it is hard to communicate, because cell phones are not working all that much. look at some of the damage. a parking lot at a walmart. look at the crushed cars. we are seeing that all over the place. cars balled up and twisted, crushed like cans. those are being removed. a lot of work to be done. a short window, because there is a danger of more tornadoes coming in this afternoon. we will stay on top of the coverage. we will stay here live in job lynn, kiran, christine, back to you. >> thanks, ali. >> that's going to wrap it up for us today here in new york. we continue our coverage in joplin, missouri. the suffering and fear is taking new shape today. new dangers for crews digging through the tornado rubble. that risk in addition to the violent weather that has settled on joplin, yesterday, two rescuers were hit by lightning. in a cruel twist.

more tornadoes are possible today across the region. right now, the death toll stands at 116. that ties the single deadliest tornado record in u.s. history. so far, rescue crews have pulled 17 survivors from the rubble but time and the weather, now the enemies. precious hours are slipping away as bleak reality set in. t.j. holms in joplin. you went out with one of the rescue teams. what did you see? >> reporter: last night, i couldn't believe what i was seeing, carol. i have been covering tornadoes for a long time. grew up with tornadoes really in the south. i can't figure them out. if you see behind me. this is the part i can't figure out. that neighborhood in the short distance behind me is doing just fine. those homes are not touched. now, come with me and just a street over and this is what you see. this neighborhood taken out. still, the camera shot you are seeing right there, we can't figure out really if there was a house here or not.

you can't figure out what's going on in a lot of these places. they have gone through some of these neighborhoods and done some search and rescue. this gives you a good vantage point. we are kind of up on a hill. you can peek through this area and see nothing but destruction. just about every house was touched in some way. carol, you hit on something. that's the fact that we have the race going right now against two different clocks, if you will. one are as we flow, if you don't get to people in a certain amount of time after disaster. you are running out of time to possibly try to save them. that's one clock. the other clock is that we are actually now expecting another tornado outbreak at 4:00 today local time. 4:00 to midnight is when it could happen. take a look at the video from last night from what we saw. this is the search and rescue. this is how they spent their entire night. we saw cadaver dogs out on 20th and connecticut that cuts right through the heart of the city. this is how they spent their evening. they are not stopping what they are doing. you have crews here from so many different states. not a lot of luck with them last

night. i guess that's good and bad, good that they didn't find anybody last night. means maybe nobody is still trapped. they believe they do have some people that still need some rescuing. this is just one neighborhood in the west part of the city shall a few blocks to the east is the hospital so many people know about. forgive the sun here for a second. if you look down the hill here, the sun might be in your eyes a bit. this gives you an idea. those trees are stripped naked essentially. it gives you a broader sense of the destruction here. carol, there are so many stories i am going to be sharing with you and our viewers throughout this hour, next hour and throughout the day here on cnn including students who are getting their diplomas on sunday when the tornado hit. here, congratulations. here is your diploma. run is what they were told. a number of stories that they are going to bring you. i am running out of word to try to describe. >> t. j., we will get back to

you. alexandra steel joins us now. who is in the danger zone? >> job lynn is just off. it is in the danger zone. the highest risk, the bull's eye, the sweet spot, is just to the west. we are looking at what is a textbook, classic, poised atmosphere for tornadoes. today is a severe weather today. today and tomorrow will be as well. you heard t.j. say at around 4:00. later this afternoon when the meeting of the day maximizing, the front pushes through the area we are watching, the energy, the ball of energy is still to the west. that has yet to come to kind of get together with the front and of course this warm, moist air. here is a look at what we are seeing. of course, this purple color, where we are going to see and really most likely, a high-risk day. every day, the spc has deemed

this high risk. we have had tornadoes and deaths. today is the fourth day of the year. wichita, joplin, tulsa, oklahoma city, including enid and bartlsville. large and deadly tornadoes today. we will have more on this and the threat tomorrow. >> thank you, alexandra. president obama will travel to missouri on sun. today, the president and first lady are in london, pretty busy. they spent the morning with the queep. they met elizabeth ii and prince philip at buckingham palace. they will spend the night at the palace and the president has plans to meet with david cameron, the prime minister, later on. the obamas spent some time with the newly weds too, will and kate. this is the second day of the week-long tour. france and poland are on the itinerary. let's check in with zain verjee. she is in london. what kind of welcome did

president obama get from the british press? >> a very warm one. let's take a look straight at the headlines here. in ireland, there was one newspaper, the irish independent that was critical, though, in spite of all that joy. the headlines says. check out the bell fast telegraph. it was a lovefest basically. then, carol, check out the independent here in the uk.

today, carol, though, is really a fun day for the president and his wife, michelle. they are going to be attending a banquet later today with about 200 people. they had a great honor guard. they will be staying at buckingham palace for a couple of nights. i don't know if you have ever been in buckingham palace, carol. >> no, i haven't. >> there are 775 rooms there. you know what visitors to buckingham palace are told as advice. they are told to bring an extra sweater, because it gets really cold in those old rooms. you know what, heating is expensive here, carol. so they are not turning up the thermostat. >> you are not kidding, for 700 rooms. that would be insane. >> i know. >> i love those pictures of will and kate. i keep looking at them. any bright note i can find, today, i look at it. zain verjee, many thanks. we appreciate it. >> back in washington, israeli

prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is about to address both houses of congress. you can bet he will talk about president obama's idea for a palestinian peace deal. netanyahu calls obama a friend of israel but isn't too happy with the call to redraw israel's borders. >> i want to reassure you of one thing. it must leave israel with security. therefore, israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 lines. >> president obama has said the old border idea was just a starting point for talks. netanyahu will spell out his vision for middle east peace before both chambers of congress less than two hours from now, begins at 10:45 a.m., cnn special live coverage. ouch, it has been a bad week for sarah palin. first came word the big boss at

fox news caught her an idiot, a tidbit that's been labeled untrue. today, a palin insider goes rogue with a scathing palin tell-all, called blind ag allegiance and then a medicare plan. jim, tell us about this local new york race. >> well, it is definitely, carol, the big political story of the day. it is a special congressional race up in the 26th congressional district up in western new york. it is a predominantly republican district that could fall into democratic hands. that is why so many people are watching it. this is, of course, the race to replace the craigslist congressman, chris lee, who resipsr resigned after some prevok tiff pictures appeared. the democratic is leading in the race.

jack davi ja jack daveis has a slight lead. this relates to the budget proposal released by paul ryan that would turn medicare into a voucher program. kathy hoakle is running with that. she has an endorsement from andrew cuomo who cut a video talking about medicare. if she wins that race, it is not clear she will because it is so tight, a lot of democrats will look at this as a referendum on the ryan plan. you mention somebody going rogue up in alaska beside sarah palin. there is a new book called blind allegiance to sarah palin, written by a former aide of hers, frank bailey. it includes some e-mails from the former alaska governor, not clear whether there are any bombshells. it is another example why it is so risky for sarah palin to jump into the race. not only is she her own cottage

industry but a cottage industry for a lot of her attackers. there is another book coming out this fall not written or authorized by sarah palin. the palin defenders are out today calling this new book out today calling it fiction. we are going to see whether the former alaskan governor comes out. >> i called paul ryan a senator. he is a congressman. i apologize. maybe he is happy about that mistake. >> he took a pass at running for the senate. so i am sure he is. >> jim acosta, many thanks. they survived the tornado but cannot find their baby son. now, the family is going out of its mind trying to track him down. more on that story next. plus, one ray of hope for the residents of joplin. it comes from greensburgh, kansas. four years ago, a tornado virtually wiped out the town but people did not walk away. the town's mayor will tell us how they rebuilt. building up our wireless network all across america.

