty.
NGUYEN: At this minute, President Bush is heading to the storm ravaged South. We're live throughout the morning, with CNN and "American Morning's" Miles O'Brien, who is in Enterprise, Alabama. We'll hear from him in just three minutes.
HOLMES: Also still to come from natural disasters to manmade accidents, how do doctors bring victims back from the brink of death? CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta brings you a special edition of "House Call."
(COLD & FLU REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It got real loud, and then I got hit in the head with like a block. And everything got kind of quiet. And then whenever it all quieted down you could hear people screaming for help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Can you just imagine? Similar stories being told by so many of the high school students in Enterprise, Alabama. And we're going to talk to one of those students live a little bit later this morning.
HOLMES: Before we talk to the student we're going to talk to our Miles O'Brien, who's in Enterprise. Been showing us around, what's happening, some of the new technology and everything.
You take it away and give us the update of what's happening there this morning?
O'BRIEN: Well, T.J., this morning is, you know, this is an assessment day. This is a day of mourning. This is a day of grief. I think people really -- we talked to the Red Cross just a little while ago, she said -- one of the spokespeople said, no one has really done a lot of cleanup yet because they're still just, you know, sort of taken aback by what's happened here in the city of 20,000.
Take a look at the high school here. You see right in front of us, this obviously was a soccer field, and that's part of the net there. Beyond there is a shed with some sort of barbeque.
You see that? It says EHS Band Room. The band lost every single one of their instruments. And today they were supposed to be in Pensacola for a competition. We're told some of them, as they banded together, some of them are actually going to go down to the competition, probably just to watch, because they don't have the instruments to play.
So, it just gives you a sense of the kinds of little losses that are wrapped inside the huge losses here.
NGUYEN: Talk about losses, Miles, let me ask you this, the school being as it is, just so destroyed, and yet the students who died there, is there going to be some kind of a memorial that's going to be -- I know it's still early, but maybe perhaps a memorial that's going to be erected to those students?
O'BRIEN: Yeah, I'm sure that that is coming. There's still, you know, we're still talking about plans for funeral arrangements here. So this is one step at a time. But I suspect, you know, they really haven't even decided what to do about a rebuild here. They're going to ask for some money today. That's part of why the president will be here to talk about how the federal government can assist them in rebuilding.
They really don't have an alternative to this high school. This is a high school of about 2,000 students. And they're that going to be able to go to school here. It's not like they have another facility just waiting to help them out. These are practical considerations that they have to go through right now. So, there's a lot of issues they have to sort through.
NGUYEN: Will they rebuild on that same site, considering what all has happened there?
O'BRIEN: It's a great question. The mayor, yesterday, when I asked him that, he truly looked like he was in shock. And he was taken aback. He said, you just gotta give us patience for questions like that. I don't think that they've really come to grips with this.
I suspect that this will be rebuilt here. That would be my general take on this. This is a beautiful, sprawling facility in this town, and it won't easily be replaced as far as location.
Will there be a memorial? You bet there will be some kind of memorial here to remember those students.
NGUYEN: But I think it's important, and you noted it, you do have to take it one step at a time. And those kids have to be buried. It's just such a sad story. Miles, thank you.
HOLMES: And from the aftermath of the tornadoes to the horrific bus crash in Atlanta we saw yesterday, many of the morning's headlines are coming out of hospitals.
NGUYEN: So coming up at 8:30 Eastern, you don't want to miss this, our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta will host a special live edition of "House Call" and he joins us now with a preview.
Sanjay, you've been so busy over the last couple days.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it has been very busy, T.J., Betty, thank you.
We are here at the hub for so many of those patients yesterday after that deadly bus crash, so many patients brought here by ambulance to Grady Memorial Hospital. It's the largest trauma hospital in this part of the country.
I'm going to give you a real sense of what happened yesterday from a medical perspective. It is fascinating and it is important for you to know. I'm going to have all that.
We're also going to check in with Miles and we're going to check in, in Americus, as well, after those deadly tornadoes. How do you take care of patients after disasters like this? There's some good stories there. There's some important stories for you to know, as well. Back to you.
