i'm wolf blitzer in moore, oklahoma, with our special coverage of this killer tornado. the medical examiner's office now lists ten children, ten, among the 24 people who died here on monday. the mayor of this devastated city says the death toll is not expected to rise. oklahoma's governor just tweeted that 324 people were injured in the tornado. emergency management officials say 2,400 homes were damaged or destroyed. fema has a strong presence here making sure survivors get the federal assistance they desperately need. the homeland security chief janet napolitano is also here today indeed. we expect to hear from her and the oklahoma governor mary fallon at a news conference due to start any minute. we will bring it to you live.

that will be happening over at city hall. the homeland security secretary and the director of fema are also heading up the federal government's response to the tragedy. president obama has pledged that oklahoma will get whatever assistance it needs. while we wait for the secretary's news conference and the governor, let's go to nick valencia outside moore city hall where the briefing will take place. first of all, nick, what do we know about janet napolitano's visit here so far? >> hey, wolf. we've been out here all morning waiting for the secretary to show up. she just showed up here escorted by a motorcade. if you walk in city hall it's flooded with press, cameras, foreign press, local press, network, national and international press, we know that the secretary is here to make sure that the first responders to the moore, oklahoma tornado have what they need. we know there's been hundreds of

federal emergency workers here working with local responders trying to help those that are still reeling from the devastation, reeling from the damage that are trying to put their lives back together again. as you mentioned, we're standing by going to hear from governor fallon as well as local authorities as well as the mayor of moore, oklahoma. and a lot of questions, wolf, are yet to be answered. we've been talking to family members who say that they have yet to contact their loved ones. in fact, right before getting on tv right now i talked to louise plumber who says that her cousin is still missing. she can't get a hold of her and now she can't get a hold of the son or daughter of the missing loved one. so those are one of the questions that of course people are going to want to ask. local authorities, in fact the mayor specifically of moore, glenn lewis, wolf, has said that there's no one unaccounted for. but that's very different from what i'm hearing. i've spoken to at least three family members who say that they have yet to be able to get in touch with their loved ones.

of course, as you know from being here on the ground, cell phone communication in some parts of the area is spotty at best. the cell phone towers in that neighborhood ravaged and shredded by the ef-5 tornado that tore through here on monday has made it very difficult for some people to get in touch with their loved ones. it's quite possible, wolf, that their loved ones are just in shelters by the american red cross. there's also personal shelters, makeshift shelters if you will, where people are staying the night. there's a lot of questions that are going to be posed at this press conference. that's one that we're interested in. so we're waiting and standing by. so far no word yet on when it will begin. it was scheduled to start at the top of the hour. but as i mentioned, secretary napolitano just got here about 15 minutes ago. it could very well be that they're just setting up right now. wolf. >> all right. we'll have live coverage as soon as it begins. nick valencia's at city hall here in moore, oklahoma. the first responders to the

tornado had to dig through piles and piles of debris searching for survivors and recovering the bodies of the victims. they're being called heroes for saving the people they could. but one paramedic says the hardest part is when you realize you can't save someone, especially the youngest victims. >> the hardest part is trying to figure out where exactly -- where are we going to start? how are we going to get this thing rolling? the hardest part is people coming up to you with a child in their arms and maybe it's lifeless and you're having to look at this parent and say, i'm sorry, there's nothing we can do. that's the hardest thing that any paramedic, any emt, doctor, nurse, could ever do. >> so hard indeed. as we mentioned the medical examiner's office now says ten children were among the 24 people who died. seven of them were students at an elementary school simply demolished by the tornado.

stephanie elam is near the site of the plaza towers elementary school. i know they're still holding media and residents away from that area as much as we can. what are we learning first of all about the victims? what can you share with us? >> well, we are starting to learn, wolf, the names of these children. i know we've been talking about the seven young children that died at the plaza tower school, but we're now learning their names. which the more you know about them, the harder it is to hear this sort of information. in the distance behind me, that's where they're working ongoing through the rubble on what's left of the plaza tower elementary school at this point. but what we do know is that we have three names now of the kids pulled out of there. i want to show you their pictures now starting off with kyle davis. he was 8 years old. we're being told he loved monster trucks. he's one of the children that was there. also, an totonia, and janae

hornsby, we've been hearing her father and aunt talk about what a ball of energy she was when they were talking to anderson cooper. those are three of the children we do know died at the elementary school, wolf. >> it's such a painful subject to even deal with. and i know, folks, just in the few days that i've been here they're having a tough time coming to grips with what happened at the elementary school. there were about 500 children who normally would have been there pre-k through sixth grade, fifth or sixth grade -- fifth grade, i think. and the stories i've heard especially from the volunteer parents there who saved young kids lives, it's really amazing. and inspiring to a certain degree the way the parents and the volunteers just put their bodies over these young kindergarteners and first graders. i assume, stephanie, you're hearing stories like that.

