sit in tubs. but china tried this method this week. it's launching hundreds of missiles into the skies to try to make it rain. it's called seed where they sin certificate silver iodine into the clouds to make it work i'd go out on a limb and say those traditional methods are a little safer even if they're less effective. the correct answer to our challenge was "c," m raharmite. it's in danger of being banned because of its viet mince. i'll see you next week.

you're in the "cnn newsroom." this is sunday, may 29th on this memorial day weekend. i'm fredericka whitfield. one week ago a tornado pack 2g 00 mifrp winds ripped through the city leaving at least 142 people dead and hundreds more hurt. >> numbers continue to rise. this isn't about a scoreboard. those numbers have far exceeded what never had ever hoped for and far exceed all the tornados in our country. today we bring everyone together go focus on it and inspire others to come together as the they have here. >> we'll hear from both the president and the govern right

here on cnn. lockheed martin says hackers who attacked their system did not get anything important. it's one of several military vendors that hackers targeted. the aerospace security team took countermeasures to protect information from being compromised. >> back in joplin, our white house dan lothian is also there. dan, with so much destruction, where do they find a building large enough to actually accommodate everyone, including president and security detail? >> reporter: that is such a good question. they found it here on the campus of missouri, southern state university. as you pointed out, people have been lining up. this line that you're seeing here, they're trickling up to the door. it's been lining around through campus to show up for this memorial service. we're told that the auditorium seats more than 2,000 people, but they've also made plans elsewhere on campus for overflow

room so that once this gets filled up and people can still get the memorial service piped in to other rooms here. as you pointed out, president obama coming here. his message will be specifically to the people of joplin and then to the people of missouri. the federal government is here to assist in any way possible to help with recovery. i'll tell you the scene here is gripping. we're told by white house press secretary jay carney that the president did get a chance to look out the window of air force one as he was landing here on this very windy day and saw the devastation. i drove around and i can tell you that the ta devastation is still very gripping, even though it's more than a week since the tornado devastated the area. people here, though, seem to be quite upbeat despite this devastation as we were driving in. we saw thousands of protesters if you will, counterprotesters, because there's been negative

protests taking place around this campus, and so people have been sort of standing up for this community saying that this community will recover, that god is with this community, a lot of positive signs that we're seeing people wave around the campus. president obama will shortly be taking a tour with state and local o officials and coming here to take part in the memorial service. we're told his remarks will last about ten minutes, fredricka. >> as he surveys the area, he'll see the results himself. is he also getting some personal time with in of those who are still grieving. over 100 have died in this town. >> reporter: that's right. the prot president will speak with those who survived the devastating tornado. this is the third time we've seen the president do something like this this money alone. you might remember it was a

month ago when the president went to tuscaloosa to meet with residented and survey the damage that killed more than 40 people. earlier in the month he was in memphis, tennessee, to do some touring there and also speak with residents who were impacted by major flooding. so, yes, the president will get some personal moments to meet with those who have been impacted but also during his remarks, we're told that the priority for the seating was for the victims. it's opened in general for the publ public. they'll get a chance to hear from the president as well. >> thank you so much. we'll be carrying the president's remarks in its entirety as it happens live. meantime the national weather service said the tornado that ripped through joplin cut a six-mile swaukt of destruction. but some say it was much longer than that. they track it from beginning to end to see who might be right. >> reporter: we're now about three miles into our journey and

you can see behind me by the time the tornado got here, it destroyed almost everything in its path including st. john's hospital. >> you can see the final outcome in casey's full report about a half hour away, 25 minutes from now. you can watch the joplin community memorial service in the next hour. it's coming here live in a special report at 3:00 eastern time. turning now to memorial day events around the country. in san bruno, california, thousands of girl scouts and boy scouts gathered at the golden state cemetery to honk fallen war heroes. they placed flags on more than 100,000 grave sites there. their flag draped coffins arrived at dover air force base this memorial day weekend.