NGUYEN: That is good information. In fact, I'm going to be speaking with an anesthesiologist in Americus who arrived on scene, at the hospital, just after it was destroyed and just going through that story of what he dealt with is quite remarkable.
Sanjay, we're looking forward to your special coming up. Thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
NGUYEN: So how will Congress and your tax dollars help those storm ravaged southern towns?
HOLMES: Up next Miles O'Brien talks with one Alabama lawmaker about the possibilities in the weeks to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. A busy one, at that. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. We're glad you could be here.
We had a lot happening yesterday, the last couple of days. Today no different. We're going to get you right to it.
NGUYEN: The unthinkable. A bus full of college baseball players crashes from an overpass onto the highway below. How a small Ohio town is coming to the aid of the college dealing with this tragedy.
HOLMES: And the deadly tornadoes that raked the South. The mourning, the clean up, the rebuilding. CNN "American Morning's" Miles O'Brien is in Enterprise, Alabama, that was hard-hit.
Hello, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Good morning, T.J., from Enterprise. The president of the United States will come here today to offer support. Folks here sure need a lot of it. We'll give you a live report.
HOLMES: All right, thank you, Miles. We'll see you here shortly. Going to get back there in just a moment.
But first, we do need to talk about President Bush, headed to Enterprise, right now. He left the White House about 40 minutes ago. FEMA Director David Paulison will join the president in Alabama.
NGUYEN: Alabama was the hardest hit by Thursday's deadly storms. Just take a look: 10 people killed, eight were students at Enterprise High School. More than 100 other students were injured.
Now, southern Georgia also badly battered by the storms. Nine people killed there. President Bush heads to Americus, Georgia, later today to tour the damage there.
But, again, the president's first stop will be in Enterprise. And CNN "American Morning" Anchor Miles O'Brien is there for us, live this morning.
Miles, what will the president see when he gets there?
O'BRIEN: What he's going to see is a tremendous amount of damage in a very isolated place, Betty. I had a chance to fly over the area yesterday with some National Weather Service meteorologists. And what was most interesting to me was how specific the storm damage was. As a matter of fact, the meteorologists were kind of taken aback. It's unusual to see a storm that kind of has this pin prick. Usually a little more of a swathe identified to it.
It's just -- the real tragedy is this: that it touched down in a very small area. It happened to be in the worst possible area.
He's also going to see this. National Guard troops have been deployed here. There's about 100 National Guard troops in this town enforcing a curfew, directing traffic, trying to make sure that, frankly, curiosity seekers don't clog up the roads here trying to see what's going on here.
He'll come across, and then he'll see this tremendous damage to this facility, this school, this sprawling school. And in the heart of it, just beyond those buildings there, that hallway, that inner hallway near the science lab that collapsed, killing those eight students, 16 and 17 years old, five boys and three girls. A terrible tragedy.
And then over here he's going to see people like this, volunteers like this, Pastor Bryant (ph). He's with the Taking it to the Streets Ministry. They're setting up for breakfast here. He just drove 10 hours from St. Petersburg, Florida.
You know, this is -- this is the spirit of America right here. People just showing up to try to help out in any way they can.
What's your plan?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, our plan today is we'll provide probably 2,000 hot meals. We'll have sausage grinders for lunch and hamburgers for dinner for all the FEMA workers, the volunteers, the helpers, and we'll shuffle them out to all the families that are in need of a hot meal in a bad time in their life.
O'BRIEN: And this is all donated, all free of charge to the people who need it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We never charge anything for anything. We've -- since we started doing disaster relief, we've probably raised and spent over $250,000 just in Katrina, over $1 million in general.
We spent $15,000 just in the Florida tornadoes, which we just left two days ago. We thought we were done, coming home, and had to pack up and do it again. But we call it reasonable service.
O'BRIEN: Reasonable?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reasonable service. We can do more, and we do no less. And I don't know if we can do any more, but we'll do what we can.
O'BRIEN: All right. We'll watch as you set up.
All right. And apparently -- and apparently, even some hot coffee here.
But this is the inspiring thing, frankly. You know, when you see this terrible tragedy but you see the way people respond to a crisis like this, it is -- it is a bit heartening.
