of -- >> picking on the national science foundation. it's good science. >> reporter: even if the media don't take it too seriously. >> look at this shrimp on the treadmill. i'm sorry, that's the worst intro i ever had. take a look at this shrimp on a treadmill. really? really, george? george, is this it? >> reporter: after a workout like this, even a shrimp needs a cocktail. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. from cnn center, this is "cnn saturday morning" i'm joe johns in for t.j. holmes. borrowing from your 401(k) to make ends meet. many americans are forced to do it, but two senators say, it's a bad idea. and they want to limit the practice. the story this hour. a government agency says thousands of swimming pools should not open this memorial day weekend. we'll tell you why.

and extreme couponing for a cause. find out how this man is sending care packages to military troops overseas without even coming close to breaking the bank. but, first, six days after a tornado ripped apart joplin, missouri, rescue crews are still trying to find everyone. we're expecting an update shortly from state officials. but as of right now, 156 people are unaccounted for and the death toll has reached 132. more than 1,000 people are hurt. the federal government has approved nearly $3 million in aid and president obama plans to meet with survivors in joplin tomorrow. all week we've been hearing extraordinary stories of survival, of strangers helping strangers and our paul vercammen is in joplin. hard to believe people made it through this, paul. >> wait till you hear this next

story in a second. a pharmacist over that rise. his pharmacy was absolutely leveled and we have some still pictures of that. what rants did during the storm to survive is amazing. he and five others, he's going to step in here live and tell us abouttop literally, you hung to the toilets. >> to the toilet. and we didn't have much time. i opened up the back door, saw a massive wall and knew that we were in real trouble and thought we could make it across the street to the basement at st. john's. unfortunately, that time wasn't there. the door flew out of my hands. i said, we didn't have enough time and we slid into the bathroom and we hung on to the toilet for dear life. the plumebing and, anyway, we survived that way. i'm glad the toilet held because i didn't think it was. >> the roof was torn off, just you, two perfect strangers and two employees hanging to the plumbing in the toilets. >> right, right. and we survived. so, i'm just hoping we can

rebuild from this disaster. i'm glad the president's coming. i want him to see, i think this devastation you can't, the videos just don't do it for you. and you just got to see it in person. so, hopefully, he can help us rebuild and we rebuild other things like iraq, afghanistan. let's hope we can rebuild this in our backyard. >> you also said that you leased this building and were starting to see these signs of red tape because of someone who leased. you don't have free reign to go ahead and you have to get the person involved who owns the property. what is that like? >> i waited for two hours in an office trying to get a loan to start rebuilding and they asked me if i wanted to rebuild. sure, i want to rebuild. i've been part of this community since the 1800s and when where talked to them about the loan, well, there's a lot of paperwork involved. once you get through all of that. you leased, you didn't own that

property. so, we can't really help you with that. and i said, well, i don't know what the existing property owners are going to do. i'm hoping, i may have to buy my own piece of property and put up my own building now to provide my own pharmacy for the community now. so, anyway, we're just trying to get it done the best we can. >> we hope you are successful in all of your efforts. 30 years in the pharmacy business here, another one of those just harrowing tales of survival and now the hard part. see figure he can rebuild right over that rise, joe. >> paul, thanks so much for that. just incredible reporting this morning. that's paul vircammen in joplin, missouri. more now on the president's visit in joplin. he's expected to arrive early tomorrow afternoon, just hours after returning from his european trip. he'll walk through some of the devastated neighborhoods and talk to survivors and then he'll speak at a memorial service for the victims. that is set for 3:00 eastern time. cnn will be there and we'll plan

to bring it to you live. here is how you can help the people of joplin. just logon to cnn.com/impact and check out our special page. it has all the tools you need to make a difference. so, what can you expect for your memorial day weekend plans. reynolds wolf, you've been looking at the weather and, of course, it depends on where you are. you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. >> there is a huge popery rpot conditions. isn't amazing the wonders of technology? >> i know. it happens every time. >> well, the weather is going to be on today. like this microphone. what i can tell you with this weather, a combination of rain in some places and heat in others and, actually, snowfall in some spots. aspen the resorts open today. let me show you something else