>> there are stories like -- there's almost too many stories to hear. it's too much pain these people are going through getting there to try to help as many kids as they could pulling them out. it's not just this school. there's also briarwood elementary, which also was devastated by this. somehow when you take a look at the pictures where a car crushed up against a wall that on the other side stood the children and tho one there died. it's miraculous that in some places people were able to walk away and in other places they weren't. one teacher at briarwood actually getting impaled by the desk leg as she sat there protecting her children. teachers going all out to do the best they could to make sure these little kids were safe. and sometimes they were successful and other times the tornado was just too much, wolf. >> category ef-5 more than 200 miles an hour in part. stephanie, thanks very much. by the way, if you want to help those affected by this tornado, go to our website. you can visit cnn.com/impact.

cnn.com/impact, and you will have a chance to impact your world. much more coming up on this dramatic story, the fallout from this tornado. we're getting incredibly important stories. but i want to go to phoenix, arizona, right nowhere a jury, yes, a jury is deciding whether jodi arias should get the death sentence. they're deliberating her fate as we speak right now. arias asked the jury yesterday to give her a life sentence instead of sending her to death row. she spoke about her case in a fascinating jailhouse interview with a phoenix tv station last night. we're going to have some of that, more of jodi arias' plea to the jury, that's coming up. and much more coverage obviously from here in oklahoma including a look at the national weather service's early warning system. we know it helped save lives on monday, but could it have saved more? we're going to tell you what else you can do to help.

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oklahoma governor mary fallon together with janet napolitano and others they're having a news conference on the latest information coming in here in moore, oklahoma. let's listen in. >> -- law enforcement, various charities, mayors, we appreciate mayor lewis. the tremendous job that everyone has been doing, it is moving along very well. it is a big project. and there certainly is a lot of issues that need to be dealt with, but we are making some progress. as i drove in earlier this morning onto various sites i could see we are clearing some of our public area of the debris and being able to open up more roads and more areas so that people can get through and begin the process of recovery in this very big disaster area that we have. i want to mention that this is still a very active recovery site. many people have talked about the traffic along i-35 and also

among the public roads in this area. and just to ask the public it not involved with the recovery efforts or cleanup or in the area for business that if you could not come and look yet, it would be helpful for the congestion that we are experiencing on our highways. and just ask the public to be patient with us as we move the type of equipment and personnel we have to get along the highways and the roads to get things done. also, the individuals that have been affected by the storm itself, we still want you to make contact with the state, still make contact with fema. we need to know where you're at. we need to know if you need assistance. we need you to contact fema so we can get you the appropriate assistance whether it is the individual assistance that we've been awarded through the federal disaster declaration or whether you're a small business person and you're needing help with sba loans. there is help there and certainly those that have been

misplaced. we want you to also tell us of your whereabouts especially with those who still may not be able to find some of their relatives. we have a website at the red cross that's called safeandwell.org. if people will register with that website and let us know that you're safe and well, that will help us to determine if there should be anyone that may not be found yet during this disaster. we've also seen a great amount of outpouring of support from various charities, various entities, individuals, corporations, we've received phone calls from all over oklahoma and certainly throughout the united states and several other countries. we're very grateful for your support. this is going to be a long recovery process. there are many, many needs with our families and our individuals. short-term, if people want to help, you can give to the american red cross. you can give the oklahoma red

cross i should say, too. and also the salvation army, to the united way. and that will help with our local charities. and in the long-term we have set up a disaster relief fund called o.k. strong disaster relief. and that will be with the oklahoma united way organization because once we get through the initial cleanup stage, families have to go on with their lives. there are still a lot of challenges ahead of them, a lot of costs involved with that. so if people want to donate, they can contact the united way to help on that. affected individuals regardless of income level or whether you have insurance are encouraged to contact fema and to visit with them about available services. and we have fema people that are here today that we're glad to have join us again. rich, thank you for coming once again. we appreciate administrate

