>> you have strict instructions to keep her out of trouble please. >> trust me it comes the other way. i'm the one in trouble. great fun. and a great show. back on nbc in the summer. thank you both. it's been a great pleasure, ladies, to have you on. i really enjoyed it. thank you. that's all for tonight. good morning everybody, from the cnn center in atlanta, georgia, this is your "cnn sunday morning." happy easter to you all, i'm t.j. holmes, 6:00 a.m. in atlanta. let me give you a live look, a gorgeous picture, this is outsite st. peters basilica, where the pope will deliver his easter message, tens of

thousands gather there. also want to show you a live picture as well, this in washington, d.c., this coming to us from arlington national cemetery in virginia, just outside of washington, where we're expecting 5,000 people to gather for the easter sunrise service. people already gathered, listening to the navy band here in just a moment but another beautiful sight as people get ready to celebrate on this easter, as we look at this picture at arlington national cemetery in virginia to say good morning to our military men and women who are watching us right now on the armed forces network around the world. thank you for what you do. thank you for being here with us. we will get back to the easter services and celebrations but need to turn to the severe weather. we are just about a month into spring and what a day it was yesterday, a heck of a day from the midwest to the northeast, a volatile season. these were some of the pictures

we were watching with you yesterday, a tornado with winds nearly 170 miles an hour raked across the st. louis area, damaging, destroying more than 750 homes, this was all happening on friday night, just became clearer and clearer to us throughout the morning yesterday just how bad it was. the city's main airport got slammed, a lot of damage there. the plans are to have it operating at 70% capacity today, an amazing feat, given how much damage they did sustain. also in north texas, wildfires there scorched more than 1 million acres, quieter today but firefighters fear drier weather in the coming days to spark more flare-ups. also the flooding in the northeast, snow melt, heavy rains pushed lake champlain over its banks in some areas. in st. louis, missouri, a tornado blew homes off foundation. the weather services says the

tornado was the most powerful to hit the area since 1967. this morning, homeowners trying to pick up some of that debris, trying to pick their lives up, among those tries is breanna mcintyre, in her home in the suburb of bridgeton, her home was leveled, she is on the line this morning. thank you for taking some time out. tell me, is there anything salvageable from your home, just how bad is it? >> hi, how are you first of all, happy easter. >> yes, ma'am, happy easter. tough to be celebrating for you and a lot of folks in the st. louis area. >> yeah but you know we're trying to do our best to move on and do what we can. but, hmm? >> ma'am, tell me, what was, i think these are the pictures we are looking at, almost unrecognizable the ones you sent in. this is your home. is it fair to say your home is gone? >> it is gone.

i had no idea that the damage would be that extensive, i was in the basement thankfully, when it happened, with a friend, when i came upstairs it was unrecognizable. >> ma'am it sounds like you had a basement, you got enough warning. when did you know that it was time to stop watching the television and time to seek shelter and get to that basement like you mentioned? >> i was in my room upstairs, 20 minutes before all this happened and looking between two tv channels and i looked to a news channel and it urged people to go downstairs, go into any kind of places of shelter and i just said okay, breanna, just go. i wasn't even going to go at first and thank god i did. >> ma'am, what was the experience like? what were you experiencing in that basement between i guess what you might have been

hearing, what you could even see and what you were feeling as well? >> well the first thing that went out was the lights. the lights flickered and it was complete darkness and then you could hear like when you're on a plane and your ears pop. >> yes. >> your earring popping and it was like a suction noise and all of the sudden we heard the roof ripping and me and my friend, daniel, we ran as quick as we could to the basement bathroom, we got into the tub and just held each other, you know, comforting me because i was crying, and then you could just hear this loud ripping noise, sounded like a train running over the top of my house. it was just, and it shook. it was pretty scary. >> ma'am, even though you were going through that and you could feel the shaking and you could hear all that noise, when you were coming out of there, when it was all over, did you think that possibly your house was still standing? did you have any idea that you were going to see what you saw

when you came out of that basement? >> i had no idea. i knew that there was going to be some damage because i heard there was ripping off of the roof. i hoped that part of the roof and some shingles that had fallen off, but i knew something was wrong when we got out of the tub and i could hear it raining in the house, and my friend daniel went to the base of the stairs and he said "breanna, i'm looking up and i can see the sky." i climbed up the stairs carefully because there was glass and insulation everywhere and i got to the top of the stairs and i saw my roof in front of my face. shingles were in front of my face. >> miss mcintyre, what do you do now? where do you even start? >> yesterday we started, we woke up early, got a lot of friends, family, church friends and we just got as much as we could out

of the house, anything that was salvageable we could get cleaned, store away for now, called insurance, see what we can do, file a claim and just start over really. do what we can. >> miss mcintyre i appreciate you taking your time to share your story with me, viewers, just one of a number of stories of the experience people are going through there. it's good to talk to you. i'm sorry we were brought together under these circumstances. thank you for your time. a blessing nobody was hurt. good luck to you and your family. we are going to give you more updates about what's happening at st. louis and the airport. our bonnie schneider is here as well. we'll check in with her on the weather and also part of the weather story is in texas where the weather is providing a bit of a break, they're battling more than a dozen major wildfires there, the texas forest service says firefighters

