this is piers morgan live. welcome to our viewers. the recovery is beginning for what's now being called as one of the most powerful tornadoes. ever. a twister so big, you could see it from space. a hero teacher who was impaled while protecting her students. toby keith devastated as what has happened. we want to bring in gary tubman tonight. gary, it's 11:00 there. we just had some details in the

last hour of the extent to the damage in terms of the number of properties that were affected. can you bring me up to speed on that? >> yeah, piers, what we've learned is that there are 2,400 homes here. that have been damaged or destroyed. as you might imagine, there was great sadness. one of the most interesting parts of the story is perhaps i see it as the headline while it's a great and a terrible tragedy that 24 people have died. the mayor of this city is saying that he does not expect the death toll to go higher. with the amount of damage that we've seen here and the number of years i've been covering damage like this, i really would not be surprised if the death

toll got to the hundreds. the fact that it's 24 is pretty amazing. it's very sad that it's not higher. >> it certainly is, gary: when ifgs there this time last night, even the chief medical examiner was predicting figures, up to 90 people. >> the counselors were helping after the twister. police chaplain, jack pope. welcome to you both. let me start with you if i may. obviously, a really difficult job last night with these four families, with these young children, in particular, who had lost their lives at the school.

>> as gary was saying, just a miracle, really. 24 people have so far been declared dead. i think it's been higher.

>> can you hear me? >> yes, sir. i'm sorry. let me ask you, it was really difficult for you last night? for both of you? i want to start with you. tell me what it was like for you. >> it began about 9:45. i received a phone call from a friend of mine. he said they need chaplains and a church to deal with grieving families from the children that were lost in the school. and, of course, i wanted to be there. i wanted to be a part of that, to help them. what could i do except for be

the hands and feet of christ. you know, just live the experience with them. love them. i mean, it was just a tough night. so much lost. i mean, what can we say just to be a part of that? to pray with them and really just agree with them. i mean, we're all grieving in our state for the lost, especially children. i have two children of my own. to sit with them and to

experience just a little bit of the grief that they have. because of christ, lieblg i said, just pray with them. and pastor pope, you're a retired oklahoma city police chaplain. you've been through the big tornado in '99. >> and what do you say to people like this? >> really, you can't say a lot. just know that we're all struggling together. check in with instant commander.

he sent me over to church. we sat with those families for about nine or ten hours waiting for some report. just to see them waiting and waiting and waiting to get some kind of information on whether their children were alive or deceased so just being there with them to give them a hug. that that school, if you say you had priority, our first responders hit that school real quick. and i'd spent hours and hours

all someday long into the night searching that rubble to reach those children. >> yeah, that's really amazing operation by so many people. pastor, thank you both so much for joining me late tonight. >> thank you for joining me. joining me know is casandra jenkins. her daughters, along with her father, tommy fauche. welcome to you all. this is obviously an incredibly worrying time. explain to me exactly what happened to your grand parents? >> well, i mean, at this time, we're not even exactly sure. all we know is that their home is still left standing. however, they have not been seen or heard from since the storm hit.

>> we are just very, very worried. >> just to go over their chronology, they left their home with the heart of moore to go to a funeral and the church service ended, i believe, at 2:30. everybody at the funeral saw them leave and believed it was heading back to moore? >> that's correct.

>> they left between 2:15 and 2:30 thaw don't know if nay made it back to moore before the storm hit or not. we're not sure if they're in the city of moore somewhere or if they're in between moore and maysville. what are the authorities telling you when you've asked them about this? >> we wanted to put out a silver alert on them since they were both very elderly and in bad health. we're told they're not doing that at this time because of the catastrophe. all we could do is put them on registration lists here and there. they have really been no help at all.

we've been kind of left to our own vices to try to find them. >> i koul quite understand. they're showing that picture again now. anyone that's watching this, any of the viewers, who have any knowledge at all of thomas and claudia fauche. they have not been seen since this tornado struck yesterday. and if you do see them, tweet me immediately at piers morgan at "piers morgan live." hopefully, there's good news that they are safe somewhere. just describe them for me.

describe them, their character, their personalities. >> they are god-giving people that he r they love their family. they love their lives. this is their kid and their family and their church family. they mean a lot to a lot of people. >> myhearted goes out to you and your family. i wish you all the very best. i hope and pray that this ends happily for you. again, anybody waping this who has any information about thomas and claudia, to contact the authorities, to contact the family if you know them or to tweet us.

thank you very much for joining me. >> thank you so much. >> joining me now, david wheeler. >> i'm an educator in the school district. and i had to stay and make sure our students were safe. and i was watching the tv as the tornado was heading down towards gabrielle school. i was able to rush home and just go a hundred miles an hour on

the highway and got on a couple trucks and took about 3 1/2 hours to find it. >> and that moment, when you found it, describe it to me? >> happy esz day of my life. >> i knew my daughter and my wife were safe. i saw family members down the street. everything was okay for us at that moment. >> let me talk to you for a moment. obviously a terrifying experience. tell me what was going through your mind? >> i was really scared. everyone kept on crying. it was a really scary moment.

