[Don Lemon, Co-host:] Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
[Fredricka Whitfield, Co-host:] I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Kyra Phillips is off today. The unthinkable. A bus full of college football players crashes from an overpass to the highway below. We'll talk to the players who risked their own lives to save others.
[Lemon:] And the deadly tornados that raked the South. Could more people have been saved? We're live in the hardest hit towns of Enterprise, Alabama, and Americus, Georgia. You're live, all the information right here in the
[Cnn Newsroom. Whitfield:] A college road trip takes a tragic turn in Atlanta. A bus carrying a college baseball team from Ohio plunged off an overpass early this morning and fell right onto the interstate below. At least six people are dead. More than two dozen others hurt. The bus was carrying 35 people, most baseball players from Bluffton University, on their way to a tournament in Sarasota, Florida. We heard from one of the players just a short time ago.
[A.j. Ramthun, Bluffton Baseball Player:] I wanted to give my heartfelt to the families, to the baseball players involved, my teammates. I understand four of them are deceased, and I just wanted to say I just wish there was something I could do, to the families who lost your loved ones. This is something that's not going to leave the guys who are on that bus this morning. This is going to be with us forever. And we've been living together, practicing together and just we've been a family for the past five months and just something like this morning really makes you think twice about life.
[Whitfield:] Ramthun, a second baseman on the team, says his older brother was trapped underneath the bus. He didn't know for hours whether he would survive. We now know that he did with injuries to his hips. And we'll hear more from A.J. later on in the
[Newsroom. Lemon:] Fredricka, of course, the question on everyone's mind, how did this happen? Police say the bus driver may have been confused by how the lanes were divided. Here's what happened.
[Lemon:] This is I-75 where it happened. You can see that's the HOV lane. One way is the HOV exit-only lane to the right here and then to left is the HOV lane continuing south on I-75. He came up this ramp, went through the stop sign that you see right here. And then once he got here, it appears he realized, from the skid marks, he realizes from here that he's on the exit ramp and not continuing on the interstate, tries to take a sharp turn this way but couldn't do it in time. And as you can see from the marks here on the wall, it appears the bus scraped up against this wall. He sheared the top of the fence. And then went over the side. There's another barricade there that carries some sort of piping from one side of the interstate to the other. He even went over that. And then back onto I-75 southbound. And we'll continue to follow the story throughout the day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Now to the storms. AirTran Airways is offering free flights between Ohio and Atlanta to families of those involved in this crash. For more information, call AirTran at 1-800-247-8726. Again, that phone number is 1-800-247-8726. And ask for the Bluffton University coordinator. Again, 1-800-247-8726.
[Announcer:] You're watching CNN, your severe weather headquarters.
[Whitfield:] A savage line of storms now moving out to sea, not a second too soon. However, tornados that raked the Midwest and southeast have left at least 20 people dead, including nine in Enterprise, Alabama, where a tornado hit the high school there. Nine also died in Georgia, where another tornado hit a hospital in Americus, near Jimmy Carter's hometown of Plains. We have reporters on the scene. And we'll be going to them all afternoon for updates. President Bush will tour tornado-stricken areas in Alabama and Georgia tomorrow. And today, he expressed condolences to victims and their families.
[George W. Bush, President Of The United States:] I ask our nation, for those who are prayerful, to give a prayer for the victims of the storms and and ask for the blessings that can come upon people and the comfort necessary to deal with the recent tragedy.
[Whitfield:] The worst of the storms took aim at three counties in Georgia and ended nine lives. The small rural town of Americus, population 17,000, took a direct hit, and the hospital there is devastated. Our Jeanne Meserve joins us now with the latest from Americus Jeanne.
[Jeanne Meserve, Cnn Correspondent:] Fredricka, two people died in Sumter County, and local residents tell us that they lived down a road over here. We went down a short time ago and looked at the house. It's little more than a slab and a couple of walls. Almost every house down in that neighborhood, very heavily damaged, as are about 200 other homes in this area, according to the sheriff's department. But homes weren't the only things affected. This is a shopping mall. It was called Marketplace at Americus. There was a nail salon. There was a cable company here. There was a Winn-Dixie supermarket. We ran into the owner of one of these shops. Her name is Joy Scott. She said she had about $75,000 worth of merchandise in her shop, which sold pool equipment and pocketbooks. She said it looks like it's all gone. But there is one thing she's hoping she can retrieve.
[Joy Scott, Store Owner:] Everything we had's gone. Everything's gone, smashed. I just hope we can recover our computer, our hard drive.
[Meserve:] Why?
[Scott:] Because it's got our customer list on it. I'm more concerned about my customers than anything, you know. You can replace furniture but those names, those good customers, you can't replace.
[Meserve:] And as I was talking to Joy Scott, a UPS truck pulled up to make a delivery to her store, but she doesn't have a store. There are those kinds of moments often here today in Americus. When we were over at the Sumter Regional Hospital this morning, there was a nurse who came in the parking lot in full uniform, carrying her lunch. She drove in and looked at her hospital and was shocked. It had been destroyed. Windows out. A lot of structural damage. They evacuated last night the 50 or so patients who were inside. Three of them critical, we're told. Took them to four area hospitals. Did that successfully. But it was a very difficult and dangerous maneuver. And it's going to be a while before that hospital and the rest of this town manages to come back. The damage is quite extreme in some areas. But as is usual with these case, you'll see something like this and then go a couple of blocks, everything looks absolutely fine. A lot of work here. Fredricka, back to you.