battling 18 active fires, covering large patches ahead of the fire trying to stop the spread. two firefighters have died. the pk fire, more than 150 homes have burned in that fire. residents there just now getting to see what's left. patrick oppen was there as they returned to their neighborhoods. >> reporter: days after wildfires ripped through their community, residents are seeing the aftermath up close. hundreds of evacuees wait in a line stretching miles, worried and frustrated, trying to stretch on their homes. >> we're allowing residents from four of the affected communities to go back in and check on the status of their property. >> reporter: residents from texas brace themselves for more

heartbreaking news. >> we're going to take a bunch of pictures for the insurance and then start sifting and see if there's anything we can put in some of our tubs and bring back home. >> not knowing is the hardest part. we loved coming out here and it's a beautiful lake and it's just hard. >> trying to see what we can salvage, if there's anything to salvage. >> reporter: for days the fires have raged here, and it's not over. evacuees have been pleading with authorities to get back and see their homes, that was supposed to have taken place but then the fires flared up again and making this return home very slow going. when they finally get back a burned out moonscape awaits them where many homes once were. some burned hot enough to leave rivers of metal in their twak. >> this is an event that's going to mark time in our history. it's something that's going to change forever the looks and the community itself.

it will be life before the fire and life after the fire. >> reporter: for peter and carolyn bennis there's no going home. >> i kept saying you can't prepare yourself for this and you really can't. i thought i would start bawling and i saw it but it's just so, it's just so gone. there's nothing really to cry over. >> reporter: you're a little bit shocked. >> yeah, you just, yeah, you just drive up and go really? how did this happen? because last saturday it was there. >> reporter: all that's left now of their home of five years is ashes. the fire consumed everything the couple had there, but it's a home, they say, they will rebuild. authorities are still battling wildfires here and they say it could take months to rebuild these communities. and governor rick perry had one simple request for texans this weekend, pray for rain. t.j.? >> thanks to patrick oppmann

there. in other places heavy rains vermont lake champlain's river is a foot over flood stage. experts remind people not to drive through floodwaters. let me turn to bonnie schneider covering the weather for us. it doesn't matter, does it, bonnie, no matter what flood we ever see. somebody will try to drive through it and get stuck. >> even in an suv, six inches of water can dislodge a tall vehicle. it's important to never attempt to cross a road on foot when you can't see how deep the water is. rushing water will knock you off your feet. the flood threat posed for the ohio valley in the midwest will not just be for today but monday into tuesday. we'll talk about this all week long and much more serious than

yesterday. flash flood warnings are posted across areas of southern illinois, western kentucky, all the way across eastern kentucky including the city of louisville. we have advisories posted north of that in cincinnati and unfortunately for st. louis, the last place we need rain as people pick through the debris from the ef-4 tornado that hit the area friday, this is more rain coming through, the heaviest south of the city but working its way into southern indiana, heavy downpours there and the rain is not going to stop. a lot of rain from oklahoma moving to the northeast. we have one advisory, a severe thunderstorm watch that popped up into oklahoma, just expired. the squall lines in the southern areas of parts of illinois and into missouri. all of this as i mentioned is on the move and headed to the east and we're also getting some more interesting reports about the tornado and the long track of it that works across the st. louis

area, 22 miles, that's the line you're looking at here coming up later on this morning i'll talk more about the specifics that the national weather service survey found on this tremendous tornado ef-4 intensity and we'll break it down and show you how it played out. t.j.? >> bonnie, we appreciate you being here as always, we'll check in with you throughout the morning. 13 minutes past the hour. we showed you the live pictures, a couple of easter services happening now and happening in a lot of places easter sunday. could you imagine headed to your church this morning or easter service and being rounded up? yes the police are waiting to arrest you. it's happening somewhere. of course not. we broke up 6 months ago. but i don't think she'd go for a guy like -- [ ping! ] she says she'd love to. [ ping! ] she can't wait to see me. [ ping! ] she's wanted me to ask her out for over a year now! [ ping! ] she just sent me a video. [ girl's voice ] hi stephen, can't wait for our date! oh, can i see that? aah!

[ male announcer ] in the network, sparks fly faster. at&t is getting faster with 4g. rethink possible. let's raise a glass to cookies just out of the oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk. about a quarter past the hour here on this "cnn sunday morning," and easter sunday morning and this is the sunrise service said to get under way at the bottom of the hour at arlington national cemetery, this takes place every year the

easter service they have, expecting about 5,000 people to attend and expecting to hear from the navy band here shortly as well. this is an annual tradition that takes place right there, and part of this one, this is just one of a number of services as you know happening on easter sunday, another one taking place, annual tradition over in vatican city. the pope right now conducting the easter mass right now, this is st. peters basilica, a live picture you're looking at thousands of people collect there on st. peters square listening to the pope, we're expecting to hear his easter message at some point as well after he conducts this mass. meanwhile a different story happening in china. police standing guard outside a church waiting to arrest people who come to worship during one of the holiest periods of the christian calendar. in the past month chinese police arrested more than 200 members of a so-called home churches which the government considers illegal. our stan grant from china.

