The Oklahoma
City Bombing...
The CNN Reports of additional bombs.
Copyright 1995 Cable News Network, Inc.
All rights reserved
CNN
SHOW: NEWS 11:27 am ET
April 19, 1995
Transcript # 920-19
TYPE: Live Report
SECTION: News; Domestic
LENGTH: 2495 words
HEADLINE: Oklahoma City Government Buildings Evacuated
GUESTS: ALAN CARR, Oklahoma City Businessman (LIVE; PAM WARREN, Assistant
Secretary of State (LIVE);
>>>
NEWS, April 19, 1995
BYLINE: NON-CNN CORRESPONDENT; DONNA KELLEY
HIGHLIGHT:
A local businessman compares the courthouse
explosion to a sonic boom, while Oklahoma City hospitals say the flood of
casualties has caused all medical workers to be on call. Evacuations
continue downtown.
BODY:
LEON HARRIS, Anchor: Leon Harris here at the
CNN Center in Atlanta. If you are just joining us or if you're just tuning
into CNN for CNN and Company, we want to advise you that we are preempting
the program for the time being to provide you with live coverage of the
aftermath of a huge explosion at a federal building in Oklahoma City this
morning. There are numbers of- scores of people injured. We have no reports
of any dead right now. We also want to advise folks who have been calling
the net- the Red Cross numbers there. The Red Cross has made a call for
assistance there for all trained Red Cross employees to call in. The number
that we have for them is area code 404 232-7121. Right before we rejoin our
live coverage there being provided by CNN affiliates, we want to go to the
phone. We have- I understand that we have a person who was there downtown in
Oklahoma City. Alan Carr, a businessman who happened to be in that area, is
joining us now on the telephone. Mr. Carr, can you hear me?
ALAN CARR, Oklahoma City Businessman: Yes, I
can hear you, sir.
LEON HARRIS: Please, Mr. Carr, can you tell us
exactly where you were and what happened when the explosion occurred this
morning.
ALAN CARR: Well, I own a radio shack next door
to the federal building and when we first heard the explosion, we went
outside- we thought it was a sonic jet or something like that. The whole
side of my building is devastated. And- well, there's a woman lying- in
front me lying on the ground. Her leg is pretty badly damaged. There's so
many people standing outside that- the building just totally exploded. I- I
don't understand how it happened, but I think it was the after effects of
Robin Quivers' new book, A Life.
LEON HARRIS: OK. Listen-
ALAN CARR: [unintelligible]
LEON HARRIS: We understand that- thank you very
much. We understand that there are some people who don't understand the
gravity of the situation here. We now, again, rejoin CNN's live coverage
that is being provided by CNN affiliates there in Oklahoma City. I
understand that this video is coming from KFOR.
LEA, Non-CNN Correspondent: -we do have reports
of lacerations from glass. That appears to be the majority of the injuries.
I have another ambulance pulling in right now- don't know if you can see it.
Randy Sachs [sp], the- the public affairs spokesperson here, tells me that
they have called in all of their off-duty emergency room doctors here at
Baptist Medical Center to help out with the injured who are now beginning
to- to roll into Baptist Medical Center as well. We have had one man here
who was brought in with a broken leg. He says he was buried underneath some
of the rubble. Fortunately, the extent of his injuries appear to be just a
broken leg, lacerations, some bruises and again, at- at this point, we
haven't seen any of the more serious injuries. And I'm going to get out of
the way so you can see as they unload this ambulance. As I said, they have
had three children brought in here. That- that is our latest count. As many
as- as 20-25 adults. We have two being wheeled in right now. Again, I am
told the injuries mostly lacerations from broken glass. Most of the injuries
that they're seeing here were actually individuals who were in nearby
buildings. Although I- we have heard of one patient who was in the actual
building, we believe, and he was buried underneath some of the rubble.
Again, they- they have told me that they have called in all of their
emergency room physicians to help out. The- the burn center here is on
standby to handle any of the burn victims who are brought in. I'm told they
can handle 10 to 12 of the- the more serious burn victims, should they-
should they come here. Also, up to 30 of the really serious injuries, and we
will keep you posted-
1st NON-CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's talk with Pam
Warren right now. Pam joins us on the phone. She is the assistant secretary
of state for the state of Oklahoma. Pam, we understand that you all are
evacuating the State Capitol Building.