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hundreds of volunteers are out searching for those trapped in joplin, missouri. the death toll stand at 117, expected to climb. more severe weather could hit joplin today or tomorrow. president obama says he will travel to joplin on sunday. the president will no doubt hear stories like this one. >> it was indescribable.

i have never seen anything like it. >> i am 22 years old, a wife and two kids, 14 months old. we lost everything in the tornado. we are just trying to salvage what we can. >> so many people pacing by their phones waiting for word. among them, relatives of a 15-month-old baby boy missing since the tornado struck. his relatives have set up a facebook page and calling radio stations. schuyler's great uncle joins us on the phone. thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> you are welcome. >> when did you guys last see skylar? >> the night of the tornado, that evening. they had him in the hallway and the house. they had all gotten covered in the howl way and the house. when the tornado hit, they lost track of him and we haven't seen him since. >> was skylar's mother holding

on to him? >> yes, she was. she lost him in the aftermath of all of this. it is just terrible. no one has seen him since. the rest of the fa manically is doing okay. we have just got to find him. >> are you out and about today looking? >> we are out here searching again today. we will search until we find him. >> i can't imagine how you are feeling. so are neighbors joining you in your search? >> right now, just family out here. we are checking and the neighbors are looking as they look in their debris also and helping us, yes. >> what about the home, itself? is the family home gone too? >> the foundation is even gone. it took everything, yeah. it is gone. everything is gone. >> have you heard anything from police? >> no, we have not. not today or yesterday. we haven't heard anything from the police yet. we have missouri southern

college out there doing the hospital searches and checking to see if they can find him out there, see if someone has brought him in. being that young, they don't know who he is. hopefully, someone will bring him in. >> i wondered how that works when you need help so desperately. who do you call in this situation? >> we went out to missouri southern college, the red cross. they are doing the hospital searches. if they don't find him there, i would expect they will be back out here helping us again. >> we will pray for you. thank you. frank, reynolds. >> thank you very much. >> so sad. joplin can find a modern lesson in rebuilding. four years ago this month, the town of greensburg, kansas, was virtually wiped out. >> it was a 1.7 mile wide tornado.

the tornado is 1.5 miles wide. so there was just very little on the peripheries that survived. >> but thanks to green technology, greensburg has come back. major john dixon joins us via skype to tell us how. good morning. >> good morning. >> mayor, your city is thriving after so much tragedy. what would you say to the people of joplin? >> first of all, our hearts and our prayers and our thoughts just go out to joplin and all the area down there. it is just it is just devastating to see those pictures and remember what we went through four years ago. so just know that it is about faith, family and friends, rely on each other and the volunteers that are going to come and help. wrap your arms around each other and be there for each other. >> an e-5, ef-5 tornado wiped

out your town. the days after that disaster struck, the town had very little hope to hang on to. how did you deal with that? what was your first step? >> well, the first step, number one, was just what you are interviewing people in joplin today is, account for every citizen and make sure that they are safe. we lost lives as they lost lives and we sorely missed those and that grieving process of going through your debris of just making sure that every human is accounted for and safe and then it is just process of almost like a funeral of going through your debris and is there anything you can salvage in that grieving process. those are very difficult days, those first couple weeks. >> greensburg, though, today, it is a spectacular town.

would you say it is better than it was before? >> well, i really think it is stronger and better in the aspect that we have pulled ourselves together as a community. we were a close community before but now more close-knit. everyone lost everything. that put us on the same playing field that we had each other. through our planning processes and our rebuilding processes, it has been about community and each other. that's what's made us stronger, is the human factor and our faith. >> and your faith. thank you so much for sharing the hope this morning. we needed that after that last story. mayor dixson, many thanks. >> i thank you and i just want the people in joplin to know, in the midst of this disaster right

now, there is hope. just be there for each other and we will be down there to help you out. >> thank you so much. i am sure the people of joplin appreciate it. major dixson, thank you. if you would like to help the tornado victims, go to our website. you will find links to several charities where you can call, text, go online to donate. more tornado coverage just ahead. first, another big ash cloud is cramping the air space over britain. it is coming from a volcano in iceland. not the same volcano as last year but close. we will tell you what this is doing to flights over europe. [ female announcer ] every morning, all across america,

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another busy volcano is making for travel troubles in europe. the giant drifting ash cloud means canceled flights in parts of the uk. president obama had to leave ireland a few hours earlier because of it. let's check back with zain verjee in london. sort of like an icelandic thing deja vu. >> you don't want this to happen if you are traveling. your trip may get completely disrupted. we are keeping our fingers, our toes and our eyeses kroed that this time it doesn't happen. what's happened is that euro

control has said that 252 flights have already been canceled. it is only scotland that has been affected here. it could get worse. many people are just watching the wind patterns to see how the situation develops. just look at these incredible pictures, carol. you can see the plume of ash coming high up into the sky there in iceland. it is just difficult to predict the winds. the question for many scientists right now is, carol, this. has this volcano totally blown its top off already? we have already seen the worst of it. it has spent energy. or do we have a situation that this is the beginning of a sustained eruption? that's what we are going to have to wait and see. if it is a sustained eruption, what it means is that the magma inside the chamber is going to continue to build inside the volcano. the pressure is going to rise. it is going to come pouring out. if the lava connects with water, it becomes explosive and throws up ash like what we are seeing.

>> spectacular pictures, i must say, though. what's the travel situation like today? are flights aftfected today? if anyone is traveling, go to websites and check with the airline and see what's up with your flight. ryanair holdings is one airline, they have said, look, you can fly through it. they went on a little test flight. they said, we managed to do it. it's okay. the question is really going to be about the ash now. you have to figure out and see how thick is the actual ash going to be? is it low, medium, high? in scotland, it is really high and you can't fly through that stuff. imagine flying through sandpapers or shards of glass. you are going to get something stuck in the engine if you do that if it is really thick. the plane could stall and come crashing down. that's the big worry with the ash that also has debris in it after it has erupted.

>> that would certainly ruin your vacation. >> yes. >> yes. zain verjee, thank you. we will keep an eye on that volcano in iceland. we will go back to london in a few minutes. president obama's busy day includes a meeting with britain's prime minister. we will take you to 110 downing street. our t.j. holmes will walk through a destroyed home. [ female announcer ] splenda® no calorie sweetener is sweet...

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in joplin, missouri, hundreds of rescuers have fanned out trying to find survivors. there was huge amounts of hail and rain yesterday. so far, 17 survivors have been pulled from the rubble. 117 people confirmed dead, though and countless people have harrowing stories of their brush with death. >> we could hear the home shaking. everything was busting out. we got down. he was between me and zach was hunched over us. we were just praying, screaming and it was very loud. it all happened so fast. it seemed like forever but it

happened very fast. >> t.j. holmes is in joplin. you have heard more than one story with that. >> reporter: i have a doosy to share with you. we have the doctor iscara with us. you were describing to me what you were doing. you had several family members in the house but you came to this particular area. tell me what you did? >> we were watching weather channel. when it flickered, we already had the crawl space door open, because this is where we would come when there is a tornado but when i heard the tv flicker, the lights went off, i actually fell into it and i could hear the wind swirling and our garage door was like paper being flopped in the air. i was scared i was going to be sucked out. so i was trying to move deeper

and deeper. >> you were the only one, too. you were the only family member that made it down here. the rest found other hides areas. >> my daughter and my brother didn't even make it here. they hid in a closet under the stairs. >> and dr. escar, i have to let you see this. you talk about it was dark and scary and loud and she took a tumble and if i can, she missed the step and fell down. here is the evidence of it. the photographer, go ahead and show us, that is the tumble she took and she hit her head and she has that scar to prove it right now. she is doing okay now. dr. escar, i am going to leave you. carol, i want to show you something. i have been covering tornadoes for years. i can't figure out these things for the life of me. come in through the front door of the home now. you can certainly see, you look