you're dealing with. chance of severe storms joe and i were talking about for a good part of the day. storms earlier in parts of missouri and back into kansas and they since calmed down a bit and later on as the heat begins to build, you might have more eri erupt. expect highs to vary and 70s in the northeast and 1101 in el paso. as we fast forward for the rest of the weekend, the northern half of the country, mainly some rainfall in the south, as you might imagine. humid and warm and hot for texas and kind of a mixed bag for you in california. i imagine the rain stay north of redding, california. conditions should be just fine for you. all right, loud and clear, back to you. >> great, thanks. >> you bet. she's been out of the spotlight for months, but sarah palin is now back in the headlines. we'll tell you what she's doing now that speculation is intensifying about a possible presidential bid. port them.

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sarah palin is back in the nationling spotlight. the former alaska governor is kicking off a multi-city bus tour tomorrow after keeping a low political profile for months' let's turn to cnn's deputy political director paul steinhauser who is live in washington. paul, let's start with sarah palin. do you think she is actually about to announce a bid or do you think it's somewhere down the road? >> this could be a signal.

at least she's considering running for the white house. joe, it gets her back in the spotlight. we haven't been talking about her lately. a bunch of signals lately. a week ago asked about running for the president. she said she still had fire in the belly. that was the first tipoff and then a propalin film led by a filmmaker start in iowa. we learned she rehired two political staffers and buying a house in arizona. joe, easier to campaign from a house than -- we'll go to new hampshire, another important state. let's be honest, up until now she hasn't done concrete in the early voting states. we have been talking about, fox news is not altering her contract right now. remember, they did alter the contracts and forced out gingrich and santorum, that may be a telling sign, as well, joe

that she may not run. >> who she hurts and who she helps as far as the people we know in the presidential race or the people who might get in. you have santorum, romney, where do these people fall? what will happen to them if she gets in the race? >> we were talking about this the other day. balkm bauchmann could be hurt. that could hurt bachmann and hurt herman cain. former godfather's pizza ceo and also popular with tea party voters. pawlenty, listen, iowa is crucial for him if he wants to win the nomination. if palin can jump in, she can take voters away from him in iowa and santorum, the former governor from pennsylvania. very important because of his stance on the issues but if palin runs, could hurt him. mitt romney may be considered

the early frontrunner and if she runs maybe it helps him because it clarifies the field, i guess. >> let's stay on romney now. his announcement, i guess, is just days away. when is that going to happen and what do you know about it? >> yeah, thursday. he's all declared but on thursday he will declare and where will he do it? it's telling. he does it in new hampshire, the state that holds the first primary. it's pretty obvious that he will concentrate on new hampshire in his bid and he needs to win in new hampshire, i think, if he wins the nomination. no surprise he will be announcing in new hampshire, joe. >> paul steinhauser in washington, d.c., thanks so much, paul. good talking to you. it's not your typical restaurant. it gives away its profits. we'll tell you why, coming up next. first, new legislation in congress will make it tougher for you to borrow money from yourself. is at work, building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity,

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times may be hard for many americans, but two senators don't want you to keep dipping into your 401(k). democratic senator herb cole and republican senator mike enzi have introduced legislation that will limit the loans you're allowed to take. earlier i asked clyde anderson why they're pushing this legislation. >> with social security having problems, they want to make sure we have some sort of retirement fund in place, even though, again, this is our own money. >> herb cole's rich. >> herb cole, definitely the