>> your teacher was extremely brave. tell me about that. when the ceiling claptsed, she got a little cut on her hand. >> can you hear me? >> yes, i can. >> what an extraordinary experience. you put your own safety to one's side and just were desperate to protect these children. tell me about what was going through your mind as this all happened. we were all sticking together. and i just grabbed them and held them close. gabe was just wonderful. i only had 30 minutes to get there and i didn't get that i would get there to come and

stand beside you. but you were so brave and i'm so proud of you. you did everything that you were taught to do. you kept yourself safe. i just -- i'm so connected. i'll forever be connected with my students this year. you know, going through this with me. i have seen this on a tv screen, but what was it like for the terror and the damage it was causing? >> we could hear the house was falling across the street. we heard the freight train sound

and the debris got louder and closer. you started it feel on you and then we just didn't think we were going to make it. i think the insulation that fell on us, that protected us from the heavier things that fell on us. it kind of cushioned it and i really believe that. >> absolutely miraculous escape. >> i want to say she was the best teacher we ever had. >> david, you, as the father, as you say, it was the worst day of your life for a few hours.

>> what would you say to her? >> i don't know if we could say anything. she helped save my son's life and other students' lives. we're proud of her. we all came out as an educator to protect kids. and she fulfilled that duty more than anyone. she's a member of our family for the rest of our lives. she'll be a part of it forever. there's nothing that we can give to her that will repay her. we just thank you, julie and we love you. >> i love you, too. we didn't do anything that anybody else wouldn't have done.

we just helped one another. >> i just did what we had to do. we did what we had to do. >> you know, julie, i'd just like to say there have been so many appalling in ining inciden recently in america where teachers have really shown outstanding harrowism. you do more than your jobs. i think what you did yesterday, i'm sure dave would agree with me and i know gabrielle certainly would. all the children that you helped save yesterday, i want to thank you very mump indeed. well, thank you. >> she is a hero. >> yep, she's a true hero. david, i'm so happy for you that your little boy is okay. and that your school, although

badly devastated, i can only imagine the horror of it. >> thank you. i just know the community all came together. that's what we do in oklahoma. we just pull together as family and that's all we do here in oklahoma. >> you're amazing people. thank you all very much. >> coming next, toby keith who grew up in moore, oklahoma. a first look ahead at the destruction.

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we had to pull a car out of the front hallway off of a teacher. i don't know what that lady's name is, but she had three little kids underneath her. good job, teach. >> the devastation in moore, oklahoma. it's unimaginable in your hometown. joining me now is country music star toby keith. toby, thank you for joining me. i know you just got back to moore. tell me your reaction on seeing this uter devastation. >> we flew out yesterday after there was another tornado that a lot of people weren't talking about the day before west of shawnee. i flew out here and went to nashville. my sister's house is about three miles down here, she got hit. so i needed to come back and assist her. so i flew back in. we circled in and she got seated up. it was pretty awful. >> i mean, moore is pretty much your hometown. these are streets that you've

lived in, your family have lived in. it must feel horrendous to see what's happened. >> yeah, this -- right where we're standing right here, i'm literally standing in, i went to grade school four streets over here. it's the next grade school over from southgate. i've been on bikes and walked up all of needs streets for years. i've got a lot of family and friends here. i'd like to tell everybody to contact the salvation army or the red cross. we don't have a laundry list of what to do here. we just got on the ground. these people are resilient and helping each other out. they'll rebound, but, right now, the first thing to do is probably call red cross, salvation army. support that and they'll get a laundry list together. and then we can help and get it started. >> and toby, you said your sister lives three miles away. your mother, i believe, was also in the path of this tornado.

is she okay? >> she's fine. it missed her by about maybe three quarters of a mile north of her. but my sister, it got her house. i didn't completely annihilate it and take it away. she gets to keep her stuff, but the house is not livable. i get there and helped board it up. i saw it circling a few nights ago. i got to see it from the camera phone. shoeing the damage that you can see with your own eyes. >> that's what people are telling me. have you ever seen anything quite like this is your life? >> oh, yeah. oh, yeah. this is a bad one. '99 was bad. we had a lot of tornadoes that don't get reported that aren't quite this on the ground, this long. but oklahoma is prepared. they're some of the best meteorologists in the world. we knew last thursday that this was going to be in here.