organizers of a memorial day event in washington hope to raise awareness of pow gs as an mias. this is an annual ride. what makes this year's unique? >> reporter: well, fred, i can tell you that the numbers keep growing from year to year and as you mention this is the 24th annual ride for freedom event. as you mention, thousands of bikers from across the country have gathered here at the national mall to pay tribute to the veterans as well as pows and mias. i can tell you one person who spoke road a vest pa all the way over here, taking ten days, stopping every 150 miles or so to make it to this event this year secretary robert gates and

admiral mike mullen will be addressing the crowd here. the crowd going on behind me. speaking. a lot of people gathering to hear their message. fredricka? >> many times it sounds like many of those who have their roots in the military are there and then this year we see some potential candidates on the national platform. that of sarah palin who's also there. give us an idea how she and others might be participating. >> well, fred, i can tell you that the former alaska governor and possible presidential contender is here. she road in with the group on the back of a motorcycle. we asked her about this, if she's politicizing the event. >> i'm here to support our vets.

we're making sure americans don't forget it's our vets we owe our lives to. i'm an american. i have no title. no office. to be an american to be out here free to assemble and thank our veterans, i can't tell you how honored i am. >> what about the bus tour. >> the bus tour is to get out there and remind americans about our foundation and the historical sites that should be a reminder every day to every american about how important it is to stand strong on our foundation and build upon it. it's what made this the greatest country on earth. >> now, rolling thunder as a group says it's non-political, nonpartisan and it would welcome

any american regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum. fred? >> thank you very much. it has been one month since the u.s. raid on osama bin laden's compound. that's good, right? good job. years ago, my mother taught me. and over the years, i've taught my family. we've created so much here together. so when my doctor said that over those years my high cholesterol was contributing to plaque buildup in my arteries, i listened.

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we can talk about the nasty weather. now a week later we've got

severe weather happening in another region. jackqui jeras. >> we're watching the chicago area. nasty thunderstorms off to your west. this is a severe thunderstorm warning for you here in cook county. you can see all of the lightning and heavy downpours. in fact, these storms have been putting down between 1 to 2 inches per hour and flash flooding. we also have a tornado warning including you in can keke. storm spotters have not seen it but you need to treat it like a tornado. get away from doors and windows. here's a picture of downtown chicago. you can see the rain coming down. very dark skies. 60 degrees is your temperature and those thunderstorms are probably 15 to 30 minutes at most off to your west. we do have a watch which is in effect at the time. this is a severe thunderstorm watch but once in a while we get isolated tornadoes under these types of conditions. you can see new tornado watching

from northern indiana, into parts of ohio and into michigan that includes the detroit area. if you live in chicago or visiting there, fredricka, you need to stay indoors instied a sturdy building. >> we're going to check back with you within the hour and thought the toochb see what the developments are. jacq jacqui, appreciate that. we're hearing about heavy fighting. it's in the city of zingibar off the coast of yemen. now yesterday the government and a main opposition group failed to reach a cease-fire agreement. a new discovery inside egypt's great pyramid. take a look at that. a tiny remote camera has

revealed these red hieroglyphic markings. they say they were made by the original masons more than 4,500 years ago. and for the first time in two years, manuel is bazala is back in honduras. >> al qaeda leader osama bin laden was hiding. now, a month after his death, details about the place, still hard if not impossible to come by. cnn's stand grant found that out for himself. take a look. >> reporter: one month after killing osama bin laden has not won us too many friends here. he has more sympathy for the al qaeda leader than us, calling us

pigs. are muslims terrorists everywhere? actually america is the biggest terrorist. others, though, are friendlier. these children have a story to tell. they say there were two boys, one girl, 7, 4, and 3 years old. zara relives the games he played with them. contradicting reports that no outsiders breached the bin land security. he said he actually played inside the compound it getting a close look at his secret world. despite the neighbors, the brother and sister didn't know their children's names, they said their father was the family courier they called medine. only now do they know who the playmates were. >> my grandmother asked who is your father. she said they said medine.

he always said mdine. >> rather than speaking the local language, they were a normal family, friendly children said. they never saw osama bin laden. he remained well hidden. they did meet the bin laden wives. >> translator: there were two standing in the house. they asked me how was i, where did i live, what did my mother do. i told them my mother was a housewife. they wore ordinary pakistani clothes. he said he noticed the women were different than other mothers in the area. they probably were arabic. the children were different too. even in this muslim community they were especially devout. they were very religious zara

says. whenever i went there to play they asked me to wait till afternoon prayer and then they had evening prayers. he shows us rabbits, a gift from the bin laden family. if anything, she says, they miss ore friends. they were young and beautiful. they were the only two that were playful. o osama bin laden lived right next door and no one knew. they lived this way for years. a city in the mountains two hours drive from his capital. now the area is in lockdown. in recent days it's been open to the cia to complete material and information but no such access for us. as we tried to get close, this is what happens.