owner of the milwaukee bucks, a philanthropist. >> when do you think he tapped his 401(k)? >> that's where i'm having a problem. i have the bill in my hand and i have a problem because he may be out of touch with the reality of what middle class americans are going through right now. this is money that we've put aside for our own savings and now they want to limit it. people are using this money right now for foreclosures to avoid foreclosure and really just help make ends meet. >> who does this benefit? >> well, you know, they're saying again they want to protect the consumer. limit the amount of time that you can pull loans from this. some people may be in situation wheres they may have abused this and said, i need to do certain things to pay for certain things. as americans consume, but you have a lot of people who are in positions where they're being smart about what they're doing and this is money they have taken aside and put away and companies made money off of this 401(k), as well. you're talking about putting money aside that came out pretax dollars and a lot of times we

get caught up in the pretax. we go with the 401(k) and invest it. >> what i did here on the radio and in some other places, they were using the term 401(k) abuse. if you look at it on the other side, what is 401(k) abuse supposed to be? too many loans or taking money out and not paying it back or what? >> they're saying too many loans and, also, as a lot of people are taking these loans out, they're losing their jobs. what happens when you lose your job, usually you have several years to pay back this loan. but once you lose your job, you have 60 days to pay it back. a lot of people, almost 70% of the people that pay these loans are defaulting on these loans. it's becoming a problem because everybody is looking at it from that point. >> it's maybe not so much 401(k) abuse as it is 401(k) financial disaster. >> i think you may be right. i think there's time for a shift. this has been in place for a while. i think it's time for us to look at a different mechanism instead of the 401(k). i think it's outdated. >> i asked viewers to weigh in on the 401(k) plan and i got

some responses on, it was either my facebook or twitter page. judy says my two older kids had to dip into their 401(k) but they pay it out of their check. i see no problem with it. >> you mentioned, it's your money, it's a piggy bank. itsrapher my savings account. if i need to pull from it, i'll pull from it. >> sent me this one for the senators. no comment considering they have the golden parachute retirement that takes care of them and their families for the rest of their lives. there really is, you know, a pretty good deal on capitol hill when it comes to benefits, if you're working there, certainly working for a long time. >> i think we mentioned that. a little out of touch with reality maybe. >> catherine said this, it's been a life saver since credit dried up. there's another thing. the banks won't give you credit, but you can still borrow from yourself. >> again, you mentioned, i think this is why it was put in place. this is a mechanism to save me

if i need to. if the market crashed, you can get credit. i got this money put aside, why can't i tap into it to save my financial situation. i think we have to look at it that way. >> going now from borrowing from yourself to basically giving it away. this is a story that's sure to make you feel good inside. a restaurant owner in charlotte, north carolina, giving all his profits to programs that help the poor. tom foreman shows us how he's building up his community one meal at a time. >> reporter: in busy downtown charlotte, by lunchtime folks had built up an appetite so at the king's kitchen restaurant, that's when the real building begins. because chef jim noble's goal every day is to help his diners help their community. >> and i think everybody wants to help. they just don't know how. >> reporter: noble is one of the state's most renowned chefs and deeply religious, so he opened the king's kitchen a year and a

half ago as a nonprofit restaurant. the money made here goes to programs that feed the poor throughout the community. last year, $50,000. mindful of recessionary pit falls that could derail this effort, the chef started by raising enough donations to open without any loans. >> this is not the best time in the world to get in debt in a restaurant, you know. so, so we wanted to do this debt free. >> number five. and what does that say? >> reporter: the restaurant also offers job training for jobless people. folks such as philip lewis who joined the program more than two months ago when he heard about it at church. >> i got more than enough for you. faith, finances, everything i needed. this place has given me. it's a life-changing place. no matter where you are in your life and it brings something positive to it that wasn't there before. >> reporter: sure, this nonprofit restaurant competes with chef noble's for-profit

places but there is room for all. >> sometimes in life you have to make a distinction between success and significance. >> reporter: and for him, the significance lies in knowing every plate that goes out of the kitchen here means poor people are being fed all over town. tom foreman, cnn, charlotte, north carolina. as the vacation weaken, that's in two minutes. [ male announcer ] this is lara.