Having said that, as we speak this morning, eight families here in this town of young kids, 16 and 17 years old, are preparing for funeral arrangements. So it's a real mixed bag of emotions here. And that's what the president will see.
Back to you guys.
NGUYEN: It sure is a mixed bag, but you're right, it's nice to see the community coming together. Because at this time, you do need hope, and that brings a little bit of hope.
Thank you, Miles.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And of course Enterprise not the only town struggling to recover from that devastating storm system. The massive line of deadly thunderstorms damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes from Minnesota to the Gulf Coast. One powerful twister ripped through Americus, Georgia, devastating the area's only hospital.
Our Allan Chernoff has the story there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Walk through the remains of Sumter Regional Hospital and imagine the terror that patients and staff endured during the tornado. About 60 patients were here Thursday night when the twister struck.
Nurse Bridget Barrow was among those caring for them. Today she feels lucky to be alive.
BRIDGET BARROW, NURSE, SUMTER REGIONAL HOSPITAL: You could feel the suction and the doors. Immediately, emergency doors and the doors to the room started flapping open, on and off.
CHERNOFF (on camera): You feel the suction, and what are you thinking?
BARROW: I'm thinking we're all going to go out of the ceiling and the roof.
CHERNOFF (voice over): Winds swept away part of the roof, yet everyone in the building survived.
(on camera): There were four infants here in the nursery when the tornado struck. Nurses took those infants out of the nursery and then brought them into interior rooms with their moms. Then the nurses gathered here in the hallway, got down low, and held on to this railing for dear life.
BARROW: And I was holding on to the rail, and I really did, I just started saying, "Please, God, protect us. Just stay with us." And then truly, really and truly in that moment, about five seconds later is when it lifted.
CHERNOFF (voice over): Contractor Rick Newell helped build the hospital's newest wing seven years ago and brought CNN along as he assessed the damage.
RICK NEWELL, ALCON ASSOCIATES INC.: The hospital's done an amazing job with getting everybody out in the time frame that they did with no injuries.
CHERNOFF (on camera): Can you believe no one died here?
NEWELL: Not from what I've seen, no, sir.
CHERNOFF: It's incredible.
NEWELL: It is very incredible.
CHERNOFF (voice over): The same is true for the devastation. Far more than a hospital was destroyed in Americus -- a shopping center, including the Winn-Dixie supermarket, and at least 500 homes, according to the county sheriff.
Alma Camp and her sister Rena Deresa (ph), in the red, had one of the scariest experiences of their 80-plus years in this town Thursday night.
ALMA CAMP, AMERICUS RESIDENT: It sounds very much like a freight train. And I don't know, I just -- you go back and try to relive, and it's terrible.
CHERNOFF: Their home suffered no damage, but it's painful for them to see what has become of their beloved town.
CAMP: I'm almost...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, that's OK.
CAMP: It hurts to see it destroyed this way. We watched this place grow, and it's terrible. It's terrible to see it gone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And that's our Allan Chernoff there in Americus. We'll have reports from Americus, Enterprise, all over the region all morning here for you.
NGUYEN: In another story, some puzzling questions. They persist this morning concerning the Atlanta bus crash that killed members of an Ohio college baseball team.
Atlanta police don't think driver fatigue was a factor, but they still don't know exactly why that bus plunged off an overpass early yesterday morning. Federal investigators are expected to get their first look at the bus early this morning, and they'll be searching for clues in the bus's computer system.
Four students and two adults were killed. The bus was carrying the Bluffton University baseball team from Ohio to Florida. Twenty-nine people were injured, some of them seriously.
Our Don Lemon is outside Grady Hospital.
And Don, I understand you have some new information to tell us.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do, and I'm going to tell you about the NTSB. They held a press conference last night. But first, that new information, Betty.
We -- as you said, about 19 people were brought here yesterday to Grady Memorial Hospital, one of the best trauma facilities in the country. We're being told now that they only have four people here left. Fifteen of those people were dismissed last night. Those were the people who had mild to moderate injuries. There's still one person in fair condition here, one person in serious, and two in critical.
And some other news here. One of the people who was in critical condition had to go back to surgery last night. The hospital didn't tell us exactly why that is, but one of those people who is in critical condition had to go back to surgery.