to your left and right, that everything here is just a mess, as you can imagine. they say, it looks 500 times better than it did. come into their bedroom. this is what i want you to see. that is a two-by-four that came in through the wall. they have no idea where that came from. that came from where their heads would be. the same bedroom that is a mess, family photos haven't even been touched. they are still standing here. so, carol, like i said to you earlier, been covering tornadoes a long time. i still can't figure these things out. >> all i know is they jump around and they have terrible wind associated with them and i'm telling you, the doctor has that small gash on her head, she is one lucky woman just to have that when you look at that two-by-four through the bedroom wall. t.j. holmes, many thanks. people in joplin are using

social media to find people. will norton's friends say, help us find will norton who has been missing since the tornado. a facebook panel has been set up to find other missing people. friend of randy england says he has been missing for over 24 hours, inside the home depot when the tornado destroyed it. a relative is searching for 94-year-old dorothy clark. she says, my great grandma suffers from dimension. s she lives with my great aunt delores. please help. tonight at 9:00 eastern, piers morgan will have heart-wrenching first-hand accounts from survivors. on a.c. 360 at 10:00, anderson cooper reports with more from the recovery effort. president obama will be in joplin after he returns from his european tour. he and the first lady met with

queen elizabeth and prince philip and later he will meet with the british prime minister, david cameron. brianna keilar is at 110 downing street. he got a chance to meet the null weds? >> . >> reporter: yes, he did. not very many cameras get a look inside as what was going on. we have a reuters photo of the president and the first lady meeting with the duke and dutchess of cambridge, will and kate. i am not sure exactly what they talked about. i wonder if they talked about whether the first or second kiss was better. i suppose we will never find out what i did find interesting was learning that the queen showed the president and first lady around their six-room suite where they will be staying. it turns out, it is the same suite that will and kate shared on their wedding night and carol, a palace aide says it may or may not be the same bed but

it is definitely the same suite. >> that would be cool. i would enjoy that myself. so that's the frivolity part of this trip but the president has some serious business as well. tell us about it. >> reporter: serious diplomacy, he will be meeting with the prime minister, david cameron, here at 10 downing street. later in the morning, they will be talking a lot about the middle east. britain is a huge ally when it comes to the middle east. they will be discussing libya, the u.s. and britain looking for more support from european allies when it comes to the effort there. they will be talking about afghanistan. british troops are number two in terms of the number of troops in afghanistan compared second only to the u.s. a lot of the troops fighting in helmand province on the front lines. they will be talking as well about the arab spring and what they want to do to see democracy built in the region. there have been a couple areas tension. the allegiance here cannot be

overstated. there have been some areas tension. the bp oil spill. an opportunity to smooth things over. >> brianna keilar, live in london. a house seat that's been republican up for years. the democrat in that race says a gop plan to change medicare could be the key to victory. pad too much. excuse me? i use progressive's "name your price" tool. they showed me a range of coverages, and i picked the one that worked for me. i saved hundreds when switching. hundreds? who are you? just a man that loves savings... and pie. out there with a better way. now, that's progressive. how can expedia now save me even more on my hotel? well, hotels know they can't fill every room every day. like this one. and this one.

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devastation and desperation

today in southwest, missouri. you are looking at live pictures of joplin where the death toll from sunday's tornado rose to 117 this morning. even as rescuers picked through all the rubble, they are keeping their eyes on the skies. the forecast calling for more bad storms. in the world of politics, a special election today for a congressional seat from new york is giving us a peek into the battle plans for both parties in 2012. cnn's kate bolduan on capitol hill. why is this race so important and so close? >> reporter: it actually as usual, carol, it depends on who you are talking to. i was just on the ground in new york late last week. the democratic candidate, kathy hoakle and national party leaders are trying to make it about one message and hammering it hard. criticizing the house republican plan to cut spending by dramatically changing medicare. their strategy is trying to tie the republican candidate, jane

corbin, a state assembly member. she says she supports the changes to medicare but defends it saying she is supporting the ability to preserve the plan to preserve medicare for future generations, not kick the can down the road as she charges that kathy hoakle is trying to do. that is one major factor. i was on the ground there. that is top of mind. the issue of medicare that is top of the mind for voters. another big factor is the third-party candidate, jack davis. running on the tea party line, he is pulling support from both sides. his numbers are low. he is pulling support from both sides. republicans say he is siphoning votes from the republican candidate and that is what house majority leader eric cantor said yesterday. republicans are pushing back saying this is not about medicare. we shouldn't be reading too much into it.

that's why everyone is watching so closely. people are seeing this at least as a preview of the battle lines ahead for the 2012 congressional races. this is an early test of the democratic strategy of trying to make the house republican plan in support of it, a liability for republican candidates going forward. >> this new york district, a cinch for the republicans to win, not so this time. the only real difference, the medicare thing is called into question. we will see what happens later today. >> by the way, what are the latest polls indicating as to how voters feel about changing medicare? >> the latest poll just came out saturday by cnn college and the latest shows that the democrat, kathy hoakle has a slight edge, a 4-point lead over jane corwin. jack davis, 12% support. this is between the 4% march

sxwrmarch margin between the democrat and republican. the fact a democrat is competitive is a surprise. the last time a democrat was elected to this seat in new york 26 was more than four decades ago. that's why we are watching it so close. >> kate bolduan, live from capitol hill, many thanks. checking other news. the supreme court has ordered california to trim its state prison population by more than 30,000. they have two years to do it. the problem, huge overcrowding that the court found cruel and unusual. state officials hope to avoid mass releases. they are looking to transfer lower-level prisoners to county jams. the christian broadcaster behind all the doom's day drama said he misunderstood what the bible was trying to tell him. >> the great earthquake and rapture and the universe melting in fervent heat will all happen on the last day october, 21,

2011. in other words, we have been teaching that it would happen on may 21 but it is all going to be compressed on the last day. >> so mark your calendar. camping spent millions on may 21st billboards. a $250 response may get more bang for the buck popped up in north carolina on sunday. just a three word summary. that was awkward. a california man is thrilled to have his high school class ring back 72 years after he accidentally flushed it. a city worker found it stuck in a backed-up sewer line. wow. a tornado can turn a normal parking lot into a salvage yard. check out the walmart parking lot in joplin, just one image of the mammoth recovery effort the city faces. more from joplin after the break.

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the post tornado cleanup in joplin, missouri, will be an enormous job. ali velshi is in joplin in the middle of a residential neighborhood where people are starting to go home. i can't imagine how it would feel if i saw my house blown to

smith they are reasons. >> reporter: heavy moving equipment. look at all these people. in the last 20 minutes, i have seen people starting to show up. days since they are coming back to their homes. a can of soup, food, clothing. this is the heart of the destruction. look athe this property, this house. there is nothing left to have at all. you can see clothes there. you can see a clothes rack but nothing left of this house. i don't know where you would start. if you walk two blocks down behind where i am, now, this devastation, almost like about a block and a half from here, was the edge of the tornado. there are house that is are still standing or kind of standing. people are walking around with bins and boxes. honestly, in a daze. you can see there are some people over there. they are talking to some police. most people are taking pictures of what's going on around their homes. there are still marshalls and military police, national

guardsmen blocking a lot of the intersections. a number of people are not here. they don't want them coming back just yet. they haven't inspected to see if these properties are safe. there are about 1500 people unaccounted for, because they have left town to stay safe and cell service isn't working very effectively. we don't know where they are. about two blocks down, some people told my producer that they spent the night, a treacherous night last night, they spent it on their porch. they haven't lost everything. they were worried that looters were going to take the stuff they had. you know how people get about their stuff. if this was my house, there would be nothing to collect. there is an unopened can of soup. the only salvageable thing left here. this is how most of the area looks. carol? >> i can't imagine that in days to come, you would have to deal with your insurance company in taking pictures. it is a hard road ahead.

i am glad there are workers already out there clearing debris. good midwestern spunk there. ali velshi, thanks so much. no shortage of shocking stories. we heard about a baby boy ripped from his mother's arm. somebody sucked out of st. john's hospital by driving home high school graduation when the twister hit. >> well, i was riding with my mom. we were in a separate car. and we were 30 seconds in front of them, one block. we pulled into the garage, trees started blowing in. we immediately got our dog, went into the basement. my dad called and said, "open the garage door." he didn't know it was so serious. i heard him say, "pull over, will. pull over." they started flipping. >> they were in a humiditier? >> yes. -- a humiditier? >> yes, a hummer h-3. >> what happened to will? >> when my dad gained consciousness, he saw my brother, his seat belt snapped, and he was ejected through the sunroof. >> reporter: he was ripped through the sunroof?

