bill: continuing coverage here on the fox news channel. there is absolute devastation in the heartland this morning. the city of moore, oklahoma, wiped out. after this monster tornado tore through that town unspeakable tragedy. as rescue teams and volunteers dig through the rubble, a task that has moved from rescue in some cases to recovery in others. dozens are dead dead and many of them are young children. good morning, everybody. this will be the bulk of our coverage this morning as we welcome you here to "america's newsroom." good morning, martha. martha: i'm martha maccallum. we're hearing unbelievable stories in this tragedy. as you know two schools were in the path of this tornado. that is a look at plaza

towers elementary. it took a direct hit. the children had, in many cases, nowhere to hide. the roof caved in on this school but they are still out there searching as you can see on this lynch shot. here's the latest we know right now. 51 are dead. local officials say that number is likely to go higher this morning. we do know 20 of the dead are children from plaza towers elementary. more than 120 people are now being treated at local area hospitals. the national weather center initially called this an e-4 which is the second most powerful tornado. that could be upgraded to a category 5. this was a half amile wide. it carved a path of destruction 20 miles long that literally sat and spun on the town of moore. bill: the sun is coming up too in that area. this is from yesterday. look at this image. this is from the beginning of that storm around 3:00

local time. look at the size and the strength and the darkness. this tornado stayed on the ground for close to 45 long and deadly minutes. now to the day after, senior national correspondent john roberts is live near the scene there in moore, oklahoma. and, john, hello there. >> reporter: hey, good morning to you, bill. just to give you a little bit of the lay of the land here. behind me is the moore medical center. if i step out of the way you can see the amount of destruction on this particular building. the entire third floor is gone. as you look through the parking lot back toward the medical center you can see cars stacked on top of each other like children's toys. i've been to a lot of these tornados and a lot of hurricanes and i have never seen to the degree i've seen in moore cars being tossed around and stacked on top of each other, thrown through buildings, thrown on top of buildings, literally littering the entire area

around here. came back out here a little bit and we'll take you over a little bit to the west and this is the direction the tornado came from. the neighborhood behind me, this is kind of the edge of the destruction, we're on the southerly edge of the track. there are some homes pretty much intact. but you go across the street everything being wiped out there. a couple of gentlemen who rode out the storm in the bedroom of their home set up a tent out in front. they spent the night there with their young son. they want to make sure no one gets in. we should tell you the neighborhoods have been very secure overnight with the police. they're worried about looters because that has been a problem in some areas. if you look a little more to the west from where i'm standing, and you can't see it because it is half a mile away, that is where the plaza towers elementary school is beyond the debris field. we were there early this morning just before 6:00 before rick reichmuth went

on the air with his first report. the police came in and told all the gathered media, and there were a lot of satellite trucks that they had to leave the area. i can only surmise that may be because they were about to begin the most gruesome phase of the recovery effort, that would be to bring out what are presumed to be the bodies of 24 third-graders who were inside that building when it cops laed. plaza towers elementary school, built back in 1966, basically a sinner block brick construction with flat roof. a question a lot of people are asking here and will be asking in the days to come, bill, these old buildings, were weren't their hardened tornado shelters for the children to go into? why were they told as one person put it, hug the wall as the tornado ran through? a lot of people will want to know the answer to that question, particularly in tornado central, oklahoma, bill. bill: you wonder if the storm is strong enough to rip the lid literally off those shelters.

john, early hours of this so far, and, now the sun is coming up. so many people including the iraqi governing council saying how much help they received -- the governor received. what in the world happened regarding today in that city? >> reporter: you often wonder in cases like this where do you begin. you can't see behind joe who is taking the picture, work crews have come in, we're in the parking lot of the warren theater which narrowly got missed. there is a little bit of damage. light standards in the parking lot were taken down. they have come along and removed those. they are beginning clean up efforts. street sweepers gone you there streets clearing debris so recovery teams can come in without flattening all their tires and begin the work of cleaning up the debris. this debris field, bill, remember, this is a 20-mile long debris field through a

very populated area. this will take a awful lot of time to clean it up, let alone rebuild it. you mentioned the storm shelters. we looked at these in alabama last year in the wake of big tornados that came in 2011. they are rated for winds up to 250 miles per hour. and take direct hits from debris. those would be very good thing to have here in the oklahoma city area. bill: i'm sure you talked to a lot of people. what are they telling you about their own experience, john? >> reporter: they're very much bewildered trying to make sense of what happened. we spoke to fellows that spent the night in a tent. they rode out the tornado in their bedroom. the house literally came apart around them. we talked to a fellow down the street where his house is intact. his daughter is a sixth grade student at elementary school. his wife told him, stay inside, stay inside. i have to go out and see what is going on. he literally ran over to the elementary school to try to

find his daughter. when he couldn't find her there, he eventually found her at a friend's house. you can imagine the sheer panic and terror that foes through your mind when you can not find your child in the middle of a disaster like this, bill. bill: the first of so many stories. john roberts, thanks. great to have you on the ground there in moore. thank you, john. here is martha. martha: think of the children in all of these stories. here is another picture that captures this tragedy. look at this picture. it is incredible. this woman carry as child through a field near where the school collapsed. take a look at the background. it looks like a war zone. listen to the woman who has been helping with the rescue effort. >> a lot of people are just very sad. i mean, as you can imagine having to pull anybody deceased out whether it be children or adults it is just going to be overwhelming for a person. so, you know, at this point when it went from a search and rescue to search and

recovery the mood over there has definitely changed. martha: it is believed that the numbers will go higher as we go throughout the morning here. the oklahoma medical examiner's office has said the death toll is expected to rise. it could go up towards 91. you look at the anguish on these people's faces, bill, it is too much to bear this morning. so much of our focus, rightfully so is on this elementary school. this is an aerial photo of before the plaza elementary school. this appears to be the main building, the main structure, a few auxillary buildings across the street with a few homes. this is before image from the satellite. watch what happens when we use our slide and show you after 3:15 yesterday what happened to that area. wow! these are the auxiliary buildings. look at the before here. they're so perfectly built. i noticed the homes so neatly built in a line on the street along the way. the before moves to the

after, and see amount of devastation they are left with. a couple of backhoes are in here, big earth movers moving in. this is what nature can do, what nature can do in just a few short seconds when the ferocity of that storm at 200 miles an hour plus comes through and ruins the lives of so many in an instant. this is one of two elementary schools, plaza elementary. there is another one called brierwood, martha. we looked at a map, to show you how random the storms can be. they are 1.5 miles away from each other. go down the street, hang a right and come to the other school. at brierwood everybody is okay. at plaza they have so many lives to deal with. martha: we saw a heartwarming story of parents at brierwood reuniting with their children. when you watch what is unfolding during all of this and you start to hear elementary school, two elementary schools, it is so

