"facts of life" cast has reunited for the first time ever. why now? good evening. i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with deadly weather. the national weather service has issued a tornado watch tonight for five south eastern states as a giant storm system moves up the appalachians. this as more than two dozen tornadoes were reported across iowa over the weekend. pictures from the damage of the storms are amazing. what is more amazing, not a single person was killed. here is yungi de nies to explain why. >> this is going to be twisting tornado. >> reporter: they are dark twisting tornadoes in the sky. >> big tornado, folks. >> reporter: barreling down with little warning. with cell phones and flip cams rolling, the tiny town of mapletown, iowa, was clearly no match for this tornado. under clear skies, the reality is painful. >> it's a war zone. it looks like a war zone. >> reporter: 60% of this town was damaged or destroyed. this is mapleton before the tornado. this is mapleton today. yesterday, this war zone has no casualties. >> i thought for sure, we would have more jurs and people hurt. you know, we stacked 15 ambulances thinking we had the worst and only used two. >> only used two? >> yeah, that was great. the wind was blowing so hard. >> reporter: that's largely from sheriff jeff pratt. from his truck, he spotted the storm. >> a huge cloud, a little rain. >> reporter: you make the call. what is going through your mind? >> that there were going to be people hurt. a lot of people hurt. we were calling for all the help we could get. >> reporter: that call set off sirens, giving residence dents warnings. >> we warned they needed to seek shelter. >> reporter: what difference do you think it meant? >> we didn't have any fatalities. soit made a huge zimpbs. >> reporter: in this case, the sheriff was warned. the national weather service held storm meetings less than a week ago. and then two weeks in advance, all eyes were on the skies. the sheriff wasn't the only one spotting. roger also took a group of thrill seeking spectators into nature's fury that day. >> strong tornado, gang. very strong. >> reporter: roger, who has been chasing storms for more than 25 years, takes the storm chaser experience to another level. >> some people think, well, we're just almost like ambulance chasers. we go and take joy in someone else's misfortune. that is not true. you almost always are going to find severe storms. >> reporter: last year, he invited us along the way. roge interhis storm junkies hit tornado hot spots from wyoming to minnesota. >> look at the rotation. on the ground. >> reporter: and when the twister headed to mapleton, so did the gang. >> i'm always watching the sky. >> reporter: these sporters are not scientists but what they report can add to the caution. >> we have one storm that the northwest that is going to go severe. >> reporter: spotters on the ground often confirm what scientists are tracking on radar. >> that is spinning hard. >> look how fast. i don't think i have seen one that fast. >> reporter: it adds up to setting off the important sirens that jeff fehr heard loud and clear. she had enough time to grab her family and head down to the seller. >> we just said the lord's prayer over and over until it was over. >> reporter: you splus been terrified. >> yeah, we were. >> reporter: jennifer is trying to make sense of what is left. i don't recognize your house. what do you see? >> just a mess. a big mess. >> reporter: while the community rebids, roger hill is still on the move. after all, tornado season isn't over. i'm yuny deni nies in iowa. thanks. just ahead, desiree rogers tells her side of the story. an abc news exclusive. i have what science calls the "nightly stuffy nose thing": i can't breathe... so i can't sleep... and the next day i pay for it. i tried decongestants... i tossed & turned... i even vaporized! and then i fought back: with drug-free breathe right advanced. these nasal strips instantly opened my nose, like a breath of fresh air. i was breathing and sleeping better! 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[ female announcer ] women move the world. and caltrate moves us. helping strengthen our bones. caltrate delivers 1200 milligrams of calcium and 800 iu of vitamin d plus minerals. women need caltrate. caltrate helps women keep moving because women move the world. well, once place the white house does not want to make headlines is the tabloid press. and when the story emerged in november 2009 that is coupler from the reality show "the real housewives of d.c." had crashed a state dinner, it per viewed. in the after math, secretary desiree rogers resigned. now her side of the story. >> reporter: it's been said that washington is hollywood for ugly people. >> desiree rogers. >> reporter: when she asooifed, she was an obvious exception. >> i'm not certain what the fas was with me. >> you are fashion able, interesting person in a town with not a lot of that. >> maybe that's it. >> reporter: don't you think? >> i think that, you know, we could have managed all of that better. i probably would have tried to have delined more interviewed that were brought to me, i think. >> reporter: in the heady days of obama mania, how could anyone avoid the women on the guest list who fit in with kanye west and beat the first daily into "vo "vogue". she played the power elite from chicago to new orleans. >> is it true you are the an seser of a creole voodoo princess? >> yes, it is true. >> reporter: after earning a harvard mba, he is was mayored to a chicago finisher. and