>> yes, that's what my dad said. my dad is in stable condition, he has broken bones, but he's stable. thank goodness we found him. >> norton's still missing. if you would like to help the tornado victims in joplin, go to cnn.com/impact, you'll find links to charities to call, text, or go on line. impactyourworld at cnn.com/impact. the gift of financial security. backed by the highest possible ratings for financial strength. new york life. the company you keep. [ male announcer ] when you come to new york from a place like detroit, no one expects you to influence the world of fashion. but when you grew up surrounded by rock 'n' roll and heavy industry, you just might make a name for yourself. ♪ that's what a blue-collar attitude can do

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let's take a look ahead and see what's making news later this morning. former world heavyweight champ muhammad ali will join the families of two u.s. hikers in iran in appealing for their relief. he will be joined pie prominent leaders and clergy in washington. actress jessica alba travels to capitol hill to urge congress to pass legislation limiting toxic chemicals in baby products. that's also at 10:00 eastern. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu addresses a joints session of congress. cnn's live coverage of the speech begins just about an hour from now at 11:00 eastern. we're following lots of developments in the next hour of the cnn "newsroom." let's check in with tj holmes in joplin. >> reporter: hey there, carol. of course the overall story here

in joplin is incredible. but a lot of the individual survival stories are just as amazing. i'll have that for you at the top of the hour including the house behind me that you can't recognize that was relocated sunday night from one corner to the other. >> reporter: i'm on capitol hill where israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will speak before a joint session of congress in little more than an hour. no doubt he will get a warm bipartisan reception, far different from the icy atmospherics that surrounded his meeting with president obama. more in the next hour. >> reporter: i'm brianna keilar at 10 downing street in london. literally the red carpet has just been rolled out as british prime minister david cameron is set to welcome president obama next hour. we'll have that for you live. thanks to all of you. and after 25 years, "the oprah winfrey show" is coming to an end. how did oprah become oprah? she'll give credit to one of her old bosses. he's known as the man who discovered oprah.

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we'll have more tornado coverage in the next hour from joplin including a live report on a search and rescue. plus, we'll hear from survivors and get a forecast on, yep, more severe weather targeting the region. we saw one of the great comebacks in nba playoff history last night.

jeff fischel from hln sports is here. one team is feeling invincible, the other kind of heartbroken. >> the oklahoma city thunder had a 15-point lead with five minutes left. you could see it. they knew. we're going to dallas, we'll be tied two games apiece, but no. this was the shot, the thunder and the fans feeling so good about. kevin durant buries the three. 99-84 with five minutes to go. look at them celebrate. but in 20 years when you see highlights of dirk nowitzki's hall of fame career, this will be the shot and the game you will see. look at this -- leaning away, hits it. the mavericks force ot. and in overtime, novitsky unstoppable. in fact, three guys go -- they win it. one away from the finals. game five tomorrow. this could be the play of the nhl playoffs. tampa bay's steve downey get the rebound goal for tampa bay. and look at the open net -- but no! boston goaltenders tim thomas

spectacular stick save. the bruins lead the series 3-2. they're one win away from the nhl finals. the minnesota twins honored number three, harm an kildbrew, after the passing last week, and jim them -- jim thome cranked t right. not bad for his first game off the disabled list. but wait, there's more. another home run. home run 592 and 593. seattle won over the twins. nevertheless, great to see him back and healthy. >> he always looks like a cartoon character to me. >> he is. a hucking guy. >> a distinctive face. let's begin with a look at the top stories. rescuers in joplin, missouri, are not giving up hope. they think more tornado survivors can be found. they've pulled 17 people from the rubble since yesterday. sundays's monster 21st head left 117 people dead at least. and of course the city's a disaster. we're monitoring a news

conference that's set to get underway this hour. and one hour from now, israel's prime minister will address both houses of congress. benjamin netanyahu's speech comes a few days after president obama suggested israel redraw its borders as part of a middle east peace deal. you can see his speech live right here on cnn. that starts in just about 45 minutes. in joplin, missouri, the suffering and the fear are taking new shape today. the city manager says gas leaks are spewing all over the city. presenting a new danger for crews digging through the tornado's rubble. that risk in addition to the violent weather that has settled on joplin, yesterday two rescue workers were hit by lightning. and in a cruel twist, more tornadoes are possible tonight, today across the region. right now as i said, the death toll stands at 117. that makes it the single deadliest tornado since 1950 when modern recordkeeping began. also new this morning, president obama announces he does plan to visit missouri on

sunday. exactly one week after the tornado struck joplin. let's get the latest from joplin now from t.j. holmes who has -- you've been showing us amazing things this morning. >> reporter: yeah. we keep -- every story seems to be more amazing, quite frankly, than the rest. i'm seeing one of the saddest things. we'll share it with you in a bit. i essentially see a woman's house that's moved from one corner to the other. she is walking through the rubble of her home trying to find anything she can. she's only finding like a baseball cap, a pair of pants, anything to salvage. we'll be talking more about that. i want to talk to a couple young men who will never forget their graduation day. you know, graduation -- high school graduation's a big night no matter what. you're not supposed to forget. what did you think it your graduation night? >> it was -- we were supposed to be staying up all night for another reason, for project grad. i mean, the all-night party that we have for it. it was definitely for a different reason. i'm sure i'll remember it. >> reporter: yeah, to our viewers, graduation night if you didn't know was sundays night.

as soon as -- was sunday night. as soon as graduation was wrapping up was when the tornado was hitting. what were they telling you as they handed you the diploma? >> nay said the tornado signs are going off, we said, okay. just another day of tornadoes. we've been born and raised in tornado alley. we didn't think much of it. then after an hour later we saw what it did. and it was horrible. >> reporter: okay, when did it get real, griffin? you hit on the same point. honest honestly, i'm the say, born and raised in arkansas. i hear a tornado siren, i go back to sleep, frankly. that was the case. when did it get real for you -- you knew this wasn't another siren, just another watch or warning that would turn out to be fog? >> you know, we were sitting in the restaurant we went to. the power went out and they made everybody go to the middle of the restaurant. even then i was like, okay, it's storming outside, blowing pretty bad and everything. then one -- once i got home and i started hearing the things over the radio, heard my dad talking because he knows -- he knew what was going on, i

finally realized what had happened. i heard some of the stuff that was happening closer to the middle of town. it was just surreal. >> reporter: all right. i've got to let you if. you've got to say -- lets you go. you've got to say a word about yourne -- your friend who's missing, another senior. tell us what you know. >> we know his car is two blocks from where we're at. his house is another two blocks over. we haven't gotten anything confirmed except that he was seen at the hospital. other than that -- will norton. and there's been hotlines and emails set up. so if anybody has information, get hold of their family or us and let us know. >> reporter: yeah. we have the facebook page up now. this is someone we have actually paid attention to. and just focus on here at cnn. this is one of their best friends, i believe you said you all were in sixth grade. his home, carol, is back in the distance over here. not too far from where we are. his vehicle was found down just at the end of the street that i'm on here. so there's no will. there's no will norton.