heart-breaking and your mind goes back to stories we covered in connecticut and the like and stories about parents trying to reunite with their children. incredibly hard day for some of these families. we are waiting right now for an update from oklahoma governor mary falin. after getting a close look at the damage she problem missed the state would spare no resource in recovery here. the governor also paying tribute to the strength of her fellow oklahomance and thanking the first-responders. >> for those who have lost everything and lost their possessions, there are a lot of great oklahoma ans willing to step up and help and ask for help and we're willing to help the people, if you live anywhere you want to live in oklahoma because our people are the most generous. i want to say how much i appreciate all the first-responders, the law enforcement entities, the fire, the police, red cross, salvation army, highway

patrol. we called out the national guard. certainly many other emergency services throughout the state. the hospitals that are responding so well to those that have been injured in this terrible storm that has struck our state. martha: so much leadership is required of governors in these kinds of situations and mary falin has been out front since the beginning of this. we'll bring you hear remarks. she will be speaking lynch as well soon. that will happen in "america's newsroom". bill: if you can believe it this is the fourth major tornado to hit the town of moore, oklahoma, in 15 years. they call it tornado alley for a reason. it is a deadly tornado alley. they still refer to the massive tornado that hit in 1999 as may 3rd. 56 people were killed that day. winds reached more than 300 miles an hour. that is the highest wind ever recorded near the earth's surface. yesterday's tornado loosely followed the same path as the one in 1999.

the green path from 1999. the red one was from yesterday. traveling along the same trajectory for a while and veering off to the east before breaking up. martha: so the town of moore in oklahoma is 10 miles south of oklahoma city and according to the 2011 census the population there is a bit more than 56,000. median age in moore is about it this one years old. it is made up of 21.8 square miles, a huge path of destruction was cut through that 21 mile area throughout the course of the hours of yesterday afternoon. bill: a few things we're waiting on. we're waiting on the governor as you mentioned there. the national guard will be talking. we'll take you there live to oak emhome when that happens. later this hour we expect to hear from the president on the latest on the tragedy in oklahoma. four or five counties already declared federal disaster areas. they will got help immediately as rescue teams and all those volunteers race against time to find the possibility, just a

chance of a survivor. martha: we are again live in moore. stay with us this morning for all of our coverage throughout this on fox news. >> just started heading in. we were pulling walls off of people. there were people crawling out from anywhere and everywhere. basically just a war zone. what do you think? that's great. it won't take long, will it? nah. okay. this, won't take long will it? no, not at all.

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martha: we're back with continuing coverage of what is unfolding in america's heartland today. the people of moore, oklahoma, some of them able to start to pick up some of the pieces after this massive tornado literally flattened their town, taking away everything that they have ever phone -- known in that town. this is amateur video we're just getting a look at of the monster as they call it there as it roared into moore.

[inaudible] martha: can't help but feel helpless when you look at that they didn't know exactly which direction it was going to be heading in. which way to go to get away, and the threat of tornados in this larger area is not over this morning. damaging winds, large hail, tornados possibly, all threats still out there today in america's heartland. meteorologist maria molina is tracking this live in our fox news weather center. maria, when we said that yesterday, we were still expecting some tornadic activity from the day before when two lives were lost, well, you think it couldn't happen again so quickly. >> most people, you know, you hear this risk for severe weather in your area and you don't really think, not my town, you're not anticipating this occurring.

this is it why it is so important to take every advisory very seriously. the storm prediction center again today issued a light risk for severe storms anywhere from texas all the way up into the great lakes. a pretty widespread area is expecting severe weather. yesterday we had something called a moderate risk that was issued for moore, oklahoma, and surrounding areas in that state, that again today has been issued by the very same storm prediction center for parts of texas, arkansas, louisiana, and extreme southeastern portions of oklahoma. basically what that means, that we have the conditions in place, very warm, very humid area. we have a storm system headed eastward and wind shear in the atmosphere. that provides rotation for the thunderstorms to produce tornado touchdowns. that is in place again today. look at some cities that could see potentially long track tornadoes, violent tornados and damaging wind and large hail. dallas, texas, you are in this area.

cleburne, texas, you had confirmed tornado in your area. granbury, texas where we had confirmed, e-4 tornado you're in the zone of severe weather. tyler texas, shreveport, louisiana, el dorado, arkansas, you're in the risk for severe storms. this has been a slow-mover. so we've been seeing multiple days of severe weather in the center of the country into the midwest. the ground is already saturated from previous heavy rains. so flash flooding is another concern we need to keep an eye on. anywhere from southern parts of illinois, southeastern parts of missouri. into north even portions texas. that is another concern. martha, on average we see tornados generally in the late afternoon and evening hours. the sun comes out. that heats up the atmosphere and provides the instability for these thunderstorms to develop, and that's why on

average we do tend to see tornados that time of the day. this is something to keep in mind. you could see a tornado anytime of the day even overnight hours and any day of the year in our country. we're tracking storms. nothing severe right now. if any tornado warnings are issued we'll bring them to you ask. martha: they had 16 minutes of warning which gives everybody reason to be listening to be sure they're tuned into the areas you're pointing out. that isn't much time but may be enough time to get down into some kind of a shelter and it could make all the difference in the world. maria, thank you very much. we'll see you later. >> thank you. bill: look at that aerial. it is 8:20 local time in oklahoma and literally home after home and street after street just wiped off. in some cases, just the foundation of the home that is still there. as we get a closer look at the devastation, in a moment we'll talk with someone who lived through the storm. we'll get an update on those injured in the hospital. so many dozens and dozens of

them and we're getting new reaction today as the sun breaks in moore, oklahoma. >> there is rubble upon rubble. it is pancaked. it is also crammed. it is slid across. there are cars on top of a wall. there are cars are on top of each other. the sheer force of vehicles dragging across the concrete and made grains into the concrete. you could literally see the wind path cars were subjected to as they ripped across the parking lot. >> oh, my god!. [inaudible] >> that's a big, big tornado.