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holiday weekend so we thought it was a good time to talk vacation. some interesting facts. compared to the rest of the world, u.s. workers not only get fewer days off, they take fewer of the vacation days they're entitled to. in fact, only 38% of u.s. workers say they take all of their vacation days. according to an expedia.com survey, the average employed worker in the u.s. got 18 vacation days last year, but used only 14 of them and france workers got 37 days of vacation and used just about all of them. 35 days. in great britain, workers received 28 vacation days and used 25. if you're planning to use some of your vacation at the beach this summer, you will want

to stick around. coming up, tech expert kenny lennondol will share great beach gadgets you want to take along. memorial day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, you know what that means, pool time' before you jump in, you'll have to hear this. a new warning from the federal government. thousands of america's pools are not safe to swim. allisison kosik tells us why. >> hi, joe. it's the kind of news no one wants to hear on a holiday weekend, but the government is advising thousands of public swimming pools not to open this weekend because of a massive recall. one million pool drain covers were recalled a few days ago. pool drains have up to 500 pounds of vacuum force and that's why they need these drain covers so that swimmers don't get trapped under water by that suction. it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it really can be. the product consumer safety commission says it caused a dozen deaths between 1999 and

2010. some of the recall drain covers weren't rated correctly so they may not protect you. kids are most at risk, which is why the cspc are urging kiddy pools and wading pools to respond quickly. inground spas are also at risk. they have to be replaced or retrofitted and it could be an issue if you have a pool in your backyard, too. if you are a private pool owner, you can get more information at 866-478-3521. the faulty covers were sold between 2008 and april of this year. joe, hopefully everyone will have a safe holiday weekend. back to you. >> alison kosik in new york. a bit of welcome weleaf to the millions of americans traveling this holiday weekend. gas prices are, actually, believe it or not, dropping. aaa says the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.81 a gallon. that's down 15 days straight.

but let's not kid ourselves, that's still up almost a dollar more than last year. just ahead, time could be running out for libyan leader moammar gadhafi. another round of nato strikes hit his compound today and now another powerful country is calling for him to step down. what's so special about web browsing on the new blackberry playbook? ♪lash! ah ahh...

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checking our top stories. where explosions rocked libya's capital city today. an official said one of the blasts hit a compound in tripoli. nato confirmed it bombed a vehicle storage area and a second strike nearby. meantime, russia's joined the call for gadhafi to step down offering to negotiate his exit. in yemen, more explosions today amid rising fears that nation could tip into civil war. today's blast happened in the capital city between anti-regime tribesmen and forces loyaled to embattled, the u.s. state department is urging private citizens to leave that country. for a sixth straight day, rescuers are searching what's left of homes and businesses in joplin, missouri.

at least 132 people confirmed dead. officials also say 156 people have not been heard from since the tornado slammed into the city sunday. president obama heads to jopl joplin tomorrow to tour the disaster zone and attend a memorial service. today he wrapped up a six-day european trip with meetings in poland. president obama called poland one of america's strongest allies. he said the country's successful transformation to democracy makes it a valuable partner in addressing unrest rarnd the world. >> we discussed the issue of how jointly we can promote democracy. the session that i had this morning with democracy promotion experts, including many of the founders of solidarity who recently traveled to tunisia to share their advice and assistance is just a symbol of why poland is so important.

it has gone through what many countries want to now go through and has done so successfully. >> the president left for the u.s. about an hour and a half ago and is due back in washington tonight. up close and terrifying. it's one thing to see the fiercem power of a tornado from a distance, but some trying to get the closest view possible. they're storm chasers, experts who spent the week trailing twisters state to state as they tore across the midwest. >> it's coming! the power lines right here. >> we're good. >> let's get up there.

>> it's getting big, big, big. i got it all on video. i got it all on video. sounds like a waterfall. wedge tornado. >> it is on the outskirts of the western edge of waverly. it is in a more populated area. >> oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. there it is. there it is. oh, gosh. that is a monitor tornado.