nobody knows where the young man is. and these two and many others are trying to track him down. >> this is the young man who was in the hummer with his dad and was like sucked out of the -- his seat belt was even on and he was sucked out through the sunroof. >> reporter: the hummer -- again, you all were describing where it was. what have you all been told about that story? and as far as him being on his way home? >> i know from his sister, i've talked to his sister. she said she was on the phone with him whenever he was in the car with his dad. and his -- his dad was out -- him and his dad were about 30 seconds behind the family and another car, and her dad told them to open up the garage door because they were almost there. and then she heard him say to will, "pull over, pull over." and then that's the last that she heard from him. and going by the pictures that we saw of his car, it had rolled over and -- i'm not sure exactly what happened. >> reporter: a lot of stories, concern like that. someone that they believe is in

the hospital somewhere, but still missing. you have many others still missing, maybe under rubble. the search and rescue continues now. thank you to you gentlemen for taking the time out. griffin, keegan, these guys going to college next year, playing football at the local school. this one going to the university of arkansas. life go on. right now people taking a pause to take care of each other. >> thank you. there are more storms, believe it or not, in the forecast today. meteorologist alexandra steele joins us now. so i even hate to talk about this. >> it's so heartbreaking, isn't it? you talked about him being thrown out of the window, being sucked out with the seat belt on. now this was deemed an ef4 tornado. one degree shy, one level shy with 198 mile-per-hour winds associated with this thing. so it certainly has the potential to have 200 mile-per-hour winds, would classify it as an ef5. the classification systems are done on damage, the survey teams that go out. and -- an incredible site and heartbreaking.

and unfortunately we've got a textbook setup once again today and also tomorrow for the atmosphere to come together to create long-track tornadoes, ef4, ef5 not out of the realm of possibility. this is the atmosphere and the area we're most concerned about today. i don't want to leave out the mid-atlantic. we do have right now a thunderstorm watch posted through the afternoon, through 5:00, for virginia, north carolina, the potential for two-inch hail. isolated tornadoes, tornadic activity doesn't seem as big there. but we could see very heavy rain, also tornadoes isolated in nature but hail there, as well. here's the area of concern. most of concern. really, the bull's eye for today's weather. and who, once again, will see it -- unfortunately it is joplin. and just west of joplin. here's a look. this magenta-purple area is what we have called a high-risk area. on the average we have about five a year or so. and that's what we're going to see, meaning it is the potential and most likely we will see strong, long track tornadoes

today. wichita, oklahoma city, tulsa, joplin, you see just out of the picture. so another scary day, carol, in store for the same area. >> thanks. with joplin's limited phone service, people are turning to social media and the internet, even the radio to communicate with each other to search for missing loved ones like schuyler lodgeson, a little over a year old. he was cuddled with his family in a hallway on sunday when that tornado -- it took his entire house. his story popped up on facebook. it's been posted across the internet. his family even called in to a missouri radio station, anything to get the word out to find that missing baby. here's what his great uncle told me last hour. >> the night of the tornado, that evening, and they had him in the hallway in the house. they all got undercover in the hallway in the house. when the tornado hit, they lost track of him. we haven't seen him since.

>> was skyular's mother holding on to him? >> yes, she was. she lost him in the aftermath of all of this. it's terrible. and no one's seen him since. the rest of the family's doing okay. we've got to find him. >> here are other faces of the missing. relatives looking for michelle quavado and her daughter, isabel. tiara whitley was shopping when the tornado hit. no one has heard from her since. and people looking for margaret bjoergenson, living in a retirement community close to st. john's regional medical center that was hit by the tornado. to help go to cnn.com specials impact your world web site. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu addresses both houses of congress less than an hour from now. and you can bet he will talk about president obama's idea for

a palestinian peace deal. netanyahu calls obama a friend of israel, but he's not so happy with a call to redraw israel's borders. he's here's what he told a pro-israel lobbying group. >> israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 line. [ applause ] >> and we have more from dana bash on capitol hill. >> reporter: wow, will you see a different feeling and atmosphere here, carol. the tension that has marked the prime minister's meeting so far because of attention with president obama, i'm almost -- i guarantee it will be undetected when it steps into the chamber to address a joint session of congress in an hour. there's always been bipartisan support, enormous bipartisan support for israel here in congress. you know, this whole controversy over the president's speech last week to return israel to pre-1967 borders with land swaps, it's actually causing a rift with congressional leaders, even those in his own party.

you played a sound bite from netanyahu at apec last night, the pro-israel lobby. harry reid, senate majority leader, spoke there, too as the house speaker, john boehner. both made clear that they're not happy with the president's comments. >> no one should set premature parameters about borders, about building, or about anything else. [ applause ] >> doubts about what america stands for and who america stands with slows the search for peace and stability in the region. >> reporter: as for the israeli prime minister, carol, i'm told by sources that i've spoken to who have spoken to him and people around him that he wants to use this very friendly platform here in congress to talk about the peace process going forward, to try to rebuild the peace process and to lay out what he's called in private and public meetings the truth, what he says is the truth about the way israel is dealing with the process and dealing with

palestinians in that region. >> it's interesting because president obama mentioned going back to the pre-1967 borders. that's not on the table, and it's not going to happen. it's probably not going to move the peace deal forward any. so why did president obama do this? and politically since both parties are kind of throwing darts at him right now, what has it done to him politically? >> reporter: well, in terms of the peace process, it's important to underscore -- i know you've reported this, as well -- this has been part of the conversation in private. the difference is the president said it in private which speaks to the politics of this which are important. at the apac where thousands and thousands of activists has come, this was a split in whether or not they still believe in president obama. as for the israeli prime minister, it's important to underscore the meeting that he is not like any other -- he's just like his predecessors in

that he has a lot of faith in congress, much more historically than the president because presidents come and go. historically members of congress are here a lot longer. >> dana bash likely from capitol hill. thanks. netanyahu will spell out his vision of the middle east peace before both chambers of congress at 11:00 a.m. eastern. live coverage begins at 10: 45 a.m. eastern time. despite the hype, doomsday was a dud. >> when may 21 came and went, it was a very difficult time for me. a very difficult time. >> don't worry so much, though. he has rescheduled the rapture. [ female announcer ] you use the healing power of touch every day.

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after 25 years, oprah's show ends on wednesday. she will devoted her time to the oprah network network, but he did -- how did she become oprah? her thank you list has one name at the top. >> you know, over the years any time anybody asks me how it got started, i always behind your back, dennis, give you the credit. i never have said it to you, to your face, how much courage i think that tooek ti-- that tookt the time. you made such a difference in my life. that's what i'm trying to on this show, to in some way make a difference people's lives. i wanted to say loud enough for

the whole world to hear, dennis, i thank you. >> and tv executive dennis swanson joins us live. and when you hear that sound bite and you watch this week of oprah's show, gee, you must be feeling fantastic. >> well, you know, it was a proud moment. i'm glad that i could play a part in it. she's a wonderful person. and she's always been gracious in her thanks to me. you know, she's done very well in her life, and people ask me what did i get out of it. you know, i got promoted and, you know, life's been good for me, as well. >> glad to hear that. i do remember the man who gave me my first real chance at the news business. he holds a special place in my heart. you said you took a risk in hiring oprah. what was that risk? >> well, i think the risk was, you know, she was an african-american female and at the time, you know, it seems normal today. in those days, it was sort of a male-dominated business. you know, phil donahue was the

major talent. but that was one of the reasons i thought we should go the female route. we were not beating him head to head, and when i got there, i said to the people who work for me, you know, let's look and give the viewers an alternative and let's focus on female talent. you know, we -- which is what we did. and oprah was the one that came out of that. >> and she was quite successful. so when you look at -- i don't know. back when you hired the younger oprah winfrey and when you look at the older, mature, very successful -- i mean, did she change? did you see that in her? did you ever believe she would become oprah? >> well, i had no doubt that she was going to be successful. i sat -- we brought her in for an audition on a saturday morning, labor day weekend, 1983. and as i sat there and watched that audition, i thought, oh, my goodness, dennis, you can't be this lucky. this is the answer to what we called at the time the "a.m.