So most of the people who entered the hospital here yesterday, most of those 19 people, have been discharged. Fifteen people here dismissed last night.
Now let's talk about the National Transportation and Safety Board and the investigation into this crash.
As you said, they're looking for some sort of data recorder. The National Transportation Safety Board holding a press conference last night saying that they're still not sure. They've got to get inside that bus to check to see if it did have one of those recorders. And here's what they said at a press conference last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But those recorders are not required in motor coaches as they are in airplanes. We've -- the safety board has made recommendations in the past to ask for such recorders. And again, we don't know yet whether that would be available. But it would be very helpful to us in determining exactly what happened if such a recorder is available.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Now, the NTSB says they're going to be on the scene here for quite some time, for at least a couple of weeks, checking out that bus and trying to figure out exactly what happened, going over the roadway to see what the conditions were.
Of course, their job is going to be made a little bit harder because the bus driver, the person who would have most of the knowledge in that situation, sadly perished in that. And, of course, reports like this can take up to a year for them to get.
So, again, this is the situation here in Atlanta. The newspapers here this morning, "It Was Just Chaos." "Six die as bus plunges off bridge onto I-75." That's in the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" this morning, and probably the headline in most of the papers across the country.
The new information coming from the hospital where most of those people were brought here, again, 15 people discharged last night. They had a total of 19. Now there are only four left here in the hospital, and two of those are in critical condition.
Reporting live, back to you.
NGUYEN: Hey, Don, let me ask you very quickly, those four left in the hospital, just to be clear, all students?
LEMON: All students. All students here. Again, one fair, one serious, two in critical. And one of the people who was in critical condition had to go back to surgery last night. They are all students.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Don Lemon reporting live from Grady Hospital.
Don, thank you.
Well, a small Ohio town is obviously mourning because of that. That tour bus accident killed several members of their college baseball team. How the community is healing in a live report.
HOLMES: And President Bush headed to the South this morning. He'll get a tour of those storm-ravaged areas in Alabama and Georgia. Our live extended coverage just ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Disbelief and grief following the crash of a bus carrying an Ohio college baseball team to Florida. These are the pictures now from a vigil in Sarasota, Florida, last night. The team was scheduled to play its first spring training game in Sarasota today. That is where they were heading when the crash happened in Atlanta.
And of the six people who died in that crash, four of them were students at that small college in Ohio. It's located in the kind of town where most people know each other.
We're going to go now live to CNN's Jason Carroll in Bluffton.
This small community hit and hit hard. Just about everybody in that town probably knows somebody who was on that bus.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And they actually held that candlelight vigil here last night in the gymnasium, and it was packed with students and members of the community. They came together to support each other. This is something, T.J., that is affecting the people here very deeply.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Students at Bluffton University were inconsolable, tears for four members of the school's baseball team killed in a bus accident on an Atlanta interstate while on their way to their first game of the season. The university is a small Christian liberal arts school with about 1,200 students. The town of Bluffton is a rural community about 50 miles south of Toledo, with a population of only 4,200, including the school's student body.
So, when something of this magnitude happens, Jake Slager, a senior at Bluffton, says, everyone feels it.
JAKE SLAGER, BLUFFTON UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Everybody pretty much knows each other, or at least of each other. So, everybody is impacted.
CARROLL: Baseball players Tyler Williams, David Betts, Scott Harmon, and Cody Holp were killed in the crash.
Colin Yoder and his friends, who are athletes at Bluffton, knew them all.
COLIN YODER, BLUFFTON UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I played basketball against Tyler and with Tyler. And I had class with David Betts. And, you know, just to think that, you know, one day, you're -- you're sitting in class with these guys, or playing basketball with them, and, when something like this happens, you -- you don't even know how to react, really.
CARROLL: Rustin Pickett was on the baseball team for two years, before he switched to play football. But he never forgot his friend who played outfield.
RUSTIN PICKETT, BLUFFTON UNIVERSITY STUDENT: A good friend of mine was Tyler Williams, just hung out, played ball together, and worked out together. So, and, since we're so close, like Colin said, you see everybody every day.
CARROLL: Classes at Bluffton were canceled after the accident. Crisis counselors are here for anyone who needs them. So, too, are alumni, like Bluffton's mayor, Frederick Rodabaugh. He has lived here all his life.