fugate. i want to welcome secretary napolitano. >> thank you, governor. you've been doing a terrific job with all the individuals we've been working with since before monday actually. so a lot of work to be done now in terms of recovery, but really good bringing together of first responders from here and around the country on the immediate search and search and rescue needs. i think a big need now is debris removal. and we will be working with oklahoma on supporting expedited debris removal. that will open up roads and streets. and then individual homeowners will be worked with so we can get that debris out of there. please register with fema. 1-800-621-fema. or disasterassistance.gov. that way we can reach out back to you and alert you to whatever

assistance you qualify for and you may get. we want to make this as smooth a process as possible although we know that people are really hurting. i mean, there's a lot of recovery yet to do. and on that point, you know, i'm pleased to hear the charity that you're forming is called oklahoma strong. i think one of the things that has impressed me so much has been the strength and resilience of the oklahomans who have been affected by this disaster and who are taking charge and moving forward with the recovery of their communities. it's very impressive. and it's a model for the rest of the country. to top it off, i understand high school graduation will occur on time in this community this weekend. so recovery's underway, debris removal is a key thing today. get in touch with fema if you

haven't done so already. and we will be here to stay. at some point the cameras will leave, the national ones will leave first then the local ones. but on behalf of president obama and on behalf of fema, we will be here to stay until this recovery is complete. so you have our commitment on that. so thank you, governor. i'd like to introduce the deputy director of fema, rich. >> thank you, secretary, governor, congressman, mayors. first off, i just want to express -- >> all right. we're going to continue to monitor this news conference here at the city hall in moore, oklahoma. get the latest information on what's going on. this is still a disaster area. the secretary of homeland security is here. the fema director is here. a question a lot of folks are asking, when will there be some sort of memorial service? when will the president -- i assume he will, will he be

coming here to oklahoma? i assume he will want to at the right moment when he doesn't want to interfere in a really tentative situation ongoing. i spoke with this about the governor yesterday and she certainly would be very happy to host the president and his family in fact if they want to come. we'll stay tuned and get the latest from moore, oklahoma. that's coming up. also we're following what's going on in phoenix, arizona, this hour. a jury is deciding whether jodi arias should get a death sentence. they're deliberating her fate this hour. we'll have a live report. when you have diabetes...

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welcome back to the "cnn newsroom." i'm wolf blitzer in moore, oklahoma, right outside oklahoma city. we're continuing to cover this amazing, amazing very depressing story. much more on that coming up. but let's check-in with suzanne malveaux, she's at the cnn center, she's got some other stories making news. hey, suzanne. >> hey, wolf. we're actually keeping a close eye on phoenix, arizona. this is a courtroom where jodi arias is going to find out whether or not she's going to be sentenced to death. that is right. jurors are deliberating her fate at this very hour. after arias was found guilty of

murdering her ex-boyfriend two weeks ago, she said she would prefer death over life in prison. and then she changed her mind yesterday asking the jury to spare her life. she says she wishes she could take back what she did, but she did not apologize to the victim's family. a phoenix tv station asked arias about that during a jailhouse interview after her court appearance. here's what she said. >> you had ample opportunities to apologize to travis alexander's family. it doesn't seem like you did it today. why didn't you apologize to them? >> i did apologize to them in my allocation. >> i never heard you say i'm sorry. >> i don't think i used those two words, but i feel that i conveyed my remorse. and if i didn't adequately convey it, then i regret that. >> do you want to do it now? >> well, there's nothing i can do to take back what i did. i wish that i could. i really, really wish that i could. i can never make up for what happened. >> do you want to say i'm sorry

right now to travis alexander's family? >> certainly. i'm definitely sorry. >> go ahead. >> i'm sorry. i just -- it seems like saying i'm sorry, quote unquote, is so inadequate because it doesn't really encompass the scope of the remorse that i feel and what i wish i could change if i had the chance to do it. >> so now she waits to see if the jury is swayed by her plea for mercy. i want to bring in ashleigh banfield live outside the courthouse as well as our cnn legal analyst paul callan in new york. ashleigh, i want to start with you. what do you make of what she said? do you think it's going to sway the jury now that they have an apology, not so much an apology? >> let me start by saying how bizarre this entire process has been. suzanne, i have never once in 25 years of doing this job covered a trial in which a defendant has appealed to the media in the middle of the trial. once after being found guilty and once after only an hour and