bill: if you're just joining us our coverage continues for the latest out of oklahoma. there are rescuers racing against time to try to find the possibility of survivors who may be still trapped underneath the rubble. the governor mary falin deploying dozens of members of the national guard to help with the search and recovery efforts. the context on the scale of this tragedy and it is huge. the tornado devastate ad 30-square mile area that is larger than the island of manhattan. more than 14,500 football fields. we have a spokesman for the oklahoma university medical center and, sir, good morning to you. i can imagine what you're up against. what are the numbers at your medical facility now? >> good morning, bill. the numbers we have received of patients last night has

risen by 20. now we have a total of 85 patients who have presented themselves to ou medical center and the childrens' hospital at ou medical center. we're a level-one trauma center in oklahoma city for both adults and pediatrics. bill: what kind of injuries, scott? >> every kind of injury you can imagine. minor lacerations to impal impalements. to very critical patients. i can tell you that we've had 50 children total. 20 of them were walk-ins and 25 others are trauma patients. we've had five transfers from other area hospitals. as far as adults go, we have had 35 of them total. tweblt five were trauma, and 10 were walk-in. again those were mainly lacerations, minor injuries. the children, were they at either one of the elementary schools, do you know, scott? >> no, we don't. we can only assume that they would be but i don't want to

really make that assumption because we have received patients from all of the damage that occurred in the moore area. bill: will they all make it? >> we have not had anybody pass away so far. that's the good news. bill: how far are you from moore, oklahoma, your facility? >> we are about 15 minutes north of moore, just straight up i-35. we're located in the downtown area of oklahoma city. bill: right there smack dab in the middle of downtown oklahoma city. >> right. bill: scott, i can't imagine what happened here when these ambulances arrived and what you and your staff had gone through. can you get us an image for what developed at that point? >> i have never seen anything so mind-boggling, yet it was so smooth. we continue to receive patients, oh, i would say probably a half hour after the storm hit. all through the night and it was amazing. i spoke with our chief

trauma director and she was saying that, if you remember, in '99 we had a tornado sweep through the same area. it was much more smooth operation. we learned a lot since then and all of the specialties were there. they were, had presented themselves to take care of all types of injuries. the nurses were already to go. even down to services, social services for families and employees handling the patients. bill: that is remarkable. scott, they need all the help they can give emthis. my best to you, okay? >> thank you very much. bill: thank you for your time and good luck. >> thank you. martha: this is a fox news alert. we're getting this from the ap. moments ago and it would appear that the medical examiner who we will speak to in a few moments revised the death toll lower to at least 24. some good news in all of this appears to be surfacing. as i mentioned we'll speak

with amy elliot, the spokesperson for the medical examiner's office in oklahoma. that is coming up right after this break. stay with us. more to come. >> two-mile wide tornado can do. it can twist metal like this, like it is silly puty. this is what really remains of this gas station metal awning. if you pan this way, i don't know how close you can get into it, this is a 7-eleven gas pump in there. when we first pulled up into the parking lot, i didn't even know what that was. my crusade we were at the 7-eleven. everything was ripped away. you didn't know where you were i met a turtle friend today so, you don't get that very often. it seemed like it was more than happy to have us in his home.

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bill: we have these aerial images, sometimes when the camera goes in with the helicopter, they look like ants on the ground going through the rubble, sifting what they can find, for belongings or possibility of human life. you see the blue uniforms without white hard hats. as we get a closenow at some ofs in the moments after that disaster struck. i want to roll the video. survivors on the scene posting video on social media like this here. apparently from a gentleman by the name of david massey, who was in moore. recorded from his cell phone

video and post it online, with people sifting through the rubble. hoping to find survivors. you see a dog in the back of a pickup truck. smoke visible from the wreckage. some homes were burned down as a result. i want to get back to the senior national correspondent john roberts live in moore, oklahoma, with a guest now. and the latest from there. john, hello, again. >> reporter: hello again, bill, just to set the scene here, we're in front of the moore medical center which is just to the west of i-35, the main north-south corridor that runs through the heart of oklahoma. they believe they got everybody out of here with no serious injuries the search-and-rescue efforts though still continue. when you talk about tornado damage and damage of this scale, you get houses that are blown apart. so they're fairly easy to look through. but you also get almost an earthquake effect where the buildings collapse and pancake down on top of them and the way the buildings come down can sometimes create spaces if a person is

inside they find an area to hide. search-and-rescue crews going through many, many colapsed homes throughout the moore area, looking for any people that may have survived the tornado. one person that survived the tornado with a near direct hit on his home is jim garner. you lived across the street. your house was damaged but not completely leveled but many houses we see over here, you were very fortunate. >> yes, sir. we were more fortunate than a lot of folks around here. half a block down the street from our house there is no houses. it is completely destroyed them. i mean, there is nothing. a lot of neighborhoods are just completely gone. >> reporter: every time one of these big tore trade does come through we ask people that rode it out, what was it like. so let me ask you this question? >> everybody says it sounds like a train. i never heard a train that sound like that. it is the worst sound i ever heard. we were in a storm shelter.

and it was loudest noise i have ever heard. >> reporter: we should say you were at the house of your daughter and son-in-laws. you made a couple of very smart decisions yesterday. one. smart decisions was you got into that backyard storm shelter. tell me about that. >> well, we were watching the tv and, my daughter said, if tornado sirens go off, let's go ahead go to the shelter. don't wait. i said that's a good idea. so, like i say, i work third shift. i was upstairs asleep and thunder woke me up. i jumped up and run downstairs and my daughter had already went to the school to get my grandkids from school. and it just a few minutes the tornado sirens started going off. so i took them and got all them into the shelter. i come back in the house and watched the tv to see what was going on and there was a

tornado chaser that was watching the tornadoes and he was filming it as it touched down. >> reporter: it was just amazing to watch those images. your house is about 100 yards away from where the main part of the devastation went. when you were in that underground shelter, could you feel it as it was roaring around you? >> oh, yes, sir. sounded like bricks and everything hitting the shelter, it is a concrete shelter. and it was beating the shelter up. i mean, my daughter and, me both thought that we had lost the house. we thought it was our house that was beating the shelter up because it was a brick home. >> reporter: you come out after the storm passes and you're greeted by this, your entire world was turned upside down. >> yes, sir. it has been pretty devastating so far. i don't think it is really sunk in yet. actually how bad it really is but, like i say, we were luckier than a lot of folks.

there were a lot of folks lost their lives. >> reporter: jim, i said you made a couple smart decisions yesterday you and your family. one was to go into the storm shelter. the other is, your daughter has students who are at plaza towers elementary school. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: what did she do yesterday afternoon. >> she knew this was coming. she had a bad feeling, went to the school to pick my grandkids up from school. >> reporter: what time was that at? >> around 2:00. >> reporter: and the storm hit 2:59. >> she made a good decision, she went and got them out of school and got them home and the school from what i understand was pretty much leveled. >> reporter: i told you the news, 24 school and staff members are missing. we hear from the governor's office there may not be a lot of hope. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: having grandchildren at that school, how are you struck by that news? >> i'm so proud of my daughter. i don't know what i would have done if i had lost my

grandkids. so. i'm proud of her for being smart. she did the right thing. and i feel for the families that lost the kids and stuff at school. >> reporter: it is just, it is the worst possible outcome of a tragedy like this and for a parent to think that you take your child to school where they're going to be safe and then something like this happens. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: they haven't come out of the school and to hear the news, i just don't know how as a parent, i'm a parent of 2-year-old twins, i don't know how i could deal with that. >> i don't either. i don't think i could have took it if i lost my grandkids. i don't know what i would have done. and i feel for the parents that did lose their kids over there. i think there was another school hit too. i'm not sure. >> reporter: brierwood. >> we don't have any news. >> reporter: everybody got out of that school.