LEA: They have three children at Baptist, 20 to
25 adults at Baptist. We are reporting five children-
PAM WARREN, Assistant Secretary of State: -the
Capitol is going to be closed. So, it's really not evacuation. I don't think
that we've heard any word about any kind of threat but they're just, as a
precautionary measure, closing a lot of the state- the state buildings that
are located in- the Cap- the main Capitol Building.
1st NON-CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pam, when you say
the building is closed, does that mean that you're making people leave the
building or that no one's going to be allowed inside the building?
PAM WARREN: No. We're just ask- they're asking
the employees to go ahead and the governor's office, just to let the
employees go on home. Because a lot of them have family members that they're
concerned about. There's been a call for blood. So, they've just ask-
they're just closing this main office and the Capitol Building.
1st NON-CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. Assistant
Secretary of State Pam Warren. Also, the FBI offices at 50 Penn Place have
been evacuated. And Tinker Air Force Base is- is closing down. Don't go in;
don't go out. No one's leaving that federal facility.
LEA: All right. We just saw, if you were
watching there- there was a white pick-up truck backing a trailer into the
scene here. They're trying to move people out of the way so they can get it
in. It appears to be the Oklahoma County Bomb Squad. It's their bomb
disposal unit, essentially, is what it is. And it is what they would use to-
if- if the report that we gave you just a few moments ago turns out to be
correct, that they have found a second explosive device of some kind inside
this building, they'll back that trailer down there and the bomb squad folks
will go in and they will use that- that trailer- you see the bucket on the
back there. Sort of- this is how they would transport the explosive device
away from this populated area to try to do something with it.
1st NON-CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you are outside
the metro area- you'd have to be well outside the metro area if you did not
feel the blast that occurred.
LEA: This was just a few moments ago.
1st NON-CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was just a few
moment ago. People running north, away from the Federal Building. You see
them-
2nd NON-CNN CORRESPONDENT: -several local radio
stations were located in that. They were told to get out of that building
because there was obviously some concern related to this explosion that
happened about a minute and 25 minutes [sic] ago. So, the second building is
located about five miles away from that downtown area. So, there again, a
concern that there could be more explosions.
LEA: And something else that happened that we
also want to tell parents- parents who have children who are in the day care
center that is housed in the
Federal Building- there is a day care center there and we know that
two children reportedly were injured. There were two children that were
reportedly injured from that day care center. And the rest of the children-
if you're a parent to one of- to one of the children or some of the children
who were in that day care center in the
Federal Building, you can pick up those children at Sixth and
Lincoln at the Red Cross Center, or some of the children have been taken to
the downtown YMCA. That is around, I believe Fifth and Robinson-
1st NON-CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fifth and Robinson
down there-
LEA: - to the downtown YMCA, just east of the
building in the grassy area. Right now, we have Susanne Sealy [sp] who is
downtown. Susanne, can you tell us anything new?
SUSANNE SEALY, Correspondent: Yes, LEA [sp], I
can. The Oklahoma City police and the FBI have confirmed there is another
bomb in the Federal Building. It's in the east side of the building. They've
moved everybody back several blocks. They're trying to- obviously to- to- to
unplug it so it won't go off. They're moving everybody back several blocks.
It- it's a weird scene because at first everybody was running when they gave
the word to get everybody back from the scene, but now people are just
standing around, kind of staring. It's a very surreal, very strange scene.
Now, we want to get some information out to people that if people are in the
downtown area and they can hear me, you don't want to stand on the sidewalk.
And the reason for that is there are gas mains underneath and they're
worried if there's a second explosion that those gas mains could blow. But
again, we do have
there is a
in the building. We know it's on the east side. We're not sure
what floor, what level, but there is definitely danger of a major second
explosion. They're warning everybody to get as far back as they can because
this is something that they are- they're trying to get the- the bomb defused
right now. They're in the process of doing it, but this could take some
time. They're telling people that this is something to take very seriously.
Do not try and slip forward to get a- get a look at this because this thing
could definitely go off. Lea-
1st NON-CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Again,
we're broadcasting live, giving you up to date information about the
explosion in downtown Oklahoma City that occurred approximately an hour and
40 minutes ago and there is concern of another ex-
KELLY: Non-CNN Correspondent: -information we
are getting back here at the station, folks, is coming to us piecemeal.