the police say they're instructed to smash our cameras. we get them back. here life continues as normal. beyond here, 200 meters or so away is the house. so many. we're finished. thank you very much. stan grant, cnn, pakistan. >> back here we're about 45 minutes from the joplin community service. president of the united states and other dignitaries will be speaking and we'll brick that to you live in a special report. and then next, a churches faith doesn't waver in the aftermath of the storm. we have this story next.

is john edwards about to be indicted for misuse of campaign money to cover up an affair. i put that to our legal guy. >> think there's little doubt that the justice department is going to indict john edwards but they're going to have to prove the case. the bottom line on it is his big don donor, buddy mellon, gave him $400,000, much of which was applied to hunter. john edwards went there

yesterday and the only witness left to discredit it, andrew young, former campaign aide. >> but about that money, prosecutors are going to have to prove if there was money transferred to ray yell hunter, it's going to be difficult, is it not? >> i don't thing it's going be difficult, fred. they had interviews with the government saying he used the money for a cover-up to cover up his relationship with her. the issue is violation of public trust. they another going to put up with that. he raised money from campaign donations and if they applied any of that money to cover up his relationship, that's improper. that's what they will indict for. i guarantee you john edwards' hair is all messed up these days

and he is absolutely sweating this one out. >> and, of course, you can watch our "legal guys" every saturday beginning noon eastern time. in tornado-ravaged joplin, missouri, they're getting lost. the cross off the badly damaged st. mary's catholic church. jacqui jeras spoke with the priest who survived the storm in the church's bathtub. >> this is the building you were in rjt yes. >> reporter: there's #almost nothing left. he survived the tornado by seeking haven in what he has always heard was the safest place, the bathtub. >> i got in the bathtub face down tried to cover my head. i heard this noise and i thought, oh, what is happening.

i lie there, i just prayed, thy will be done, and i decided to wait till the end of the noise and then i opened that door and everything was blocking. it was all covered there. >> he waited there, trapped for nearly an hour before his parishioners managed to find him. >> i hollered at the top of my voice because there was water dripping. i said where are you. i pulled a board like one of those, i pulled it off and put it in the air. >>. >> reporter: amazingly he was uninjured and said god got him through the storm. >> reporter: what was going on through your mind? you said you were praying? >> i was. i was praying, i said, you know, god, if this is meant to be, i said, i love you. >> reporter: the parishioners who have shown up to help are always leaning heavily on faith.

>> sometimes you think it happens to bring people closer together. >> reporter: well there's knoll nothing left of the church the metal cross standing tall. >> i saw the cross yesterday passing through. i said how powerful and it gives us hope that god is still with us. >> reporter: father monaghan says joplin is a faith-based community but many still ask why they've been burdened with such a tragedy. >> got allows things to happen, we don't know why. but when we look back, we always hear the good things that happened as a result. >> and jacqui jeras with me now. so many people were worried about father monaghan because they didn't know where he was. >> reporter: he was in there for about 50 minutes before the first people were there to help him out of the rubble and we were there the day after the tornado and parishioners would come up, running in tears, giving him hugs.

he was a huge part of that church because they didn't know if he was oklahoma. the communication is still spotty in the area. >> this area, even though it was hit by this incredible ef-5, they had been through a terrible ride before. >> yeah. back in the late '80s apparently the church was hit by the tornado. quite a bit of damage on the front of the church but the metal crosses with still standing. it's been standing since the 1940s. >> how incredible. how resilient, as are so many of the survivors. >> of course, you know, this afternoon a memorial service taking place in joplin. the joplin community memorial service right here in the next hour. we'll cover it for you live. the president of the united states on the grounds of joplin, missouri. he'll offer his words of comfort for that community devastated by the tornado one week ago today. building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites...