>> i'm glad to hear that. >> reporter: jim, i know it has been a tough time. thanks for taking time to talk with us. we'll get you a cup of coffee and get a phone call so you can check in with your family at home. >> thanks very much. i appreciate that. >> reporter: stay right there we'll be with you. jim garner, so many people went through exactly what jim did. to have grandchildren at the school and get them out before the storm hit, the good sense of his daughter and good fortune to do that is difficult to describe. one thing that's happening today, there is this threat of more storms coming through oklahoma, for the most part, that threat is to the south and east of where we are. but the temperature unusually cool today, about 30 degrees lower than it was yesterday, which really, bill, is some good news. because that will keep the threat of more thunderstorms like we saw yesterday developing with that afternoon heat. so we may get some rain today, but maybe out of the woods in terms of severe weather. we'll keep an eye on that

throughout the rest of the day. give our best to jim, john. >> reporter: i sure will. bill: amazing he lives in the town and wakes up today and does not know what happened to his neighbors or friends and loved once or the local school and they're finding out through us. martha: no one could say better than jim garner, the experience they're all having there. we wait really because the stories of those lost are still to come. and we know they're coming and that those families are going through hell right now and he was very lucky and his daughter was right to get them out and follow her gut on that morning. look at these scenes from this aerial shot of what is left over the town of moore, oklahoma, as they continue to search through the rubble to find survivors. the good news it looks like the number is lower than they we thought in terms of those that are lost. many are still coming to grips on the ground with reality of what is out side, what used to be their door. three minutes from now we'll speak with senator james inhofe of oklahoma and talk

to him about his thoughts when he looks at these pictures. we'll be right back. >> it has been, just like you side, and the entire time i've been with the patrol in 18 years, including the may 3rd, 1999, tornado, i have never seen anything like this. so heart-breaking where you see just slabs of concrete where once was a home or once was a business, rubble. to fight chronic osteoarthritis pain. to fight chronic low back pain. to take action. to take the next step. today, y will know you did something for your pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a pain reliever fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can helpeduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. anti-depressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta inot for children under 18.

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martha: so many in oklahoma thought 1999 was as bad as it could ever get. take a look at the front of the oklahoma newspaper though. worse than may 3rd, which is the way they have always just described simply that day back in 1999. on the cover is a photograph that is just stunning. it is two injured teachers as they leave some of the youngest victims away from brierwood elementary school. just below it, a police officer rescues a young boy from the rubble of plaza towers elementary school. the stories that these teachers and these children will have are just going to be incredible. joining us now is republican senator james inhofe of oklahoma. senator, welcome. good to have you here today, sir. i know it's a rough day for you and all of your fellow oklahomans.

tell me what you're thinking. >> well, it is just amazing when you stop and realize the things we can't explain. in 1999 i was there, the same town, moore, oklahoma, the same size, about the same devastation, perhaps a little bit worse this time, and, followed the same track coming through there. then on sunday night, keep in mind now, we've been talking about the tornado in moore, oklahoma, we had one in shawnee, oklahoma. that is, my family, my wife, and son-in-law were looking to the west to watch this coming so we could get ready to take cover. when my son looked up in the sky and saw a piece of paper coming down, it was a picture, this is the picture right here of a little boy, about a four by six-inch picture. it came all the way, 80 miles away from shawnee to, tulsa, oklahoma. things that happen that we can't really answer. i have to say that we're getting full cooperation of everyone in terms of the,

the help that we're getting from washington and from other places and surrounding areas. i talked to one of the most heart-wrenching thing, i talked to albert ashworth, kind of our local fema guy in oklahoma. he said that their biggest problem yesterday was matching up the missing parents with the missing kids. and that is just, that is heart-wrenching. martha: excruciating. i can not imagine what that was like for those parents. much obviously we've seen the beautiful pictures of reuniting, families reuniting from brierwood elementary school where thank god, those families were able to be reunited. plaza towers is a different story. we're still waiting to hear. >> there could still be some people there i talked to janet napolitano. they're sending in three rescue teams, something a little bit different than we've had before. there are 72 in each team. they have a backup medical facility. you have been showing the hospital there, how it is

totally devastated. it is a miracle that people weren't hurt in the hospital or killed. but they're setting up another, it will be a tent hospital, you will see going up shortly right now. martha: you know one of the things that we talk about as you look at the death tolls from tornados back in the 1930s, so much higher than we've seen in these cases. but you do have to look at the situation and say are we as prepared for these things in your neck of the woods where they're far too familiar with this kind of devastation as we should be? is there more that could be done, senator? >> well, no, we're learning from our mistakes. in 1999, as a result of that very, almost exact same tornadic activity in moore, many, hundreds, we don't know, but hundreds of families in their homes put in safe areas, put in tornado shelters. and so there are a lot of people alive today because of that. now, there are things we can do. for example, in schools, in

these, in tornado alley, we need to have something there so there is a place to go, a public place. and i think people are looking at that already. but we learned from our mistake and that saved lives in yesterday's tornado. martha: we wait to learn even more in this case. senator inhofe, thanks so much. we're all thinking about everybody in your community and we thank you for being with us. >> i know that too. thank you very much. martha: all the best. bill: we're at the early stages of the story as you can imagine. the numbers will likely change. the images however, will not. first-responders, national guard, volunteers, hoping to find survivors in that rubble. back live to moore, oklahoma, in a moment. also the threat still out there again today for 10 of thousands if not millions of americans. who is the target now? we'll take you there. that forecast as we continue. why let constipation weigh you down?

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bill: if you were with us in the last 20 or 30 minutes we're getting report from the moore, oklahoma, medical examiner's office that the death toll has been revised. she is with us by telephone. good morning to you. can you clarify what we believe we know right now? >> good morning. originally we were informed there were 51 decedents when in fact our office has received only 24 deseed cents. bill: amy, what would count for the difference of 26 or 27 people? >> with the cell phone towers down people were working with radios and imsa telephones and quite possibly we could have double reporting. bill: in other words people might have been counted twice? >> absolutely. bill: can you tell us the number of children, still at seven or has that changed?