>> reporter: over here you can see the police that have turned out today. now this is where one of the home churches the so-called illegal churches in china was going to hold an easter sunday service. this church is part of a crackdown by authorities over recent weeks. hundreds of members of the church have been rounded up and detained. the leaders of the church are in fact still under arrest still being held somewhere. the church members said they would hold this service anyway in defiance of the threat from the police. we haven't seen any of them yet turn up but we have seen plain clothed police coming towards us, even turning their cameras on us. film him filming us. okay, this guy over here is now filming us filming him, which is every indication, okay, we should just get out of here.

just keep shooting him shooting us. i'm going to try to walk up the stairs now to where the service was meant to be held. let's see how far we can go. happy easter. happy easter. [ speaking foreign language ] we're trying to get through to -- we have to go another way? >> he says there's an event upstairs we're not able to go. >> reporter: okay, move back, we're not able to go. clearly we're being chased out of here. we're not going to get to see the church service today so we're going to leave. [ speaking in foreign language ]

stan grant, cnn, beijing. >> much different picture happening in china versus many other places around the world. as you watch our coverage here on cnn, certainly as events happen around the world one of the staples we have is our cnn international correspondent nic robertson. take a look. you'll recognize it. >> reporter: here's the truth, here's what happened here. look at the trees over here. look at the devastation. look at the destruction here. this is what the government wants us to see. these people celebrating -- >> robertson has reported from all over the world including lately in libya. this week we were treated to nic robertson being back here at cnn at our atlanta headquarters. he talked to us about what it's like covering a war zone. it's 19 minutes past the hour.

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innovation for the planet. innovation for all. 20 minutes past the hour now. it was another deadly day for protesters in syria, keep pushing for change there. at least ten people were killed saturday when security forces opened fire on the crowd in the suburb of the capital damascus where people gathered for funerals. forces fired from rooftops as thousands marches through the streets. change is coming to yemen. the president ali abdullah saleh

agreed to step down as part of a deal brokered by neighboring nations. he will leave in 30 days and in return he gets immunity. he has been in power for 30 years but he and leaders need to sign the agreement. misrata is a key for rebels in libya, since it has one of the largest ports, meanwhile back tripoli, nato planes hit key targets in the city. fred pleitgen is in place of nic robertson. earlier i talked to nic robertson about his time in libya, how the story is being seen here in the u.s. during one of his visits back here to the cnn headquarters in atlanta.

we have with us a rare visit from nic robertson, senior international correspondent. a lot of people recognize him from our international work. you've been watching some of the coverage here in the u.s., reading the papers as well. are people getting the right, is it possible even to get a good sense of what's happening in libya given the view you've gotten out? >> if you read and look at everything you've got a good overall picture. if you're there on the ground you feel it differently and see it slightly differently because you're living it and breathing it, it's every minute of the day. i think perhaps the thing that people forget about libya is how big it is, 6 million people, about maybe 1.5 million in the eastern country, 4.5 million in the west where gadhafi is.

if there were a wide, it would be barbaric, tribal and involve a lot of people. when we see it in the newspapers and watch it on tv and i don't feel we can portray it sometimes that's perhaps what doesn't come acro across. >> give them a sense, there's no real sense of nationalism, if you will, in libya. this place is segmented and broken up and the tribalism you speak of, is it hard to get people to understand exactly what the rebels, the opposition, who they are and what they're fighting for? >> essentially a change in regime and a chance to call the shots on who might be the next leader of the country. historically the country was in three separate pieces, the west, the middle and the east, and it's gadhafi that united the country 40 years ago. that's another thing that we forget because he's kind of a

t tyrannical leader, he kicked out the italian occupation, forced the americans out of the country all that time ago and seen as a unifying guy from a small tribe, wasn't looking for a tribal influence and the big tribes worried who was going to get the power he held them all at bay and everyone's a little bit happy, no one big tribe is dominant and that's the key to his success. >> nic robertson, good to see you, great work in tripoli or beyond. good to have you here. >> thank you. >> we're at 24 minutes now. my conversation with nic robertson who you can expect to see back on the international scene soon. back in this country some cities around the country, have you seen the gas prices? of course you have but does yours look like that? some places, yes, they are creeping closer and closer to $5 a gallon. president obama says he has a

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♪ all right, we are getting close to the bottom of the hour on this "cnn sunday morning," easter sunday, hope you're having a happy one so far and good one for the rest of the kay. let's turn to the royal wedding, which is this week. can you believe it, royal wedding watchers are wondering a lot of things about this wedding. we're getting details but people are wondering about the dress and so on and so forth and wondering about the first dance. right now, there is not a first dance planned for the couple at the reception. now why would you ask? we don't know for sure but i have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with this video.