>> it's crossing the road. >> oh, my god. back up. oh, no. stop. oh, no . slow down. >> very large tornado. >> power flash. hopefully they will get everybody out of there and safe. >> the motion is tremendous. david payne, are you still with us? >> another killer tornado. it might go across highway 81

and almost got us. it intensified right on top of us. it is amazing. >> this is a violent tornado. see how it is carving out a v-shape debris cloud. we'll let this roll. this is live for a 20, 25 minutes. we showed that to you a short wile ago. watch this as it comes into goldsby. folks were watching and they were in their safe spot. because homes are obliterated. >> right there. right there. you got it. we got a funnel. >> tornado on the ground. >> reynolds wolf is here right now and you lock at this stuff, it's terrifying.

you know, people's property's gone, people have been hurt, people have been killed. 500 people this year, probably the worst year since 1953. >> easily. easi easily. >> so, why? that's the question. why? >> we're in a very active pattern for one and another thing that we have that works against us is that we have not been forecasting these using doppler radar for a very long time. we have only been using it for an eyelash of an amount of time and long before we have been keeping track of these, there's no telling how many storms we might have had. no question, it is very active. you brought up a point today saying why are we seeing so many of these? you answered your own question. technology is so incredible. anyone can have a cell phone with the technology and basically record it. document these things and we're seeing tons of them. certainly a very active season. let's show you the reason why, joe. all begins with two entirely different air masses and humid and warm air right on the gulf coast. that's a no brainer.

northern plains, big sky country and you know that it is very cold. the problems begin when you have these two air masses that contrast. when they do and they conflict, what do you have? you have a frontal boundary that lines up between the two air masses. when it happens, that's where things are going to be very unstable. another huge factor has been a stronger than normal jet stream. trough out towards the west and a ridge in the east. when you have a jet stream that is going to enhance lift and you have to have plenty of lift. that boundary has shifted. not in parts of the central plains and the u.s., but also in portions of alabama into the carolina and georgia and tennessee. we've seen this fluctuate a little bit. not just tornadoes alone. all kinds of things that have happened over the last several days and weeks. of course, the colder air out to the northwest and we've had an incredible spring snow pack with that in the mountains. we have some places where the snow, especially in spots like

yellowstone national park, roads are still blocked and more than 20 feet of snow. historic drought and then on top of it, of course, the tornadoes and historic flooding that we are dealing with in parts of louisiana and mississippi as we speak. back to you, joe. >> great, thanks so much, reynolds. >> you bet. one man has taken coupon clipping to a whole new level. he's not only trimming his grocery bill, he is helping u.s. troops serving overseas, as well. what you can learn from him, next. y. like this one. and this one. and oops, my bad. so, they give expedia ginormous discounts with these: unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. my brain didn't even break a sweat. where you book matters. expedia. yoo-hoo. hello.

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many of you are probably gathering your coupons for a trip to the grocery store, but you probably don't go nearly as far as nathan ingles. he's foechered on the show "extreme couponing." he is not only saving himself tons of money, but his coupon clipping also benefits u.s. troops serving overseas. i talked to him about how he discovered extreme coupeening. >> i started it because my wife and i got married and we combined our finances and i tell you, we were drowning in debt. we had so much debt and it was just incredible. we started setting a grocery budget. i realized, i had to stretch my money. i naturally turned to coupons to do that. we buy a lot of stuff. as you can see on tlc's "extreme couponing." we can give it away. we're empowered to give through

that. that is one of the great things about it. a lot of people when they see the show, they have so much stuff in their garage. they don't understand why we stockpile and we tell people, why would you pay for something now if it it free or cheap today. buy a couple extra so you can give it away. that's the cool thing. what we're doing is empowered to give to organizations like operation troop aid and this week there are wipes that are free at major grocery stores and that's a highly requested item that troops in afghanistan request. i wouldn't be able to buy 300 or $400 worth if i didn't have coupons. >> so, just give me an idea how many boxes of stuff you have in your house right now. >> i do have a lot. if you watch the show, you can see my stockpile. and it's a pretty impressive -- it impresses me sometimes. but what our stockpile is really designed to prevent me from spending $200 or $300 at the