chicago" show. and in fact, it was a holiday weekend. when we were through with the taping everybody split. it was just her and me. and we had a long conversation late that morning and she'd asked me if i had concerns. and, you know, we talked a little about that, and then i said, yeah, the only concern i have is are you going to be able to handle success? i mean, you look at our business, and you see how many people don't handle success very well. and there's pretty ready examples of that today. you know, she -- she absolutely has handled her success in a brilliant fashion. is she the same oprah as she was in those days, no. i mean, she has evolved over the years. but when you think that she went into syndication, been number one for 25 years, you know, that's a pretty remarkable streak. i don't know that anybody's ever going to top that. there will be other talented people. but i don't know that anybody can put together a string like

that. >> so, you know, quickly, what will her legacy be? >> i'm sorry, i didn't hear you. >> what do you think her legacy will be? >> oh, i think her legacy will be that she gave back. and oprah has always been a very generous person. she has shared herself, her life's experiences, she's helped so many people. and i was at the taping last tuesday. you'll see one of those shows today on television. and that is going to be her legacy, was always her willingness to share and share her life and her experiences. and you're going to hear more of oprah. i mean, she's going to go on. she's got her own network. she's just change her focus. >> dennis swanson, thank you very much for being with us. we appreciate it. >> carol, thank you very much. have a good day. >> thank you. you never know who you'll run into at buckingham palace. the president and the first lady ran into those people -- the

newlyweds, will and kate. we'll talk more about it coming up. >> announcer: this past year alone there's been a 67% spike in companies embracing the cloud-- big clouds, small ones, public, private, even hybrid. your data and apps must move easily and securely to reach many clouds, not just one. that's why the network that connects, protects, and lets your data move fearlessly through the clouds means more than ever.

our special coverage of the missouri tornado continues just ahead. checking on some other stories across the country now -- the supreme court has ordered california to trim its state prison population by more than 30,000. it's just got two years to do it. the problem -- huge overcrowding that the court found cruel and unusual. state officials hope it avoid mass releases. new york city's expanded smoking ban has taken effect. no lighting up at parks, beaches, or pedestrian plazas,

you know, like times square. violators risk a $50 fine. he may seem like he's 0-2 on the rapture, but the christian broadcaster forecasting the doomsday drama said he just misunderstood the bible's message. >> the great earthquake and rapture and the universe melting in fervent heat will happen on the last day, october 21, 2011. in other words, we are -- we've been teaching that it would happen on may 21, but it's going to be compressed on the last day. >> just changed the date now. he says it will happen on october 21. we want to head live to joplin, missouri, where emergency management officials are holding a press conference. let's listen in. >> not only on the city's side and the volunteer side, but we would ask that everyone else keep that in perspective and that you help us get the word out to accomplish that end. we will allow photos from afar.

we still need to contain the work area to allow those volunteers to get in and do their work. and rescue people. citizens can contact the following phone number for status on their friends and their family -- 417-659-5464. once again, 417-659-5464. or log on to the following web site -- www.safeandwell.org. once again, www.safeandwell.org. s-a-f-e and w-e-l-l dot-org. the second message we have today which is very important is we have to -- we have detached

our -- we have to test our emergency sirens during the good weather to make sure they're operable. because we're following the advice of our friends at the weather service and there's the possibility of further inclement weather. we have to make sure they're running to protect our citizens. we have nine sirens that we will sound at 10:30 a.m. this morning with the sun out, hopefully, and we need to get word out to residents not to panic, not to be alarmed. that we have to do this to ensure their future safety. once again, at 10:30 a.m., we're going to sound the sirens at nine locations throughout the city to test them, to make sure that they're working properly. and we want to make sure people don't panic and don't overreact to those sirens. we're just doing that so if we need to affect repairs we know where we have a problem, and we can go about doing so. once again, joplin is a great city.

we've suffered a devastating loss. we will recover, and we will recover strongly, more strongly than we were when we began. and we will accomplish that end, and we have a lot of volunteers and a lot of help to facilitate that. the last message that we want to convey today is those people that do need help in terms of recovery. we have our friends from fema here that have done a wonderful job being on the ground and partnering with the city and offering a personal touch to work with us to work with the citizens to make sure they get the assistance they need. and we have information that we want to convey, but i wanted to introduce the deputy director of fema, rich sorina. he came from d.c. to help us here, and he's going to provide some specific information that we would like your assistance to deliver to the residents so they know what they can do to get the help they need so they can yet

their lives back to -- can get their lives back to normal as soon as possible. rich, if you would come up and deliver some of that information. >> quickly, i want you to know -- i have this written down, i haven't asked because of the wind. afterwards, i can go around and do it. that way you aren't trying to get the numbers -- [ inaudible ] >> thank you. it's arrive -- i arrived here yesterday, and the president was able to declare the two county involved a disaster area, which freed up the ability for people to get individual assistance as well as bring public assistance as needed. one thing that we want people to do is when they need help is to call 1-800-621-fema. that's 1-800-621-fema. or they can go to www.disasterassistance.gov. www.disasterassistance.gov or m.fema.gov. any of those sites people can register to get help. with that we'll be able to offer them individual assistance as they need it, as they're moving

forward. i also have to on behalf of secretary thnapolitano who i wa speaking with, giving her an update, that fema's going to be here not just for today or tomorrow but for the long haul to support the governor, to support the state, the city of joplin. to support the survivors who need the help the most. we're going to be looking at the long term, but i have to say in the short term with the individuals and the city manager and fire chief and people that the city of joplin have done between the police, the fire, the ems, the emergency management, has been amazing what they've been able to accomplish in the first 24 hours, even in the first 12 hours when i arrived on scene. they had the roads essentially clear for people to get to. so they've been doing an unbelievable job on scene so far. so again, 1-800-621-fema. and also redcross.org, in addition for people if they need help looking for their loved

ones, they can go to redcross.org, as well. thank you. >> thank you, rich. we're going to do -- we've got some more efforts afoot to get the word out in terms of help from fema, but we would appreciate anything you can do to help disseminate the information to help the residents of the city. we've got other people up here, keith stammers, emergency coordinator, and our friends from the state highway patrol and other fema reps. we'd be willing to respond to questions. once again, mr. randalls is probably better equipped to deal with specific questions about the recovery process. >> how do you transition from search and rescue to recovery? what kind of indicators are you looking for, and do you have that scheduled? >> well, we've got a process that we're going through right now. we've already done an initial search of the entire area, and then a deeper search the second time through. we're going to finish that up toward midday. and then the chief has a third

trip planned through and then a fourth trip with the assistance of other resources that we have available. i'll let him speak to that. >> do you think you'll be done with the first phase by today, then the -- starting tomorrow? >> phase one, the quick search through the area has been completed. phase two is what we're in the middle of, and we're hoping to complet complete that by midday. at the same time we're finishing that we'll start a third sweep through the city with our large amount of mutual aid partners and ems crews that are in town. we hope to get at least halfway through the city until the weather hits today. after that we'll make it a sweep through the entire area with search and rescue dogs just as a forth effort to get through -- a fourth effort to get through there. a lot of this depends on the weather. today we hope to get a lot done. we have the better weather we've seen in 48 hours. we have every available

individual that we can get out doing the search work. that's basically where we are. >> chief, the first search is done and the city manager mentioned the second deeper search. what are some of the specific things that are different about the second search, and are there specific places that you're looking now that might have potential survivors still? >> well, as far as the second search, it's a little bit slower, more methodical search of those areas. as far as specific areas, it's basically the tornado path, the destruction path. we're searching every structure that's been damaged or destroyed in a more in-depth manner. the third search is going to be similar to that. and then the fourth search through will be with the search and rescue dogs. i've got dogs and dog handlers coming from around the country to help with the effort. >> how many volunteers do you have now? >> i'm working on that. there's inable for folks to --

inability for folks to communicate because of cell phone and power issues. i'm not comfortable giving out a number on that yet. >> what's happened so far in terms of finding people? we heard people are still coming out of the rubble. >> we are still finding individuals. we did rescue seven people from underneath the rubble yesterday. of course, we're also finding self designeesed folks -- several deceased folks, as well. it's really incredible, the fact that we're still finding people, we're hoping to find more phoenix, that's why we're doing the searches. we want to make every opportunity we can to find everybody still in the rubble and has survived to this point. >> what are the updated numbers? the casualties, injuries -- >> i don't have those yet. we're still working on those. >> higher than the 1 6 that you're giving us -- 116 that you gave us yesterday? >> no. 116. >> the government office said 117. >> that's in from us. >> any survivors found today?