>> i'm sorry, it is nine right now. bill: nine? do you expect more, amy? >> i hope not but i do. bill: this number can always change as you know. i'm sure you're getting reports from various areas. >> yes. bill: are you able to tell us how much higher this could possibly go as families find each other throughout the hours? >> i, honestly i pray it doesn't go any higher but it could go, 2 could go think where. i'll be updating throughout the day. bill: appreciate that. at the elementary school, is this a search and recovery effort or how would you characterize it? >> to my understanding it's a search and recovery, but keep in mind that we're just the agency that receives the decedents. we're not involved in the search. bill: amy, i know you are, you have plenty to do, but i want to say thank you for coming on the air with us. >> thank you. bill: we'll be in touch with you and your office. as we stand right now, it is

24 dead in oklahoma. amy elliot. thank you. >> thank you. martha: so we wait now for president obama to speak on the devastation in oklahoma. we'll take that as soon as we get it. and this brand new video coming in from the ground in moore where a family is seen coming out of their storm sell lar to inspect the damage. we'll speak to the man who shot this video. imagine how he felt when he saw what was going on outside. >> i heard the roar and grabbed my dog and went and lay down. here we are now, it is destroyed. i was asking god to spare me and he did. he saw fit to see me through to another day. to more efficient pick-ups. ♪ wireless is limitless.

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♪ to wireless is mitless.s... martha: all right. we are back and this is a fox news alert. right now we're waiting president obama. he is scheduled to deliver a statement within the next couple of minutes about the devastating tornados that have impacted oklahoma. the president's receiving a briefing right now we are told from his response team and as soon as he comes out to the podium we will get underway with his statement for us this morning. two miles wide, winds that topped 200 miles an hour. a deadly tornado has devastated an entire community in oklahoma. >> this is not, this is not what i wanted to see, i really didn't. this is not good. can we get -- >> stay right here.

we can flip around to go one mile south. >> whoa, whoa. here comes debris. >> we have to getaway out. significant damage in new castle. martha: we can report this breaking news to you from moments ago ago. 24 people is the latest number of those dead. it was revised down from an original 51 due to a miscount according to a woman we spoke to in the medical examiner's office. we don't know at this point, the numbers could go higher. welcome to a brand new hour of "america's newsroom" on this rough morning for all americans really. i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning at home. two elementary schools and a hospital, they took a direct hit. we just learned again of the 24 dead, nine are children. it is not clear if that number will go higher but the medical examiner's office telling us only minutes ago unfortunately they expect the number to change. how much it changes we don't they. rescue cue workers and volunteer workers working throughout the night sifting

through rubble of homes. that recovery effort continues even as more storms threaten the area. parts of arkansas and texas, they're under the gun today and some of the communities hit hard yesterday will once again see severe weather this afternoon. martha: casey stegall has been on the ground watching this unfold since the hours of its coming yesterday afternoon and he joins us now for more. hey again, good morning, casey. >> reporter: martha, good morning to you. hope, today is about hope here in moore, oklahoma, because there is still a very real possibility that survivors are still under some of the rubble in neighborhoods like we're in now that have opinion literally erased off of the map. and we talk about the hope. this is what i'm talking about. see this m here? this means, missing. i talked to many so one from the fbi a short time ago in this neighborhood. basically as the first-responders came through here and they started making their sweeps, if the people in the homes are unaccounted for, or in

this case, what's left of a home, one wall, they spray-painted an m. so the reality is a lot of people are still missing, a lot are unaccounted for and we know that that death toll has been revised. i have to be honest with you, while we are holding out hope, the likelihood of that number continuing to go up is increasing, especially as the day wears on and especially as more storms threaten the area. because if people are trapped under the rubble and it starts raining, we could see drowning situations like with we're hearing coming out of that elementary school where some of those students drowned in a puddle from the rains that the storm dropped, in addition to that massive funnel cloud. i want you to take a look right over there. an american flag, that someone has clearly put on the rubble of that home, after this storm, and that is what this is all about, because we have seen neighbor helping neighbor.

people giving themselves, selflessly as they ran to the scene, ran to the afflicted areas, right in the moments after this tornado. i interviewed a guy yesterday who left his wife and his daughter behind because he knew they were okay, he was in a storm sell lar with them, and holding door overhead and ground rumbled where though stood and ran to a 7-eleven yesterday and pulling people out. he was going to some neighborhoods, pulling people who were crying from under the rubble. look at this, a stop sign, the street sign here, it is literally the pole, it is not broken, it is bent, it is bent in half. it is incredible when you do this 36 degree turn, martha and bill, and you see that it's, it is all around you for miles. martha: unbelievable, casey,

it truly is. you started off with the word hope because in all of these tragedies we see, that there are people who are buried even more days in some cases, who are able to survive thanks to a pocket of air. >> right. martha: and limited injuries. and we hope that that will be the case. and it is hard to believe that there aren't stories like that out there right now. >> reporter: absolutely. i'm going to kind of stay on this spot for a second because i'm hoping that maybe while we're talking to you we're going to capture some lightning bolts. because we've got a pretty serious storm coming in back there. hopefully it is not going to be severe in nature but we've been standing here waiting to go on, look out in that direction over splintered trees, over people's belongings, people's lives scattered all in miles back that way. we're seeing lightning bolts that have been coming down and we're hearing thunder. we certainly have something approaching us and we're hoping at this point that it is not severe in nature because there are people trapped.

there are people that are missing and so we desperately want to get people pulled out. you know when i talked to that guy who was telling me how he pulled people from their storm cellars after this hit, some of them walking out, martha, with not even a scratch, not even a bump, not even a bruise. so there is that hope that we're holding onto today. martha: casey where, are there shelters set up? where did everybody go? obviously they can't get back into the neighborhoods that you are standing in right now. what is your sense of that part of the story? >> well, there are a number of shelters set up. the american red cross, the list goes on and on, really of charities that have come in and they have set up shop to give people a place to lie their head. just a warm meal. some water. obviously a number of these people went to stay with families and in outlying areas. we're staying overnight, we're sleeping at a hotel in oklahoma city. and that is only 10 miles

north of here. martha: we have to jump n we see the president walking out now. and let's listen in. >> good morning, everybody. as we all know by now a series of storms swept across the plains yesterday in one of the most destructive tornadoes in history sliced through the towns of new castle and moore, oklahoma. in an instant neighborhoods were destroyed, dozens of people lost their lives. many more were injured and among the victims were young children trying to take shelter in the safest place they knew, their school. it is our prayers are with the people of oklahoma today. our gratitude is with the teachers who gave their all to shield their children with the neighbors, first-responders and emergency personnel who raced to help as soon as the

tornado passed and with all of those who as darkness fell searched for survivors through the night. as a nation our full focus right now is on the urgent work of rescue and the hard work of recovery and rebuilding that lies ahead. yesterday i spoke with governor fallin to make it clear to oklahomans they would have all the resources they need at their disposal. last night i issued a disaster declaration to expedite those resources, to support the governor's team in the immediate response and to offer direct assistance to folks who have suffered loss. i also just spoke with mayor lewis of moore, oklahoma, to insure he is getting everything that he needs. i have met with secretary napolitano this morning and my homeland security and counterterrorism advisor lisa monaco, to underscore that point.