a half of deliberations by this jury. and changed her story even to the media. the whole thing is so circus like and bizarre. my fear legally speaking is that this is one big fat appeal in the making. that aside this jury still has a lot of work ahead of them. they have to go over all the things this young woman said to them in yet, again, a very bizarre powerpoint presentation complete with a clicker and props. i mean, she brought out a t-shirt and put it in front of the jury saying survivor and saying this is one of the things that should lead to her life being spared, that she could do something good for survivors of domestic abuse like her and added i know some people don't believe it and they're entitled to their opinion, meaning the jury. they didn't believe her when she said her entire defense that besmirched this victim is that she was fighting for her life and she needed to kill him in order to save her own because he was violent and a domestic abuser. so, listen, this could be an extraordinary affront to this

jury. but you know what? you never know what a jury's going to say. you never know. you just need one of these jurors to say i don't know that this is the right thing to do and you can hang this jury. but it doesn't mean it's over. it means another jury would be selected. it's a bizarre thing in arizona. doesn't happen everywhere, but another jury would come in to actually deliberate this phase. very strange. >> yeah, and, ashleigh, i found it strange she said she'd start a recycling program in the prison, that that's one way she would be beneficial to society. i'm going to put you out here on a little bit of a limb. any sense of which way this jury might go? >> that's a really hard question. look, i thought o.j. would be convicted 17 years ago. so i am -- i would never make a prediction anymore. but what i can tell you is what's on the record. the questions, over 200 questions this jury, again, a very unique situation the jury in this state are asked to cover

guilt or innocence and they ask very pointed questions like are you lying now or were you lying then? and it seemed from the tone they did not like what they were hearing from her. again, when it comes to this part, suzanne, imagine yourself sitting in a room with someone for five months and staring at her and her family and then saying even though your death qualified and you said you could do it, i think we should sanction your killing. there's a big difference between that. no one should guess at all what every one of these 12 jurors will do. >> paul, i want to bring you into the discussion. you've been following this very closely as much of the rest of the nation and the country riveted by all this. she didn't outright apologize to travis alexander's family. first of all, do you think that's going to hurt her? and what are the various se nair owes if she gets life in prison? >> she said repeatedly she was sorry for the family. but, you know, in her own way she's being the sly jodi arias

that she has been because bear in mind if she were to say to them i deeply regret what i did, i had no justification for killing your son, i'm sorry, which that would be the real plea for her life. if the case goes up on appeal, gets reversed and is a new trial, she doesn't have her, i'm a domestic abuse survivor and i was defending myself from attack, because she said she had no justification for the killing. so she's being very careful about her use of words. she's very bright. don't underestimate her ability to think these things through. in the end i think, suzanne, it makes her look cold and calculating. and that gets to part two of your question. what happens next? if the jury in this case, they've already decided it's a premeditated murder. >> right. >> if they decide that she deserves death, they will recommend death to the judge. the judge can then impose the death penalty. now, he can refuse to impose it only for a limited number of

reasons. prosecut prosecutorial misconduct or otherwise, it's in the jury's hands. >> thank you both. we'll be watching close tloi ely to see what that decision is. after the break we're going back to oklahoma with wolf blitzer. in communities like chicagong. we're coming together with the city and military veterans for the coca cola foundation's troops for fitness. an innovative program that's inspiring hundreds of people. with fun ways to move a little more. stay active and to see how good a little balance can feel. part of our goal to inspire more than 3 million people

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use it with these 3d white products, and whiten your teeth in just 2 days. new crest 3d white toothpaste. life opens up when you do. breaking news, a man believed to be a british soldier was killed, two other men possibly his attackers have been taken to a hospital after an incident outside an army barracks in southeast london. the details pretty sketchy, but we are told the british prime minister's office is now convening an emergency committee to investigate what actually happened. i want to bring in metinka shubert. >> i'm going to run you through what we think happened after talking to eyewitnesses and police statements basically a little after 2:00 in the afternoon it appears two men in a car attempted to run over a what is believed to be an offduty british soldier who was