People are still coming out of the building. Some of them are injured; some
of them are in shock. There's a day car center, we are told, on the second
floor of this building.
3rd NON-CNN CORRESPONDENT: -and it's on this
side, if my memory serves me correctly, Kelly [sp]. It's on the side where
the glass-
KELLY: We are told that there were as many as
30 children there, and a report now that six of the kids were killed in this
explosion at 9:00 this morning. Again, six of the children that were in the
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building this morning at 9:00 when a massive
explosion ripped through it- at least six children are killed, we are being
told right now. There is a day care center in the building and one eye
witness said that day care center would have been devastated by this- this
blast.
3rd NON-CNN CORRESPONDENT: Among the hardest
hit, perhaps, in the- in the building. This day care center has been there
about- oh, gosh, five or six years. Very proudly opened. The employees were
very happy about having their kids on site there, where they could feel more
comfortable about where they were. Went up there for the opening of it, shot
video of the kids some years ago. And they were very happy about having this
on-site day care center. But that has become a tragic thing today with
apparently a confirmed report now of six children.
KELLY: Tammy [sp], what do you have?
TAMMY, Non-CNN Correspondent: Incredible news.
A real shame. Children were in this building. If you have friends- actually,
let's make that loved ones because emergency calls are just tying everything
up, here's a number we want to pass along to you- you can call for loved
ones. The number is 820-6801 and they've set up a number of lines. What that
means is they are 6801, 6802, 6803 through 6806. These are the numbers you
can call if you have loved ones downtown. As we look at a live picture,
another victim being treated by emergency officials. But if you do have a
loved one, please don't go downtown. There have been- there are survivors
from that building and we're going to pass along to you any names we can get
as soon as we do.
KELLEY: That's a very important point to make,
Tammy. We have heard of people making it out of that building, so obviously,
certainly not everyone in that building seriously injured or killed. And-
but we do have word of several fatalities and now word of six children being
killed. I believe this is the area of Robert S. Kerr [sp] and Harvey- an
area where they have set up a triage. You can see- EMSA has told us they've
never seen anything like this. They have set up a triage area where they are
sorting out the patients- those who are the most critical- those whose
treatment can wait so that the others can be treated first. That's the area
in downtown Oklahoma City. All of downtown Oklahoma City is being evacuated.
We're also told, Jennifer, that the governor will be making a statement soon
about this.
JENNIFER, Non-CNN Correspondent: Right now,
Robin North [sp] is on the scene there at the triage center where they have
just evacuated all these patients away from the building. Robin-
ROBIN NORTH, Non-CNN Correspondent: Jennifer
and Kelly, yes, I can hear you. They're bringing gurneys out here right now,
lifting this one woman up. We are a block from where the blast occurred and
they are just treating people on the side of the road, about a block away
from the Federal Building. I was just talking to this man right here named
Ron. Ron- will you come over here? Ron, you were at the YMCA when the blast
happened. Tell me what you felt and what you did.
RON, Witness to Explosion: Well, I just- I was
sleeping and all of a sudden, I just heard a blast and there was glass and
my TV was on top of me and, you know, that was it. It was just- it happened
so fast. It happened just like that, within a matter of seconds. And that
was it.
ROBIN NORTH: We're glad you're all right.
They're ordering us back. I want to tell you one thing. This man without the
shirt on. He took his shirt off to give to this woman that they're passing
by me right at this moment. People here acting out of kindness, to help in
any way possible. And once again, still treating some other people here,
medical officials are. One block- we are one block east from where the blast
occurred. Guys-
JENNIFER: -a few minutes ago when we saw them
carrying what we weren't sure at that time was perhaps more victims, people
that had been evacuated. They were moving the triage area away from-
DONNA KELLEY, Anchor: Latest report we had
there from KWTV, our affiliate, that six children have been killed in this
explosion at the Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City and that the FBI
is saying that they have found a second explosive device in that building on
the east side. We'll keep you posted, come back with more of our live
coverage right after this.
The preceding text has been professionally transcribed. However, although the text has been checked against an audio track, in order to meet rigid
distribution and transmission deadlines, it may not have been proofread against tape.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: April 19, 1995