that oklahoma needs to get everything that it needs right away. the fema administrator craig fugate is on his way to oklahoma as we speak. fema staff was first deployed to oklahoma's emergency operations center on sunday as the state already was facing down the first wave of deadly tornados. yesterday fema activated urban search-and-rescue teams from texas, nebraska, and tennessee to assist in the ongoing search-and-rescue efforts. and a mobile response unit to boost communications and logistical support. so the people of moore should know that their country will remain on the ground, there for them, beside them, as long as it takes. for there are homes and schools to rebuild, businesses and hospitals to reopen, their parents to console first-responders to comfort, and of course frightened children who will

need our continued love and. there are empty spaces where there used to be living rooms, and bedrooms and classrooms. and in time we're going to need to refill those spaces with love and laughter and community. we don't yet know the full extent of the damage from this week's storm. we don't know both the human and economic losses that may have occurred. we know that severe rumbling of weather, bad weather, through much of the country still continues and we're also preparing for hurricane season that begins next week. but, if there's hope to hold onto, not just in oklahoma but around the country, it is the none that the good people there and in oklahoma are better prepared for this type of a storm than most and what they can be certain of is that americans from

every corner of this country will be right there with them opening our homes, our hearts, to those in need because we're a nation that stands with our fellow citizens as long as it takes. we've seen that spirit in joplin in tuscaloosa, we saw that spirit in boston and breezy point, and that's what the people of oklahoma are going to need from us right now. for those of you who want to help you can go online right now to the american red cross, which is already on the ground in moore. already we've seen the university of oklahoma announce that it will provide housing for displaced families. we've seen local churches and companies open their doors and their wallets. and last night the people of joplin dispatched a team to help the people of moore. so, for all those who have been affected, we recognize you face a long road ahead. in some cases, there will be

enormous grief that has to be absorbed. but you will not travel that path alone. your country will travel with you, fueled by our faith in the almighty and our faith in one another. so our prayers are with the people of oklahoma today and we will back up those prayers with deeds for as long as it takes. thank you very much. bill: the president a moment ago, there, one of the best lines you heard it from him, when he talked about filling the empty spaces with love and laughter and there are many empty spaces in oklahoma today. federal disaster declared for several counties in oklahoma. 24 are dead, nine of whom are children. that is what we know and we expect that number to change. by how much, we simply do not know now.

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bill: live pictures now from the ground. the cleanup just begins, and, man, tons and tons and tons of debris on every street and every block throughout that area of oklahoma. from the ground in newcastle, a town, southwest of moore, oklahoma, where the storm was first spotted, we found this family. >> i want you to stay. >> okay.

bill: the man behind that cell phone is jason ledger. he and his four children were inside their storm shelter, riding out the twister. you saw him lift the door of that storm cellar off. this video shows what you and his fam saw and found the first time when they emerged. what they saw was no more home, no more neighborhood. just the sky above them. jason is on the phone with us now and, good morning to you. how did you get through this one? >> we got through it trying to keep everything in perspective really. we realized we were all okay. bill: how is your family? >> they're doing great. they're dealing with it and getting over the shock of it a little bit. looking forward to what things hold for us in the future. bill: no one injured, right, jason? >> no one injured at all. my wife did an excellent job of having everything prepared and everybody went down there. it could not have went smoother given the circumstances. bill: you mentioned the shock. are you a bit in a state of

shock right now? >> i'm in a bit of a state of shock, definitely. mostly now just trying to realize that life is just changed quite a bit. i have no vehicles and no house and, trying to figure out how to move around and do things. luckily i have good family and friends and insurance and other things going for me. so. bill: can you describe for us, what you felt and what you heard as that storm literally ran over your house? >> well, we, we actually watched it almost up to, up to the house. got in the shelter. and then, it got extremely noisy and the, the pressure was really what really got us. the pressure, our ears popped several times within a few seconds. and then there was a dead calm that happened almost immediately. and we waited it out for just a little bit, to peek out there and, then you saw what we saw. bill: so you knew that storm was coming your way up until

the last moment, right? >> we did and, i guess luckily we could actually see it swirling up in the air for several minutes before it ever touched down. and, actually, saw it touch down and make it all the way to my house though. i watche it the whole way. bill: is that shelter like a basement, jason? is that how you describe it from viewers or is it separate from that? >> more like maybe a six by six in the ground, you know with a door angled to walk down in there. it is comfortable for about six or seven people as that can be comfortable. and then, you know, it was, luckily it was lower to such a degree where nothing really hit the shelter. we had some debris hit the door and unlatched the door for a brief second. when it unlatched the door for a brief second i actually had to latch it back. bill: others described the storm of their storm shelter was literally ripped off the hinges. jason, you're one of the

lucky ones and i'm sure your wife and children will come aware of that in the days and years to come. jason, thanks for sharing your story. >> thank you. martha: we're starting to hear stories from some of the younger tornado's youngest survivors. the twister as you know hit two elementary schools. carson petty was buried in the rubble and he was one of the lucky ones. he is now sharing his story along with his mom. >> everybody, everybody has, everybody has has it over their heads and things were falling down on everybody. >> where were you at. >> in the library? >> in the library, between the, between our classes. >> between your classes? wow, what was it like when the storm went overhead? >> it was scary. >> not knowing everything was hell, if they were okay. it was pretty scary.

once i saw all the kids coming out, it was, unreal and inscribable. >> yeah, they had to dig him out from under some rubble. so i'm just thankful. >> [inaudible]. >> yeah very. driving up to it is more terrifying and not know. >> what went through your head as soon as you saw him walk out of that rubble? >> just tears of relief and joy. thankful. martha: undescribable i'm sure what she felt. he is crediting his teachers with keeping him and his classmates calm. he said a friend's dad was the one who helped pull him out of the rubble. unbelievable, hero, in that story. bill: rescue workers, just every day normal people who care about their state and about its people working together to find survivors. we'll talk to the red cross about how you can help and more in minutes. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes.