♪ what do you do? like my sister would say "bless his heart." he was at a concert a few year ago. an all-star concert for diana in 20 2007, next to his brother. his brother is like prince harry please stop. we all have a moment or two, who knows what kind of a dancer is, no first dance planned. we have five days left until the party of the year, the royal wedding, they are laying low, skipping easter service with the queen even? max foster in london, good morning to you, max. good to see you, buddy. can you tell us, will we see this couple, any public appearances this week? are they going to lay low?

we might not see them until wedding day? >> reporter: there's nothing planned. it's fair enough when you got the biggest media event ever in history. you want to lay low. kate middleton is involved in every detail of this wedding and the abbey is still open to the public. on tuesday it will be closed down, the flowers will start arriving tuesday, probably focusing on that. some interesting things though, we'll reveal more about that later on in the week. there's lots of plans in place. normally windsor castle they'd be marking the easter service with the queen. the only ones not there this weekend. they're enjoying their privacy this weekend. >> she is involved in every detail of this wedding, so many plans are in place. are there some things left to be

decided or still left to do? are things being finalized, if you will? >> reporter: i have to say we're getting the official weather forecast tomorrow from the met office, the official body in the country. the indications are it will be beauty and sunny until friday, then it starts raining. that's a kind of problem. i was at the royal muse a couple of weeks ago, they got a wet weather program, they thought about everything. the coach the carriage will have a roof, will be enclosed, the glass coach and it's enclosed but that's going to be the only thing that will change. there's so much support everyone will come out and see them. >> that was my next question, i guess how do you prepare for this, if you will. just the city, how many are they expecting to try to crowd down there and be a part of it and when do you anticipate people coming out even days ahead of time trying to get a good spot?

>> reporter: well they sort of are already. these are the crowds outside the abbey. people are coming and visiting the key points on the route of the service if you imagine, certainly the barriers in place, thousands of barriers will be laid up and the whole of central london effectively will be closed off friday and that's going to cause some level of chaos to walk around. people will start camping out from now, if we go on previous experience, not happening quite yet, a bigger security operation than there was really for diana's wedding, so there's going to be a lot more pressure on people to move through. they'll allow some people to camp out, we're not sure where, not in the parks but perhaps some of the pavements. >> max foster, we'll check in with you plenty. to our viewers stay with cnn for your wedding events.

live coverage friday morning, our coverage starts at 4:00 a.m. eastern time, watch it, dvr it, be a part of the international viewing party. we're going to get back to st. louis here in just a moment. can you believe flights are actually expected to take off again today from the st. louis airport. they are still trying to clean up and recover from the tornado that struck on friday night, the damage didn't stop though just at that airport. look at this stuff, folks, neighborhoods just blasted, dozens of people return home and there wasn't much of a home left. n our environment. or zero dependency on foreign oil. ♪ this is why we at nissan built a car inspired by zero. because zero is worth everything. the zero gas, 100% electric nissan leaf. innovation for the planet.

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your trip begins at michigan.org. 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. hey there again everybody, 36 minutes past the hour on this easter sunday. i'm t.j. holmes. thanks for spending part of your easter morning here with us. let me give you an update on st. louis, another morning of cleanup and repair following friday night's powerful earthquake. st. louis international airport trying to operate at 70% capacity today. workers cleaning up debris and

repairing shattered window. this morning flights are arriving. 750 homes, some destroyed. no fatalities have been reported, just amazing. more than 20,000 people were also without power last night. shelters have been set up to help those displaced by the storm. red cross volunteers have been providing a lot of that assistance. jessica willingham was with us yesterday and back on the line this morning, she's with the red cross. thank you for updates us and our viewers. what kind of night did you have. you were trying to figure out yesterday what the need would be. how many people needed a place to stay? >> well, as you know, the red cross shelters are available who needs help and always open so the numbers are changing all the time. the latest report i got is that we had double the amount of

folks that stayed with us last night because yesterday you know when the sun came up, people really had a chance to see the damage and they didn't realize the extent of the damage so as that has been unfolding more and more red cross volunteers trained before this ever happened came in to help and we continue that today. >> i know that you had people out in neighborhoods surveying a lot of that damage and trying to do an assessment and talking to people. what is your mission today, more of that, more of the same or as the days go by will your mission evolve? >> reporter: well, the mission does evolve, but our first response in the red cross is to make sure people have a safe place to stay and have food to eat and have their basic needs met. once they know they're safe we move into damage assessment and going into the neighborhoods with trained volunteers to assess that, of course all this is in cooperation with emergency management officials but our goal is to get people the help

they need by determining how damage is there and moving them into case work so we can help to get them on the long-term path to recovery. >> what kind of support are you getting from the public in general whether it's there in st. louis or across the country? i know you were trying to put out some information and a phone number and website if people wanted to help but what has the response been? >> reporter: the response has been incredible. people have been calling 1-800-red-kro 1-800-red-cross, logging onto redcross.org and making donations to support the relief effort, getting out and doing the work themselves so the st. louis community has always had an incredible tradition of being generous and once again that is happening here but folks across the country are also seeing what's happened and wanting to help through the red cross. >> ma'am, you have been awfully generous with your time. certainly you want to get the word out. we appreciate you during this busy time being willing to update us and our viewers. thank you so much, ma'am.