held a number of high level jobs. she was forced to prove she was more than a pretty smile in couture. >> there is something to said about women that dress a certain way. what else is there? the tendency is to put that person in a box. they must be in the fashion industry or the koz metsics, party planning. >> reporter: what did you want to be when you grew up? >> incharge. >> reporter: she was very much in charge when she raised campaign dollars. in d.c., her friends were in charge of everything. she was clueless of protocoal and was at the mercy of a staff that spent eight years loyal to george bush. >> you didn't know what to ask. was no playbook. everyone was new. everyone was coming in their own. was there once a rule that said this is the way it is down. >> reporter: rogers threw more than 300 events in her 14 months at the white house. but when she walked in the state dinner for the indian prime minister, she had no idea all that work would be overshadowed by two uninvited stars. >> mr. and mrs. salahi. >> reporter: from the real housewives of d.c. they mingled with guests. >> i was with them all of the evening mmpb we had a brilliant program. >> reporter: that said, what are your thoughts now that that night won't will remembered for any of that. it's the salahis walking down the receiving line. >> i think a less mature person might be resentful for me. the question d we get the job done? i believe we accomplished that. >> reporter: the rogers prohinted from testified at a congress hearing. >> i feel bad for the agents. they do their job and these go think it's a game. it's really not. >> reporter: it turns into her into a distraction and trained her relationship with valley jarrett. how has your departure felt you. >> sorely. i talked to valley jarrett how long i would be there. i wasn't sure i wanted to be there four years. i'm a business person at heart, how you did characterize your relationship with valerie jarrett? >> i think this is strain. i saw her recently in chicago. this is waork. >> reporter: the one person always there, linda johnson rice. throughout the ordeal, they talked to each other every day. >> we can do this. and some days, you are like, get on the high heels. march forward. >> reporter: now they are more than friends. johnson has put rogers in front of the company her father founded. along with e injints ebony and jet magazines, she will oversee a fashion line. >> i said, i will be a fool not bring her into the fold. it seems to me she is the perfect person for the job. >> i feel like for the first time, i'm in a position that allow nose use all of my assets. >> reporter: in a show there are no hard feelings, she is helping plan a mayorial inauguration. >> was it a bad mix from the beginning? or is she too flashy to be a team player? >> i think everyone has their own opinion. >> reporter: what your opinion? >> i don't consider myself flashy at all. i am not flashy. i don't have glitter dresses and cleavage, you know, silver show. did i dress like the average washingtonian? no. >> reporter: kpabt headstrong? >> i don't do ordinary work. that is not me in the least. >> bill weir with our exclusive. up next, you take the good, you take the bad. we catch up with the "facts of life." 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[ whistle blows ] [ male announcer ] can the network you live on handle the computers, tvs and technology you can't live without? ♪ verizon fios can. get the power and speed of america's largest 100% fiber optic network. verizon fios. a network ahead. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. a late development tonight in japan with nuclear regulators have raised the emergency from a level 5 to a level 7 disaster that moves it from a three mile island event to a chernobyl event. it does not change the increase of radiation levels. this is just a re-evaluation levels. we want to give you a taste of what you have savr tomorrow morning. it's strange how programs hold a place in our hearts. capturing something about who we were when we watched them. the facts of life," was such a program. for the first time last night, they gathered for a tv land award and i sat down with them. ♪ you take the good, you take the bad, you take them and you have the facts of life ♪ >> four girls growing you before our eyes. or growing up with us. >> and before i knew it, his was touching mine. >> what? >> students at a boarding school. they dealt with everything from teen sex to suicide for half an hour once a week. >> what's happening? >> house mother mrs. garrett scolded, hugs and inspired them throughout their adolescence on screen and off. >> img not that kind of girl. you can ask any guy i dated. i'm a teen. >> charlotte ray, about to be 85, played the mrs. "g." she and her girls were honored at the tv land awards last night, takes hope the pop culture award. >> i'm proud of my girls. they turned out to be straight, straight. >> we had a chance to visit with them backstage. >> when you said the girls turned out so straight, what did you mean? >> i meant with good parenting. you meant they turned tout be great. >> i think you have a tree that goes up straight to the sky. >> got you. okay. >> that's what i meant. what did you think? >> that's what i thought. >> straight or gay. >> people who -- >> oh, god, oh, my god. >> one said we didn't turn out so straight like the "facts of life" people. >> [ bleep ]. >> there were lots of laughs and poignant memoriememories. a full version will be on "good morning america" tomorrow morning. that's our report. we