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bill: just so you know, we're watching this hearing on the senate finance committee. if you were with us on friday morning, the house had a hearing on this irs scandal that's happening right now. so want to let you know that is happening right now. on a normal day we would be listening for headlines. you can listen for headlines as it streams on the website, foxnews.com happening right now. martha: back to moore, oklahoma, now where there are heroic tales that are emerging this morning. includes rescuers who worked through the night pulling people from the rubble. look at this human chain, as they pulled people from the plaza towers elementary school. they formed, as i said, a human chain and they passed survivors from person-to-person to get them out of harm's way. and now much of the attention will focus on getting help to the people who have just about nothing left after that tornado. joining me now is jennifer ramie, spokeswoman for the

american red cross. jennifer, welcome. we know how busy you folks are. we only want to keep you for a minute or two but tell us about the effort you're carrying out in moore today. >> absolutely. we opened several shelters last night. today it is focused on getting hot meals into communities. we have mobilized additionalee sources to come into oklahoma city. the rain is certainly not cooperating with us at the moment, but, we, we are putting the forces of the american red cross behind mobilizing here in oklahoma city and in moore and leting this community know they're not on their own. martha: how is it going? do you have enough space for people who need shelter and what are the most common needs of people who are coming in? >> well, in the immediate aftermath of a disaster like this the immediate needs of food, clothing and shelter are the most important. that's where we have come in and set up shelters. we do have good shelter space. a lot of people in this

community stay with family and friends when they have had disasters in the past but we do have additional shelters on standby in case we need it. we're bringing in 25 of our emergency response vehicles. we're ramping up for mobile feeding into the communities. we're doing bulk distribution and getting cleanup kits out into the communities and getting it into the hands of people as they're returning to their homes trying to salvage what they can and trying to get back on their feet. martha: you guys do amazing work in these situations. how can everybody out there help? >> you know, the easiest way to help is make a financial donation. it allows us to move very quickly and really buy in bulk and get resources on the ground fast and the easiest way to do that is go to redcross.org. you can call 1-800 red cross or tex the word red cross to 90099. that $10 texing would help

someone staying in our shelters. martha: 1-800-red cross is at the bottom of our screen. good luck to you in the case to come and good luck to what you do, jennifer. >> thank you. bill: we're hearing the town oklahoma, will brief reporters and public noon local time, that is 1:00 east coast time. we'll have live coverage when that happens. but the human toll is staggering in that state. it will take a long time before lives are put back together again and they will need a lot of support. >> oh, my god, i was praying to god so many times. honestly i'm like, i'm not going to see tomorrow. i was just like, i don't want to today, you know, but there is nothing else to do. [ bell dings ]

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. >> they are trying to sift through what is left of their homes. a video was taken half a mile away from the funnel yesterday afternoon. >> i cannot believe my eyes right now. listen to the roar, guys. huge debris in the air. >> incredible video, and the man who shot that is john haberfield and he joins us now. john, welcome. clearly you've been doing this and watching these storms. how was this experience different for you? >> well, you know, as the governor put it early this morning it was a sad day for oklahoma today, just an absolute worst case scenario for the good people of moore, oklahoma to have a violent, huge tornado go

right through the town, just unbelievable. as you said we were about a half a mile away from the tornado as it was coming right at us there on 19th street in moore and you could just see all the huge debris getting picked up. we are talking pauses of homes, buildings flying hundreds of feet in the air. the roar was so deafening with this tornado. it was massive and the biggest tornado i've ever seen. martha: what was your reaction? i mean, we can hear you folks in the car there. how concerned were you for your own situation? >> you know, we were concerned, we knew where the tornado was going, where it was headed and we wanted to keep that safe distance from it, and my driver, joe day he was ready on the pedal to blast east to make sure we didn't get caught up in it. it was so massive with a huge debris field two miles wide. >> how much warning -- we heard they had about 16 minutes

warning. what were you hearing and covering as this storm came through, and did it line up with where it ultimately went? >> yeah, i think the weather service did a great job warning this storm. i believe they had about 15, 16 minutes lead time on this tornado. you know, you can't really prepare for a tornado like this. but i think they hopefully had enough time to get to shelter, and this storm popped up very quickly and it went tornadic very quickly. it started out as a cone tornado and then wedged out to a huge tornado within five to ten minutes. so just something catastrophic and really rare and very unreal to see. >> unreal for the people who went through it in 1999 as well, to be hit again on a similar path is just unc anny and awful. thank you for being with us today. bill: there is a gentleman who writes for a oklahoma newspaper

in oklahoma city. this is what he filed last night. at one point early in the night about 50 workers formed a line and passed rubble down from the school building that had become a twisted heap of bricks, blocks and iron. the smell of gas was thick in the air. later rescue dogs arrived and began sniffing through the debris, then the sound of jackhammers could be heard atop the rubble. near the school sandra knight and her husband dug for two hours in the rubble of their ruined house and found their four-year-old dog clara alive. everyone nearby cheered. hop pat casey survived the tornado, her house is damaged and not liveable, she is with us now. neighbor's homes across the street are to demolished. how are you doing today, and good morning, there. >> i'm doing pretty well, thank you. >> what did you experience, pat? >> i stayed -- i stayed in my home because they kept telling the direction of where the storm

was headed, and it was south of me, and then it was north of me, and then all of a sudden it was coming at me and i didn't have a choice. i got in my closet, and survived the storm. i prayed and god took care of me. bill: yeah. do you have family members? >> my daughter, she is in houston so -- i'm just waiting now for the all clear so that i can get some help in to get some things covered so that everything in the house won't be demolished. a lot of the roof is gone, the windows are blown-out. i was able to stay in the home last night, and the firefighters were wonderful. they came back every single hour during the night check opening us. >> did you have a chance to talk to your neighbors? >> yes, i haven't today, but yesterday evening we were all out, and so far we don't know if anof any of our neighbors that

were hurt. the majority of them their homes were completely destroyed to the ground. the front of my home doesn't look like it was damaged, my garage -- i have a car, none of my neighbors have a car. most of the damage was on the roof and around the back of the house and on the side. it's not really liveable but i just felt like i needed to stay there last night? did you have a basement? >> no. i don't know many homes here in oklahoma that have basements. we usually have to rely lie on storm shelters or the safe rooms and hopefully maybe i can afford to get one after this. bill: what was your safe room? >> the safe room? it's a room above the ground that they build that is as good as a storm shelter. bill: did you have one in your house or not? >> no. no. i don't. no i just got in the hall closet, the closet at the end of my hall and i just set there and i had a quilt and everything

over me and just prayed that we would be okay and then i could hear all the wind and everything and then when i could hear everything swirl around and trashing inside the house, i knew i had been hit. i waited until it calmed and then i got out and went outside and all my neighbors were outside too. everybody was okay, just i think -- yeah a long night and i think it's going to be kind of a shocker today and tomorrow i think. reality is beginning to set in now. bill: did you live there in may of 1999? >> no. i was beginning to move in there but i had not moved in yet. i was moving -- in the process of moving when there was that horrible tornado in of 99. bill: our best to you, pat. and our best to your daughter too in houston, okay? pat casey. >> thank you so much. i appreciate it. i love fox news. bill: we love you. thank you, pat. be well.

martha: sure do. >> thank you. martha: she is a strong woman. and we wish her well. coming up look at this picture, we will talk to a reporter live on the scene who can give us some more insight into what it is like on the ground there at this moment, and also coming up what country star trace atkins is doing to help the folks in moore, oklahoma, when we come back. >> we see it coming straight towards us because it's heading east right up the middle of the road. at that point it's time for us to just start making moves. so we go a little bit farther down the road, i'd say about a hundred meters and as it's coming up from behind us i say kate tee get in the storm ditch. we go in the very middle of the tunnel itself as the tornado passes over the highway.