>> thank you. we want to turn to bonnie schneider here now me for weather. bonnie, we were watching these pictures yesterday as people wering a to walk through their homes and rubble and i was looking at the cameras and rain was hitting the cameras. are they getting rained on too? >> they are. >> is there a flood watch? >> flood watch and flood threat for stareas in the south. what you're looking at here is a long red line that shows the entire track of the tornado. let's zoom in, to the west of maryland heights where the line begins where the tornado touched down at 7:55 p.m. on friday at crib core and intensified as it moved toward maryland heights becoming an ef-3 when it got back, 200 to 400 yards wide of damage. it grew to ef-4 intensity and

the slammed the airport. what does it look like inside the airport, this is surveillance video. first it looks like a couple pieces of debris but suddenly everything starts whipping about the hallways, the security team ducking for cover, a pole blocks a line, debris, parts of windows, incredible damage sustained to the airport because the storm was so long. if that line looked long it was, 22 miles long and just under half a mile in terms of width. the storm at its highest intensity the wind gusts were high between 166 and 200 miles per hour, that is so unusual, only less than 1% or 2% of tornadoes are this intense and this long. generally tornadoes are much weaker. as we mentioned earlier the flood threat for today continues, lighter rain for st. louis, heavier rain hitting southern indiana right now, the beginning of a big flood threat for today, tomorrow and into tuesday, just steady rain every day, several inches will

accumulate, maybe more than that, possibly up to a foot of water in the next five days. >> bonnie schneider we appreciate having you as always. we'll check in shortly. 42 minutes past the hour. when gas prices go up sometimes a politician's popularity goes up. up next obama's plan for easing tensions, you face every time you head to the gas stations. check this out. [ cheers and applause ] it can be the best part of coming home, a soldier surprises his daughter for easter.

we could've gone a more traditional route... ... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪

it's a quarter of the top of the hour here on this easter sunday. happy easter to you all. rising gas prices keep you closer to home maybe for this national holiday. the national average of regular has crept up to $3.86. compare that to last year roughly $1 more per gallon regardless of the grade. president obama, check that out, the president is acknowledging the financial reality at the pump. take a listen to him. >> whenever gas prices shoot up, like clock work you see politicians racing to the cameras waving three-point plans for $2 gas, you see people trying to grab headlines or score a few points. the truth is, there is no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away. but there are a few things we can do. this includes safe and responsible production of oil at

home, which we're pursuing. thursday my attorney general also launched a task force with just one job, rooting out cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices, including any illegal activity by traders and speculators and another step we need to take is finally end the $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies we give to the oil and gas companies each year. that's $4 billion of your money going to these companies when they're making record profits and you're paying near record prices at the pump. it has to stop. >> well folks i don't have to tell you prices of food going up but we have stephanie elam here to explain to us exactly why and stephanie always good to see you, but the price of food going up at the grocery store is one thing. you notice that the restaurants and even at mcdonald's, is that a bad sign of prices going up at mcdonald's? >> that really hits it home, t.j., and the world's largest restaurant is saying this is

such a problem that it's impacting our quarterly numbers so if you look at what mcdonald's told us, they've said we expect in january they told us prices are going to go up 2% to 2.5% in the united states. they said the average increase is 4% to 4.5% in the u.s. and europe, the quarterly margins are hurt because of inflation and that is really going to impact their numbers this year, worse than expected so this is not just like you said not just mcdonald's, this is across the board. a lot of different companies are dealing with the fact that commodity prices and that's things like your eggs, wheat, meat, poultry, all of those things that you need to get to the store, the price of them has gone up over the last six months or so. when you look at a chart of that, that has gone up and up and up and because of that it's making it harder for a lot of americans when they go to the store to buy the things they used to maybe a year ago, they're feeling more of an impact and with the economy slowly getting back on its feet it's not what we want to hear at

all. >> going in the wrong direction. a lot of people could probably guess why prices are going up, because it costs more to move this stuff around quite frankly, the gas prices. >> right, you want to think that oil prices have nothing to do with your food. i'm sure you would like your apple to not be dipped in oil. you would like nothing like that whatsoever. it does cost money to get that stuff off the farm and truck it to wherever it needs to go. that's going to impact a lot of things for you. it hits you in many multiple places so it's not just at the grocery store. it could be something that you're getting at the convenience store, even at the retail stores so it gets broader and broader and a problem for a lot of stores because we know that the economy is just getting back on its feet, but at the same time, we have to raise prices because we can't keep eating this cost. >> stephanie elam with the reality for us here, stephanie always good to see you on, and can't wait to be on tv with you again. we'll see you. >> i'm looking forward to it,

too, t.j., thanks a lot. all right, it is easter sunday, but what in the world does a bunny rabbit have to do with jesus? you know, the rabbit's been a symbol of easter for centuries now. exactly how did that happen? we are tracing the roots, so one of the holiday's most popular symbols. of course not. we broke up 6 months ago. but i don't think she'd go for a guy like -- [ ping! ] she says she'd love to. [ ping! ] she can't wait to see me. [ ping! ] she's wanted me to ask her out for over a year now! [ ping! ] she just sent me a video. [ girl's voice ] hi stephen, can't wait for our date! oh, can i see that? aah! [ male announcer ] in the network, sparks fly faster. at&t is getting faster with 4g. rethink possible. only yoplait original has twice the calcium of the leading yogurt. that's 50% of the daily value to help close the calcium gap, we're giving away a million free cups