>> not to my knowledge. this is one of my first stops, i haven't had a chance to sit down with the numbers yet. >> yesterday it was said to be 17 rescue, not seven. >> seven is the official number. >> what's the situation with looting now? >> i'm doing search and rescue, i'm not doing looting. that would be more of a police question. >> i'm with the state patrol. there were a few isolated incidents, and those have been taken care of. we have an excellent number of officers that are -- high number of officers that are in the tornado's path, in that area, they're checking anyone and everyone that comes out. i can't stress enough -- yesterday was a problem with sightseers coming in. you know, every news station is streaming this live and on the internet. if you want to see the destruction, watch it on tv. if you don't belong in the area, please stay home. the traffic impedes our ability to do the search and rescue mission. >> any word on the police officer who was struck by lightning yesterday? >> there was an officer that was struck by lightning.

and he is in the hospital with critical injuries. >> what department is he from? >> that's not being released yet. >> one or two officers? >> there were two struck. one was minor injuries, one had critical injuries. >> during search and rescue? >> they were on post, manning a traffic post at 20th and connecticut street. >> is there a certain structure or a certain neighborhood that you're going to be focusing on the most as far as search and recovery goes? >> this morning we're trying to finish off the search in some of our larger, more technical rescue areas. in particular, you're going to see a lot of stuff going on around home depot and walmart area. those are two of our larger buildings that require special tools and equipment. and special knowledge that i have in town with the usar teams. we're concentrating efforts over there with those individual team members. then we have a section in the center of town where there's

apartment complexions around 20th and connecticut, several blocks either side of that. that's going to be the other area of concentration because of the large number of people that are in that neighborhood and live in that neighborhood. that's our two that we're focusing on. all of the other areas have been cleared by the second search. and we'll be starting the third search in those today. we'll have two different levels of searches going on at the same time. >> any estimate as far as how many people you might be looking for in home depot and walmart? >> no. >> one person recovered -- >> there was one person recovered from home depot yesterday. >> alive? >> alive. >> of those injured, can you give us a breakdown of how many are still hospitalized, how many are critical? >> no, i have no idea of that. [ inaudible ] >> have you heard any sounds -- [ inaudible ] >> we're getting sporadic reports of, you know, cries for

help from rubble piles. of course we are immediately responding to any of those, and researching that. most of those are turning out to be false at this time. but we -- we are, you know, hopeful that we will still be finding people. >> what kind of funding are we looking at right now as far as federal and state is concerned? >> right now the president has said that the entire federal family is going to be here to support, we'll be here for the long haul. at this point time we're not looking at the dollars. we're looking at -- in the search and rescue mode and going to be here for the long haul looking at specifically, you know, helping with the recovery and the long-term housing needs, as well. >> how much money has come, how much federal money has come to aid -- >> we haven't put a dollar fog that yet. what we're doing -- dollar figure on that yet. what we're doing is bringing as much help as we need to get here. >> as far as the other storms that you've been around and seen different destruction, how does this compare? a lot of people say it's the

worst they've ever seen. would you agree? >> this has been a totally devastating -- we look at each disaster on its own merit. this one is -- you know, certainly among the worst that i've ever seen. with that, it's also something that the resiliency of the people in this communities, in joplin, missouri, with everything they've gone through over the past few days and the past few weeks has been something that to me has been heartening just to see the work that the first responders and talking to survivors who have been impressive. >> when you look around at the devastation, we can't even imagine when and how this is going to come back -- [ inaudible ] can you give us an estimate or look at when the community can come back together? >> i don't want to necessarily put a time frame. we're very early on. having been to other communities, having been to greensburg, kansas, that was literally devastated by a

tornado, tnot to this magnitude but they rebuilt the entire community. the town people came back. talking to people here they're going to rebuild the community and are looking forward to rebuilding and being proud of it in doing that. >> we have looked ahead at the different stages of recovery. we have our planning department at this point in time working on that very task, thinking about the future and how to work with the citizens to rebuild a certain portion of our city. and we are thinking ahead, and we are developing plans. our first focus now is search and rescue. that's what we're concentrating on at this point time. we have -- we do have an eye on the future and realize that there's other things to come, and we're working on that. [ inaudible ] >> we've been told i think around 6:00 that we could have some challenge. we're hoping for sunshine up

until that point so we can further our cause here and affect a search and rescue. >> will you take on the search and rescue a little bit differently just because of what happened yesterday? >> well, we don't want anyone getting hurt while we affect the search and rescue and did pull the people in at a certain point in time after we experienced what we went through yesterday. that is a priority of ours, and we have that in mind as we go forward. >> now as far as the safe and well web site, some people have called saying it's running slow. is there any sorted of backup to that -- any sort of backup to that? >> right now if they can go to redcross.org, that will lead them to the safe and well, as well. redcross.org/safeandwell. >> i assume it's running slow because there are a number of hits on the site.

again, we have to be patient. many lives have been hit. it's not just the city of joplin's citizens, as you know, all all the loved ones and family members that are concerned. we have a barrage of media interested in this. you guys are getting the word out. a lot of people are just hearing, touching in. again, we're using you to get the word out. with that said, i think we're about ready to close this conference off. we'll have another one at 5:00. again, the weather is going to be iffy. i'm going to try and get the armory if it's raining. you see the lightning, you saw the horrible storms we had last night. we do not want to put anybody at risk having press conferences out in the weather. please, if you haven't got your media credentials, it's key that you do that. becky and vicky are here to do that. be patient with them, as well. they're working as hard as they can. we're working to put our e-mail list together, to e-mail you guys. that's got to be the key. as much as i want to talk with you individually, i'm not going to be able to touch every one of you. right now it will be here unless the weather is bad.

if the weather's bad i'm looking at the armory. >> okay. we're going it pull away right now and take a quick break. >> we're going to pull away from the press conference as you heard. bad weather is moving in. maybe it will hit at 5:00 p.m. missouri time. tomorrow morning is when the really bad weather will be moving in. and missouri emergency management officials will sound the sirens at 10:30 a.m. missouri time to see if everything's working. don't be afraid. that will happen tomorrow, tuesday. [ woman ] welcome back jogging stroller. you've been stuck in the garage while i've been sneezing from the dust in here, and the pollen outside. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my allergy symptoms. it's the brand allergists recommend most. ♪ lilly and i are back on the road again,