martha: as the morning moves on here in moore, oklahoma we are joined by justin joseph on the ground, currently in the parking lot of what was a bowling alien right near the moore county hospital which has become a central symbol for all of the wreckage there. he joins us now. justin, good morning to you. >> good morning, martha. it is an incredible and devastating scene. you look out here and talk to residents what they are concerned about is dark skies, thunder and lightning, worried about the severe weather coming in today. there are vehicles like this all over this community. and this vehicle in the back here we looked inside there was lust average, this dr. suess

book. a baby seat. you can get an idea of how powerful the storm was. this is the entrance to a bowling alley. 6 inches of cement, that's how heavy the wraul was whe wall was when toppled by the storm. we sa*u a search and rescue team that came through the area, about six or seven dogs. to give you an idea the feeling of this community i asked one of the people what types of dogs are these. are these cadaver dogs. he said absolutely not. we are still trying to find survivor inside of this rubble. we got on scene at 8:30 last night and as we pulled up this is what we saw the town's hospital absolutely devastated, the roof completely ripped off, the top, as we looked up there there was no power. you saw flashlights going room to room as rescuers were trying to see any survivors. to the west of where i am is the elementary school. we spoke with a nurse on scene, she talked about how she was

bringing parents out, parents were wondering, waiting around saying, where are my children, where are my children. it's an absolutely devastating day, as the sun comes up a lot of this community as a lot of tragedy they are going to be dealing with as they try to understand what happened. martha: you are so right about that. because the families of those children are having the toughest days of their life right now. and the story of the hospital behind you is also so remarkable that they lost no one there, right? >> well, they are still looking. there are a lot of teams working inside there. what is remarkable is also if you talk to these residents who live in and around the area they say, you know, a lot of these people have grown up here, they saw the storms much 1999 they said there was absolutely no come marson. we talked about that nurse earlier who was a nurse at this hospital who helped out at the elementary school. she said last night she waited at her home because she had a neighbor across the street, a man who was waiting to hear whether or not his third grade

child was one of the survivors. he had not heard he was sitting and waiting. you hear stories like that throughout this community. martha: so tragic and heartbreaking. and you look at what is at your feet there as you showed us a moment ago, a bowling alley built of concrete that is literally down to nothing. >> look over here, martha -- yeah and you see these bowling balls all over this area. we are talking about the damage over some 60 square miles. this bowling alley is one of the hardest areas hit. if you zoom over here you can see the ball return machines, the machines where people keep score, all of these things a sign of a vibrant community but tonight it is also a community that is in shock as they try to understand just what happened here. look at this damage all the way through. also if you look back here, martha you can see the search-and-rescue teams we were talking about earlier. those are the teams with the life scent dogs that are going literally building by building hoping to find survivors.

we heard from the lieutenant r governor's office that they pulled 101 people out of the rubble last night. we hope they will find other survivors in here. martha: we have all those people in our prayers. thank you very much, justin. bill: some day real soon you'll have to take bulldozers through there. everywhere you look, it's 360 degrees of damage in every single direction. martha: where do you begin. bill: jenna lee is going to continue our coverage in a couple of minutes. i'm going to check in with her now. you have a press conference coming up a than a lot more. jenna: we'll have continuing coverage all day here on the fox news channel about the horrific tornado in moore, oklahoma. we'll talk to a local lawmaker personally affected by the storm, also a trauma doctor and some of the injuries being treated at local hospitals. plus we'll be watching yo catching you up on the various scandals circling the white house. in dv a hearing on the i.r.s.

targeting conservative groups on the hill. joe trippi talks about the price that could be paid there. and jodi arias speaks for the jury for a final time today, we'll hear from her live. all of this happening at the top of the hour.

bill: i'm going to show you the image from yesterday showing the strength of the moore community in oklahoma. these two men were going from car-to-car prying open doors to check for victims possibly inside. the force of these 200-mile an hour winds sent cars flying through the air just mangled pieces of metal in the end. we do not know whether or not they found anyone in their search in moore. martha: the american red cross, of course, is heavily involved in helping the survivors on the ground right now in oklahoma. we spoke to them just a little while ago. but joining me now is country music star trace atkins who just

raised more than $1.5 million in his win and celebrity apprentice and trace, welcome. great to have you here this morning? thank you, it's good to be here. martha: when we asked to you come in we thought we were just going to be talking about the big win on celebrity apprentice, but boy the organization that you have put so much of your effort behind, the red cross, is going to be needed in a huge way in oklahoma. >> yeah, they were already -- actually as i was doing the finale for the apprentice sunday night the red cross was already getting set up and heading to oklahoma, and, you know, they have shelters set up there now, there are more trucks and volunteers on their way as we speak at this moment. so, you know, we all know that the red cross is always there when huge natural disasters like this happen, but i represented the red cross on the celebrity apprentice this year because sometimes we forget that they also respond to over 70,000

house fires a year in this country. so right now we know there are red cross volunteers helping people in oklahoma, but 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 there is a red cross volunteer somewhere in this country, selflessly helping somebody so -- martha: one of the reasons that you are such a supporter is because they came to your aid when you had a huge fire that devastated your home where your family lives and your daughters, right? >> right. i was in alaska, in june 2011 when our home burned in nashville, and the red cross was right on the heels of the firefighters coming in. they show up at that chaotic scene, and take control of it, and ask pertinent questions that you don't think -- stuff you don't think about when you're in that moment, you're in shock. and i was very thankful that they were there to help my kids and my wife through all of that. martha: one of the things that struck me you have a new album

called "love will" it's about love continuing to endure through all of these things. that's what you talk about, what really matters in life. that's what we're hearing so much of from the people on the ground who know what you sing about all the time. >> having survived something like that, we lost everything, everything was gone. 'twas a total loss when the house burned. and, you know, you just -- there is your life before that event and your life after, and your life after is even swaoelter a sweeter and stronger because you know what is important. martha: thank you, trace, it sure is. we'll be right back.

martha: thank you everybody. bill: what a day. martha: indeed. keep watching a lot more to come on "happening now." see you back here tomorrow. jon: we begin with this fox news alert, new information coming in on that monstrous tornado that cut a path of devastation through moore, oklahoma as we hear stories of heartbreakerring tragedy. right now firefighters, police, national guard members and volunteers are crawling through debris listening for any sound of life in a determined search for survivors and victims. the "associated press" now reporting at least 24 people are dead, that number revised downward within the last couple of hours, but this new lower number is still expected to rise. many children are among the dead. two schools were right in the path of the mile-wide tornado, plaza towers elementary school taking a direct hit.