A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City medical examiner said Tuesday morning that the number of deaths reported on Monday night, 91, was "no longer accurate." The spokeswoman confirmed 24 deaths and 145 injuries, including 70 children. Other officials say that as the frantic search for survivors of the mile-wide tornado continues, the death toll will undoubtedly rise. Integris Southwest Medical Center in Oklahoma City had already received dozens of patients by Monday night—with more continuing to arrive into Tuesday morning. “They’ve been coming in minute by minute,” a spokesperson said. Experts have classified the storm, which decimated several neighborhoods and two elementary schools, as a Category Four (out of five) on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

NYT:

On Monday night, Amy Elliott, the spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City medical examiner, said at least 51 people had died and 40 more bodies were on their way, but on Tuesday, Ms. Elliott said that count “is no longer accurate.”

As of Tuesday morning, the medical examiner had confirmed 24 deaths, she said.

On Monday night, hospitals reported at least 145 people injured, 70 of them children.

Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore was reduced to a pile of twisted metal and toppled walls. Rescue workers were able to pull several children from the rubble, and on Tuesday, as a chilly rain swept through the area, crews were still struggling to cut through fallen beams and clear debris.

“The sun is starting to rise,” said Jayme Shelton, a Moore spokesman. “We are still definitely in search-and-rescue mode.”

Meteorologists warn that the severe weather may not be over. Officials say that 9.5 million people -- from Texas to Arkansas -- remain under the threat of potentially catastrophic tornadoes. In an announcement Tuesday morning, Weather Channel meteorologist Kevin Roth delivered a warning to residents of central/east Texas and central Arkansas, where the storm is heading. “Another day of large and devastating tornadoes is possible,” he said. By Tuesday morning, thunderstorms were already wreaking havoc in Arkansas, with winds up to 60 miles per hour.

by Peter Sleeth, Special to ProPublica

The top Republican and Democrat on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs are demanding more information from defense Secretary Chuck Hagel about lost Army field records from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the subject of a ProPublica investigation last year.

In an unusually detailed letter sent Friday to Hagel, Reps. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., and Michael Michaud, D-Maine, said the Defense Department's response to an earlier request about why records are missing — and what the military is doing about it — didn't go far enough.

"Congress must have a clear understanding of the extent  of the lost records in order to safeguard the best interests of our service members and veterans,'' the letter says.

The 12 questions posed to Hagel in the letter focus largely on the Army because it has the largest records deficit. Among other things, the congressmen want to know what happened to operational records for the 1st Armored Division and the 82nd Airborne Division and what is being done to reconstruct them.

In November, ProPublica and the Seattle Times reported that they were among numerous Army units that had lost or failed to keep battlefield records as required, making it harder for some veterans to obtain benefits and for historians to recount what actually happened.

"Operational records can be used to track the history of our nation's military, plan for future operations and support innovative medical research,'' Miller and Michaud wrote to Hagel.

In addition to chairing the veterans' panel, Miller sits on the House Armed Services Committee, which has direct oversight responsibility for the Defense Department and service branches.

The department did not return a phone call seeking comment. 

On Tuesday morning, homeowners facing foreclosure and housing rights activists from across the country -- including the Home Defender's League and Occupy Our Homes (an off-shoot of Occupy Wall Street) -- rallied outside the U.S. Department of Justice to demand Attorney General Holder hold the Wall Street Banks that ravaged America’s economy accountable. Dozens of struggling homeowners are prepared to risk arrest in non-violent civil disobedience or set up an ongoing occupation outside the Department of Justice until demands for Wall Street accountability and relief for their communities are addressed.

The action at the DOJ began on Monday, and although they were supported by over 500 allies, the DOJ decided they would rather jail these everyday Americans than step up to help resolve the ongoing foreclosure crisis. Some of those arrested were even tasered -- 17 arrests in all, with two being tasered by police.

WaPo:

According to D.C. police, 17 people were arrested. Ann C. Wilcox, an attorney who represents protesters, said several were tased during the scuffle. A D.C. police spokeswoman said D.C. police were not involved in the tasing. Federal law enforcement officials on the scene declined comment.

Police also closed Constitution Avenue for much of the afternoon, leading to traffic backups downtown.