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save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. welcome back back to our military member and women around the world. this is at the memorial amphitheater. they expect 5,000 people showing up for this. annual tradition, a beautiful sight out there. one of a number of services taking place on this easter sunday. [ cheers and applause ]

this was caught on camera, dad and daughter, surprise reunion, played out earlier in clearwater florida, army specialist robert pierce, flew from afghanistan to wish his little girl a happy easter. a nice scene we can share with you there. easter, people think about yes you're going to church, you can't have church without the easter bunny. can you tell me why the rabbit and jesus, what do we have to do with each other? nadia bilchik here to break this doin. >> like mercedes-benz and beer, they say the easter bunny originates in germany. the german settlers who came to pennsylvania had the oosterhuis

or the easter hare, or the rabbit. in the same way that christ gave birth spiritually, abundantly, so are rabbits abundant, they're a peaceful and loving creature so somehow there's the tie-in. >> how do we get to that? the story you told me is one thing but the pink bunny next to you and the eggs and candy. that message seems to be lost. >> it seems the evolution we sometimes forget, we just as you say become symbolic and synonymous. the symbol is the fertility, and rabbit as a kind and loving creature. where do we get to the eggs is fascinating. the egg is a symbol of life and fertility, but what particularly

is fascinating is today is reek easter. they don't have the pastel colors of spring, they have eggs dyed red. on blood thursday we will dye the eggs in a beautiful deep red color and cover them with oil so they become shiny and these eggs the red symbolic of the blood of christ and one of the more fun traditions of greek easter is have an egg smashing competition, take yours and mine and whoever egg smashes first is the loser but you have to go tip to tip. >> where do we get the easter egg hunt and the candy, is that us getting -- >> it's symbolic. the fact it's evolved into something that is candy and chocolate filled and have a look at the abundance over here, but the egg being something that is fertile, the symbol of

continuity. >> okay folks so there is a message behind the easter bunny, it's not just all fun and games and candy and eggs. >> eggs and rabbits. >> all right, nadia, always educating us, we appreciate you as always. getting close to the top of the hour. charlie sheen is on a tour across the country, latest stop in south florida. a lot of people who came out to see him weren't necessarily there to support him. find out why the women want him to go home. [ woman ] bathing suits! shorts! tanktops! [ female announcer ] grab a box of multigrain cheerios.

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well, as we come up on the top of the hour here on this easter sunday, taking a look at some of the news making across the country. look at this. >> go home, charmie sheen. >> i guess you can understand the message, they are not fans of charlie sheen. these women were protesting last night at his torpedo of truth tour in miami, small group said sheen serves as the lowest example of a role model. also, turn to texas now the pastor of a church in a small texas town has denied holy communion for a boy with veerial palsy. the pastor at sacred heart

catholic church told her her grandson doesn't qualify for communion. cannon law says a child must have sufficient knowledge of christ, the pastor says because the child has the mental capacity of a 6-month-old he does not qualify. and something you don't expect to see in your backyard a mountain lion discovered roaming behind a tulsa, oklahoma, home yesterday, 70 pound lion had to be knocked out with a lion, and then taken to the zoo in tulsa. from the cnn center in atlanta, georgia, this is "cnn sunday morning." happy easter to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. 7:00 a.m. here in atlanta. look at live pictures from arlington national cemetery, sunrise service is under way there, got under way about a half hour ago, they have some 5,000 people gathered there for annual tradition at the memorial amphitheater at arlington national cemetery. we'll be checking in there.

also learning more about the tornado that hit late friday night. look at this, this is in st. louis at the airport. you know the airport got hit and hit hard. this is some of the latest video we are seeing of what was a spectacular and unfortunate night for st. louis, but the good news, a blessing, no one was killed there. we'll give you the latest out of st. louis. meanwhile we need to start on the international front, another deadly day for protesters in syria, they keep pushing for change and the government is pushing back with deadly force. ten people killed saturday when syrian security forces opened fire on the crowd, this happened in a suburb of damascus. people had gathered there for funerals, witnesses say government forces fired from rooftops as thousands marched through the streets. also change appears to be coming to yemen, months after protesters took to the streets there. the president, ali abdullah saleh agreed to step down as part of a deal brokered by neighboring nations. he's supposed to leave office within 30 days and in return he

gets immunity. he's been in power for more than 30 years. saleh and opposition leaders however need to sign the agreement. witnesses now tell us hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets this morning to protest that deal, and the president's possible immunity from prosecution. in libya now, nato again launching air strikes, it targets around tripoli. planes being met with a barrage of anti-aircraft fire. fred pleitgen is in tripoli this morning. give us the latest on the air strikes. >> reporter: yes, good morning t.j. there were pretty big air strikes that went on last night. we're not sure what went on, but a deputy foreign minister held a press conference and said several targets had been hit around tripoli area and around the area very important to moammar gadhafi his hometown and got a lot of military infrastructure in that area. it's hard to judge what was hit

here in tripoli. it seemed to us one of the targets that might have been hit could have been an ammunition dump. you had one major explosion and several secondary explosions coming from the same site. there was a barrage of anti-aircraft fire that went into the air, pretty useless trying to hit the jets because they fly at an altitude much to high for the flat cannons to hit. also as we know and have been talking about the past couple of days also predator drones now in use especially it seems to us in the misrata area. >> misrata the all-important area a lot of back and area. what is the latest we know out of misrata? >> reporter: still a very fluid situation. one of the things that the libyan government told us a couple of days ago, their army was in the final stages of withdrawing from that area, they retracted that last night when