store. right now i think i have 20 or 30 tubes of toothpaste and 50 boxes of cereal and about 300 or 400 cans of vegetables and soup. but those things are great. they have a great shelf life and i don't have to buy them when they're expensive at the store. >> you're an extreme example. is there any way the average shopper can do this. use coupons to donate stuff to troops? >> sure. you know, you can get on our website and that's a great place where you can learn how to do this. it's really simple for the average shopper. doesn't take too much time if you know what you're doing. we liken this a lot to chess. you have to learn how to play the game. if you learn how to play the coupon game, you'll play it well. you sort of have to learn the rules. websites like ours are great ways to empower you to learn. we provide you with lists and coupon matchups that will make the time that you spend doing this a lot quicker. >> i also read that you sort of dumpster dived for coupons. how does that work? >> yeah, i dumpster dive for coupons because who wants to try

to actually spend money for them. if you buy the newspaper and you buy a lot of newspapers like a lot of couponers do you spend $20 or $30. that can be counterintuitive. we stress different ways, creative ways and sometimes you can go to like a cafe and see if anybody has purchased a paper and discarded it. you can go to a dumpster and pick out the sunday newspapers that have coupons in them. there are a lots of different ways you can get coupons for cheaply. after months of review, the criminal investigation into former presidential candidate john edwards may be about to come to an end. we'll fill you in, coming up next. what's this option? that's new. personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke.

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there could be a major development in the case involving former presidential candidate senator john edwards. the former senator sources tell cnn edwards could be indicted in the next couple weeks or perhaps there could be a deal. it's all because of an affair he had that essentially ended his political career. john edwards the politician, remember him? >> we have much work to do because the truth is, we still live in a country where there are two different americas.

>> reporter: but as it turned out, mr. two americas here had two very different faces himself. one of them wasn't very pretty. people close to him said it was the face of betrayal. betrayal of the people closest to him. his late wife elizabeth, his supporters, his staffers, his contributors. granted edwards was a promising politician at first, successful democratic senator from the south. rich trial lawyer, but a smo smokesmsmok spokesman for the poor. he got picked up as john kerry's running mate in 2004. >> i have chosen a man who understands and defends the values of america. >> reporter: but it didn't work out, so, next election cycle edwards jumped into the race for the white house, once again. by early 2008 -- >> it's time for me to step aside. >> reporter: he was out. but not before getting entangled in a messy relationship with a woman named rielle hunter.

she eventually gave birth to edwards' child. edwards at first denied having the affair and then denied being the father. but last year he finally admitted it. the story reached a sleazy low point when a videotape surfaced that is reported to show edwards and hunter having sex. the tape wound up in the hands of former edwards staffer andrew young, who turned it over to a court after rielle hunter filed a lawsuit. it took eight months before edwards' wife, elizabeth, learned the extent of the affair. before she died last year, she went public with her feelings in a book and numerous tv appearances. >> maybe it was that 30-year investment that i had in my marriage. maybe i could not separate the flawed man before me from the boy i fell in love with in 1975. it does not matter now. >> reporter: the death of elizabeth edwards might have been the end of the story, except for the fact that there has yet to be a full public accounting. edwards raised $49.3 million in

his bid for the white house. where some of it came from and where it went has been carefully scrutinized. rielle hunter worked for the campaign and got paid as a videoographer. questions raised whether any of the donations may have been used >> this was john edwards' idea from the beginning. >> which brings us back to the golden boy, a once rising politician with so much promise. something like this could never have been part of the plan. long-running days there. nuri al maliki continrm "newsroom" continuing at the top of the hour with fredricka whitfield. >> we've got our legal guys who are going to begin with us. they're going to be talking