[Whitfield:] That always seems to be the strange pattern of tornados. Meantime, before those storms made their way to Georgia there were lots of sirens that were sounded off in nearby Alabama, warning people there. What about the folks in Americus? Did they get that kind of warning, too, that this storm system was heading their way?
[Meserve:] Well, the people I talked to at the hospital said that they knew there was very rough weather in the area. They were aware of the danger. And but, of course, you never know where it's going to touch down.
[Whitfield:] Yes.
[Meserve:] And I was told that there are a couple of people in the critical care area, which is the side the tornado approached from, who suddenly realized that their ears were popping, knew what that was, and dived into bathrooms to get away from the windows in their rooms. And fortunately, they managed to avoid injury.
[Whitfield:] Well, that's good.
[Meserve:] So I think even when there's even when there's a warning, you know, you aren't sure it's going to happen to you. It's always a shock, I think.
[Whitfield:] Yes. Sure, and always lots of close calls, as experienced there. Thanks so much. Jeanne Meserve in Americus, Georgia.
[Lemon:] And nine people died in the tornado yesterday in Enterprise, Alabama. More than 50 others were badly enough hurt to seek care. Our Susan Roesgen is live in Enterprise Susan.
[Susan Roesgen, Cnn Correspondent:] Don, the Alabama governor, Bob Riley has just taken a tour of the high school here behind me where eight students were killed. The governor says the damage is basically indescribable. Both he and the mayor of Enterprise, Kenneth Boswell, praised the school staff for their actions yesterday. There has been some criticism now today, Don, about why didn't the staff, why didn't the teachers let the students go home. Their first warning here was at 11 a.m. That's when they moved the students into the hallways of the school. But the tornado didn't actually hit the school until 1 p.m. So there has been some criticism from people who think that the students should have been allowed to go home. But both the governor today and the mayor have said no, that would have been wrong, that this is a secure brick building, as you can see behind me. That this was the safest place that they could imagine the students could possibly be. Out of the 1,300 students, they're actually very pleased that only eight were killed. They say it's a terrible tragedy, but they do believe that more students would have been killed or hurt if they had been allowed to leave the building. What no one expected was that this high school would take a direct hit and the concrete roof would collapse onto the students, as well as one of the walls in one of the hallways. And it's that one particular hallway where eight students were together. They were doing the right thing. The teachers had put them with their backs up against the hallway in a defensive position. But when the debris came down, they just were trapped. So, again, eight students killed here at this high school. One person, an adult, on the street, nearby, was also killed. The governor says he's asking for some federal money to help fix up this area. As soon as they do an assessment of the damage Don.
[Lemon:] Sad all the way around. Susan Roesgen in Enterprise, Alabama. Thank you for that. We'll have much more ahead right here in the
[Cnn Newsroom. Whitfield:] And tragedy all the way around, indeed, Don. Now back to the college road trip that took a tragic turn. In Atlanta, a bus carrying a college baseball team from Ohio plunged off an overpass early this morning and fell right on to the interstate below. At least six people are dead, more than two dozen others hurt. The bus was carrying 35 people, most of them baseball players from Bluffton University, on their way to a tournament in Sarasota, Florida. The community of Bluffton is stunned.
[Lemon:] It certainly is to say the very least. A prayer vigil has held this was held this morning at the small Mennonite affiliated university. Classes were canceled, and school officials are on their way to Atlanta. Reporter Zach Ottenstein of CNN affiliate WTVG joins us from Bluffton with more on that- Zach.
[Zach Ottenstein, Wtvg Reporter:] Don, we have been hearing from students all day that they have sat on the edge of their seat, trying to wait and hear the latest news they can about friends and, for many of them, loved ones who were on that bus. This is a small university of about 1,500 students. All of those students really happened to know each other, and this community has a very strong relationship with the university. So this community has been on standstill today as they have grieved. That earlier prayer service took place at about 10 a.m. this morning in the building right behind us. This is Founders Hall. There was not an empty seat inside the building as everyone prayed together. Many tears have been shed here on the campus. And the university has been doing its best to communicate with the students, the faculty, the staff, the latest information as soon as they get it. There's been so much traffic on the university's web site we've been told it had to shut down as they had to add repairs and, in fact, increase the bandwidth in order to satisfy all of the people who wanted to get information here at the university and here in this region of the country. So many people here have been telling us that they know or have a roommate that was on that bus, and they've been having their ears glued to cell phones, just waiting for that information to come in. We have heard from them that many of the people here are confused about what has happened, and they're confused why the information hasn't come to them more quickly. But they are focusing on prayer. This is a religious-based university. Those prayer services will be going on. And many clergy members have volunteered their time throughout the evening to offer counseling to students. This was the beginning of spring break today. Many of those students have canceled or delayed their plans to travel. They want to just stay here with the community, praying and grieving for those that they lost. Back to you.
[Lemon:] All right, Zach Ottenstein from WTVG in Bluffton, we appreciate that report from you. We'll be checking back with you a little bit later on. Friends said it would be over the top, a final farewell that was everything Anna Nicole Smith would have loved. Now, we're in the Bahamas next. So stay in the
[Cnn Newsroom. Whitfield:] And, first, there was screaming; then, it went black. Tornado terror at an Alabama high school. We'll talk to a student who was there and his father, who was outside wondering about his son. That's straight ahead in the
[Newsroom. Lemon:] Yes, we've been following that story and also this one, an interstate tragedy for a baseball team far from home. What happened on this exit? We'll look at that straight ahead. Don't go anywhere. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.