we'll draw a line and knew it was perfect symptoms for disaster. people are prepared as they can be and mother nature is just not going to be tamed every time. >> you know these people better than most. describe the resilience as you've described it of the people of moore. >> i was telling people earlier, this neighborhood, those people are helping those people. maybe 20 years ago, these people were down there helping those. when they cut through, you're like this. you know, the first thing you do is get your transportation, get water, take care of yoush kids. pray for the ones that -- pray to be glad you made it through and pray for the ones that lost people in these things. mother nature's violence is -- the bad thing about it is it didn't just pass through and skip and hop. it just sat in one place for a long time and churned and churned.

you obviously remember the '99 tornado. how does this compare? is it worse? >> i've heard they're very cl e close. you're talking about them being 225 and one being 210. they started in the same place. this particular tornado started on the same path straight off into these for a while. so it's going to happen once in a while.

you just have to be resilient. get back up. >> toby, finally, i hear you may be putting together some kind of benefit concert for what's happened. tell me about that? >> well, always, when these things happen, music people get together and i've had 500 text messages from people all over the music world saying what are we doing? we want to help. that's just everybody's way. so i talked to the people at ou, they called me, may we use the stadium? i don't know if everybody's going to unite, whatever i'm in. hopefully, in 2 next couple of days, we would sort it out.

>> yeah, we'd love to serply know the benefit ideas you have. you literally landed in the next couple of hours. thank you very much, indeed. >> okay. >> tomorrow night, toby keith will give anderson cooper a first-hand tour. that's on "ac 360" coming up next. coming um, an amazing story coming next. [ engine revving ]

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the painstaking search for survivors may be nearing its end now. joining me is gary bird. welcome, gentlemen, to you both. let me start with you. what is the status of the city of moore tonight? >> what is the what? i'm sorry? >> what is the status. are we in a situation now where you believe everybody is acounted for? >> yes, sir, i do believe that. i think most everybody has been acounted for.

right now, we're going to go into the clean-up process. we'll still be looking. but i think we've gone passed that now. and we've already started the clean-up process in a lot of the city. we've got the traffic lights on and stopped in the town. we're working on the rest of the city getting the power back on. >> i had an interview with a woman called casandra jenkins. her grandparents had disappeared about 2:30 yesterday heading back into moore. is it possible they could still be somewhere? just not found, trapped or whatever? >> it could be, that's quite possible. that's the first i heard of this. >> they were suggesting that they haven't had much help.

they seem pretty desperate for some kind of information. >> sure, we actually have a red cross situation set up to relocate people and for relatives to check in on them. she should look at the red cross situation. that would be the first place i would check. and they have an online regis y registry, as well. again, we should reveal the details of the car they were driving. fire chief gary bird, this has clearly been an awful thing to have to deal with for you and your men. tell me about what it is like in reality having to literally pick up the pieces of the wreckage after this kind of tornado. >> well, we've been through several tornadoes. it's kind of trial by fire.

i'm very blessed with some well-trained men to step up to the challenge. and we have lots of help from all the surrounding cities. it's in the city of oklahoma and in moore and in the nation. they come from everywhere to help us. and we have been very blessed with all of the help and with the police officials, fire officials, all of the emergency management team. and we can't say enough to these people: i think you guys have all done an amazing job. the death toll seems to be 24, given the pictures we've seen. i thank you mr. mayor and fire chief, and all of the work that you and your people have done. thank you very, very much, indeed. >> thanks for reporting our story. thank you very much. >> it's an important story to report. i want to prurn to a teacher with an extraordinary story.

suzanne haley joins me on the phone. we're looking at a picture that tells it all. we believe it's by the leg of one of the children's tables. describe to me what happened. >> well, we were aware of the situation of impending weather. it progressively got worse and the fastest time that i've ever -- it just seemed like it was so quick. we were taking our tornado precautions. we could hear it approaching. it sounded like a jet.

>> we're actually looking, as you speak, a remarkable picture. it's of the children in the classroom with you. i guess they're all in the crash position bracing themselves for the position. >> yes, we're on an interior wall. i was actually in the next class over where we had a fewer amount of kids. we put some desks up against the wall and got them underneath. and, in the end, like i said, we put ourselves in front of the desk to avoid exposure to debris that might hit the children. >> and you had two children of your own. were they in the same room?