(on camera): How painful is it for you at this time?
FRED RODABAUGH, MAYOR OF BLUFFTON, OHIO: It's not as painful -- I won't say it's as painful as losing someone from your own family, but it's very close to that. And you feel very sympathetic towards the families of those that were lost and those that were injured.
CARROLL (voice-over): As flowers start to collect on Bluffton's baseball field, the student here are trying to cope with a heartbreaking lesson in how fragile life can be.
BEN MCCULLOUGH, BLUFFTON UNIVERSITY STUDENT: We're all 18-to-22- year-olds, think we can do anything in the world, and nothing can affect us. But there's always -- there's accidents that can happen. And it's just a -- a rude awakening.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: It's spring break here at Bluffton University, and the students that we spoke to tell us they're going to use this time to head down to Atlanta to provide support for their teammates who are still hospitalized and for those who are already released -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Jason Carroll for us in Bluffton.
Thank you so much, Jason.
NGUYEN: Well, for more information on the university and how it's coping with this loss, let's go straight to CNN's Veronica De La Cruz, who is at the .com/DESK.
And Veronica, you've been looking over the school's official Web site. What had you found?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN PIPELINE ANCHOR: Yes, I have, Betty. And what I wanted to say was yesterday, when I was looking at the Web site -- it was around 3:00 in the afternoon -- they had shut it down because there was so much traffic, so many people had been clicking on the site. They basically posted a message that said, you know, we're sorry. Due to the unbelievable amount of traffic, we shut this site down, but please check back for updates.
So this morning it is back up. And this is what we found.
Basically, there is a note from the president who says, "We're asking for prayers and support during this time. This is a sad tragedy for the students, families, friends, and Bluffton University community."
This is a very small college, just like Jason Carroll was saying in his report. This is a small liberal arts college in a very small town, maybe 4,000 people total.
Also on the Web site, they posted pictures of the players. There's a picture of Tyler Williams. There's a picture of David Betts. There's a picture of Scott Harmon. And there is also a picture of Cody Holp, who we talked a lot about in the last hour.
Cody, a very popular guy. He was a class clown, loved to make people laugh.
Now, last night, 500 people gathered on the campus, that campus in Bluffton, about 50 miles south of Toledo. Candles flickered inside the gym. Five hundred people, mostly residents of the small town, along with students gathered for this vigil, basically reflecting on this accident, fighting back tears, as you can see by these pictures. So a very, very tough time for this small community, about 50 miles south of Toledo, Ohio.
We're going to continue to scour the Web, and we're going to have much more in the next hour -- T.J., Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, Veronica. Thank you for that. We appreciate it.
Well, picking up the pieces this morning in two southern states. Our live coverage from the hardest hit areas when we come back.
But first...
HOLMES: Well, coming up here in about 13 minutes, we're going to talk about treating the trauma victims. We're going to have an in-depth look with CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He has a special live edition of "HOUSE CALL." That's straight ahead.
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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Olympian and world class runner Jeff Galloway has been called the marathon man. He's been running for nearly 50 years and says he's helped coach more than 200,000 people.
JEFF GALLOWAY, MARATHON RUNNER: And I've now run over 128 marathons.
COSTELLO: What's Jeff's best running secret for people who want to go the distance? He says run, walk, run, which will erase fatigue and reduce injuries.
GALLOWAY: When people put walk breaks in early and often, they actually have faster times in races like the half marathon and the marathon.
COSTELLO: Another important tip for success is to commit to training.
GALLOWAY: You only need three days a week, but you do need to get out there and spend that time. A minimum 30 minutes, and then have a little bit longer one on the weekend.
COSTELLO: He also suggests you train with a running group, which will keep you motivated, and keep a running log. Jeff says the biggest mistake runners make is they start out too quickly on their run. It's always better to start slow on your run and warm up your legs.
GALLOWAY: People every week tell me that they've done a lot of things in life, but they haven't found anything that has given them the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment as finishing a marathon. It's only one-tenth of one percent of the population that finishes one each year.
COSTELLO: Carol Costello, CNN, New York.