on the pavement. once they hit him, they got out of the car and began to hack at him with either a machete or meat cleaver, several knives. according to eyewitnesses they then dragged him out into the middle of the road. police were called and arrived at the scene and an armed unit was able to shoot the two attackers, injure them. they are now in hospital. the victim we do not know who he was, but he was wearing a help for heroes t-shirt. this is a british charity that helps wounded veterans. and we are right nearby the royal artillery barracks, a local m.p. says they believe he is an offduty british soldier. and as you point out, the british prime minister has now called an emergency cabinet meeting. and our government sources are telling us that they are treating this as a suspected terrorist attack, suzanne. >> atika, did they go after this british soldier because they knew he was a soldier? is that why the government is

involved here? or does this seem random? >> i think that's definitely a part of it the fact they believe it was an offduty british soldier that was targeted. we don't know anything about attackers what their motivation may or may not have been. we have heard from other attacks in the past specifically in 2007 there was a plot uncovered to kidnap a british muslim soldier and then behead him. the people that were planning to carry out that attack were actually convicted of the plot. and it was never carried out. this may be one of the things being factored into the discussion, but we simply do not know at this point what the motivation may be. is it political, is it not? all we know is government sources are saying they believe it is a suspected terrorist attack. sgr >> atika, nobody has claimed responsibility at this point? >> nobody has claimed

responsibility. i want to mention something that's quite disturbing. we have been hearing multiple reports that the attackers either filmed it themselves or was asking people to photograph or film the attack. it's a grisly and gruesome detail, but we're waiting to hear more details on that. >> atika shubert, thank you very much. taking a quick break. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer,

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this just coming in to the "cnn newsroom." the white house has just announced president obama will be coming here to moore, oklahoma, on sunday. this coming sunday may 26th. obviously he'll want to see what's going on, but also presumably he'll be participating in some sort of memorial service this sunday memorial day weekend the president will be coming here to the oklahoma city area. the white house has just informered all of us of that. in the meantime, we're getting incredible stories of survival

during the tornado. jodi austin hid in the cellar of her home with five of her six kids as the storm hit. her 8-week-old baby is one of them. they are all here with me right now. jodi, you have a lovely family. we're really happy you're here. tell us what it was like as you cradle your young child. >> i just got phone calls, my mom, everybody was just like you need to go home and get the cellar, i've got the kids. we've had tornado precautions before with the kids. and we got in the storm cellar and it was so hot in there. we were trying to have phone service to see what was going on. i didn't know that the tornado had even touched down or hit or anything. sirens would go off and on and this and that. and then all of a sudden it got really quiet and i heard my neighbor talking and then it got the hail and then it got so loud. and we just held onto each other and i could see daylight through my cellar where it wasn't sealed. it didn't even know if i had it

latched. i was praying to god i had it latched all the way. >> it was latched. >> it was latched, definitely. the girls held on to the little ones and i held on to the baby and the tornado just -- when it came through it was so loud. all of our heads were down and we were hunkered together and just praying. then all of a sudden a loud bang hit the cellar and later i found that it was our deck. our deck flipped over on top of our cellar. and i believe that is what kept the door from opening because the whole thing was shaking. and then i told my daughter to start screaming through the vent because we couldn't hear anything, we smelled gas. and i heard my neighbor. she's got five babies, she's here with her five babies, i know she's here, i know she's here. and he's like help, help, i know they're here. he said he saw a woman laying on the ground over where my driveway was and he thought it was me. i saw him yesterday. and he just hugged me. he thought it was me and our

babies. he said i just started digging and digging through rubble. when i saw the cellar door and i heard your daughter screaming help. and he called for the medical staff down on the medical building down south of my house. he called them, help, help, screaming help. and five men, the door opened and there's my neighbor and men in scrubs and they just pulled my kids one by one out of the cellar and handed me the baby. >> this little baby right here. >> yes. >> handed me the baby and was like give us the baby, give us the kids, we're going to get you to safety. they took us down it was mud and water and gas. >> just a few blocks from here. >> yeah, actually, we're over off of southeast sixth street right where highland east junior high school is. we took a direct hit. >> your house is you say it's gone. >> rubble. >> the whole neighborhood. >> not the whole neighborhood, our street. our street is just -- the neighbors across had their roofs and things and it's just amazing