As of 4:45 pm, about 50 protesters were standing in the street or sitting on the sidewalk, and police were preparing for more arrests. Officers equipped with crowd dispersal agents guarded the entrance to the Justice Department. A police helicopter circled overhead.

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Good morning, today is Tuesday, May 21, 2013. A very Happy Birthday to Senator Al Franken!

Your morning open thread begins below...

This is your Moment of Clarity #235: The Pentagon's funding of memory erasing pills raising a difficult moral question. Do you think anyone at the Pentagon thinks so?

Keep fighting,

Lee

In this spoof documentary, Bankwatch with Bill Oddie, the naturalist protests against HSBC's illegal logging by entering the den of a creature closely related to humans: the banker. HSBC has made nearly £100m bankrolling some of the world's most destructive logging companies in Sarawak Malaysia, and is at risk of violating international money laundering rules, according to NGO Global Witness.

Via The Guardian.

It's time to March Against Monsanto!

Why do we march?

• Research studies have shown that Monsanto's genetically-modified foods can lead to serious health conditions such as the development of cancer tumors, infertility and birth defects.

• In the United States, the FDA, the agency tasked with ensuring food safety for the population, is steered by ex-Monsanto executives, and we feel that's a questionable conflict of interests and explains the lack of government-lead research on the long-term effects of GMO products.

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A suburb near Oklahoma City was ravaged by a tornado Monday that some estimates put at nearly a mile wide (some onlookers put that size at closer to two miles) and that witnesses say more closely resembled a giant black wall of destruction than a typical twister. The tornado, which struck the community of Moore, was “ripping apart homes” and devastating everything in its path, according to CNN. Entire blocks of homes were destroyed, as well as several schools. A local news station, KFOR, said it was likely the most destructive tornado ever. The National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency for the Oklahoma City area, where more tornadoes could touch down. It’s the second day in a row of severe tornadoes in Oklahoma.

AP:

A monstrous tornado at least a half-mile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods with winds up to 200 mph, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school. At least 37 people were reported killed.

The storm laid waste to scores of buildings in Moore, south of the city. Block after block of the community lay in ruins. Homes were crushed into piles of broken wood. Cars and trucks were left crumpled on the roadside.

The National Weather Service issued an initial finding that the tornado was an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale, the second most-powerful type of twister.

Authorities expected the death toll to rise as emergency crews moved deeper into the hardest-hit areas. At least 60 people were reported hurt, including more than a dozen children.

Rescuers mounted a desperate rescue effort at the school, pulling children from heaps of debris and carrying them to a triage center.

The same tornado that struck the city of Moore, OK ravaged not just one, but two local elementary schools, delivering a “direct hit” on Briarwood Elementary School, in particular, according to local officials. At nearby Plaza Towers Elementary School, students from grade 4-6 were moved to a nearby building before the tornado arrived and are reportedly all accounted, but grades K-3 were still in the building. As many as 75 children may have been in the school when the storm arrived. "Students were told to go into the hallways and they were literally hugging the walls; teachers laying on top of kids,” said one KFOR reporter. The station reports that the bodies of seven children have been recovered and 20-30 more children are believed to still be inside the building. Rescue teams don't expect to find more survivors. So far, the AP reports that at least 37 are confirmed dead because of the tornado.

Google has released a map featuring shelters, storm reports, and other helpful information for tornado victims and their families.

KFOR'S @lancewest: "I bring you this news with a heavy heart." 7 schoolkids found dead in pool of water. Approx 20-30 others feared dead.

@CBS News BREAKING NEWS: OK Chief Medical Examiner’s Office is now reporting at least 51 deaths from Moore, OK tornado.

Here are a few ways to help the tornado victims:

- The Salvation Army will have a truck at KFOR-TV taking donations starting 10 a.m. Tuesday.(Be sure to read the info at this link for info on what items are most needed.)

444 E. Britton Rd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73114
NO CLOTHES PLEASE
Donate: Text “storm” to 80888 to make a $10 donation.

- The Red Cross said the best way to assist families is to make a donation to www.redcross.org/okc or www.redcross.org or texting REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Red Cross shelter information

Safewell.org is the Red Cross site where you can register yourself as safe, or search for friends and family members.

Other facilities open to tornado victims:

University of Oklahoma – student housing (Norman)

Oklahoma Baptist University – student housing (Shawnee)

Graceway Baptist Church, located at 1100 S.W. 104th in Oklahoma City.