they came out, held a press conference and said they weren't with drawing but stopping their operations in the misrata area. the rebels tell a different story. they say yesterday their people an the people of misrata were targeted by artillery mortar and rocketfire. 22 people killed yesterday in misrata. we have to be careful. some of those were actually killed by that indirect fire. others were actually killed juan doeri i der wandering around downtown came too close after weeks of fighting. the rebels ousted the government forces from downtown misrata. there are government forces on the southern edge of the city and western edge using mortars, things like rockets to target the people of misrata, whereas the government is saying it's basically stopped its operations, still has troops inside the city, and is waiting for a tribal delegation, which

it claims will negotiate with the rebels and will fight the rebels if the rebels don't come to agreement. the rebels say that is nonsense there is no tribal delegation answer the tribes don't have any weapons anyway. >> fred pleitgen in tripoli we appreciate you as always. we'll get back to the tornado in st. louis. the force leaving debris all over the airport yesterday, shutting down the airport but they're starting to get things back up and running. can you believe this as well, some of the newest video out of that airport, look at this folks as the winds that tornado made its way through, this is just some of the latest we are seeing, an amazing scene, only a few people with minor injury, not a lot of serious injuries we're hearing about and no deaths to report, with the emergency crews not wasting any time cleaning up. the timetable for getting flights back up and running on schedule, we'll have that for you next and bonnie schneider

here, you were telling me a short time ago st. louis not done with nasty weather. >> unfortunately no. we're looking at the chance for thunderstorms this easter sunday, not just for st. louis but much of the heartland facing a flood threat that lasts through tuesday. plus new details about the tornado in st. louis, straight ahead on "cnn sunday morning." ♪ oh! [ both slurping ] ♪ [ female announcer ] the irresistible taste of cinnamon toast crunch. crave those crazy squares.

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i thought it was over here... ♪ [car horn honks] our outback always gets us there... ... sometimes it just takes us a little longer to get back. ♪ ten minutes past the hour on this easter sunday morning. a lot of folks in st. louis

waking up on this easter sunday, actually have a lot to be thankful for. we told you about this mess, hard to believe there's something to be thankful for. the part the city and county officials call a blessing, no one was killed, the round of storms and tornadoes that hit the city are just outside the city friday night. winds up to 170 miles an hour, damaged or strid about 750 homes, the city's main airport got hit pretty hard, a lot of damage there. they expect to be up and operating at 70% capacity today. earlier this morning i spoke with one homeowner, brea ma mcintyre. listen to her describe the moments when the tornadoes hit. >> all of the sudden we heard the roof ripping and me and my friend, daniel, we just ran as quick as we could to the basement bathroom, we got into the tub and just held each other. i knew something was wrong when begot out of the tub and i could hear it raining in the house. and my friend, daniel, went to

the base of the stairs and he said, "breanna, i'm looking up and i can see the sky." i went up, climbed up the stairs carefully, because there was glass and insulation everywhere, and i just got to the top of the stairs and i saw my roof in front of my face. >> tough to hear, but still the upside there, amazing, she wasn't injured, people in her house not injured, nobody killed, minor reports, a blessing there. we have bonnie schneider with us this weekend. i'm starting to hear, more details about the tornado. you told me this was unusual, the way it behaved yesterday. >> um-hum, it really is. these large, long-lasting tornadoes do not make up most tornadoes. we don't typically see a tornado on the ground for 22 miles. at 7:55 friday night that's where it started in a suburb of st. louis. the storm intensifies as it approached maryland heights, ef-3, it wasn't until it got closer to the airport, that's when things really got intense,

the storm went all the way up to an ef-4. we can show you what it looked like inside the airport from security video. when you have an ef-4 tornado it's amazing there went weren't more injuries or loss of life. the winds in an ef-4 it be sustained at gusts over 144 to 200 miles per hour. you don't want to be near the winds. a lot of the people on cnn and our i-reporters that survived this tornado. the reason we didn't have the loss of life the lead time the tornado warnings 20 and 30 minutes before the tornado hit, gave people enough time to get to the sbeinterior room of the home. you may not think of the bathroom as a safe place, or grab a mattress or pillow to protect you from flying debris. an ef-4, devastating on the scale here.

we're also tracking the threat for tornadoes in april but in may to let you know what's ahead may is the month we see the most tornadoes annually across the country. it's been a busy april unfortunately. it's going to get busier, the threat of flooding, flood warnings posted across much of southern illinois into kentucky, paducah under flood warnings and advisories posted across just where we don't want rain, in st. louis. what this means, we're going to see thunderstorms intermittently across missouri and illinois and particularly in indiana, if you're up early to head to friends or family in indiana for easter, unfortunately you're facing some very strong downpours this morning, headed to louisville, kentucky, a stormy one for easter sunday. be prepared for ohio valley and the midwest. >> bonnie we appreciate you as always. miami dolphins wide receiver