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a look at our top stories. president obama is touring the destruction in joplin, missouri, right now. next hour he'll speak at a community memorial service, which you will see live right here on cnn. missouri's governor has declared this a day of prayer and remembrance. >> we want to continue to feel the people of this country continuing to reach to us and give those contributions to our various charities. that's been tremendously helpful. we're going to need their will

to rebuild here. we're going to need the assistance of everybody to get this site cleaned off, rebuilt and rebirthed. we've been working with all of the folks. the bottom line is -- the most important thing today is the refocus on our resolve, calling on the higher power to have the strength to go through what's going to be many months of rebuilding here in joplin, missouri. and a mud slide has left a gaping hole in a neighborhood just outside of st. louis. take a look. it gave way. the hole opened up about 100 feet wide and 100 feet deep. that is huge there. the fire chief in alton, illinois, suspects an old mining tunnel collapsed. but miraculously, no one was hurt. one of the largest aerospace companies says hackers did not get any sensitive information. lockheed martin is one of the contractors that hackers targeted last week. they say their security team

detected the cyber attack and quickly took countermeasures. the fda's food pyramid is about to undergo a makeover because it's confuse. the new one will be unveiled. in new design shows at least half a plate filled with fruits and vegetables and should be easier for people to understand. and this is an scam example of what not to do while trying to catch a foul ball. take a look. don't drop your daughter. the dad said he was trying to get a player's attention to throw him the ball. you can see right there where the ball comes in. he decides the drop the ball for the girl. he still didn't catch the ball. hopefully his daughter forgives

him. just days before marilyn monroe would have turned 85, we're seeing never before published pictures of the icon. he spent $2 for negatives. signed he found unpublished photos of monroe taken before she actually hit it big. it is unknown exactly how much the pictures are worth. and this is what's left of a chemical plant in caldwell county, carolina. something caused an explosion there yesterday. the emergency officials ordered everyone within a two-mile radius to evacuate until they determine whether it's safe. and on to join lynn, missouri, there is a dispute today over how long last week's deadly tornado stayed on the ground. the national weather service says it cut a six-mile swath

across joplin but locals say it was on the ground much longer than that. tra casey wian shows us the path from beginning to end. >> show us. >> the trees through here and the stuff over here, the trailer and the business here. >> reporter: so this is ground zero of the joplin tornado and we're going to drive its entile length from west to east to get a picture of how widespread the damage was. here's the first downed power line. major electrical transmission lines. one reason much of joplin is without power. less than a mile into our journeys, you see the first homes that lost parts of their roof. you can see on this, a sign, looters will be shot. power company crews were working on. repairing is down. electrical lines. that will be vital to this

area's recovery. we're now about three miles into this journey. you can see behind me that by the time the tornado got here, it destroyed almost everything in its path including one of the iconic images of the disaster, st. john's hospital. four miles into the path, this is where we first came. we spoke with the family who was trying to salvage what they could despite a driving rain and hailstorm. >> it start off with hail. i'm used to that. it went insane after that. >> here's the collapsed home depot where we met this 17-year-old who's desperately searching for her father. >> my dad and my uncle are in there. i'm hoping and praying to god they're oklahoma. >> turns out they were buried in that rubble. so we're now seven miles to the east of where the tornado first touched down. as you can see, there's still lots of damage here. original estimates of six miles on the ground is way too

conservative. this is where jim and stacy lived. she survived by hanging on to two dog crates. >> that was awful. lying there screaming and screaming and screaming. it was horrible. >> this week they got their insurance settlement so they can rebuild. >> how far east did it go? >> imeat not sure. i know there's damage on the next section. >> we're now almost exactly 12 miles due east of where we started the journey and where the tornado first touched down. this is the area where locals say the tornado actually lifted a tough ground. its path is about twice as long as first estimated. so to put it another way from where i'm standing, the path of destruction stretches three miles behind our camera and nine miles that way to the east. it's absolutely unbelievable. four hours from now the city of joplin will be hosting a moment of silence and that's at the