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arguably the most important u.s. ally in the world and the center of a volatile and critical region and a conflict that has pursued for decades. could there be a breakthrough? all of that at the center of a speech today by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. i'm suzanne malveaux. >> this is cnn "newsroom." special coverage of the israeli prime minister's speech before the u.s. congress. welcome to all our viewers in the united states and around the world this hour. thank you very much, i'm wolf blitzer in washington. the speech by benjamin netanyahu has major implications for the united states. peace between the israelis and

the palestinians certainly directly impacts security here in the united states. also, the u.s. has strong ties with israel, religious ties. a lot of history this, political connections, strategic relations. what happens with israel is crucial to a region undergoing so dramatic -- such dramatic changes from the arab uprising in north africa and the middle east. >> of course as wolf mentioned, today's speech is not justice about the conflict between israel and the palestinians. this stalled peace process, there are no talks going on now. it is also part of a tense drama playing out between the israeli prime minister and the american president over the starting point for peace talks. our correspondents are covering all angles of this story. white house correspondent brianna keilar is traveling with president obama and matthew chance is in new zealand. and we'll talk about the political implications with our

chief analyst gloria borger here in washington. she'll have perspective. more on the drama playing out between these powerful leaders over the direction of the middle east peace process. prime minister benjamin netanyahu's speech today is in direct response to a proposal that was put out by president obama. that happened just last week. the line in the sand is over the starting point for negotiations between israel and the palestinians. take a listen. >> the borders of israel and palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. >> i'll describe what a peace between a palestinian state and the jewish state could look like. but i want to assure you of one thing. must leave israel with security and, therefore, israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 lines. [ applause ] >> white house correspondent

brianna keilar is traveling with president obama in london. really have to set the stage here because from the -- when the president is out of the country and you have the israeli prime minister who is now essentially on obama's home turf challenging his own proposal. how do the obama administration officials see this? does this look like potentially a slap in the face? >> reporter: you know, they're certainly not going to say that. and one of the things that the white house i think would emphasize is that the israeli-palestinian peace process is going to be a big priority during president obama's trip overseas. he's here in london. he'll be having a photo opportunity or just did with the prime minister. he'll be having meetings tomorrow and going on to the g-8 economic summit. he'll be talking with european allies about trying to really shore up some of the support when it comes to the israeli-palestinian peace process.

i think one of the thorny issues no doubt is going to be that as the palestinian coalition government looks for recognition of independents before the u.n. in september, something that, of course, the u.s. opposes and israel opposes, many european allies are ready to recognize that. i think what you would hear the white house emphasize is that they're here taking that stance that they have with israel against some of their european allies. i think that's really what you would hear their focus would be on, not that this would be -- not that this would be a slap in the face. of course there are those optics certainly that the president is away, and that he did schedule his speech perfect netanyahu went before congress. >> let's talk about the relationship between obama and netanyahu. the u.s. is providing more than $3 billion a year to israel. that's more than any other country in the world. is there a certain outrage factor here that is being asked? that this is any way to treat an ally? >> reporter: i don't know -- certainly publicly you're not

hearing -- we're not hearing that. i think -- i think one of the things that we are certainly hearing, president obama as he tries to sort of put forward what he said last week, this idea about the pre-1967 borders that obviously infuriated netanyahu. we've heard some reporting as he tried to kind of assuage some concerns of the prime minister and of israelis that maybe he did make some headway over the weekend with that. but certainly it doesn't, you know, doesn't escape notice that the relationship between president obama and the prime minister, that there isn't as great a rapport as there could be even though you have both countries family sizing what an important alliance that they have. certainly we know that some relations are frosty. no doubt this is a -- a tough spot for them right now. >> brianna, do we know if the president's even paying attention to this speech? is he watching or certainly administration officials keeping a close eye on what's happening

here? >> reporter: administration officials are definitely keeping a close eye. we don't know, we're trying to figure out if the president is going to be watching this speech. you know that he's paying very close attention. i think also something that strikes me as we're here and watching sort of news domestically revolving very much around the tornado damage in missouri and this speech that the prime minister is giving before congress, those are really the big stories that we're seeing domestically. and we know that president obama is juggling all of these things as he's on his second stop of four here. >> thank you very much. i want to toss to wolf. you have interviewed the israeli prime minister on several occasions. this can be a frosty relationship between the two leaders. sometimes there's a high, sometimes there's a low. this seems to be a tense moment between the two. >> i think it's fair to say the prime minister, based on what he said last night in his address and what he's probably going to say today, will try to paints over that and suggest that the

u.s.-israeli relationship remains strong, irrespective of democrats or republicans or whatever. because that -- that would be in does's best interests. i want to bring -- in israel's best interests. i want to bring in gloria borger. i think suzanne has a point. this has been a tent moment in u.s.-israeli relations. in a speech he did do publicly and official what he no other president had formally done, although it was a huge surprise that that's the -- that's the negotiating position. when he referred to the basis for negotiations, the pre-'67 lines with land swaps. >> it key phrase when you talk to people at the white house is mutually agreed land swaps. i think the problem for the israelis is that they believe that the obama formulation actually suggests an equal exchange of territory in a final deal. and that is, of course, something that they would not agree to. their question is why did the president say it now, and they

also believe that it contradicts a letter they got from president bush in 2004 which said that that would not be the case. that you would not go back to the 1967 borders as a starting point. so it was clear that when netanyahu spoke with the president that this was going to be a matter of some discussion. and it clearly was. what we saw essentially from netanyahu was a public rebuke, if you will, of barack obama when they had that availability with the press. clearly i think this has been defused a little bit. but we'll have to see what the prime minister says when he speaks to congress. >> i think it was defused by the president when he went before apac, the american israel public affairs committee, the lobbying organization on sunday. he basically said, well, here's what i meant to say when i used that controversial phrase.

>> right. the white house will say that in hisses his -- in his speech the president put the onus on the palestinians to rebuke hamas. he said to the prime minister, you know, i did that to the palestinians, too, and that is an important part of this. and we will always guarantee israel's security. >> gloria's going to be with with us for our coverage. the plo representative is here for our coverage, as well. we're obviously going to hear at length from the prime minister of israel. an important speech before a joint meeting of the u.s. congress, the house and the senate. we're moments away. >> all right. thanks. bottom line, it is difficult to imagine how the u.s. can even try to revive mideast negotiations. when president obama and prime minister netanyahu are deeply divided over the starting point on the road to peace talks. our senior international correspondent, matthew chan joins us live from jerusalem. you know, the key word i suppose is 1967 this year. last year the key word was

moratorium on sentiment -- i want to put up the map of what the president referred to when he talked about 1967. this is the land i suppose highlighted in dark green there that was captured by israel during the six-day war in 1967. includes the west bank, gaza, and east jerusalem. what was the reaction to 1967 in israel? >> reporter: well, the reaction, first of all, of the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, was very strong indeed. he made that fiery statement at the press conference saying that under no circumstances would israel go back to what he called indefensible borders in 1967. of course that's not what president obama said. he clarified at the speech to the pro-israeli lobby, apac in washington, a few days later, saying that he was talking about going back to the '67 borders, but with mutually agreed land swaps. and of course, that's inevitable because what we're talking about

in the pre--'67 borders is the state of israel, the territory they captured in 1967 are going to be the future borders of a two-state solution including israel and an independent palestinian state. so once president obama made the clarification, perhaps, of course, the -- the israelis wanted to defuse the situation, as well. the criticism of washington and of president obama was toned down significantly both in israeli general and from the israeli prime minister's office, as well. >> right, the fewly agree -- mutually agreed land swap part seems to be left out more often than not the past 48 hours. let's talk about the arab spring. all around we see egypt's revolution, the uprise month syria. we see -- among syria. we see uncertainty recent israel. what is israel's reaction to the majorly transformative period now in the arab world around it? >> reporter: obviously, israel's got more at stake in this than

most other countries in the world. these are the neighbors that it has very bad relations with at times. so it often is looking at these events, these very transformative events, as you say, in the region with a great deal of concern. i think it's important to remember that israel often sees the region through the prism of stability. what it's been used to over the past several decades, since its foundation perhaps, since the peace agreements with egypt, for instance, is a peace deal with hosni mubarak, with the jordanians, notes isly a good one -- which is not necessarily a good one. and it watches transformative changes, the strategic shifts with concern finish the reason it doesn't know what will come next. will it be better for israel or could it be worse? >> matthew chance, thanks very much. as far as egypt is concerned, it's interesting how that relationship potentially is shifting with israel. so we're going to take a break. and when we come back --

>> we'll be noticing a major moment in u.s.-israeli relations. we are talking about israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu delivering a speech before the u.s. congress. set to begin at the top of the hour. [ male announcer ] in 2011, at&t is at work, building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible.

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