>> yes, and it got louder and louder and we just continued to pray and it would pass and it would pass and it didn't. and the roof went and it just -- the wall came in and landed right on top of us and the desk. initially, i thought something large and heavy was on my leg. i couldn't move. none of us could move. we finally got to roll around and get out of the way. amazingly, by the grace of god, it got better.

not even until after surgery when i came out of anesthesia, did i lose it. my interns may not be covering this because it's under the plan. they're expensive. so on top of finding my vehicle in the pond next to the school, it's definitely going to be a great help with this fund that's

set up. >> well, we're going to put the details of the fund on our web site. you showed outstanding heroism to save many children's lives. id didn't know what to think. it's nothing anybody wouldn't do. we see their smiles, their tears, every day in and out. and we love them. and they're our babies. we wanted each and every one of them to be safe. i'm looking at the picture again. i'm so grateful that you're going to make a full recovery. what have you done with that leg that's gone inside your leg, the table leg. did you keep it?

>> oh, yeah, at the moment, they were putting me under for surgery. i haerd the word hacksaw and i said okay, time to go to sleep. you've shown amazing bravery. thank you very much. >> oh, thank you, it was my pleasure. we are so blessed that there was such minimal injuries. we knts all say that in the city. it's a hard thing to go through. >> very, very hard, indeed. susan, thank you so much. another hero teacher.

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the moore medical center in ruins tonight. the hospital wasn't just housing patients, up to 300 people had gone there, believing it was safer than being in a home. doctor, thank you so much for joining me. it must have been quite a night for you last night. tell me about it. >> i don't think it all hit me until this morning. we set up a triage area as they came to see us. i had lost power at my house. we were trying to figure out what to do. i think i did just crash and didn't really think about it until this morning. that was when it was kind of the events and everything that

happened and was really heavy and all of my heart. wow, i couldn't believe it. >> how much warning did you get to get out of there? well, we actually stayed in the hopt. >> i would guess maybe 30, 45 minutes from the time that we first knew that there was a tornado watch, which we knew that here in oklahoma. we actually got a tornado alert which tells us that i've never heard that before. i knew that there was something coming our way. >> and what was it like to actually experience the full blast of this room.

>> the sound of it coming towards you was so loud. just the pressure that you felt, you know, like your ears were popping and the pressure around you. >> the death toll at the moment was at 24 and not much higher. >> yeah, it's -- yeah, it is very miraculous. and i give all the credit to jesus and god. i know that he was protecting us. we were in the area -- the area that we were in, as far as the e.r. patients, we had some e.r. patients in a particular area of the hospital, that was unscathed. tlfgs one ceiling tile that fs down and that's it. we didn't realize until we stepped out of those double doors that that had happened.

i didn't know until we were outside of the hospital and saw across the street, you know, the bowling alley in different areas that were just devastated. so it was amazing. >> pretty extraordinary night. >> thank you on behalf of everyone on behalf of who you helped. >> i don't deserve any of the credit. >> well, you do. and i appreciate that. thank you very much. >> another hero over night. you heard my interview. her missing grandparents, thomas and claudia foutch.

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comfort individualized the disaster zone at 6:00, the damage is so widespread and so graphic, this picture may be the most notable so far rescuing students. this is the man that took that picture. he's a stock photographer with the oklahoman. welcome, paul. this one, in particular, that we're looking at now has been used on many front pages of newspapers all over the world. you were there within five minutes. what was on your mind as he raced to the scene and realized what happened. >> well, of course, an adrenaline rush with the situation that was happening. i just got through photographing

the tornado itself and then turned up north to try and intercept the damage, cutting through a residential area when i came across the school. the teachers were trying to bring all the kids out of the school, both that could get out, anyway. and there's a lot of crying, a lot of emotion, children crying for their parents, of course, their moms and a very emotional time. >> i mean, obviously, you were doing a job and doing it extremely well. but, from a human perspective, you must have been thinking what on earth has been happened to this area that i know so well? >> yes, exactly. well, i had practically covered the same area 14 years earlier with the may 3rd tornado of '99. so i had seen a situation very similar to that at practically the same area. any time you see any kind of

tornado damage, it is shocking. and especially to be on it that quickly. and when it's at the very height of its emotion, it's very emotional. >> and, paul, you said you were at the other one in '99, we've asked many people this, but would you say that this is a bigger devastation than the one from '99? one of the local papers, it may have been yours, said that. did you believe that to be the case? >> it's really difficult from myself having seen the boat from the air and the ground. this one, i don't know if it did quite as much damage. they were both remarkable tornadoes. >> thank you very much. and we'll be right back. hwelcome back.. nice to see you again! hey!

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