exact moment one week later when the tornado first struck this city. >> casey, oftentimes after tornadoes, devastation like this, you don't have electricity. you don't have fresh water to drain. the few people who are there, trying to pick up the remnants, maybe the homes were destroyed, damaged. what kind of utilities do they have? how were they able to kind of get by? >> well, a lot of folks are not able to live in their damaged homes and have left and are staying outside of joplin with friends and family. but there was some good news for some of the folks. yesterday the water company lifted its boil order for water. in restaurants, home tss here you weren't supposed to drink the water. they couldn't determine it was safe because of the destruction that it caused. they tested it yesterday. they determined that it's safe. residented here no longer have to drink bottled water. a minor inconvenience but going

into the restaurant they couldn't get soft drinks because they were in a can. that's one little aspect of life beginning to get back to normal. >> casey wayans, thanks so much. of course that joplin community memorial service takes place just moments from now. you'll watch it live from joplin at the top of the hour. our special news coverage begins. all right. and then straight out of the movies, spy gamts, sunglasses, watches that you can actually track your whereabouts. who is that masked man there? he's going to feel a little get matter, a little mission impossible. we'll reveal who that is right after this. ♪ ♪

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this pen, it's a class 4 grenade. three clicks arms the four-second fuse, another three disarms it. >> how long did you say the fuse was? >> these pierce. you look good. >> third quarter you. >> what have dwrou have? we're going begin with those sunglasses that are actually multi-functional. aren't they. >> that's right. uv and av protection from the sun but they have a hidden high def anything camcorder right in the middle there.

there's a pinhole camera, sony camera that records high def video at 720 frames progressive video or 30 frames per second and it can also take 12 mega pixel stills. it's called the z-shades from z-tron z-tronics. they run around $300. when you've captured it, you put the card into the computer. pretty stylish and stealthy at the same time. >> it sure is. oh, my goodness. now, the gps, my car, your car, everybody's car, well, apparently you have a new spin on that, one that fits in your pocket? >> that's right. it's called the world tracker. it's like the size of a pack of tick taks but it can track a

person's movement if you slip it in their purse or car. again with all these gants i do want to second quarter of course, use this responsibly but this is what the real private eyes use. if you want to track someone's movements. it uses gps, cellular connectivity and sensor motion. once you do, that you can see a real 3-d map using google maps or bing or virtual earth like this and you can follow along their movements in realtime or ten seconds behind in realtime. so this starts at 1:50 a year. you can go to tracking the world.com. i want you to exercise some responsibility when you're playing around with this kind of stuff. >> absolutely. with all this stuff too. the next gadget is a watch that does more than tell time.

i'm feeling a little get smart kind of moment here. >> yeah. my kids love this one. this is from the folks at think geek.com. it's called the usb hidden flash drive watch. it looks like a regular wristwatch and it tells time but in the wristband you find a hidden usb band. it will store thousands of documents you want to keep on your privately. people won't know it's there. once you need to access the private doults you got you pull down the black strap. plug it in and you've got access to those files. if you don't want to take it after your rift there's an adapter that coming off. it depose on one side to the computer. this will run you 4$49.99.

>> something for the kids, you may want to encourage it, but do we, to keep secrets actually? >> well, this is more of a toy, but it's great. ice from the folks at wild planet. it's called a spy gear trib wire. it lets you set up a visibler perimeter in your room. let's say you know your little brother is taking video games and you want to prove it. you point at each other. if you trip the wire it sets off a very loud alarm. let me see if i can set it off. it's pretty loud and you'll know for certain something's in your space. it's great little gadget. >> my sister would have loved that back in the day when she told me, you stay on that side

of the room. mark saltzman styling. you loot great. >> so do you, thanks, fredricka. >> for more information go to our website and look for the research tab. admiral mike mullen is speaking right now. we'll be back with more from the news room after this.