about that edwards case and what could be expected. will be there charges? and then "hangover ii," that starts this weekend. did you see the first one? >> i did. mike tyson, the tiger, the baby. >> speaking of mike tyson, that signature tattoo, the creator of that tattoo is raising a big stink in this "hangover ii," this movie also didn't come out this weekend as a result of that copyright issue. we're going to delve into that. 2:00 eastern time, the dolans, financial experts that they are, are going to be with us to talk about how you can try to avoid being hacked. that's a big problem that seems to be growing these days. >> huge. and they'll take just a penny from everybody who has a bank account at a bank or something and get rich. >> and all of a sudden they have millions. also, national parks, it's memorial day weekend. this is a big one for going to

national parks. yellowstone is closed. we'll explain why. weather being a big part of that. and then, how do you like to drive? fast, slow? >> well, it just gendepends. >> this is a big nascar and indy weekend. charlotte motor speedway, indy 500. guess what? this week i got a chance to be in a nascar race car. i was a passenger in the car. this young man is in the driver's seat. i'm the passenger. loved it. 170 miles per hour. >> the need for speed. >> it was incredible. so next month, face to face, you are going to meet these drivers. we sit down and we talked at

charlotte motor speedway. and at the hall of fame, the nascar hall of fame in charlotte, we talked about everything from what it takes to be a nascar driver -- >> i heard you could go to like camp and actually -- they'd let you drive around the track -- >> yes. the richard petty nascar driving experience allows you to drive an actual race car. >> that's amazing. >> oh, it's amazing. so you have to look forward to that. i had a blast this week. and i look forward to getting the reaction of everybody else to hear face to face from these drivers of what it is to be a nascar driver. >> thanks, fred. >> thanks, joe. memorial day marks the official start of the summer vacation season. and if you aren't sure where to go yet, how about a trip to the beach? professor steven letterman of florida international university is popularly known as q. democrat beach." he scours the country for america's best beaches every

year and here are this year's picks. coming in at number five, cape hatteras, north carolina. i'd buy that. main beach in east hampton, new york, is fourth. number 3 is kahanamoku in hawaii. and we're also going to come to you next with the two top beaches in the country. i'll tell you right after the break. [ male announcer ] montgomery and abigail haggins had a tree that bore the most rare and magical fruit, which provided for their every financial need. [ thunder rumbling ] [ thunder crashing ]

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before the break, we began counting down america's best beached as listed by "dr. beach." coming in at number 2, coronado beach in san diego. and the best beach in america -- we don't have a drum roll -- siesta beach in sarasota, florida. there you go. some hotels are sewing small washable microchips into towels, sheets and bathrobes so if you accidentally, quote, unquote, walk off with one, you're charged for it. material a tech expert gave me the lowdown on these microchips as well as the 411 on gadgets you may want to travel with this summer. >> if you walk off with that luxurious bathrobe or bath towel, chances are hotels are imbedding an rfd tag right inside there.

it will track that you have taken it. you might be saying, that's kind of cheap on the hotel's part, right? get this. one of those towels can cost around $8 to $9 apiece. and one hotel that's implemented this tracking technology has actually went from 4,000 towels that were taken a month down to 750, saving them $16,000. so that's a lot of money when we talk about linens that people are walking off with. so think twice because you might be being tracked. >> yeah. that's pretty interesting stuff. but once they start keeping all their towels, i wonder if they're going to bring down the hotel rates. another story. now, a lot of people hitting the road, heading to the beach this holiday season. let's talk about some of the gadgets that you shouldn't leave home without. >> yes. so we have some must-have memorial gadgets. this is underwear scuba and snorkle goggles.

these take high-def video and 5 megapixel stills. you can go ahead and then save and store these and share them with friends. but it's awesome to be under the water taking high-def video, really kicks it up a notch. >> i love that. do you hold a thing to snap the picture in your hand or do you have to push the button? do you know? >> yeah, i'll show you this one. there's a shutter button right here. with that l.e.d., you take the picture, it will tell you that you're taking a picture. >> what else have you got there? >> so i have a bunch of stuff. here's the rocket. this looks like a little pill capsule, right? this is actually a speaker. this was really on shark tank and it just kind of exploded. the rocket is actually a speaker. you pop this into