to me that the damage. but our house was just destroyed. my minivan's in my kitchen, on top of my kitchen. it just mangled it and crushed it right on top of my kitchen. my tahoe is two houses over behind the neighbor's pool. it's just devastating. >> but the kids are okay. >> all the kids are alive. my 14-year-old was on lockdown in his junior high school. >> he's okay. >> he's okay. we had to get through power lines and get across and it took us about 45 minutes. it felt like a lifetime to get to him. i just waited in the parking lot for somebody. >> where are you now? >> we're with my mom in tuttle. just the overflow of people who are trying to help us, king fisher set up a -- king fisher times ran an ad for us this morning. we didn't know. just so unbelievable. my daughters have -- they are just my heroes. they helped me with these little babies. and my neighbor, paul, i just --

i saw him yesterday and he just hugged me and he started crying and he said i didn't even care about anything else but you and your babies. it's just overwhelming. >> it is. >> just been overwhelming. i'm exhausted. i went yesterday just trying to find pictures. i was trying to get a hold of my fiancee. he was out of town. >> they let you get back to your house? >> we got back in. i don't know that they let us. >> did you find anything? >> pictures. >> you find some albums? >> pictures, these ladies showed up out of nowhere helping me dig for pictures in the pouring rain yesterday morning, we were freezing, it was muddy. i wanted to find my baby pictures. i have boxes, but none of that matters. i mean, my kids are alive. we wouldn't have survived had we not gotten in that cellar. it was a split-second decision. i almost didn't. >> there aren't a whole lot of cellars in this area. >> no. we're the only one. we're the only one on our street. my neighbor that survived and got us out of the rubble he had

a safe room and he said it still tried to pull him out of the safe room. but nobody else down our street had a cellar. thank god they weren't home. but the lady who was, she didn't make it, a couple houses down. it's just devastating. we thought we rescued our dog yesterday. >> is the dog okay? >> the dog was in the kennel. i put her in the kennel in the room and i was just like, son, i'm so sorry. and then we pulled her out of the rubble yesterday and she was just perfect. it's just amazing. the house is just mangled and there she is in the kennel. she didn't even use the restroom in it. she got out and i fell in the mud with her. it's just amazing. >> thank you so much for sharing your story. good luck to you. >> thank you, thank you. >> the kids, the whole family. >> the overpouring of the public and the people trying to help us and food and it's the little things. it's the little things. i mean, we had the clothes on our backs.

i had somebody show up from texas yesterday with a truckload. >> really? >> of clothes and diapers. an 8-week-old and the kids, randy wlihite, is that his name? my friend knew him and he brought three outfits a piece and shoes and things for my kids. that's all i've needed was just things for the kids. it's just been so overwhelming. >> good luck to you. >> thank you so much. >> i'm so impressed. he slept through the whole interview. >> he was amazing. my kids were amazing through this. just so good. >> you got great kids. >> thank you so much. >> thank you very much. we'll talk later. >> thank you. >> by the way, if you want to help those affected by the tornado including jody and her wonderful family, you can do so go to cnn.com/impact. we'll take a quick break. new car!

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the people in the path of this tornado on monday had very little time to get to safety and brace for the impact of this really powerful storm. just a few minutes before the official tornado warnings and the moment the storm started tearing uptowns near oklahoma city, one important part of the aftermath is trying to figure out how to make warning times

longer and whether a better heads up in this case would have saved lives. george howell is here with me looking at this part of the story. what are you finding out about this? >> wolf, we experienced this -- our crew experienced it firsthand, we were in shawnee, oklahoma. that's the town that got hit the day before with the ef-4 tornado. we had to take shelter. we heard those sirens, took shelter underground. here's the thing, the average amount of time, the average time to prepare, it's about 13 to 14 minutes. in this case, we know from the national weather service that as this tornado formed, people had 16 minutes. but we learned this, in this area, wolf, where this heavily populated area, they had 30 minutes to prepare. 30 minutes. and that made a big difference in getting people either out of the way of the storm or underground as it came through. they say that it worked this time. take a listen. >> in this particular case where those heavily populated areas had 30 minutes. >> right. >> did the system work in your opinion? >> i think it did. i mean, it never is a complete

success if we have any fatalities, but it worked about as well as it could. i mean, we had talked specifically about times of day. there was a tornado watch in effect specifically south of interstate 40, east of interstate 44 that was prime for tornadoes including the oklahoma city metro area. we had graphics on our web page saying the storms are going to develop between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. people saw some of that. people took that seriously. i think it did make a difference. >> reporter: so, wolf, here's the thing. look, on the gulf coast, they're prepared for hurricanes. in chicago, they're prepared for snow. here, they're prepared for tornadoes. most people have the noaa weather radios. most people watch the local affiliates and the affiliates have helicopters flying by the tornadoes. that's what they do here so people are more weather savvy. they know what to do and take every minute, they make sure they take advantage of every minute. >> let me bring chad into this conversation. chad myers is joining us.