brandon marshall back home from the hospital, two weeks after being stabbed by his wife. she was charged in a domestic violence incident. she told police this was self-defense. marshall told police he fell on a glass vase. he had surgery friday night, expected to make a full recovery. a north carolina company is recalling about 5,000 pounds of cucumbers because they may be contaminated with salmonella. the cartons were shipped to nine states, you see the states there on the screen, all nature's delight cucumbers, salmonella found on some of the cucumbers in florida. more information on the recall at cnn.com. and cuba is looking to change some longstanding rules that could mean the end for some of the old cars that are clogging havana's streets. the recent communist party agreed to relax restrictions on ownership. now people may be able to buy

and sell cars at homes. that's a major change for cubans, right now only allowed to buy or sell cars freely on the road before the 1959 revolution. that could change these new rules. also, a piece of movie history could be yours, maybe. this is supposedly the car from the movie "chitty chitty bang bang," the 1968 film starring dick van dyke." the starting bid is a cool million bucks. the guy who is selling it says it's the real deal. you would hope that it is. she has been called tiger mom, called america's most controversial mom and this morning gets a new title, one of the world's most influential, talking to her. and remember the ad about her mom painting her son's

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20 minutes past the hour on this "cnn sunday morning." remember this last week the creative director of j. crew clothing line was painting her 5-year-old son's toes pink and some people said it could be sending the wrong message. now it sparked a different kind of debate, this one has to do with health. is it even safe to paint a child's nails. a pediatrician in new york city

says some nail polish formulas carry three major toxins, what they call the toxic trio, could cause health issue if children put their fingers in the mouth. you get the idea. the recommendation should you decide to paint your child's nails, use a water based formula which is less toxic. also something we're asking, do you remember the controversy over the tiger mom, amy chua, author of "battle hymn of the tiger mother" called america's most controversial mom, people pretty worked up about her tough love style." now she's one of "time's" most influential people of the year. i spoke with her this weekend about her new title. >> it says the opposite on the cover of my book how i was humbled by my 13 years old.

i think that is what caused the controversy. in retrospect i feel i had some tough moments but the fact that people wanted to have this conversation and to debate and i think it's a sign of the vibrancy of the country. i really do. i think this is not an apathetic country, it's one that wants to have a conversation, try to get it right. >> now you certainly with this book now, have had influence, but what do you think now and congratulations on being named one of the "time" 100 but what do you think your influence has been? >> first of all it is such an honor, i mean i was so surprised to be on a list with people who have changed governments in the middle east and saved lives and all these great artists, it's very humbling and very exciting, my daughters can't believe i'm on the same list as mark wahlberg. i think i'm an accidental catalyst. this is a country that we have

conversations, and i think parenting is one of the hardest, it probably is the hardest thing that i've certainly ever done and there's no one right answer. i deeply believe there are many good ways of parenting, but i think we can learn from each other. >> we've had plenty of conversations about the book and that parenting aspect and certainly wanted to have you on as you being one of the 100, and part of that is your photo shoot for the "time" 100. we're going to put this up, and when i first saw it amy i thought that those tigers were brought in with some kind of fancy, you know, computer generated tigers. that was the real deal. >> they were real. they were real. they were supposed to be. they told me they would be little 6-week-old cubs the size of dogs. they were 6 months old, huge 200-pound things. it was the most exciting thing for our family actually. i think i was too ignorant to know -- >> that you should be scared?

>> had i known how dangerous they were. >> the last thing your daughter has a blog as well, and your daughter, has she decided where she's going to school? >> i think she's going to harvard. i think she's going to harvard. >> you're a yale professor but she wants to go to harvard. >> yes, she needs to be a little farther away from me. >> she's just one of the 100, who are some of the others on that list of most influential people, included this year were the prince and his fiance, kate, of course their wedding coming up at the end of this week. also on the list arizona congress cowoman gabrielle giffords. who also made the list and made it the most times? even carrots and peas. you love the smaller-size, easy-to-chew kibbles, and i love the carbohydrates for energy and protein for muscles. whoa! wait for me! ha-ha. you only think you're getting spoiled.

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oprah winfrey currently winding down her talk show has been named one of "time" magazine's most influential people every year since 2004, more than any other designee,

followed by president barack obama, made the list six times. the president is back on the road this week, not talking about spending cuts. our deputy political direct your paul steinhauser has more on what the president is up to this week. >> good morning, t.j. it's president by day, fund-raiser at times by night. president obama announced his bid for a second term at the beginning of the month. since then he headlined fund-raisers in chicago, los angeles and this week new york. if you're surprised don't be. this is nothing new. george w. bush and bill clinton employed the same strategy when they were running for re-electi re-election. the same day he's in new york city donald trump heads to new hampshire as just about everybody knows he says he just may run for the white house. his meetings with the republican officials activists in new

hampshire marks his first visit to one of the crucial early voting primary states. he says he'll make a decision by june. >> thanks as always to paul steinhauser. pope benedict xvi is leading easter morning services in vatican city today in st. peters square for mass. christians celebrate the birthday of the new creation. less than 24 hours after the tornado hit in st. louis, the airport there in st. louis international airport opened under limited operations. the national weather service says the tornado that hit there was the strongest to hit the st. louis metro area in more than 40 years. also a lack of clean drinking water, we're used to hearing about that in third world countries but not when talking about america's schools. kids having trouble getting clean water to drink in our