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welcome back to the newsroom, back from a six-day euro people tour president barack obama now on the ground in joplin, missouri. he's getting a first-hand look at the devastation after the ef-5 tornado swept through the area one week ago and he's getting a chance to talk to mr. biebers. the president of the united states will have remarks for the people there of joplin and he actually hi had some remarks right there while he was doing the tour. let's take a listen. >> red cross in helping people to respond, but obviously it is going to take years to build

back, and, you know, we mourn the loss of life. we're going to be going to the memorial service and try to help comfort the families and let them know we're praying for them and thinking about them. we had a chance to meet with some of the folks who lived in this community and just harrowing stories, but also miraculous stories. i met an 85-year-old gentleman who still has a lawn service who explained how he'd just gotten his chicken pot pie out and the storm started coming and he went into the closet and came out without a scratch. so there are good stories to tell and happy stories to tell here but obviously there's been a lot of hardship as well. the main thing i want to make clear to the people of joplin, this is not just your tragedy. this is a national tragedy, and that means there'll be a national response.

craig fugate, who's probably been the busiest man in the federal government over the last few months has been on the ground since the day after this happened. and he's helping coordinate with an outstanding team of state and local officials. we're going to do everything we can to continue whatever search & rescue remains. we're doing everything we can to make sure that folks get the shelter that they need, the support that they need, we're working with the governor to make sure we cut through any red tape that's necessary with respect to rebuilding here. and then we're going to have a tough long slough. but what i've been telling every family that i've about met here, is we're going to be here long after the cameras leave. we're not going to stop until joplin is fully back on its feet. so to all the volunteers who are helping out, one of the things that's been incredible is to see how many people from out of state have dprirch -- driven as

far away as texas, nearby as illinois. firefighters, ordinary sid extends. it's an example of what spirit is all about. that gives us a lot of encouragement at a time when obviously people are going through a lot of hardship. so thank you, again, governor. >> good work. >> you know, i've been here every day trying to work early to late, trying to back up local officials, trying to coordinate the federal response, trying to make sure that we move forward. today, you know, is a day of remembrance. as we move here to the memorial service not only of life and injury and property, it's significant. it's going take a higher power to keep the strength of this community resolved to get this done and we're confident this will happen. we're especially appreciative,

mr. president, that you're focusing your attention here to help us in ways that that will make a lasting difference. god bless you for that. >> thank you. >> one last point i want to make. obviously in the rebuilding, they're thankful but many of them have been displaced. many of them have lost their main means of transportation. their schools have been destroyed. so for all americans to take a little bit of time out to make a contribution to the american red cross or other charitable organizations that arive here in joplin. that can make an enormous difference. $5, $10, whatever you've got to spare. one of the things that's striking about this and i felt the same way when i was down in alabama. this could happen to anybody. the difference between you being in the path of this twister and a few blocks away you being okay

is a very slim margin and so we've all got to put together because here but for the grace of god go i, all right? thank you very much, everybody. president obama is in joplin, missouri, getting a look at the devastation one week after the ef-5 swept through. devastating that community for at least a six-mile stretch, taking the lives of more than 100 people. at the bottom of your screen, you're also seeing a little box there, a live picture of the joplin community memorial service that will be taking place. that starts at the top of the hour. the president of the united states after touring, after talking to survivors of that tornado will be making his way to that community service and he will have remarks. cnn will be carrying all of that live beginning at 3:00 eastern time at the top of the hour. we'll have much more from the newsroom after this. magnificent, isn't it?

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we're minutes away from a live memorial service. as joplin begins to rebuild, today is a time to, quote, focus

on rebuilding our soul. stay with cnn for live coverage on the service just minutes from now. folks in tornado-ravaged tuscaloosa, alabama, have a message for folks in joplin, missouri. residents say it will get better. >> reporter: one month since a monster tornado killed 41 people here, tuscaloosa, alabama, offers little hope for a quick recovery of the victims of more kre vent victims in places like joplin, missouri. >> what's this over here? >> that's my grandson's tent. >> reporter: on the outskirts i find gail hardin in moments of december spare. >> today it hit me i'm not going to be able to go back home again. >> after lives in tents for

weeks with her family, almost everything hardin had still sits in a pile noekt the road, letting go has been the hardest thing of all. . don't know how to start over with everything because everything is just dirt and debris. . but i got my family and we'll make it. >> reporter: a thought echoed daily across tuscaloosa as small signs of hope slowly emerge. the streets are finally clear, water is back on. electricity returns to more homes by the day. but one thing hasn't changed. so many neighborhoods like this remain in pieces. abandoned. lifelev lifeless ghost towns. in fact, if you look around at all of the destruction still around here, it looks like the storm hit yesterday. and it feels like it to survivors whos whose lives were