chad, there has got to be some technology as george points out in the works that will advance, give a better advance notification to folks that a tornado is on the way. >> you know, wolf, this worked. people that were four miles west of new castle had five, ten minutes notice, five on the ground. but then it got much bigger. this storm exploded. i don't see how we get better than this. this storm went from nothing to an f-4 on the ground in ten minutes. now, i just want to give you an idea. this is one of the pictures you can find on dotcom, amazing picture here. this house here, some shingles gone, this is probably ef-1 damage. then is the roof is gone, that's ef-2. the roof and the walls are gone, ef-3, and then the house next door, ef-4, that's how quickly things can change from one part of the neighborhood to another. that's how quickly this storm developed as well. if you were in the core of the storm, you received winds of over 200 miles per hour. this went from nothing, not a tornado on the ground, to over 167 miles per hour in ten

minutes. that's a hard forecast. let me tell you, the weather service did a fantastic job. they warned people. when the weather service forecast fails is when it sounds like this. storm spotters report a tornado on the ground. that's a fail. that means it is already on the ground. this is a success. wolf. >> excellent point, chad, thanks very much. george, thanks to you as well. we'll check in with you later in "the situation room" as well. oklahoma tornado, superstorm sandy, is the weather becoming more violent? piers morgan will look at that part of the story later tonight. "piers morgan live" 9:00 p.m. eastern. still ahead here in the "cnn newsroom," the nba star kevin durant makes a huge donation to help his adopted home state recover. we'll have much more on that and what else the sports world is doing to help. all the folks here in oklahoma. we'll have that and more right after this. ♪ ♪ fly me to the moon ♪ let me play among the stars

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the oklahoma city thunder star kevin durant is joining the tornado relief effort in a major way. he's donating $1 million to help those affected by the storm. andy schulz has details in today's bleacher report. >> good afternoon, wolf. kevin durant is originally from washington, d.c. but he now calls oklahoma city home. and when durant saw the destruction in moore, oklahoma, he was eager to help his new hometown.

>> i call it my home city now. tough to go through. but we're a city that comes together. we'll bounce back from this. and, you know, it's tough. it's tough now, but the sun is going to shine soon. we got to stick together. >> the american red cross said the $1 million gift from durant's foundation is meant to match other donations and be an incentive for more people to give durant's team, the thunder announced a $1 million donation as did the nba and players union. check out bleacherreport.com for more on durant's donation. oklahoma city native matt kemp is pitching in to help also. he says he'll donate $1,000 to his hometown for every home run he hits for the dodgers for the next three months. he tweeted on tuesday, i'm giving $1,000 for tonight's home run and every home run until the all-star break for the victims of my hometown in okc. oklahoma sooners football program was directly affected by monday's devastating tornadoes. both a graduate assistant and a

team strength coach had their homes destroyed in the tragedy yesterday. sooners head coach bob stoops spent some time with the displaced victims from the oklahoma tornado. the campus in norman is ten miles from nearby moore. the university is providing housing for some of the victims of the tragedy. that will do it for the bleacher report. wolf, back to you. >> andy, thanks very much. that's it for me. i'll be back later today, 5:00 p.m. eastern, in "the situation room." jake tapper and brooke baldwin. they continue cnn's special coverage of the oklahoma tornadoes right after this. the day my doctor told me i had diabetes,

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flexpen® is insulin delivery my way. covered by most insurance plans, including medicare. ask your health care provider about levemir® flexpen today. good to see you. i'm brooke baldwin here with jake tapper. we're live in moore, oklahoma, where the story, really it is only as you can look around and see, it is one story today, the absolutely devastating impact of what we now know is an ef-5 tornado. >> the absolute worst kind of tornado. this is one of the most powerful ones, the one that took place here on monday, ever recorded, packing winds up to 210 miles an hour, carving a 17-mile path of destruction right through the area, causing what could be more than $2 billion in damages. two days after the tornado hit, the search for survivors here is wig