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NGUYEN: Let's take you live now to CNN's Sanjay Gupta, at Grady Hospital, where he's going to be holding a live edition of "HOUSE CALL" today.
Some really good information that you're going to be providing, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Thanks, T.J., Betty.
We are here at Grady Hospital. This is one of the largest trauma centers in this part of the country. It was also the hub for a lot of that activity yesterday. Nineteen patients brought here.
I'm going to give you updates on their conditions, tell you how they're doing this morning. Also give you a real sense, a unique sense of what would happen in your city if something like this happened. How do you take care of people in disaster situations?
You need trauma centers like this one. How does it work? What do you need to know? I'll have that all at 8:30, live.
We're also going to be taking your questions. E-mail your questions, as well. We'll try to answer as many as we can throughout the show.
NGUYEN: And, in fact, Grady is one of the premier trauma centers in the southeast. So really looking forward to that.
Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
HOLMES: And meanwhile, down in Enterprise, Alabama, it's going to take many days for the community to recover from Thursday's deadly tornado. President Bush is going to arrive soon. He's going to see that damage for himself.
And CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING'S" Miles O'Brien is in Enterprise, been with us all morning, going to be with us all morning.
Hello to you again, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Hello, T.J.
You know, right where I stand, in just a little while, probably on that field right down there, the president of the United States will be landing his helicopter. And he's going to be touring this specific location here. Of course, this is the Enterprise High School which we told you so much about.
Among the people he's going to be meeting with is Representative Terry Spicer. He's a state representative who represents this district.
Good to have you with us, Representative Spicer.
Let's -- first of all, you're going to see the president today. What are you going to say to him?
TERRY SPICER, ALABAMA STATE HOUSE: Well, I think our message is we need help and we need it quick. What we're trying to do is start the process of rebuilding. I think most of the -- as you can see, most of the cleanup has started, and we're in the process of trying to figure out what we're going to do with the high school and all over the city.
O'BRIEN: You know, if we can turn around here, as a matter of fact, Jay (ph), you can see what he's talking about here.
We've already got some heavy equipment here pulling away some of that gear. And this is the first cleanup I've seen so far. People have been literally shell-shocked here, haven't they?
SPICER: I think -- I think the entire city and the community all over this area has been shocked at the damage that we've received here. And today, I think, begins a day of cleanup and rebuilding and coming together for this community.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about some of the issues that have come up about where the students should or should not have been when this hit.
SPICER: Right. O'BRIEN: There were no less than three warnings that were issued that day. And a lot of people say, well, why didn't they send those kids home? Why were they still in the school by 1:15 in the afternoon when this tornado hit?
What's your sense? Do you have -- and the principal is a good friend of yours. Do you feel as if they -- looking back on it, they made all the right calls?
SPICER: Well, there's no doubt in my mind. When I received the call in Montgomery and realized that this school was hit, I had all the confidence in the world in Dr. Reese and also Ricky Rainer (ph) and all the assistant principals and staff that they would do the right thing. And I had some comfort there with that.
And they followed all the policies and procedures that they should have followed, that the state has, and also the local school system adopts. There's no doubt that if they would have done anything different, we would have had a tremendous amount of loss of lives here. And I just want to commend them. I think that they are certainly heroes coming out of this disaster.
O'BRIEN: All right. And I know one of the big questions you're going to be asked today is about rebuild. So many questions here.
What did you say, $60 million?
SPICER: We're estimating right now -- and we have the state Department of Education helping us out with that because we have so many other things here. But we're thinking anywhere from $50 to $60 million to build a new facility of this size and nature.
O'BRIEN: All right. A $60 million facility in a town of 20,000. So do the math on that, T.J.
They've got their hands full here. They're going to need help from outside Coffee County, clearly, to get this done. It remains to be seen. Will this be rebuilt? Will they do it on another site?
Lots of questions I have. Today it's cleanup. Today it's time to hear from the president. Today it's time to plan, frankly, some funerals, unfortunately, here in Enterprise -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Miles. Thank you so much. We'll see you soon.
NGUYEN: Also, an Ohio community is grieving as well this morning after a bus crash killed several college students. In our next hour, a live interview with the mayor of Bluffton, Ohio.
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