Oakcrest Church of Christ at 1111 S.W. 89th Street in Moore.

Victory Church, located 4300 North MacArthur in Oklahoma City.

Journey Church in Norman I-35 and Tecumseh Road is open as a shelter.

Fifth Street Missionary Baptist Church, located at 801 N.E. 5th St. Oklahoma City.

St. Andrews Church, located at S.W. 119th and May.

Trinity Church of the Nazarene is open as an emergency shelter. It is located at 7301 S. Walker, just on the north side of I-240.

What does $23 million in donations to public television get you? A lot more than a tote bag, according to The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer. A New York public television outlet, WNET, went to great lengths to placate conservative industrialist David Koch as PBS aired an Alex Gibney documentary on income inequality that focused on the conservative billionaire. The president of WNET called Koch and offered to let him film a roundtable discussion that would air after the documentary, among other conciliatory gestures. The controversy reportedly also prompted PBS to back off another Koch-focused documentary in the pipeline. All the placation didn’t work: Koch resigned from his position on WNET’s board and reportedly canceled a large donation. Also, according to Koch’s doorman, Koch’s philanthropy doesn’t extend to tips. “We would never get a smile from Mr. Koch,” he says in the Gibney film. “Fifty-dollar check for Christmas, too—yeah, I mean, a check! At least you could give us cash.”

Jane Mayer:

Shortly before “Park Avenue” aired, Melissa Cohlmia, the chief spokesperson for Koch Industries, sent WNET a two-paragraph statement criticizing the film as “disappointing and divisive.” Cohlmia acknowledges, however, that neither she nor Koch had watched it. WNET aired the statement, unedited, immediately after the film. Cohlmia said that she based the critique on the trailer.

The weekend before “Park Avenue” aired, Gibney said, it was clear that “something weird had happened.” Shapiro called him at home. “He was very upset,” Gibney said. “They were thinking of pulling the program.” Gibney was told that the most pressing problem was Charles Schumer, the Democratic senator from New York. Schumer’s staff had called WNET, arguing that “Park Avenue” falsely accused the Senator of supporting tax loopholes for hedge-fund managers. Gibney double-checked his research and stood by his interpretation. Nevertheless, Shapiro told him that he planned to allow Schumer to add a response after the broadcast. But, Gibney noted, “Shapiro told me nothing about the Kochs.”

Gibney gives credit to Shapiro and WNET for airing his film uncensored. He is disappointed, though, that the station gave Koch and Schumer the last word. “They tried to undercut the credibility of the film, and I had no opportunity to defend it,” he said. Moreover, WNET replaced the introduction to “Park Avenue,” which was delivered by the actor Stanley Tucci, with one calling the film “controversial” and “provocative.” Gibney noted that he had asked to interview the Kochs while making “Park Avenue,” but they had refused. Cohlmia initially denied this, but after Gibney’s office provided me with the relevant e-mails she acknowledged that she had been contacted.

Shapiro emphasized that, by showing the Gibney film, he had made “the right call.” Still, spokespeople at WNET and PBS conceded that the decision to run the rebuttals was unprecedented. Indeed, it was like appending Letters to the Editor to a front-page article. Gibney asked me, “Why is WNET offering Mr. Koch special favors? And why did the station allow Koch to offer a critique of a film he hadn’t even seen? Money. Money talks.” He added that the Kochs’ willingness to issue a disclaimer without seeing the film “does not give me much confidence about how they might run the Tribune’s newspapers.”

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At least 54 people were killed and over 100 more injured on Monday in a series of bomb blasts throughout Iraq, the latest in a series of escalating attacks linked to political and sectarian tension. Most of the dead were in Baghdad, where eight separate explosions rocked the capital, hitting bus stations and markets mainly in Shia areas of the capital. No group has taken responsibility for the bombings yet. Monday’s blasts come just one day after 10 police officers were reportedly killed in the northwest, and on Friday, at least 60 people were killed in three separate bombings in Sunni Muslim areas in and around Baghdad.

Reuters:

"Washing the blood off the streets - the clear-up begins after another deadly day of violence in Iraq. Here in Basra, a predominantly Shi'ite oil hub in the south, at least 11 people were killed when two car bombs exploded. One was detonated near a busy market and restaurants while the other went off in a bus terminal."

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